As a shaman, there is no governing body and no code written down anywhere. This gives me great freedom, but also much responsibility. To be a good steward of my gifts, I have decided to write out my creed as a shaman.
My Shaman’s Creed
As a shaman, I have been given spiritual gifts. I will not use these gifts in anger.
I will use these gifts to help, to heal and to teach; whenever and wherever I can.
I will be honest and open with the people I work with.
I will create a safe and sacred place to work.
I will consider anyone I have worked with to always be my client, unless they chose otherwise.
I will honor the old ways while walking my own path.
I will have a group of peers and mentors and meet with them often.
I will not claim perfection for myself. I am a hollow bone that Spirit uses to do Its work. The most I can claim is to be a very good hollow bone.
I will have daily spiritual practices that strengthen my body mind and spirit.
I will continuously be working to develop my gifts. There is always more to learn.
Although there needs to be an exchange in the work, I will always do a portion of my work for free. At times, the only exchange necessary is one of gratitude.
All my relationships with clients are sacred. I will not take advantage of anyone I work with in any way, including financially, physically, emotionally, sexually or spiritually.
Specifically, I will not touch anyone without permission. I will not have sex with a client.
I will always treat my clients with respect.
I will always be grateful for the chance to do the work that makes my heart sing.
In my teaching, I may use an anonymized version of a person’s experience of my work as long as it is truly anonymous and the person has not specifically prohibited it.
As much as humanly possible, I intend to live up this code. Being human, I will fall short. When I fail, I will ask how to make amends to those I have failed and will make those amends to the best of my ability.
Aho, Mitakuye Oyasin
11 March 2019
