Urban Shamanism

Money permeates every aspect of our lives. Even people who live at the fringes of society require money at some point for whatever reason. It's certainly the most successful narrative ever created by humans, there's not one person in this world who doesn't know what a dollar is and wouldn't readily take it if the opportunity presents itself. Millions of people claim to hate the United States of America with their guts but have no qualms about its currency, for instance. There are eight billion humans on this planet right now, and I bet almost 100% of them believe in money, which is something not even God in any common representation could boast, at least at a surface level.

Despite its prevalence today, money wasn't always around or is always necessary for commerce. According to current archaeological evidence, bartering was the dominant economic activity for early humans. If one person had an animal skin or a crystal that another person wanted, and if this person had a piece of wood or a knife to trade, then the exchange took place and they either built a relationship on that or moved on with their lives, never encountering each other again, perhaps forgetting that the exchange happened at all. When a relationship was built, however, it could become something increasingly bigger. A new tribe could be established, a hearth could be lit, the first homes were erected and around them, the first towns. The population grew and having lands to settle in, to farm and care for livestock, became the definition of wealth and power, because those who had access to property could produce their own coin, so to speak, in the form of food and shelter.

Meanwhile, bartering became less and less practical, because it was impossible to determine whether X amount of grain was worth Y amount of livestock, and both of these things are difficult to move around. Salt, seashells and other primitive tokens were used as the first currencies in all nascent societies to allow for exchange of assets between strangers who had no reason to trust each other and preferred, therefore, to place the value on an inanimate, neutral object that could be easily stored and transported, unlike sacks of rice and cows. With the invention of the written language and mathematics, transactions and debts could be recorded and then came the first notes, backed solely by the reputation of whoever wrote them. In parallel, metallurgy changed the game, especially when the first large-scale governments emerged.

^{Chinese seashells from at least 3,000 years ago}

The first minted coin known to us is the Mesopotamian shekel, thought to have been in circulation over 5,000 years ago. Roman, Arabic, Indian and Chinese coins spread across the ancient world since at least 1,250 B.C. The first official mint whose location and time we know with certainty was (unsurprisingly) established in China in 770 B.C. and they also created the first known banknote around the same time. The most common metals used for currency were copper, silver and gold. The silver standard ruled international commerce for at least 4,000 years until it was replaced by the gold standard in the 18th century. Now cryptos are setting a new form of standard and the concept of value is transforming once more, but the essential aspect of this is that, regardless of whether we deal with the products themselves, salt, seashells, notes, coins or digital figures, all of it is based on one thing: our trust.

Money works because we believe it works, plain and simple. And we believe it works because thousands of years ago, we were told that it works by people who had a lot of stuff their communities found valuable. These people weren't bankers or officials in any government, they were storytellers, and the story they wove in the dawn of civilization has stuck till today because it's useful. We don't need to personally know anyone with whom we exchange goods and services, we just use this story in whatever shape it suits us.

So if this is a story and it works on faith, how come so many are in poverty and so few hold the majority of assets? Well, this is a matter of perspective rather than objectivity. Our beliefs, feelings and thoughts have natural feedback loops inherent to our condition. What we think is real, has real effects on our lives. It's not that the poor don't believe in money, it's that their perspective on money is based on necessity and scarcity. If you listen to a person living in a low-income area anywhere in the world, you'll notice how regularly they complain about their jobs or lack thereof, about not having stuff they want, about how the system's rigged against them. I know this because I've lived in serious poverty and recognized these patterns in myself. The rich may have had that perspective at some point, but they changed it for one that connects them with material abundance, which isn't to say that their wealth is well-earned or honest, they just have a more open approach to the narrative of money, and to the energy it implies.

How to retell the story?

Everything in this material universe is energy of varying degrees of vibration. Some of this energy is so subtle that it's impossible to perceive with our normal senses, some of it is dense enough to be tangible, but it's all the same in essence. At quantum, sub-atomic, atomic and molecular levels, there's actually no difference between a rock and a tree, between a human and a building, only the organization of particles, atoms and molecules changes. This organization is determined by programs, codes, patterns or whatever names we choose to use. We can see them as notes in a melody, as numbers and operators in an equation, as line segments in a geometrical figure or as words in a tale. The important point here is that we can grow aware that we can manipulate the music, the equation, the geometry and the tale.

The first thing I had to do in order to shift my perspective on money was to work on various jobs and meet different kinds of people from all sectors of society. This gave me a critical insight: everyone has generally the same ideas about money and success, no matter where they come from and how much wealth they've enjoyed in their life. A person with loads of money is seen as successful, period. Secondly, I had to become well acquainted with prices, the debts we must clear and the things we have to let go of in order to get what we're looking for, and a new point of view appeared to me: people with loads of money may be superficially admired by millions, but are they loving and loved? Are they happy? Do they live fulfilling lives? Yachts in the Bahamas, flats in New York and fat off-shore accounts seem to be completely inconsequential when it comes to mental health, self-awareness and fulfillment. Just think analytically of any person you know of who has a comfortable financial position, think of the things they speak about and the way they behave. Do they seem fulfilled? Do they look happy? And if they do, can you honestly say this is a common trait of everyone in that situation?

I realized that people who have lots of money merely have more focus on that aspect of their lives and necessarily have to neglect others, such as emotional balance, to achieve that. Although we can grow our capacity to handle more and more energy, if we put too much effort in one channel, we'll always be starving other channels, it's just the way it is. I also realized that I didn't want to feel the necessity for money ever again nor would it determine the way I live my life or how I treated anyone. Therefore, I made a solemn decree to free myself from that necessity and to access tribes only as an equal or not at all.

Since then, I've continued my work on reshaping my financial channels. I now have full control over my time, I choose what to do when, how and with whom. Money manifests when I want it to in the quantities that I desire. I did this by changing the story that I was telling myself about income and thus, how I was handling my energy. I've also gotten as far away as I've been able to from people who think in terms of scarcity and complain regularly about what they lack, they have a tendency to ruin the economy of any place they're in which, of course, further fuels their chagrin and spite.

To retell your own story and thus increase your abundance, you can follow a few tips:

• Reconsider what you're using your money for and why. The things you spend it on send a message, is it a message that you like? Is is conducive to greater peace and ease of movement?
• Review who you're working or hanging out with, whether their attitudes bring you down or help you out. Retrieve your investment on any relationship or project that's draining you.
• Study yourself so you can recognize the patterns in your life. Are they fruitful or detrimental?
• Abundance can express itself in kind rather than in cash. If you don't have liquidity, you're likely getting your wealth in the form of information, contacts, tools or sustenance.
• As much as you're able, replace any complaint with words of gratitude, assume that you already have whatever it is you want and trust that.
• Don't hoard or try to save money for some hypothetical future. It's best if you spend it on things that you genuinely enjoy, that's what it's for in the end. The point is to keep it moving, stagnation is death.

Do these things as regularly as you can, increase your awareness of them and you can do pretty much whatever you desire with your channels. It's not the system, the government, the proverbial 1% or any exterior element, it's you. You have the capacity, you have the choice and it's your energy at stake. Give yourself what you deserve.