Power is about the strength of focused energy and the ability to use it to influence process, events and outcomes. Think about the power of lightning and thunder is a storm in the high mountains, the power to make a flower bloom, the power to keep your heart open in the midst of chaos. What about the power of the ever-burning sun, the power of a mothers love for her child, the power of the tides of the sea? Consider the power to choose love over fear, the power of a fruit-bearing tree to provide delicious, life-sustaining food, the power that creates this earth and all the universe.

Everyone needs a certain amount of power just to live. To live well requires even more power: power to control impulses, to set goals and work to achieve them, to overcome despair and failure, to keep going despite loss and disappointment. It takes power to access creativity and the power of discipline to manifest it. It takes a great deal of power to choose to try your best to live a life of respect, love, kindness, compassion and caring for self and others. Power is a precious commodity we are all dependent on just to be.

Physical power is the most easily observed display of strength. But the greater power is the power of mind and will aligned with spirit. Look at the example of Gandhi, a small, frail little man, whose power of satyagraha, truth force, broke the power of the British Empire and he without army, navy or air force! What about the inner power of Harriet Tubman, who risked her life daily on the Underground Railway in order to help escaping slaves find safety and freedom in the north?

Our greatest source for this kind of power stems from our relationship to that which is larger than us the Great Mystery, Great Spirit, God, Goddess, Holy Spirit. For this is the animating source of all that is, has been and will be. This is the sacred, mysterious power that is present always, offering its gifts to us when we take the time to learn and practice right relationship with it. Prayer, meditation, times of solitude and pilgrimage, fasting in places of power are all age-old ways to access spiritual power.

For shamanic peoples the world over, an intermediary in the form of an animal spirit has helped them in their quest for power to better their lives and the life of their community. Even in our culture, many people who have not even heard of shamanism have recurring dreams of animals that appear just in the nick of time to help them with some challenge or conflict. Others feel a particular affinity for some wild animal that they cant explain. Even our country has a totem animal the eagle prominently displayed on its dollar bills! So the idea of spiritual helpers in the form of animal spirits is not that far-fetched.

The power animal, or totem ally can appear to us in many ways. Dreams are the most common way these days, since most of us dont spend that much time alone in nature. This is how I first saw my initial power animal, the deer. At the age of six, I saw it in person when my parents took me to Yosemite Valley. Twenty years later, it came to me on my first vision quest high up in the Cathedral Range of the same national park. Through my work with indigenous people around the world, I learned the dynamics of communion with this visiting ally and how to befriend it so we could work together to improve both our lots.

Shamanic people believe the spirit of the power animal comes to you to offer help in some way. But it may test and challenge you first. You must open yourself to it, giving it time, attention and appreciation, just as you would any relationship you value and want to deepen. You have to give of yourself in order to get. The Deer Spirit has shown me particular ways it can give me power, help and support, but it also wants something back. In order to stay in its good graces, to have it respond and be there for me when I need it, I have to feed its spirit on a regular basis. I do this with daily prayers of thanksgiving, with sacred herbs like sage and cedar, with songs, with dance.

I invite the Deer Spirit into my body to sing, dance and move through me as it wishes. I thus make myself available to it and allow it to work in and through me. I am not out of control during these times. On the contrary, my consciousness is totally present, witnessing and enjoying the flow of power, information, spirit and creativity. My locus of perception shifts, and doors open to energy that I could not previously perceive or utilize.

In fact, my life works significantly better when I remember not to try and do things on my own, but respectfully ask the Deer Spirit to help out, keeping in mind the importance of balance and harmony. In other words, before I ask for help, I have to give thanks for gifts already given. If I fall out of balance or neglect the relationship, the power weakens or may disappear altogether. I think it pulls back into the Mystery; why should it hang out with me if it is not being appreciated?

Deer Spirit is dear to me because it helps me open to the presence and power of Mystery, which is always working for the greatest good. Deer Spirit helps me climb the mountains that challenge my path. It opens doors of insight and understanding, inspires me with courage and vitality when my batteries are low, acts as a conduit for creativity and miracles when I surrender to its holy presence, and leads me on my way, strengthening the muscles of faith and trust. For the Huichol people of Mexico, the Deer Spirit, Kauyumari, is one of the primary totemic figures of their cultural and spiritual lives. So I felt quite at home when I first journeyed to the Huichols in 1981 and found the Deer Spirit waiting for me. I carry a deer tail with me that was given as a gift during a ceremony many years ago. I use it both as an energy tool and as a metaphorical reminder: Follow Spirit wherever I go. Stay connected. Dont get out ahead of it.

This fall I gave a presentation at an international conference on shamanism and alternative modes of healing. I spoke about Kauyumari and my relationship with this wise ally. Just as I finished speaking, there was a gasp of glee from the audience. I thought maybe they were glad I was finished. But they were pointing behind me. I turned and looked out the window, and there was a family of deer gracefully walking by. They had stopped directly behind me while I was speaking.

Its hard to get away from the Dear Spirit. And my question is: Why would anyone even want to?