Shamanism and Entheogens

While the use of mind-altering drugs is prohibited in many religions, other traditions around the world have long celebrated their spiritual and medicinal benefits. Entheogens used in a religious or spiritual context, include psychedelics such as peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, and ayahuasca, and the substances often supplement practices geared toward achieving transcendence. Further, many believe entheogens foster communication with the spirit world and help heal addiction, trauma, and depression. A growing interest in entheogens is evident in several books coming from religion and spirituality publishers in the coming year. Shamanic teachers Hank Wesselman and José Luis Stevens are among the authors coming out with new books. Check out a few titles that explore the intersection of drugs and spiritual development here.

Wolf in the Northern Lights

Photo by Marja-Terttu Karlsson

Marja-Terttu Karlsson, who resides in Pajala, Swedish Lapland, did not realize how lucky she had been when she went out to photograph the northern lights. Only when she uploaded the images to her computer, did she recognize the familiar shape that appeared right before her eyes. Northern lights are common in the arctic region of the northern hemisphere and are caused by the solar wind colliding with the atmosphere. Northern lights have been getting more common, caused by increased solar activity.

Forest Therapy

Scottish literary giant Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that it’s "not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit." Forests have long been a place we go to clear our minds. But the simple act of strolling through woods isn't so common these days. That could change if former wilderness guide Amos Clifford, who founded the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy in 2012, has his way. He's formed a 'forest therapy' group for one reason: to preach the gospel of a new form of preventative healthcare known as "forest bathing" (a poetic term for using our five senses to absorb a forest's atmosphere). Read more.

Women Artists of the Canadian Inuits

Kenojuak Ashevak, Spirit of the Raven

In sharp contrast to the Western art world where women have been largely sidelined or excluded, in the Canadian Inuit society of Cape Dorset, it is the women who are recognized as the leaders of the contemporary Inuit art movement. It is women artists who have won the most awards and accolades, and who have achieved the highest prices at auction for their artworks and received worldwide recognition. Co-operatives were created in which art could be produced in a changing economy for the Inuit people. Women artists often shared any economic gain, investing into the artistic processes in order to maintain community productivity. Many of the works contain a ritualistic and spiritual significance relating to the shamanic beliefs of the people. Read more.

The World Tree

The World Tree

In world mythology, The World Tree is the axis mundi, world axis, or central axis of the cosmos. Images of the World Tree exist in nearly all cultures and represent the world center and/or the connection between heaven and earth. The axis mundi links heaven and earth as well as providing a path between the two. Many ancient cultures incorporate the myth of the World Tree, Tree of Life, or Tree of Knowledge, as it is also known. The Mongols call this axis the turge tree. The mythic Eagle, who was the first shaman (buu), perches at the top of the turge tree, which touches the sky by the Pole Star (Altan Hadaas). A tree of seven branches with a bird or eagle at the top and a serpent at the roots is symbolism often found on prehistoric monuments.

This central axis exists within each of us. Through the sound of the drum, which is invariably made of wood from the World Tree, the shaman is transported to the axis within and conveyed from plane to plane. As Tuvan musicologist Valentina Suzukei explains: "There is a bridge on these sound waves so you can go from one world to another. In the sound world, a tunnel opens through which we can pass, or the shaman's spirits come to us. When you stop playing the drum, the bridge disappears." The inner axis passes through an opening or hole through which the shaman can ascend to the Celestial Realm of unmanifest potential and descend on healing journeys into the temporal realm of manifest form. Read more.