If it's secret, why is it being shared?A great many shamanism workshops are called "secret knowledge". Let's start with logic.

I've worked with a great many teachers from different traditions. With Zen teachers, with qigong and tai chi teachers, with shamans, with Buddhists. I never heard a single one of them say "secret knowledge". What does exist is something else, and I'll tell you about it here.

By Andy DittrichAs of 16 September 20265 minutes

In short

If something is secret, you keep it. If you print it on a flyer, you want something: that you join a circle and afterwards belong to those who carry it. Then comes the next circle, and it costs more.

What really exists: knowledge you can only understand once you're ready. That isn't secret. It's obvious. And you still don't see it.

What really exists.

I'll give you a personal example. My teacher once said a sentence. A single one. And for several years he kept dropping it into conversations. Over dinner, while fetching wood, in the middle of something else. Every time, I nodded.

It took years until I really understood what that sentence meant. And that had nothing to do with anything being secret. The sentence was that obvious. My awareness of spiritual practice first had to expand, become able to understand it at all.

Maybe you know the moment. You sit there, and something is so obvious, has such a deep meaning, and you slap your forehead and think: how on earth could I not see that before? It's like those pictures with two things in them. Two faces or a vase. You only see the one. Until you discover the second. And at some point you can't not see the second anymore.

That's the big difference. Not: what are you allowed to know. But: when can you understand it. That doesn't take a protected circle. It takes time, and someone who keeps dropping the sentence and never explains it.

Not secret. Just not visible yet.

"Ancient knowledge" and shamanic family constellations.

For me, this "ancient knowledge" on the flyers is pure showmanship. I understand that marketing is part of business. With shamanism I simply have a real problem with it.

Today there are so many workshops with something like "shamanic family constellations" written above them. No shaman in the world has ever done a family constellation. That's complete nonsense. It's a word from a seminar hotel stuck in front of another word to make it cost more. And if there were a shaman god, he'd send these people a legal warning. For misuse of the word.

Secret knowledge

You're supposed to join a circle. The next one costs more.

Age-old knowledge

Showmanship. Old isn't an argument, true would be one.

For people who are ready

You're supposed to feel chosen before you pay.

Shamanic family constellations

Two words glued together. No shaman has ever done that.

A protected circle

Ask who protects you if you want to get out halfway.

The fine, fine things.

My invitation: be careful where you do workshops, and how. There are people out there with a really deep understanding of shamanism. And that can be the man around the corner who knows exactly in which places and at what time some healing plant grows in the forest. He doesn't tell anyone. He doesn't run a weekend for it.

That's not the person standing on a stage shouting shamanism out into the world. It's the fine, fine things. And you won't find them on a flyer. You find them when you look.

It's the fine, fine things.

Questions when a workshop says "secret".

Two for the person offering it, one for you. A sentence is an answer, ten minutes aren't.

AskWhen a workshop says "secret"
  • "If it's secret, why are you sharing it?"
  • "What does the next circle cost?"
And one for youHow do I want to feel when I come out?

A sentence is an answer. Ten minutes aren't.

"If it's secret, why are you sharing it?"
The only question you need to ask the paper. Whoever has an honest answer says it in one sentence.
"What does the next circle cost?"
If there is one, you know what the weekend is: the door. If there isn't, that's a good sign.
"How do I want to feel when I come out?"
The one for you. One word, five seconds, finger on the spot. If the word is "initiated", don't go.

The three questions that apply to every ritual have their own page: how to spot spiritual nonsense with three questions.

Not secret. Just not visible yet.

Common questions.

What does "secret knowledge" mean in shamanism workshops?
Usually a sales pitch. If something is secret, you keep it. If you print it on a flyer, you want you to join a circle, and to be one of those who carry it afterwards. Then comes the next circle, and it costs more.
Is there secret knowledge in shamanism?
I've worked with teachers from many traditions, Zen, qigong, tai chi, shamans, Buddhists. Not one of them ever said the word secret. What does exist: knowledge you can only understand once you're ready. That isn't secret. It's obvious, and you still don't see it.
What is "ancient knowledge"?
Usually showmanship. I understand that marketing is part of business. With shamanism I simply have a problem with it.
Are there shamanic family constellations?
No. No shaman in the world has ever done a family constellation. It's a word from a seminar hotel stuck in front of another word to make it cost more. If there were a shaman god, he'd send a legal warning, for misuse of the word.
How do I recognise people with real understanding?
By the fine, fine things. It's not the person standing on a stage shouting shamanism out into the world. It can be the man around the corner who knows exactly in which place and in which week which healing plant grows in the forest. He doesn't tell anyone, and he doesn't run a weekend for it.
Why didn't I understand a sentence from my teacher for years?
Because your awareness first had to grow so the sentence had room. It was there the whole time. Like those pictures with two things in them: you only see the one until you discover the second. And then you can never not see the second again.
What do I ask when a workshop promises "secret knowledge"?
If it's secret, why are you sharing it? What does the next circle cost? And the three questions that apply to every ritual: what does healing mean to you? What happens if I want to stop halfway? And for yourself: how do I want to feel when I come out?

Who writes this.

Andy Dittrich
Andy Dittrich

Around a hundred workshops with different teachers, many years as a student of two indigenous shamans in North America and Mongolia and of a teacher in the Moroccan desert. He has guided around two thousand people through rituals, safely in and safely back out.

Only what he knows from the inside himself is written here. What he hasn't done isn't here.

My intention with these pages: I share my knowledge so you can find the difference yourself. Between shamanic bullshit and something truly special.

In depth

In the book it's a chapter.And a flyer in the letterbox.

In RITUALE (RITUALS. Who brings you back?), Luna puts the flyer on the table with the water bottles, and Ben only reads the first line.

See RITUALE

Goes with it.

Shamanic?Look closely. Ask. Five questions for any leader. Shamanic trainingFour paths. No oversight. How to recognise the serious ones. What is shamanism?There is nothing to believe. There is something to do. Shamanic dreamingThe hotel lobby. A practical application, step by step.