Sunday, April 7, 2024
What Shamanism Is Not
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Shamanism and Music
Shamanism and music combined thousands of years ago. By observing nature, shamans perceived that the power of sound could be used to help and heal others. The first drums and musical instruments were put to shamanic use, as were many of the early singing traditions. According to Tuvan musicologist Kira Van Deusen, "In a shaman's world music operates in several ways. It helps the shaman and other participants in a ceremony to locate and enter the inner world, opening the inner, spiritual ear and eye. Musical sound calls helping spirits and transports the shaman on the journey. Both the rhythm and the timbre of musical sound help heal the patient through the effects of specific frequencies and musical styles on the human body."(1)
A shaman uses various ways of making sounds to communicate with the spirits, as well as relate the tone and content of the inner trance experience in real time. Sound is regarded as one of the most effective ways of establishing connections with the spirit realm, since it travels through space, permeates visual and physical barriers, and conveys information from the unseen world. Shamans may chant, clap their hands, imitate the sounds of birds and animals, or play various instruments. Of particular importance are the shaman's drum and song.
Shamanic experience can be expressed in many ways: through writing, art, and film, however it must be created after the fact. The one artistic medium which can be used to immediately express shamanic trance without disrupting the quality of the shamanic experience is music. The shaman's use of sound and rhythm is an audible reflection of their inner environment. This is the traditional method for integrating shamanic experience into both physical space and the cultural group.
1. Kira Van Deusen, Singing Story, Healing Drum: Shamans and Storytellers of Turkic Siberia (McGill-Queen's Press, 2005), p 108.
2. Christina Pratt, An Encyclopedia of Shamanism (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2007), p. 128.
3. Ken Hyder, Shamanism and Music in Siberia: Drum and Space. Tech. 11 Aug. 2008. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
Sunday, March 24, 2024
The Power of Ritual and Ceremony
A ceremony is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. Ritual and ceremony are an essential and basic means for human beings to convey to themselves and to others the necessary messages which enable them to maintain their humanity. They communicate acceptance, love, esteem, a sense of identity and purpose, shared values and beliefs, and shared memorable events. Every ritual contains tender and numinous moments. And in those moments of transcendence we are taken out of the normal flow of life, and out of our routines. We are then in an event that is unique, irreplaceable and sacred. In ritual we participate in something deep and significant. They are moments which move our heart and touch our soul.
Ritual and ceremony are essential for a healthy and balanced personal and communal life. Many persistent personal and social problems can be linked to the lack of ritual and ceremony. The late Joseph Campbell, one of the great mythologists of the twentieth century, asserted that the level of civilized behavior in a society is directly linked to the practice of ceremonies and rites of passage. Rituals and ceremonies reduce tension, anxiety and stress, produce deeper self-awareness, and connect us to our community. They are a vehicle for belonging--to a family, to a people, and to the land. Both reconnect us with our deepest core values and our highest vision of who we are and why we are here.
Ritual and ceremony nourish our spirits and our psyches. They heal the deep wounds in us that are unseen and unspoken. Ceremonials offer us a deeper healing solution to complex dilemmas that plague modern life, those problems that lie beneath the surface, waiting to erupt. When the soul is in a state of discontent, conflict and discord, these conditions manifest in our daily life's events as dissonance, confusion, ill health and misfortune. Conversely, when our soul is in a state of peace and harmony, these qualities manifest in our life as ease and acceptance, caring and accord with the world around us. From an shamanic perspective, the restoration of one's soul contributes to the restoration of the collective soul of humanity.
Ritual vs Ceremony
Ritual and ceremony are two distinct practices used to engage the powers of the unseen world to effect specific changes in the visible world. Ceremony is a formal act or set of acts designed to celebrate, honor or acknowledge what is. Ceremony is used to strengthen or restore the status quo, grounding people in the natural order of things and/or deepening communal relationships. Ritual is a formal act or set of acts designed to cause a change in what is--to change or transform the status quo.
Ritual and ceremony are a universal way to address the spirit world and provide some kind of fundamental change in an individual's consciousness or in the ambience of a gathering. They may involve prayers, chanting, drumming, dancing, anointing, as well as rites of passage. Both are designed to engage the spirit world in helping us to do what we are unable to do for ourselves. The power of ritual and ceremony is they marry the mundane to the sacred. Without the connection to the powers of the spirit world, neither is an effective tool for initiating change. By creating effective ritual and ceremony, we can skillfully engage Spirit in the processes we are involved in like healing, therapy or actualizing our goals.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Taking the Shamanic Journey
When we journey within, we are engaging the imaginal realm. Imagination is our portal to the spirit world. Internal imagery enables us to perceive and connect with the inner realms. If a shaman wants to retrieve information or a lost guardian spirit, "imagining what to look for" is the first step in achieving any result. According to C. Michael Smith, author of Jung and Shamanism in Dialogue, "The shaman's journey employs the imagination, and the use of myth as inner map gives the shaman a way of imagining non-ordinary reality, so that he or she may move about intentionally in it."(1) By consciously interacting with the inner imagery, the shaman is able to communicate with spirit guides and power animals.
For your first journeys, I recommend traveling to the Lower World using the technique taught by the late Michael Harner. Founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Harner was widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on experiential and practical shamanism. In his book, The Way of the Shaman, Harner suggests that you visualize an opening into the Earth that you remember from sometime in your life. The entrance could be an animal burrow, hollow tree stump, cave, and so on. When the journey begins, you will go down the hole and a tunnel will appear. The tunnel often appears ribbed and may bend or spiral around. This tunnel-like imagery is related to the central axis that links the three inner planes of consciousness. Enter the tunnel and you will emerge into the Lower World, the realm of power animals, spirit guides and ancestral spirits. It is an Earth-like dimension where we can connect with helping spirits. The basic steps for a journey to the Lower World are as follows:
1. C. Michael Smith, Jung and Shamanism in Dialogue (New York: Paulist Press, 1997) p 16.
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Myth as a Map for Inner Journeys
We can journey to the Upper World to acquire archetypal knowledge, to bring a vision into being, or to influence events in the material world. By interacting with the archetypes, we interact with their counterparts in the outer world. We can also go there for inspiration, insight, or to find ways to restore balance in the world. As anthropologist Felicitas Goodman points out, "One of the most pervasive traditions of shamanic cultures is the insight that there exists a patterned cosmological order, which can be disturbed by human activity."(2) When harmony between the human realm and the original intended pattern is disturbed, we can journey to the celestial realm to bring back the balance. To journey up, you can visualize a tree or ladder that you climb up, soar on the wings of an eagle, or simply lift off the ground and rise into the air. Once you get to the upper realm, the landscape is typically more ethereal, higher in frequency and scintillating in light.
The Middle World is where spirit meets matter and is related to our ego or conscious self. The Middle World can be thought of as a non-ordinary mirror of ordinary reality. It is the spirit counterpart of the material realm and the inner region most like outer reality. The middle realm is so parallel to the world in which we live that a skilled journeyer can travel across it and visit all the places, people and things they know in ordinary reality. Spirit journeys in the Middle World provide a means of travel and communication without cars, planes or cell phones. It is a means of exploring our temporal landscape to find the location of healing herbs or lost objects, or to establish communication links over great distances.
To take a Middle World journey, simply imagine yourself walking out your front door and traveling through the landscape very quickly to look for something you have lost or to reach a distant destination. However, I do not recommend journeying to the Middle World unless you have a very good reason to go there. Unlike the upper and lower realms, where everything is guided by benevolence, the middle realm does not have benevolence or ethics at its core. That does not mean that it is a bad place. Rather, it is a place that mirrors what is happening in ordinary reality--the chaos of our times. It is a place full of risks and hidden dangers, such as holes in the ground that can entrap you. Traveling in this realm can be tricky even for an experienced journeyer. Moreover, the spirits who dwell in this realm cannot provide the wisdom, healing and empowerment you find in the Upper or Lower Worlds.
For your first journeys, I recommend traveling to the Lower World, using the technique taught by the late Michael Harner. Founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Harner was widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on experiential and practical shamanism. To take a Lower World journey, Harner suggests that you visualize an opening into the earth that you remember from sometime in your life. The entrance could be an animal burrow, hollow tree stump, cave, and so on. When the journey begins, you will go down the hole and a tunnel will appear. The tunnel often appears ribbed and may bend or spiral around. This tunnel-like imagery is related to the central axis that links the three inner planes of consciousness. Enter the tunnel and you will emerge into the Lower World. The terrain that you traverse is typically very natural and very Earth-like.
1. Michael Winkelman, Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing (Praeger, 2 edition 2010), p. 38.
2. Felicitas D. Goodman, Jewels on the Path: A Spirit Notebook, vol. II (Cuyamungue Institute, 1994), p. 55.
3. Kira Van Deusen, "Shamanism and Music in Tuva and Khakassia," Shaman's Drum, No. 47, Winter 1997, p. 24.
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Shamanic Cosmology: The Reality of the Soul
2. Joseph Campbell, The Flight of the Wild Gander.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Honoring the Spirits of the Home
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Calling the Spirits
The opening of sacred space for ceremony or spiritual work is essentially an invocation, calling in the spiritual energies of the seven directions: East, South, West, North, Above, Below, and Within. Calling the spirits is an ancient shamanic rite that is practiced cross-culturally to access and honor the powers of creation. Inviting their presence, participation, and assistance not only aligns us with their power, but also is a way of giving energy that helps revitalize these primal forces.
Calling in the directions is a spiritual activity in and of itself. The orientation embeds you in the living web of life, yielding greater awareness and perspective. It imparts a comprehensive recollection of the basic experience of being fully human. The ritual grounds you completely into the present moment to begin your day or to begin a specific shamanic practice.
The specific words of your invocation to the spirits do not matter. What matters is that your prayer comes from the heart. You must show the spirit world you have passion and heart. The energy that comes in from the source is directed through our hearts. Your heart must be clear and open in order to receive spirit. You must open the heart, empty the mind, and go deep within.
Make sure you have everything you need before starting. Gather together your ritual items and set up an altar. Although an altar is not essential, it provides us with a focus to pray, meditate, and listen. An altar is any structure upon which we place offerings and sacred objects that have spiritual or cosmological significance. It represents your world center. I use a Navajo rug for my altar. I lay the rug in the center of my sacred space and place a stone, a vessel of water, a lit candle, and a feather upon it to represent the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. You can also place photos of loved ones on your altar so that they are included in your prayers.
1. To perform this ritual, relax, purify (smudge), and center yourself as you would for other spiritual work. When you are ready, begin your invocation. There are no rules or restrictions governing this process. On most occasions, a sacred circle is cast in a sun wise direction, whether in the northern or southern hemispheres. Some people like to start in the direction of the current season: Spring = East, Summer = South, Fall = West, and Winter = North; however, I usually begin by calling the spirits of the East.
2. In a group ritual, I like to have the participants stand in a circle or medicine wheel and face each direction in unison. Use your right hand, or hold a feather in your right hand, to fan smudge offerings to the East. You can also offer a pinch of tobacco or corn meal to each direction. An offering is usually made with the right hand. If you have a rattle, shake it four times to open a portal in the East to the spirit world. Using words, chanting, or song, invite the benevolent spirit powers associated with that direction to participate and assist in the ceremony. Welcome the spirits with an open heart and mind. Some people will whistle or make animal sounds to call in spirit helpers. Trust your instincts and intuition in this process.
3. Pause after calling the spirit helpers of the East and listen for any guidance or wisdom that direction has to share. The spirits will always respond when you call them. Sound does not just travel out into oblivion. There is a call and then a response. Pay attention to any guidance that comes to you. Communication may enter your awareness as a flash of color in your mind's eye, a visual symbol, a tingling of the spine or an inaudible sound heard deep within your soul. It may be visual, auditory, intuitive, or some combination of these. Sometimes it is just a knowing that your helping spirits and guides are now around you. You may feel energy flowing into your hands, feet, or arms or showering down through your crown. When I channel spirit energy, I often feel chills and goosebumps.
4. Next, pivot around clockwise and repeat the same procedure to summon the spirits of the South, the West, and the North. After that, summon Father Sky above and Mother Earth below. When invoking Father Sky, reach to the heavens; when invoking Mother Earth, reach down and touch the ground where you stand.
5. Finally, face the center of the circle (if you are in a group or in a medicine wheel) and bring your hands to your heart to invite the spirit of Within. Call upon the spirit of divine unity that flows from within the center of your being where the six directions meet. Welcome the gifts of balance, oneness, and connection with all things, for all things are one and all things are related.
6. When you have finished your spiritual work, sacred space must be closed. Follow the same procedure as for the opening, but in reverse order. Begin by thanking the spiritual energies of Within, Mother Earth and Father Sky, and then the North, West, South and East in a counterclockwise movement. Shake your rattle to say farewell to the spirits. As you rattle, give thanks to all your relations for the needs met. The phrase "all my relations" is used at the end of a prayer in many shamanic traditions, for all living things share in the relationships of life on Earth. Express your gratitude to the archetypal elements and helping spirits for being with you and send them off, releasing their energies to the seven directions.
Sunday, October 8, 2023
The Many Lives of Mongolian Shamanism
Sunday, August 20, 2023
Meet Modern Shaman Sabrina Villard
Friday, July 28, 2023
"A Journey Into Shamanism" Book Sale
Ultimately, all contemplative spiritual practice leads to the evolution of conscious awareness and union with the divine in the present moment. The perennial wisdom traditions teach us that the "here and now" is eternal, unchanging and omnipresent; it should be the primary focus of our life. When we are not present in the moment, we become a victim of time. Our mind is pulled into the past or the future or both. The present moment is all we ever have. The eternal now is the fundamental ceremony of life. When we bring ourselves fully into the present moment, our life becomes a spiritual practice and an opportunity to ride in beauty on the windhorse of authentic presence! I invite you to read Riding Spirit Horse: A Journey into Shamanism.
Sunday, July 16, 2023
The Riddle of the Saxony-Anhalt Shaman
What archaeogenetics can achieve today
Bones were found during the 2019 excavations, which made it possible to determine the identity of the child. "Thanks to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, we now know it was a boy," says Meller. "But he wasn't her son." The case is an impressive example of what archaeogenetics can do today. "Their founder, Svante Pääbo, rightly received the Nobel Prize for medicine," says the state archaeologist.
Sunday, May 21, 2023
Shamanism is on the Rise in the United Kingdom
Census results published by the Office for National Statistics show that less than half of people in the two British nations, England and Wales, identify themselves as Christian. The announcement has also reportedly renewed calls to end the Church of England's role in parliament and schools.
Notably, the people were asked what their religion was rather than about their religious practices or beliefs, a question which is optional since 2001. The number of people who identified as Christians were down from 59.3 per cent in 2011 to 46.6 per cent in 2021. On the other hand, people who said they do not have a religion grew from 25 per cent a decade ago to 37 per cent, last year.
Shamanism is expanding faster than any other religion, with the number of people saying they practice it rising from 650 in 2011 to 8,000 in 2021 in England and Wales. The result might prove controversial, as the Shamanism UK website asserts "it is not a religion, more an authentic expression of mankind’s spirituality."
Pagans and wiccans are also becoming more established. Pagans, who number 74,000 people (up from 57,000 in 2011) and who gather most in Ceredigion, Cornwall and Somerset, and wiccans, who number 13,000. Wicca is sometimes described as a witchcraft tradition whose roots lie in pre-Christian religious traditions, folklore, folk witchcraft and ritual magic.
There was a small rise in numbers of Buddhists. Despite the growth in mindfulness meditation practice over the last decade, the number of people following Buddhism, from which the practice derives, saw just a modest increase of 0.1 percentage points, from 249,000 to 273,000 people identifying as such in England and Wales. The highest concentration of Buddhists was again found in Rushmoor in Hampshire -- home to the Aldershot Buddhist Community Centre -- where the census counted 4,732, up from 3,092 a decade ago.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Four Steps for Shamanism in Daily Life
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Expanded States of Consciousness World Summit
- Meditation
- Breathwork
- Psychedelics
- Plant medicines
- Shamanism
- Music, chanting, and sound healing
- Tools and practices for integration