I am a 56-year-old Caucasian woman living near Denver, Colorado. (I have ancestors who were of the Sami people, and it comes out in my physical appearance, but I was not raised in their culture, so basically I'm pretty whitebread.)
I've performed spiritual work for the last quarter century. I may use a drum to help put my mind into a trance state. I may dance. I may seek guidance and assistance from nature spirits. I may play a flute. I may use physical representations of a spirit in an attempt to help connect with them. But I do not claim to be a "shaman", nothing I do is taken from Native American rituals (nor do I claim it to be), and I have never charged for my services.
I have recently joined an online group on "Shamanism", and I have been amazed at the drivel some people spout as "truth". There are a decent number of people in the group who appear to be sincere, and do not label themselves as a "shaman", but they seem to be the minority.
The newage sewage from some of the group's members led me to introspectively seek to make sure none of my own practices are tainted by such things, and I believe my spiritual practices are "clean".
The bogus claims by some people have also led me to find out more about spiritual frauds in general, so that I can help others who may be sincere in their goals but run the risk of being duped by hucksters. And for that reason, after learning about NAFPS, I requested permission to post in its forums.
Thank you for accepting me into your group. I look forward to much learning from the writings found here.
-- Eris
