Shamanism and the Vogel Crystal

The Unconditional Love
By an ex-friend and coworker, her positive presence is missed

In the beginning of my work at Crystal Wings, I was curious about the path that Bill had taken in his life. He is by no means the typical, ‘new age’ guy, with the long beard, lanky limbs, and robed clothing masking his Birkenstocks. He never uses the commonly heard terms in the average metaphysical bookstore, like ‘blessings to you’ (while bowing with hands in prayer position), ‘Namaste,’ or ‘I am a healer.’ The life that he lives does not include a daily yoga practice, participating in the ‘spiritual community’ or a yearly trip to some guru or place of power. By all accounts he is a regular guy, with a knack for hoarding crystals.

Yet, over time, he would reveal a technique, a tip, or a small gem of guidance that would slightly nudge me into a direction that I had not initially noticed. I remember when I began to learn about and work with the Vogel crystals. I wanted to know everything that Marcel had said to him, all the experiences that he had, and how, exactly, these crystals could be used. All he said was, “Go, and sit with it. Do not read any books, or research it with your mind. Just experience it.” Where did he get this perspective, in a movement and culture that is entrenched with guru-hungry, belief-labeling, must quantify/qualify all things, ego-centric self-declared healers? Could it really be true that I do not have to look for the truths, that I can just find them?

Bill’s path was not a conventional one. Raised on a farm in Kansas he was knee deep in hard labor and real-life struggle for the first part of his life. He was in military intelligence for several years, drove a truck, sold and developed real estate, owned a marketing company, and has done several other things I imagine.. It was just a chance encounter, while chasing a woman no doubt, that led him to his first workshop with Bobbye Hall on distant healing and journeying. That served as the catalyst for later engaging in and embracing one of the most truthful and grounded forms of spirituality that exists today: Shamanism.

Shamanism is, by mainstream definition, a wide range of traditional beliefs from indigenous cultures all around the world, that center on attuning oneself to nature, and connecting with other dimensions. What we would think of as a Medicine Man, would be an example of a Shaman; a practicing intermediary between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Shamanic practices are said to predate all organized religions, even traced back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic time periods. It is for this reason that it has taken so long for it to ‘come back’ like a revival. Shamanism contains no religious affiliation, philosophy, doctrine, concepts, spiritual leaders or gurus, nor does it worship or condemn. It existed in a time where all there was, was experiences. “Shamanism, in the true, powerful essence of its tradition, is the practice of experiencing the extraordinary while living in the regular world.”Shamanism, in the true, powerful essence of its tradition, is the practice of experiencing the extraordinary while living in the regular world. It is no doubt embracing those things which many push away (the physical body, animals, nature, emotion, monotonous actions and routines).

It is this Shamanic energy that Bill holds dear to his heart. It is something that he cannot share, advertise, teach, dispel, or express in detail. Because it is only his to know. It does not require all the dramatic and intricate workings of a church, a gathering, a named movement, or a seminar/workshop. There are no credentials or certifications to enact when it comes to true shamanism. And this is what makes Bill’s work and experiences with crystals so powerful and effective (in his own life and as an example to all of us).

Shamanism and crystals have been the formula that have melded and mixed a concoction for Bill that, I believe, has proven significant. Shamanism connects us to nature, and honors nature, without worshipping it, or putting it above or below our own existence (this is an important point, as many will give their power away to the worshipping of the crystal, and personify it as a person). Crystals are a powerful symbol in shamanism of the purity and focused power of nature. We can use them as tools, just as Shamans of the past have used leather and wood as tools, to experience the immense capabilities of an ‘ordinary’ object. It is only through the ordinary that we can access other worlds. It is only through the grounded, practical side of our natures, that we can climb high up into the realms of the spirit. If we are constantly rejecting or negating the everyday experience of our own self, and aspiring to feel spiritually elite (such as a labeled healer, practitioner, or shaman!) then we are moving away from the real essence of this tradition.

The compatibility, Bill has said, of Shamanism and Crystals, is that they both can only be acknowledged or verified by our own experience. “The compatibility, Bill has said, of Shamanism and Crystals, is that they both can only be acknowledged or verified by our own experience.”It is not through the viewpoint of another that we can gain the powerful know-how or illuminating dream state of our own self. We must experience both of these elements ultimately, alone. Granted you will have help and guidance periodically along the way, but the direction of the path is up to you, as no one has walked it before, exactly as you will.

The spiritual essence of Shamanism is not extraordinary. It is the grounded, down-to-earth consistency that exists always, and has absolutely nothing to do with beliefs, principles, or ideas. That is why it can be so challenging. In the example of my own enthusiasm for intellectually understanding how to use and integrate the Vogel crystals, I was traveling down the pathway of giving my power away to others who have come before me in their own unique, one-of-a-kind earth walk. Bill has seen time and time again the effect of mimicking and copying in this genre of ‘spiritual awakening‘ and he knows that it does not serve us individually or as a whole.

Shamanism coupled with crystal work is a path for truly the most strong and self-assured of us. It is often one of the last legs in our external, workshop-hopping, seminar-attending, guru-following schedule. Once we get to a place (having the strength) of traveling alone in the inner worlds, everything else falls away, and the search for acknowledgement and answers is over.

It is for the above reasons that Bill’s Crystal Wings has become so successful. Because even though, we have a great passion and belief in Vogel Crystals and Master Healing Tools, we know that the power is really within you.