Widely recognised as one of the foremost teachers of Native American wisdom, Jamie Sams gathers readers, students, and ardent fans from every walk of life with her vibrant spirit, mesmerising storytelling skills, and profound insights into the nature of spiritual transformation. With Dancing the Dream, she offers her first book of practical, advice for living on a spiritual path.
The result of nearly twenty-five years of intensive study with two Native American dreaming societies, this instructive and empowering guidebook outlines in Sams's inimitably forthright, let's-get-to-it style-the seven paths of human spiritual development and how to follow them. Beginning with the four directions of the Medicine Wheel (East, South, West, and North), Sams reveals the secrets of the final paths - Above, Below, and Within to explain how the human spiritual journey is mirrored by the seven sacred directions:
East: readiness for change, illumination of spiritual synchronicity
South: the healing of relationships, return of trust
West: introspection, the building of self-esteem and personal balance
North: the proper use of wisdom, unconditional love, and compassion
Above: moving in the spiritual realms and viewing infinity
Below: reconnecting with the earth and the spirit contained in all things
Within: full awareness of the present moment and universal oneness
"Imagine a person sitting at a desk, trying to balance a checkbook, answering the phone with three lines blinking, writing down notes from those calls, and find a file needed by a co-worker who is hovering over the desk: you have the picture of how human beings operate on many levels at once," writes Sams. "Yes, we can learn how to do many things at once when we embrace life's initiations."
A powerful call to integrate the seen and unseen forces in our lives-our physical reality and the web of energy made up of all our feelings, thoughts, opinions, judgments, intentions, and desires-Dancing the Dream offers instruction and guidance for creating an enormous shift in our personal relationships with the earth, our loved ones, friends and communities, and, most important, our own spiritual selves. With a thorough chapter devoted to each of the seven paths, as well as a glossary of terms and phrases for quick reference, this is a guide to be consulted again and again as the spiritual journey unfolds.
