Assemblage refers to the way we create our interpretation of “reality” in the Toltec tradition. We “assemble” our realities in our minds, bodies, and energy bodies. These correspond to actual locations on the human body. Learn more about how yours is set up as well as ways to shift it, if you so desire, so it can be used more effectively to create the life you want. *The following is an excerpt from the book “Dreaming of Cupcakes: A Food Addict’s Shamanic Journey into Healing:”

In his seminal book “The Way of the Shaman,” anthropologist and shamanic practitioner, Michael Harner describes the importance of experiential ways of going after knowledge in shamanic cultures:

“The shaman is an empiricist.  One of the definitions of empiricism is ‘the practice of emphasizing experience, especially of the senses’…And indeed the shaman depends primarily on firsthand experience…Why…is shamanic knowledge basically consistent in different parts of the…world?  I suggest that the answer is, simply, because it works…The master shaman never says that what you experienced is a fantasy.  That is one of the differences between shamanism and science.  Yet there are similarities between the shaman and the scientist…Both are in awe of the complexity and magnificence of the universe and of Nature, and realize that during their own lifetimes they will only come to observe and understand only a small portion of what is going on…And neither master shaman nor master scientists allow the dogmas of ecclesiastical and political authorities to interfere with their explorations.”

Shamans over time have been able to change their perception of ordinary reality (also called consensual reality sometimes because it is a reality most of us “agree” upon) to enter into non-ordinary states of consciousness.  The shaman knows that problems, illnesses, and disease manifest in the physical world only after they’ve been present in the spiritworld for some time.  Shamans all over the world enter into non-ordinary states of consciousness to travel into the spiritworld in order to find the root of problems people are having in the physical world. 

Jennifer Engrácio has been a student of shamanism since 2005. Jennifer is a certified teacher who has worked with children in many different education settings since 2001. She is a certified shamanic coach, reiki master, and lomilomi practitioner; in addition, she runs Spiral Dance Shamanics. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she now lives in Calgary, Canada with her life partner.