Learning Shamanism

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...

This is a shamanic journey that I have previously shared on The Way of The Buzzard private Mystery School page on Facebook. This was a guided journey we did on 18/07/2026 - the intention being to meet my Spirit Teacher in the Upper World and to ask for guidance. Just caught up with the July Journey to the Upper World. Not a place I visit often as I much prefer the Lower World. But I went with it and entered a desert landscape that reminded me of New Mexico (never been there but I'm a Breaking Bad fan ).  Crow was with me all the way from my Axis Mundi and was guiding me through the Cactus and scrubland towards a well constructed wooden house. A man came to meet me as I approached. He was short, wore jeans, shirt and a leather hat. He seemed familiar in some way. At this point Crow sat on my shoulder and sqawked into my right ear "Listen!". Strange as Crow doesn't usually use language as such. I greeted the man and thought I recognised him as Carlos Castaneda - (I was...

This was my experience of a guided shamanic journey I did on 4/7/2026 with Jason from The Way of The Buzzard Mystery School. I have previously shared this on TWOTB Mystery School private Facebook page. The subject of the journey was Grief - the intention being to discover how grief has affected me. I wasn't sure whether to share this or not as I don't usually share my journey experiences, but, as others have shared their experiences from the July journey circle, I thought i would give my experience. Firstly, I have to say I have never been a fan of "guided" journeys but as grief was a subject I would never normally explore, I gave it a go. I chose to journey from my regular Axis Mundi - an ancient hollow Yew tree in the village where I spent the first 8 years of my life. From there I travelled with my Animal guide to a nearby stream with a man made waterfall where the stream splits into two before powering a disused watermill. As I sat in the meadow on the bank of t...