Key Concept: A great challenge offering a leap to a new level of consciousness, vision and power.

If you are feeling the 'Credit Crunch' and have felt paralyzing fear recently then you might be going through this test.

The good news is that a Shamanic Test is a challenge we have created for ourselves. We see the opportunity for using and integrating negative force to leap into a much higher level of consciousness, power and vision.

This is the year to reclaim your soul level gifts that got lost and buried at the time of the original trauma.

The recent conjunction of Mars with Saturn in July 2008 is symbolic of this test. The eclipses in August will strongly vibrate the theme of the year of Chiron, Neptune and the North Node of the Moon in the sign of Aquarius. This is a calling from the cosmos for us to join together to make a leap into a new paradigm. Chiron is moving forward on October 26th in mid Aquarius, marking a turning point of awakening in the collective.

Ring of Fire
So have you been tempted to give up, to resign, leaving the path you are on? Is it just too tough? Chuck Spezzano says:-

If we fail these situations, we have a feeling of tragedy. The pain of this can be so great, it can feel like your heart is being ripped from your chest. These can be life or death situations. The situation may not necessarily be negative, but it can be dangerous. To fail the opportunity could mean the loss of what we have built up so far in our life.

To experience a Shamanic Test is to die to your old self. You can either move forward to a whole new level, or you can crash and burn. If you fail (or have failed) a Shamanic Test, typically you may have buried the pain and it will be affecting you negatively.

But you still have the opportunity to learn the lesson, pass the test, transform it, and receive all the benefits from having succeeded. The test is ongoing if it is not passed the first time.

The Way Through
If you are in the middle of a crisis now, know that your Higher Mind, your Soul is wanting you to heal at a deep level. It's a very good idea to ask for help as the original test was flunked because we tried to pass it on our own.

Courage and Heartbreak
As with any challenge on our life's journey, this is about facing the dragons and inner demons. Courage is needed and it is time to call on your Inner Knight, the Paladin or Spiritual Warrior. That is the true meaning of Mars. The quality of positive denial, of knowing and speaking 'this situation is not the truth' is essential.

Courage comes from coeur meaning heart so the original test might well have been a place where you lost heart and faith in yourself and in life. Winning your heart back is the first part of this test.

Then, as Chuck says, see this challenge as an opportunity in which there is a way to succeed, which is to raise you to a new level of vision, birth, love, creativity, psychic ability, artistic or healing power. It can also bring about a whole new level of relationship for you.

Mastery Level test
If you have a feeling of being crushed, as if your world has collapsed you might be facing a Mastery Level Test. In this place you were originally knocked way off your centre to such an extent that you almost died.

In this place you need to ask for Guidance, to call on your Spiritual Teacher (such as Jesus, Mary, Buddha or Archangel) and ask to be returned to your centre so grace can pour through you.

Typically, you cannot do anything to succeed in this situation, but everything can be done through you.

With awareness, venturing everything, totally giving every bit of yourself, asking for help from your Higher Mind, being open to inspiration and healing and giving yourself completely, you will succeed in passing a Shamanic or Mastery Level Test.

The world needs shamans, healers who have healed themselves so they can lead the way though for others. That is the meaning of Chiron, the wise centaur and shaman archetype.

If you feel the call to work at a deep level then join Pam on one of her Psychology of Vision workshops.>

Pam is a Psychology of Vision accredited Trainer and has permission to quote from the text by Chuck Spezzano from 'The Enlightenment Pack'. © Spezzano and Associates.