What better place to be shamaned than the Spirit Garden in Big Sur, an outdoor hippie wonderland littered with bongos, jade, and beautifully painted murals.

My shaman was not what I expected… First of all, he was white.. I thought Shamans were supposed to be Native American. Secondly, he was wearing just a plain black t-shirt and cargo pants.. Where were his beads? And robes? And feathers? He barely even looked hippie enough to be in Big Sur.

He talked at length about what it is to be a Shaman, clearing up my prejudice of what a Shaman should look like. He basically described Shamans as the ‘Wise Ones’. Shamans discovered fire, they figured out how to cure pain, they are the smartest people in any room. Then he skipped to some interesting ‘did you know’ stuff;

When there is something of indecision in your life, you will see a lot of cats.

When you become obsessed with something small, you will see an eagle.

Next, he asked me why I was there, what was wrong in my life.. Not wanting a therapy session, I told him I was happy and mostly just curious.

He laid out a stack of rocks and asked me to choose the one that spoke to me, call to mind what I was worried about, blow that fear onto the rock three times and lay down on my back with my eyes closed.

He stood over me calling on the East, West, North and South and a bunch of other nature spirits with his rattler and a drum to come into the sacred space and help me become free of my baggage and the baggage of my ancestors. Then he sat at the top of my head, practically with my head in his lap, and hovered his face above mine, asking me to breathe with him. I tried focusing on my breath, and the spirits, and my ancestors but my mind kept wandering…

Was I answering his questions correctly?

Did he think I was boring because I was happy?

Could he smell the turkey sandwich I just had for lunch?

How was I going to tell him that I was $10.00 short for the session due to turkey sandwich (I didn’t realize that most places in Big Sur are cash only)

Eventually I was able to quiet my mind. I felt this enormous strength come over me, as if I could do anything. I loved it! I could feel him breathing on me, blowing out bad energy from my body. And suddenly, there was silence.

How do you feel?

I feel good.

Then he started rolling up the mat and said with a smile. ‘Well, you are pretty clean. You have already pretty much dealt with any negative experiences you or your ancestors had.’ Then he said I had some pockets of resentment in my liver area. But he cleared me of all of that.. thank you, Shaman. And, I needed to be around more wild horses and let them be free.. It was over.. I gave him the $190.00, with a brief explanation of why I was short $10.00 for the sandwich… The End

To find a Shaman near you, go to www.shamansearch.com

Tags: big sur, borracha, experience, shaman, travel, wine wipes