Shamanic Archetypes

 

Shamanic Archetypes

There are certain Shamanic Archetypes that are considered allies of Shamans. The main ones are Serpent, Jaguar, Hummingbird, Condor/Eagle, Huascar, Quetzalcoatl, and Pachakuti. In this work, we can learn to communicate with them and invite them to become powerful friends and trusted allies.

 

Serpent helps heal on the physical level and moves us through the medicine wheel in the south.

Jaguar helps heal on the emotional level and moves us through the medicine wheel in the west.

Hummingbird helps heal on the mythic level and moves us through the medicine wheel in the north.

Condor/Eagle helps heal on the spirit level and moves us through the medicine wheel in the east.

Huascar helps heal on the unconscious level, the world of shadow and helps us to move into wholeness.

Quetzalcoatl helps heal on the conscious level and brings us into right relationship with our everyday life.

Pachakuti helps heal on the super-conscious level and moves into union with spirit in the realm of divine transformation.

Archetypes

Archetypes represent seeds of potential and new possibility. They can grow from within our chakras and form a new way of being in reality. Shamans weave new stories into the fabric of existence in this way. 

By working with the archetypes and being in relationship with them, we are learning to do exactly this. We all have the seeds within us. 

Fire ceremonies are a way of activating the life inside the seeds so they can grow in strength and power. The more we work with the archetypes in fire ceremonies, the more our relationship with all of reality can change.

Serpent:

Each of the archetypal animals exudes a different flavor of energy. Serpent symbolizes healthy detachment, sexuality, purification, and healing.

Serpent has always represented the healing power of nature. The serpent teaches us to shed our past as easily as she sheds her skin so we may walk with beauty, unguarded, on the belly of the Mother.

Jaguar:

Where serpent represents the power of healing which is gradual and incremental; jaguar transforms us with stealth and swiftness. That which endures is always changing and renewing itself; that which remains unchanged perishes. With the help of jaguar, we can regenerate and transform our bodies for rapid healing. We can also age gracefully and elegantly. Within this transformation, we must let the old ways die so the new can be reborn. Consider the metaphor that we have nine lives, like cats. When we reach the end of one of these lifetimes (others might call them stages or phases), it is important to give the old self a decent burial, and then leap like a jaguar into who we are becoming. It is essential to hold onto nothing or we can easily get caught in a perpetual loop of trying to heal or fix what we have already outgrown.Jaguar teaches us to step beyond fear, violence and death.

Hummingbird:

Represents the courage required to embark on an epic journey, much like hummingbirds migrate over the Atlantic every year from Brazil to Canada. Once touched by the energies of this archetype, we are propelled on our own epic journey that eventually leads us back to our source, where our spirit was spawned. When you do not have enough time, money or know-how for what you are attempting, hummingbird can provide the courage and guidance necessary for success. Hummingbird drinks only from the nectar of life, seeking the flowers not the garbage, knowing stillness even in motion. Not built for flight yet undertaking and accomplishing the impossible journey.

Condor or Eagle:

Eagle perceives the entire panorama of life without becoming bogged down in its details. The energies of eagle assist us in finding the guiding vision of our lives. The eyes of the condor see into the past and the future, helping to know where we come from, and who we are becoming. Eagle allows us to rise above the mundane battles that occupy our lives and consume our energy and attention. Eagle gives us wings to soar above trivial day-to-day struggles, into the high peaks close to Heaven. Eagle and condor represent the self-transcending principle in nature. Eagle pushes us out of the nest to spread our own wings so that we may always fly wing to wing with the Great Spirit.

Huascar:

Lord of life, Lord of death -the harmonizing principle of the Lower World, our inner world. He/she is the renewer of the Earth and our own personal need of renewing those fields that are fallow, those places that need aerating. The gift of Huascar is a harmonic relationship with our inner shadow and hidden places.

Quetzalcoatl:

Lord of the dawn, Day Bringer, Morning Star. Quetzal is a beautiful jungle bird and coatl is the feathered serpent represented by the Caduceus of Western Medicine. As the organizer of the middle world, when you come into relationship with Quetzalcoatl you don’t have to micromanage your life.

Pachakuti:

Keeper of the possibilities and the organizing principle of the heavenly Upper World, Pachakuti embodies the concept of circular time, stepping outside of linear time to make time stand still and bring heavenly order.