ThreeBears Healing

Of Thous, Its and Bears

Not long before his death, Joseph Campbell, the great student and teacher of world mythology, said that the first time a hunter killed a buffalo merely for its hide, he turned a Thou into an It.

This hunter-- whoever he was, however innocent his motives-- became, in that moment, a bit player in an epic tragedy. His action was one among many that served to unravel the spiritual cohesion that was the birthright of every Cheyenne, every Sioux, and every other indigenous inhabitant of the Plains. Worse yet, the massacre of the great herds played a part in the massacre of all the indigenous peoples who lived on this continent and lived, as we do not, in close kinship with the land.

It often seems, nowadays, that we are reaping the harvest of that first commercial buffalo kill. The most powerful nation on Earth appears to have become unhinged from its spiritual moorings; to be spinning wildly out of control. Yet for all of our power, we are but one nation. The news of the day has become the news of the world. And the news of the world is all about wars, genocide and poverty; about suffering of unimaginable proportion.

A Magnet for Bears
Robert Ellis Gordon is among the many who believe in a collective consciousness; who believe that our bodies and souls are affected-- profoundly and adversely-- by bloodshed taking place in other countries, on other continents, and by the violence visited upon the very Earth itself.

Perhaps this explains why Robert’s work is informed by his affinity with the natural world. Robert finds wilderness to be a source of ineffable beauty and of spiritual renewal and sustenance. And the harmonious relationship between the plants and animals serves as teacher, model, guide and as the seed that sows the dream of peace.

Robert has hiked and canoed mountains and rivers throughout the Pacific Northwest and the most remote regions of British Columbia. And for reasons that remained a curious but long-unexplained mystery to Robert and his wilderness partners, he was and remains a magnet for bears.

After switching careers and immersing himself in the study and practice of energetic healing, this “bear magnetism” became-- within the context of shamanic healing, at least-- an apparently natural phenomenon. For it is the Bear, in the North American shamanic tradition, who is the healer in the animal kingdom. She knows where to find the right plants, the right crystals, that bring healing to those in need. And the Bear is a guardian, one who makes us feel safe, brings peace.

There are times, many times during the course of a shamanic healing, when Robert asks the Bear Spirit for help. And She always and gladly provides it.

Healing the Self, Healing the World
And how does the Bear and the healing she bestows connect to the news of the day; to the news of a world of unspeakable beauty, yes, but of unspeakable suffering as well?

A core tenet of energetic healing is that we can, if we choose, transcend the ills of the world; transcend the strife that tears humanity apart, and tears at our bodies and souls. Conversely, when we bring peace and harmony to ourselves, we bring a measure of peace to the world.

To paraphrase Gandhi, we always have the opportunity to “be the change we wish to see in the world.” Thus when a client sets out on the healing path, he or she does so for all of humanity; for all of humanity and more.

Embracing the Divinity Within
It is one of Robert’s goals-- perhaps his over-arching goal-- to provide his clients with a respite from the news of the world and from the stress of daily life; with an hour and a half of peace, of healing, during which they experience and ultimately remember what it is that they truly are.

And what is it that they and we are?

Like the Buffalo, the Wolf, the Eagle, the Bear, like all sentient beings everywhere-- we are the brothers and sisters of all who walk the Earth and who have walked the Earth and who will walk the Earth someday. We are the brothers and sisters of the mountains, the valleys, the rivers and lakes, and of the Sun, the Moon and the stars.

This is the essence of Robert’s work. Of his and his clients’ work. The energy that flows through us is compassionate. The energy that flows through us brings peace. And when a client knows peace she knows, as well, that far from being a disconnected It, she’s connected to creation in all of its facets and splendor. And being of creation, she knows at her core that she’s a Divine being, a Thou.