Learning Shamanism

Today I want to talk about a very large and very misunderstood subject - meditation. If you are not a regular meditator yourself you probably think meditation is something that is either a) difficult, b) too time consuming, or c) something that only yogis and Buddhist monks do. Anybody of my age group that was raised with hippy culture and the Beatles will know something about the subject, even if you don't have a regular practise yourself. What shamanic practice and other forms of spirituality have in common stems from doing some form of meditation. In Zen Buddhism the master uses many tricks to try and fool the "monkey mind" and allow the student to experience a glimpse of "reality" - the Satori experience. In Yoga (real yoga - not the lycra clad physical workout that passes for yoga in the West), great emphasis is placed on meditation. Experienced practitioners can create powerful mind/body states that appear as "magical" to the uninitiated observer...

Although I have titled this "My First Shamanic Journey" the fact is that it was not my first journey at all - the thing is, I hadn't written the first journeys down in my journal. I am guessing that this first recording from September 2018 was about my fourth journey. I was following the teaching from Paul Francis book The Shamanic Journey and my early journeys were all to the Lower World. Don't be surprised if nothing happens on your first journey - it takes a bit of practice and a belief that you can achieve what you set out to do. There will always be times when you find you can't proceed on a journey. If this happens, don't get upset or frustrated. Just assume that your guides didn't feel the time was right and try again another day. Here is the IMPORTANT lesson - get a notebook or journal before you start journeying and write everything down as soon as the journey finishes. You will benefit from looking back over your journeys and may well glean valu...

Being a Shamanic Person is all about being in tune with the Universe. It is not just about journeying in Non Ordinary Reality (if you are a new visitor and don't know what that means - see some earlier posts) - it is about a lot other things as well. The average indigenous Shaman would know the area where he or she lived for miles around like the back of their hand. They would be intimate with every hill, stream, rock, tree and plant. They would be "in tune" with the land and all things in it and on it.  Being a shamanic person is all about "knowing" yourself. And a good way to get to "know" yourself is to be alone with yourself away from the "human" world. Shamans are, without exception, Animists - they can "see" that all things in our Universe are alive and CONSCIOUS. All things. That includes rocks, mountains, rivers, planets, stars, grains of sand and, of course, the so called living things like trees, plants, insects, birds and...

I have just seen an interesting TEDx talk on YouTube about some indigenous peoples who have Shamans who are "Oracles" - they go into trance and then predict the future, usually with unerring accuracy. Now, I am not saying that any of you guys are going to develop talents like this although I do know one lady who had this ability from an early age, long before she knew anything about Shamanism. What the video does point out though is the extreme difference between our modern way of perceiving the world and the natural, animist way of perceiving it. While these people are honoured in their societies and are considered to be blessed with special and valuable talents - in our modern society they would be classed as mentally ill and filled with toxic mind numbing drugs. Please give this some deep thought and consider which point of view is the sane one.  

Are you ready to take your first shamanic journey? How do you know if you are ready? Do you know what you are supposed to do? Do you know what to expect? I have said before - this blog is not here to TEACH you how to become a Shamanic Person. This blog is designed to be a record of my own journey along the shamanic path - the path with heart. So, what is a "path with heart"?  I have mentioned this before - it is when something FEELS right to you. Not when it appears logical or when your mates are doing it or when some "celebrity" says that it's cool or when some guru says it is the only way to proceed. Have you done your research? Have you found your "path with heart"? (Take a look at the " useful links " page). If not, then you are certainly not ready to take your first shamanic journey. For me, as I have said before, it was reading "The Shamanic Journey" by Paul Francis that ticked all the boxes and gave me the knowledge, inspira...

There is a good introduction video on You Tube by Rhonda McCrimmon who runs The Centre For Shamanism. It is nearly 2 hours long and was recorded as a live workshop so the quality is a bit iffy in places. I love this lady's style and she really knows her stuff. Hope you enjoy it. There is a guided journey into the "middle world" to meet a guide - if you are wondering how to start shamanic journeying, this is for you. https://centreforshamanism.com/

You might be wondering - this shamanic stuff all seems a bit left field, what kind of people actually go for this kind of thinking? Well, if you are reading this then you are probably one of those kind of people - otherwise, what on earth are you doing wasting your time here on this blog? I have to say again - I am not a teacher of Shamanism, I am a student of Shamanism. If you are looking for a teacher then go visit the useful links page. If you want to learn online in this time of draconian lockdown and restriction of personal freedom then I wholeheartedly recommend The Centre For Shamanism. As a rule I would guess that the people who are attracted to Shamanism are aware of their spiritual nature, in love with the natural world, get on well with animals, dislike hierarchies and are able to think for themselves. On the other hand, the people who would dismiss the whole idea as batshit crazy are probably :- totally unaware of any kind spiritual consciousness, think that thi...