All photos copyright 2009 H K Gresham
Shamanic power is local power, because shamans work with local spirits. I am not saying that they do not work with great cosmic forces, but their practice is always locally based. It deals with the land and spirits where they are.
Even the Tibetan lamas, the most cosmic of magic workers, in whose practice are mere traces of shamanism, deal with local spirits. As they travel the world, teaching Tibetan Bon or Buddhism, before every ceremony they contact the land spirits under the building at that place and heal them.
So get to know the spirits in the little part of Houston where you live, and work with those.
Animals
Houston is full of wildlife, even in the heart of the city: coyotes in Memorial park, raccoons and opossums in the Montrose and the Heights, herons in the bayou downtown, egrets at NASA---to name a few.
Do you live on a bayou? What water birds are your neighbors? Ever see any turtles? Water moccasins? Alligators?
Do you hear mourning doves? Tree frogs? Mockingbirds? Do you see cardinals? Blue jays? Crows? Robins? Sparrows? When do you hear or see them?
Learn which animals live in your neighborhood. Watch them. Learn their habits. Listen to them. Books and websites are fine, but nothing beats first-hand observation.
What color squirrels live on your street? Gray ones or red ones? Have you heard their danger call? Have you seen them battle with the birds? Have you watched them taunt cats?
Plants
Houston is a hodgepodge of indigenous, imported and hybrid plants. Learn which ones are native to your particular neighborhood.
Buy a book on Houston (or Texas) trees and wildflowers. Focus on the ones that originally grew right where you live.
Just because bluebonnets grow in Texas does not mean they are native to your yard. But winecups might be, if you live way out west of town.
Certain plants seem to define Houston. Oaks, for instance. Get to know them and find out why. There are many species of oaks. Get to know them.
Take some time to sit on the ground with your back pressed against the trunk of an oak tree and tune in. What do you feel? Now do the same thing with a pecan tree, a pine, an elderberry, and so on.
Learn which medicinal plants are indigenous to your area, and which food plants. Learn the plants. Learn the spirits.
Stones and dirt
In most of the Houston area the bedrock is far, far below us, and so there are no loose native rocks on the surface. But there is dirt, and there is sand on the beaches.
The sandy beaches, the clay of the coastal plains, the Trinity River bottomland, and the East Texas red dirt do not naturally support the same plants. And the spirits are different, too.
At parks around Houston, you can experience the difference in the feeling of the local dirt or sand for yourself. Give it a try.
Then go home and tune in to the spirits around you.
All photos copyright 2009 by H K Gresham.
For more information on classic shamanic practices, see the list of links to shamanism-related web sites near the lower right corner of this page.
White Cranes has been studying and teaching shamanic practices for over 20 years. Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/whitecranes and http://www.twitter.com/shamanista.
To learn to do shamanic practices in Houston, you are invited to join the Houston Shamanism Meetup group, http://www.meetup.com/houstonshamanism.
Comments
I liked your text and think you r right. I go outside often and enjoy it.
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