Shamanic Journey Work
A simple practice with limitless results.
What is Shamanic Journey Work?
Shamanism is a practice that dates back nearly forty to fifty thousand years ago. The practices that a shaman works with are grounded in rituals that have been passed down for millenia. It is rooted in the idea that all matter has consciousness and by accessing the spirit in all things it helps to keep us healthy and happy. A lot of the malaise that so many people suffer from now is “lack of connection”. Whether that be a lack of connection with nature, the people around us or most importantly, ourselves. Shamans enter a trance-like state in order to connect with spirit guides and animal helpers and provide healing for themselves and others. There are many ways Shamans enter this state including, drumming, chanting and dancing. In his paper, “Trance States: A Theoretical Model and Cross-Cultural Analysis, Michael Winkleman asserts, ”Trance states associated with magico-religious practices are based on varied manipulation of the organism, all of which lead to a parasympathetic dominant state characterized by the dominance of the frontal cortex by slow wave discharges emanating from the limbic system. Rhythmic auditory stimulation imposes a pattern upon the brain that is distinct from the normal asynchronous pattern. In other words, this shift in brain pattern is consistent with the shamanic state of consciousness.” By accessing these altered states of consciousness, one has spirit and animal helpers to assist them and provide them with guidance on their life path.
Working With Your Spirit Guides
Suffering from a deep depression and seeing no way out, Evelyn C Rysdyk describes her discovery of shamanic journey work and connection with her guides in her book,. “Spirit Walking”. “These relationships with spirits altered my ways of interacting with other people, other beings, and my environment. I was changed and discovered that these connections were the true source of power.” Journey work gives us the ability to connect to a wealth of knowledge, understanding and inner peace. Subsequently, we are able to interact and connect to those around us in a more positive and healthy way. By beginning to forge a relationship with the spirits of the natural world, it can provide us with a sense of peace, a feeling of openness, and a feeling of belonging on earth. This allows us to move through our world with more peace, harmony and the understanding of “one-ness” that exists within us all.
There are many compassionate and loving spirit guides and helpers that are eager to help us. The only problem is, they are unable to physically impact this Earthly reality because they do not physically exist here. Shamanic journey work allows us to connect with these compassionate and loving spirit guides and join forces with them to receive insights and healings. The more that we journey and connect with our wise spirit helpers the stronger our connection with them gets! It’s similar to making friends here on the Earth plane, it takes time to build a relationship. Our guides are eager to help us, we must show them that we are ready to receive!
Our spirit helpers can come to us in our journey in different forms including plants, animals and humans. We may recognize our spirit helpers as they may be our ancestors, a pet that has passed away (or is still alive), a plant that we feel connected to. Nevertheless, compassionate helpers may also come to us in forms that we don't recognize. It’s important to stay open-minded during your journey and see what comes through!
Let’s Begin!
Michael Harner is an anthropologist, educator and author. Best known for his study of shamanism and bringing shamanism to the west. Harner developed a Core Shamanism Training in order to spread the knowledge he accumulated during his anthropological fieldwork. According to Michael Harner's work, it is important to use a drum beat at 220 beats per minute in order to induce the trance state necessary for shamanic journeying.
First step is to cleanse or sage your space in order to clear out any negative or unwanted energy. Dim the lights or light a candle in order to create a calm and relaxing environment. It could be useful to sit in meditation before shamanic journey work in order to drop down into your being and release any stress or tension within. It’s important to have an eye mask of some sort in order to block out any distracting light. You can look up a recorded shamanic drum beat on Youtube or you can have someone drum for you. Find a comfortable place to completely lay down without crossing your arms or legs. Start the drum beat, cover your eyes and lay down.
The first step to journeywork is the discovery of your middle ground power place. Shamanic journey work consists of the middle world which allows us access to our higher self and upper and lower worlds. The middle world must be a place that you have actually been to in this physical realm. It must be in nature, it must have a fire or large tree for access to the upper world and it must have a hole in the ground or large tree for access to the lower world. The upper world is a place to connect with our ancestors and spirit guides and the lower world is a place to connect with our animal helpers.
Since we are just beginning, it's important to build our power with our middle world power place. The more we journey, the more power builds within each space. While laying down, begin to picture in your mind's eye, your middle world power place. Go to this space in your mind's eye and spend time there. Take in the smells, the wind against your skin, sit in this space and enjoy the experience.
Ask your higher self to show you a daily practice that you can perform before you go out into the world to empower yourself.
Pay attention to all the things that you are being shown.
Commit yourself to this daily practice.
It’s important to go into this practice without any previous interpretations, simply ask and receive. If you are shown any metaphors or symbols, don't interpret them, instead ask, “What does this mean?” This is a chance to be open and to learn, no need for your opinion and ego here!
The proper time for a shamanic journey is between fifteen to thirty minutes. It's important to not spend too much time journeying in order to not forget all of the information given to you by your guides.
In your middle world power place you may meet with your higher self or your spirit guides. Take time to meet with them, hug them, communicate with them and ask them to show you the daily practice. Once you have soaked up all there is for this journey it's important to have the drum callback. The drum callback is a way for your soul to return back to your body. Once the drum callback has occurred, imagine in your mind's eye you merging again with your body. This is important because if you don't have the callback and merge with your body, you can feel disconnected from yourself.
Once you merge back with yourself, journal what information came through! This can help you to understand your journey on a deeper level.
The benefits of this work are vast and limitless. What differentiates this healing practice from others is that it's free, anyone can do it and it allows us to receive valuable information from our spirit guides and animal helpers! This work can lead to expanded consciousness and can improve overall well-being. Best of luck with your new daily practice!
