Alberto Villoldo > Quotes

“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who are dreamers and those who are being dreamed.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Dance of the Four Winds: Secrets of the Inca Medicine Wheel

“When the first chakra is disconnected from the feminine Earth, we can feel orphaned and motherless. The masculine principle predominates, and we look for security from material things.  Individuality prevails over relationship, and selfish drives triumph over family, social and global responsibility. The more separated we become from the Earth, the more hostile we become to the feminine.  We disown our passion, our creativity, and our sexuality. Eventually the Earth itself becomes a baneful place. I remember being told by a medicine woman in the Amazon, "Do you know why they are really cutting down the rain forest? Because it is wet and dark and tangled and feminine.”
― Alberto Villoldo

“The shaman is a self-realized person. She discovers the ways of Spirit through her inner awakening.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Shaman, Healer, Sage: How to Heal Yourself and Others with the Energy Medicine of the Americas

“You can accomplish anything,” she once told me, “as long as you are willing to let others take credit for it.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Shaman, Healer, Sage: How to Heal Yourself and Others with the Energy Medicine of the Americas

“We come to realize that the universe mirrors back to us perfectly our beliefs, our intentions, our sincerity. What is is the product of the map of reality you carry inside you. If you want to change your experience, you need to change the map.”
― Alberto Villoldo, One Spirit Medicine

“People who suffer from learned helplessness think they have no control over their situations, so even if their suffering is great, they won’t take the smallest action to change matters because they figure, What’s the point?”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“Unless you eat foods clearly marked “Certified organic by the USDA,” you are taking part in a genetic experiment that is unprecedented in earth’s long history.”
― Alberto Villoldo, One Spirit Medicine

“December 21, 2012 represents a unique opportunity for renaissance, renewal and reinvention that people have waited for for centuries.”
― Alberto Villoldo

“EAGLE The East direction is represented by eagle and condor, who bring vision, clarity, and foresight. Eagle perceives the entire panorama of life without becoming bogged down in its details. The energies of eagle assist us in finding the guiding vision of our lives. The eyes of condor see into the past and the future, helping to know where we come from, and who we are becoming. When I work with a client who is stuck in the traumas of the past, I help her to connect with the spirit of eagle or condor. As this energy infuses the healing space, my client is often able to attain new clarity and insight into her life. This is not an intellectual insight, but rather a call, faint at first, hardly consciously heard. Her possibilities beckon to her and propel her out of her grief and into her destiny. I believe that while everyone has a future, only certain people have a destiny. Having a destiny means living to your fullest human potential. You don’t need to become a famous politician or poet, but your destiny has to be endowed with meaning and purpose. You could be a street sweeper and be living a destiny. You could be the president of a large corporation and be living a life bereft of meaning. One can make oneself available to destiny, but it requires a great deal of courage to do so. Otherwise our destiny bypasses us, leaving us deprived of a fulfillment known by those who choose to take the road less traveled. Eagle allows us to rise above the mundane battles that occupy our lives and consume our energy and attention. Eagle gives us wings to soar above trivial day-to-day struggles into the high peaks close to Heaven. Eagle and condor represent the self-transcending principle in nature. Biologists have identified the self-transcending principle as one of the prime agendas of evolution. Living molecules seek to transcend their selfhood to become cells, then simple organisms, which then form tissues, then organs, and then evolve into complex beings such as humans and whales. Every transcending jump is inclusive of all of the levels beneath it. Cells are inclusive of molecules, yet transcend them; organs are inclusive of cells, yet go far beyond them; whales are inclusive of organs yet cannot be described by them, as the whole transcends the sum of its parts. The transcending principle represented by eagle states that problems at a certain level are best solved by going up one step. The problems of cells are best resolved by organs, while the needs of organs are best addressed by an organism such as a butterfly or a human. The same principle operates in our lives. Think of nested Russian dolls. Material needs are the tiny doll in the center. The larger emotional doll encompasses them, and both are contained within the outermost spiritual doll. In this way, we cannot satisfy emotional needs with material things, but we can satisfy them spiritually. When we go one step up, our emotional needs are addressed in the solution. We rise above our life dilemmas on the wings of eagle and see our lives in perspective.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Shaman, Healer, Sage: How to Heal Yourself and Others with the Energy Medicine of the Americas

“As the Lakota Sioux phrase Mitakuye Oyasin—“All my relations”—implies, we’re all connected, all in this together. Recovery is reciprocal: heal yourself, heal the world; heal the world, heal yourself.”
― Alberto Villoldo, One Spirit Medicine

“We must think of ourselves as a tribe — as an international community that has come together with a common purpose of being initiated into the process.

We all have to do it together. There is a link that happens — where THE growth, my growth, depends on the others' growth around us.

We can no longer take these steps by ourselves. We have created a synergistic community. We must take a step towards knowledge together.”
― Alberto Villoldo

“With the courage of the soul, we don’t focus only on self-preservation, security, or safety; in fact, such courage compels us to risk our comfort and safety, and sometimes even our lives, as we act according to our most deeply held values. This kind of valor comes from a higher source and is the necessary ingredient for us to create a different dream.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“The Earthkeepers believe that the world is real, but only because we've dreamed it into being. But dreaming requires an act of courage, for when we lack it, we have to settle for the world that's being created by our culture or by our genes - we feel we have to settle for the nightmare. To dream courageously, we must be willing to use our hearts.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“We have to become still in the midst of the turmoil so we can observe clearly how our actions and the actions of others, past and present, fit together in the tapestry of life. In the timeless instant when we stop moving and simply witness the moment, the dust settles and the big picture emerges.”
― Alberto Villoldo, One Spirit Medicine

“We often confuse love for a warm glow we sense in our bellies and as something we can offer and withdraw, like a cat who comes and goes at its pleasure. It’s easy for us to extend love toward those who are lovable, but loving people and situations that are not to our liking isn’t so easy. We give our love “unconditionally,” but when we don’t receive what we feel we deserve, we withdraw it. We then reinvest our love in a new person or situation that we think will give us a better return, but we find it difficult to maintain when we don’t feel recognized or acknowledged. If things don’t work out the way we want them to, we too readily exchange our loving feelings for hatred and resentment. Our initial excitement over a new job, for instance, may sour and become disappointment and bitterness. When we’ve been jilted by a lover, the intense, starry-eyed passion of infatuation can turn into loathing so great that it consumes us. To an Earthkeeper, love is not a feeling or something you barter with. Love is the essence of who you are, and it radiates from you as a brilliant aura: You become love, practice fearlessness, and attain enlightenment.”
― Alberto Villoldo, The Four Insights: Wisdom, Power and Grace of the Earthkeepers

“With courageous dreaming, you discover that your problems are no longer overwhelming you or defining your life. While the difficulties you face feel very real, you always have the choice to create a heroic account about your relationship to them instead of a disempowering saga of suffering. You’ll recognize that you can stop being a victim, trying to fix the world all on your own, or feeling vindictive toward those who harmed you. You’ll see that your life is exactly as it should be right now, and you’ll be able to let go of all the stories that keep you feeling trapped and unhappy and venting in your therapist’s office. You’ll begin to practice dreaming the world into being, and everything will change.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“In the West we have a disease-care system, and medicine recognizes thousands of ailments and myriad remedies. One Spirit Medicine, on the other hand, is a health-care system that identifies only one ailment and one cure. The ailment is alienation from our feelings, from our bodies, from the earth, and from Spirit. The cure is the experience of primeval Oneness with all, which restores inner harmony and facilitates recovery from all maladies, regardless of origin.”
― Alberto Villoldo, One Spirit Medicine

“There’s an old Cherokee tale in which a man tells his grandson, “There are two wolves fighting within me. One of them is angry and hateful, the other is generous and compassionate.” When the boy asks, “Which one will win, Grandpa?” the old man answers, “The one I feed.”
― Alberto Villoldo Ph.D., Soul Journeying: Shamanic Tools for Finding Your Destiny and Recovering Your Spirit

“The dreamtime infuses all matter and energy, connecting every creature, every rock, every star, and every ray of light or bit of cosmic dust. The power to dream, then, is the power to participate in creation itself. Dreaming reality is not only an ability but a duty, one all humans must perform with grace so that our grandchildren will inherit a world where they can live in peace and abundance.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“During my studies with the shamans I found that there is a difference between curing and healing. Curing is remedial and involves fixing whatever outer problem arises, such as patching a tire if you have a flat, or treating a snakebite, or using chemotherapy to control a tumor. It does not help you avoid the nails on the road, the snakes in the woods, or the disease that caused the tumor. Healing is broader, more global, and complete. Healing transforms one's life, and often, though not always, produces a physical cure. I have seen many medical cures in which healing did not occur. I have also seen instances in which there was great healing but the patient passed away. Healing results from an experience of infinity. While healing, we measure success by increased well-being, by a sense of newfound peace, empowerment, and a feeling of communion with all life.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Shaman, Healer, Sage

“As your brain is upgraded, you will discover that you can let go of your fixation on what you think is absolutely vital to your safety and happiness and essential for your survival. As you release your old, fear-based approach to life, you will find you have more faith in your ability to handle uncertainty. You will gain a sense of living in a world that is safe and welcoming, and a universe that supports your intentions and what you value as truly important.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Grow a New Body

“Unlike longings, hopes, or even concrete goals, these affirmations can manifest in every moment when you hold them in your heart. Then you naturally and easily behave in accordance with your dream, accessing the tremendous power of courage.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“You would be surprised at the healing power of a simple “I love you” from a dying parent to a child or vice versa. This is not always easy, of course, yet a lifetime of mistakes can be undone through forgiveness even at the end of a life.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Shaman, Healer, Sage: How to Heal Yourself and Others with the Energy Medicine of the Americas

“just as America was the first modern land where people could practice freedom of religion, perhaps someday America will be a place where we enjoy freedom from religion, and discover true spirituality through the awakening of our higher brain functions.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Illumination: The Shaman's Way of Healing

“The True Self quietly observes the playground where thoughts take form, where games are played, and the gunas obeyed. These are the laws of light, activity, and inertia … of inspiration, action, and obstacles. The gunas are those things that can be known. Your mind ponders all their qualities, mistaking these for reality, for they gave birth to the mind. But the Self remains unmoved by the noise in the playground.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Yoga, Power, and Spirit: Patanjali the Shaman

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. — Buddha”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“It’s in bringing others the healing gifts we’ve received that the benefits of these gifts become truly ours.”
― Alberto Villoldo, One Spirit Medicine

“you recognize your connection to others and perceive that you aren’t the only one who matters, and you genuinely care about the good of all of Earth’s creatures.”
― Alberto Villoldo, Courageous Dreaming: How Shamans Dream the World into Being

“hippocampus damage on a national scale can be measured by the number of guns owned by a country’s citizens. According to The Washington Post, the U.S. has the highest per capita gun ownership in the world—nearly 90 guns for every 100 people—and the highest rate of gun-related murders in the developed world.4 The hippocampus senses danger lurking behind every tree.”
― Alberto Villoldo, One Spirit Medicine

“Each one of us is given a fragment of the sacred dream to hold and express in our own way. When we forget that we carry an essential and necessary part of the sacred dream, our lives begin to spiral into disarray, our personal dreams become nightmares, and our lives descend into chaos.
Many people have replaced the sacred dream with a dream of fame and fortune, power, and Facebook likes...You find your sacred dream by transforming three common dreams many of us are convinced are true and cannot seem to wake up from. They are the dream of security, the dream of permanence, and the dream of love that is unconditional. When you transform these dreams—when you accept that life is ever changing, that your mortality is a given, and that no one can liberate you from a life of fear and insecurity except you—the chaos in your life turns to order, and beauty prevails.
When you find your sacred dream, the creative power of the universe, known by the shamans as the Primordial Light, becomes available to you to create beauty in the world, and to heal yourself and others. You become a luminous warrior.”
― Alberto Villoldo, The Heart of the Shaman: Stories and Practices of the Luminous Warrior