An interview with Mongolian-American Shaman
Jade Wah'oo Grigori

by Diane M. Cooper

Diane: Jade, why are ceremonial objects powerful?

Jade Wah'oo: There is a Spirit which resides within sacred implements, and Spirit requires the embodied presence of Power as it expresses itself in the world. Power is life-force collected and concentrated. We ourselves are a charge of life-force, therefore Spirit can be present and express through us. A counter-example of this is when people suffer sudden and severe trauma, such as getting hit by a truck, or they suffer long, debilitating, degenerative conditions of health such as cancer or something of that nature. When a person's life-force goes below the critical threshold required to sustain the presence and expression of Spirit in that person's body, the Spirit then dis-anchors - leaves - and that person dies.

So here we see that Spirit is present as a direct relationship to the Power present within the body. That's in the human domain.

In the non-human domain, we consider that sacred objects are equally alive - a drum, or a feather, a staff, a rattle, or whatever it may be. In the creation of a sacred object, as we give our attention through our intent, Power is flowing into that object. As we then further utilize applications of Power - our breathing, tobacco, or whatever it may be - we prepare the ground for Spirit to come into full presence in that object.

When we have an actual relationship established - not a figment of the imagination, but an actual relationship, whether it be with Eagle, or the spirits of the ancestors - and we provide a physical body empowered in the form of the ceremonial object, we can then draw or call that Spirit into that object, and then have a living being. This action requires that we then take care of the Spirit that lives within the ceremonial object. We must continue to empower it and give it expression and interaction.

A drum, for instance, that is filled with Power and the Spirit of Horse, will allow us to ride through the realms and domains of consciousness, carrying our awareness with it.

If we take a balloon, fresh out of a package, and place it on the table, lean over it, and sing a high-pitched tone, that balloon will just lie there flat. Nothing will happen. But if we blow that balloon up taut with air, and then we sing a high-pitched tone, the balloon will resonate with that tone and continue to resonate even after we've stopped singing.

When we as living beings are embodied with an intense charge of life-force, we are then like that balloon, and the frequency of whatever we have established a relationship with - Eagle, Bear, Star, or Ancestor - begins to resonate within us, stimulating and activating very specific forms of awareness.

We then extend Power into an object - drum, rattle, feather - and anchor the established frequency through ourselves into that object. That object then begins to resonate with the frequency of that animal, that star, that ancestor, or whatever we have created a relationship with.

So a ceremonial object imbued with Power, activated with Spirit, has a life of its own. In ceremony, we can interface this field presence of Power from the object with the field of the client, intensifying their life-force with the frequency that the object is carrying. That then stimulates change in consciousness at a cellular level.

So utilizing the full range of objects, spirits, and empowerments, we can activate very specific and intended results within the client. The intended result could be a healing, or a state of compassion - whatever may be required.

Diane: There is a healing method called Egg Doctoring where the healer utilizes an egg to clear the patient of emotional and physical blockages. How does this work?

Jade: The same principles are involved with Egg Doctoring as with Power objects, except in reverse. When I am using this method, because of the principle of Power - that less dense will flow towards that which is more dense - the traumatic or stagnant field of Power that is causing disturbance within the individual is drawn out and flows toward me. What I do is intercept it with the egg. So there is an actual transfer of congested life-force.

Because the egg is a proto-lifeform - its not alive but its not not- alive - the life-force charge of that trauma or condition is held within the egg. The egg begins to take on the form and characteristics of the general condition of the client. And when I break that egg open into a glass of water, I can physically see the expressions of that debilitation being formulated within the egg.

The white and the yoke of the egg begin to change character visibly and show the specific attributes of the condition that had been within the client. It's both a form of post diagnosis and a removal of the condition which has been diagnosed.

Diane: From a shamanic standpoint, what has to be present in order for healing to take place?

Jade: In order for healing to occur within the client the client's soul must be engaged. Things which communicate to the soul that there is actuality occurring are the senses - taste, touch, scent, sight, hearing, things of this nature. It is through the senses that the soul receives communications from the outside world. And so in ceremony, with the burning of the incenses, the splashing of holy water, the glide of a feather across the body, the resonant tones of the drum, the theater of dance that is performed with the colors, and all of these put together in a harmonious manner, this communicates to the soul of the client that there is actuality present. This engages the soul into cooperation.

If the soul isn't receiving messages that there is anything real going on, it's going to lie in dormancy - kind of "ho-hum." You can talk to yourself all you want, but that is not necessarily going to engage the soul. The more senses that can be engaged and brought into play, the more the soul can be engaged. Its not really a matter of belief, but of the effective degree to which we are connecting with the soul of the client and drawing it forth. It is from within the soul that the healing occurs and then is expressed through the body and the mind.

Let me utilize a verbal example. In ceremony, I'll ask the client their name, and I'll ask them to state their condition as they know it to be. Then I'll ask the individual to state their heart-of-hearts desire as a choice. When a person responds, "I want to be healthy," the soul residing within that individual goes, "Yeah, well, when you're ready just let me know." Because whenever we express a want there is no commitment. And when we express "I want to be," emphasizing the words "to be," that indicates some other time, somewhere in the future. There is nothing there verbally to engage the soul into actuality. Were the person to say instead, "I choose radiant, vibrant health," then the soul goes, "I have a job!" Because that is a statement of commitment. It is a vow by the individual. The soul is engaged and immediately sets itself to bringing about the fulfillment of that vow.

This is an example of the engagement of but one of the senses - that of verbal communication. Equally all the other senses can be engaged.

Diane: Does a person have to be a shaman to engage the soul of the person they are working with?

Jade: Absolutely not. In fact, the very nature of shamanism is that it is the birthright of every single person on this planet. Anyone can use these principles and methodologies effectively. The more aware they are of the principles and how to apply them, then the more affective they will be.

Diane: It sounds as if it would be a good idea for healers to treat their tools of healing in a ceremonial way, and useful to engage the senses of the person that they are working with.

Jade: Yes. And equally important is for the practitioner to move beyond belief and move into the acceptance of the inherent sacredness of these things. That is, when we acknowledge the empowerment and the Spirit that we have drawn into these objects, then we are engaging our own soul.

When we seek to transfer a quantum of Power through these objects into a client, we are in actual communication with their soul. Our own soul is engaged in that experience or process as well, so there is a direct and actual transfer of Power, of life-force, from our soul through the object into the client.

If we are just sitting in an imaginative belief system, we are not engaging our soul in actuality. The danger there is that we are going to dispense our own bodily life-force through the object into the client, and we will end up being debilitated in the process.

We can't pretend. Waving a chicken feather as if it were an eagle feather, for example, won't work because a chicken feather can't hold the Spirit of an eagle no matter how hard we try. The resonant frequencies of a chicken feather are not concurrent with the frequencies of the eagle. We might fill that feather with Power, but there can be no transfer of the frequency pattern of the eagle into the client.

Diane: Thank you Jade, for sharing your wisdom.

Jade Wah'oo Grigori conducts camps to assist people in the construction of their own drums, staffs, rattles and sacred implements. During these camps, these objects will be consecrated and empowered by Spirit. Jade also provides training in the use of these objects for healing and shamanic journeying.