Visionary Shamanism: Activating the Imaginal Cells of the human energy field

Linda Star Wolf has been a visionary teacher and shamanic guide to thousands of people over the last 35 years. Starting out as a therapist in the mental health and addictions fields in the 1980s, Star Wolf is a nationally certified alcohol and drug counselor who draws from her personal experience of recovery from addiction. Dedicating her life to helping others to release dysfunctional patterns of all kinds and to radically transform their lives, she teaches people how to awaken to the BIGGER picture, embody their own inner Visionary Shaman and step into a life of passionate purpose.

Linda and Anne Dillon are co-authors of “Visionary Shamanism: Activating the imaginal cells of the human energy field.”
Below is an interview with Linda Star Wolf…

1. Despite these volatile times, you want us to know there is hope. How does Shamanism figure in to this and how can it help our world?

The universe has existed for billions of years and the Earth has been around for somewhere between 3.5 and 7 billion years. There is a much a bigger story than one person, one nation or even one world. The Shamanic perspective understands that we are all inherently connected. Shamanism is a big enough concept that embraces humanity, all of the creatures and the cosmos. It teaches us that we can listen to our bodies, minds, spirits and emotions and gather wisdom from the spiritual realms, the natural world, the past, the present and the future in order to give birth to new ways of being. My hope is that we have reached a time within our human journey when evolution has sped up. It no longer takes generations to change something. Now we can make our life anew several times in one life time by letting go of what is not working (a job, a relationship, an addiction, a way of treating our planet) and creating something new in it’s place.

2. What is Shamanic Breathwork™ and why does it matter?

The Shamanic Breathwork™Process is a highly transformative and accelerated journey to be the best we can be. We reach this higher self by releasing past experiences that keep us stuck, dealing with our present selves, and by opening up to our future selves – our visions and dreams of who we are becoming. Shamanic Breathwork™ uses a combination of a cyclical breathing technique, evocative trance music, focused body work, art processes, group sharing and ceremony to release whatever is holding us back in life. It helps each person find their unique connection to the Divine and get clarity about next right actions for making real change. We need accelerated practices like this during these accelerated times. We must transform ourselves now, open ourselves up to a much bigger picture of what is possible and go about co-creating a new future for our lives and for our planet.

3. How has your own battle with addiction helped you to help others?

There’s been tons of research on recovery from addictions. The number one thing that people say helps them feel safe enough to talk about their deepest issues is when they feel met and understood. It is much easier to have that kind of empathy when you’ve had similar experiences. My own experience with addiction gives me a tremendous amount of compassion and respect for what people are going through. Part of my own inner belief system is that we are all addicted to something whether it is TV, caffeine, sugar, exercise, credit, and petroleum. If we can each think of one thing that we are having a hard time giving up, perhaps we can have more compassion and understanding for someone struggling with a more debilitating addiction.

4. You believe it’s important to learn not just from the past, but also to download information from the future. How can that be possible?

In breathwork, we travel to the past, to everything that has ever happened in this lifetime or other lifetimes because it is all contained in the cellular memory and DNA. We visit the past, release the energy that is stuck and then we are able to create a new energetic feeling so we have effectively changed the past. If we can revisit the past and change how we think and feel about it in the present then why do we think that we cannot also visit the future and use that vision to change the present?

5. What does Venus Rising mean and how does it deal with such psychological issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and addiction?

Venus Rising was a name I heard in my head 16 years ago as I was coming out of a very difficult time of grief and loss in my own personal and professional life. The energy of Venus is about Higher Love and Wisdom, about rising above drama, trauma and old patterns. I created Venus Rising for my own rebirth so I could bring my sacred purpose forth more fully our own psyches and help others to heal their own psyches, we heal the world around us.

Venus Rising has helped thousands transform issues like PTSD, depression, anxiety and addiction. People in traditional mental health are often very concerned about the lack of real healing happening with these conditions. Through the breathwork we help people to touch into extreme states that need to be brought forth and healed. We understand that everything that has ever happened in our lives is held in the body, in the cellular memory. Whenever something traumatic happens to us, part of being human is that we have this really incredible skill of disassociation. Part of us disassociates from the experience because it seems too painful or scary at the time to really fully feel what is happening. This could be combat in a war, a car wreck or injury, losing a relationship or a loved one or not getting the kind of nurturing we needed as children. Whatever the traumatic experience was, it is still alive in our bodies until it can be felt and released. This release allows real healing to happen and it frees up our energy to get on with really living instead of working so hard to keep those feelings at bay all the time.

6. Shamanic Breathwork™ has conquered addictions and stress related diseases, without medications. How can it help us to heal our world?

Shamanic Breathwork works with the whole person – body, mind, spirit and emotions- and it is guided by the person’s own inner healer. Once this self-healing takes place, people are much more able to let go of their dysfunctional patterns and step up into lives of passionate service. Every person affects at least 100 people in their own lives. If 20 people heal themselves, 2,000 people are touched by their transformation. This can translate into global healing. The answer is to be the change we want to see.

7. How has Breathe America~Breathe the World helped to spread goodwill?

Breathe America~Breathe the World are free days of Shamanic Breathwork offered by Venus Rising Staff and by our congregations around the world. Breathwork has supported me for nearly three decades. It’s been good to me on every level – my own healing, the healing of many of my friends and family, healing for my clients. It is my sacred work in the world and my right livelihood. My staff and many facilitators around the world are now living their sacred purpose and their right livelihood with Shamanic Breathwork, too. Breathe America~Breathe the World is our way of giving back. I’d like to see doctors and lawyers and professionals of all kinds all over the world give away their skills at least one day every year . It would create an awful lot of good will in the world.

8. Where will our planet be in 50 years if we don’t take action now?

If we continue in the same path for the next 50 years, it is very probable that we will be in a much more extreme state of breakdown than we are currently experiencing. Having said that, I also believe that if we just look at the past 20 – 25 years, we can see that there has been massive awakening of consciousness. We can see it in spiritual movements, in the development of green technology, in the young people who are protesting corporate greed and repressive governments all over the world in massive numbers. The quicker we can raise consciousness, the quicker people can feel empowered and step into their sacred purpose, the quicker we can create an optimistic 2062.

9. Why is it in our enlightened self-interest to do good for mankind?

I’ve come to learn that if I am doing something that fills me up, brings love out of my heart, is passionate and brings a sense of well being into my life, it helps me to awaken and support others in finding their joy. It becomes a win-win-win situation. When I help another person to awaken and find joy, that person is served. Each person touches the lives of at least 100 other people – so all of those people are being served. I’m being served because it is supporting what I love to do and my right livelihood – and therefore it is serving my children and grandchildren. When we do good for mankind we create a better world for 7 generations.

10. How can we change the mindset of those who are resistant to change?

In terms of people whose minds are set, there are basically two sets of people: those who are so comfortable that they have no desire to change, and those who are numb and have given up hope that change is possible. The way to reach those people is to be the sort of person that attracts people to you. If we really change our own lives and then put ourselves out there as happier, more integrated people who are living more fully, people will notice that. They will say, “There is just something about you!” Then the people come to us. And when they come to us they are essentially saying, “Help me change my mind.” There are tons of ways that we can educate and transmit information, through books, classes, speeches and so on, but the most important way is by how we live.

11. If we’re not aware of what the blocks from our past are, how can we possibly heal them?

Sometimes it helps not to know. Sometimes people have done a ton of therapy when they come to us and they think they know what all their issues are. The best way to do this process is to create a blank slate of your expectations and be open to see what comes up. Shamanic Breathwork can really by-pass the mind and our pre-determined judgments and beliefs about ourselves. When we breathe, a new consciousness and awareness comes right up. Shamanic Breathwork by-passes the ego and shows us our patterns from a higher perspective, without judgment. It’s simply a new awareness that makes it clear what needs to change for our well being. And then we begin to make real changes in our lives.

12. A New Kind of Minister Is Helping People From all Walks of Life: What is the Shamanic Ministers Global Network and how can it help us to accelerate our spiritual evolution?

It is comprised of ministers ordained by Venus Rising to help awaken consciousness and accelerate transformation in the world. It is not limited by creed, religion, belief system or geography. It is global in it’s perspective and can be incorporated into any belief system that is life affirming. Shamanic Ministers share a common understanding that all healing starts from within, that we all possess our own direct connection to the Divine, and that as we heal ourselves, we can heal the world.

13. If there were one message you could impart what would it be?

It’s not too late! I see miracles happen every day. I watch people change all the time. There are so many people waking up. I look back at what I have been able to create in relatively hostile conditions in my own life and I imagine what people might be able to create now in a more advanced, awakened world. Right now, right here, we all have the chance to become visionaries, to let go of dysfunctional patterns and to create a new future. It is time for us to own our Divinity and do our part to inspire others. Humanity can awaken much more quickly- but it won’t happen unless I do it, unless you do it, unless we do it together…

Star Wolf has upcoming events in such cities as Portland – 2/22 – 2/25, Seattle – 2/17 & 2/18, and Asheville, North Carolina – 3/9 & 3/24. For more information you can visit her web site at http://shamanicbreathwork.org/