Jose Luis Stevens - How to Pray the Shamans Way

Copyright 2021 by Jos Luis Stevens, PhD

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this work in any form whatsoever, without
permission in writing from the publisher, except
for brief passages in connection with a review.

Cover design by Emma Smith

Cover art by Dusan Petkovic || Shutterstock and
Subin Pumsom || Shutterstock

Illustration by Alila Medical Media || Shutterstock

Part Page Illustration by Elena Shchukina || Shutterstock

Print book interior design by Frame25 Productions

Hierophant Publishing

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021930755

ISBN: 978-1-950253-12-8

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This book is dedicated to all my teachers
who taught me something about prayer.

Guadalupe Candelario

Rafael Candelario

Maria Candelaria Lopez

Herlinda Augustine Fernandez

Enrique Sinuiri Flores

Mahatma Gandhi

Paramahansa Yogananda

Jesus of Nazareth

Thomas Merton

Teresa of Avila

Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha)

Satnam Khalsa

Babaji

Patanjali

Rumi

Thich Nhat Hanh

Sri Aurobindo

Dalai Lama

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

Zen Master Seung Sanime

Lewis Bostwick

Paul Selig

Sergio Magana

Lao Tzu

Black Elk

Pachamama

All my allies

And innumerable others

Thank you, Spirit, for
manifesting peace in our world.
Thank you for teaching me how to be peaceful.
Thank you for the peace I feel inside now.
May I be a catalyst for peace in the world.
May I live peacefully.
I Am at peace, I Am at peace.

Under a blanket of stars, a shaman gazes into a deep, still
pool of water. In the moonlight, the reflection of the shaman's
face and the night sky shines back. The shaman asks
aloud, What is inside this reflection, this mirror of me?

He hears a response that comes from both inside
and outside of himself: You are the same as all
the stars above you. You are present in the whole
universe. The energy that is inside them is inside of
youas you and the universe are one.

In prayer, the shaman makes a conscious effort to align herself with the energy of Life, because at the deepest level, she knows that all is one. The art of prayer is in the expression of this ancient truth through word, gesture, and movement. This rich practice, performed by countless voices over millennia in every culture on Earth, finds renewed vitality in Jos Stevens's beautiful book.

The Toltec tradition to which I belong shares many of the perspectives this book discusses on the varied purposes of prayer:

As medicine. Prayer exists in every language, every tribe, every tradition. When it comes from the heart, prayer can send potent healing energy to or from the one who prays.

In service. Just as trees are in service to lifegiving fruit, shade, energy, and supportthe act of prayer is a service to all beings, nurturing positive energy, compassion, relationship, and kindness.

As gratitude. In prayer, we honor the power of Being and give thanks for the miracle of our existence. Prayer focuses us and reminds us to appreciate and celebrate our most valuable giftthe vibrancy of life that radiates through and around us in every given moment.

As remembrance. The shaman knows that the ancestors and elders who have moved beyond this world live on within us, walking alongside us throughout our whole life. Prayer offers the opportunity to reach across time and space to honor their wisdom and guidance, knowing that one day we will become ancestors ourselves.

As wisdom. Through prayer, we ask for clarity in finding the answers that are most often already inside us. We drink in the nectar of the flower that is our memory, experience, and intuition. Prayer creates the space for us to remember who we truly are.

As both a question and its answer. In a time of need, in a time of pain, in a time of doubt, prayer gives us the strength to overcome life's challenges. In prayer we often ask questions, but the shaman knows that the act of praying is, in itself, an answer.

And finally:

Prayer is a seed. A seed is potential energy. All energy needs a container, and prayer is that container. The shaman goes inside herself, creates and focuses her intent, and then releases it into the living world through word, movement, ritual, or song. When we shift the power of our intent toward the manifestation of good things for the world and then surrender ourselves to the flow of life without attachment to outcomes, it is not so rare to find that the Universe steps in to help in surprising and unexpected ways.

In my tradition, I am a Nagual (shaman) in the Eagle Knight lineage, but in my view, a shaman can be anyone who prays from the heart and for the benefit of all beings. As a shaman, you understand that your whole life is the prayer. You are acquainted with the energy of life itself. Your finely tuned intent controls and creates a beautiful dream, so that whatever stories you tell hold the fruit of your awareness, the vision of what is inside the reflection in the water. Your stories remind others that they too are expressions of this dynamic and magnificent energy of life.

We are each of us no different than Jesus, Moses, Buddha, or all the great masters of Indiaanother thing I love about this book is that Jos draws from the wisdom of many different traditions. We have all been given the ability to sharpen our awareness and hone our intentto use our gifts to craft our lives into living works of art and to help others do the same. We are all children of the same Mother Earth, and prayer is the Mother's way. It is in this nurturing of love through prayer that we heal, honor, and serve the Mother every single time we gather our thoughts, lift our hands, light our candles, or raise our voices in celebration, thanksgiving, supplication, or petition.

I can think of no better place to begin the deeply transformative journey into the power of shamanic prayer than this book.

don Jos Ruiz

Sky our Grandfather,
Moon our Grandmother,
Earth our Mother.
I Am thankful
We love each other.
We are grateful.

Cherokee prayer

H e was a weathered dark-skinned older man and we watched him with curiosity as he trudged up the trail toward us leading his gray sugarcane-laden donkey. Although his clothing was little more than faded rags blistered by the bright sun, we noticed purpose in his stride and intensity in his expression. Eventually, he reached ustwo Norte Americanos sitting on a grassy slope in the middle of the remote Huichol territory in the Sierra mountains of Mexico. Without hesitation, he squatted down, looked into our eyes, and, without blinking, asked in excellent Spanish: And what has God told you today?