Yesterday morning I woke with an old familiar burning sensation in the last two fingers of my left hand. Echoes of a prolapsed disk and nerve pain have visited to haunt me once more. Before, when these shadows did their work I was just opening up the doorways to the shamanic world and the places these demons took me helped to make me the shaman I am.

Now I embrace the touch of Surt's daughter upon my hand (Surt is a fire demon) for it reminds me of my initiations. A native American man called David used to come into my store to buy my simple runes from me, to leave hanging from trees in the wilderness. David saw me whincing in pain and spoke some profound wisdom to me.

" Embrace the pain brother, it is yours and it shows the spirits are calling you. Remember the visions it gifts you. Love it like you should love every other part of you and it allow it to become one with you."

I did as he said. I stopped taking the handfuls of painkillers, my mind cleared and the meanings of the delirious nightmares became available to me.  The pain was still there but it didn't bother me as much, except in the extreme moments when it took me to the abyss, but every shaman, medicine man or woman must venture there to touch the void every now and then and unite with the spirits.           So welcome old friend, I await your teachings.