I was born Rebecca Bloom and have always felt very connected to the name Rebecca. I felt it suited me.  When I became the shaman's apprentice, Don Juanito called me Rebekita, however, on my return to the west I kept my name as Rebecca. 

After I wrote my book 'The Shaman's Last Apprentice' I decided to use the psudenym Rebekita 'Little Rebecca.'.  Once the book was published people started calling me Rebekita but despite liking the name I did not fully resonate with it.  I felt that I had moved on from the apprenticeship and Rebekita no longer felt comfortable.

Names are an important aspect of who we are and I was no longer Rebecca either, as she had transformed in Machu Picchu to make way for Rebekita.   I did not know what to call myself.  This created an inner conflict and I became lost and confused. I knew I no longer carried the energy that those names represented for me.  I also felt paralysed to take my book out into the world without knowing who I was.  

Finally on the Spring Equinox of 2007, exactly two and a half years into my identity crisis, I participated in a shamanic Iboga ritual (see my blog for more details about my experiences).  Iboga is from the Gabon in Africa.  It comes from the bark of a plant that contains Ibogaine and this can invoke vision journeys.  It was a powerful experience and I felt very connected to the spirit of the plant.

During the ceremony I asked the Iboga what my name was and written all over the ceiling and the walls of the village hall where the ceremony was conducted was the name Rebekah Shaman.  I asked the Iboga the significance and He (the plant has a very masculine energy) told me that Rebekah is the integration of Rebecca and Rebekita and I have become the Shaman.

It was a very powerful moment because up till then I had, on a deep level, doubted myself and my experience in the Amazon. I knew it was time to stand up and just BE who I was.  The Iboga also told me that by calling myself Rebekah Shaman I was accepting who I truly was and I was no longer able to hide behind this doubt any longer.

After two and a half years I had my name back and felt that I was ready to really move forward in my life.  The Iboga  told me that by standing tall, strong and proud with my name it will give others the strength to do so.  It is time for all of us to stop hiding in the shadows pretending we are not great beings of light, because we are and the moment we see ourselves in all our glory, is the moment we can change the world.