PITFALLS
On the Animá Path of Self Growth, Self Realization, Service & Purpose

by Jesse Wolf Hardin
www.animacenter.org
Part 2

Anyone on a path of self growth, self realization and purpose distractions and comforting rationalizations, the over simplified ethnic romanticism, the imported and sanitized traditions, the non demanding relativism and easy ways out, and the get-enlightened-quick schemes that substitute for the real thing.  The following is the second in a series describing these dangerous or limiting Pitfalls on the path of personal growth and purpose, misconceptions and maladies that can hinder our understanding, development and manifestation.  Please feel to share these with friends, guaranteed to disrupt the pat thinking of New Age, spiritual and conservative audiences alike:

•   Healing As Self Sacrifice
The Animá Tradition does not require a life of either isolation or privation, only periodic times away from the social and consensual reality, and a periodic fast from habit and ease.  The practitioner may find that her entire constructed reality collapses around her, as part of her transformation and rebecoming.  But there is nothing she needs to surrender except her illusions.  We are defined not by what is given up, but by the gifts that we open to accept, and those that we naturally and purposefully give.

•  Defining Ourselves By Results
We may not always get the results desired, but that doesn’t mean we’re not necessarily good healers or activists. Healing depends on many varied factors, not least being the motivation, attitude and actions of the individual. And ultimately, no one escapes debility and death. Likewise, every success at protecting wilderness or society is conditional at best.  All any practitioner can do is give our all, to the best of our knowledge and ability, and then step back to allow the earth’s and client’s necessary natural healing processes.

•  The Problem With Being Too Easy
As teachers, facilitators and care-givers, many of us are understandably emotionally invested in those we give our time to, and yet we cannot allow ourselves to handicap our healing abilities by softening or withholding painful but important information. We need to make our recommendations even if the individual finds them difficult, discomforting or distasteful. And they cannot deal with their condition until they face it honestly.  Practitioners are characteristically compassionate, so we have to make an effort to balance that with discernment, clarity, decision, and even insistence.

•  The Dangers Of Permeability
The Animá Practitioner is also naturally empathic, meaning she is more adept than most at experiencing what her patients’ are going through, emotionally as well as physically and “spiritually.”  This is a crucial diagnostic aid, and can increase our motivation by deepening our sense of connection and drawing attention to what we share in common.  The danger lies in becoming too permeable and absorbent, taking on the symptoms or absorbing the distress of the patient.  The tribal shaman/healer who sometimes “sucked out” the diseases of the patient, also made it a point to retch or otherwise purge themselves afterwards. In a related way, we open up to the person’s feelings and condition, but strive not to take their distress, depression or fatigue home with us.

…to be continued

(To further deepen your study and practice we recommend enrolling in the various Animá 8 Week Courses described on the website, especially the introductory “Orientation, Principles & Pitfalls”)

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Categories: Jesse Wolf Hardin – Essays & Tales, Practicing Animá Lifeways

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