Recapitulation



Recapitulation is something I learned from Rhonda McCrimmon at the Centre For Shamanism. It is a way of forgiving yourself for things that you may regret or make you feel guilty - a way to let go of the past and move on with your life. As don Juan would say "You have to erase your personal history to become a warrior". A warrior must be totally aware and we can only be totally aware when we live completely in the present moment. A shaman is a spiritual warrior - he is not "fighting" with anybody or anything, he is in a battle with ignorance and indulgence and habits. The warrior seeks only Truth.

I will let Rhonda tell you about Recapitulation in her own words - you can download a pdf from the Resources section of her website. www.centreforshamanism.com 

"One of the things I recommend for my clients and one of my own weekly practises is Recapitulation. 

The purpose of recapitulation is to take back your personal power that was lost during unpleasant or traumatic events in your life so, in my case, some of my family used me to ‘get back’ at my parents and took a lot of their frustration out on me. I simply didn’t understand why these people in my life that I looked up to could be horrid…. So it must be me. It must be my fault. 

I lost A LOT of power during that time in my life. Recapitulation was one of the first things I learned to do. And I’m going to share this technique with you today. Just because it’s so helpful… and so simple! Recapitulation can be done at any time – after some practise and ‘getting good’ at the technique, you may find that as soon as an unpleasant memory crosses your mind you move automatically into recapitulation mode. That could be when you’re driving, walking or working. 

You are the director of your own healing journey so can develop your practises in whatever way works best for you. I like to set my space, light a candle and make sure I won’t be disturbed when I’m working on a difficult memory. I also recapitulate during the day at random times too. 

Here are the basic steps: 

Choose a memory – I recommend starting with something easy but that still raises an unpleasant emotion. In your mind, go back to that place in time. Feel your way through the memory without pushing anything away. Allow the feelings to flow through even if they are unpleasant. 

When you are fully in your memory, begin to purposefully breath out anything you have taken on that does not belong with you. 

Breath in anything you lost at that moment. 

Do not focus on what you took on or what you lost. Just know your Guides are doing the work. Do this for as long as you can – as you get better at the practise your mind will wander onto other thoughts naturally when you are complete. 

You may have to visit memories more than once to fully recapitulate the moment. A good practice is recapitulating everyday annoyances at the end of the day, before you sleep. This allows you to take back any power lost in daily events and frees you from connections with interpersonal drama. 

Build up slowly to major life events that you still have unpleasant emotional reactions to. This is deep work – so take your time and be gentle with yourself. It takes practise and won’t necessarily make a difference overnight. (Although it might!) I have used this process for several years, and it is part of my daily practice. I highly recommend it for increasing your energy, your peace of mind, and your feelings of freedom and joy. 

Blessings, Rhonda x" 


Recapitulation is also a very important part of the Toltec Shamanic teachings of don Juan Matus and his apprentice, the Author and Anthropologist Carlos Castaneda. You can read up on this in The Eagle's Gift - pages 256 to 261.

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