Last weekend I went to see a Peruvian Shaman who had journeyed to Malaga to give energy cleansings and healing.

Despite the fact that the ritual sounded a little bizarre, I decided to go and check it out.

To begin we were asked to write our intentions on a sheet of paper. We had to make two columns – the things we wanted to attract into our life, and the things we wanted to eliminate.

I found it far easier to list the things I wanted to attract, so I scribbled them down at once. The elimination list, however, proved more difficult. Nevertheless, finally I wrote down three or four, so I folded my paper and handed it in.

The Shaman gave us each a cup of herbal tea to begin the cleansing process. Then, he disappeared inside and one by one we went to see him. Using wooden sticks – or swords in cases involving the attachment of evil spirits – he navigated around our bodies to free any negative energy. And it was quite obvious when this energy had been freed as it left via dramatic orange sparks, visible for all to see.

Immediately after, we took a seashell full of a mysterious brown liquid, and sniffed the contents up our nose. This made many people feel extremely sick, and the intoxicating taste got trapped at the back of our throats making us cough.

But there was more to come.

Next he pulled out a bag of herbs, called Dragonsherb. This herb can only be eaten in ceremony. If it’s ingested outside of ceremony it can be very dangerous indeed, often resulting in heart attacks. He handed me a dose of Dragonsherb and I put some in my mouth and chewed slowly.

Almost instantly I felt incredibly nauseous. It didn’t help that by this time people all around me were throwing up into sick bags. Inevitably I threw up a few minutes later.

To finish the evening we sniffed a white powder up both nostrils to represent the things we wanted to attract into our lives, and the things we wanted to repel. That had everyone sneezing like crazy. Oh, and more sickness too.

At the end of it all, as I sat and analysed the night’s proceedings, I came to a very profound realisation.

I’d just spent €100 to take dubious substances and generally feel pretty dire (not to mention the  hallucinations). Ok, so we made our intentions for the evening, which is a powerful activity in itself. But I suddenly felt a little disillusioned. The only real source of power comes from within. I am responsible for my own power and my own reality (I knew that already), yet I’d just spent the last seven hours giving up my power to a Peruvian Shaman.

Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I think he was a fraud. Simply that everything he did that night I could have done myself, but without the nasty side effects.

The moral of this story is that you are the powerhouse in your life. No one else can ever be that for you.

When it comes to your writing, by all means set intentions – to achieve a bestseller, get a glowing review from the New York Times, etc… But for those intentions to come true, it’s YOUR focus that matters…YOUR power, YOUR magnetism, YOUR energy, and YOUR faith – yours, and no one else’s.

Love & Light

The Word Queen xxx