The shamanic way of empowering oneself is by working extensively with one’s helping spirits. When practitioners prepare for a healing session or for a challenging personal experience, we say we are “powering up.” This means we rattle, we drum and we dance our power animals and spirit teachers by allowing them access to our earthly skin while moving our bodies - much like the ancients did. In shamanism, we power up by merging with one or several of our helping spirits as we receive the power and strength of their formless energies that they loan to us. {And as I write this, there is a crow proudly cawing outside!}