I found this post at http://erocx1.blogspot.com/2008/12/shamanic-origins-of-christmas.html,
it's helps us remember where we come from.
Marry Christmas!
Well its that time of the year again. So I would like to share Dana Larsen's wonderful essay "Modern Christmas traditions are based on ancient mushroom-using shamans" as I do every Christmas. Just to help spread a little clarity, history and truth about this special season, its rituals and meaning that was hijacked by the Judeo-Christian religions long ago. Who have consequently lost it to our cultures new religion, Consumerism.
Modern Christmas Traditions are Based on Ancient Mushroom-using Shamans.
by: Dana Larsen
Although most people see Christmas as a Christian holiday, most of the symbols and icons we associate with Christmas celebrations are actually derived from the shamanistic traditions of the tribal peoples of pre-Christian Northern Europe. The sacred mushroom of these people was the red and white amanita muscaria mushroom, also known as "fly agaric." These mushrooms are now commonly seen in books of fairy tales, and are usually associated with magic and fairies. This is because they contain potent hallucinogenic compounds, and were used by ancient peoples for insight and transcendental experiences. Most of the major elements of the modern Christmas celebration, such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees, magical reindeer and the giving of gifts, are originally based upon the traditions surrounding the harvest and consumption of these most sacred mushrooms.
The world tree
These ancient peoples, including the Lapps of modern-day Finland, and the Koyak tribes of the central Russian steppes, believed in the idea of a World Tree. The World Tree was seen as a kind of cosmic axis, onto which the planes of the universe are fixed. The roots of the World Tree stretch down into the underworld, its trunk is the "middle earth" of everyday existence, and its branches reach upwards into the heavenly realm. The amanita muscaria mushrooms grow only under certain types of trees, mostly firs and evergreens. The mushroom caps are the fruit of the larger mycelium beneath the soil which exists in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the tree. To ancient people, these mushrooms were literally "the fruit of the tree." The North Star was also considered sacred, since all other stars in the sky revolved around its fixed point. They associated this "Pole Star" with the World Tree and the central axis of the universe. The top of the World Tree touched the North Star, and the spirit of the shaman would climb the metaphorical tree, thereby passing into the realm of the gods. This is the true meaning of the star on top of the modern Christmas tree, and also the reason that the super-shaman Santa makes his home at the North Pole. Ancient peoples were amazed at how these magical mushrooms sprang from the earth without any visible seed. They considered this "virgin birth" to have been the result of the morning dew, which was seen as the semen of the deity. The silver tinsel we drape onto our modern Christmas tree represents this divine fluid.
Reindeer games
The active ingredients of the amanita mushrooms are not metabolized by the body, and so they remain active in the urine. In fact, it is safer to drink the urine of one who has consumed the mushrooms than to eat the mushrooms directly, as many of the toxic compounds are processed and eliminated on the first pass through the body. It was common practice among ancient people to recycle the potent effects of the mushroom by drinking each other's urine. The amanita's ingredients can remain potent even after six passes through the human body. Some scholars argue that this is the origin of the phrase "to get pissed," as this urine-drinking activity preceded alcohol by thousands of years. Reindeer were the sacred animals of these semi-nomadic people, as the reindeer provided food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. Reindeer are also fond of eating the amanita mushrooms; they will seek them out, then prance about while under their influence. Often the urine of tripped-out reindeer would be consumed for its psychedelic effects. This effect goes the other way too, as reindeer also enjoy the urine of a human, especially one who has consumed the mushrooms. In fact, reindeer will seek out human urine to drink, and some tribesmen carry sealskin containers of their own collected piss, which they use to attract stray reindeer back into the herd. The effects of the amanita mushroom usually include sensations of size distortion and flying. The feeling of flying could account for the legends of flying reindeer, and legends of shamanic journeys included stories of winged reindeer, transporting their riders up to the highest branches of the World Tree.
Santa Claus, super shaman
Although the modern image of Santa Claus was created at least in part by the advertising department of Coca-Cola, in truth his appearance, clothing, mannerisms and companions all mark him as the reincarnation of these ancient mushroom-gathering shamans. One of the side effects of eating amanita mushrooms is that the skin and facial features take on a flushed, ruddy glow. This is why Santa is always shown with glowing red cheeks and nose. Even Santa's jolly "Ho, ho, ho!" is the euphoric laugh of one who has indulged in the magic fungus. Santa also dresses like a mushroom gatherer. When it was time to go out and harvest the magical mushrooms, the ancient shamans would dress much like Santa, wearing red and white fur-trimmed coats and long black boots. These peoples lived in dwellings made of birch and reindeer hide, called "yurts." Somewhat similar to a teepee, the yurt's central smokehole is often also used as an entrance. After gathering the mushrooms from under the sacred trees where they appeared, the shamans would fill their sacks and return home. Climbing down the chimney-entrances, they would share out the mushroom's gifts with those within. The amanita mushroom needs to be dried before being consumed; the drying process reduces the mushroom's toxicity while increasing its potency. The shaman would guide the group in stringing the mushrooms and hanging them around the hearth-fire to dry. This tradition is echoed in the modern stringing of popcorn and other items. The psychedelic journeys taken under the influence of the amanita were also symbolized by a stick reaching up through the smokehole in the top of the yurt. The smokehole was the portal where the spirit of the shaman exited the physical plane. Santa's famous magical journey, where his sleigh takes him around the whole planet in a single night, is developed from the "heavenly chariot," used by the gods from whom Santa and other shamanic figures are descended. The chariot of Odin, Thor and even the Egyptian god Osiris is now known as the Big Dipper, which circles around the North Star in a 24-hour period. In different versions of the ancient story, the chariot was pulled by reindeer or horses. As the animals grow exhausted, their mingled spit and blood falls to the ground, forming the amanita mushrooms.
St Nicholas and Old Nick
Saint Nicholas is a legendary figure who supposedly lived during the fourth Century. His cult spread quickly and Nicholas became the patron saint of many varied groups, including judges, pawnbrokers, criminals, merchants, sailors, bakers, travelers, the poor, and children. Most religious historians agree that St Nicholas did not actually exist as a real person, and was instead a Christianized version of earlier Pagan gods. Nicholas' legends were mainly created out of stories about the Teutonic god called Hold Nickar, known as Poseidon to the Greeks. This powerful sea god was known to gallop through the sky during the winter solstice, granting boons to his worshippers below. When the Catholic Church created the character of St Nicholas, they took his name from "Nickar" and gave him Poseidon's title of "the Sailor." There are thousands of churches named in St Nicholas' honor, most of which were converted from temples to Poseidon and Hold Nickar. (As the ancient pagan deities were demonized by the Christian church, Hold Nickar's name also became associated with Satan, known as "Old Nick!") Local traditions were incorporated into the new Christian holidays to make them more acceptable to the new converts. To these early Christians, Saint Nicholas became a sort of "super-shaman" who was overlaid upon their own shamanic cultural practices. Many images of Saint Nicholas from these early times show him wearing red and white, or standing in front of a red background with white spots, the design of the amanita mushroom. St Nicholas also adopted some of the qualities of the legendary "Grandmother Befana" from Italy, who filled children's stockings with gifts. Her shrine at Bari, Italy, became a shrine to St Nicholas.
Modern world, ancient traditions
Some psychologists have discussed the "cognitive dissonance" which occurs when children are encouraged to believe in the literal existence of Santa Claus, only to have their parents' lie revealed when they are older. By so deceiving our children we rob them of a richer heritage, for the actual origin of these ancient rituals is rooted deep in our history and our collective unconscious. By better understanding the truths within these popular celebrations, we can better understand the modern world, and our place in it. Many people in the modern world have rejected Christmas as being too commercial, claiming that this ritual of giving is actually a celebration of materialism and greed. Yet the true spirit of this winter festival lies not in the exchange of plastic toys, but in celebrating a gift from the earth: the fruiting top of a magical mushroom, and the revelatory experiences it can provide. Instead of perpetuating outdated and confusing holiday myths, it might be more fulfilling to return to the original source of these seasonal celebrations. How about getting back to basics and enjoying some magical mushrooms with your loved ones this solstice? What better gift can a family share than a little piece of love and enlightenment?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Contemporary Shaman Larry Ford
A feature article on a shaman and financial consultant in this week's Washington Post Magazine and a follow up conversation on NPR. This is great exposure for our brothers and sisters on the path. More of us are waking up to our gifts. It's particularly important for those of us who have been locked into the current paradigm to enjoy more space and comfort to step out and share our practices. Seems contrary to experience a ghostly existence in the "real" world; and once spirit comes to the forefront of life, to finally feel real.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Michael Meade and Veterans
This Youtube video shows the author of "Men and the Water of Life" drumming and inviting veterans of war to share their stories and poems. There is a very powerful segment in the 21st minute when he begins to sing an African hymn with the participants--while poetry is layered on top.
Brings to mind the healing power of sound and the effects of using creativity and ritual to manage grief. I value the huge importance of this service, but I think it would have been even more powerful to have united Iraqis, Afghanis, and Vietnamese vets together with their so called American "enemies" to really get to the heart of the collective hurt wars create, and to address and dress even deeper wounds.
Brings to mind the healing power of sound and the effects of using creativity and ritual to manage grief. I value the huge importance of this service, but I think it would have been even more powerful to have united Iraqis, Afghanis, and Vietnamese vets together with their so called American "enemies" to really get to the heart of the collective hurt wars create, and to address and dress even deeper wounds.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
12,000-Year-Old Shaman Unearthed in Israel
Interesting article!
12,000-Year-Old Shaman Unearthed in Israel
Print By ISHAAN THAROOR Ishaan Tharoor – Tue Nov 11, 5:50 am ETA
A new figure in humanity's history emerged last week when archaeologists announced the discovery of what could be one of the world's oldest known spiritual figures. After years of meticulous excavation just miles from Israel's Mediterranean coast, scientists from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem unearthed a 12,000-year-old grave that held the remains of a diminutive "shaman" woman. Buried alongside the woman's small, huddled corpse were selected pieces of animal bone, a cowtail, an eagle wing, the foot of another human, and, most curiously, some fifty tortoise shells deliberately arranged around the woman's body - all tell-tale signs, experts say, of her lofty social status at the time. "This is something very special; it stands apart," says Leore Grosman, the project's lead archaeologist.
How mankind emerged from Paleolithic prehistory into a world of alphabets and cities is still a story riddled with questions. Even the first settled agriculturalist communities from which our records begin seem far removed from the cave-dwelling, fur-clad hunter-gatherers whom we imagine to be mankind's ancestors. The discovery of a shaman this ancient offers a startling glimpse into this little-known past, a portrait of prehistoric ritual belief and of clear lines of social hierarchy taking shape.
The grave is thought to belong to the Natufian culture, a nomadic society which existed along the eastern Mediterranean roughly between 11,500 and 15,000 years ago. Located near other burial sites, the woman's body was distinctly encased in a limestone enclosure, a tomb sealed by a rock slab that Grosman's team managed to lift in 2006. The following two years were spent painstakingly analyzing the remains found within. Pieces of jewelry, ornamental seashells, or the odd tool have been found in other Natufian graves, but the careful arrangement of the woman's body - her back rested against a wall, legs spread and bent inward from the knee - as well as the surrounding ring of tortoise shells piqued the archaeologists' interest. "This kind of assemblage is different from everything you find elsewhere," says Ofer Bar-Yosef, a Harvard anthropologist who has worked on previous Natufian excavations. "It's the sign of a sort of elite emerging among hunter-gatherers."
Shamans are mystics whose common function in traditional cultures was that of a healer. Analysis of the woman's remains date her as being 45-years-old, a significant age at a time when life was nasty, brutish and short. She was under five feet tall and deformities in her spinal and pelvic bones give the impression that she may have walked with a limp, or dragged her feet. The presence of the hollowed-out tortoise shells, combined with intact bone pieces of leopards and other creatures - the complete forearm of a wild boar, for example, was placed under the woman's own arm - suggest that those living around her believed she had some sort of animist power.
The common narrative of mankind's development generally starts with humans planting crops and settling down in one place to reap what they sow, founding villages that would form the building blocks of human civilization. But further study of the Natufian culture and other parallel societies, such as those living by China's Yellow River, is complicating that belief. Agriculture was not established in the Levant when the Natufians lived there, but they still erected rudimentary structures to inhabit. Traces in the soil of the remains of mice and sparrows - animals that exist most commonly in places of human settlement - point to a significant population boom in the Natufian period. They may not have had seasonal harvests, but the people of this time lived in a complex and perhaps even flourishing society. "What we see [with the Natufian burial rites] is the beginning of a tribal system," says Bar-Yosef. The shaman, buried with her mysteries, looms mercurially over this moment.
Grosman speculates that the elaborate ritual behind the shaman's burial probably helped bind people together at a time of great social transformation. The Natufian culture, she says, was "transitional," moving from the era of the nomadic life of hunter-gatherers into a more stable, sedentary mode. Their descendants were likely the inhabitants of West Asia's great kingdoms of antiquity. Somewhere beneath our vision of sceptered monarchs in their pillared palaces, it can be surmised, rests a hobbled woman upon a bed of tortoise shells.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081111/wl_time/12000yearoldshamanunearthedinisrael
12,000-Year-Old Shaman Unearthed in Israel
Print By ISHAAN THAROOR Ishaan Tharoor – Tue Nov 11, 5:50 am ETA
A new figure in humanity's history emerged last week when archaeologists announced the discovery of what could be one of the world's oldest known spiritual figures. After years of meticulous excavation just miles from Israel's Mediterranean coast, scientists from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem unearthed a 12,000-year-old grave that held the remains of a diminutive "shaman" woman. Buried alongside the woman's small, huddled corpse were selected pieces of animal bone, a cowtail, an eagle wing, the foot of another human, and, most curiously, some fifty tortoise shells deliberately arranged around the woman's body - all tell-tale signs, experts say, of her lofty social status at the time. "This is something very special; it stands apart," says Leore Grosman, the project's lead archaeologist.
How mankind emerged from Paleolithic prehistory into a world of alphabets and cities is still a story riddled with questions. Even the first settled agriculturalist communities from which our records begin seem far removed from the cave-dwelling, fur-clad hunter-gatherers whom we imagine to be mankind's ancestors. The discovery of a shaman this ancient offers a startling glimpse into this little-known past, a portrait of prehistoric ritual belief and of clear lines of social hierarchy taking shape.
The grave is thought to belong to the Natufian culture, a nomadic society which existed along the eastern Mediterranean roughly between 11,500 and 15,000 years ago. Located near other burial sites, the woman's body was distinctly encased in a limestone enclosure, a tomb sealed by a rock slab that Grosman's team managed to lift in 2006. The following two years were spent painstakingly analyzing the remains found within. Pieces of jewelry, ornamental seashells, or the odd tool have been found in other Natufian graves, but the careful arrangement of the woman's body - her back rested against a wall, legs spread and bent inward from the knee - as well as the surrounding ring of tortoise shells piqued the archaeologists' interest. "This kind of assemblage is different from everything you find elsewhere," says Ofer Bar-Yosef, a Harvard anthropologist who has worked on previous Natufian excavations. "It's the sign of a sort of elite emerging among hunter-gatherers."
Shamans are mystics whose common function in traditional cultures was that of a healer. Analysis of the woman's remains date her as being 45-years-old, a significant age at a time when life was nasty, brutish and short. She was under five feet tall and deformities in her spinal and pelvic bones give the impression that she may have walked with a limp, or dragged her feet. The presence of the hollowed-out tortoise shells, combined with intact bone pieces of leopards and other creatures - the complete forearm of a wild boar, for example, was placed under the woman's own arm - suggest that those living around her believed she had some sort of animist power.
The common narrative of mankind's development generally starts with humans planting crops and settling down in one place to reap what they sow, founding villages that would form the building blocks of human civilization. But further study of the Natufian culture and other parallel societies, such as those living by China's Yellow River, is complicating that belief. Agriculture was not established in the Levant when the Natufians lived there, but they still erected rudimentary structures to inhabit. Traces in the soil of the remains of mice and sparrows - animals that exist most commonly in places of human settlement - point to a significant population boom in the Natufian period. They may not have had seasonal harvests, but the people of this time lived in a complex and perhaps even flourishing society. "What we see [with the Natufian burial rites] is the beginning of a tribal system," says Bar-Yosef. The shaman, buried with her mysteries, looms mercurially over this moment.
Grosman speculates that the elaborate ritual behind the shaman's burial probably helped bind people together at a time of great social transformation. The Natufian culture, she says, was "transitional," moving from the era of the nomadic life of hunter-gatherers into a more stable, sedentary mode. Their descendants were likely the inhabitants of West Asia's great kingdoms of antiquity. Somewhere beneath our vision of sceptered monarchs in their pillared palaces, it can be surmised, rests a hobbled woman upon a bed of tortoise shells.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081111/wl_time/12000yearoldshamanunearthedinisrael
Monday, November 10, 2008
Shape Shifting Steps
Being present can be a problem. A mind tends to drift to the future or the past instead of right where it is. It creates distractions to draw attention away from what are perceived as aspects of reality that are too harsh to navigate. So it can resort to generating pain as the ultimate distraction, and before too long the mind becomes a drive-by-shooting operation in its relationship to the body--creating harm for it's own protection's sake. For some, distraction can turn to addiction and then everything is engulfed in ocean and mist. When addiction turns to depression then comes the mind alteration with synthetics. I'm not knocking the need for chemical balancing acts, but there is something underlying it all that needs revisiting and correcting. Shapeshifting is the Shaman's way of communicating with the missing spirit that has long been ignored or drowned out by the distractions. I believe it can help with staying present.
Here is a good series of steps by Evan Aleister Rainer that to me would seem to help effect better shapeshifting.
1. Become aware of what has just happened, namely a shift of consciousness into the edges of a chamber or parallel world just adjacent to the one that we habitually all crawl about in.
2. Drop all pretensions of being a conscious, important, capable, multi-skilled, superbly adapted being and realize that you stand on the edge of an action of being and creative power such as you have no concept of and which certainly has no concept of or concern of you.
3.With your new-found humility, which is the only possible survival-kit for the beginning Shaman, try to focus your attention on what is around you, both within and without. That means, what remains of your physically oriented senses and what you are perceiving with your inner senses at the same time.
4. Try to locate yourself in this space and do not, repeat, do not, try to LEAVE THE SPACE, under any circumstances, especially if someone is asking you to politely respond to some incredibly important question such as `Would you like more honey in that tea, dear'? Get the message? Good, because if you don't you will have crash-landed on your take-off. Not a joke.
5.Keep a sense of humour about all this, even though there is nothing to laugh at.
6.If you keep attention directed on to the inner and outer incidents, without responding to them in any normal or usual way, you will have started to grasp the difference between a Shaman and a mortal. And, even better, you will merge back into your normal consciousness with a gentle sliding sort of motion that you will only notice after you have completed it.
7.Remember that the basis of all genuine spirituality is the experience you are having, and endeavor to defend the experience from the primate; your own and others.
Here is a good series of steps by Evan Aleister Rainer that to me would seem to help effect better shapeshifting.
1. Become aware of what has just happened, namely a shift of consciousness into the edges of a chamber or parallel world just adjacent to the one that we habitually all crawl about in.
2. Drop all pretensions of being a conscious, important, capable, multi-skilled, superbly adapted being and realize that you stand on the edge of an action of being and creative power such as you have no concept of and which certainly has no concept of or concern of you.
3.With your new-found humility, which is the only possible survival-kit for the beginning Shaman, try to focus your attention on what is around you, both within and without. That means, what remains of your physically oriented senses and what you are perceiving with your inner senses at the same time.
4. Try to locate yourself in this space and do not, repeat, do not, try to LEAVE THE SPACE, under any circumstances, especially if someone is asking you to politely respond to some incredibly important question such as `Would you like more honey in that tea, dear'? Get the message? Good, because if you don't you will have crash-landed on your take-off. Not a joke.
5.Keep a sense of humour about all this, even though there is nothing to laugh at.
6.If you keep attention directed on to the inner and outer incidents, without responding to them in any normal or usual way, you will have started to grasp the difference between a Shaman and a mortal. And, even better, you will merge back into your normal consciousness with a gentle sliding sort of motion that you will only notice after you have completed it.
7.Remember that the basis of all genuine spirituality is the experience you are having, and endeavor to defend the experience from the primate; your own and others.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Tuvan Shamans
Here is a link to a short national geographic video about the Tuvan Shamans.
Tuva is a Russian republic that was an independent state until the 1940s, with two official spiritual practices: Buddhism and Shamanism. The report suggests that the government wants to attract people from other countries to preserve the area's shamanic healing traditions. I wonder what kind of incentives they're offering? :)
Below is some info about Tuva and its shamans found at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies website. The full article can be read here:
Shamans and Spirits
A significant part of Tuvan respect for nature is expressed through shamanic traditions. All of nature is considered sacred, the fabric of their world view being woven in the sacred thread of their myths. Here, features of the landscape and the creatures inhabiting it are settings and characters in great stories that describe and explain the world. Principal places and characters of this mythic and natural world are Tuva's nine sacred springs, nine sacred mountains, and nine sacred celestial objects; the Sun, Moon and seven stars of the "Great Bear" (the Big Dipper). There are dragons in the sky, sirens who inhabit the steppe, and a sacred flower that has the power to hold strangers together in marriage. Each place in nature has its special spiritual inhabitants. This spiritual aspect of nature is equally as important to Tuvans as are physical attributes. It requires attention from people who are sensitive to, and trained in, relating to this side of nature. These people are the shamans.
The shamans of pre-Soviet Tuva were healers, diviners, and conductors of ritual necessary for Tuvan life. Both men and women became shamans after they were visited with the "shaman's sickness." Often, a shaman interpreted this as invasion by the spirit of a dead shaman. This invading Being, wanted the living person to become a shaman. The onset of this illness was commonly early in life, but also occurred in people more than 40 years of age. If the person ignored the calling, continued sickness or even death occurred. The illness frequently manifested itself as fainting spells, memory loss, or convulsions. Heeding the call resulted in a complete remission of symptoms.
The shamanic vocation often had an hereditary aspect in Tuva, as in much of the rest of Siberia. Relatives watched children carefully for the appearance of characteristics that signaled a new shaman. Training under an existing shaman was necessary, as was a drum, garment, and feather headdress. Relatives were responsible for making the new shaman's equipment. There was a ceremony of investment for the new shaman during which relatives enlivened the new drum (the shaman's horse) by beating it.
Shamans were central to Tuvan society. Not only did they represent their kin and work for them spiritually, but they were respected repositories of important knowledge. They conducted necessary rituals such as the yearly "fire ceremony" and rituals to bless the land and promote fertility. Tuvan shamanic ceremony was quite colorful, with shamans reciting long verses, dancing, and singing to the accompaniment of their drums. They also employed a jew's harp in their performances. Healing work included extraction, removing harmful spirits from places, purification, and soul work involving the transition at death. Their garments were knee-length shirts, upon which were sewn long streamers that represented their spirit helpers (called "snakes"), bells and rods of metal, and metal effigies. Besides their symbolic value, costume decorations moved with the dancing shaman, producing auditory and visual stimulation.
Secrecy, independence, and competition also characterized Tuvan shamans. They were each unique in the way they worked and typically worked alone. Like tribal shamans in other places, they sometimes engaged in competitive struggles with each other.
Shamans were considered very special people, being revered and feared at the same time. When they died, they were not interred like ordinary people, but were placed in open wooden sarcophaguses elevated above the ground by four posts. Here, their bodies lay exposed to the elements while their spirits continued to serve their people. That servitude was, however, frustrated by the forces of history. The living and dead shamans would have to deal with an ambitious state to the north, called Russia.
Tuva is a Russian republic that was an independent state until the 1940s, with two official spiritual practices: Buddhism and Shamanism. The report suggests that the government wants to attract people from other countries to preserve the area's shamanic healing traditions. I wonder what kind of incentives they're offering? :)
Below is some info about Tuva and its shamans found at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies website. The full article can be read here:
Shamans and Spirits
A significant part of Tuvan respect for nature is expressed through shamanic traditions. All of nature is considered sacred, the fabric of their world view being woven in the sacred thread of their myths. Here, features of the landscape and the creatures inhabiting it are settings and characters in great stories that describe and explain the world. Principal places and characters of this mythic and natural world are Tuva's nine sacred springs, nine sacred mountains, and nine sacred celestial objects; the Sun, Moon and seven stars of the "Great Bear" (the Big Dipper). There are dragons in the sky, sirens who inhabit the steppe, and a sacred flower that has the power to hold strangers together in marriage. Each place in nature has its special spiritual inhabitants. This spiritual aspect of nature is equally as important to Tuvans as are physical attributes. It requires attention from people who are sensitive to, and trained in, relating to this side of nature. These people are the shamans.
The shamans of pre-Soviet Tuva were healers, diviners, and conductors of ritual necessary for Tuvan life. Both men and women became shamans after they were visited with the "shaman's sickness." Often, a shaman interpreted this as invasion by the spirit of a dead shaman. This invading Being, wanted the living person to become a shaman. The onset of this illness was commonly early in life, but also occurred in people more than 40 years of age. If the person ignored the calling, continued sickness or even death occurred. The illness frequently manifested itself as fainting spells, memory loss, or convulsions. Heeding the call resulted in a complete remission of symptoms.
The shamanic vocation often had an hereditary aspect in Tuva, as in much of the rest of Siberia. Relatives watched children carefully for the appearance of characteristics that signaled a new shaman. Training under an existing shaman was necessary, as was a drum, garment, and feather headdress. Relatives were responsible for making the new shaman's equipment. There was a ceremony of investment for the new shaman during which relatives enlivened the new drum (the shaman's horse) by beating it.
Shamans were central to Tuvan society. Not only did they represent their kin and work for them spiritually, but they were respected repositories of important knowledge. They conducted necessary rituals such as the yearly "fire ceremony" and rituals to bless the land and promote fertility. Tuvan shamanic ceremony was quite colorful, with shamans reciting long verses, dancing, and singing to the accompaniment of their drums. They also employed a jew's harp in their performances. Healing work included extraction, removing harmful spirits from places, purification, and soul work involving the transition at death. Their garments were knee-length shirts, upon which were sewn long streamers that represented their spirit helpers (called "snakes"), bells and rods of metal, and metal effigies. Besides their symbolic value, costume decorations moved with the dancing shaman, producing auditory and visual stimulation.
Secrecy, independence, and competition also characterized Tuvan shamans. They were each unique in the way they worked and typically worked alone. Like tribal shamans in other places, they sometimes engaged in competitive struggles with each other.
Shamans were considered very special people, being revered and feared at the same time. When they died, they were not interred like ordinary people, but were placed in open wooden sarcophaguses elevated above the ground by four posts. Here, their bodies lay exposed to the elements while their spirits continued to serve their people. That servitude was, however, frustrated by the forces of history. The living and dead shamans would have to deal with an ambitious state to the north, called Russia.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Peruvian Shamans and the US Election
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7699066.stm
This 1.5 minute video looks more like a publicity stunt, and is a little over the top in a "look at the savages play with their voodoo dolls" kind of way. But it's an interesting exposure on the Andean Shaman and their views on the election.
This 1.5 minute video looks more like a publicity stunt, and is a little over the top in a "look at the savages play with their voodoo dolls" kind of way. But it's an interesting exposure on the Andean Shaman and their views on the election.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Journey
I leave the place-holder boiler plate cold furnace state
Under my face and drop down
I tune into the drumming I hear and out bounce vibrations
And waves replace linear thoughts
If I was blind, in this world I see, seek and soar
Guided by nothing but sound and the self.
I feel I am reading and writing and breaking the news
When I shatter the walls and to
these other dimensions I voyage,
I am an objective observer and agent of change
I excavate answers from spirits
Undertake quests in the name of the soul
Companions and guides call to me and are called to my side
They advise and send signals disguised as next steps
Ancient wisdom they bring from the Source
To the drum driven wheels that revolve in my head
From the land to the court of my Spirit-King warrior throne
I return items lost and thought gone,
Record all the specs and trace a path back to
My physical base of operations
The drum stops and palatial silence durates and I hum
With information
If it's all in my mind and it's real at the same time,
How can one feel and know what is wrong and what's right
Without logic, science, and stats, and a map of the way?
Yet are there not
Actions I take,
Decisions I make, and
Visions I create, fulfill and forsake every day in my cold furnace state?
I sense, deal, and feel out the answers
To enigmas I think I have mastered
As I'm told that I travel alone, in control
On this circling-spherical-planetary train
Called conscious existence, survival and home.
So, when it's night and my earth eyes are closed
When reason is docile and dormant, I rise from my skintight cocoon
And the links that connect me to gods and their fire connect
I tune into the journey and sing a new name
as I steal away into "Alive"
While I can seat only one on the ride
I'm reminded that infinite sight awaits the awake.
Friday, October 10, 2008
How A Tree Shaman Lives
This is really worth the read...it shows how EVERY job can be a shamanic job...thanks to the Tree Shamans for all they do. Hugs, Walks In Two Worlds
Marking Timber
June 01, 2008
by Bob Perschel
We are easy to spot. Look for boots spattered with blue paint.
Blue paint dots our wool hats in the winter and speckles our hair and baseball caps in the summer. In the fall, because the accumulation of paint turns our once brightly colored orange vests into a strange camouflage, some of us tie orange marking tape to our clothes to alert the hunters.
We are foresters. Within the profession we are known as dirt foresters, and a great deal of our time in the woods is spent selecting and marking timber for harvest.
People everywhere endow trees with psychic energy and layers of meaning. Trees appear in our poems, our paintings, and our songs. When they live interdependently in groups known as woods or forests, they signify that the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts, teaching us that when we live together as whole communities and nations, we can be more than what we are as individuals. What a responsibility, then, to choose which trees to cut and which to leave standing.
Among themselves, foresters acknowledge that they walk a thin line through the woods, paint gun in hand, straddling the opposing worlds of life and death. One friend calls his forester wife the angel of death when she picks up her marking gun and prepares for the days work.
I spent almost 15 years working in the woods of New England as a forester. There were long strings of days I spent marking timber sales. Alone. In the woods. I was there when the first snarls of snow fell out of the northern sky and softly filled up the woods. I was there marking trees when the first green shoots forced their way out of the wet mud and unfurled in a blanket of green. I was there when the first orange color etched itself on the edges of the maple leaves and I watched the first leaf let loose its hold on life and flutter to the ground. Through the marking of timber, we become a part of a natural system that can teach us how to live more fully and with greater awareness. Approached in this way, the task of putting paint on trees becomes a meditation, even as we acknowledge that cutting trees is at its heart an economic decision.
You spend all day weaving your way back and forth through the hardwood forest, examining each tree in turn and deciding whether it should live or die. You repeat this each day, considering perhaps 30,000 or 40,000 trees and selecting perhaps 300 of them to mark with a blue paint spot. Each decision involves factors such as age, size, health, soil, slope, aspect, economic value, competition, potential growth, wildlife values, and more. You calculate all these in your forestry-educated brain. You raise your paint gun to deliver the death sentence, and then something unnamable crawls up from your belly and asks: Is this the right thing to do? How well does this action fit into the natural flow of the forest? What harm is this causing? What does this have to do with me? What is the best way to balance your love for the forest, your desire to keep it healthy and functioning well for wildlife and other benefits, and your need and the landowners desire to earn money?
You squeeze the trigger, or dont squeeze the trigger, and move on to repeat the process again and again, thousands of times each day, day after day, season after season, year after year. This is work that can change you if you open yourself to the hard questions that are about yourself: who you are as a human being and what is your purpose, your responsibility, your role, and your relationship to the natural world.
If you are willing to do that, I guarantee you that each step through the forest will change you. Each difficult and complicated decision to mark a tree and alter the forest will alter you as well. But only if you are willing to bring your spirit the essence of who you are as well as your body into the forest with you when you mark timber. It is this very need to acknowledge and engage in the entire life cycle, including death, that makes marking timber such a transformative experience. After all, birth, growth, maturation, senescence, death, and rebirth are the way of the forest.
During my time practicing forestry in New England, I had the opportunity to train several young foresters. I remember one particular day I was in the woods marking timber with a young man just beginning his career. There were several inches of snow on the ground, and we were in a beautiful stand of oak. When you mark timber together, you choose a compass bearing through the woods, and the lead marker works his way forward along that line by marking trees in a swath thats perpendicular to that line and perhaps 100 to 150 feet wide. The next marker follows alongside and to the right of the first, using the last trees marked by the lead marker as the left boundary of his or her swath. So it is important for the lead marker to stay in front.
I took the lead marking position, but as we moved through the woods, I kept noticing my partner right on my shoulder. He was marking faster than I was and really pushing me to keep ahead. I watched him for awhile, and he was really moving through the woods marking one tree and then quickly moving on to select another. Finally, our marking paths came to an intersection point and I stopped him for a talk in the woods. Like anyone else, foresters take a break once in a while either to talk about this particular woodlot or about any topic that might normally occur around the water cooler or coffee machine. In this case we talked about marking timber. I remember getting right to the point, since I knew him well enough to take a risk. I asked him what he thought about when he marked timber. Did he just see trees as timber, board feet, and dollar signs for him and the landowner? We stood in front of a large oak tree. I pointed to it and asked, What is this in front of you? Is it just a tree? Is it only an object for you to mark and pass by? Its lived 70 years. What does that mean to you? What is your relationship with this entity?
I put my hand on the tree. I slapped it hard and asked him, What is this? I had him put his hands on the tree, and then I gently pushed his head against the tree until his red beard was flush with the bark and said, If you are going to do this job it is important that you know what this is. I stepped back and asked if he knew what I was talking about. When he turned to look at me, there was a different look in his eyes. He simply said, Yeah, I do. And, quite simply, that was that. Our feet were growing cold, and the light was fading, so we turned back to our work.
We continued marking along our lines and I soon was aware that he was no longer on my shoulder. In fact, now he was nowhere in sight. I came to the end of my line and turned to walk back through the snow in the now-darkening woods. Finally, I came to a place where I could see him. He was standing motionless in front of a tree. Then he looked up and then down. Then he looked to the sides and the adjacent trees, and then he explored the forest floor. Next he moved around to the other side and repeated the process. He was holding his marking stick in one hand and his paint gun in the other. Finally, I saw him shift the paint gun and tuck it under the armpit of his other arm. Then, with his free hand, he reached out in the dimming light to touch the tree.
Thats when I turned away and headed back to the truck. This was his moment and his own way of learning his craft. But there was also a selfish reason for my abrupt departure. I wanted to hold this singular image and etch it forever in my minds eye. The darkening woods, the long, straight oak trunks, the covering of snow, the blue jeans, the orange marking vest, the plaid shirt, the red beard, the orange cap, and the gray woolen gloves spattered with blue paint, fingers splayed reaching out to touch an oak tree.
I wanted that image burned in my mind so that on those days when things arent going so well when it seems like we are losing ground, and despair begins to creep in like a cold wind through a crack in the door I can call up that image of this young man in the woods, reaching out.
Bob Perschel is the Northeast Region Director for the Forest Guild. In his spare time, he is writing a book called The Heart and Mind of Environmental Leadership.
This story was first printed in Northern Woodlands Magazine
Thanks Bob for permission to reprint this story.
Marking Timber
June 01, 2008
by Bob Perschel
We are easy to spot. Look for boots spattered with blue paint.
Blue paint dots our wool hats in the winter and speckles our hair and baseball caps in the summer. In the fall, because the accumulation of paint turns our once brightly colored orange vests into a strange camouflage, some of us tie orange marking tape to our clothes to alert the hunters.
We are foresters. Within the profession we are known as dirt foresters, and a great deal of our time in the woods is spent selecting and marking timber for harvest.
People everywhere endow trees with psychic energy and layers of meaning. Trees appear in our poems, our paintings, and our songs. When they live interdependently in groups known as woods or forests, they signify that the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts, teaching us that when we live together as whole communities and nations, we can be more than what we are as individuals. What a responsibility, then, to choose which trees to cut and which to leave standing.
Among themselves, foresters acknowledge that they walk a thin line through the woods, paint gun in hand, straddling the opposing worlds of life and death. One friend calls his forester wife the angel of death when she picks up her marking gun and prepares for the days work.
I spent almost 15 years working in the woods of New England as a forester. There were long strings of days I spent marking timber sales. Alone. In the woods. I was there when the first snarls of snow fell out of the northern sky and softly filled up the woods. I was there marking trees when the first green shoots forced their way out of the wet mud and unfurled in a blanket of green. I was there when the first orange color etched itself on the edges of the maple leaves and I watched the first leaf let loose its hold on life and flutter to the ground. Through the marking of timber, we become a part of a natural system that can teach us how to live more fully and with greater awareness. Approached in this way, the task of putting paint on trees becomes a meditation, even as we acknowledge that cutting trees is at its heart an economic decision.
You spend all day weaving your way back and forth through the hardwood forest, examining each tree in turn and deciding whether it should live or die. You repeat this each day, considering perhaps 30,000 or 40,000 trees and selecting perhaps 300 of them to mark with a blue paint spot. Each decision involves factors such as age, size, health, soil, slope, aspect, economic value, competition, potential growth, wildlife values, and more. You calculate all these in your forestry-educated brain. You raise your paint gun to deliver the death sentence, and then something unnamable crawls up from your belly and asks: Is this the right thing to do? How well does this action fit into the natural flow of the forest? What harm is this causing? What does this have to do with me? What is the best way to balance your love for the forest, your desire to keep it healthy and functioning well for wildlife and other benefits, and your need and the landowners desire to earn money?
You squeeze the trigger, or dont squeeze the trigger, and move on to repeat the process again and again, thousands of times each day, day after day, season after season, year after year. This is work that can change you if you open yourself to the hard questions that are about yourself: who you are as a human being and what is your purpose, your responsibility, your role, and your relationship to the natural world.
If you are willing to do that, I guarantee you that each step through the forest will change you. Each difficult and complicated decision to mark a tree and alter the forest will alter you as well. But only if you are willing to bring your spirit the essence of who you are as well as your body into the forest with you when you mark timber. It is this very need to acknowledge and engage in the entire life cycle, including death, that makes marking timber such a transformative experience. After all, birth, growth, maturation, senescence, death, and rebirth are the way of the forest.
During my time practicing forestry in New England, I had the opportunity to train several young foresters. I remember one particular day I was in the woods marking timber with a young man just beginning his career. There were several inches of snow on the ground, and we were in a beautiful stand of oak. When you mark timber together, you choose a compass bearing through the woods, and the lead marker works his way forward along that line by marking trees in a swath thats perpendicular to that line and perhaps 100 to 150 feet wide. The next marker follows alongside and to the right of the first, using the last trees marked by the lead marker as the left boundary of his or her swath. So it is important for the lead marker to stay in front.
I took the lead marking position, but as we moved through the woods, I kept noticing my partner right on my shoulder. He was marking faster than I was and really pushing me to keep ahead. I watched him for awhile, and he was really moving through the woods marking one tree and then quickly moving on to select another. Finally, our marking paths came to an intersection point and I stopped him for a talk in the woods. Like anyone else, foresters take a break once in a while either to talk about this particular woodlot or about any topic that might normally occur around the water cooler or coffee machine. In this case we talked about marking timber. I remember getting right to the point, since I knew him well enough to take a risk. I asked him what he thought about when he marked timber. Did he just see trees as timber, board feet, and dollar signs for him and the landowner? We stood in front of a large oak tree. I pointed to it and asked, What is this in front of you? Is it just a tree? Is it only an object for you to mark and pass by? Its lived 70 years. What does that mean to you? What is your relationship with this entity?
I put my hand on the tree. I slapped it hard and asked him, What is this? I had him put his hands on the tree, and then I gently pushed his head against the tree until his red beard was flush with the bark and said, If you are going to do this job it is important that you know what this is. I stepped back and asked if he knew what I was talking about. When he turned to look at me, there was a different look in his eyes. He simply said, Yeah, I do. And, quite simply, that was that. Our feet were growing cold, and the light was fading, so we turned back to our work.
We continued marking along our lines and I soon was aware that he was no longer on my shoulder. In fact, now he was nowhere in sight. I came to the end of my line and turned to walk back through the snow in the now-darkening woods. Finally, I came to a place where I could see him. He was standing motionless in front of a tree. Then he looked up and then down. Then he looked to the sides and the adjacent trees, and then he explored the forest floor. Next he moved around to the other side and repeated the process. He was holding his marking stick in one hand and his paint gun in the other. Finally, I saw him shift the paint gun and tuck it under the armpit of his other arm. Then, with his free hand, he reached out in the dimming light to touch the tree.
Thats when I turned away and headed back to the truck. This was his moment and his own way of learning his craft. But there was also a selfish reason for my abrupt departure. I wanted to hold this singular image and etch it forever in my minds eye. The darkening woods, the long, straight oak trunks, the covering of snow, the blue jeans, the orange marking vest, the plaid shirt, the red beard, the orange cap, and the gray woolen gloves spattered with blue paint, fingers splayed reaching out to touch an oak tree.
I wanted that image burned in my mind so that on those days when things arent going so well when it seems like we are losing ground, and despair begins to creep in like a cold wind through a crack in the door I can call up that image of this young man in the woods, reaching out.
Bob Perschel is the Northeast Region Director for the Forest Guild. In his spare time, he is writing a book called The Heart and Mind of Environmental Leadership.
This story was first printed in Northern Woodlands Magazine
Thanks Bob for permission to reprint this story.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Stories
And so, "It is written."
The Stories, just like the one above, are still being told.
This story can be very inspiring to those who are willing listen--to see it, to feel it, and experience it.
Each walk thru The Woods, reveals another chapter or a new story.
Perhaps, it's the mushroom showing off by dissolving himself. Or, the Woodpecker who's just "checking in." Maybe it's the Leaf that "let's go" of the Tree allowing herself to Free fall. Or, the playful wind that sends an acorn bouncing off my head.
In times like this--I am inspired by The Stories of Mother Earth. Her Truth is deep and palpable on many levels. On Sunday, she "let go" with a 2.0 earthquake nearby--the ripple could felt by many. On a personal note, I felt like I cracked open, some things burst out, while I waited and waited to catch my breath.
And, by Monday morning I was able to breathe once again.
For now during the Media's referenced times of trouble; I choose to connect only by a thread. Allowing the the rest of me to breathe and expand in the only TRUTH that I know.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Mastering the Cycle
I have been grappling with and wooing at the truths we explored in our last call. I feel like the books and Walks in Two Worlds have been trying to explain to us the common theme of learning to ride the cycle as a key to unlocking the story and its elements. This is of massive importance to fusion and evolution--our own, the earth's, humankind's. Learning to identify and be comfortable with all the different points along the spectrum of the human condition is like a martial artist studying and practicing a counter move for every move and developing a soundness of mind, spirit, AND physique while in the process. In my own life I've developed a unique persona and the qualities that go along with that persona but then to detach and drop in and out of that persona and into another one willfully, effortlessly is an unmatched artform, a discipline, a craft. It requires a firm foundation and a full spirit presence to not get lost; and when mastered, it can assist me, and those who seek my help, in dropping out of unhealthy habitual cycles and creating new more fulfilling ones.
To me, entering the cycle/the wheel/the circle/the globe is about motion: entering a state of new perception and then abandoning it--both actions require a certain fortitude and courage. Like dealing with day and night; life and death; audience and performer; flesh and spirit; the first attention and the second attention. Creating and entering the revolving door between these two points and laying a new path creates a certain nourishing energy-that's the energy we've been experimenting with and harnessing. This in-between energy gives both destination and journey meaning--This in-between energy creates a flow of consciousness or alchemy that keeps with human growth and decline and acts as a bridge/portal for our cells to venture back and forth between home and here.
But where is home? Why did each of us choose to manifest a physical form here? This is a question I am working on, and I believe it's of huge importance. Make sense of home--make sense of the mission. Home is the source of comfort in this world but it is a source of supreme power, purpose, and peace for the shaman.
To me, entering the cycle/the wheel/the circle/the globe is about motion: entering a state of new perception and then abandoning it--both actions require a certain fortitude and courage. Like dealing with day and night; life and death; audience and performer; flesh and spirit; the first attention and the second attention. Creating and entering the revolving door between these two points and laying a new path creates a certain nourishing energy-that's the energy we've been experimenting with and harnessing. This in-between energy gives both destination and journey meaning--This in-between energy creates a flow of consciousness or alchemy that keeps with human growth and decline and acts as a bridge/portal for our cells to venture back and forth between home and here.
But where is home? Why did each of us choose to manifest a physical form here? This is a question I am working on, and I believe it's of huge importance. Make sense of home--make sense of the mission. Home is the source of comfort in this world but it is a source of supreme power, purpose, and peace for the shaman.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
We Are All Shamans: Interview with Itzhak Beery
I found this podcast about Itzhak Beery. Born in Israel, Beery was initiated into the family tradition of a powerful Quechuan Yachak from Ecuador and has studied under the Brazilian elder Ipupiara and Peruvian curandera Cleicha.
He speaks of his apprenticeship and experience in becoming a Shaman. I found some of it insightful. He also speaks of the candle and egg healing/readings which we just learned.
The podcast can be found at:
http://www.realitysandwich.com/interview_itzhak_beery#comments
He speaks of his apprenticeship and experience in becoming a Shaman. I found some of it insightful. He also speaks of the candle and egg healing/readings which we just learned.
The podcast can be found at:
http://www.realitysandwich.com/interview_itzhak_beery#comments
Connected
Last week, I felt a desperate need to shut down. I wanted to do nothing more than breath and partake in deeply nourishing activities. Thinking, feeling, analyzing, discussing...all those activities felt extremely exauhsting and irritating to me.
Tuesday morning, I woke up with the message that I should just call in and take the day off from work and allow myself the space and opportunity to do just that. Stop my world for a while. Upon contemplation,I was filled with reminders of all my responsibilities and the fact that I had no vacation or sick time available to me. I pushed through it and went to work. After having arrived, I found that I could not continue. I stated that I was not feeling well and that I had made the choice to leave for the day. Despite their dismay, I left and went home and spent the day in peace. Doing only that which nourished me.
The next day I got a call from two good friends of mine. They both individually informed me that they had the exact same experience, the same intuition, both pushed through it went to work only to leave at the same time I did using the same excuse. In addition to that, they also participated in most of the same nourishing activities.
It shows me once again, my illusion of control and how truly connected we are only appearing to be living separate lives and responding to that which is only our own.
Anyone have any similar experiences last week?
Tuesday morning, I woke up with the message that I should just call in and take the day off from work and allow myself the space and opportunity to do just that. Stop my world for a while. Upon contemplation,I was filled with reminders of all my responsibilities and the fact that I had no vacation or sick time available to me. I pushed through it and went to work. After having arrived, I found that I could not continue. I stated that I was not feeling well and that I had made the choice to leave for the day. Despite their dismay, I left and went home and spent the day in peace. Doing only that which nourished me.
The next day I got a call from two good friends of mine. They both individually informed me that they had the exact same experience, the same intuition, both pushed through it went to work only to leave at the same time I did using the same excuse. In addition to that, they also participated in most of the same nourishing activities.
It shows me once again, my illusion of control and how truly connected we are only appearing to be living separate lives and responding to that which is only our own.
Anyone have any similar experiences last week?
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sacrificing Convenience
As I think back on our past weekend and the experiences and messages that were shared a few things stand out in my mind. We are a society of convenience.. I know that I try to push myself to do the right things and constantly know myself so that I can improve. I also know that those that I’ve called to surround me in my life all have aspects or lessons that I need to draw from.
We’ve all talked about sacrifice and giving back to Spirit as a way of honoring Spirit for helping us on our path. As I look at me.. what do I sacrifice or give back for Spirit’s wisdom? I could list many things that I’ve thrown in the “here’s what I’m doing” column.. but as I really look at it closely I’ve noticed that it also has a nice flavor of convenience about it. Don’t get me wrong, it still is a sacrifice and does have meaning to me.. but it seems to stop just short of stepping outside of my box.. It’s a “convenient” sacrifice.. the message that jumps out at me is “to show my thanks I’m willing to give back… just enough to not put me out”.
Well, that’s an eye opener.
Noticing this about myself obviously didn’t make me jump up and down :-) What it did do is flash back many many conversations I’ve had with those around me on that topic… as Spirit was presenting me with this message for quite a while now and I just got it. It seems that I was able to convince myself or put a nice wrapper on what I was “sacrificing” so that it seemed that I was giving a lot… but in reality what was it at all?
I had a hard time stepping back into Muggle-ville as I just couldn’t understand why we would create this reality. Well, I still don’t get that but have come to the understanding that maybe I’m not supposed to know that right now. What I do know is that I’m here and that there is a lot of work to do.
We all come from different backgrounds and have experienced many different things. We are all the same energy but different beings in this world. I think the message that we have to give is the same message.. but we’re all presenting it in our own unique way. Many times we don’t realize that others are hearing that message.. I think it’s our responsibility to listen to Spirit and get our message out there.. even if we think that no one is listening. Be it by teaching others, writing, creating, counseling; whatever the method is really doesn’t matter. For those of you who want to push outside the box, please let me know. I would like to help get our messages out there!
I am going to work on taking the pressure cooker and putting the world in it. I feel it's time to take the fight to the enemy. I would ask each of you for your wisdom, guidance, and kick in the ass along the way. I also want to again thank each of you (and Spirit) for the messages you have passed on.. knowingly or unknowingly!! They all seem to be floating up and slapping me in the face :-)
Love to all!
Still Waters
Sunday, September 21, 2008
All At Once
I've been a fan of Jack Johnson for quite a few years now. There's something about his insightful lyrics and overall vibe of his music that I connect heavily with. Here are the lyrics and a video link to one of my favorite songs off his latest album.
All at Once - Sleep Through the Static
All at once
The world can overwhelm me
There’s almost nothing that you could tell me
That could ease my mind
Which way will you run?
When it’s always all around you
And the feeling lost and found you again
A feeling that we have no control
Around the sun
Some say it’s going to be the new hell
Some say it’s still too early to tell
Some say it really ain’t no myth at all
We keep asking ourselves
Are we really strong enough?
There’re so many things
That we got too proud of
I want to take the preconceived
Out from underneath your feet
We could shake it off
And instead we’ll plant some seeds
We’ll watch them as they grow
And with each new beat
From your heart the roots grow deeper
The branches, well they reach for what?
Nobody really knows
But underneath it all
There’s this heart all alone
What about when it’s gone?
It really won’t be so long
Sometimes it feels like a heart
Is no place to be singing from at all
There’s a world we’ve never seen
There’s still hope between the dreams
The weight of it all could blow away with a breeze
But if you’re waiting on the wind
Don’t forget to breathe
Because as the darkness gets deeper
We’re sinking so we reach for love
At least something we can hold
But I’ll reach to you
From where time just can’t go
What about when it’s gone?
It really won’t be so long
Sometimes it feels like a heart
Is no place to be singing from at all
All at Once - Sleep Through the Static
All at once
The world can overwhelm me
There’s almost nothing that you could tell me
That could ease my mind
Which way will you run?
When it’s always all around you
And the feeling lost and found you again
A feeling that we have no control
Around the sun
Some say it’s going to be the new hell
Some say it’s still too early to tell
Some say it really ain’t no myth at all
We keep asking ourselves
Are we really strong enough?
There’re so many things
That we got too proud of
I want to take the preconceived
Out from underneath your feet
We could shake it off
And instead we’ll plant some seeds
We’ll watch them as they grow
And with each new beat
From your heart the roots grow deeper
The branches, well they reach for what?
Nobody really knows
But underneath it all
There’s this heart all alone
What about when it’s gone?
It really won’t be so long
Sometimes it feels like a heart
Is no place to be singing from at all
There’s a world we’ve never seen
There’s still hope between the dreams
The weight of it all could blow away with a breeze
But if you’re waiting on the wind
Don’t forget to breathe
Because as the darkness gets deeper
We’re sinking so we reach for love
At least something we can hold
But I’ll reach to you
From where time just can’t go
What about when it’s gone?
It really won’t be so long
Sometimes it feels like a heart
Is no place to be singing from at all
Friday, September 19, 2008
World Peace Day, September 21st
This video was inspiring and it felt right to share. I wonder if there is something we can do as a tribe to "lift the consciousness around the most fundamental issue: protection of each other"?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
What a Year Can Bring
I entered this apprenticeship with the idea of spending much, if not most, of my non-work time studying, as I realized that it was a rare opportunity. I did not plan on my mental illness kicking up to a new phase. I knew that I was frequently depressed, and that medications helped; what I had not seen was that I cycle within the depressive phase and that the cycling itself is very debilitating. One moment everything is fine, the next for no reason I'm in the absolute pits of existence and questioning whethe it's worth it. No reson, no logic, just whammy. With the new understanding - new meds. Lifestyle changes can't deal iwth this one. With the new meds - new side effects; I'll spare you the details, they're nasty and debilitating. With meds and side feects, my resolve and abilities went out the window. BUT, life happens. For me certainly, I should have known that life wouldn't stop for the program, and that what counts ultimately is that I'm learning despite the pains, fungi, mood swings, lapses of judgment, impulsiveness, etc. I may not be following Robin through the jungle, but I've got my own jungle in my head, and the struggle makes what I learn all the sweeter.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Stealing Fire and Telling Stories
Here's a link to a James Bonnet interview I came across. But this youtube segment captures a much more interesting interview with NPR's Ira Glass on the craft of storytelling--He is the host of "This American Life". He says, "The whole shape of the story is that you're throwing out questions to keep people watching and listening, and answering them along the way."
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
New Vision
NEW VISIONSeeing higher realms
In color coats they shift the walls
They do and don't exist
In radiant hues they penetrate
The spirits on the mundane breed
And I await in fascination's delivery room
Tending to
All the newborn elemental codes
They go fro and back and mate and multiply and paint for me
With senses splashed in colored brush blot sprays
They birth a smeary story I have never dared to read
How stabbing is the artist's sharpened tip
On my three-piece throbbing head
Mischievious is their play
Was it they
Or did I just prick myself?
Exhausted, weak from all the astral plasma spills
Something stays and through the point of skin abrazed
My loss is their gain
And now to turn illusion on its head
I see that I am different not
When I come back
Alive or dead or somewhere in between
I see
And the world sees back less worrisome to me
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
National Geographic Article
Shamanism finally going mainstream? Here is an article on Shamans and Ayahuasca in National Geographic, of all places. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html
It involves the familiar story of an American, Hamilton, who had once lived in desperation and was called to the other realms by the inexplicable. He made his way to Peru and is now a practicing master shaman there.
I just skimmed through it but here are my favorite excerpts:
To prepare the brew, apprentices spend years under the tutelage of an elder shaman getting to know the different plant ingredients, passing weeks or months at a time learning their individual healing properties and governing spirits. These beings, they claim, teach them icaros, or spirit songs, which, when sung or whistled, call forth the plants' unique assistance during ceremonies.
The training isn't easy; those like Hamilton who earn the title of "master shaman"—highly respected members of Amazonian communities—receive patients from far and wide. Based on the individual needs of their patients, shamans must know which plants are required for a ceremony (there are two primary ingredients, but any of an estimated 100 species have been used in ayahuasca brews), how much of them to harvest, and how to prepare them for ingestion. The plants' spirits are then said to work together to produce the most successful possible healing for each person, regardless of what ails them.
According to Grob, ayahuasca provokes a profound state of altered consciousness that can lead to temporary "ego disintegration," as he calls it, allowing people to move beyond their defense mechanisms into the depths of their unconscious minds—a unique opportunity, he says, that cannot be duplicated by any nondrug therapy methods.
"You come back with images, messages, even communications," he explains. "You're learning about yourself, reconceptualizing prior experiences. Having had a profound psycho-spiritual epiphany, you're not the same person you were before."
But the curious should take heed: The unconscious mind holds many things you don't want to look at. All those self-destructive beliefs, suppressed traumatic events, denied emotions. Little wonder that an ayahuasca vision can reveal itself as a kind of hell in which a person is forced—literally—to face his or her demons.
Hamilton explains it this way: Everyone has an energetic body run by an inextinguishable life force. In Eastern traditions, this force, known as chi or prana, is manipulated through such things as acupuncture or yoga to run smoothly and prevent the buildup of the negative energies that cause bodily disease, mental illness, and even death. To Amazonian shamans, however, these negative energies are actual spirit entities that attach themselves to the body and cause mischief. In everyone, Hamilton asserts, there is a loving "higher self," but whenever unpleasant thoughts enter a person's mind—anger, fear, sorrow—it's because a dark spirit is hooked to the body and is temporarily commandeering the person's mind. In some cases, he adds, particularly evil spirits from the lowest hell of the "astral realms" take over a person
permanently—known as full-blown demonic possession—creating a psychopathic mind that seeks only to harm others.
Shamans will tell you that during an ayahuasca cleansing they're not working with the contents of a person's hallucination but are actually visiting that person in whatever plane of reality his or her spirit happens to be. We are not, they insist, confined to the reality of our five senses, but can transcend it and enter a multidimensional universe.
And this notion of a spiritual experience marks the very juncture where Western science and analytic thought depart on the subject of ayahuasca and where indigenous culture and mysticism come in. Most ayahuasca researchers agree that, curiously, the compound appears to affect people on three different levels—the physical, psychological, and spiritual—complicating efforts to definitively catalog its effects, let alone explain specific therapeutic benefits.
It involves the familiar story of an American, Hamilton, who had once lived in desperation and was called to the other realms by the inexplicable. He made his way to Peru and is now a practicing master shaman there.
I just skimmed through it but here are my favorite excerpts:
To prepare the brew, apprentices spend years under the tutelage of an elder shaman getting to know the different plant ingredients, passing weeks or months at a time learning their individual healing properties and governing spirits. These beings, they claim, teach them icaros, or spirit songs, which, when sung or whistled, call forth the plants' unique assistance during ceremonies.
The training isn't easy; those like Hamilton who earn the title of "master shaman"—highly respected members of Amazonian communities—receive patients from far and wide. Based on the individual needs of their patients, shamans must know which plants are required for a ceremony (there are two primary ingredients, but any of an estimated 100 species have been used in ayahuasca brews), how much of them to harvest, and how to prepare them for ingestion. The plants' spirits are then said to work together to produce the most successful possible healing for each person, regardless of what ails them.
According to Grob, ayahuasca provokes a profound state of altered consciousness that can lead to temporary "ego disintegration," as he calls it, allowing people to move beyond their defense mechanisms into the depths of their unconscious minds—a unique opportunity, he says, that cannot be duplicated by any nondrug therapy methods.
"You come back with images, messages, even communications," he explains. "You're learning about yourself, reconceptualizing prior experiences. Having had a profound psycho-spiritual epiphany, you're not the same person you were before."
But the curious should take heed: The unconscious mind holds many things you don't want to look at. All those self-destructive beliefs, suppressed traumatic events, denied emotions. Little wonder that an ayahuasca vision can reveal itself as a kind of hell in which a person is forced—literally—to face his or her demons.
Hamilton explains it this way: Everyone has an energetic body run by an inextinguishable life force. In Eastern traditions, this force, known as chi or prana, is manipulated through such things as acupuncture or yoga to run smoothly and prevent the buildup of the negative energies that cause bodily disease, mental illness, and even death. To Amazonian shamans, however, these negative energies are actual spirit entities that attach themselves to the body and cause mischief. In everyone, Hamilton asserts, there is a loving "higher self," but whenever unpleasant thoughts enter a person's mind—anger, fear, sorrow—it's because a dark spirit is hooked to the body and is temporarily commandeering the person's mind. In some cases, he adds, particularly evil spirits from the lowest hell of the "astral realms" take over a person
permanently—known as full-blown demonic possession—creating a psychopathic mind that seeks only to harm others.
Shamans will tell you that during an ayahuasca cleansing they're not working with the contents of a person's hallucination but are actually visiting that person in whatever plane of reality his or her spirit happens to be. We are not, they insist, confined to the reality of our five senses, but can transcend it and enter a multidimensional universe.
And this notion of a spiritual experience marks the very juncture where Western science and analytic thought depart on the subject of ayahuasca and where indigenous culture and mysticism come in. Most ayahuasca researchers agree that, curiously, the compound appears to affect people on three different levels—the physical, psychological, and spiritual—complicating efforts to definitively catalog its effects, let alone explain specific therapeutic benefits.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Lectures on Shamanism
A dear friend shared this link with me. She's recently been inspired by shamanism and I thought that the resource was good enough to share with the tribe.
I've only listened to Ingerman's lecture so far. She goes through the functions of a shaman and into indigenous rituals. One thing she suggests, which we have experienced in a collective journey before, is the power to help souls move along and transition into death. She calls this service "Psychopomp Work." She reminds us that there is a growing trend of mass trauma in the world and that the human devastation imposed on the environment and other humans is so extreme that bad energy can collect from souls caught in limbo and unable to move on to the other realms. It's implied that these souls stay here and create mischief or pain. Trapped wandering souls need love, evolution, and healing, according to Ingerman. She then goes into alchemy some and suggests that within its secrets are the keys to healing the earth and reversing the damage caused to the environment. My favorite quote of hers,"It’s who we become that changes the world not what we do."
I've only listened to Ingerman's lecture so far. She goes through the functions of a shaman and into indigenous rituals. One thing she suggests, which we have experienced in a collective journey before, is the power to help souls move along and transition into death. She calls this service "Psychopomp Work." She reminds us that there is a growing trend of mass trauma in the world and that the human devastation imposed on the environment and other humans is so extreme that bad energy can collect from souls caught in limbo and unable to move on to the other realms. It's implied that these souls stay here and create mischief or pain. Trapped wandering souls need love, evolution, and healing, according to Ingerman. She then goes into alchemy some and suggests that within its secrets are the keys to healing the earth and reversing the damage caused to the environment. My favorite quote of hers,"It’s who we become that changes the world not what we do."
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Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Mask and Energy Healing
I went to a European museum earlier this year and caught a "masks" exhibit that fascinated me. I took this picture of a procession mask. Masks from this exhibit were used in festivals and processions as a way to chase away bad spirits, to disguise identity, but also to take on the strength of the beast/figure represented. Recall our shapeshifting exercise months ago. It's interesting that the mask is both a tool of psychic combat and a transmutation device. It's as if you can live out a hero's journey in the waking world and in real time with their use.
One of the panels at the exhibit showed a teenager's prosthetic mask and described her shapeshifting processes as she took on the role of a fantasy figure engaged in what is known as Live Action Role Playing (LARP). In LARP, "masked participants get together and perform a story. It's a chance to experiment with roles and identities that do not fit into ordinary life. " Here's what she had to say about it, "It is awesome to act out in a way I could never do in reality. I love letting out my masculine side, taking the initiative, and testing the limits. I love being in charge."
There is something to be said about the energy created through this process. As the Hands of Light book suggests, we suffer from various blocks in different parts of the body that can lead to disease if untreated. The author specifically differentiates between forms of energy that are associated with different parts of the body. Western medicine can help with repairing anatomical damage but the energetic and soul level healing is hardly addressed by our doctors and surgeons. Could the mask have been used in the past as an energy healing instrument; to channel in energy to different parts of the body, to take on human energy field blockages and balance the chakras? I believe so.
The young woman quoted above seems like she craves assertive, masculine energy and "being in charge." Through LARP, not only is she engaging in a fun activity, she may be undergoing a form of energetic body treatment. It might be a good experiment to examine her pendulum patterns before and after LARPing.
Teenagers are our most vulnerable population. They exist in the unenviable position of being unsure about their identities while traveling through and transitioning between new and old realms of human being every day (while unsure about both). It's no wonder that teens are likely to experience a high level of satisfaction from the mask's healing powers--the mask can serve as armor against upheaval. It can be their spirit guides' embodiment in the waking world.
I would submit that unless these alternative "spirit" identities are explored and given space in their right time in a healthy way and through these types of energy charging exercises, chakras can cease functioning and close.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Journeying Amnesia
My inner universe sparkles when I enter altered realities and tap into visions of different worlds inside my head. But one of the challenges I am just beginning to overcome is trying to recall the details of my visions. Sometimes I get swallowed up by the whole experience entirely. Unless I write the points down in my journal immediately after surfacing, I'm often stranded trying to remember what just happened.
I believe this kind of struggle carries over into the waking world. I need notes with me to organize my thoughts like airline pilots need a flight plan before they ascend into the sky. To some extent, memory blocks are somewhat conditioned appropriately. I rarely ever recall memories or stories exactly the way they were first introduced to me; I hone in on the most critical aspects of moments gone by and try to resurrect the past based on my perception of what occurred. I do this with every kind of stimuli--art, meetings, speeches, news reports--cherry-picking the points that speak to me and reinforcing or challenging the stories that dominate my current state.
I realize that I spent a big chunk of my life not being aware of some of the basic things happening to me--I don't know if this changed or started when I began to record my thoughts. When employing a listening or recording device, part of the magic of being in the moment is lost by concentrating on the documentation itself. But the clarity of feeling and thought at each point seems essential to recomposing the story. I am fixated on trying to recall it all and end up building a reliance on the device rather than the spirit chase--the present is lost in favor of a more accurate historical account. The sword of technology cuts both ways.
There may also be unexpected interruptions after I've gone under, where one vision thread gets overlapped with another. This is frustrating and requires concentration. It seems I am a social butterfly in the spirit world with many pre-engagements--it's like my altered state cellphone going off left and right, forcing me to remove the battery.
I have been journeying regularly in recent weeks and have gotten to the point where I can use the beat of my ticking clock to sink into visions. When a space inside calls for attention and its message is finally received and opened, it makes the voluntary journey all the more easier. The awareness of the chakras thanks to the Hands on Healing book is also helping me link the journeys to the different body parts that feel neglected and target areas that have felt blocked.
I believe this kind of struggle carries over into the waking world. I need notes with me to organize my thoughts like airline pilots need a flight plan before they ascend into the sky. To some extent, memory blocks are somewhat conditioned appropriately. I rarely ever recall memories or stories exactly the way they were first introduced to me; I hone in on the most critical aspects of moments gone by and try to resurrect the past based on my perception of what occurred. I do this with every kind of stimuli--art, meetings, speeches, news reports--cherry-picking the points that speak to me and reinforcing or challenging the stories that dominate my current state.
I realize that I spent a big chunk of my life not being aware of some of the basic things happening to me--I don't know if this changed or started when I began to record my thoughts. When employing a listening or recording device, part of the magic of being in the moment is lost by concentrating on the documentation itself. But the clarity of feeling and thought at each point seems essential to recomposing the story. I am fixated on trying to recall it all and end up building a reliance on the device rather than the spirit chase--the present is lost in favor of a more accurate historical account. The sword of technology cuts both ways.
There may also be unexpected interruptions after I've gone under, where one vision thread gets overlapped with another. This is frustrating and requires concentration. It seems I am a social butterfly in the spirit world with many pre-engagements--it's like my altered state cellphone going off left and right, forcing me to remove the battery.
I have been journeying regularly in recent weeks and have gotten to the point where I can use the beat of my ticking clock to sink into visions. When a space inside calls for attention and its message is finally received and opened, it makes the voluntary journey all the more easier. The awareness of the chakras thanks to the Hands on Healing book is also helping me link the journeys to the different body parts that feel neglected and target areas that have felt blocked.
Shrinking Lake
Much was not shared about our last reading assignment, so I'm going to add a reflection or two about the shrinking lake metaphor in "Entering the Circle". The shrinking lake to me is the beleaguered self. Defeat comes when our inner sea becomes completely overwhelmed or occupied. Sometimes we give up ownership and actively invite outsiders to garrison the lake. May be invaders infiltrate parts of it and we are locked in a struggle for recovery. When it flourishes with life, we too flourish. Sometimes it freezes over as if in a state of perpetual winter.
My lake has appeared in my visions as far back as the first month of our apprenticeship. It appeared as a still and serene body of water. Everything about it is perfect. I was introduced to the lake by a personal guide: a ferryman. I was shown three cities lying on its shores, forming a perfect triangle. They were abandoned at the time-- I had planned to draw a map of these locations and journey there further. Has anyone else journeyed to their lake/sea?
My lake has appeared in my visions as far back as the first month of our apprenticeship. It appeared as a still and serene body of water. Everything about it is perfect. I was introduced to the lake by a personal guide: a ferryman. I was shown three cities lying on its shores, forming a perfect triangle. They were abandoned at the time-- I had planned to draw a map of these locations and journey there further. Has anyone else journeyed to their lake/sea?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Yellow Phase Rattle Snake
This beautiful 3 y.o. female Rattlesnake came to visit us about two weeks ago.
It's interesting how one little creature can invoke so many varied human responses. Ranging from: the on-call Erlich man who stated that he would only come out to kill it, Wildlife Nuisance guy who came out at 9:30 at night and for $95 removed it safely, Fish Commission RS project manager who along with DCNR biologists returned her to her den. (which is shown on the picture). And, it all started with my son who calmly and accurately identified it--notified me, and together as a family we were able to plan a safe re-location with a good outcome for everyone.
Yesterday, during a 20 mile bike ride, two more showed up.
On the bike trail: the response was anything from skidding to a halt to get a glimpse of this elusive creature to riders bolting ahead in a panic on their bikes.
Yes, it was a grand Homeschool experience. The pictures add a great memory of her release back to the den. We're now more informed and better prepared to hold a calm space when one encounters such a beautiful creature both feared and revered.
For me, well, there's much to learn from Rattlesnake...
So, here's an invitation to share your very own response / experience.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
For My Friends in Sedona
Protection
Be unharmed, be at at peace
Release and be
Present
Envision any coming shock's charge
As a bolt of beauty
A new space unvisited
Reveals a breath change unlimited
My you find your way
with protection absolute
Let the day and Night within you
Bring you
Sing you through
Fixed journeys and moving destinations
Be unharmed, be at at peace
Release and be
Present
Envision any coming shock's charge
As a bolt of beauty
A new space unvisited
Reveals a breath change unlimited
My you find your way
with protection absolute
Let the day and Night within you
Bring you
Sing you through
Fixed journeys and moving destinations
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Tradition vs Heritage
Definitions from the Webster's New World:
Tradition: The process of preserving orally. Syn - legend, wisdom of the ages, oral history.
Heritage: Inheritance, birthright, ancestry. The most general of these words, applies either to property passed on to an heir, or a tradition, culture, etc. passed on to a later generation (our heritage of freedom)
I believe that I've acquired my "Wisdom of the Ages" and my unique abilities possibly thru my ancestry line, but "directly from Spirit." It is indeed Spirit's voice and direction that I hear everyday.
The discussion below triggers a similar feeling to the age-old dispute between Religions. I cannot see much difference between the Religions--perhaps, they've blended together in my eyes, connected by a common thread. LOVE
LOVE: Passionate and tender devotion.
Therefore, I'm not sure that I want to spend time dissecting Shamanic Traditions/Heritages.
I'm comfortable with knowing what I know. So is Spirit !
Tradition: The process of preserving orally. Syn - legend, wisdom of the ages, oral history.
Heritage: Inheritance, birthright, ancestry. The most general of these words, applies either to property passed on to an heir, or a tradition, culture, etc. passed on to a later generation (our heritage of freedom)
I believe that I've acquired my "Wisdom of the Ages" and my unique abilities possibly thru my ancestry line, but "directly from Spirit." It is indeed Spirit's voice and direction that I hear everyday.
The discussion below triggers a similar feeling to the age-old dispute between Religions. I cannot see much difference between the Religions--perhaps, they've blended together in my eyes, connected by a common thread. LOVE
LOVE: Passionate and tender devotion.
Therefore, I'm not sure that I want to spend time dissecting Shamanic Traditions/Heritages.
I'm comfortable with knowing what I know. So is Spirit !
Thursday, June 26, 2008
On not having a tradition
I have no regrets whatsoever that I am not owrking within the framework of a single tradition.
In our conference call, I mentioned suggesting to a client that she use salt to help detoxify a room with negative vibrations. It was a technique suggested to me years ago by a QiGong teacher from Korea. I also suggested smudging the room in a native American tradition. Neither of these traditions are ones in which I am fluent, but tyhey were in my "toolbox" and popped out when I asked Spirit for help. My client agreed with these suggestions and will try them.
I would contrast this with an experience I had two years ago when a much loved teacher of mine came in clearly inhabited by another entity. At that time, I could deal with this situation, but I needed my extraction crystal which I did not have that night. I simply had no idea what to do, and a colleague who was willing to act "as if" did the work. Now, I would ask, is the crystal a tool or a hindrance? Clearly it is a tool when I use it, but if I dont think I can do the work without it, I've got a problem.
I'm thinking of tradition in the same way - very rich very useful, very full and comfortable IF you can address all your needs within it and IF you do not have to distort your situation, your request to Spirit or your answer to fit within the tradition. Certainly it helps to have a core of belief for stability and for ongoing work with and contact with Spirit, and it certainly helps not to have your work or your belief system become a grab bag where you pull something out and hope it fits, but too tight a system distorts perception and limits possibilities, and the ability to address the novel situation (and we will certainly be seeing more that is novel in the future).
It is also frequently the case that as traditions age, they become more rigid, formal, and structured. The Tibetan Bon tradtion was originally (and still is) Shamanic, but it is overlaid with Buddhbist iconography and belief to an extent to which it is barely recognizable (same Deities, same properties, different names, etc.) Increasingly we will need to be flexible and able to accomodate rapid change. Shamanic work and teachings that are not tied to a single way of doing things, and consequently a single way of seeing things, would not seem to be a disadvantage here.
In our conference call, I mentioned suggesting to a client that she use salt to help detoxify a room with negative vibrations. It was a technique suggested to me years ago by a QiGong teacher from Korea. I also suggested smudging the room in a native American tradition. Neither of these traditions are ones in which I am fluent, but tyhey were in my "toolbox" and popped out when I asked Spirit for help. My client agreed with these suggestions and will try them.
I would contrast this with an experience I had two years ago when a much loved teacher of mine came in clearly inhabited by another entity. At that time, I could deal with this situation, but I needed my extraction crystal which I did not have that night. I simply had no idea what to do, and a colleague who was willing to act "as if" did the work. Now, I would ask, is the crystal a tool or a hindrance? Clearly it is a tool when I use it, but if I dont think I can do the work without it, I've got a problem.
I'm thinking of tradition in the same way - very rich very useful, very full and comfortable IF you can address all your needs within it and IF you do not have to distort your situation, your request to Spirit or your answer to fit within the tradition. Certainly it helps to have a core of belief for stability and for ongoing work with and contact with Spirit, and it certainly helps not to have your work or your belief system become a grab bag where you pull something out and hope it fits, but too tight a system distorts perception and limits possibilities, and the ability to address the novel situation (and we will certainly be seeing more that is novel in the future).
It is also frequently the case that as traditions age, they become more rigid, formal, and structured. The Tibetan Bon tradtion was originally (and still is) Shamanic, but it is overlaid with Buddhbist iconography and belief to an extent to which it is barely recognizable (same Deities, same properties, different names, etc.) Increasingly we will need to be flexible and able to accomodate rapid change. Shamanic work and teachings that are not tied to a single way of doing things, and consequently a single way of seeing things, would not seem to be a disadvantage here.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
About Olga Kharitidi
As I finished Olga’s book “Entering the circle”, I did a quick search on internet because I was curious of what she was doing these days. I thought that others in the group would be interested in knowing what she has become.
She now lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She published another book “The Master of Lucid Dreams”, about her experiences in Samarkand, ancient capital of Uzbekistan (apparently in the same vein as “Entering the circle”).
Here name is now Olga Yahontova and she has just created Cliffhouse Publications; there is not much on the website yet, including on her blog “Breaking the Walls”, created on 06/09/2008. So all of this is fairly new. She posted two articles since then, one on practicing magic today, the other one on addiction. Still to see what will come. For some reason, I have felt sad and uneasy reading what she is now writing and looking at her picture on the website, as if something had happened to her in the meantime. In one of her posts, she writes “After years of extreme experiences and searching, I have found nothing. No concepts, no recipes, no solutions, no mysteries solved. I have arrived at this point in my life with more confusion, bewilderment, and amazement for life and its riddles than I ever had before. And I like it. Because all of those things - concepts, solutions, and resolutions are truly just the building blocks of more walls inside the mind…” Maybe it is just the way it should be.
For those interested in having a look at her blog:
http://www.cliffhousepublications.com/index.php/cliff_main/olgas_thoughts/
She now lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She published another book “The Master of Lucid Dreams”, about her experiences in Samarkand, ancient capital of Uzbekistan (apparently in the same vein as “Entering the circle”).
Here name is now Olga Yahontova and she has just created Cliffhouse Publications; there is not much on the website yet, including on her blog “Breaking the Walls”, created on 06/09/2008. So all of this is fairly new. She posted two articles since then, one on practicing magic today, the other one on addiction. Still to see what will come. For some reason, I have felt sad and uneasy reading what she is now writing and looking at her picture on the website, as if something had happened to her in the meantime. In one of her posts, she writes “After years of extreme experiences and searching, I have found nothing. No concepts, no recipes, no solutions, no mysteries solved. I have arrived at this point in my life with more confusion, bewilderment, and amazement for life and its riddles than I ever had before. And I like it. Because all of those things - concepts, solutions, and resolutions are truly just the building blocks of more walls inside the mind…” Maybe it is just the way it should be.
For those interested in having a look at her blog:
http://www.cliffhousepublications.com/index.php/cliff_main/olgas_thoughts/
Friday, June 20, 2008
Summer Solstice
Here's an interesting article regarding Summer Solstice--thought I'd share it:
http://www.carolbarbeau.com/2008_summer_solstice.html
Happy Weeding !
http://www.carolbarbeau.com/2008_summer_solstice.html
Happy Weeding !
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Chant
Chanting is described as a part of the shaman's toolbox, although we haven't gone into it much. The Kam in our reading uses the chant to take a hold of Dr. Kharitidi's consciousness. The healer I met in the rainforest relied on chant as a central part of his ceremonies. Chanting a mantra seems like a natural complement to the drum and creates a point of focus for the mind.
Major religions and many mystical traditions use some form of chant in their rituals. On a secular level, many modern day music group singers have gained icon status based on the quality of their voice and the power of their songs. I believe there are shamanic elements at work here that can explain this.
Sometimes the content of the message being conveyed creates meaning for the listener, but oftentimes I can enjoy and be carried away by a beautiful vocal pattern without having to know the words. When my mind is clear, I can tap into what feelings are being expressed indirectly by grabbing onto and riding different pieces of the melody--chant, like all music, is there both as a reinforcing agent and transformational one. It is a powerful arrow through the heart of the hearing sense; its tip can pierce all the way to the feeling sense.
Here are excerpts from two articles about chanting--one by a Hindu, the other by a Pagan:
The Power of Chanting By Swami Vasudevananda
The sages who gave us the ancient Vedic mantras and hymns were evolved beings who had either attained or come very close to a state of pure consciousness. In their meditations they heard perfect words and sounds - sublime mantras, sacred wisdom arising from within. They passed this sacred wisdom on to their disciples by singing it.
Chanting also has significant effect on our bodies and minds. Like everything in this universe, our body is made up of vibrating energy. Even though our body appears to be dense, every cell of the human body has its own frequency. All the different parts of the body, all its cells, want to move in unison, the way a shoal of fish or a flock of birds does, always moving but never bumping into each other. When this natural rhythm and harmony is disrupted in the body, that's when disease and disorders arise. However, when the vibrations of the chant sound within our bodies, the cells themselves respond; they resonate with the pure vibration of the mantras so that harmony can be restored.
Gurumayi says, ''When you chant the Name, it actually moves through your whole being - purifying you, bestowing grace, and making you sacred''. As chanting bathes us in its purifying sounds, it opens our hearts; it opens us to receive the outpouring of grace from the guru. Baba Muktananda, Gurumayi 's guru said, ''Chanting is a magnet that draws God's power''. http://www.gurumayi.com.au/power_chanting.html
The Power of Chants
Date: 2004-04-12 By: Christopher Penczak
Here are some tips in using music in your own circles:
* Find traditional chants and more recently composed ones that you can use. Metaphysical stores often have a section of pagan music, song and chants.
* If you visit larger pagan festivals, you may be taught some of the traditional chants if you don’t know them and can’t find a recording. Many are passed along through the oral tradition of pagan gatherings. Take notes and write down lyrics so you won’t forget.
* Use simple melodies with a limited vocal range so everybody can sing them without straining their voices.
* Try setting pagan poetry to familiar melodies, such as well-known holiday songs. Sometimes they sound silly, but they can be a great way to focus everybody on a melody they already know sung with different words.
* Use simple beats and rhythms to keep the group focused – or use a drum to help induce an altered state. Beats that fall on even numbers (based on groups of two or four beats) are more direct and dynamic. Some consider them more masculine. Beats based in 3, like the familiar waltz pattern, are considered more feminine and have a connection to the triple goddess.
* Feel the music as you perform it. Let the vibration fill your body, heart, and mind. Let it move you. When you are open to sound, you can make the experience very healing or energizing.
* Don’t be afraid to be loud or to make a mistake. Sing with feeling and worry about the technicalities later. If everyone is into the chant, that’s more important than sounding perfect. Don’t make anyone feel bad if they don’t have a perfect voice. Remember the circle is about Perfect Love, Perfect Trust, and celebration.Keep the spirit alive when you chant and when you pass the cakes. Each is an opportunity for love, compassion, and transformation. Many blessings on your magical path and I hope music lightens your step and opens your heart.
http://www.llewellynjournal.com/article/579
Major religions and many mystical traditions use some form of chant in their rituals. On a secular level, many modern day music group singers have gained icon status based on the quality of their voice and the power of their songs. I believe there are shamanic elements at work here that can explain this.
Sometimes the content of the message being conveyed creates meaning for the listener, but oftentimes I can enjoy and be carried away by a beautiful vocal pattern without having to know the words. When my mind is clear, I can tap into what feelings are being expressed indirectly by grabbing onto and riding different pieces of the melody--chant, like all music, is there both as a reinforcing agent and transformational one. It is a powerful arrow through the heart of the hearing sense; its tip can pierce all the way to the feeling sense.
Here are excerpts from two articles about chanting--one by a Hindu, the other by a Pagan:
The Power of Chanting By Swami Vasudevananda
The sages who gave us the ancient Vedic mantras and hymns were evolved beings who had either attained or come very close to a state of pure consciousness. In their meditations they heard perfect words and sounds - sublime mantras, sacred wisdom arising from within. They passed this sacred wisdom on to their disciples by singing it.
Chanting also has significant effect on our bodies and minds. Like everything in this universe, our body is made up of vibrating energy. Even though our body appears to be dense, every cell of the human body has its own frequency. All the different parts of the body, all its cells, want to move in unison, the way a shoal of fish or a flock of birds does, always moving but never bumping into each other. When this natural rhythm and harmony is disrupted in the body, that's when disease and disorders arise. However, when the vibrations of the chant sound within our bodies, the cells themselves respond; they resonate with the pure vibration of the mantras so that harmony can be restored.
Gurumayi says, ''When you chant the Name, it actually moves through your whole being - purifying you, bestowing grace, and making you sacred''. As chanting bathes us in its purifying sounds, it opens our hearts; it opens us to receive the outpouring of grace from the guru. Baba Muktananda, Gurumayi 's guru said, ''Chanting is a magnet that draws God's power''. http://www.gurumayi.com.au
The Power of Chants
Date: 2004-04-12 By: Christopher Penczak
Here are some tips in using music in your own circles:
* Find traditional chants and more recently composed ones that you can use. Metaphysical stores often have a section of pagan music, song and chants.
* If you visit larger pagan festivals, you may be taught some of the traditional chants if you don’t know them and can’t find a recording. Many are passed along through the oral tradition of pagan gatherings. Take notes and write down lyrics so you won’t forget.
* Use simple melodies with a limited vocal range so everybody can sing them without straining their voices.
* Try setting pagan poetry to familiar melodies, such as well-known holiday songs. Sometimes they sound silly, but they can be a great way to focus everybody on a melody they already know sung with different words.
* Use simple beats and rhythms to keep the group focused – or use a drum to help induce an altered state. Beats that fall on even numbers (based on groups of two or four beats) are more direct and dynamic. Some consider them more masculine. Beats based in 3, like the familiar waltz pattern, are considered more feminine and have a connection to the triple goddess.
* Feel the music as you perform it. Let the vibration fill your body, heart, and mind. Let it move you. When you are open to sound, you can make the experience very healing or energizing.
* Don’t be afraid to be loud or to make a mistake. Sing with feeling and worry about the technicalities later. If everyone is into the chant, that’s more important than sounding perfect. Don’t make anyone feel bad if they don’t have a perfect voice. Remember the circle is about Perfect Love, Perfect Trust, and celebration.Keep the spirit alive when you chant and when you pass the cakes. Each is an opportunity for love, compassion, and transformation. Many blessings on your magical path and I hope music lightens your step and opens your heart.
http://www.llewellynjournal
More on Rituals (from The Atlantis Blueprint by Colin Wilson and Rand Flem-Ath
An excerpt from The Atlantis Blueprint: It was in the immense Temple of Horus at Edfu, midway between Luxor and Aswan, that my attention was drawn to the importance of sound. An Egyptian historian, Emil Shaker, showed me some hieroglyphics on the wall close to the sanctuary, pointing out how they specified the number of times the temple ritual had to be performed. In this case, it was three. He explained: "It is no use performing the ritual two or four times. It will not work. If it says three times, it means three times.' This ritual, like all religious rituals, involves chanting a hymn to the sun and presenting the god with offerings."
The author indicated that the ritual "activates the temple." "Exactly like switching on a light." This notion is fascinating--a ritual involving chanting could 'activate' a temple.
The book also notes that the King's Chamber suggest that the pyramid was constructed with a sonic purpose. Danley identifies four resident frequencies, or notes, that are enhanced by the structure of the pyramid and by the materials used in its construction. The notes from an F sharp chord---according to ancient Egyptian texts were the harmonic of the planet.
Tests show these are the frequencies in the King's chamber even when no sounds are being produced. According to Danley, these vibrations are caused by the wind blowing across the ends of the so-called shafts in the same way as sounds are created when on blows across the neck of the bottle.
Also, many of the Native American sacred flutes, created to 'serenade' Mother Earth, are tuned to the key of F sharp.
Sound analysis has confirmed recordings of the King's chamber showed it was designed as a resonance chamber. Christopher Dunn's own conviction was that the important clue was the fact that the Great Pyramid's proportions are the same as those of the earth, suggesting that the 'sounding box' was intended to vibrate to the earth. Or, as he puts it in his book, The Giza Power Plant, the pyramid acts as a receiver of energy from within the earth itself.
My own experience with rituals--is that I often see things in threes or feel that I need to perform things in threes. For instance, in Kundalini Yoga, we begin our practice by chanting three times. (anything less or more, just doesn't feel right)
The very idea of 'activating the temple' by chanting three times, feels so right to me.
The author indicated that the ritual "activates the temple." "Exactly like switching on a light." This notion is fascinating--a ritual involving chanting could 'activate' a temple.
The book also notes that the King's Chamber suggest that the pyramid was constructed with a sonic purpose. Danley identifies four resident frequencies, or notes, that are enhanced by the structure of the pyramid and by the materials used in its construction. The notes from an F sharp chord---according to ancient Egyptian texts were the harmonic of the planet.
Tests show these are the frequencies in the King's chamber even when no sounds are being produced. According to Danley, these vibrations are caused by the wind blowing across the ends of the so-called shafts in the same way as sounds are created when on blows across the neck of the bottle.
Also, many of the Native American sacred flutes, created to 'serenade' Mother Earth, are tuned to the key of F sharp.
Sound analysis has confirmed recordings of the King's chamber showed it was designed as a resonance chamber. Christopher Dunn's own conviction was that the important clue was the fact that the Great Pyramid's proportions are the same as those of the earth, suggesting that the 'sounding box' was intended to vibrate to the earth. Or, as he puts it in his book, The Giza Power Plant, the pyramid acts as a receiver of energy from within the earth itself.
My own experience with rituals--is that I often see things in threes or feel that I need to perform things in threes. For instance, in Kundalini Yoga, we begin our practice by chanting three times. (anything less or more, just doesn't feel right)
The very idea of 'activating the temple' by chanting three times, feels so right to me.
A Lesson from Our Feathered Friends
Last week I was visited by a family of Blue Jays. I had run into them earlier in the morning on my way to work and then later on in the evening when I returned from work they resurfaced again. That evening, they were outside my door all perched on a white chair and the parents were pushing each fledgling off the chair in hopes of teaching them how to fly. It was such a delightful sight to see! I walked away for a while and later on returned to find the entire family gone with the exception of one small fledgling (the one shown in the photo). The fledgling was sitting out there looking up toward the sky. I walked outside to see if I could locate the remainder of the family but they were no where to be found. The bird did not know to be threatened by me and made no attempts to leave or distance itself from me. It just looked up at me trustingly.
I had determined that the parents and remainder of the tribe would soon be back to retrieve the baby and I got out of the way. Hours passed and the baby fledgling was still sitting on my door step peering up at me each time I peered outside. I checked throughout the night and it was still out there in the corner and still no family. I, of course, was battling with my thoughts that the baby must be scared and abandoned. It also occured to me that the bird could be killed by the neighborhood cat. My instinct was to want to rescue it. However, I knew if I did so it would greatly reduce the bird’s chances of being reunited with its family. I journeyed to the mother Blue Jay and I got the message that this was the fledgling’s initiation. It was learning to survive out in the world alone. She assured me that she was watching close by and that all was well.
I checked throughout the night and into the morning and the baby bird was still there. Despite my desire to rescue what I assumed was truly an abandoned bird at that point, I trusted the message I recieved in my journey and walked away without intervening. This was difficult for me! I walked upstairs to the kitchen and my landlord/roommate came in and told me that throughout the night there was a blue jay that kept coming up to his window sill and peering down. I realized that although I did not see her, the mother Blue Jay true to her word, was watching over the fledgling. At that point I peered outside and the mother emerged looking down over the baby.
The birds had provided me with a great teaching. I was dealing with some internal challenges regarding fear of the void at that moment. This experience taught me that despite the fact that we may feel alone on our journey, even while having to walk through some dark times, spirit is always there watching over us, urging us to strengthen our wings, grow our abilities, and find peace in solace even if we do not realize that spirit is there.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Summer Solstice Rituals
I just love the Universe's sense of timing and synchronicity. Right at a time we are all working on improving our relationship with Spirit, a friend came to me and asked if I could help her put together a ceremony or some sort of ritual for a summer solstice party that she is having next weekend. I'm going to look into some of the Wiccan rituals. My friend is Danish and she's got some rituals from her culture she wants to incorporate as well.
I was thinking that we should be bringing in an aspect of all of the elements, but more importantly, the element of fire. I was thinking it would be a great exercise if we did the flower wreath, like we had done at our retreat at the ocean. The solstice is a time of shifting energy, of movement of nature and time, I'd like the focus of the ceremony to be about having the participants bring something they'd like to shift in their lives. As we all know, it's more about making the effort to change more than the ceremony or ritual items used themselves, but I'd love to hear what anyone else has to suggest!
I was thinking that we should be bringing in an aspect of all of the elements, but more importantly, the element of fire. I was thinking it would be a great exercise if we did the flower wreath, like we had done at our retreat at the ocean. The solstice is a time of shifting energy, of movement of nature and time, I'd like the focus of the ceremony to be about having the participants bring something they'd like to shift in their lives. As we all know, it's more about making the effort to change more than the ceremony or ritual items used themselves, but I'd love to hear what anyone else has to suggest!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
TRICKSTERS
Lately, I've been running into tricksters in my journeys. Robin has given us some good indications of somehing not quire Kosher going on - a Fox wearing boots - etc., but in addition I'm learning that when a guide meets me at my back door when a journey begins, that I'm getting more of a trip than I bargained for. My last journey was really distressing because the beings that I met looked like my guides and were at the place where I usually meet my guides, but they did not act like a guide would. At Robin's sugestion, I've asked a tribe member to journey for me to my guides to ask about this journey, and I will do some work myself when I have assimilated things more, but I would like to know if anyone else is having Trickster activity, and if so, how they are handling it.
Enter Sandman
I’ve been having a difficult time lately integrating my shamanic self and ordinary reality self. Sometimes it feels like I am not really walking in either world. I am stuck in between dreams. After reading so much about Mendel’s dreaming body and recognizing that the dreamstate is what defines our vision as a shaman, I feel like I am missing out on a huge part of my shamanic identity and my connection to non-ordinary reality. I often feel like there is work being done in another realm, but I still don’t feel attached to my dreams, and often have a hard time remembering them. I do keep a dream journal, however if I don’t write in it immediately after waking, I quickly disconnect from the dreamstate.
I’ve recently journeyed and meditated on how I can be honoring Spirit more and connecting more with my shamanic self. The answer I received was that I should be doing more with ceremony. When we honor Spirit, we also engage Spirit to work with us, and through us, as an ally. I needed to seek out shamanic tools; items that I would need to make sacred, and have a contract with in the spirit world.
In my journeys, I get a lot of images of water, goblets, and drinking. I definitely relate to the element of water more than any other element. Drinking water is often symbolic of consuming some sort of energy/power or in engaging some sort of transformation. I meditated on how I can engage myself more in the dreamstate. I wanted to be lucid while I am dreaming and be able to remember my dreams in my conscious mind, which usually has great recall ability. The images of water, goblets, and drinking once again came through in a journey. I also got that I should be incorporating all of the elements. While I was looking for a goblet to make my sacred vessel to the dream world, I found a bunch of small wine glass charms, all with suitable representations of the 4 elements.
By leaving the goblet on my altar, and also honoring it during ceremony where I thank all of my allies and tools, it becomes sacred. At bed time, I fill the goblet with water, hold my hands over the goblet and ask the water to be my ally in remembering my dreams and being lucid in the dreamstate. I drink half of the water and leave the other half for the morning when I wake up, as a symbol of drinking the energy from my dreams.
I’ve only recently begun to do this and have not always remembered to perform the ceremony every night. From the few times I have, I should note that there were lucid moments in a few dreams and I was able to recall parts of other dreams too. I think it will take more time and actual commitment to connecting to the Spirit realm before there is more clarity for me. This will be another step in becoming more integrated in both worlds.
I’ve recently journeyed and meditated on how I can be honoring Spirit more and connecting more with my shamanic self. The answer I received was that I should be doing more with ceremony. When we honor Spirit, we also engage Spirit to work with us, and through us, as an ally. I needed to seek out shamanic tools; items that I would need to make sacred, and have a contract with in the spirit world.
In my journeys, I get a lot of images of water, goblets, and drinking. I definitely relate to the element of water more than any other element. Drinking water is often symbolic of consuming some sort of energy/power or in engaging some sort of transformation. I meditated on how I can engage myself more in the dreamstate. I wanted to be lucid while I am dreaming and be able to remember my dreams in my conscious mind, which usually has great recall ability. The images of water, goblets, and drinking once again came through in a journey. I also got that I should be incorporating all of the elements. While I was looking for a goblet to make my sacred vessel to the dream world, I found a bunch of small wine glass charms, all with suitable representations of the 4 elements.
By leaving the goblet on my altar, and also honoring it during ceremony where I thank all of my allies and tools, it becomes sacred. At bed time, I fill the goblet with water, hold my hands over the goblet and ask the water to be my ally in remembering my dreams and being lucid in the dreamstate. I drink half of the water and leave the other half for the morning when I wake up, as a symbol of drinking the energy from my dreams.
I’ve only recently begun to do this and have not always remembered to perform the ceremony every night. From the few times I have, I should note that there were lucid moments in a few dreams and I was able to recall parts of other dreams too. I think it will take more time and actual commitment to connecting to the Spirit realm before there is more clarity for me. This will be another step in becoming more integrated in both worlds.
Additions to your tool bag
I found this article on the internet http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wyldkat/shmnthng.htm
I feel it provides a few additional suggestions that can be added to one's shamanic tool bag.
Time
Most of us are taught to think of time as a linear thing. Minutes, seconds, hours.... These are just words humans have given to a concept that we choose to call time. For shamans this is a very restricted view of time. We all know the sayings, "Time flies" and "the minutes just crawled by." Time flows forward and backward, swiftly and slowly. It is a relative concept. You can ask your guide to teach you how to slow time or speed up time. Slowing time is especially useful before journeying. You can experience hours in the spirit world in what seems like minutes in the physical world. Your guide can also teach you how to travel to the future or retrieve things or change events from the past. This is a good way to get closure with events that have haunted you, even if the change is in the spiritual world instead of the physical.
Songs and Chants:
Each type of shamanism has many traditional songs and chants. There are also personal ones that you are born with or are given by your spirit guides to help raise power or gain protection. Songs and chants allow you to clear you mind and get a different mind set. They are often used for important events or when you feel you need aid.
You can meditate to learn your songs or ask your guide to teach you if it is time for you to learn or you can drum till one comes to you. Once you learn a song practice it until you will not forget it. The songs can be long or short, but are most often set to a strong beat. One of mine is actually set to the cadence of my walk. DonÕt worry if you feel that you are just making it up, your guides will lead you to the right words. Shamanism can often feel like make believe, but it is not.
Dancing:
Shamans often dance to help them get closer to the spirit world, to help raise energy and to open and clear the way for them to access their power. Dancing helps make a visualization become reality. Dancing can help tell the story of a journey. Practice dancing and moving rhythmically to a strong beat for at least five minutes at a time to build up your stamina. Half jogging in place is a good way to start. Try dancing one of your journeys. Show what you do with your motions. Don't worry about what you look like, just let yourself move, even if it is as simple as walking and gesturing.
Talismans:
Talismans, like amulets or pouches containing symbolic items, crystals and/or herbs, can help protect you on your journeys and in real life. For example I have a small leather pouch filled with certain sayings, crystals, and symbols. I feel that it helps keep my connection with my spirit guides strong and I rarely go far from home without it. It is the trust in the energy that gives the protection not the talisman itself. The talisman is only a physical symbol of the energy. You can have talismans that exist only in the spirit world and the power and protection will be the same as long as your belief is the same. Gifts that you receive on your journeys are powerful talismans, even if you cannot see them with open eyes. Talismans serve as one of many reminders that the spirit world is out there and available for help if we remember to ask.
Crystals:
Shamans have a very close connection to the earth and therefore to rocks and crystals. Shamans use crystals to amplify energy and to help heal. Since crystals are used as tools they are often prepared and then kept until needed, not worn or displayed publicly. The clearer and more even the crystal the better it can exchange energy. Remember to cleanse crystals, especially bought crystals, before you work with them. There are many ways to cleanse crystals, rinsing in ocean water, burying in salt, placing in running water, running through incense or sage smoke, or freezing. For example, I run crystals through running water to energize them, let them air dry, in the sun if possible, and then run them through incense smoke while tuning them to myself. Cleanse crystals whenever you feel they need it.
Although I feel that just handling a cleansed crystal tunes it to you, you may wish to tune them to you by greeting the crystal, and then projecting your name into it three times. You should also ask it if it has any special properties. If you wish to use it for anything specific now is the time to set that idea into the crystal and ask its permission.
To draw energy to a certain place, like your work area, studio, or ritual space, you can set up six (or four if you prefer) clear quartz crystals four in a circle around the area, one in each of the four directions, and two in the center, one pointing up for the sky and one pointing down for the earth. Try to stay out of this area if you are feeling negative or sick since the crystals will magnify you feelings.
I feel it provides a few additional suggestions that can be added to one's shamanic tool bag.
Time
Most of us are taught to think of time as a linear thing. Minutes, seconds, hours.... These are just words humans have given to a concept that we choose to call time. For shamans this is a very restricted view of time. We all know the sayings, "Time flies" and "the minutes just crawled by." Time flows forward and backward, swiftly and slowly. It is a relative concept. You can ask your guide to teach you how to slow time or speed up time. Slowing time is especially useful before journeying. You can experience hours in the spirit world in what seems like minutes in the physical world. Your guide can also teach you how to travel to the future or retrieve things or change events from the past. This is a good way to get closure with events that have haunted you, even if the change is in the spiritual world instead of the physical.
Songs and Chants:
Each type of shamanism has many traditional songs and chants. There are also personal ones that you are born with or are given by your spirit guides to help raise power or gain protection. Songs and chants allow you to clear you mind and get a different mind set. They are often used for important events or when you feel you need aid.
You can meditate to learn your songs or ask your guide to teach you if it is time for you to learn or you can drum till one comes to you. Once you learn a song practice it until you will not forget it. The songs can be long or short, but are most often set to a strong beat. One of mine is actually set to the cadence of my walk. DonÕt worry if you feel that you are just making it up, your guides will lead you to the right words. Shamanism can often feel like make believe, but it is not.
Dancing:
Shamans often dance to help them get closer to the spirit world, to help raise energy and to open and clear the way for them to access their power. Dancing helps make a visualization become reality. Dancing can help tell the story of a journey. Practice dancing and moving rhythmically to a strong beat for at least five minutes at a time to build up your stamina. Half jogging in place is a good way to start. Try dancing one of your journeys. Show what you do with your motions. Don't worry about what you look like, just let yourself move, even if it is as simple as walking and gesturing.
Talismans:
Talismans, like amulets or pouches containing symbolic items, crystals and/or herbs, can help protect you on your journeys and in real life. For example I have a small leather pouch filled with certain sayings, crystals, and symbols. I feel that it helps keep my connection with my spirit guides strong and I rarely go far from home without it. It is the trust in the energy that gives the protection not the talisman itself. The talisman is only a physical symbol of the energy. You can have talismans that exist only in the spirit world and the power and protection will be the same as long as your belief is the same. Gifts that you receive on your journeys are powerful talismans, even if you cannot see them with open eyes. Talismans serve as one of many reminders that the spirit world is out there and available for help if we remember to ask.
Crystals:
Shamans have a very close connection to the earth and therefore to rocks and crystals. Shamans use crystals to amplify energy and to help heal. Since crystals are used as tools they are often prepared and then kept until needed, not worn or displayed publicly. The clearer and more even the crystal the better it can exchange energy. Remember to cleanse crystals, especially bought crystals, before you work with them. There are many ways to cleanse crystals, rinsing in ocean water, burying in salt, placing in running water, running through incense or sage smoke, or freezing. For example, I run crystals through running water to energize them, let them air dry, in the sun if possible, and then run them through incense smoke while tuning them to myself. Cleanse crystals whenever you feel they need it.
Although I feel that just handling a cleansed crystal tunes it to you, you may wish to tune them to you by greeting the crystal, and then projecting your name into it three times. You should also ask it if it has any special properties. If you wish to use it for anything specific now is the time to set that idea into the crystal and ask its permission.
To draw energy to a certain place, like your work area, studio, or ritual space, you can set up six (or four if you prefer) clear quartz crystals four in a circle around the area, one in each of the four directions, and two in the center, one pointing up for the sky and one pointing down for the earth. Try to stay out of this area if you are feeling negative or sick since the crystals will magnify you feelings.
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