WELCOME!

This is an ongoing US and global project to help enthusiasts, scholars, practitioners, and curious parties learn more about shamanic living in a contemporary culture. The space here is devoted to sharing info, experiences and opinions about all forms of shamanic expression covering shamanism's multiple permutations. Among subjects explored are traditions, techniques, insights, definitions, events, artists, authors, and creativity. You are invited to draw from your own experiences and contribute.

What is a SHAMAN?

MAYAN: "a technichian of the Holy, a lover of the Sacred." CELTIC: "Empower the people...by changing the way we think." MEXICAN APACHE: "Someone who has simply learned to give freely of themselves..." AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL: "...a teacher or healer, a wisdom keeper of knowledge... (who) takes people to a door and encourages them to enter." W. AFRICAN DIAGRA: "views every event in life within a spiritual context." HAWAIIAN: "...human bridges to the spiritual world and its laws and the material world and its trials..." QUECHUA INDIAN: "embodies all experience." AMAZON: "...willing to engage the forces of the Universe...in a beneficial end for self, people, and for life in general."


-- from Travelers, Magicians and Shamans (Danny Paradise)

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.

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/

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 !

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

For the alchemists

http://www.hermetics.org/pdf/alchemy/The_Great_Art.pdf
A TREATISE
ON
The Great Art
A SYSTEM OF PHYSICS ACCORDING TO HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
AND THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE
MAGISTERIUM.
BY
Dom ANTOINE-JOSEPH PERNETY,
Benedictine Monk of the Congregation of Saint-Maur, Abbot of Burgel in
Thuringe,
Librarian of Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, etc.
EDITED BY
EDOUARD BLITZ, M. D.,
Doctor In Kabbalah, Doctor in Hermetic Sciences, Member of the “ASSOCIATION
ALCHIMIQUE DE FRANCE”: President of the Grand Council
of the MARTINIST ORDER, etc.
AGNZ
...
NEVADA, MISSOURI, March 3, 1898.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Spirit Expression

When you work you are a flute through whose
heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
. . . And what is it to work with love? It is to
weave the cloth with threads drawn from your
heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that
cloth . . .

- - - Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Sunday, June 8, 2008

To be content

"Be content with what you have
Rejoice in the way things are
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you"

Lao-Tzu

I came across this quote the other night and it made me think of all that we have been discussing with regard to integration and being present. Just wanted to share it.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Preparing and Using Dreaming Stones

I found an article on Shamans Cave about Dreaming Stones and how they can be used. If interested, the link is below:

http://www.shamanscave.com/featured_articles/featured_tool/preparing_and_using_dreaming_stones

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Seduction

When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
And I have become comfortably numb

pink floyd

Monday, June 2, 2008

Conflicts, Pride, and Dreaming Together

Below is an edited version of my response to an email blast criticizing the bigotry that can result from extreme nationalist and ethnic pride. I have attached it because it is filled with ideas I draw from the Shaman's Body. I didn't think it would happen, but the book is beginning to seep into my subconscious.

In chapter 12, Mindell suggests that it is the personal phantoms that possess people and can be played out through violence between communities. Dealing with hidden conflict through "constructive" dialog or expression is one way of allowing the sufferer and the forgotten spirit she carries to "accept pain and change its source."

The specter of radical nationalist or ethnic pride, exaggerates the differences between real people, and is a "destructive" way of expressing the hidden conflict. It is a means of reducing each individual's complex story to a false notion of one collective good against another collective evil. Victims may gain comfort from substituting this type of collective story with their personal dreaming body's stories, using pain as power. This is one way to move together in trances, in my view. And what a dangerous and deadly mode of travel it is.

Night Sings

"I am so grateful for your email--it illustrates the utter prejudice and subhumanization spawned from outrageous nationalist and ethnic zealotry. Indeed, it is nationalist and ethnic extremism that is responsible for the world's most recent devastating wars. I would also add ideological zealotry to this list since for several decades the world was victimized by a bipolar political order that pitted communism against capitalism... It is, then, important to remember that abuse and false deification of any constructed identity can enslave the human race and lead to the scapegoating of one group. The response from that group has been bonding, political mobilization, sometimes military mobilization (even what you and I would refer to as terrorism) as a means of empowerment to battle back against the perceived collective injustice--hence, in power relations, it is the most victimized and threatened groups that tend to resort to ethnic hatred--and the cycle continues.

I am not opposed to respect for a person's cultural or religious distinctiveness but we must acknowledge the injustices of the past, honor the pain, get over the tyrant-victim relationship and let go of our "personal histories" once in a while to set free the ghosts that haunt our efforts to move forward. What about celebrating our collective experiences and shared humanity? A common race fractured by the trauma of the past cannot get beyond the petty, short-sightedness of the current order. As our true mother and only real cultural home we know, Earth, is showing us today through global warming and the international food crisis, "if one community fails, we all fail."

The Journey

... then, i am soaring everywhere
seeing, beholding all of Life
active, moving, colorful
creating threads, being threads
interwoven
yet, loosely held
a swaying, pulsing, dynamic design
i am told ...
Weave the tapestry of Life.