Luke: Blue Eagle, could every one be a shaman, or every one who has interest in being one?

Blue Eagle: Traditionally, no. It was something reserved to a very special kind of person who was ready to undergo trials and very extreme experiences that would project him out of the body, so as to be able to do this subsequently at will. So, the main training, traditionally, for shamans, was suffering and death. Actual death was sometimes a method of training. Like the documented experience where an Inuit shaman took his apprentice out on the ice, made a hole in the ice, and then tied his apprentice on a pole. Still tied to the pole he plunged him under the water, tied the pole there and he left him there for three days. He came back three days later, took him out of the water, woke him up, because that is one of the gifts a shaman has, to be able to call the soul back, and being in ice cold water, of course, his body was well preserved. And then he asked him what journey he had experienced in the other worlds. This was witnessed by Western people, who documented it.

So, traditionally, shamanism is an experience which is conveyed through suffering and death. But there is a whole culture around shamanism, which is unity with nature, and without having to be a shaman, shamanism as a way of life, as a method of communication with nature, and with Spirit World, is something that is open to everybody. It gives a way for everybody to understand things that are not really conveyed in Western civilization. So, everyone can have an understanding of shamanism, and can have experiences and techniques that help them to communicate with nature and make their life better.
But a true shaman is a very rare thing; I have seen a lot of people call themselves shamans, but actual shamans, I have met about three times in my lifetime amongst the old Indian people. But true shamans are quite exceptional people, they are all different. All of them have different gifts, very unique gifts, that come from their personal experience of going to Spirit World and talking to the Spirits there directly.

Luke: And, making a distinction, for us, ordinary people, how would be a way to find out about our talents, about our way of making contact with nature?

Blue Eagle: Well, the shaman has the ability to help people go into Spirit World, and bring them back in a secure manner. For example, I did this last week-end with people to meet their crystal totem. In this way, they can go and meet with their totems, the totem animals that are with them. It is said that as long as people are not conscious of their totem animal, they have no conscious contact with them, they cannot call upon their energy. Once they know who their totem animal is, then they can use its energy in their everyday life. People can also learn how to communicate with their spirit guardians. We all have different guardians from every kingdom, from the vegetal kingdom, from the mineral kingdom, from the animal kingdom, and from the human kingdom. We have what we call actually our ancestors, and they are always with us, but when we don't know them, when we have no way of communicating with them, then the possibility for them to influence our daily life is very low, they don't have a lot of lea way. But if we know of them, and this is something we can discover together very easily, because we can accompany the person through and into the Spirit World, and back, in a secure manner, and they can learn how to talk with them, learn who their totem animals are, and who the Spirit Guardians are, and in this way, this can add a lot of power to their lives. Knowing the totems helps to better understand themselves, and they will have more impact on the world around them, because they will be working with forces which actually influence the world in which we live.