The Power Of Your Word by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

The Power of Your Word.

Do you have any idea just how powerful the words are that you speak? Your
word is the most powerful thing you do. Your word can create or destroy. Your
word can heal or harm. How careful, how deliberate are you with this most
powerful sword called your spoken word?
We are going to examine the power of the word from various perspectives here.
We will see how different groups and different philosophies use the power of the
word so that you can get a firm grip on just how powerful the word is, and then
you will take responsibility with full knowledge and understanding of what you
are creating or destroying when you speak your word.

Introduction
Frank Deidrich wrote:
Most of us underestimate the power of our words. We sometimes miss how our
words set a tone. A few words can make someones day, or shatter it. Words can
inspire someone to buy, or to go away without buying. Our words can move
someone to do their best work, or to work against us. Your spoken words serve
either to build up or to tear down. They serve to empower and inspire, or to
disempower and hurt. Words are either life affirming or destructive. For this
reason we should choose our words carefully.
The word is the most powerful tool you have as a human...like a sword it has
two edges, your word can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can
destroy everything around you.
(The Four Agreements, Don Miquel Ruiz)
When you are talking to someone ask yourself this question: Who am I being
and what is the impact of my word on the people around me? The power of
your words lies in the intention behind them. Is it your intention to create a
resolution or to be right? Do you intend to help the organization accomplish its
mission or to satisfy the need to take someone down? We communicate best
when we are clear about who we are and what we intend. This kind of clarity
prevents us from saying words that are harmful to ourselves and others. It may
prevent us from engaging in harmful gossip and complaining.

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Clarity vs. Gossip

Gossip is usually destructive. It is often a careless use of our words. We just
arent thinking about how we are affecting others. Sometimes gossip is mean
spirited and intended to cause hurt. Whether gossip is careless or intentional, it
causes pain. We may be hoping for a little humor or self justification, but the
results of gossip are anger, suspicion, embarrassment, and fear. These creations
of gossip negatively affect morale, service, and productivity. You cannot both
care about someone and gossip about them. If you think back to the last time
you either heard or offered gossip, it probably didnt make you feel good. Gossip
disempowers us.

Clarity vs Complaining
Similar to gossip is chronic complaining. Complaining about people and situations
makes us feel and look powerless. Managers who complain in front of their
employees lose credibility as leaders. Chronic complaining leads us into a dead
end street where there is nothing to be done. We become victims who are
powerless to change anything. While venting frustrations to a trusted friend can
be helpful in releasing negative feelings, complaining to everyone tends to
reinforce negative feelings. Like gossip, chronic complaining disempowers us.
The Power of Your word to create or destroy
The meaning of no or yes
The authority you have over others
The belief that others have in your word
-can create health or dis-ease.

Faith Healing
Faith healing is all about the power of ones word. Faith healing is founded on the
belief that certain people or places have the ability to cure and healthat
someone or something can eliminate disease or heal injuries through a close
connection to a higher power. Faith healing can involve prayer, a visit to a
religious shrine, or simply a strong belief in a supreme being.

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The Power Of Your Word by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

Faith healing is believed to have begun even before the earliest recorded history.
In the Bible, both God and holy people are said to have the power to heal. In
Medieval times, the "Divine Right of Kings" was thought to give royalty the ability
to heal through touch. Through the years, up to and including the 20th century,
there have been numerous reports of saints performing miracle cures.
The "main requisite for curative effects" is "the patient's belief in the
practitioner's assurances." And, having a positive attitude seems to enhance the
body's healing capacities (Nickell 1993: 134).
Faith healing is real and effective and depends on the client to believe the word
of the healer. The healer becomes the authority figure for that persons life. And
so whatever the healer speaks is what creates the clients reality. A doctor who
makes a misdiagnosis and his patient dies from a cancer he never had. A pastor
who lays hands on a parishioner and declares that tumor gone and so it is. The
power of your word. What about the power of your word to your children? How
did you get some of your non benefiting beliefs? By believing what your parents
told you!
The down side to faith healing? You might choose to believe someone who is not
speaking the truth. You might choose to believe someone who is telling you to
believe something that does not benefit your own life. You might choose to make
that person an authority figure for your life who is primarily motivated by fame
or money.
The power of the word can be used for both good and bad.
One review published in 1998 looked at 172 cases of deaths among children
treated by faith healing instead of conventional methods. These researchers
found that if conventional treatment had been given, the survival rate for most
of these children would have been more than 90%, with the remainder of the
children also having a good chance of survival. A more recent study found that
more than 200 children had died of treatable illnesses in the United States over
the past 30 years because their parents relied on spiritual healing rather than
conventional medical treatment.
Finally, a few "faith healers" have been caught using fraud as a way to get
others to believe in their methods. ***

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The Power Of Your Word by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

The Word... In Chanting, Wazifa and Meditation Practice:

The great power of verbal practices such as chanting or as the Sufi religion calls
it, wazifa, does not arise solely from the repetition of the words or sounds. While
there is power in all forms of vibration, the greatest power of spiritual practices
as chanting, wazifa or meditation arises from the moments spent not thinking
about the self. The greatest obstacle to spiritual progress is one's own ego, that
is, one's excessive concern for one's own self, and every moment spent not
thinking of the self is indeed a great step toward spiritual awakening.
Certainly there is great merit in thinking about and being immersed in the
harmonizing influence of inspiring words and sacred sounds, since such high
ideals will help to create great intentions, but the greatest gift of chanting,
wazifa and meditation is to simply stop thinking about one's own self. When all
of that noisy chatter about one's own opinions, one's own problems, one's own
difficulties, and one's own situation is finally silenced by selflessness, then the
answers and solutions will begin to emerge from the perfect clarity of silence.
Indeed, listening proves to be even more powerful than speaking. And we
discover that the greatest of powers did not arise from the word, but rather the
greatest of powers has arisen from the unlimited, calm depths of silence.

The Art of Incantation

The reason the word of God has power is because God spoke it. The root of the word magic is
found in the Hebrew language and means to mutter or utter. So the meaning of the word magic
is the power of the word.

The magical and religious texts of the Egyptians of all periods contain spells
intended to be used against serpents, scorpions, and noxious reptiles of all kinds,
and their number, and the importance which was attached to them, suggest that
Egypt must always have produced these pests in abundance, and that the
Egyptians were always horribly afraid of them. The text of Unas, which was
written towards the close of the 5th Dynasty, contains many such spells, and in
the Theban and Sate Books of the Dead several Chapters consist of nothing but
spells and incantations. Many of which are based on archaic texts, against
crocodiles, serpents, and other deadly reptiles, and insects of all kinds.
Magic words are naturally as old as conjuring itself, echoes of the rhythm and
vibration of creative power. Medieval conjurors first began using exotic words to
give their performances an air of authentic secret knowledge. Whether they

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The Power Of Your Word by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

employed pseudo-Latin phrases, nonsense syllables, or esoteric terms from

religious antiquity, these magicians were doing far more than merely adding a bit
of enigmatic audio to their visuals. They were enhancing their specific illusions
with a universal mystery: language as an instrument of creation.

The Power is in How You Say It

It has been said that the secret of magic words is this: It doesnt matter what
you say as much as it matters how you say it! It is generally recommended
that you vocalize as much vibration as possible, as you would any mantra.
Emphasis on each syllable, so that you can hear it resonate and feel it vibrate
within you, is the key. The sound of any power-word or name seeks and
harnesses that power. When this sound is combined with concentration and
visualization, you stir the energy and power to which you are heir as a magic
practitioner. The very act of speech is the Open Sesame, the magical power.
Note that the act of speech is where the magic is. Kabbalah scholar Phillip
Cooper reminds us that No word or statement contains powerpower lies
within the mind of the person who speaks those words.
14

15

16

Here again we see the power of the word is contained in the emotional gas that
propels the vehicle, the intention, something I have already talked about many
times. If you are not familiar with this truth, go to my website at
www.shamanelder.com and read the Power of Intent.

NLP
Igor Ledochowski calls it The Power Of Conversational Hypnosis:
How to quickly and easily put people under your spell and get them to do what
you want.
Igor got many of his ideas a long time ago when he saw a rebel psychiatrist in a
wheel chair speaking to a bunch of doctors, psychologists, and therapists.
Just talking to them. Igor actually felt sorry for the paralyzed old coot... until that
room full of skeptical professionals started to do exactly what he told them to do.
You see, he had used hypnosis ... right in a conversation ... to make those
tough-minded subjects laugh, scratch, stand up, and sit down on command. The
elderly heretic was named Milton Erickson. He was the greatest hypnotist of all
time.

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The Power Of Your Word by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

What made his hypnosis so powerful was that he had spent almost 60 years
learning to hypnotize his subjects without them knowing it.... and hypnotizing
them inside of a normal-seeming conversation.
NLP is a set of principles and strategies that teaches you how to use the power
of language (linguistic) to program (and influence) a persons mind (neurology)
to achieve a particular outcome. Persuading others to take action on your behalf.
Interestingly the power of the word as used in Neuro-Linguistic programming
was first put to use by Petrus de Abano (c. 1250-1316)
Lets talk about some applications of NLP.
There are countless areas where modern persuasion and social influence
techniques are used. As a general rule, it is easy to manipulate people using
words. As the result, the Mental Manipulation methods and even rapid hypnosis
induction techniques are now widely accepted as everyday practice.
Unfortunately, using the covert hypnosis and other tools from the neurolinguistic programing toolkit is often used "against" us - think about NLP in sales,
mass media, advertising, TV and internet, online and in person courses and
workshops, manipulation and politics - all this is the fact of our everyday life.
During the last decades this psychology has had a huge impact on our society.
New powerful techniques were developed (just to name few), such as Core
Transformation and EFT (emotional freedom technique or emotional freedom
therapy) that can blow away phobias and negative memories. Positive change
hypnosis (that comes under many names) is used to achieve changes and to
make them permanent. Finally, the Timeline Therapy, one of the most amazing
altered states techniques is combining all techniques above, and to alter the
person's past experience! We can even learn to influence our internal organs
directly; all these are based on the power of the word.

The Power of One word.

The Power of "and"
One of the most powerful words in the English language is and. From daily
communication to negotiation to conflict resolution, and has the power to lower
emotional temperatures, engage and motivate another person, support, develop
and grow co-operative relationships built on mutual trust and respect.

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The Power Of Your Word by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

When used in place of the word but the effect is the other person feels heard
and has the experience of their thoughts and ideas being listened to and in turn
listening to you.

Finally,
Our power to do harm is exceeded only by our power to do good. A simple,
sincere apology (given without expectation of return) can heal a relationship. An
uplifting word at the right moment can change a life, launch a career, or
convince someone to go beyond perceived limitations. By consciously looking for
evidence of greatness in others, and by using our words to tell them, we help
others to build confidence. When we sincerely speak well of others we uplift
ourselves.
There is great power in making the commitment to keeping our words as positive
and life affirming as we are able. As an affirming presence our influence grows.
We feel better about ourselves. Constant negative speech imprisons us and
prevents us from finding joy and success. Developing the habit of speaking well
of self and others frees us to enjoy life more. We become a blessing to ourselves
and to others.
Our spoken words originate from our thoughts. The best way to increase the
positive power of our spoken words is to clean up our thinking. We must become
willing to think well of ourselves. Constant self criticism needs to become
unacceptable. We free ourselves to think and speak well of others by thinking
well of ourselves.

Consider practicing the following:

1. Affirm life in your thoughts and your words. (To affirm life is to build up,
to nurture, to support, and to bless)
2. Refuse to gossip. Commit to saying only words that are uplifting or helpful
to others.
3. Refuse to listen to gossip. Compassionately tell others it is beneath them
to gossip.
4. Refuse to indulge in complaining about another person.

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The Power Of Your Word by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

5. Refuse to dwell on self critical thoughts. Learn from mistakes and move
on.
6. Intentionally look for positive qualities to think about yourself. Make a list
often.
7. Intentionally look for positive qualities in others. Tell them.
8. Dont take the words of others personally. Their words are more about
them than about you. Let go of your grudges and your hurts and wish
others well. This practice will make you happier.
9. Do not allow negative emotion to control you. Accept it. Be willing to let it
go. Stop feeding it with negative words. Choose words that will refocus
you on who you are and what you really want.
10.Gossip and complaining are distractions and a misuse of your energy. Decide
what you really want and apply your energy to it.
As you become more life affirming in your thoughts and words you will
experience more joy and success, and your sense of well-being will affect others.
More people will trust you and want to help you. Your life will change. Affirm life
with your thoughts and words and you will find that your organization, your
family, your community, and you will benefit greatly.

Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls has been a practicing Shaman for over 50 years. She
recently received a dispensation to reach out to those who have a desire to learn about a
Shamans path and now offers an online course at www.shamanelder.com. Many people
on this earth have been Shamans in other lives and only need to reconnect with their lost
knowledge and skills to bring shamanic healing back to Mother Earth and its peoples.
This is Shaman Elders goal.
You can receive a FREE CONSULTATION by writing shaman@shamanelder.com

Copyright 2010-2037 Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls. NO reprint allowed.

This is just one of a weekly series of lectures that Shaman Elder Maggie presents to all her
students. If you liked it, why not take her Shaman Apprenticeship 101 course. Anyone can
learn the 20 tools and skills she teaches as practiced by her own family ancestry in Siberian
Shamanism. You can begin today at www.shamanelder.com

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