From the time I was fourteen, I knew I wanted to train with one of the traditional Native American doctors. And I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to train with Horace Daukei, one of the last surviving traditional doctors among the Kiowa Indian Tribe. Horace possessed what Native Americans refer to as “medicine.”  He worked in that realm referred to as the paranormal. Horace would at times take physical objects such as the end of a feather seeded with the healing powers he possessed and then project them into my body. And by doing so he was transmitting portions of his own healing gifts or powers to me. Horace would then have me go on the vision quest in order to earn the right to work with these gifts of healing. The vision quest is a traditional Native American healing practice that involves going out to fast alone in the mountains for four days and nights without food or water.

After training with Horace for a few years, I reenrolled in college where I spent the next few years putting my head back together. The whole new age movement was emerging during that time. I was initially very happy to see all these people opening up to and exploring various esoteric traditions. And yet I found myself feeling very disillusioned before long.

Why? I felt disillusioned because I found so much of the new-agey spirituality to be so fufu. I encountered lots of people with a very “spiritual” mindset or attitude and yet they possessed no real discipline, commitment to evolve or actual power. This newly emerging spiritually felt more like an escape for many people.

There were and still are lots of people wanting to become healers. It’s wonderful to see people wanting to be of service to others. But what I found so disappointing is that many people were going through a few months of training or even as little as three weekend workshops and then assuming the title of master healer?

What?

Are you crazy?

Three weekends of training and you think you’re a master healer?!

I strive to be open-minded. And I wouldn’t in any way want to discourage anyone who possesses the aptitude to become a gifted healer from doing so. We have a whole planet full of deeply wounded people, many of whom are actually taking an active role in destroying the planet, perpetrating acts of violence and enacting all kinds of other dysfunction.

We need a lot more gifted healers to facilitate the healing of our individual and collective woundedness. We also need to understand that becoming a healer is a long and arduous path that requires many years of intensive training. There is no instant enlightenment or realization of magical healing powers here. And there are no shortcuts.

I started developing the ability to read through the subtle bodies consisting of the chakras and layers of the aura during my twenties.  I would sometimes read the auras of people that had been emotionally, physically and sexually abused as children. The chakras and layers of the aura of so many of these individuals had failed to fully develop. They were also in many instances grossly damaged or disfigured.

Some of the people whose auras I read had gone through numerous Reiki sessions. And yet when I looked into the aura, I could still see that the chakras and layers of the aura were still very much damaged and disfigured. All those Reiki sessions had not done anything to correct the damage or heal the deep emotional wounds.

Our life experiences along with any subsequent cognitive and emotional responses need to go through a process in which they are digested. The unfortunate thing is that many of us have learned from an early age to disconnect from our feelings and physical bodies. All those unprocessed emotions and other accumulated stresses break down, putrefying within the body. And that’s one of the primary reasons why so many people are holding tremendous amounts of stagnation in their bodies.

Many of the people whose auras I’ve read that have done extensive Reiki, Polarity and other forms of “energy work” were still holding a great deal of stagnation in their bodies. The energy work was not cleaning up or transforming all that heavy stagnant content that had accumulated within their bodies.

Reiki talks about there being a transmission. All one has to do is sign up for level I, II or III, pay whatever the “three weekend workshop master” is charging and you too can receive the Reiki transmission.

The new age has a way of trivializing the ancient spiritual traditions that it comes into contact with. It’s absurd that someone could be so audacious, ignorant or just plain stupid as to assume mastery after a few weekends of training. It would be more honest if they referred to themselves as level I, II or III Reiki practitioners.

I have been training with a master from China in the internal martial arts of Xin Yi Quan, Baguazhang, Tai Chi and Chi Gong since 2002. Sifu Li Tai Liang, like so many other individuals who have attained mastery in these disciplines before him went through a minimum of four hours of intensive daily practice for many years before he ever assumed the title of master.

Transmissions of healing gifts and other powers are very much a part of many of the ancient spiritual traditions. All kinds of trouble can arise if these transmissions are passed out indiscriminately. There was always the possibility of tremendous harm being done if these powers were misused. These transmissions would also become very much diluted, actually losing their power and significance if they were passed onto too many people. And that’s why these transmissions were very much protected by those who held them. These transmissions were only passed down from mentor to apprentice. And they were passed on to one or at most a few individuals at any given time. 

There have been and will be times in your life, when you will need the intervention of a western allopathic physician or a dentist. How would you feel if you learned that supposed physician or dentist had only a few months or even worse, a few weekends of training? Would you have any faith or confidence in their ability to attend to your health care needs? How then can you take seriously anyone who claims to be a healer after only a few months or weekends of training?

What if there were no standards of credibility and anyone on a whim could enter the medical profession. Imagine if medical schools were cranking out cardiologists, neurologists and oncologists in three weekends. Now envision yourself, a loved one or close friend having serious medical issues such as a heart attack or stroke and you’re in urgent need of health care. You wouldn’t know where to go, who was qualified or who you could trust to address your health care needs. Many people’s health care needs would not be getting addressed. Many would continue to suffer unnecessarily and even die.

And these days there are so many people calling themselves shamans that have never spent time among Native Americans or any other group of indigenous people. The things they’re doing that they’re calling shamanism do not in any way resemble any of the traditional Native American healing practices that I’m familiar with. These neo-shamans certainly do not possess the power that the traditional Native American doctors possessed.

A young Jamaican woman that had suffered horrendous childhood emotional, physical and sexual abuse showed up in my class a few years ago. I could see and feel a lot of dissonance and emotional volatility when I looked into her physical and subtle bodies after class. She shared with me at one point that she had been screaming, convulsing and having flashbacks when she participated in shamanic circles and did Reiki sessions.

It saddens me to see this young woman and so many other people like her so deeply wounded, suffering from anxiety and depression and deeply traumatized not getting the help they need. But that’s what happens in our modern-day world where the facilitators do not possess the gifts or power needed to facilitate the much-needed healing. It also happens because people in our modern-day world are lacking the sophistication in these matters to know what is legitimate and what is not.

There were many exceptionally powerful doctors among the various Native American tribes in times past. These doctors worked as conduits allowing other forces or beings to work through them to facilitate healing that would not have otherwise been possible. Many operated in the realm of the paranormal. And they were known among the tribes for their specific gifts of healing. People would seek out a doctor based upon the kind of “medicine” or specific gifts of healing power that he or she possessed.

The transmission of “medicine” or healing powers that I received from my mentor Horace and the other gifts I received during the many vision quests have enabled me to act as a conduit for forces that I would have would not have otherwise had access to. These beings facilitate the healing of a wide range of health-related issues including digestive, respiratory and neurological as well as sports injuries or those resulting from automobile accidents. Some of the people I work with describe sensations of hands doing reconstructive work within the body.

The presence working through me during the individual healing sessions is also specifically suited for addressing traumatic wounding. The beings that work through me soften and diffuse the highly charged emotional content held within the body so that it can be digested and then integrated as a functional aspect of the self. Corrective changes are made in the biochemical makeup and neurostructure of the brain. The chakras and layers of the aura that help to facilitate the processing of our life experiences and subsequent emotional responses are developed in stages. 

Native Americans have for many centuries worked with the forces of nature. More recent generations have sadly lost touch with much of the ancient wisdom and power. But in times past, there were many exceptionally powerful doctors among the various Native American tribes that possessed a wide range of healing gifts.

Native people were very familiar with these practices and had firsthand experience with these powerful forces of healing because it was so much a part of their traditional culture. The vast majority of people in our modern-day world have absolutely no point of reference because they have in most instances never experienced the intervention of these powerful forces. And some of those who do have the opportunity to experience this power are frightened by it.

I have on so many occasions seen people from developing nations buying and wearing cheap imitation watches, jewelry and clothing. And many people nowadays are eating all kinds of cheaply produced processed foods loaded with refined sugar, artificial colors and other garbage. One could argue that they are poor, but in many instances, I have found that these people lack the sophistication to distinguish between the good stuff and garbage. Apparently, many people in our modern-day world lack the sophistication possessed by people of indigenous and other ancient traditional cultures when it comes to healing and spiritual development. And that’s why they go for the fufu new-agey nonsense.

Healing traditions varied from one tribe to another. Among the Kiowa and other Native American tribes that I’m familiar with, you would apprentice with one of the older traditional doctors during the latter part of their life. Your mentor would then transmit all or a portion of the medicine or healing power that they possessed.

After receiving that transmission, you were expected to go through the vision quest, that involves fasting alone in the mountains for the four days and nights without food or water to earn the right to work with the gift of healing that had been transmitted to you. It’s during the vision quest that other forces or beings come to you. These forces or beings will at times test you to determine if you are truly worthy. In some instances, you will receive additional gifts of healing or other kinds of power.

I first went on the vision quest during my apprenticeship with Horace. I missed a number of years during my twenties, but I started returning to the Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma around the time I turned thirty-one. I have been returning in both the spring and fall to continue with the vision quest since that time. Parts of the vision quest are in many ways like a near-death experience. I began to access and heal much of the trauma resulting from the abuses I suffered during my childhood and adolescence. It was during the vision quest that I received the additional gifts that have enabled me to facilitate the healing of the physical body and the deep emotional wounds.

There are many different healing traditions throughout the world. These healers possess different kinds of gifts or healing powers. Some of the traditional Philippine healers have the ability to reach into the body with their bare hands to perform surgery and remove tumors. I had the opportunity to work with one of the Pilipino healers in my late twenties. I later worked with Mauricio Panisset, a Brazilian healer. Flashes of light were occurring in the room as he worked with people that in many ways resemble the night sky lighting up during a thunderstorm. At one time, I was also fortunate to have a Nepali Sadhu transmit a very powerful healing presence to me. I felt as though I had the sun was radiating in the middle of my chest when I laid down to go to sleep afterwards.

As I mentioned earlier in this chapter, gifted healers from the diverse traditions through out the world act as conduits in that they allow other forces or beings to work through them to facilitate healing that would not otherwise be possible.

The beings that work through me during the individual healing sessions repair damage within the physical and subtle bodies. The chakras and layers of the aura go through an extensive process of development as they are constructed in stages. Some people describe feeling sensations of hands going into their bodies to do regenerative work. The heavy stagnant emotional content held within the body is transmuted in such a way that it can be integrated as a functional aspect of the individual.

I would very much like to see more people develop the capacity to facilitate the healing of the body – mind and the deep emotional wounds. You may possess the aptitude to facilitate such profound levels of healing. But it’s highly unlikely that you will ever develop the capacity to work at this level if all you do is become another of those weekend workshop masters.

If you’re truly committed, then I would encourage you to seek out the most exceptionally powerful healers and work with them whenever the opportunity presents itself. And if you’re receptive and they recognize your potential, then it’s quite possible that one of these gifted healers will take you on as an apprentice. It may require that you travel to other parts of the world such as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines. And you’re probably going to have to go native by staying or even living for extended periods of time among the people and becoming fully immersed in the culture.

Most of the traditional healing practices among the Native Americans have died out, but there are still individuals practicing in some communities. If you develop close ties with people in some of the Native communities, you might be able to connect with someone that could eventually sponsor you to go through the vision quest or participate in the sun dance. 

Think of the sacrifices that people who have become allopathic physicians go through in order to practice medicine. In the United States, doctors complete a four-year undergraduate degree program in pre-med or biological science, spend four years in medical school and then do another three to seven years of residency training before they are eligible for medical licensing. Many of those who study medicine run up tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Becoming a gifted healer is going to require equal, if not greater commitment and sacrifice on your part.