Shamanic self defense works by understanding what is invisible to most -- that is, how emotional energies are channelled. This is not Christian passivity or turning the other cheek. This is not forgiveness.
When someone is in a state of emotional aggression, they need to release that energy away from themselves in order to feel comfortable. Patriarchal society provides them with a natural means to do this, by blaming women. However, individual women can refuse to be a conduit for this aggression. Note, too, that most times an aggressive patriarch doesn't realise he or she is being that way. They just feel they feel in a morally righteous mood -- but that justification covers a lot of hostility, hatred and mean-spiritedness. People can release their aggression into you if they can get you to counter-react to their act of hostility. Even trying to justify or vindicate yourself can feel like a satisfactory counter-reaction to the aggressor. So, you have to refuse to do this. Sometimes the aggressor is looking for an explanation that will give meaning and justification to his behaviour or his life. You have to deny any explanations. Just step back and you will deny him or her the link to you that they want to use in order to diffuse their pent up aggression. That will mean they have to face their own aggression by themselves -- a novel experience for them, surely.
It's a internal event, though, you won't see them physically beating themselves up, but mentally and emotionally, they will be struggling.
Note: This is also not passive aggression, since there is no emotion involved on the part of the one who responds in this way and above all there is no intention for the aggressor to "guess what I feel". The connection between would-be aggressor and intended target is severed. Therefore he will be thrown onto his own devices to face the world in accordance with his particular level of development.
When someone is in a state of emotional aggression, they need to release that energy away from themselves in order to feel comfortable. Patriarchal society provides them with a natural means to do this, by blaming women. However, individual women can refuse to be a conduit for this aggression. Note, too, that most times an aggressive patriarch doesn't realise he or she is being that way. They just feel they feel in a morally righteous mood -- but that justification covers a lot of hostility, hatred and mean-spiritedness. People can release their aggression into you if they can get you to counter-react to their act of hostility. Even trying to justify or vindicate yourself can feel like a satisfactory counter-reaction to the aggressor. So, you have to refuse to do this. Sometimes the aggressor is looking for an explanation that will give meaning and justification to his behaviour or his life. You have to deny any explanations. Just step back and you will deny him or her the link to you that they want to use in order to diffuse their pent up aggression. That will mean they have to face their own aggression by themselves -- a novel experience for them, surely.
It's a internal event, though, you won't see them physically beating themselves up, but mentally and emotionally, they will be struggling.
Note: This is also not passive aggression, since there is no emotion involved on the part of the one who responds in this way and above all there is no intention for the aggressor to "guess what I feel". The connection between would-be aggressor and intended target is severed. Therefore he will be thrown onto his own devices to face the world in accordance with his particular level of development.
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