Dr. Steven Farmer (http://drstevenfarmer.com), Licensed Psychotherapist, Shamanic Practitioner, Board Member of the Society of Shamanic Practice & Author joins host Sheryl Sitts, Holistic Practitioner & Coach (http://www.sherylsitts.com) to discuss:

• How Dr. Steven Farmer found his way from psychotherapy into working as a shamanic practitioner following a course with Michael Harner
• The distinction between being a shaman and being a shamanic practitioner, and how the principles that resonated for him led to retire from psychotherapy and dedicate himself to shamanic healing and practices including animal medicine
• His latest book Animals: Personal Tales of Encounters with Spirit Animals (available at https://amzn.to/3MiHDSR with a small gratuity supporting this show at no additional cost to you) which is one in an eight-part book series by Sacred Stories Publishing
• How the many 3-4 page personal animal stories can even be read to children aloud, and the magic that brings
• He shares about butterfly spirit energy and how that is symbolic with transformation
• Dr. Farmer explains how animals show up as a representation of the collective consciousness and we are not necessarily just working with that one animal, but of their kind as a whole
• The deeper meanings behind an elephant showing up in a dream and what that can mean
• How to understand messages from spirit animals by (1) looking them up or Googling the animal and spirit medicine to see what resonates for you, or what you feel a personal connection with in the explanations and suggestions, (2) analyze or look at the characteristics of the animal and notice what resonates for you, and (3) ask the animal silently during or after the encounter what message(s) it has and notice what shows up as a thought, song, appearance, billboard, etc.
• Sheryl tells Dr. Farmer she is happy she is no longer dismissing this as being unreal or impossible or magic, and Dr. Farmer laughs as he suggests that we are “of course” making it all up, which is itself a shamanic philosophy. He continues to discuss how imagination can serve as a bridge between physical and other realities.
• They chat about kangaroo medicine, roly poly medicine (Sheryl’s most popular blog topic of all time), and her hummingbird animal totem
• Dr. Farmer distinguishes between a “totem animal” that is typically shared by a clan or group, such as sports teams will share mascots, and a “power animal” (not fostered in our culture) that indigenous tribes believed we are born with and stay with us throughout much of life to assist us with particular functions
• Steven Farmer shares a story about his initiation with snakes, and how shamans were once initiated by unleashing several rattlesnakes near him at a fire, and if he survived a bite he was indeed on the path to being a shaman (reference is made to a book called The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby (available at https://amzn.to/3luFAiR with a small gratuity supporting this show at no additional cost to you)
• They conclude discussing the importance of awareness and presence to recognize how we get messages from animals and in so many other ways in life, and Sheryl mentions that she is grateful for a more expansive spiritual life now in which she has gone from praying and not feeling/recognizing her answers to having a more dynamic Divine conversation supported by all life

…and so much more. Enjoy!

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