Thought I’d share my experience. I did a fair bit of study of everything, but when I really wanted to get serious, I did the following:
- There are many correct paths to spirituality but not ALL of them are correct.
- Is there a methodology that can show one how to learn ‘healthy’ spirituality?
(1) arose because I couldn’t understand the pagan sensibility that you shouldn’t judge anyone and that everything was correct. This seemed to defy common sense. If I practiced, say, Hawaii’n spiritual ways in the middle of a desert, they would seem superfulous and could even be lethal!
For (2) I looked to see if there were any examples of humans whom we could realiably say were ‘divorced’ from their original ecosystems and forced to take up a new spirituality. It turns out you can find examples everywhere. Here, I turned to the L.A. tribes. I was blessed with two examples, the Chumash, which popped up from 10-30 thousand years ago (depends on who you talked to) and the Tongva, who migrated to California a mere 4,000 years ago. Talking to those folks and reading their myths, you really got a sense of what forces they had to deal with, forces which are still abundantly potent today.
And that, my friends, is why I follow Sky-Coyote. 
But the story doesn’t quite end there. It’s irreverent, ignoble and downright rude (not to mention potentially dangerous) to just appropriate native rites and call them your own. You can get adopted into a tribe – that’s fine – and the forces that impacted them are the same ones that impacted you but your relationship is different.
So, I reached into my ancestor’s legends, both on the Taker side and the tribal side, and found ways to reconcile their forces. I’m still working on it but I can say I’m definitely set on a path and there’s enough synchronicity occuring that validates it that I’m comfortable with where I’m heading.
An example is needed (I think)…
I put to paper a piece called “White Road.” One part of it deals with a couple going to deal with Death for the sake of the world. The oldest legend of one set of my ancestors, the Norse, deals with three gods who went to the border between ice and fire. Their names translate to “Will”, “Sacred Way” and “Passion”. Together, they challenge the giant that lives there and recreate the world. “Passion” (Odin) goes on to rule the new gods.
Working with the premise that somebody did something, their story boils down to three people went to a place, challenged and overcame something and from it, the world as we know it emerged.
Now what do I know from my Taker heritage? According to our science, the pale-skinned Caucasians came from the North; their pale skin came from a relatively uncommon genetic condition that adapted well to a marginal climate. Also, these pale-skins risked everything to stay in that climate. There was a Paleolithic ‘choke point’ for the Caucasian cline, an event that damn neared wiped out everybody before the Ice Age ended.
So the two stories are both honored by being fused in a way that preserves the meaning and significance of both. Three godly brothers become a family. Their challenge ends up based on chance, but still changes the world. Passion still emerges to become the ‘head’ of a new people.
I know its a long-winded post but I guess what I’m trying to put forth is that there are footsteps out there that our ancestors have left for us. Start with the people that lived where you live, honor those that came from somewhere else and from that, re-wilded spirituality start to grow.
Shamans… heh. I like the way it’s phrased down here. In Los Angeles, the Tongva has a protected class of people, those who skills were so cool, so vital, that they were all considered ‘married’ to the head of the tribe. These people were the takers of sacred medicines (down here, that’s datura, a really rough hallucinogen that works be spiking a high fever), expert botanists (those that knew practically EVERY plant in detail), basket-weavers, dancers, singers, storytellers and (finally) bisexuals / homosexuals.
In their tradition, if I was a Tongva, I would be considered a sacred person. I like that, because it doesn’t give me weird powers / unfettered access to spirits / mega-healing. It’s just me.
Best
Bill Maxwell
