#18 Celebrating Indigenous Cultures and Shamanism with Jeffery Olsen

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Jeffery Olsen is a bestselling author who inspires audiences internationally with his intriguing story of perseverance and inner strength. After a horrific automobile accident took the lives of his wife and youngest son, also inflicting multiple life-threatening injuries to Jeff, including the amputation of his left leg, he found the courage to survive over 18 surgeries to eventually heal and thrive, both physically and emotionally.

Jeff has appeared on many national and international television and radio programs sharing his insights. Olsen’s latest book, “Knowing,” is a compilation of his earlier works, yet with even deeper insights and extended chapters.

Jeff continues to work as a Creative Director and participates on several boards including The Road Home, The Wholeness Network, and as a World Ambassador for the International Association for Near Death Studies.

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Among all of his accomplishments, Jeff is most proud of and most fulfilled by simply being a husband, father and friend.

Jeff’s website is: www.EnvoyPublishing.com. He can also be found at www.spiritkeeperseries.com.

“They had it all figured out.. maybe thousands of years ago.”
— Jeffery Olsen, on Native Americans
“You must put a seed deep into the darkness for it to ever grow... and it will grow toward the light.”
— Jeffery Olsen
“I got in touch with the Divine Feminine (Mother Earth)”
— Jeffery Olsen
“There are threads of truth that run through all things and I think that finding them and recognizing them keeps us in the awe and wonder of life.”
— Jeffery Olsen

NOTES:

  • Jeffery describes the profound shared spiritual experience he had with Dr. Jeff O’Driscoll, an ER Trauma doctor, which occurred while he was on the operating table after his horrific auto accident. Both Dr. O’Driscoll and a nurse were able to see the spirit of Jeffery’s wife and feel her gratitude.

  • His interest in indigenous cultures began at an early age and was sparked by a connection to a Native American man who worked with horses on his family farm. He was struck by the unique and gentle way this man worked with the horses: “You don’t break a horse, you connect with it”.

  • Jeffery’s NDE turned his old ideas about religion upside down as he began to recognize certain common themes shared by all religions, in particular the universality of divine love and the concept of the light being within us.

  • While attending a shamanism workshop, Jeff was recognized by the shaman as having “been there”.

  • Learning about moon cycles, our connection to the earth and the concept of the Holy Trinity helped Jeff make sense of his NDE.

  • Shamanism embraces both the light and the darkness, which are interconnected. The sun is the light and the soil is the darkness.

  • For therapy, Jeff lays on the ground outside and feels that Mother Earth is holding him and Father Sky is looking down. Everything is alive, even the rocks.

  • A shaman can be described as one who “plays between the realms”, one who has risen to the high place.

  • In Native American cultures, an individual’s status would be based upon what they had given away, not on what they had accumulated.

  • Ceremonies and rituals are a crucial part of indigenous cultures. Jeff describes a fire ceremony as an example.

  • Suggestions of ceremonies that we can practice include taking 10 minutes to lie outside, or watch a sunrise or a sunset, where Father Sky kisses Mother Earth.

    • Sunrise: A time to ask: What can I do today to make a difference? Who can I serve?

    • Sunset: A time for gratitude, the highest vibration.

  • Spirit Keeper Series is a course that about the practices and beliefs of Native American and indigenous peoples taught by Jeffery and two others.

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