Shamanic cultures understand the power of thoughts and words in creating our realities, and understand that we can create illness, pollution and war with our intentions. I knew someone who was told by a doctor that she would never walk again. But she believed she would and she ultimately did.

These beliefs that have been planted all throughout our lives since early childhood can be firmly ingrained in our psyche. Like a gardener, the shamanic practitioner learns to excavate the soil of the psyche. We must be careful with the words we say; each word is a seed that can grow into a flower.