After lying down on a portable massage bed, Irene explained to me that the spirits that connect with her through the clearing, guide what materials are used and how. As a shaman healer, Irene served as a conduit for possibly loved ones that have passed, your spirit animals, guides, angels… whoever and whatever presents themselves to her.
Looking around the room the walls were filled with hanging instruments (drums, rattles, horns, gongs, bells etc.) and at the end of the bed near my feet there were drawers filled with who knows what else. I had noticed walking to the bed there was a table near my head filled with crystals, gems, gold-plated trinkets, and sculptures. Now knowing that Irene would be directed by a force outside herself which of these to bring into the clearing became a little nerve racking - my response…. Squeeze my eyes shut as tightly as I could.
Holding my breath, I waited to see if anyone or anything would enter the room with me. And if they did, would I know it?
♀️The Feminine Side
My eyes were only probably shut for about thirty seconds when Irene commented that there were two spirit guides, both animals, there to lead her. On my left side, the feminine side, the healer told me a black panther was standing guard. Irene said that it was atypical for a prowling hunter to be on the feminine side and asked if my mother was a cruel, cunning person. BINGO - Of course, I didn’t say that but nodded “yes”. After a low hmmm, Irene added that my mother’s entire side of the family was a cruel, harsh people. Preach sister, preach!
She told me that the panther was there to help guide both her and I through the session but to know that it was there with me at all times trying to steer me away from trouble. Though a panther is the silent stalker in the jungle, it served me as if it were protecting one of its cubs.
♂️The Masculine Side
I heard a small giggle escape Irene’s lips as she said on my father’s side (the right) there was an ape pretending to be a full-sized gorilla with his chest puffed out. He was there to protect and shield my mother - the panther. A foolish feat for an ape. But there was a false sense of pride and complete ignorance to its lack of size and threat to other animals in the jungle.
In real life, my father follows my mother blindly into every dark hallway, every grim-looking scene, instead thinking he’s the one leading the pack. But in all reality, he is just the puff-chested fool following the pathway of its biggest threat - a predator that wouldn’t flinch at the idea of leaving him behind as dead-weight or its next meal.
🕰️The Next Thirty Minutes
What happened next was so entrancing it was hard to keep my eyes shut, so instead they turned into little slits that vented my need to see what the Shaman was channeling. With her eyes closed, she almost frolicked around the room, grabbing one thing from the walls after another. At the crown of my head, she placed several rose quartz pillars while a small Tibetan elephant rested on my collarbone. (The Tibetan elephant represents uncontrolled, passionate minds - dead ringer for what was I feeling.)
Irene spent a lot of time at my head, with her hands on my crown they would linger only to find themselves balancing at the tops of my shoulders, then returning to my head for another round of vibrations from her mouth and the rattle of beads winding, almost untangling, an invisible thread in the air.
What did I feel inside as she did this? Calm. Like a weight was being lifted off my skull; my thoughts stopped racing, and I felt myself slipping into an almost semi-alert slumber. The practitioner used a hand-drum and a gong next to my head and went to work towards my feet. With her rattles, I glimpsed her pulling, battling with a see-through rope, while my right leg bounced uncontrollably on the table. I could feel a warmth spreading to my legs - a part of my body that usually feels cold and disconnected from my trunk.
What was really going on inside me? What was Irene envisioning as she continued to pull and throw her hands towards the floor? The answer was a first for the both of us.
➡️➡️➡️COMING SOON: Stay tuned for the end of my true reiki story | Part III: Venom ⬅️⬅️⬅️