Learning Shamanism

 Here is part two of my little Dragon trilogy. If you missed part one, the Fire Dragon, you can read it here . My second encounter with a Dragon, like the first one, took me by complete surprise. I have had an interest in Daoism for many years and have studied Daoist meditation, Qigong and Tai Chi - so when I heard Nicola say recently that she was into Daoism before she set out on her Shamanic path with Jason at The Way of The Buzzard it sparked an interest and I found the journey she had referred to way back in 2019 (in the Mystery School library). The Journey topic was The Empty Bowl - so, nothing whatsoever to do with Dragons. Or so I thought. It turned out that the Journey title was a little misleading because the intention for the Journey was to enter and experience The Void. This is something I have some knowledge of as an experienced meditator who has experimented with many techniques over the past 50 years or so. But the experience I got was not like anything I had experie...

Now we dive a little deeper down the rabbit hole. Dragons! Imagine saying to one of your "normal" friends that you have been working with dragons - probably not a wise move if you want to preserve your liberty and sanity and not be subjected to enforced medication in a prison like institution. But anyway, this blog isn't for "normal" people, so here goes. I tend to spend some time working with the recorded "journey circles" that Jason and Nicola have on The Way of The Buzzard Mystery School website. They go back to 2018 and there are 12 a year - so, do the math - there are quite a few to choose from. What has this got to do with Dragons? Well, I am getting there. I will say now that I have never given Dragons much thought except when watching the Harry Potter films. They are the stuff of myth and fairy tales - right? Well, yes they are, BUT it would appear they are more than just whimsical, magical characters designed to scare children or justify reli...

Do you believe in "magick"?, Maybe if you are reading this blog you do. As I have said elsewhere, I study the Celtic Shamanic path with The Way of The Buzzard Mystery School and one of their courses is on Tree Spirit Medicine. Now I know quite a bit about trees anyway but i am learning a lot more - for instance, I knew that aspirin was first obtained from the Willow tree. But, I didn't know that the spirit of Willow could heal the emotions! And another course I am doing is on Animal Spirit Medicine. Now for a bit of irony - last week Viv and I went down to the New Forest. Mainly to visit the wildlife park. Turns out it's more of a zoo than a wildlife park which is a shame but it's main reason for being was that it started out as an Otter sanctuary back in the mid 20th century when we humans had almost murdered all the Otters in the UK. Now Otters love to play - they will play with anything! They also love to eat and to sleep a lot. So, wonderful little creatures ...

 So, is Druidry the same as Celtic Shamanism? This is a question that prompted me to explore the ins and outs of Druidry over the past few weeks. And the answer? Well, yes and no. Druidry is certainly not the same as Core Shamanism but I have discovered that Druidry is a very broad "church" indeed.  Druidry as it is practised today is a very modern "religion" or way of relating to the world and our place in it. It also means many different things to many different "Druids". Druids can be Animist, Pagan, Polytheist, Atheist, Buddhist, Yogis, even Christian! Where Druidry and Celtic Shamanism blend together is in the love and respect for the Natural World - for the Earth, the environment, the wild creatures, the forests and the Spirits of Nature. I find that the Shamanism that I practice with The Way of The Buzzard is more informal and easy going than most of the schools of Druidry I have researched. Having said that, the Hedge Druid or the Feral Druid is ba...

I love this article from The Druid Network site. There is No Separation – an article by Damh the Bard Druidry reveals the illusion of separation that humans have built between themselves and the natural world – an illusion that is silk-thin, yet sometimes seems impenetrable, a wall between us. We can see the trees, the hills, caves, rocks, ocean waves, animals and birds, but somehow cannot reach them through the concrete, noise of television, cars, and general hustle and bustle of our modern lives.  But take the hand of the Druid, and step through, and the air becomes clear, the noise fades away into the distance, and you can not only hear your footsteps on the fallen leaves, you can feel them under your feet. You begin to understand the relationship between the oak, ash, hazel, and the animals of the woodlands. And through that understanding you begin to rediscover your own relationship with them; a relationship that reveals how the earth sustains us, and after she has spoken to...

 This is a recent journey I shared with members of The Way of The Buzzard Mystery School members. We were encouraged to journey to the Lower World and to seek out Awe. Finding awe in ones life is a way to find happiness in what can be a depressing mundane world. It is something I struggle with most of the time - I have to be away from people and in Nature to find Awe in the "real" world. "Just done the Awe seeking journey. I normally don't find much awe in the mundane human world but my Otherworld journeys can be pretty Awesome. In my normal life I have to be away from people in Nature to experience real awe so this journey was a good excuse for a little escapism. I journeyed to the lower world with my usual companions, Wolf and Crow. When we emerged, a pure white Mare was waiting for me. She introduced herself as Epona and invited me to climb aboard. (Awesome!). The four of us sped through a beautiful forest until we came to a tall waterfall that crashed into a sma...