How Many Ways are there to Contact the Hidden Realm?

Chavin Lanzon Stela

by David Warner Mathisen

Three recent posts have advanced the argument that the world's ancient scriptures and traditions share a common, unifying, and shamanic worldview: 

• "The shamanic foundations of the world's ancient wisdom"
• "Humanity's shared shamanic heritage"
  and
• "Outlaw drums: evidence of the suppression of the shamanic worldview."

Together, they provide evidence that cultures around the world and across the millennia, from ancient Egypt to the steppes of Mongolia, and from the far northern boundaries of Scandinavia to the southern continent of Australia, at one time shared a worldview characterized by the understanding that our familiar, material, "ordinary" reality exists in conjunction with and is interpenetrated by another reality: the seed realm, the hidden realm, the realm of the spirits, the realm of the gods. 

This shared shamanic worldview was characterized not only by an awareness of this other realm, but by the understanding that it was possible in this life to deliberately undertake journeys to the spirit world in order to obtain knowledge or effect change that could not be accomplished in ordinary reality. 

There is also abundant evidence that this worldview has been deliberately stamped out over the centuries and that practice of shamanic techniques of ecstasy (or transcending the boundaries of the static, physical, ordinary reality) has been discouraged, stigmatized, and even prohibited by law in some places right up to the present day or very recent decades, and that the tools used to cross the boundary to the other realm -- the shamanic drum in particular -- have been outlawed, seized, and deliberately destroyed. 

The extent of this persecution of the shamanic worldview across both geographic space and historical time leads to the possibility that those responsible for the campaign are not persecuting this worldview because they believe that it is false, but rather because they know that it is true, and that there actually is knowledge which can only be obtained and change which can only be effected through shamanic techniques.

Mircea Eliade's Shamanism: Archaic techniques of ecstasy, first published in 1951, was the first text to attempt to attempt to map the outlines of the entire broad landscape of the phenomenon of shamanism, and to attempt simultaneously to situate the shamanic worldview within the history of human religion. As such, it contains many first-hand accounts describing shamanic technique from parts of the world where the old traditions were still relatively undisturbed.

Let's examine the various methods recorded in Eliade's work by which men and women from traditional shamanic cultures were able to journey to the world of the spirits and to return.

The Power of Silence

Meditation is when you listen to God

Let's incorporate the power of silence into our shamanic circles. Make room for silence to enter between "rounds" of the circle so that deeper thoughts and feelings can surface as the group proceeds. Shamanic circles revolve around rounds. These rounds usually evolve from participant concerns, issues or healing requests. Rounds of dialogue involve passing a symbolic talking piece (e.g., a stick, feather or stone) from person to person in a circle. If one does not feel moved to speak, they may pass the talking piece on or hold it in silence. Other rounds may involve sessions of group chanting, drumming or journeying.

Between each round of the circle, allow time for reflection or meditation, so that inner truth can emerge. When there is silence, there is time for deep introspection and to allow the true self to speak. Silence is the source of everything; the gateway to inner knowing. Silence creates the resonance of contemplation, insight, and direct communication with the source. When we create sacred space and sit in silence together, we can better feel our soul connections. Sacred space and silence go hand in hand. They both expand our capacity for listening and speaking from the heart.

There is likely to be some uneasiness the first time your shamanic circle sits in silence for more than thirty seconds. It takes practice to get acquainted with the power of silence. While some people in the group might choose to go into a meditative state, others may struggle with the sense that "nothing is happening."

To experience the power of silence requires the ability to surrender to the silent pulse within. Every living thing has a unique song, a pulsing rhythm that belongs only to it. Within the heart of each of us, there exists a silent pulse of perfect rhythm, which connects us to the totality of a dynamic, interrelated universe. This silent pulse is ever-present within each of us, but our awareness is rarely in sync with it. Eventually, sitting together in silence will produce a sense of connectedness and attunement. Needless to say, it will take time before harmony is attained and everyone feels in sync.

The Call of the 13 Shamans

Tuvan shaman Nikolay Oorzhak

At the end of July, the festival "The Call of 13 Shamans" took place in Tuva (southern Siberia). The creator and main organizer of the forum festival is Tuvan shaman Nikolay Oorzhak. By means of his songs, he called shamans from all over the world to the sacred land of Tuva. On the sacred mountain tops of Tannu Tuva, thirteen shamans of thirteen countries from all over the world conducted rituals, prayed and meditated with the intention of creating universal harmony on the Earth, and to reveal to the world the predictions about the future of the Earth.

Despite the social upheavals of different periods, the shamanic tradition in Tuva has never been interrupted, and is currently undergoing a revival. In a bewildering urban landscape where long traditions of nomadic lifestyles are things of the past, the ancient beliefs of Tengrism (modern term for a Central Asian religion characterized by features of shamanism, animism, totemism, polytheism and ancestor worship) serve to fill a spiritual void. Read more. 

Was the Buddha a Shaman?

In this post, Alexander Duncan, a Buddhist blogger and writer, discusses the question, "Was the Buddha a shaman?" To address this question, he begins by explaining that shamanism is the primordial experiential spiritual tradition of humanity that therefore underlies all human spirituality, including Buddhism. The Buddha himself refers to a forgotten, ancient tradition that he himself rediscovered. This is the dharma, the truth of things as they are or the cosmic order. Duncan then discusses why we might ask this question of the Buddha. That is to say, how is this question relevant to Buddhism? He then proceeds to a discussion of soma. Soma was the forgotten ecstatic plant medicine that was the central object of the Aryan Vedic cult that became the determining cultural influence of India after 1500 BCE. Thus, by definition it influenced Buddhism too. Next, Duncan compares the elements of the Buddha's life and teachings to those of the classic archetype of the shaman. Finally, he concludes the Buddha was, indeed, a shaman! Read more.

A Shamanic View of Mental Illness

The Dagara people of West Africa have an entirely different view of what is actually happening to someone who has been diagnosed as "mentally ill." In the shamanic view, mental illness signals "the birth of a healer," explains Dagara shaman and writer, Malidoma Patrice Somé, Phd. Thus, mental disorders are spiritual emergencies, spiritual crises, and need to be regarded as such to aid the healer in being born. What those in the West view as mental illness, the Dagara people regard as "good news from the other world." The person going through the crisis has been chosen as a medium for a message to the community that needs to be communicated from the spirit realm.

A different perspective opens up very different possibilities. The Dagara people use ritual to relieve the suffering at the core of "mental illness." According to Somé, ritual can open the way for the individual's healing relationship with helping spirits that supports a cure or definitive movement out of the "mentally ill" state of being and back into the world as an individual better equipped than most to give their gifts to the world. To learn more, read "The Shamanic View of Mental Illness," featuring Malidoma Patrice Some´ (excerpted from The Natural Medicine Guide to Schizophrenia).

The Owls at Devil's Peak Lookout

Devil's Peak Lookout

I have felt a close kinship with owls for most of my life. Over the years, I have had many encounters with these stealthy raptors, but none was more memorable than an incident with a pair of great horned owls at the Devil's Peak forest fire lookout 11 miles southwest of Oregon's Mt. Hood. I backpacked to the summit and spent the night in the old, decommissioned lookout on three separate occasions in the early 1980's. It is a difficult 3.8 mile hike up a very steep trail that is not very scenic. However, when you summit Devil's Peak and ascend the steps of the historic lookout tower, the views are spectacular. The volcanic peaks visible from the lookout include Mt. Jefferson to the south and Mt. Hood to the northwest. Now that the peak is no longer an official fire lookout, the surrounding trees are growing up and will soon obscure most of the expansive views.

I have visited fire lookouts throughout the Pacific Northwest, but Devil's Peak is one of the few lookouts that still remains open to the public and you can actually camp in. The tower is well maintained by volunteers and there is a log book inside where many overnight visitors have signed in. I have had some interesting experiences while camping at the lookout. I remember being awakened early one morning by the lookout door banging in the wind. When I got up to latch the door, I was greeted by the most magnificent sunrise I have ever seen.

During an overnight stay in the summer of 1980, I ventured out onto the wrap-around deck at dusk. Just as I stepped out the door, I came face-to-face with an airborne great horned owl that narrowly missed colliding with me. I was startled, to say the least, and retreated back into the lookout. I spent the remainder of the evening sitting quietly inside the lookout, observing the owl and its mate hunting mice around the perimeter of the structure. The stealthy owls perched atop the tower's overhead window shutters to stalk their prey. Using keen vision and silent wings, they glided to the ground, capturing rodents in their powerful talons. Even when it became too dark to see the owls, I could still hear the high pitched squeaks of their prey. It was a rare experience in the wild that I will never forget.

Owl Medicine

Many people have a fear of owls and owl medicine. Contemplate what it means if you're not comfortable with an animal. If you dislike or are afraid of an animal, it's especially important to connect with it and learn its wisdom. The message it holds for you will be particularly meaningful. Power animals help us connect to the parts of ourselves that we've lost or denied, so it may be mirroring a trait or quality that is ready to come back to help you be in your wholeness.

Owl medicine includes prophecy, wisdom, stealth, silence, intuition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, shapeshifting, and keen vision that can pierce all illusion. Owls and hawks possess the keenest eyesight of all raptors, giving them broad vision. Call upon Owl to unmask and see what is truly beneath the surface -- what is hidden or in the shadows. Night Eagle, as Owl is called, is the bird of magic and darkness, of prophecy and wisdom. Great Horned Owls have a large repertoire of haunting calls that can be heard over several miles on a still night. Owl is a messenger of omens who will call out to let all share in its vision. Click here to view my music video "Owl Vision - Ayahuasca Journey."