Urban Shamanism

^{A National Guard barricade blocking the upper level of Caracas' main highway during a protest back in 2017}

Thanks to my spiritual work and the information that I accessed over the past few years about my country's crisis and the abuses of the chavista regime, I managed to forgive the criminals and thugs that used to be in power here (they're still technically the acting government but their power and influence are severely hampered.) First, I had to investigate their energy, do a lot of shadow work and go deep into their darkness and the country's history; I had to connect with them in meditation and add them to my decrees of cleansing and healing; I even had to assault them and experience the blowback. These were ways to process guilt, grief, anger, hatred and other emotions, to express them and get them out of my system. Only then could I see the truth behind their presence, the reason why Venezuela had to go through this and why I had to be born when I did so I could experience it.

Yes, there's a purpose in everything we live and tyrannies are an experience shared by millions, something we can instantly relate to in others. Pain is terrible, but the Fear of night is the most effective thing to bring us together. You may have heard that catastrophes bring the best and the worst in us, and it's true. Tyrants don't just pop up out of nowhere, they're the result of a process and contribute to the continuation of said process, mostly unconsciously. Venezuela had to live through chavismo because we needed the knowledge of their oppression, their particularly ruinous corruption, their incompetence, spite and loathsomeness. This knowledge is now embedded in our minds and flesh, our hearts beat with it. Our oppressors are our greatest teachers, although their intent isn't to teach anything and they're quite incapable of learning or building beautiful things.

To forgive a tyrant, we must first realize the tyranny that we've exercised on others, which isn't easy or nice. We have to come to terms with the fact that we've tried to impose our opinions and wills on others at some point, that we've used fear and manipulation to get our way, that we've also lied and hurt others. I've investigated my ancestry through various practices and I've seen even worse abuses that those. That made me realize that I didn't have the moral upper ground that I thought I had; that indeed there was no moral upper ground at all, the higher we fly, the further we remove ourselves from the territory, the less relevant the bumps and valleys are. Although a hard pill to swallow, this information provides the necessary perspective to understand that we're in no position to judge even the worst criminal we can think of, that they're just people in their own process, doing the best they can.

We often assume that having power and money are enough for anyone to have a great time, that the thieves who walk away with millions of dollars in public funds must be living the dream and no doubt we kind of envy them for it, but that's not how it works. Think for a second here: How do you feel? Do you sleep well? Can you move freely from one place to another? Are you able to engage with various groups productively? Are you recognized as a peer by others important to you? Well, tyrants and criminals don't experience this. They live in fear and anguish, constantly under surveillance, surrounded by enemies and therefore by bodyguards, accruing interest on debts they don't even know they've incurred, always in danger, always alone even while amidst their cronies. They exist in a desert of their own making, a place of shadows that I've only glimpsed and nobody who reads this post is likely to comprehend. In other words, these are the people who need the most love, who have the least ability to ask for it or accept it, who experience the harshest environment. Are you starting to feel privileged?

When we forgive others, we forgive ourselves. If we live in oppression, that's because we manifested it and we'll continue to do so until we figure out why the oppression is necessary, the teaching it's bringing to us. When I reached this awareness, I could finally let go of the regime and, although I still see the effects of their actions when I take a walk or talk to people or in the rare occasions that I check the news, they have no hold over me. I don't even need to think about them at all, I just live my process and let them do their thing. When the sufficient number of Venezuelans gain that awareness as well, they'll vanish in their own desert for good and this country's potential will truly start to bloom.

I hope this can answer your question a bit better, brother @selfhelp4trolls.

Night Rune: Thurisaz

Preparations for a lavish event. Fire close to my skin. I see the Queen of England embrace an ancestor and weep.

Daylight Rune: Gebo

The gift of life is in every word and action, in every choice. Give your decisions the focus and relevance that they deserve, for it is with them that you build your life. Even the smallest point of union between the threads is of vital importance for the integrity of the fabric, take care of the details and the information underlying each experience. Find the places of tension, use them as support, a restriction may be harnessed for learning. Pay attention to the message that you give and the impact that you have when you work with your talents, the Universe functions with symbols, not with tricks or jokes. In order to overcome the dilemma, do not concentrate on the crossroads, but on the reason that took you to them.