THE PRACTICE AND CHALLENGE We all need ritual in our lives. We create them without thinking. We allow others to create our rituals for us. In Shamanism, the Shaman is scientific (yup, I said that!) The Shaman asks and thinks, tests the methods and results, questions and is prepared to learn something new. The Shaman creates her own rituals. If you are planning to journey, you may want to develop a ritual to let your brain know it’s time to do shamanic work. A candle? A very specific incense whose scent will help trigger the right state of mind? Of course, your journal with pen and paper. You might decide to use the smoke from the incense to cleanse the CD player, your MP3 player, the headphones, etc. You will definitely want to turn off phones, alarms, and other forms of interruption. If you have a dog or a cat, you might just have to get used to them joining you on your journey. I highly recommend reading all the steps of the process (over the next couple of weeks) before doing this. Or, get some of the better books out there. Michael Harner’s Way of the Shaman puts it pretty succinctly. John and Caitlin Matthews also have books on the subject if you are of a more Celtic practitioner. Hank Wesselman presents the same Core practices from a Hawaiian perspective. There is no end to the resources. • Start your drumming. • In your mind, climb down into the Earth. Don’t get caught up on someone else’s description: if it’s a tree, a cave, or the transit station – whatever works for you works, period. • Go with gratitude. Put up your boundaries (blue light? Bubble? Etc.?) and realize that you are going towards what is often called the Lower World. This place is not “lower” in importance but probably somewhere “under” the Earth. Here are the spirits of animals, ancestors, and elemental beings. Go take a look. See if someone says hello. And remember, this is your journey: if you don’t meet a spirit this time, maybe next time. And definitely, if you are uncomfortable, politely remove yourself from the scene. • Come back with the call back signal. On your way home, state your gratitude and that absolutely nothing is to come back with you. Take away only that which you brought with you. • Before you do anything else, write it down. Words, images, broken sentences – write it. If you try to make logical sense of it all or to write it out like a narrative, you will forget many things. This has been a lucid, participatory dream. • Go back and read your notes AFTER you ground, eat and/or drink something, and get your head back in reality. Please, please – don’t go drive, don’t make important calls, don’t make financial decisions right after a journey. It takes a few minutes to reconnect. • If you still feel lightheaded, sit down and mentally sink your legs into the Earth and feel them take root. It really is important to make sure you are fully functioning. The challenge for you is to think about times when you could use a little ritual to bring a sense of importance or focus back to your life. Do you need a new morning ritual? A better set of signals to get you to sleep at night? A little dull brained in the afternoons like I am and need a boost? For writer’s block, I make a cup of tea and put on a tiara – isn’t at a picture? But it works. It looks silly as heck if I’m in public, but for the sake of writing I don’t care. Think about and write down those rituals you do every day, and then ask if they are serving you? Are they someone else’s?
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 22:12:17 +0000
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