Human beings are evolved and concentrated points of higher awareness scattered throughout the physical plane. We shine like bright lights in an otherwise glowing landscape, growing more radiant and extending our light to all in our proximity. In this way we human beings are growing in awareness and helping the rest of the physical plane to grow brighter as well even if we don’t know it. The higher-self abides in our awareness of our own consciousness but we are often distracted from this higher self by focusing on thoughts, feelings, and perceptions seeking to define, explain and interpret our surroundings. In other words, we humans are so curious and fascinated by the goings on in the physical world that we forget who we are for long stretches of time. We begin to identify with our physical bodies and our very local personalities – projecting importance to everything that seems outside of ourselves and forgetting who and what we actually are. In a word, we humans choose to become small and compressed when we are actually spacious and transcendent.
When humans are aware of our higher selves there is nothing to be done, only being. After all, on an essence level what is there to do anyway? Doing only has to do with where things can be done and that is strictly on the physical plane. Doing is moving molecules and atoms around to form different objects that lead to experiences, perceptions, feelings, conclusions and so on. These are the activities of the dualistic mind actively engaged in explaining, interpreting, struggling, and trying to get things done, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not.
At all times we human beings are faced with quite a dilemma: to be conscious of Spirit within, to be radiant, and to be vast or to be strictly physical, myopically focused, and rebelliously, independently, painfully separate. On the surface it does not seem like much of a choice but in practice we actually do often choose horrific suffering over bliss because we are so contrary. Closer to the truth we may have the best of both worlds by being simultaneously conscious and aware of Spirit and likewise aware of our human physicality. They are not entirely in conflict with one another unless we think they are.
Over time shamans and mystics have developed good maps for understanding these paradoxes such as the tree of life, the medicine wheel, and various geometric forms. One of the best is the octahedron with three axes running through it. In an octahedron there is a point up above and a point down below and if we connect them with a line we have a vertical axis. Half way up are four points located in the four directions and if we connect the North and the South points together with a line and connect the East and the West points together with a line we have two more horizontal axes. We can then place ourselves standing inside the octahedron. The vertical axis going from the crown of our heads down through our hearts and perineum represents being. If we are facing North then the line that connects North and South going through our hearts represents the timeline with the South at our backs representing the past and the North toward our front representing the future. We are walking toward the future and leaving the past behind us so to speak. The line connecting East and West goes through our hearts from right to left. If we stretch our arms and hands out horizontally the line goes across from one hand and arm to the other hand and arm and beyond. This line is the action line and represents doing. Our hands and arms are the symbolic doers of our lives.
Both horizontal lines apply to our bodies and the physical aspects of ourselves that are located in time and space. The vertical line applies to our essence awareness and needs no time frame nor activities of a physical nature. It just always is and is completely content with ‘Am’-ing or ‘Is’-ing.
The place where the lines intersect, ideally in the heart region, is our assemblage point that gives us both being and identity. It gives us coordinates telling us who we think we are, where we think we are, and when we think we are. Although to our essence these identities are fictional, to the body they are real and necessary to being human. There is no problem when, on an essence level, we accept the fictional story line of our bodies and at the same time realize that in reality it is just a temporary story for the purpose of having experiences as a human. Problems arise when we overidentify with the body and forget or deny that we are anything but the storyline. This is the fate of most human beings at this time. In the end it is not really a problem but it does lead to a great deal of unnecessary suffering and that is unfortunate because we believe the suffering is absolutely inevitable.
Remote Healing
Each month, around the new and full moons, Jose, Lena or Anna leads a remote shamanic healing session. These approximately 30 minute sessions are designed to be experienced in a quiet, safe place free from distraction. Even if you cannot join live they can be very powerful, and always include a good clearing and beautiful icaros. Recording access is included for a short time afterwards. See the product description for dates and times.
Sometimes the assemblage point metaphorically gets a little too rigid, rusted in place, and fails to move enough for growth to take place and essence has to arrange for something to jar it loose. This can be an accident, a trauma, an illness, a shock, a sudden loss or gain that shakes our foundation up enough to question who we are. If the trauma is too great we can experience psychosis or lose track of our identity altogether. Then we lose our way for a while until we can get our bearings again.
The assemblage point can move in several ways. Where the three axes meet in the center there may be slippage as one axis slides slightly to the left or right, forward or back. Sometimes two axes move in relation to the third one or all three might move in slightly different ways. Then there is the possibility that the whole assemblage point shifts in relation to the body. It might move to the back or up toward one shoulder or in front of the chest. The heart or just in back of the heart is the most optimal place for the assemblage point in most people. Some placements however are not optimal for anyone and should be moved to the heart region for better overall results, that is if they know how to do it. It is actually quite easy through intent.
Advanced souls are able to move their assemblage points subtly and at will so they do not need trauma or shock. They can make small adjustments when needed and do so quite often. You might think of a musician playing a musical instrument like for example a saxophone, trumpet, or fiddle, moving the instrument to get different sounds or affects. Bringing the assemblage point to the crown chakra briefly can have the effect of tuning and adjusting it. Then it is returned to its usual spot if that is optimal, again simply by intending it.
Just as the body has its assemblage point so do culture, society, sub-culture, country, species, and so on. Imagine that larger groups such as these have assemblage points too and are located within larger octahedrons. If a culture, a country, a race, a species gets too rigid in its identity, these assemblage points can be induced to move by collective choice through massive traumas or changes that affect the entire country or world for that matter. A massive earthquake, war, a pandemic and the like can alter the identity of millions of people and in so doing enforce change on a massive level. The mass shift will cause individual assemblage points to shift as needed. Some will lose their minds, some will be paralyzed by fear, some will simply die, however many will adapt and use their creativity to grow in ways that they may not have grown had the change not come about. Obviously, this is what is happening now on a planetwide scale with the pandemic coupled with climate change and the breakdown of old, stale systems that people have grown used to but that don’t serve them anymore. Old models of health care, education, business, transportation and economy, to name just a few, are completely crumbling to make way for a new and different world, a new and different consciousness and set of identities.
When enough people adapt to the changes, the assemblage point settles into a new and somewhat different position and it begins to feel like a new normal. People often think of the historical days before the change as the bad old days or when people just didn’t know any better. Those people who lived then are thought of as quaint or amazingly ignorant and people sometimes chuckle at their naivete. That is exactly what people in our so-called future will say of us. “Wow, were they ever stupid.” Of course, they could very well be right. The question is will they also be stupid or will they be more awake? We will see. In the end it does not matter since it is all a movie for our learning and experience. We will discover that we had the tools to be fully realized all along. We did not have to go anywhere or do anything to be so. But we did seem to realize we needed an assemblage point shift of major proportions to get our attention and shift from externally focused to internally focused. If I project myself ahead and look back I can see that it worked out, by the skin of our teeth. It would be more interesting that way, more frightening and more thrilling.
And what of those who would have lost their minds, gone crazy, killed themselves, or died miserably? What will become of them? No problem. They all will have learned a lot by watching the events from another vantage point. When things have calmed down and assemblage points have found their new places they can begin to reincarnate again and adapt to new conditions, new programs, new norms and they will blossom like never before, or then again, perhaps not so soon.
In summary there are several take-away teachings from this short discussion. You need not be a victim of a massive assemblage point shift if you take responsibility for adapting and making the proper changes you need to make for your own growth. If the whole culture decides to have a massive assemblage point shift to wake up and you don’t need this roughshod method, you can witness it all around you but be unaffected by it personally. That does not mean callously ignoring others’ pain but it can mean you remain peaceful and happy with your own affairs. You are never a victim of anything so there is no one to blame or judge for these events. Just stay in your own lane and role model another way. Finally, an assemblage point shift can be a very effective tool for accelerating and you can choose a mild version as a method to make progress on occasion. A mild version might be tripping on a step, mildly bumping your head, getting let go from a job you did not like, being surprised by a loud noise, getting yelled at in a case of mistaken identity, riding a roller coaster, and so on. These are not meant to injure you, just get your attention in a sudden sort of way. In Spanish these are called ‘Sustos’: a sudden fright, and they jar your assemblage point loose in what can be a useful way. You can clear sustos like these rather easily in a number of ways including using some ceremonial smoke, offering some tobacco or corn meal, clearing with feathers or a medicine stone like citrine or obsidian, and doing the skeleton dance. Get ready to shake it loose. It can be so helpful.
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José Stevens
José Luis Stevens, PhD is the president and co-founder (with wife Lena) of Power Path Seminars, an international school and consulting firm dedicated to the study and application of shamanism and indigenous wisdom to business and everyday life. José completed a ten-year apprenticeship with a Huichol (Wixarika) Maracame (Huichol shaman) in the Sierras of Central Mexico. In addition, he is studying with Shipibo shamans in the Peruvian Amazon and with Paqos (shamans) in the Andes in Peru. In 1983 he completed his doctoral dissertation at the California Institute of Integral Studies focusing on the interface between shamanism and western psychological counseling. Since then, he has studied cross-cultural shamanism around the world to distill the core elements of shamanic healing and practice. He is the author of twenty books and numerous articles including Encounters With Power, Awaken The Inner Shaman, The Power Path, Secrets of Shamanism, Transforming Your Dragons and How To Pray The Shaman’s Way.
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