The Shamanic Journey
A simple way to engage with the world of spirit is to practice the technique of the Shamanic Journey. During a shamanic journey the individual relaxes into an expanded state of awareness with the guiding beat of the drum. With the consciousness withdrawn from the outer world, one may travel into spiritual realms to meet and work with helping spirits or elemental energies.
Shamanic journeying is an empowering healing practice that puts power into the hands of the client or one who seeks healing, as opposed to the power resting solely in the hands of a doctor. It promotes the idea that we are responsible for our health and that we can heal without being completely reliant on external forces. We can still honor the work of the medical community and utilize modern medicine when needed, but we can also do energy work on our own, which can lessen or heal issues or symptoms we may be experiencing. When we do healing work in the spiritual realm, this eventually translates to real, lasting change in the physical realm.
Key steps in the Shamanic journey:
1. Be intentional. Before embarking on a Shamanic Journey, one should hold an intention in their mind regarding what they wish to receive, heal from, or gain wisdom on. The intention should be clear and, if it is a question, make it open ended. Try not to be too specific as this can limit Spirit’s response (it’s not like sitting with a financial planner). When we pose questions or state intentions, this allows the world of Spirit to respond.
Some intentions include: Please give me a healing; I wish to merge with my power animal; Show me the wisdom I need right now. Intentions can be specific to a personal issue: What should I do about my job? Why do I struggle to communicate my feelings? What is the source of my pain? Sometimes the answers you receive from one journey may lead you to another journey to seek more clarity. This is the process of revelation.
2. Feel the drumbeat. The beat of the drum is an ancient sound. For thousands of years the drum has served as an instrument that has brought our ancestral communities together. The beat of our mother’s heart was the first noise we heard when we were forming in her womb. This heartbeat carried us through our formation and guided us into this world. That constant and steady drumbeat pervades all of creation and is a sound that resides deep within us. Scientifically, when the brain attunes with the Shamanic drumbeat, the brain waves begin to slow down. In daily living our brain waves typically function in Beta state (faster waves associated with activity). The beat of the Shaman’s drum helps us to slow our brainwaves down to the Delta or Theta states associated with deep relaxation and expanded awareness. In this relaxed state, free from distractions and worries, we can access the spiritual realms.
3. Use your imagination. As you go into your journey, you enter a world that you create in your mind. This is where you can connect with spiritual allies and access spirit’s power. This is perhaps the most challenging task because it requires us to use something many of us stopped using a long time ago: our imagination. If we can’t imagine a world in which we are strong and healthy, then we won’t become strong and healthy. We must first imagine and see an improved version of ourselves before we can manifest it. The same logic applies to entering the spiritual realms. The more you are able to create a rich inner world and step into the experience, the deeper your healing experience will be. This requires one’s full presence in the moment.
4. Call upon your helping spirits. Whole books have been written on how to access your helping spirits but the process is actually quite simple. It is a matter of calling upon those spirits who wish to come to your aid at this time, depending on the journey you are taking. Put out the call, hold the intention, and then see, sense and feel what arises in your journey. Shamans believe we each have unique spirit guides who are guiding and supporting us through life. Spirits may take the form of a human body, for example, Jesus Christ or the Buddha. Spirits can also take the form of an animal or insect, like a bear, an eagle, a cow, a honeybee, a whale. Any living, extinct or mythical creature can come forward to work with you. Spirit also takes the form of elemental energies such as fire, water, a tree, or a mountain. You can journey for the sole purpose of connecting with your spirit guides, angels, elevated masters, etc.
5. Relax and Let Go. It is important to step fully into your journey, free from distractions and from the doubting voice of the ego. Ego is only accustomed to engaging with the material, three-dimensional world. Ego tells us that the physical world is the only world that exists. Ego is limited by the five senses and past experiences, and it may try to creep into your journey and sow seeds of doubt or distraction. Conversely, the world of spirit has no limitations. Anything can happen in the spirit world. Perhaps you have an empowering journey and merge with a dragon and fly through the universe. Or you dissolve your body and experience the power of a volcano. Or your helping spirit comes to you and performs a vivid healing on your body. Healing energy takes many forms. This is an opportunity to put aside the ego and the limitations associated with it. Give yourself permission to dream and to let go of all limitations.
TIP: If the ego is strongly fighting a journey experience, we can trick it into submission. We can say “I understand this isn’t real. I am going to experience this pretend world for a while.” This way we acknowledge the ego’s needs while side stepping the saboteur (I learned this from Sandra Ingerman’s book Walking in the Light).
6. Forget the outcome. Healing may or may not be immediate. Some healings take a long time before results come. Some mental, emotional, physical issues are deeply rooted in our mind/body/soul and need time to be energetically excavated and removed or need to be worked on over and over. Other energies are ready to be released right now. Release expectations of the results. Healing happens at the right time.
Spirit can respond to our intentions in many ways: you may see images or symbols flashing before your closed eyes; maybe a phrase or statement drops into your ear; you may feel something deep within you, a knowing that provides absolute clarity on an issue; or a different perspective that you never saw suddenly reveals itself to you. You may feel a surge of energy or joy; you may feel light, as if a weight were lifted. This is a path of revelation and introspection. You may need to meditate on your journey to truly understand the meaning behind your experience. You may need to return to spirit to seek clarification.
When we do our inner work, we learn how to walk in a sacred manner, to see the spiritual side of life. We begin to grow in wisdom, we begin to heal from our past, and we become more empathetic, which allows us to be more emotionally available for our friends, family, and the world. When we heal ourselves, we uplift others. When we discover new vistas of self-empowerment, we positively change our minds and lives, which leaves a positive energetic imprint on the world.
