AI has no life energy … your chance

“AI will replace all our jobs” … THE fear scenario of our time
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
10.06.2025

The development of artificial intelligence is breathtaking. What was considered a futuristic vision just a few years ago is now reality: programs write poetry, talk to customers, analyze complex amounts of data in seconds and design entire cities in virtual models. Robots build houses, print furniture and perform surgical procedures with precision. In this new world, humans often seem to exist only as spectators.

Between fascination and fear

It is understandable that many people are unsettled. “What is actually left for me?”, ask not only creative minds, but also managers, craftsmen, teachers and doctors. The thought of being replaced by machines hits a raw nerve: the fear of being meaningless.

But precisely in this uncertainty lies a gateway. A way back, or rather: a way in. Because where the AI ends, the space in which you are irreplaceable begins.

What is AI and what can it really do?

AI, or artificial intelligence, is a branch of computer science that enables machines to perform tasks that originally required human intelligence. These include learning, problem solving, language comprehension and pattern recognition.

An AI like ChatGPT processes billions of data records, analyzes probabilities, combines language elements and generates meaningful responses. It recognizes patterns, but does not sense them. It evaluates, but it does not live. It cannot create anything new.

Let’s take an example: an AI system can analyze thousands of romantic poems and generate a new poem that reads “romantic”. But the AI knows no longing. No silent tears. No beating heart when you see someone you love.

She can describe grief, but she has never experienced loss.

She can explain friendship, but never feel trust.

She can express gratitude but never have been saved.

And that is the difference. And your opportunity.

The invisible dimension

We live in a world that places the visible, measurable and calculable above all else. Facts, figures, performance – these are the currencies of our time. So it’s no wonder that AI shines where these principles count.

But people don’t just live by numbers. People live from meaning.

It lives from the encounter with oneself on a deeper level. Of inner truth. Of moments when it becomes quiet and in this silence something suddenly speaks that has no voice.

Maybe you know moments like this: You’re sitting alone in the woods (or at home at the kitchen table) and suddenly you realize that your life has moved in a direction that feels empty. Or you wake up in the middle of the night and know that things can’t go on like this. This feeling is not “logical”. It is real. And it belongs to you alone.

This is the dimension that no machine can ever enter. Because it is not programmed, but sensed. Not understood, but experienced. Not made, but received.

Why AI will never reach your soul, the creator level

An AI can recognize depression, but it has never cried.

An AI can analyze spiritual texts, but it knows no longing for the big picture.

An AI can help you improve your time management, but it doesn’t know anything about being torn between duty and inner call. It doesn’t even know what time really is.

AI is brilliant, but soulless. Fast, but empty. Functional, but without essence.

You, on the other hand, are alive. Permeated by something that cannot be measured. Whether you call it soul, spirit, essence, source, spiritual-soul level or creator level, it is there. And it makes you irreplaceable.

The creation level of the universe

Everything we can see, grasp and think is on the level of matter. Our body, all its functions and also our psyche. All of this is the material level and this is also where AI operates. This is where mathematics is located, where the analysis of relationships is at home.

But this material level does not exist in “nothing”. It arises from the level behind it, from the level of pure energy, from the spiritual-soul level of the Creator.

And unlike a machine, we humans also exist on this creator level. We are spiritual beings who are at home right there. We are spiritual beings who create matter, who create our bodies, who create our entire material existence. Including all machines.

WE humans are the creators of all this

You may be familiar with this: you’re working on a text, a picture, a project and suddenly it’s flowing. You no longer think. You are flooded. You are no longer the doer of the material, you are drawing from a much deeper source.

This is not a psychological state. It is a spiritual event. It has its origin not in thinking, not in neurological processes, not in matter. But on the level behind it.

Poems that touch souls are created in this room. Solutions that were not calculated. Visions that come from another source.

And that is your true power. Because no machine can ever replace that, because YOU are the creator of the machines. A machine can never recognize its creator.

A little story:

A man came to a shaman and complained: “I have achieved everything. Money, prestige, power. But I am empty inside.”

The shaman said nothing. He handed him a drum. The man didn’t know what to do. So he began to beat. Slowly. Then faster. At some point, his expression changed. He was sweating. Wept. Sang. Fallen silent.

After hours he stood up, changed.

The shaman said: “You have felt your soul again.”

No AI in the world can do that. It can say it, sure, but it can’t DO it. Only a human can. A human who reconnects, who remembers that they themselves are the creation. Only a human can recognize the creator level because they are the creator.

Your invitation

Perhaps you are reading this text because something is awakening in you too. A quiet feeling: “There is more.” Maybe your life is fine on the outside and yet something is wrong. Maybe you are functioning, but you are no longer living.

Maybe you are also afraid. Maybe you are “sick”. Maybe you’re just “different” from the people around you. Then that’s not a mistake. It’s the call.

Not back to technology. But back to you.

To a place where you don’t analyze, but feel.

Where you don’t explain, but listen.

Where you don’t control, but receive.

No AI can follow you into this space, and no AI can bring you into this space. It lies behind matter. And it belongs to you alone.

The silent revolution

Our world does not need louder technology. It needs more alert people. People who remember that they are more than bodies and brains. More than roles and status. People who regain access to their inner voice, to the “divine” dimension within them.

These people change the world not through algorithms, but through their presence.

Not through speed, but through depth.

Not through knowledge, but through wisdom.

Conclusion: Why you are irreplaceable

AI will take over many things, but never you.

Because you are not code.

You are not a system.

You are not a product.

You are the spiritual being behind everything.

You are creative power.

You are alive.

And that’s exactly why you can beat any AI. Not with technology. But with energy. With who you are.

What can I do for you?

I can’t take the realization of the connections away from you. But I can lead you to the point where you can recognize. Where you can see who you are. Where you feel what you are. Where you take back your power over your life. For the good of all and for YOUR good.

Feel free to write to me at any time: mail@gerhard-zirkel.com

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ME/CFS

“Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome is a long-lasting, complex disease that affects several body systems. It is characterized by a drastic deterioration of the condition after physical or mental exertion – the so-called post-exertional malaise.”
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
19.05.2025

This is the official medical description of a disease that is still barely understood today. In most cases, those affected find no effective help. They are not even guaranteed sympathy. Because you can’t “see” any of it.

When deep exhaustion speaks a different language

Imagine waking up in the morning and feeling exhausted as soon as you open your eyes. Your body seems empty, your mind dull. Everything you used to find easy is now difficult. Every step becomes a challenge. It feels as if your inner light has been dimmed. As if your access to yourself has been blocked.

But it’s not depression, it’s something fundamentally different. It’s difficult to explain. You can’t “see” anything.

If this doesn’t just last for a few days, but for many months or even years, the whole thing gets a name: Chronic fatigue syndrome. But the term hardly explains anything. Your lab results are unremarkable. Doctors shrug their shoulders. And you yourself wonder what’s actually going on.

What if your exhaustion is not a mistake? Not a medical defect, but an expression of something deeper?

What if it is a wake-up call from your soul? From your being that originally came here with a purpose. Into a world that perhaps never really saw you. A society that has bent you from the start, conformed you, pressed you into shape.

Perhaps you are now at a point where there is no more bending. Your entire system is saying: stop. And that is not a failure, but an invitation to return to yourself.

Nobody can take that away from you, nobody can “diagnose” it, and there is no medication.

It’s not your fault. You can understand.

Perhaps you are now asking yourself the question: “So did I cause this myself?”, “Am I to blame?” The answer is a resounding no.

Blame is the wrong concept. It’s not about blaming anyone, including yourself. It’s about recognizing connections. At your own pace. With room for doubt, fear and hope.

You don’t have to find quick solutions. It’s not about speed. It’s about truthfulness. It’s about being willing to look. And then, at your own pace, to take new steps. One at a time.

When functioning becomes a trap

You may have learned to take responsibility. To be strong. To have your everyday life under control. Maybe even to appear perfect.

But somewhere along the way, you lost yourself. Your inner voice became quieter. Maybe it was never loud. Perhaps you internalized “functioning” so early on that you never got to know your true self.

Many people live successfully on the outside and feel a creeping emptiness on the inside. They work for others. For recognition. For an image of life that was never really their own.

And at some point the body can no longer take it. It rebels. And that feels like a deep, existential exhaustion.

The last kick over the edge

And at some point it becomes too much. This can happen gradually, but also very suddenly. Sometimes seemingly triggered by an event. An accident, an illness, a stroke of fate, a “vaccination”, something from outside.

But that is only the trigger, not the cause. Because the exhaustion was already there. You just held out for a long time. You had to persevere. There was no other way.

Your exhaustion is not a deficit, it is a call

What if this exhaustion is a message? A last attempt by your true self to bring you back?

Perhaps you have been on a path for a long time that no longer corresponds to your nature. Perhaps you have repeatedly suppressed needs, dreams or feelings. Out of a sense of duty, out of fear, out of reason.

Perhaps you have suppressed your inner knowledge, denied it. You kept silent where you should have spoken, stayed seated where you should have stood up.

But you are neither too much nor wrong. You’ve just been on a path that doesn’t nourish you for too long. Now is the time to ask yourself: Am I really living my life? Or just a role on the outside?

When life no longer makes sense and how you can find it again

Many people who suffer from chronic fatigue have lost themselves at some point. Not abruptly, but gradually. Through adaptation. Through expectations. Through an image that was never their own.

Healing begins where you stop judging yourself. Where you recognize: This exhaustion is not a sign of weakness , but of depth. Proof that something is still alive in you. That your inner being has not given up on you.

The first step: end the inner struggle

Do you know these thoughts?

“I’m too sensitive.”

“I’m doing everything wrong.”

“I’m not enough.”

These sentences are old. They come from your past, not from your truth. They gnaw at your strength. But they are not you.

And perhaps you’ve been projecting this onto the outside world for a long time:

“The world is wrong.”

“The others don’t understand anything.”

“Everything is too much.”

The first step towards change is not to do more. It is to stop fighting yourself and the world. It’s not easy, but it’s a start.

The second step: feel your inner guide again

A voice lives deep inside you. Perhaps it has become quiet. But it is still there.

Your intuition, your feeling for authenticity, for coherence. You don’t need new methods or clever concepts. What you need is you. Real. True. With everything you feel, including tiredness. You don’t need medicine, you need understanding. Your own.

Start listening to yourself. Not with your head, but with your whole being. It’s not about understanding with your mind. It’s about feeling. And about trust. In yourself. And in life.

The third step: realign your life from your innermost being

When your body goes on strike, it doesn’t want to “paralyze” you. It wants to protect you. From a path that destroys you. From a life that leaves you empty.

This exhaustion is not the end. It is the transition. The threshold to something new. Perhaps still unclear. But real. And this change does not begin with big decisions. But with small ones:

An honest no. A silent pause. A walk alone, without a destination. Less thinking, more feeling. Less conformity, more you. And at some point: a new course. One that feels right.

Trust is the silent power of your healing

Healing is not a goal. It is not a state that you have to achieve. It is a path that unfolds. Within you. You don’t have to fight anymore. You don’t have to be strong. You can be tired. And still go on. Not against you, but with you.

Perhaps slowly. Perhaps groping. But alive. And honest. If you feel that your old life no longer fits, then it’s not about trying harder. It’s about becoming still. And to meet yourself.

Your exhaustion is not a sign of failure. It is the call of your life: Come back. To yourself.

My help with this?

Often the causes lie so deep, so far back in the past, in the ancestral line, in transgenerational traumas, that you cannot get to them on your own. Too much lies above it. And you no longer have the strength.

Too many mechanisms of repression, of protection. Everything seems too confused, too little of your connection can be felt.

Then I come into play. Because I can look, I can understand, I can see how everything is connected. And guide you through the process like a mountain guide. The process that untangles everything, that creates clarity and that ultimately leads you to who YOU really are.

This is a process that requires strength and courage and takes time. But you don’t have to go it alone. Feel free to write to me at any time if you have any questions: mail@gerhard-zirkel.com

Vaccination from a spiritual and shamanic perspective

There are few “medical” topics that are as polarizing as vaccination. Advocates of vaccination take fanatical action, from massive media coverage to legal action, against anyone who expresses criticism.
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
27.02.2025

The criticism of vaccination as such is just as old as the idea of vaccination itself and it comes both from the camp of conventional medicine and from outside. But what is behind it from a spiritual and emotional perspective?

It is not only matter and conventional medicine that exist and operate within it. There are other levels that have a far greater horizon of experience but are sometimes drowned out by the clamor of gross matter. This article is about these levels.

The idea behind it is tempting

Basically, the idea of vaccination is tempting and even I say that as a tendentious critic of vaccination. You get an injection and then you are immune to a certain disease. You might think that’s a good thing. At least at first glance.

The idea of vaccination has fascinated mankind for centuries. It is based on the concept of specifically “training” the immune system to prevent serious infectious diseases. This strategy seems particularly appealing because it is preventative in nature; instead of treating a disease once it breaks out, the body is prepared so that, in the best case scenario, it does not fall ill in the first place or only develops mild symptoms.

And at first glance, this even seems to work; vaccination advocates repeatedly cite the example of smallpox, which has actually been almost eradicated.

Another argument that is often put forward is the protection of society as a whole. The theory is plausible: if you don’t contract a disease, you can’t infect anyone. And so those who cannot protect themselves are also protected. A nice game with feelings of guilt that works extremely well.

Psychologically speaking, being vaccinated gives you a sense of security. After all, you are now protected from a disease AND you are also morally high up because you are protecting others.

But is this even true from an overall perspective – i.e. beyond the limited material point of view? Or is this story flawed, even a huge fallacy?

Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, made several statements on the subject of vaccination, particularly in the context of his spiritual world view. His statements come mainly from lectures he gave between 1904 and 1924, as well as from various writings on medicine and education. Here are a few of his most important thoughts on vaccination:

1. vaccination and spiritual awareness

Steiner regarded vaccinations as an intervention in the spiritual development of human beings. He believed that although vaccines could protect against illness, they could also impair a person’s spiritual consciousness. In an often quoted lecture from 1917 (in the Complete Edition GA 177, “Spiritual Scientific Reflections on World and Life Questions”), he stated that a materialism could emerge in the future that aimed to immunize people against “spiritual susceptibility” from childhood.

2. karma and illness

Steiner saw illnesses not only as biological phenomena, but as part of a karmic development process. He argued that certain childhood illnesses such as measles or scarlet fever could contribute to a person’s mental and spiritual maturation. Vaccinations could disrupt this process and therefore also have an impact on future incarnations.

3. medicine and materialism

In several lectures (e.g. GA 314, “Spiritual Science and Medicine”), Steiner criticized the materialistic approach to medicine that was emerging at the time. He feared that an exclusively biochemical view of health and illness neglected the spiritual aspect of the human being.

What I say as a shaman

Steiner already said it back then: vaccination interferes with people’s spiritual and mental development. But how is this to be understood?

Let’s expand on this a little:

From the perspective of the great connection between matter and energy, all matter is created from life energy plus ideas. We are basically spiritual beings who create a material world and a body to incarnate in it.

The matter that we see, touch, eat and where we can hit is nothing other than very dense energy. So dense that it appears solid. But it is nevertheless energy that is in a continuous process of change.

We humans are also condensed energy and we ourselves, i.e. the spiritual being behind us, have condensed this energy and control the life that results from it.

What sounds complicated to the mind – which is also just condensed energy – becomes completely clear to anyone who has (re)established contact with the spiritual level. These connections cannot be grasped with rational thinking, they can be felt, experienced, accessible to those who can sense.

Diseases

An “illness” is always a sign that something is not right in the emotional-energetic balance, or that a developmental process is taking place that manifests itself physically and must also be lived through physically.

What happens if I deprive my body of the opportunity to do this by “vaccinating” it?

Then I either block the development process or I suppress the symptom of an imbalance. On the one hand, this is good because I don’t get the illness, but it’s also bad because this expression would have had a purpose.

Assume that something is not going according to the spiritual being that you are in your incarnation. You are developing in an unfavorable direction, you are not developing at all or you are “overlooking” parts of yourself.

Then the spiritual beingthat you are, your “higher self”, will try to communicate this to you. And it does this through physical symptoms. These can be minor things or potentially fatal illnesses. Mostly combinations of these, which build on each other until you understand what it is all about.

But what if you prevent this possibility of expression from the outset by preventing the illness? Doesn’t your higher self then have to look for another expression? Don’t you then simply fall ill with something else?

If you vaccinate against it again, this game will continue until your body no longer plays along. Because every sign that you ignore or suppress will result in a clearer sign.

Or – and perhaps this is even worse – your material existence loses its connection to the spiritual plane because you suppress any possibility of interaction.

Zombies

And then you are what the movie industry called zombies ages ago. You are an empty shell with no connection to the primordial ground of your being. Controllable by everything but yourself, your higher self.

Zombies are very practical for anyone who wants to exercise power. Because people who are no longer connected to themselves, or only in a muted way, are controllable. They can be manipulated by any form of indoctrination, they believe any lie, they even defend it.

They have to, because they no longer have access to their truth, which comes from the spiritual side. In some cases, the simplest connections no longer work, people become radicalized, fight each other and no longer recognize what is actually at stake.

Two pieces of good news

a) If you have found this article and read this far, you are not completely separated from everything, immunized or not. Then there is still a resonance within you, you still get something from the world and you are concerned with the basic connections. Not everyone is equally susceptible to vaccinations, for some they don’t work at all.

b) No matter how deep the vaccinations are in you, they can always be transformed on a spiritual level. And yes, this also applies to today’s mRNA vaccines. Here, too, matter follows energy, even if the transformation requires much more energy than conventional vaccines.

Perhaps this is the reason why so few colleagues dare to tackle the subject? But there are some who do.

Remedy

I have been offering vaccine transformations since I started working as a shaman and I have carried out hundreds of them since Corona. I transform the vaccines not on a material but on a spiritual level. This enables the body to excrete them.

This is the first step in a process, because as long as the substance is in the body as a cause and acts there, there can be no improvement in your connection to your spiritual and mental base.

Such an inoculation transformation will not solve all your problems and it will not automatically reconnect you to your energetic base. But it is the basis for this to happen.

Important

Whatever you do, whether vaccinated or not, the important thing is to recognize the connections on a spiritual and mental level. This is exactly what I mean by “access to your truth”. Your contact with the spiritual level, whether conscious or unconscious, can tell you how best to behave in the material world you have created.

You have this access, it may just be buried or muffled. You feel that you have it and you can uncover it. The decision to do so is always yours.

If you have any questions or would like my help, please write to me at any time: mail@gerhard-zirkel.com

Wenn Opfer die Täter pflegen

When victims (have to) care for the perpetrators

Take care of your own parents? Sure, of course you do. They’re your parents and you love them. If you really do that, of course, then you’re there for them like they were there for you. Congratulations, that’s how it should be.
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
20.02.2025

But what if not? What if your parents were narcissistic and/or abusive towards you? Either openly, in the form of physical or sexual violence or – and this is extremely more common – in the form of conscious or unconscious emotional abuse?

Then the issue becomes highly complex and often doesn’t end well. Not for either side. This is exactly what the following article is mainly about.

Because when the burden of caregiving itself is compounded by unconscious dependencies, narcissistic behavior and mutual pressure, then the whole construct becomes dangerous to the point of the caregiver giving up on themselves.

Such dependency relationships are by no means limited to care. Often enough, parents exercise power in a much more subtle way. They make their long-grown children dance like puppets. Make them do things that they would never have done on their own. Sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously.

But there are ways out if you are prepared to start with yourself – there is no other approach anyway – and resolve the underlying patterns. Because unlike in your childhood, you are no longer at the mercy of others. It still feels like that, but it’s no longer like that. Only the old programs are still running, but programs can be changed or deleted.

Such a path is exhausting, but much less exhausting than driving your own life into self-abandonment.

Example “it’s already working”

Ines, 58 years old, single, cares for her 83-year-old mother. As always, names are fictitious, the story behind them is not.

Ines has two more siblings, but they don’t care. They have families of their own and don’t have time. More like they don’t want to, but of course they don’t say that. Ines is alone, so she has time. She can be there for her mother.

She doesn’t need full care, but she can no longer get to the shops on her own and she can no longer clean her apartment. Ines does all that. Even though she works full-time, but otherwise she has time, doesn’t she? “I can manage,” she says to herself again and again.

Her mother is not easy. She never was. She would be called “narcissistic” today, but Ines still defends her. “She never had it easy”.

Is that an excuse for the fact that she keeps calling Ines nasty names? For the fact that Ines really can’t do anything to please her? For slandering her own daughter to the neighbors, shouting at her, throwing objects at her head?

Ines ignores all that. She has to, otherwise she couldn’t care. And she has to, doesn’t she? Her mother isn’t that bad … she’s never had it easy.

Ines has always been the unloved child. Always the child that her mother beat up. Psychologically and then also physically. Even as a child, Ines could never be right, she was always wrong, always ‘at fault’. She desperately tried to finally get it right, to finally be seen, to finally be loved. She is still trying today. She doesn’t even realize it anymore, she doesn’t know any different.

And so Ines doesn’t even realize how quickly she herself is deteriorating. How bad her health is. “I’ll be fine”. Sure, she was always “fine”, somehow. But she can’t let up, what would her mother say? What would the neighbors say? Then it would be her fault. Once again. She MUST be loved at some point! She can’t, so she carries on.

She actually came to me for something completely different, her health had been failing for some time. But the issue with her mother quickly came to the fore. This toxic dependency on a person who had always treated her like dirt. From childhood onwards. This sense of responsibility, coupled with a perpetual feeling of guilt.

Ines didn’t want to see this for a long time, there was always the hope that it would stop at some point … a hope that was never fulfilled. Not until death and beyond.

Solving this huge issue was not easy – especially not the guilt issue – but in the end Ines got her zest for life back. And her health. And her mother is no worse off than before, the solution just looks completely different now.

General

This example is not ONE story, it is many stories. This topic is huge but hardly visible in society. Who talks about it? And who should you talk to about it? Most people are not even aware of it.

Especially when it’s not about obvious dependency relationships but very subtle ones. Parents who are not in need of care, but still keep their adult children “on a tight leash” against their will.

Coercing them into unhealthy behavior, belittling them, controlling and bullying them. Emotionally blackmail them. Binding them to themselves against the will and needs of their partners or children.

What worked for you as a child will still work when you are an adult. Until you actively end these patterns. This requires courage and determination and is a big step.

You may feel “guilty” and you may be misunderstood, even attacked. But only at the beginning of the process.

Feelings of guilt

Consciously or unconsciously creating feelings of guilt in other people is an extremely effective strategy for getting what you want. If you manage to convince the other person that they are to blame if you are not doing well, then you have them in the palm of your hand.

Especially if it’s a person who is dependent on you. Your child, for example. If you as a parent manage – and this is not difficult – to give your child the “job” of making you happy, then they will do everything, really EVERYTHING to achieve this.

Because it depends on you. It MUST make you happy. A direct hit for narcissistic parents. Once they’ve got this pattern down, they can do practically anything with their children without fear of consequences.

This goes as far as physically abused children who nevertheless protect the perpetrators, their parents. Often well into adulthood. This leads to people who, even as adults, even in old age, still do everything they can to live up to the expectations or presumed expectations of their parents. Even when their parents are long dead.

In extreme cases, such patterns can lead to complete self-abandonment, but in most cases they lead to a subtle, latent pattern of suffering. And without the parents ever feeling any better as a result.

Help

There are hardly any people who can help, because the causes of such dependencies lie beyond what most people can perceive, let alone solve. You have to look specifically and want to see what you see.

And then draw the consequences. That’s hard at first. But how many people die from something like that? How many people care for their parents until they die, only to realize that they are still unloved and that the pattern of dependency continues to torment them even after their parents have died? Even worse than before.

How many people ruin themselves, always hoping that they will be loved for it at some point?

Spoiler: This will never happen!

The love that you should have experienced as a child but didn’t get, you can ‘t get from the outside later on. You simply can’t. Even if your parents were to develop into angels, it wouldn’t work.

You have to get it from a completely different source and you can get it with the right guidance. But you have to go deep to do this. You have to get to the root cause, to your energetic basis, which lies much deeper than your parents. Such patterns build up over very long periods of time and pass from one generation to the next (or the next but one).

You can’t solve a pattern like this at the level at which it originated. But together we can get to the point where you can solve it. Sustainably and forever. Taking the first step is entirely up to you.

Feel free to write to me at any time if you have any questions: mail@gerhard-zirkel.com

Conditioning … and he comes running

You touch the food bowl and bam … he’s already there wagging his tail … or he picks up the stick you threw. Over and over again. Cute little guy, isn’t he? Animals are so easy to train, they can even become circus acts. And they are clever!
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
14.02.2025

But why am I writing this, it has nothing to do with you. Or do you also come running when someone touches your food bowl? Or throws a stick?

Nooooo! Not you! Not ever!

You are a self-responsible and consciously thinking person and, above all, you are already so far along in your development … but the topic suddenly becomes exciting anyway. Let’s take a look there.

In psychology, conditioning refers to the learning process by which a behavior is influenced by repeated associations with certain stimuli. So the dog associates the noise that the bowl makes with “now there’s food” and he comes running.

There are two main forms

Classical conditioning” (described by Ivan Pavlov) occurs when an originally neutral stimulus (e.g. a bell or the rattling of a bowl) is coupled with an unconditioned stimulus (e.g. food) so that it ultimately triggers a conditioned response (e.g. dog comes running).

Operant conditioning” (B. F. Skinner) describes learning through consequences. Behavior is encouraged by reinforcement, i.e. reward, or inhibited by punishment.

So much for brevity and superficiality. Knowing point two, we can probably all agree that we too have experienced countless conditioning in our lives.

Education and society

The whole subject of “education” basically consists of us being “taught” what we should and shouldn’t do and what happens if we don’t stick to it. In other words, operant conditioning.

We are taught from an early age how we must behave in order to be recognized (reward) or rejected (punishment) by society. Much of this is even good and correct, but there are certainly behaviors that would be very harmful for us and our environment or would certainly not lead to a good result.

But much of this turns out to be a hindrance later in life. Because we have learned outdated ways of behaving or some of it is based on irrational fears or assumptions or simply does not suit our personality.

Not everything that our parents aspired to or had to aspire to is suitable for us in our time. Not everything that would have led our parents to ruin is still harmful for us. We are only too happy to get rid of some of these conditionings because they are of no use to us or hold us back.

Normally this is not a problem, as we (unlike animals) can consciously question what we do and change our behavior.

The devil in the detail

Aaaaabut … the devil is in the detail. There are conditionings – and these are often very strong ones – that don’t come from our upbringing or our interaction with society. They go deeper.

Conditioning is passed on over an insane number of generations. Not only from parents to children, sometimes they skip a few generations or develop a life of their own over time.

And completely unconsciously. You are already born with them, no chance of recognizing this from your position, from your incarnation.

And then you work on yourself, pull yourself out of the mess, so to speak… at some point you think you’ve finally done everything. Only to suddenly find yourself right back where you started. Because although you have resolved everything that has arisen for you in this life, you have never seen this issue that has been dragging along your ancestral line for twelve generations.

Because you can’t see it at all. Not even IF you can see it. And certainly not with “everyone’s methods” from the self-help book or the NLP basic course.

Example

Lena, 38, in a “toxic relationship”. The name is made up, the story behind it is not.

Lena has been working on herself a lot for a very long time, therapies, coaching sessions etc. and she has already come a long way.

But the thing about her partnership that she can’t get out of is a mystery. Whenever she thinks she has made the leap, something happens on the outside that ruins her plans.

There is this financial dependency that she just can’t get out of. She is building up her own business and it is running well. She doesn’t earn too badly, isn’t even tied to a particular location and can live and work how and where she wants. But that only works up to a certain point and then it comes to a standstill or she is thrown back.

It’s never really her fault. You would normally call something like that a “stroke of fate”. She only ever gets to a certain point and then it feels like she has to go back to the beginning.

She falls ill, she faces unplanned expenses or legal difficulties, and so on. Then there are the emotional shackles that keep subtly preventing her from finally letting go completely. Her partner is also good at this. He doesn’t seem to have to do anything, one look is enough and she’s back to being the helpless little girl she’s always been. No matter how much she works on herself and how aware she is of it all.

She doesn’t know what else to do. Parental issues, conditioning, beliefs, everything has already been dealt with umpteen times. Therapies, coaching, books, nothing really helps in the long term. Every time she thinks she’s finally done it, she has a setback.

The causes were really deep and she never thought that she would have to go there or that she would get there.

We have gone back tens of generations in our work together, all of which is no longer visible today and no longer tangible with the mind.

A mixture that all too often develops a life of its own and comes through again and again, no matter what you do, no matter how you work on yourself, no matter how “far” you are already. A form of conditioning that has been subtly “fermenting” in the background for so long that it can no longer be recognized as such without outside help.

It took Lena a long time to overcome her pride and come to me for help. But once the issue has been resolved at grassroots level, everything else suddenly works sustainably.

Example 2

Bernd, 58, career man (name also invented, story not)

Bernd has everything you can possibly achieve. He grew up in a loving, solid family home, already upper middle class at the time. He went straight through school and university without too much trouble, was successful in sport, had lots of friends and was always healthy and fit.

Landed in the Group and had a picture-book career there. Married, two grown-up sons with whom he gets on well. But now he’s retired. Retirement. Actually the dream of many people. To retire at 58 as a wealthy person and enjoy life.

But Bernd is really struggling with it. He can’t get out of the hamster wheel. It’s almost like he’s running out of things to do. But he has the means to keep himself busy.

He even has a sailing boat. He can afford to travel the world. To finally do everything he has always dreamed of. And he does it. But not only does it not fulfill him, it really gets him down. To the point of depression and generally poor health. Something he had never experienced before.

Therapies and everything else he has tried have helped him to deal with it. But there is something else. He can feel it. Something is wrong. Something is burning in him, something wants to get out, he can’t “just” enjoy his life.

His father was like that too. He was self-employed and worked into old age. Knew nothing else. His grandfather did too. And further back, too. And that’s when the cause slowly came into view.

The whole ancestral line is a series of “builders”. People who brought their energy into the world by building something. Exclusively. With all the consequences. Most of them toiled until they had literally worked themselves to death. Some had to do that to survive, but Bernd didn’t have to.

But this age-old pattern won’t let him go. Because it’s not tangible. Because it wasn’t even clear that there was such a pattern. Until we specifically looked for it. THEN we were able to solve it.

Now he is out of this constraint. Still very active, but now in terms of leisure activities. The sailing boat is now actually being used and with a relaxed joy that was previously completely unknown to Bernd.

The path to a solution

Yes, “the way” to the solution. No one can give you a solution or solve anything for you. But you can find a solution if you finally want to get out of this time loop of repetitive actions and reactions.

For this you need someone who can go to the level of energy, the level behind matter. Someone who can see your ancestral line and its issues from the outside, so to speak, and take you there. And THEN you can also resolve these issues. Because what you can see, you can also change.

I am someone who does this for a living. But even I can’t tell you in advance what exactly this path will look like (people often ask me that). I have the ability to see what we need to do, I have a toolbox that helps us both to make this path possible for you. But you will find out what the path looks like for you when you walk it.

Even if you can’t see how you’re ever going to manage it. Even if you can’t yet see where the problem is actually supposed to be. But you can feel that there is a problem!

Sometimes you have to overcome a good dose of pride (after all, I’m already so far along / I’ve run a whole company / I’m a coach myself and already know everything) and also the fear that comes with it. But not doing it is much more exhausting in the long run than jumping over your own shadow and going for it.

What are you waiting for? Here we go … https://www.gerhard-zirkel.com/dein-einstieg/

Ordner „AI Bilder“ DALL·E 2025-01-01 12.13.21 - schamane mit multiplen gesichtern

Your name

Are you the “Michi” or the “Michael”? Are you “Dani” or “Daniela”? Are you “Müller Hansi” or are you “Mr. Hans Peter Müller”? Or are you “Schatzi”, “Mausi” or “Papa” anyway? You probably know this game. Nicknames, abbreviations, nicknames. Rarely can they be avoided completely and sometimes the past catches up with you.
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
02.01.2025

Not all that bad? Yes and no. Sometimes it is. Because your name is an interface between you and your energy. Between who you really are and the outside world. Your name can convey your energy or it can prevent you from revealing your energy.

It can help you to be noticed. Or make people ignore you. Do you know the “Simpsons”? The animated series? There’s an episode (season 10, episode 13) in which Homer Simpson decides to change his name to “Max Power”.

And that gives him a completely different image in one fell swoop. He’s a completely different person and, whatever you think of The Simpsons, they often illustrate such relationships amazingly well.

Names in general

How did that actually come about, with the names? Today we are used to having one or more first names and a family name. It wasn’t always like that.

If you take a closer look, names have a fascinating history that tells us a lot about culture, religion and social structures. They are far more than just designations, they carry meanings, stories and sometimes even spiritual connections. Let’s take a look at how first names and surnames have evolved in German-speaking countries.

In early “Germanic” or Celtic cultures, first names often had a strong connection to nature and the spiritual world. Generally speaking, in cultures close to nature, you don’t just get any name that your parents happen to like. Your name always has a meaning and there were and are cultures in which you are given a temporary name as a child until you are given your real name when you transition into the adult world. One that suits you.

Either way, names always have a meaning, whether randomly assigned or after precise analysis.

A few examples:

Wolfgang

Meaning as much as “the walking wolf”. The name comes from Old High German, wulf = wolf and gang = gang. The wolf was a symbol of strength, protection and community. A name for a leader.

Still a common name in Germany, often in the short form “Wolf” or “Wolfi”. And that’s where it gets interesting. Compare the energies of Wolfgang with Wolfi or Wolf. All three convey very different messages.

Bertram

Meaning as much as “shining raven”. The name comes from the Old High German beraht = shining and hraban = raven. The raven is associated with wisdom and mysticism. The name is no longer so common today, but imagine the wise raven suddenly being abbreviated to “Berti” …

Hildegard

Who doesn’t know the famous Hildegard von Bingen, who would certainly have been less than enthusiastic about “Hilde” or “Hilda”. The name means something like “protection in battle” and also comes from Old High German, hiltja = battle and gard = protection.

Protective powers were often associated with natural and spiritual energies and expressed through names.

Sigmund

Meaning as much as “victorious protector”. Also comes from Old High German, sigu = victory and munt = protection. The name carries a spiritual strength, often associated with protective gods or nature spirits. A “Siggi” would perhaps be considered a little less strong, what do you think?

Alwin

Meaning as much as “the noble friend”. Also Old High German, adal = noble and wini = friend. No longer very common today, although its energy would make it quite desirable.

The name is associated with friendship and harmony, both of which are considered important values in the natural world.

Finn

Meaning as much as “white”, “pure” or “fair”. The name is quite fashionable, it comes from the old Celtic fionn = white, bright. In Celtic mythology, Finn was a hero who embodied wisdom and purity.

I’ve heard mothers call out “Finni”. Perhaps just appropriate for small children.

Lorna

A Celtic name that is more commonly found in English-speaking regions means something like “those from Lorne”, a region in Scotland. The name is intended to serve as an example of how names also originated. It is not always characteristics but sometimes simply the place of origin.

Lorne is a wild and romantic area with mountains and coastlines that serve as a source of inspiration here.

Eileen

Meaning as much as “light” or “beautiful”. Derived from the Old Irish “Eibhlin”. And stands for light as a central symbol in Celtic spirituality and annual festivals.

But it is not only natural-spiritual approaches that lead to names, the Christian tradition also takes a similar approach. See:

Hans

Means something like “God is gracious”. The name is a short form of Johannes, which comes from the Hebrew (Yochanan) and means “Yahweh is gracious”. It became very popular through the spread of Christianity in German-speaking countries.

In a broader sense, the name could refer to divine grace and thus also to the connection between man and divine creation (nature). The name was often given in a rural environment, which associates it with a down-to-earth way of life. Do you know the fairy tale “Hans in Luck”?

Peter

Meaning is “the rock”. Derived from the Greek (Petros), which means “rock” or “stone”. The name refers to the apostle Peter, whom Jesus called the “rock” of his church. It became widespread in Europe as a result of Christianization.

The “rock” symbolizes stability, constancy and connection to the earth. The name has a strong metaphorical connection to the elements of nature.

Klaus

Means “the victorious one of the people”. Klaus is the short form of Nicholas, which comes from the Greek (Nikolaos) and is made up of nikē (victory) and laos (people).

In Christian tradition, St. Nicholas is a patron saint, often associated with agricultural and maritime aspects, which indirectly links him to nature.

You see, names did not come about by chance, they reflect deeper connections. Animals, plants and elements of nature served as inspiration, as it was believed that these forces could confer protection and strength. Shamanic traditions also played a role here. Names were and are sometimes asked for in rituals or received as messages from spirits and ancestors.

With the Christianization of German-speaking countries from the early Middle Ages onwards, the naming system changed. Many traditional Germanic names gave way to Christian names such as John, Mary or Jacob, which were of biblical origin. However, old meanings often remained here too, and a mixture of pagan and Christian influences emerged.

Surnames

Now we modern people not only have first names but also surnames. Which somehow seem to derive from other sources. In any case, it is usually clear which category a name falls into.

The phenomenon of surnames is not that old. Surnames appeared in German-speaking countries around the 12th century, when population numbers increased and it became necessary to identify people more clearly. These surnames developed from five main categories:

Job titles

Names such as Müller, Schmidt or Fischer are derived from professions. Today, they tell us what an ancestor once did.

Names of origin

Names such as Schwarzwald or Bayer show where someone came from. They were particularly common in rural areas.

Properties

Character traits or external features were also used, such as small, tall or cheerful.

Animal and nature references

Ancient shamanic connections are reflected here. Names such as fox, eagle or brook are reminiscent of the proximity to nature.

Ancestry

In some cultures, the father’s name also became the child’s surname. A “McDonald”, for example, is the son of Donald. A Johansson is the son of Johann. At some point, these names were then retained as surnames, presumably for the sake of simplicity.

Binding

The introduction of surnames only became mandatory in German-speaking countries in the late Middle Ages, particularly through administrative measures such as tax collection or the land registry system. People were increasingly forced into administrative systems for the sake of better control.

Old names and modern times

In modern times, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Romantic movement led to a rediscovery of old Germanic and nature-related names. People searched for their cultural roots and wanted to preserve them in their names. Names such as Alwin, Hildegard or Armin experienced a renaissance.

Even today, there is a trend to revive old and unusual names. Some parents are inspired by nature or spiritual traditions, similar to the shamans of old. Names such as Leona (lioness), Finn (white, fair) or Mira (miracle) are not only melodious, but also carry deeper meanings.

Sometimes, however, these names serve less the development of the child and more the spiritual development of the parents. But this is not always the case, many people are very concerned with the names of their children and also remember that children will grow up at some point and want to be taken seriously.

Spiritual dimensions of names

In natural-spiritual and shamanic contexts, names are often regarded as more than mere labels. A name can be seen as a kind of key to a person’s soul. In shamanic rituals, a new name is sometimes given to mark a certain phase of life or a transformation. This name connects the bearer with certain powers or spiritual qualities.

Shamanic workers often have an assumed name in addition to their given name. This was given to them by the spirits or expresses their power.

So I go by the name “Singing Wolf”, albeit rarely in public. It was given to me many years ago on a shamanic journey and I have used it in contact with my spirits ever since.

Names are more than words

The history of names in German-speaking countries shows how strongly they are linked to cultural and spiritual development. From nature-loving origins to Christian influences and the rediscovery of old traditions. Names are a reflection of our identity and our relationship to the world.

Children sometimes give themselves a different name over really long phases and then want to be addressed as such. It is advisable to take this seriously and perhaps have a look or feel out what energy is trying to be seen.

Nicknames, abbreviations, middle names, slang and nicknames

And this is exactly where pet names and abbreviations come into play. They also have a meaning, but often one that only applies to certain phases of life or that assigns the bearer characteristics that give them a false stamp.

Let’s take Wolfgang, whose meaning we have already explained above. It may be that as a little boy he is affectionately called Wolfi. That’s fine for a boy, but what happens when little Wolfi grows up?

Does the pet name still suit him then? Or does it then reflect a completely wrong energy, perhaps even block him. Such a pet name can literally keep a person down.

Or what happens to the energy of a 36-year-old man who is still called “Schnuckel” by his mother? Does this show respect for his energy, his nature? Or does this express a conscious or unconscious wish/lack of desire on the part of the mother that is not beneficial to the son?

Then there are the second names that we often have in our culture. Sometimes it is the father’s or mother’s name that is also given. But sometimes it is also a freely chosen name.

Sometimes they are used as call names or even combined to form a double name, as in Hans-Peter or Klaus-Jürgen. Sometimes, however, they disappear into insignificance and are only used when they are absolutely necessary.

Coastal names

A very exciting field is that of stage names. Incidentally, this is closely related to the spiritual names that shamans or healers adopt. With such a name, you can create a whole new energy and bring it into the world.

This is why famous artists are often completely different people in their private lives than they are on stage. They live two lives alternately, so to speak, and express this with two different names.

If this is done consciously, it is not harmful but can create great things. For example, professional energy can be separated from private life.

What you can and should do

Take a moment and make a list. A list of your first names, your last name, all abbreviations and nicknames you have ever been given and your nicknames, if any.

And then feel deeply into the energies of these names. You can feel how they all transport very different aspects of your being to the outside world.

Compare this with the image you have of yourself. Especially if you can’t stand your own name, which is more common than you might think. Are you perhaps deliberately choosing a nickname or have you chosen your middle name as your first name?

Or have you always struggled with not having the success you’d like, but can’t embrace your full name and use a diminutive instead?

It would make sense to take a deeper look at why this is the case. If you don’t like your name or one of your names, this is an indication that you are rejecting a part of yourself and not bringing it into your life.
This is very stressful in the long run and often has causes that lie deep in your ancestral line. But this can be changed, feel free to write to me mail@gerhard-zirkel.com if you have any questions or would like to take a closer look at the topic.

Players and Builders

This article is about two groups of people. Certainly a very simplified description, but important. Because the encounter between these two groups often leads to misunderstandings and pain. And this is not just because these groups are so fundamentally different, but because it can be difficult to understand where the problem actually lies.
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
07.10.2024

Especially when you’re in the middle of it, in the field of tension between the two groups. It’s about the “players” and the “builders”. You may already be nodding in agreement or you may have a big question mark over your head. I’ll try an example first, then it will become clearer what I mean.

In kindergarten – an example

Imagine a group of children in kindergarten and a pile of building blocks. Huge chaos, great fun, everyone starts doing something. Even if it seems that way at first glance, not all children play with these building blocks in the same way.

I’m not talking about individual differences in behavior; of course, each child plays a little differently than the others. No, there are, roughly speaking, two groups of children who interact very differently with the blocks and with each other.

And these two groups aren’t always compatible, which often leads to tears and, in extreme cases, deep frustration. The “Players” and the “Builders.” There’s no judgment here—both are good, but both need to be understood.

Most of the children will probably be the “Players.” They play with the blocks and whatever else is available. They build something together, giggle, chatter, and incorporate their dolls or toy cars into the game.

In between, they may throw the blocks around, wrestle a bit, sing, laugh, and then return to the other kids and the blocks. They’re clearly having a lot of fun. They might argue sometimes but have fun again shortly after. It’s all about the group, open to anyone who wants to join.

The classic definition of fun is the priority here. There’s no “higher goal” – it’s all about enjoying the moment. The Players live in the here and now, relishing life. They’re often in a good mood, laugh, and love being surrounded by other kids. They constantly come up with new ideas and are always active.

They also have a magnetic pull on other kids because they’re fun to be around, and they’re usually kind-hearted people.

Then there are the Builders. They seem to have less fun, appearing more serious. They are alone or in very small, closed-off groups. Sometimes it seems like they’re not even participating, just sitting there, watching, observing. And—this is crucial to understand—they’re not playing, they’re building. That’s a key difference. You can play with blocks, or you can build with them.

They have a plan, and they execute it. Not a plan like an architect, after all, they’re still little kids.

But maybe they’ve decided to build a big tower, and so they build a big tower. Often alone because the plan is in their head. Only in their head. Sometimes these kids live more in their heads than in the “real” world. But not always. They build their thing, stick to it, and end up with a tower. Not infrequently, the tallest one the kindergarten has ever seen.

It’s not about having a tower for them; it’s about building one. Not playing, building. Creating. Purposeful. Often alone, because when a Builder has a plan, their whole life energy is focused on making that plan a reality. Exactly as it exists in their head.

Builders often come across as distant, sometimes strange. Or even arrogant. They don’t want anyone to “play” with them. Maybe they’ll allow someone to help build, but definitely not to play. And that’s where the big problems begin.

Both can exist in a kindergarten—Players or Builders, or rather, Players AND Builders. And that’s where the clashes happen. Because they don’t understand each other. They’re children in kindergarten, and children at that age don’t “understand” other kids’ behavior. It’s due to their age. That’s where adults need to step in to mediate. But first, adults need to understand what’s going on.

It’s not uncommon for a Player, in their burst of energy, to knock over a Builder’s tower. Or something might fly through the air and destroy their creation, either before it’s finished or after. Or the Player just wants to join in the fun. But the Builder rudely rejects them, which the Player can’t understand. They want fun, they want friends, they want to play. Why are they causing trouble? They don’t get it. Why can’t they laugh when the tower comes crashing down? It’s not that big of a deal.

And that’s when the trouble starts.

It’s just a silly tower made of blocks—why is the Builder getting so upset? … well, objectively, maybe it is. But what if, in that moment, the tower is the Builder’s entire world? What if that Builder has put all their life energy into this one project? What if the plan, the goal, is their whole life right now? And the Player not only destroys it but laughs about it?

A Player will never understand that. They’re here, there, and somewhere else the next second, always living in the moment. Not in the future, and certainly not in a plan. They won’t understand why the Builder is crying so bitterly, why they withdraw, why they are sad and desperate.

They’ll see the Builder as “weird” for a second, and then their thoughts are already somewhere else. The Player CAN’T understand. It’s not in their nature.

And Builders despair over never “belonging.” They despair that no one sees their effort, no one understands what they’re doing and why. No one sees the sense in their actions. They become outsiders, standing outside while the party is inside.

Now you might say, “well, kids are just different.”

As adults

But it’s not about a childlike behavior pattern that “grows out.” It’s about fundamentally different approaches to the world. And depending on how pronounced they are, they can lead to significant problems later in life.

Not all people exhibit such clear behavior patterns that they can be definitively classified. But some do.

Problems arise when Players and Builders cross paths in the world, whether professionally, privately, or even politically, and are unaware of their core patterns. Many people don’t even know that different core patterns exist. Who has the time in their action-packed life to think about something like that? Builders might, out of necessity. Players, less so. After all, they’re busy with their party and many friends, and life is good for them.

Players and builders in adult life

Adults also have their building blocks. Of course, they’re different, and they don’t look like children’s toys. But the principle remains the same. The distinction between these two groups is never entirely clear.

Players can build things, and Builders can play. There are many hybrids who get along just fine. But there are also those who are more clearly defined, and they can clash like cats and dogs—drawn to each other but repelling each other intensely.

The builders

Here we have the Builders, with a plan or several plans. They derive joy and satisfaction from implementing plans. Building something, creating and maintaining something.

A builder enjoys building a company. He can sit in the office and work 16 hours a day. He can build a house, he can save and invest. He can plan. He can also plan a family or a relationship. Build something.

Sometimes too much, builders often live too much in the future. But they also see it through. Even if what they do seems banal to the observer. They go through with it and then it works. Most of the time anyway. If the others help build it or at least don’t stand in the way.

The players

And there are the Players, who find joy in bouncing around, partying, and spreading good vibes. They also build things, but often not as purposefully. These are often people with lots of friends who love to enjoy life and have fun.

They are the center of attention, don’t take life too seriously and trust that things will work out somehow. They don’t have a great deal of love for firm commitments, and they don’t like to worry about things like “old-age provision”. Someone will pay, somehow it will work out.

Building for the future is boring—it’s tedious, it’s work. That doesn’t mean they aren’t successful. Just look at the world of artists or athletes—there are many Players there. But they’re all playing, not building. Often, they have a Builder by their side. Or Builders have Players by their side. THAT can be extremely successful.

Understanding?

The builders can’t understand the players, because why do they never build anything? Why do they do so much at once and nothing right? Why don’t they stick to the task at hand? Why do you always have to save them because they don’t think ahead themselves? Why don’t they develop? They must understand!

A pure Builder can despair over these questions. Especially when it involves people close to them, like a partner or even their own children. Why doesn’t this person see the seriousness of the situation? Why do they ignore all the good advice, why don’t they build something for themselves?

Why do they waste their time on nonsense, not using it purposefully? Builders always feel like they need to rescue the Players or at least push them through life. And they never get a thank you—in fact, if things go badly, they just get ridiculed and end up standing alone.

The players really don’t understand the seriousness of the builders. Why aren’t they having fun? They have to have fun sometimes, don’t they? Why do they always analyze everything? Why are they so determined? What’s the point? Does everything always work out anyway? Why is he angry again? I haven’t done anything.

The Player won’t put nearly as much energy into understanding the Builder as the Builder does in the other direction, because the Player has far more ways to operate in the world and evade issues. Players don’t analyze; they laugh, mock, and then move on without looking back.

This imbalance can lead to big problems. And to a lot of pain, usually for the Builders. They often feel like Players are toying with them. But Builders don’t know how to play, and they almost always lose.

The Players often have no idea why the Builder suddenly seems “weird.” Why they withdraw or turn into a malicious narcissist and start playing with people themselves.

Spiritual builders

It gets even more complicated if a Builder has spiritual abilities, perceiving many levels, not just the material one.

They are at risk of seeing the Player on every level of their life. And what they see isn’t just the fun, good vibes, and play. No, they also perceive the pain behind it. The Builder perceives it, not the Player! The Player can’t, and never will.

If the builder then reacts to the level that the player doesn’t see at all, perhaps not in his entire life, he only reaps even more incomprehension and even more ridicule.

The opportunities

They are two fundamentally different types of people and each of them is just right the way they are. Neither can be made to change their entire nature. A solution can therefore only consist of understanding the “other side” and categorizing their actions.

The problem and the pain are usually with the Builder, and if you’ve read this far, you’re probably a Builder. So the solution must come from YOU, the Builder. The Player doesn’t see a problem, and they don’t analyze. They do what they do best: play.

The Builder is called upon to understand the issue. To understand the Player’s nature, their own nature, and the problems that arise between them. And then to implement what they’ve understood in daily life.

Changing the way they deal with Players. Because they’re not wrong—they can even be included in the Builder’s plan. Whenever good vibes are needed, or artistic expression. Or when people need to be inspired, brought together.

Players are very good at that. But you can’t put them in too tight of a corset and can’t expect anything from them that they’re not capable of. That may also mean letting go of people who, in their nature, don’t fit with you at all.

Whatever the solution looks like, it always begins with understanding the connections and understanding yourself. Those who know why they react the way they do can work on themselves and design their life so that the people in it work together. And everyone else can be removed.

Feel free to ask me any questions: mail@gerhard-zirkel.com

The magazine subscription metaphor

I’m going to try a metaphor today. For a topic that costs an incredible amount of people an incredible amount of life energy, but where nobody looks. Because it seems to go unnoticed and because many people don’t even know what’s behind it. But also because it seems uncomfortable, because it means work and because the path is never really clear. You guessed it, it’s not really about magazines or subscriptions. But it’s great as a metaphor. Let’s stick with it for a moment.
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
22.08.2024

A story

Imagine you take out a subscription to a magazine. Maybe one of those gardening magazines because you want to start your own garden or because you are simply interested in beautiful design. You simply enjoy reading it. Alternatively, something about cars or fashion or shares.

You read it for a while, but you don’t really have the time. Sure, the magazine continues to arrive every week and you’re happy that it comes. But you don’t really have the time to read it.

But maybe later. You put it on the table and after a week the next one arrives and you haven’t even looked at the previous one. But maybe at the weekend.

The amount is debited once a month, which is starting to get on your nerves a bit. It’s not a lot of money, but it is a bit. But it doesn’t really affect you. Even the fact that you have to put the older copies aside at some point doesn’t really bother you.

Just have a small pile on the sideboard, you’ll find time for it at some point. Maybe on vacation. Until then, the pile will get bigger every week and you’ll be debiting it every month. But you’re completely ignoring that now. Otherwise you’ll just get annoyed and who wants to get annoyed?

Until a friend says at some point, “why don’t you cancel the subscription?” … “yeah … are you crazy?”, “it’s my hobby, the gardening”, “do you want me to stop having fun?”

Having to cancel your subscription really pisses you off. Yes, of course, you don’t need it and you don’t read the stuff either and you now live on the seventh floor in the city … or you’re no longer interested in cars or shares. But the subscription stays!

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Sometimes we have issues in life that we drag along with us. They annoy us a little from time to time, but never so much that we really look at them. Not the really difficult childhood and not that one traumatic event or illness that forces us to do so. Nothing that really stands out, that you have to work on.

Maybe the topics only ever come up when we see the parents and siblings at family gatherings, but then we always get into really nasty arguments.

Or it only shows up when that one stupid colleague says something. Or you keep getting involved with the same type of partner, which then always goes wrong in the same way.

Or you always jump when your mother, children or partner want something, even though you don’t want to, and you get annoyed every time afterwards. But then you forget about it because the next distraction is there or the TV is on and you don’t have time anyway.

You may also realize that you are the same to your children as your parents are to you, even though you never wanted to be like them.

Maybe you keep messing up your finances just when you’re about to get on a green branch. But you can blame it on someone else, it’s not that bad … it’s just annoying.

The examples are endless, you know them, these issues that trigger you, annoy you, rob you of your strength… but somehow never so strongly that you really get to grips with them. Because you don’t know exactly how and where it will lead you. Because you can get over it with a glass of wine or a beer. Or with a bit of fun and positive thinking.

Like this subscription. You know you don’t need it, but you don’t want to cancel it either. But it’s costing you energy, you realize that.

What if there are a lot of them?

Now there are people out there who don’t just have one subscription. They have 753 of them. And not just one stack of magazines, but 753 of them. All meters high and close together. It’s like the whole place is full of them, you can hardly get through.

They do, because they have practiced. If necessary, they do yoga, which makes them flexible enough to get through the stacks without any problems and yoga does so much for you. Works great. Sometimes it’s annoying because the piles don’t go away, but as long as you ignore them and wriggle your way through, everything is fine.

We simply don’t look at the account, then we don’t see the 753 debits either. Everything is fine the way it is. You just have to relax from time to time and “refuel” somewhere. There’s nothing you can do anyway, isn’t there?

And then a new partner, boss, colleague, neighbor, etc. comes into their lives and because they don’t know the stacks, sooner or later they will knock you over.

And then you have the salad. Everything’s a mess in the apartment, you can’t get the door open, the wine is spilt, it’s a huge mess.

That stupid ass… why can’t he pay attention? You’ll quickly throw the stupid jerk out of your life. This is the twelfth time you’ve stupidly caught the wrong person, another toxic narcissist who doesn’t watch where he’s going, why does it always happen to you? They’re all the same anyway. Have a quick beer … or go to yoga.

Why only?

Well, why does it always happen to you? Why do you always catch the one who can’t cope with all the piles of magazines in your life and always knocks one over? Or all of them.

Or is the problem not this guy, but your 753 subscriptions for the 753 stacks in your living room? That would be a thought to pursue, wouldn’t it?

Who wants to be in your life if they have to muddle through in exactly the same way as you do? Who does that to themselves? Who CAN do that? Sure, you can wait for that one super prince or super boss, or for your parents to finally die or for you to win the lottery. But that won’t solve the problem.

Your piles stay and get bigger and bigger. Until you start canceling those subscriptions.

Yes, of course, it’s not that easy. Some of them you didn’t even take out yourself, you got them from someone else. Others you’ve had for ages and some you don’t even know about.

It’s hard to get there on your own, you need someone who can see the subscriptions and where they come from. Someone who can help you cancel them one by one, someone who can help you get rid of all the old paper, someone who can help you deal with all the free space and all the free energy you’ll then have. You realize that no one is going to do that for you. You’ll have to do it yourself. You also have to decide first.

It’s not that easy. But if it were easy, you wouldn’t have the problem, would you?

Once the decision has been made, you are welcome to contact me, because I have answers for the “how” and I will be happy to give them to you.

burnout

Burnt out and at the end. The burnout.

This article is about burnout and stress, an unfortunately very widespread topic that many people first ignore and then “treat”. In order to become “efficient” again. Often without recognizing and dealing with the real causes, with correspondingly dramatic consequences. But what is behind it all?
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
05.08.2024

The literal translation of the term burnout is “being burnt out”. And that says it all: burnout is a state of total physical, emotional and mental exhaustion. Interestingly, the “official” definitions also refer to reduced performance.

Which is true, in burnout you are not “able to perform” at all. But emphasizing this only makes sense if the purpose of recovering from burnout is to restore performance. Which leads us directly and immediately to the core of this article.

To perform or not to perform? That is the question here

We live in a meritocracy, at least that’s one of the buzzwords that comes up again and again when it comes to burnout, stress, demotivation or social issues in general. But what is this meritocracy supposed to be?

And compared to what is it? If we look back a few centuries, we quickly realize that people used to work a lot more, i.e. “achieve”, than they do today. In rural areas in particular, people naturally worked from sunrise to sunset, six days a week, sometimes seven.

And not somewhere in an air-conditioned office, but with a hoe in the field. Where were all the burnouts back then?

If we don’t go back quite so far, perhaps only one or two generations, we still see a significantly higher workload than is normal for most people today. Nevertheless, burnouts seem to be much more common in this day and age and stress is already part of the norm.

It’s obviously not about simply being overworked. Even today, there are people who work incredibly hard all their lives and don’t even come close to burnout. Why are they doing well if too much work is supposed to be a trigger?

Well, work is not the trigger.

There is even the term “boreout”, a kind of burnout caused by boredom. I can tell you a thing or two about it myself: I started my career as a chemical laboratory technician at Stadtwerke München and I had days with just 2-3 hours of effective work. I did the rest of it and looked more or less busy.

That was more stressful than any stress I ever had afterwards. I quit there quite soon, if I had stayed, who knows how my health would have developed.

But what is the core of stress, burnout and boreout? Where is the problem really?

From a shamanic perspective

From a shamanic point of view, we are spiritual beings who incarnate here in the material world. In other words, we create a body to embody ourselves here in this dual world. And we don’t do this just like that, but with the aim of having experiences.

The kind of experience that is only possible in a material world. We certainly do that quite often, but we rarely really remember it.

What we also do not clearly remember is what we want to experience in the current incarnation and also what abilities and dispositions we have brought with us for this.

Ideally, we develop this in our childhood and live life to our full potential as adults. And we live what we came here to do. You guessed it, this case is ideal but rather theoretical.

Because we arrive in a ready-made system to which we first have to adapt. See my article on this: What are soul parts.

Against ourselves

If we have ended up in a construct of behavioral patterns and hidden soul parts that run counter to us and our very own energy, it costs us so much energy that at some point we literally collapse under the weight.

One symptom of such a breakdown is burnout. And if you’ve read this far, you’ll probably realize why restoring our performance can’t be the solution.

After all, it ensures that we continue with the very thing that caused us to collapse. That may well be good for everyone who benefits from our performance. But it’s not good for the person affected. Because sooner or later they will collapse again.

Example from life

Let’s call her Petra. The name is fictitious, but the story behind it is not. Petra is an employee in a corporate group. Middle management, good salary, demanding job.

Her starting point was not ideal. She comes from a working-class family, her father a locksmith and her mother a housewife. Nothing wrong with that, her childhood wasn’t exactly lavish, but she had everything she needed.

From an early age, her parents worked towards her “becoming something”. She should be better off, have to work less and earn more. And so she was guided through school until she graduated.

After that, I did a commercial apprenticeship, which was all I could afford, but still. Much better than the “old trade” with all the drudgery.

Then came the career. It was tempting for her. Suddenly earning a lot of money by her standards. Fourteen monthly salaries, then came the company car and now she flies business class.

This brings with it status and, of course, the opportunity to make a good material living. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but her father worked a lot back then too. For a fraction of the money she earns now.

Then came the collapse. From one day to the next. Dizziness, trembling, fainting, depression, sick note. Completely out of the blue. Although … it wasn’t completely out of the blue, she had always felt that what she was doing wasn’t quite right. But it doesn’t help, a job is a job and she was doing well.

With psychological help and rehab, she got back on her feet and was soon back at work as before. A little more thoughtful perhaps, but just like before.

Then she collapsed again, this time the physical symptoms were alarming. Emergency room, clinic, therapy. Everything started all over again and during the second collapse she began to think about what was fundamentally wrong. Because she had sensed for a long time that something was wrong. She just didn’t want to admit it and there was no alternative. Really not?

And then we worked and started to work out their true nature. We connected them with their very own energy, we worked on very old ancestral issues and on many a “healed” childhood trauma. We worked on beliefs, deep convictions, blind spots, fears and a lot of guilt and shame.

In the end, she realized that she had worked her whole life to play a role that was unconsciously prescribed to her. Mainly by her parents, who of course meant well. She had worked to achieve goals that were not hers. She tried to achieve a status that did not correspond to her nature at all.

And this has led to a perpetual battle against itself. And you can neither win nor lose a fight like that. You can only end it.

She ended it by realizing who she really is and what she wants to do here. She still has a job, but a completely different one in a completely different industry. And for the first time in her life, she has the feeling that she is going her own way. With joy and a good portion of lightness.

So what is to be done? The way out

The only way to really get out of such a situation is to follow your own energy. Living your own energy. And in a way that suits you and your purpose here in this world.

That sounds very vague now, because if you knew what your parts are, what your energy really is, why you’re here, then you wouldn’t have ended up in burnout.

But that is precisely the core of my work. I can see you with all your energy, with all your parts. Especially with those you don’t bring into your life. And I can guide you there, accompany you in making the connection. Because I not only see you, I also see what I have to do to bring you to yourself. Where you couldn’t look before.

I won’t tell you the story about the dog, I’ll take you there myself. So that YOU recognize who you are. This will reveal your true path and once you see it, you can walk it.

In the end, you will bring your energy into life and go your own way. How much work you then have, whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur, whether you earn a lot or a little money or where and how you live will be determined. In any case, it will be your work that corresponds to your energy.

You can’t burn out on your own energy. That is not possible. If you have any questions or recognize yourself, feel free to send me an email without obligation: mail@gerhard-zirkel.com

Forest

The root chakra

This article deals with an extremely important topic that is often treated very neglected. Because at first glance it seems almost banal and doesn’t really appear to be shamanic. It’s about our root chakra and working with it.
Gerhard Zirkel
Gerhard Zirkel
18.07.2024

The chakras

In a nutshell, our chakras are energy centers in our aura, i.e. the energy field that surrounds us in our material incarnation. The chakras establish the connection between the physical body of a person, the various layers of their aura and the energy channels of the universe.

The chakras connect us to the source of our life energy. And this is a primordial shamanic principle, even if the term “chakra” comes from the Far Eastern wisdom traditions of Hinduism, Tantra, yoga and Buddhism. The term comes from Sanskrit and means “circle” or “wheel”.

But chakras are also known from the Jewish Kabbalah and the Christian mystery schools. Many indigenous peoples such as the Maya and the Aztecs also worked with them. They are also known from the Tibetan Bon religion, from the Tsalgi (Cherokee) Indians in North America and even from the African Zulu.

And of course they have always existed in our culture, even if their representation was rather subtle. But if you take a closer look at the halo, it is nothing other than the radiance of the crown chakra. While a throne represents the support of the root chakra.

Shamans and energy

This means that shamans have always worked with the chakras, even if they may have done it differently than today’s yoga teachings. And of course with other terms.

The chakras are often understood as the “connection points” of the energy channels that run through the human body. They can be imagined as alternately right or left rotating subtle or energetic energy wheels or energy vortices. However, this representation is very simplified.

There are people who can actually see chakras, many can feel them and this perception is slightly different for everyone. Ultimately, energy has no fixed form anyway and can only ever be described inadequately. Entire books could be filled without having a comprehensive description.

The flow of energy within the human body and its exchange with its aura and the spiritual world is of the utmost importance. Because a person who is not properly connected to the energy of the universe will not have enough life energy available to make his way in the material world.

The seven main chakras

Root chakra (Muladhara)

Sacral chakra (Swadhisthana)

Solar plexus chakra (Manipura)

Heart chakra (Anahata)

Throat chakra (Vishuddha)

Forehead chakra / third eye (Ajna)

Crown chakra / crown chakra (Sahasrara)

More on this in the article: Chakra and chakra work in shamanism

The root chakra

The root chakra, also known as the Muladhara chakra, is the first of the seven main chakras.

It is the seat of our primal energy and it is the direct connection between us and Mother Earth, the supporting ground of our material existence. And that’s exactly what makes it so incredibly important.

The consequences of a blocked root chakra are insecurity, fear, doubt or even excessive feelings of shame and guilt. Material symptoms such as obesity, depression and illness are also often linked to this.

If the connection to the load-bearing floor is disturbed, you will not feel safe. And when you don’t feel safe, you inevitably start to cling to things or aspects of your environment. But this can never be a substitute for connecting to your own primal energy.

This feeling of insecurity will make you do things you don’t really want to do. It will make you tolerate people around you who are not good for you. It will promote and retain “toxic” compounds. It will ensure that you continue to repeat old patterns, seemingly without being able to do anything about it.

It will end up making you sick and addicted. It often leads to obesity because the body tries to compensate for the lack of energy with food. Which of course does not work. A vicious circle.

People with a disturbed connection to the root chakra often find themselves in unhealthy relationship patterns, and always in the same ones. From the relationship with the parents to the partner to the children and grandchildren.

A lack of connection to your own primal energy can have an impact professionally, or often also financially. You literally can’t get a leg on the ground. Always feels torn out, uprooted or as if on black ice. It doesn’t solve itself, you have to actively work on it. Either on your own or with professional help.

A first exercise

There is an exercise for the root chakra that you can do regularly to support the process of reconnection. Maybe you already know it, it is quite common. But still do them regularly for a while:

Sit down, relax, concentrate on your breath. Feel the air being sucked into your lungs and out again. Let yourself go, concentrate on your breath.

And when you’re ready, start putting down roots. Feel how the first tentative shoots grow out of you, into Mother Earth. Deeper and deeper, more and more branched, stronger and stronger.

Until they reach the center of the earth. Then begin to draw the energy of Mother Earth up to you with each inhalation. Absorb the energy until it fills you completely.

Do this exercise as often as possible, it will get easier each time and eventually it will become normal. You will find that you can also do them standing up and even walking. It even works perfectly in an airplane at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

What I can do for you

As valuable as this exercise is, it is usually not enough on its own. Because the blockages are so deep in your system that you need to actively work on them. And the root chakra is not everything, there are many more starting points.

In this case, I would be happy to work with you, take a look at my starter package or send me an email: mail@gerhard-zirkel.com