The Day My World Opened Up.
When I met Chuck Eagle Bear in 1992, I was forty years young. I had been studying healing and spirituality for twenty-five years, from Astrology to Yoga. I had also earned undergraduate degrees in Nutrition and Psychology. I was on a consistent deep healing and learning journey seeking complete healing and enlightened living while raising two daughters as a single mother and head of household.
I was reading three books a week on healing and spirituality while selling 42 homes a year as a Real Estate Agent. I later understood that it was my out-of-the-box, practical spiritual wisdom and focus on helping people that was the cornerstone of my success.
My Real Estate Broker, Angus, was a laid-back guy who loved to smoke, drink coffee, and chat with everyone. He excitedly walked into the office one day and came directly over to my desk. He told me that he met a Shaman at breakfast at the diner that morning. Angus, who was aware of my studies, told me I might want to meet him.
“A Shaman at breakfast, in a New Jersey Diner?” I was curious and electrified inside and out, and did not know why. I quickly attended to my business and drove over to a shop he had just opened in a neighboring town. I walked into the shop and saw a wide variety of Native American artifacts.
I recognized some of the items, growing up in a town with a Native American name and a focus on our heritage of Native American land and people,
Eagle Bear was in the rear of the store, counseling a couple of ladies. I found my way to the jewelry in the cases at the front of the store. Careful to allow the ladies and the Shaman privacy, I concentrated on the best quality Native Jewelry I had ever seen. Being a Leo, I love jewelry, and the Silver Navajo and Hopi pieces were spectacular.
Inner excitement was vibrating in me as I patiently waited for the conference in the back to be over.
Eventually, the ladies left, and Eagle Bear softly stepped his way over to me in his moccasins. I turned around to meet him. He was my height, 5’6”, thin black hair in a ponytail, rough washed out blue jeans, and a Native symboled t-Shirt. His smile was sweet, full, and a little mischievous.
We stood there for a few minutes, his loving doe eyes looking into mine, and through me. He gently gathered my hands in his and said, “You are a Shaman just like me.” I was in a bit of shock, as this was the last thing I would have ever expected him to say.
Time stood still as we stood there. I looked down at myself, wearing a classic red, black pinstriped skirted suit, shiny black pumps, short, blond, coiffed hair, and gold jewelry and earrings. I then looked out in the parking lot at my big blue Mercedes.
I looked back at him, and the store filled with familiar and unfamiliar Native American pieces. The juxtaposition of him and me, and where I was, and how I found myself there, was not lost on me.
I have always been discerning and open to possibilities on this journey. I have studied many traditions and realities that are always full of surprises and new ways of being that spoke to me. And yet, I, being a Shaman, was far out of any box of reality I expected or knew.
I clearly remember thinking that if my calling is just like his, it would be expressed very differently. How I would heal and teach would be easily received by everyday people.
As a spiritually aware professional, I knew I was a bridge, without needing all the accoutrements of a shaman.
This was the day the gates opened fully to begin to know who I am, and why I am here in this body and life.
Chuck and I were instantly connected on a heart-to-heart level. Brother and sister. Beginning a beautiful, respectful friendship, mentorship, and apprenticeship.
How Chuck Eagle Bear and I were one was in the beautiful, unconditional love that we both shared with everyone. I also carry strong medicine of the Eagle and Bear, but that is not my medicine name. That comes in a later story.
It’s true, I have had a very different path from Chuck. I was guided to study many worldwide traditions, including those of Native Americans. As I opened to the teachings and energy shared with each lineage, doors opened, and more knowledge, healing information, and tools awakened within me.
Suddenly, I could access and share the wisdom of each one. I also discerned and learned a tremendous amount about what is correct and what is not in spiritual healing and teaching.
After a time, following my meeting with Eagle Bear, I remembered a thought I had when I was twenty-eight. It clearly said that I would discover who I am and begin awakening to my whole soul’s calling and life purpose at the age of forty.
After meeting Chuck Eagle Bear, I began studying with numerous renowned teachers, healers, and Shamans, including Zen Masters, Sufi Masters, Gurus, Energy Masters, and local and international teachers and healers.
I studied and apprenticed with a local Reiki Master who possessed comprehensive knowledge and teachings. I became a teacher and healer, creating ongoing groups that integrated Shamanism, Reiki, and more, with a focus on being the medicine.
Curiosity and an open heart led me on journeys and studies that came together in miraculous ways, each one adding answers to questions and new perspectives to understand and explore.
During our precious years together, Eagle Bear taught me ceremonies, tools, and teachings to assist people. We spoke for hours every week about his experiences and mine.
He listened and helped me sort through and process all that I had studied and learned from the other teachers, as well as my healing and awakening experiences.
Chuck found his calling after a near-death experience with sinus cancer a decade before. Six years later, in August 1998, he died a few days after a sudden stroke. He passed on his spiritual lineage and earth energy to me.
Although he was in the hospital and I was home, I felt him leaving, and the energy passing to me immediately. The energy and information vibrated throughout my body and mind for many months. His sudden death and integrating the energy and lineage that he passed on threw me into a deep space of grief.
I was somehow present in my body, but my awareness extended to many levels of being. This experience was scary, as I was living my life and doing everyday things, yet I knew I was not all the way here.
As I integrated this spiritual energy, wisdom, and deep emotions, I felt shattered, yet somehow remained grounded and held my life together.
At this point, I had been teaching and doing healing work for four years and had attracted people from all walks of life.
I continued to work in Real Estate sales. It was not easy, as I was in an altered state while more spiritual gifts unfolded. I eventually gained more energy, clarity, wisdom, and stability, enabling me to balance both aspects and be true to myself.
Four months after Eagle Bear passed, I knew I had to leave Real Estate Sales and offer my gifts full-time. It took me eight months to completely exit Real Estate and jump into another life. I surrendered and was ready to figure out my new path.
I have jumped often in my life. It was always sudden, and yet there was preparation, trusting that when I felt called, I could land on my feet and create the following path in the new territory.
This was 1999, and what I was doing was considered weird by many and scary, yet it felt natural to me as I continued to grow and bring others along to find their healing, gifts, and live a more peaceful, aligned life.
Life was far from boring. The constant discoveries made in helping people during healing, teaching, and learning the nuances and details of being in the healing business were far from simple. It was intense and fun, trusting a new path that had never been walked before.
This meeting with Eagle Bear and my Shamanic calling occurred in nineteen-ninety-two. The journey has been whole and amazing ever since. It has also been far from easy, yet I walk my walk each day, open to whatever is next.
It has been 33 years since that fateful day. What a wild ride. It has been challenging, rewarding, and full of love. Living in the world, yet not of it, is a tricky balancing act. I am content and grateful every day.
I taught in New York City and upstate New York, as well as in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Vermont, and many areas in Massachusetts. Now, Zoom and retreats bring people from Canada, the USA, the Islands, and England.
The above is a part of a memoir I am writing. Sharing this journey with you, before and after, with many lessons and experiences, may help you find your own path with confidence and grace.
IT’S OUR OWN JOURNEY
Listening to stories of awakening may encourage you to follow your heart and live your soul. Know that beautiful, amazing experiences are real and possible.
Honor your unique calling and life. Your calling may not be as drastic from your everyday life as mine. Which is perfect. Not everyone gives up a “normal” life as they live their soul’s calling.
As I experienced profound spiritual awakenings, made discoveries, and underwent continual growth and personal healing, while also healing and teaching others, my life, family, and work have been both challenging and rewarding.
I followed my inner calling with curiosity, passion, and confidence. I had to be discerning about who I told about this, especially in the early years, as I was integrating my gifts and wisdom.
I experienced external resistance, fear, and was told I was crazy. I continued to live my truth as I always have. I allowed the journey to continue naturally, which was not natural for others.
My first spiritual mentor was an astrologer whom I had met in 1984, twelve years before my Shamanic awakening. She was a powerful teacher and guide to the spiritual worlds and practical understandings. We shared decades of friendship and love as I evolved.
She did not understand or relate to my Shamanic journey. She eventually had understanding and full respect for my journey and supported me 100% until she died in 2022.
I was not afraid of other opinions. Throughout my life, I have learned to trust myself. No one else had to understand or agree with me. I have been aware of inner guidance and blessed with mentors on and off throughout my entire life.
It is said a Shaman is known by their ability to help people with results for at least ten years. It has been 31 years for me with wild and wonderful stories of healing and witnessing people’s lives and families grow in exciting ways.
Doctors’ offices have called to ask what I did for patients who made a full recovery. This is always a giggle since they don’t understand the possibilities of healing beyond medicine.
Oh, the wonder-filled journeys that wait for each one of us to discover and live as we live our true selves. We all have a calling and a purpose, and it can be straightforward and clear when we stop and follow our inner leading. It begins with being where we are in our lives and allowing us to be and explore more each day.
Thank you for taking a moment to learn about my journey. I hope you enjoyed it, and it inspires curiosity and wonder in you about yourself as well.
Blessings and Always in Love,
Janet StraightArrow
Be The Medicine, Live the Power of You!
Janet@bethemedicine.com, (973) 647 2500, www.bethemedicine.com
FIND YOUR TRUE ESSENCE AND CALLING
Enjoy your journey. Please call me for guidance and support, as that is the greatest gift I love to offer. Be The Medicine is designed to help you live your “Medicine,” your “true self,” and live on purpose in everyday life.
There will be much more on this relationship, as well as many other stories of awakening, along with the teachings and wisdom. The adventures have been illuminating and not often easy or straightforward, and yet totally awakening and freeing.
Stepping out of the box of expectations has opened up new worlds for me. I am honored to share them with you in peace and love.
The “Soul Shamanism: Meet Your Soul” training is a carefully crafted class designed to help you connect with your soul and discover your purpose. You experience the love you carry inside and start to unveil who you are as a beautiful soul in your life. This journey begins a connection that brings great peace. Each person has their own unique path, and this practice helps you connect to yours easily.
Join us for this life-changing retreat class on August 22-24. There will be another first-level class and a continued journey with this practice in the Fall, in person and on Zoom. Please take a look at the events page on our website. If you have any questions about this training or working with me, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can enjoy the abundance of information on our website, www.bethemedicine.com.
