[NoraSpinnor]

The shamanic path is often marked by rupture. Something breaks within or around you, and what once made sense no longer holds. Though these moments are trying, they are also transforming. In the shamanic path, pain is required before one can begin.

Have you lived through a crisis that felt like an initiation? What did it strip away, and what did it awaken?

[OffRoadReed420]

Yeah. I been through one of those. Wrecked my bike few years back. Wasn’t sure I was gonna make it. One minute I’m flyin down the highway, wind in my face, feelin free. Next thing I know, I’m layin in a ditch starin up at the sky, blood in my mouth, thinkin… so this is it. But it wasn’t.
Something changed after that. Like the world cracked open. All the stuff I thought mattered just drained right outta me. Felt like I’d been peeled clean. That crash stripped away the life I was tryin to hold together. And in the quiet that came after, I saw what I really wanted. Not a bigger paycheck. Not status. Just truth. And room to live it.
It hurt like hell. Still does sometimes. But it woke me up. Whole new trail opened after that. And I been walkin it since.

[AshSongbird]

My mother died when I was 16. For a while, I didn’t know how I’d make it through… The world kept moving, but I felt distant from it, like I was only half-there.

I started turning to the old ways, at first because I needed comfort, but over time, because I could feel them working. I began connecting with my ancestry because I needed it. I was searching for something that could still reach her… and it did.

Before that, I thought I understood Native spirituality but I was just repeating what I’d been taught. After her death, I started to feel the truth of it. The ceremonies became alive. I could feel her presence again, especially when I sit with the drum or walk alone at night… she’s part of that world now, and I can feel it.

The grief broke me… but that break became a path. I’m still walking it… will be the rest of my life

[Laura]

CW: I’ve experienced many crises across this life – almost dying from my gallbladder at 17, being SA and raped by my ex bf at 17, my parents nasty divorce at 18, but the biggest one was the house fire in 2010 when mom almost died, followed by my 1st C-section and feeling everything and almost losing the kid.

[NoraSpinnor]

That is a lot to deal with, I’m sorry you had to go through all that! Along with this board, I’m eventually going to be creating a board specifically related to recovery from trauma. It will also be covered in depth in my alchemy book. Trauma doesn’t have to be a life sentence, and we can transmute it into a strength with a lot of work. The Netism community page is just starting out, but in time, we will have a community of support for each other. Welcome!

[Author]

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