1. Forward

Why write another book on Shamanism, a reader might rightly ask? Why this book specifically? Well this is not really a book about Shamanism. It is a book about a journey, a personal journey, and about journeying itself.

Our story begins a long time ago, and is based on an unwavering belief in a higher spiritual power, the Creator, Source of Everything. From that extends the belief in the Oneness of Everything, and thus its interconnectiveness. It also places us, in this life experience, as a bridge between the upper and the lower realms of our existence. The most commen English term we use for this is God, but not the God that sits up in heaven (or on Mount Olympus) and gazes down on our petty concerns, but a God, who Himself is Unnameable and Unknowable, that permeates everything, and is deeply involved &ndash in fact, is the Source of — everything. Yes, I know it might not be really PC, or socially acceptable amongst the more enlightened to use such an archaic term, but unless we transfer to another language, this is the Word I have.

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If this is the Source of all life, the Mother of all existence, then all existence longs to be back in the womb of the Mother – from which paradoxically all life springs.

The message of this book is that we can have a union in which we know our Beloved. In which we become one with Her, if only for a moment, at the height of our joining—what we refer to on this plane of existence, as the orgasm, or as enlightenment, in the Otherworld, what some refer to as world of Spirit, or the Angelic realm.

Not that attaining this union is easy. It is said that there are two types of prophets, the one is an expression of the impulse from below and the other, the impulse from above. The impulse from below is expressed through the years of training and practice that is required for most of those who have attained a higher spiritual state. The other is when suddenly a bolt strikes you from the heavens and you receive a message or vision that changes the course of your life. We refer to this as the hineni moment. This is the impulse from above.

However, the hineni moment can only be fulfilled through the awakening of the impulse from below, as the recipient will have to do the necessary work, and pass through the required ordeals in order to fulfil his task. Otherwise, the consequences of the lightning bolt that he received could be dire (see the Four Rabbis)

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What we discuss here in this book, is a methodology and some of what it is based on, that enables us to open up a conscious communication and entrain an ability to lucidly and consciously interact with an other world, a realm of existence that exists within each one of us, which is somehow connected to the world around us as well.

This is another dimension of existence that is part of this existence. However that may be, most of us are becoming, or are already, conscious of this other level of existence, one which I will call the 4th dimension of life.. Some might refer to it also as the angelic realm, or “the world to come” – the Spiritual plane of existence. It is one in which we can see objects and events in a place devoid of space and time. If we treat this event with greater awareness and cultivate a deeper consciousness of it, there will naturally be a positive influence that this will have on our future.

This expose includes an exploration and investigation of this realm, relating to its ability to heal and to change people’s lives, allowing them to live in greater ease with this inner part of themselves that is more influential on our lives than we are willing to believe, or acknowledge, and is the only way we can change our current way of life and of doing and relating that might lead us of this present path that is decimating our planet and most of life here unless. It will require a core shift in consciousness and thus priorities. A shift as core as that from polytheism to monotheism, or from myths to science, from the rational to the superstitious. What if there is a way to the knowing? At least for those of us who are brave enough?

Call it lucid dreaming, call it shamanic journeying, call it prayer or meditation even, it is acknowledging that a certain imaginal space exists within and around us all. It is all over. Women seem more in touch with it. Perhaps because of the veil being so thin during their moon period, the dream time, of the journey to her inner spaces. These spaces are not acknowledged at all by our present day society in a remotely healthy way. And many of us suffer a type of internal hell because it is helter-skelter inside, and we are afraid to enter it alone.^[1]

What if this was—if not a way of organising that inner space—then at least a path to becoming more conscious of it, and thus more aware of its geography and topology, learning correct placements in that inner space? What if we could walk, consciously, into our inner Mansion and begin to sort it out? I say it can only bring positive results, a little like cleaning house. But what is true is that it exists, and we need to begin to take cognisance and care of it.

2. Chapter: Shamanism

2.1. Name

The title of Shaman actually means “seer”, or “one who walks between the worlds”. We could almost say she is one who walks into the fire and emerges anew.^[2] To retrieve something from the spirit world that is needed in this world, the Shaman needs to cross over the abyss, or pass through the curtain, the parochet that separates this realm from the other realms.^[3] She is already versed in passing through the dark night of the soul, has been on some deep healing journey herself, in order to have the ability to retrieve others’ pieces and to guide them from the Invisible Realm, that area of our awareness that we encounter in our sleep and in our moments of lucid dreaming, a realm that can be described using T.S. Eliot’s words:

Essentially Shamanism is about being fully human. It is not about trying to become so spiritual that we separate ourselves from the earthly energies that course through us and are ever present in our environment, but about accepting the fact that we are a like a tree, both with its roots firmly ensconced in the earth, yet at the same time reaching for the heavens by following the light. It is about integrating both the spiritual and the material aspects of our existence here.

2.2. Derivation

The derivation is universal. We find this tradition in many cultures, each with their own tools and cultures. For instance, in Judaism there is a Shamanic interpretation of some of the events in the Old Testament.^[4] Hypnotic trance is an example of this intermediate realm too.^[5]

There is also a significant difference between a shaman and a mystic. Shamans walk consciously between the world of spirit and the world of being. They use techniques such as drumming to pass through the veil separating the two, and, using their spirit guide, follow pathways to collect the information that is necessary for healing and guidance in this world. Whereas both a mystic and a shaman see themselves as the eyes and ears of God, and believe in the unity of the world, derived from spirit, the mystic focuses on his relationship with the Beloved, longing for the ultimate merging of the union and separation, whereas the shaman’s work seems to be in dealing with the densities that we collect and produce as human beings. She also focuses on the details of life. The animals and the plants all provide information and it is the details are important. As in the statement when Moses was passing the burning bush, “he looked and noticed that it was not being consumed”. Both however will seek to live impeccable lives, lives dedicated to authenticity and service to a higher calling. The mystic will focus on penetrating and understanding the mysteries of our existence whereas the shaman dances in the midst of the chaos of our lives.

Shamans use different methods to journey to the other side, often according to the tradition they have been taught. Some will use drums, some will use entheogens, some will use prayer and breath to achieve the same effect. All journey to the spirit world, contact their guides and work there with them.

The shaman, especially in the modern world, is not necessarily attached to any particular religion or belief system, though the mystic will always be steeped in some tradition. What the shaman practices can be expressed through any form or belief. He or she will naturally work within the construct and constraints of whatever society he is practising. It is not about the outer devotion, but an inner knowing, and an inner calling.

Upon a shaman having learnt the tools of his trade, it is always her choice to use it in a positive, loving manner or a destructive, abusive manner. There are codes that need to be followed, though one cannot guarantee anyone following any such code. Those that use shaman knowing to the detriment of others, or the glory of themselves, are generally known as sorcerers.

Another thing to be aware of is that the price of this “power” for true shamans is that they often have to spend time in the lower world, dealing with the detritus that we are constantly producing. They have to descend to the deeper, often darker, areas of existence to clean out whatever is clogging the person’s system. They are like the bottom feeders, the alligators, the crabs and the raptors. They are also like the wolves, the doctors of the jungle, who help the sick and dying to pass over. In this way, they keep the environment clean, clearing the waters of all the dying things.^[6]

2.3. Between the two worlds

In order to enter this realm, you have to acknowledge the existence of a Spirit world. We can assume that anyone who would be drawn to this material will already acknowledge that world.

Within these worlds, we have more subtle realms, realms whose existence we know just by their effects, though they have no material existence in and of themselves. Electromagnetic effects are one example of this. We know that one’s emotions can affect others. Many speak of the effects of thoughts, others of the spiritual realms, totally non-material, that affect us.

How could we ever know whether this is true or not? Besides the preponderance of what one could refer to as anecdotal evidence, there are sacred texts that have survived the ages that speak mainly of this realm. And there are many other “inexplicable” events, even miracles, that speak of “other” influences of this nature.

It is in the knowledge, or the humbling experience thereof, that produces the understanding that we do not know everything, that we are incapable of knowing everything, in fact, there is a heck of a lot that we do not know. In the awe, exists the possibility of there being a world of spirit.

Before we continue, do you believe, nay know, that such a realm exists? Because if you do not, then this book is not for you.

2.4. Other Pathways.

Perhaps there are amongst us, who are brave enough to explore this realm. It begins from the knowing of the existence of this space. Then there must be a methodology that is employed to access this arena. There might be, in fact there are, more than one path that the intrepid explorer could take, some of which we have mentioned previously. Let’s call this space, the spiritual realm.

In this little tome, you will learn of a way to encounter this other world and to walk safely and consciously between the two. It is not a practice for everyone, but a sojourn is always beneficial. Some will be willing to exert themselves until they can walk easily between the two worlds. But for most of us a guided tour is sufficient.

Herein is a treatise on a “do-it-yourself” with help from your mentors and teachers. It is a method to travel to the other worlds. As mentioned before, all it requires a belief in the existence of this other realm, first and foremost, and then a willingness to explore it. As a precaution, I must advise any who wish to embark on this journey that it is very easy to get lost and confused without the help and guidance of an experienced practitioner. It is like dealing with a health issue without the guidance of a professional. Or as mentioned before, going on a journey without a guide.

Think of it as going to see a movie. You enter into the theatre willing to give the performance a chance, and as such, you will suspend your disbelief at the door. Once settled in your seat, and the show begins, you enter into the “spirit” of the experience. Upon the performance ending, you exit, and then analyse it. Thereupon the discussion of whether it was believable or not, of whether the story made sense or not, and your feelings about the actual event that was portrayed in the story that unfolded on the screen.

So it is with journeying.

There are many methods and disciplines by which you can reach this goal of communicating with the spirit world.^[7] The nature based traditions speak of the spirit world, trance states and the personification of the energies that are all around us; the monotheistic religions speak of “Union with the Beloved”, “Letting Jesus into your Heart”, “Service to God”; while the Eastern Religions speak of Satori, emptiness, egolessness.

The path we are speaking of is Shaman, and as such, nature based. However, the shaman way is to walk that path as a life path, and to practice what the spirit guides us to do, no matter how difficult or challenging it might be. This is generic to all who have embraced the spiritual path.

2.4.1. Sacral Pathways.

There are many practitioners who base their protocols on the Native American methods of journeying. Often they use a body of water, or a vessel, like a canoe to travel to another place to find one’s animal guides and to work with them. Carlos Castaneda wrote a series of books describing his experiences. This form often used entheogens as an aid to the initiate. Though nowadays in the conservative fearfulness of today’s empire, that is practised far less.

Vodoo was another style, where dance, music, and ritual was used in a communal setting to entice the dancers to pass over to the other world. Heavy drumming was used, not as monotonic as the drumming used by the Native Americans. Their interplay was communal in the sense that once someone “passed over”, the community – which included the musicians, the dancers and the audience — would focus on supporting that person. Similar in style to those Christian followers that practice speaking in tongues, using prayer to instigate the opening of the veil.

Even heavy exercise, like running, or dancing, can cause one’s left brain to be lulled and the right brain gateways to open up, and for one to find oneself in another space completely. One that could be described as a place of clarity and intuition.

These are all sacral pathways, in that they move the energy from the sacral region downward, often connecting to the earth.

A great need for these sacral pathways has arisen in the youth of today in Western societies, as expressed in the trance dance and raves, as well as the children who are seeking to encounter other ways of looking at the world, that enhance their unbalanced rational based culture, often through experimenting with drugs, especially hallucinogenic ones.

2.4.2. Mental Pathways.

There are other ways one can enter the zone that are more intellectual. For instance, complete focus on a particular problem, like a mathematical or physics one, could induce such a trancelike state in which one finds a place of clarity and intuition, resulting in the understanding of deeper aspects of what one has been exploring open up.

Prayer and meditation are another method, also requiring complete focus on a particular point, similar to one solving a math problem, and can also induce a trance of some nature. One in which one can receive “inspiration” from an unknown source. These are mind based interactions.

These are excellent methods of attaining a closer connection and the creation of pathways to higher aspects of yourself and your world. However, I think in this day and age, many of those that are searching along these type of shamanistic paths, have spent a large portion of their lives in some sort of mentally focused state. Much of the work that we do has become sedentary, consisting of sitting and looking at a computer screen, controlling one’s mind to focus on the task or problem at hand.

2.4.3. Heart Based Pathways.

This is the form we speak of most often in this book, and the path we have chosen for a number of reasons. It does not require any wild drumming or dancing, no leaping around the fires or walking over hot coals – though that might help as a preparation. It does not require fasting - though fasting is always a good method to clear out one’s gateways and thus have more bandwidth in which to experience whatever comes next. It does not require any preparation, beyond following a proscribed methodology and way of approaching and being in this other space. It emphasis the need for disciplined behaviour once you have crossed over to the inner world.

The assumption is that most of us have gone through a number of sacral transformations already, and if not, we are seeking them right now. The connection we fashion is from the heart.

The form that we practice and teach is a heart-based one. It has it roots in Native American shamanistic practice and was transmitted by Ai Gvadi Waya, a Cherokee Metis.

It is not shamanism from a sacral point, which is the form that uses essentially the sexual energy, residing in the base chakra, the one in our loins. This is the form that requires drumming and music, with wild, ecstatic dancing. In fact there is almost no external stimuli, beyond a proscribed method that each one is to follow in order to proceed along the pathway through the veil, often accompanied by a. It is quiet and normalised, with little extraneous influences to distract the journey. One could even think of it as a guided visualization.

Shamanism that does use this sacral energy will use dance and drumming to activate it. This Kundulini energy, the serpent energy that uncoils around our spine, is then used to enter the underworld by directing it downwards into the earth.

This form of shamanism, which we call heart-based, and as such is gentle and supportive, calm and loving. It activates that energy and raises it. It assumes that we have already gone through many sacral trans-formations. This works on the connection points from the heart up, as opposed to the sacral ceremonies that connect from the belly to the earth.^[8]

2.4.5. Shaman

In the shamanic sense, we exist in the middle world and are the bridge between the upper and lower worlds.

A vital step in realising our purpose here is the need to work with the upper world and consciously integrate it into our lives, bringing more harmony and balance into at least our inner lives. That should result in greater balance in our outer. However, this ascension does not mean to “escape” to these worlds, but to make us more aware of the spiritual realms of our existence, in order to be able to have more clarity regarding our purpose here, in the “real” world, and to aid us in dealing with the lower world.

Going straight to the core of the matter, and borrowing some concepts from other traditions, one could say that essentially the Shaman is a manifester of something that a lot of traditions believe, and that is “We are spirit beings having a material experience”. Our work is in this world, the Kingdom of God. We are hear to carry out the Divine task that each and every one of us have been given, something which takes most of us many lifetimes to achieve. Our service is to manifest and seek the Divine hidden in this cloak of dark materiality. This is the path that we need to follow, these sparks of the Divine providing us guidance in our soul life journey.

The Shaman is willing to descend into the depths of the caverns of the human spirit and negotiate with the beings that have taken up abode there. If she is clear enough, and the client courageous enough, she will do battle and evict (sometimes called exorcise) these parasitic energies.

In order to cleanse ourselves and remove the detritus that we have collected and fill the holes in the vessel so that it may take the ascent and be in the presence of the Father without breaking apart, the Shaman is necessary. He or she is the one who is willing to descend into the lower worlds and negotiate with the Angelic energies that work in that space to get them to return the pieces which you have given away or lost while bouncing up against the densities of this world – the Kingdom of Man.

Once the lower worlds have been cleansed by shamanic work, one will be ready for the ascent. That is why often within the safe place we have created in the lower world, there exists what I refer to as an inner sanctum, a place from which we can begin the ascent.

2.5. All Paths.

The goal that all these different paths have in common is to do a form of neural reprogramming. It is about opening up pathways that have been shut down through disuse. It is training and exercising a muscle that has become lax. Each one of these will approach this reprogramming from a different point of view, along a different route, and will affect slightly different areas of the body and mind. Essentially it is about forging a pathway in your brain that will enable you to communicate with spirit. Eventually we hope to have build a bridge and have a highway that will be able to transport many useful products to and from the other world.

3. Chapter: Sacred Space

3.1. Safe Place

Constraint is a necessary requisite for change or creation. We have to make space for things to grow. Take for example your garden. If you want to plant something in it, you first have to clear the area, then make sure you have some good soil, plant the seed or cutting, then nurture it, and hope for the best (that is Divine Intervention). We rely on the Love that permeates the universe, we have Faith in it, enough faith to believe that the seed will grow. Evan as we carry on as if we could rely solely on these physical laws we have discovered, presumptuous enough to snub our noses in the face of Divinity, we are still dependent on some unknown and perhaps unknowable force for living things to come into being.^[9] Using this analogy, I would say that our first responsibility is to tend to our own "garden of the soul."

Before the Beginning, before Creation, everything was permeated with the Infinite Nothingness. Not the nothingness that is the “not something”, but a mysterious Nothingness – the Tao of the East, the Void, the Emptiness that knows of no fullness. There is a Buddhist aphorism that says, "between the something and the nothing there is No-Thing". Some refer to it as the Supernal Light, the Light that throws no shadow. This Nothingness has all the characteristics of the Infinite Being. It is Perfect and Whole, Absolute Oneness, nothing is not ‘It’. Thus nothing cannot be ‘It’. It is Nameless, HaShem, thus it cannot be called by any name. For it does not “exist” – at least in any way that we can know.

In order for something to emerge from this Nameless, something that is “not” It, It has to remove Itself. It has to make “space” for Creation, for something that is other than this Infinite All-Pervading Oneness. It is the unknown and probably unknowable fashion in which the Infinite Being brought about creation – which is the mystery of “something from nothing”, ex-nihilo. What we generally refer to as the process of creation is the manipulation of objects or energies that already exist. One could think of it as a reconfiguration. Only the all-seeing Creator has the power to create “something from nothing”. Nothing can exist, nothing can be self-conscious, nothing can be aware of itself as some sort of identity, some sort of object in the original Ocean of Infinite Nothingness. We refer to this as the Sacred Space in which Creation abounds.

In the same way, each one of us (and possibly each and every being and object that exists in the universe) has a Sacred Space that has been granted to us in which we can create. Thus we “create” our own lives—at very least, the inner one&—and are, in many ways, masters of way in which we live. As one healer put it: “You are sacred space. And as such you cannot be diminished or lessened by any energy or being unless you allow it.” By Divine decree, we are masters of this Space that has been granted us. This is the “Space of Free Will”, and as such we have the choice of whether to walk in the path of the Divine, or to walk some other path, that is not in harmony with the Divine Will.

This is the “safe place” that we refer to in the inner realm that you encounter when on a journey. For this reason, once you have located it, the first action is to clean it out of all energies. And I mean ALL. Nothing must be in there, unless you have invited it or desire it to be there.

3.2 Sacred Space

Your first task upon arriving in this new space, is to create a safe place. I like to think of it as a sacred space. It is the place where no-one and nothing may enter without your permission. It is a place you have, or create, or find, inside yourself in which only you, the I exist. The only entity that may enter with you without first asking permission is your guide. No-one, nothing else may do so. At any point you may request that whatever has entered leave, and it is required, by law, to leave.

Now remember, if you do not really want it to leave, it will fight like hell to stay. (Consciousness and Kabbalah – piece on life fighting for its existence.) If you need help to clear out your safe place, ask your guide.

Your space will always have some form of doorway – that is how our images are of places, like houses, temples and such like, where we feel safe. Always make sure your doors are closed when your leave as well. If it makes you feel safer, keep them closed while you are in your safe place.
The next step is then to investigate it. Is it dark, or light? Big or small? What is it decorated with? How would you want it to be decorated? Does it have water? Fire? How does it feel? Then make it so! If there is some difficulty with, say placing having a fire in it, or having a lovely painting in it, where does this difficulty originate from?

Here the work begins. What is it that prevents you from creating a safe inner space, an essentially "imaginary space" from which you can live the life you dream of? According to Kabbalah, all our issues stem from wrong thinking – however these are the thoughts that originate from what is translated as the “intellectual” realm – the realm of emanation. In encountering the blockages that exist in the imaginal realm of Spirit, you will be able to remove blockages in this, the material, manifest world.

3.3. After constraint comes creation

After constraint, by allowing and forgiving, we create.

The process works simply like this. We have defined our space, by constraining it, by ensuring that it is protected. We, so as to say, erect a wall around it. In mathematics, it is referred to as a closed field. Once we have defined that space, we protect it; we build walls around it and enclose it, so that we can determine what is in it. We make sure that our walls have no holes in them for things to slip in or out inadvertently.

Once this process is complete, we can now control what comes into this space and what emerges. We call that a door or gateway. This will also mean that we can (and should) take responsibility for what enters and what leaves, and we can now choose, exercising our axiom of choice.

In ceremony and religion, this space is referred to as “Sacred Space” that it is differentiated from the normal "mundane" that we live our day-to-day lives in. Certain protocol of behaviour, whose requirement is to be carried out according to strict instructions, enable access to this space. A simple example of this is a personal altar, a space that is cleared to contain sacred, or meaningful, objects. It could also be called the space into which the Divine is invited. The principle here, is that if you want the Infinite to manifest in a space, first you need to clear it. Consequently you need to be very careful with what you place in it.

If only we used that principle with our children, who are, in essence, sacred space that has manifested in this tainted existence.

Now that you have clearly defined your sacred, personal, space, your walls and your doorway; now that you have control over what exits from this clean space, you need to ask yourself what is it you wish to create. For the creation will begin by you clearing this space completely.

You have the right to your space, for it is in that manner that you were created, with space in which you were defined. This is analogous to the Tsimtsum, in that God removed Herself to create you as well. In Kabbalah, this would be known as Adam Kadmon, the prototype, the template of humanity. As above, so below, according to the Divine Laws, the same structure will manifest on every plane. You have the right to your space, for just as the space for creation was made, so you too have been fashioned in the same image. That is, a space is provided by the Divine for you to reside in. And in that domain, you are god. You are in control of all that occurs in the space.

Creation is the very reason we have been created. For, only through creation can we mirror the Divine action. It is in our doing, in our makings outside of ourselves that we walk in the darkness of Faith.

Now that you have something that you have fashioned, be it a thought, or a feeling or an action, that you wish to let out, to give birth to, you need to look at your intention behind the event.

First ask permission. Ask if it is the right thing to be doing.

Depending how close you are to your God, you would ask permission from Him, and wait for the answer. If you were deeper into the peace of God, you would even not do a thing until God commanded you to do it.

As clean as this asking and receiving is will affect the authenticity of what you are to create. How to discern this? What should we do? This is called the test of authenticity. You know who the Knower is. That is the one to whom you should listen. This path will also allow you to become more aware and cognisant of this Knower. For in the land of the spirit and imagination, where all is possible, when you create, you will receive responses that will show you whether you are in an authentic place or not.

In the end, it requires discernment, and in the words of [Don Juan], “to be impeccable in following your path with a heart”.

Just a note on the amazing effect of the sacred place that you have now prepared in your inner space. It provides a strength and clarity to something inside you that is quite refreshing to your life in this, the manifest world. It will amazing as to the effect of a clear space in which you feel completely empowered.

Chapter 4: Shaman Journeying

4.1 Why journey?

We come to the crux of the matter – why journey at all? Before going onto that, let us discuss what a journey actually is. It is a way of travelling from this world (however you might describe the thisness or the worldness of this world) to the next, or spirit world.

This world is one of manifestation, of real things, real because they are caught in time, space, and mass. Real because this is the place of cause and effect, this is the place of pain, and money, and needs. However, there is another “world”—at least one—that is not “this” world. We refer to it as our world of dreams and imagination, of fantasies and creativity. In addition, it might consist of hidden effects and miraculous events. The term we use for all that world, that is not this one, yet affects and in some way seems connected to, the spirit world, or the world of breath (רוח). It is a not-space where there is no time, no space nor mass. Where ideas and thoughts manifest themselves. Where we hear with other eyes, and see with an internal ear. In the modern times, many have experienced this world with the aid of entheogens.

However, using these methods without proper protocols, is equivalent to being a human cannon-ball—except you have no idea where you will land and what you will encounter. It is a totally unsupervised jetting of oneself into this other world, with no safeties, no guidance and little knowledge. That is probably why it was and still is practised mainly by youngsters.

4.2 Entheogens

Almost every one of the elders that began the exploration into these entheogenic realms, except for a couple of notable exceptions, reached the conclusion that these are windows into these realms, and can teach us pathways into them, but are not, in themselves, the pathways. Ending back in the bosom of religious and spiritual practice as the sane path to this other realm.

In Judaism, we speak of two types of prophets. Those that have walked the path of training and constraint to attain through their disciplined daily practice easier access to ecstatic realms. However, there are also those that are struck, as if by lightning, and suddenly have a revelatory experience.

In many cultures they have used similar methods, but generally in a much more communal and controlled situation. Mystics have learnt the pathways to that place, near-death experiencers have brought back information about it. The most complete set of data we have, is from the shamans of yore.

4.3 Benefits

Journeying is empowering. Firstly to realise the vastness of the space that is available to us to work in.

Journeying, in the form that we do it, is blissful. Even after the first journey, you will find something about it that is very interesting and will no doubt remain with you for a while after. Some have found that even just witnessing another’s journey has awoken them. It will allay strange fears by enabling you to become aware of the possibility of having a safe place at the core of your being. In this world one connects with spirit, and thus comes that much closer to God.

4.4 Service

Do not think that this is a joy-ride, an evening’s entertainment. It is actually work. Yes, you can walk away from it, but if you wish to become engaged in, are called to service, you will soon realise that it is work. In acknowledging the realm of the spirit, you will then find that you will begin to allow it to penetrate your life. Thus you will begin to listen to that part of your being more and more.

Not that the challenges will become smaller or less but that the certainty will increase. The clarity of why and what will become fuller. You will finally hear your call to service, knowing that it is a fuller you that is participating in your path. It is about forging new pathways in your brain, but first you have to imagine them, and the spirit realm is the place to do this. To anchor it in this world, you have to carry out the discipline and repeat the process until it becomes second nature.

By the constant, perhaps daily, expression of something, by constant repetition, we begin to embed it in our brains, and ultimately our lives. If we pray or meditate every day, before every meal, and upon waking and going to bed, with a couple of times during the day, each time blessing God and your life and those around you. Asking to be better, offering yourself to service and to be being guided, it will affect your life.

One could even associate this with daily TV watching. Only here others are repeating these mantras for us. It is the same in religion, where we are just repeating prayers that others have made for us. Yet, there must be an intrinsic difference between a prayer to God and a TV commercial. Just as we are bombarded by a certain flavour of information by the TV, radio and magazines every day, a certain message will end up being transmitted to the brain, a certain pattern will develop. Think of it as mesh, a filter that will allow some things through and stop others, a subtle, electro-chemical mesh. This is a certain transformation, a different function in the space. There are the patterns created by the synapse, there are the chemicals that are produced by the brain, and then there is the graph of interactions that form a mesh. This mesh could act as a filter for the light coming from above, thus making certain images, certain structures in the brain, which you then manifest in the world around you. Rather, that you will see in the world around you. It could be described as the "crystallization" of the intellect.

Imagine that you are told every day that the world is a horrible place where people hurt and kill one another all the time, that is the world you will see around you and that is the world that you will become a part of.

Shaminism tells you nothing about what you should become. But, resides on the knowledge that there is energy and entities in that world that are bound to help (or harm) us. There is a huge supply of energy and information there that we can tap in to broaden our perspective of this world. There is help we can obtain from there.

If nothing else, it is a form of personal growth. You will, amongst other things, have another viewpoint, an advisor, one that you will ascertain in time to be wise, but especially one in which you are a full participant.

This place that you will create inside yourself, this sacred space, will nourish and challenge you in amazing and surprising ways. Eventually you will come to appreciate the richness and diversity of the elements that you encounter there. Before doing that, and getting caught up in the glamour and fun, you will have to carve a safe area within that space for yourself. It will be a safe place for you to return to and to hold on to. Its effects will be felt long after returning from your journey.

It is “shelter from the storm”, a haven, a still place in the midst of the chaos that surrounds you and is within you. Analogies are the still point of the pendulum; or the silence between the drum beats. It is in the stillness that we hear the most. It is in the darkness that we see the clearest. Essentially, it is like a compass which needs one fixed foot in order know where the other is directed.

In the beginning, the journey into this inner space enables the exploration of the images that we all collect inside of us. This process these enable you to allay certain of your deep, non-rational fears and blockages. How can it do that, you might ask? Well, if we start from the admitting to having an unconscious side that expresses itself in images and feelings, rather than logic, I could say that this is a conscious, lucid manner of walking into that repository of experiences and, with guidance and mentoring, put some of that house in order – consciously.

A popular method of increasing one's memory power, of which I am familiar with, uses the principle of storing the data associated with items that have no connection to what is being remembered. For instance, leave an appointment in the bathroom basin, and the information dealing with a new project hanging on the chandelier. They discovered the bizarre way in which our minds store long-term (and sometimes complex) information. It often seems like the image that emerges has no apparently logical relation to the event, but, upon accessing the person’s heart chakra, we inevitably find that they have the information that explains the image. For instance, one person encounters a boulder on their way into the lower realms, and I would have no idea why there would be a boulder. I understand the image as a blockage, but do not have any idea what is blocked in the person's journey. However, by guiding the journeyer to take a look inside themselves, he unwraps the feeling, and feels that it signifies his father. In the beginning, we had to work at finding a way for him to get around this boulder, which of course happened to be in the narrow corridor on our way down. He was frustrated by the fact that I could just pass through this terrific boulder of his, though that also brought home the fact that it was his issue (as it should be – as it was his journey I was accompanying him on). After a few sessions, the boulder was smaller, and he could get around it easily – not yet through it, nor yet having moved it to its proper place (which might be by vaporising it too). His relationship to his father improved immensely after that.^[10]

Chapter 5: Soul Retrieval

5.1. Psychosis

Psychosis is a splintering of one’s soul. It is an imbalance, a place of hiding—often through disassociating—that has been fed so often that it has become detached enough to have some sort of independence. Remember though, it has to be fed from the source in order to survive – which is you!

That is where the concept of soul retrieval fits in. At the point of psychosis, one needs an exorcism first. That is, a removal of the entity that you have allowed to enter and get comfortable in your being. Always, if there is an actual event that one has created inside oneself, and anchored into one’s mind and feelings, that feed it constantly, one has to first remove it from one’s space, one’s aura or one’s body (or all three) in order to be freed of its influence. However, one would practice soul retrieval hopefully before the situation has become so critical as to manifest itself in psychotic behaviour.

It is seeking prevention, instead of a cure using narrow methods of healing. It is better to have nipped the problem in the bud, rather than wait till it is so chronic that you need drastic intervention like surgery or chemo just to remove it.

5.1.2. Emerging and merging from and with psychosis

However and whenever any sort of psychosis appears, one needs to know that the healing can only occur after emerging. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for the Lord is my witness”.

In the ancient story of Exodus, Moses, while looking after his sheep in the desert (read wilderness, desolation), finds himself heading towards a mountain, which by the way, had the unfortunate name of Mount Horeb, the Mount of Destruction. On his way, he notices a burning bush. Now a bush burning in the hot desert is not such a noticeable thing. It must have happened fairly often, with so much sunlight. Moses, saw, i.e., noticed it. That is, he paid attention to it, and turning towards it, then became aware that it burned with a fire that was not consuming the bush.

He passed first part of the test of paying attention to what did not fit into the natural, i.e., "coherent", order of things. It was not the burning bush that really attracted his attention, but the breaking of the laws of nature that drew him. Thus it is as I descend into my innards—hopefully with some guidance—and begin to investigate my inner images, interacting with my "unconscious" realm consciously, I am more likely to notice those things that are being held as my foundation. These are collections of information that are being held and that are at least a part of what I am creating, i.e., my life.

We collect information to determine our futures. Or would it not be better to say, "The information we collect will determine our future?"

Now as he approaches the bush he hears “noise”, the “voice” of God. It calls him by name “Moses, Moses”. What is his response? “Henayni”. I am here. I am present. Now begins the service. Once you have had the revelation. Once you can be still enough, not outside in the world of doing, but inside, in your core, to hear the "silence that speaks". It will be like connecting to a live wire.

5.2. Dark night of the Soul

There are those that are drawn to the light, and those that are drawn into the darkness. For each soul consists of them both. The psychosis is when your soul is blinded by the light—thus it does not even realise the consequences of the psychotic behaviour some might perpetuate—though not all are violent. Some hear voices, some see images, some retreat completely. The first we label schizophrenia, the second depression. If we do it part of the time, but not all the time, it would be labelled as bipolar or something similar. However, it is all expressing a form of disassociation, a form of escaping from what is going on inside.

Those that end up in darkness, labelled as depression, have a different experience and disassociate differently.
**Stanzas Of The Soul **

This is a different experience from the one of psychosis. It is not a dislocation, but rather a feeling of having been abandoned, of being separate from God. It is a crisis of faith at its core. It contains in it a form of spiritual bankruptcy. A path that has led to challenges in order to deepen, to stretch, and to see beyond it.

Similar to going to sleep. Where do you go? You dim the lights, you close your eyes and you sink into the darkness unafraid. For you believe that you will emerge the next morning, back in the same place, with the same things around you, living the same life. What is happening? Where are all those images coming from? Who is the dreamer? As the monk said upon arising: “Last night I went to sleep and dreamt I was a butterfly. This morning I woke up and dreamt that I am a man. Was I a man dreaming that I was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming I am a man?” Each time we go to sleep, it is an act of faith, though one in which we have no choice. For, we know we need to sleep; we know that it is part of who we are.

In the same way, we need to enter our dark night of the soul. It is part of whom we are, of whom we need to become. Of those who awaken to this, if you do not walk your walk, something will happen, you will begin to flail, and become sick in one way or another. Psychosis too is a form of sickness, of misappropriation that occurs if you do not take the plunge into the deep waters of your soul.

Yes, not all of us will have this crisis. We have been given freedom of choice. Thus the spiritual experience is optional. We can turn away from the promptings of our soul’s calling. We can, and often do, lock ourselves into a very material existence, especially if we find bounty and success there. God has all the time in the world. There is no reason, beyond the ones you find, to take this path, to descend into the dark night.

All that will occur is that might occur is that the spirit will have to experience it again. But I am not going to profess to know the mind of God, and what your (plural) purpose is. Many of us, attached as we are to this wonderful creation and reality, wish to return, for we do not wish to die. However, if you do return, you will emerge different.

“Against the experience of the Beloved, or of other traces of the revelation of the Messiah, ordinary reality will react to preserve and to avenge itself.”^[11].

Chemically induced experiences of a similar nature, the “bad trip” is not the same. Even passing through it with an entheogen like Ayahuasca is not the same. For it is externally induced. The dark night of the soul, however, is soul induced. It is brought about by the promptings of the soul, its inner purpose.

With psychosis, it is almost as if it is something external. Often it is found to be chemically induced. The wrong chemicals, one might say. There is no chemical tracing to the dark night, although there will possibly be chemical reactions that can occur as a result of this dark night for it can take many forms. However, the crises of faith is an inner occurrence. The outer manifestation, whether depression, or psychosis, or “bad trips”, could be traced chemically but could also be manifest by a divorce, or a loss, or a bankruptcy or a bad-debt.

The principle at work here—as in life— is the higher you rise, the lower you fall. You begin to understand as well that the lower you sink, the higher you fly. In fact, bi-polarity, depression, schizophrenia and psychosis are all manifestations of this. However, once you enter the dark night of the soul, you will not emerge till you are ready.
Nevertheless, you have to emerge. You have to fight you way to the light.

The story of the Exodus, once again, provides a metaphor for this experience. The Israelites were in the land of bondage, Egypt, and only when they began to cry out for redemption, did God hear them and send them a saviour Moses. Then they had to first cross the sea and traverse the wilderness, with many challenges and obstacles, until they could enter the holy land.

It is also the myth of the phoenix that heals with her tears, and itself arises anew from the ashes. You have to re-emerge from the ashes of your life. It is similar to when you have a cold. You first find yourself feeling “under the weather”. Then the physical symptoms appear. Now you know you are ill and have to take steps to deal with that. Perhaps you take some medicines, or lie in bed, allowing your inner life force heal you. By resting, you allow your body, your physical
environment, space for your spirit to heal you. Rest, as on the Shabbat, to heal yourself. You dedicate your spirit to this day, in order to elicit help in healing you from the effects of the week.

John, the Baptist, used the baptism to represent this new awakening. If a crises of faith has brought you back to the fold, accept Jesus into your heart, for you have nothing else. The first step is the baptism, whereby you are born anew. It also cleanses you from your previous entanglements, so that you can have space to allow the Holy Spirit to enter you and your life.

This is the story of the crucifixion and the resurrection.

5.3. Meeting Yourself

The interesting result is that when you make an effort to meet your spirit guide, at the same time it seems that you will better be able to meet yourself. For who is your spirit guide but a piece of yourself, that you have not really been inviting to the party, or allowing to participate in the festivities?

How many times have you heard that still silent voice and not listened, either because of your own desire, or to cater to the desire of others? How many times have you been forced to ignore it due to either cultural constraints or enforced subjugation? As a child, we have no choice, and that is part of the necessary learning, but as an adult we have often forgotten that voice.

It is said that we are the eyes and the ears of God. That God lives and experiences His creation through us. Let us assume that is accurate, then the question becomes, how he would do that? We all know there would have to be an intermediary. Some think that is the pope, some believe that Jesus Christ was the one, others believe in others, the Guru, or mystic. In each of us there must be an interface. Except possibly for Jesus Christ, who is believed to be the Son of God, whatever that might mean? For are we not all Sons and Daughters of God? So, are we not also the Divine Manifest on Earth?

For all the rest, they are no different to us. They did not have an extra limb, or an extra piece inside themselves that enabled them to become prophets, or mystics, or seers, or shamans. Some special spiritual pass that allows them to see what we cannot see. We all have the same brains, we all have a spirit that resides within us. It is about finding the pathways to that spirit, and practising the techniques that enable us to live in greater harmony with that part of ourselves, and using it’s prescience to aid us in our journey forward and onward.

In other words:

Either we strive to emulate human values, or we strive to to listen to the Divine calling.

Spirit exists as the interface between us and God, the intermediary that has both characteristics. However, your spirit has no mouth, so how does it speak? How does it communicate? Generally in images or metaphors, in hints and gentle nudges. And if you ignore its promptings, sometimes with harsh challenges. If you travel into the realm of the spirit, and it shows you water, we, in our culture will associate that with emotions. Now ask, is the water calm? Is it clear? How does it feel? From that we retrieve the information.

Once you meet your spirit in all consciousness. Once you become more familiar with its geography of space i.e., topology, you can enter into deeper conversations and interactions. It brings you closer—which means more aware of— to your spirit.

The gifts that you will receive, will affect your daily life immensely. Even just the gift of having and knowing of a safe place inside yourself. Plus the knowledge that you are now closer to spirit, that you have some pathway to interacting with another, more mysterious aspect of yourself. It will give you strength, courage, and support to walk through the difficult things in your life. It can even guide and advise you as necessary. It can illustrate trends, show you the result of what you have placed in your future. It will aid you in the creation of your life, which is your future too.

Chapter 6: Safeties

6.1. Entities

In the language of the shaman, there are entities that roam the middle world, who will, if they can, attach themselves to a spirit. They are minions – not messengers nor demons – of the force of evil. They do not have their own power, for in order to become servants, even such minor ones, of the dark lord, they will first have to have denied the Creator, the Holy Spirit, the Source of everything. They have turned away from God, and live in perpetual darkness, not having their own source of power. They can only exist parasitically, by feeding off those that have gained or are repositories of the light.

Like heat-seeking missiles, they roam around looking for opportunities to attach and enter the sphere of existing beings. You are one of them, whether you are aware of that or not. They will try all sorts of tricks to get in and gain purchase on such a living expression of the Source.
One of their tricks is hidden in the chemical that addicts you. In the shaman world, it is not the addiction that is the problem, it is just the manifestation of a spiritual maladjustment, that, simply, has let an entity gain hold of your soul and is now feeding of your light.

Disease is the same thing. The cancer or virus only being a material manifestation of the spiritual event. The caveat if that is to be part of your soul's experience, according to the Will of God, so it will be.

This makes it necessary to enter into their world, and finding them, remove them from the your energy field. Now, this doesn’t release you from the responsibility of the doing you need to carry out in the real world. Like stopping to take the drugs, or eating well and exercising, or taking pills to eradicate the virus.

So beware of being seduced by one of these attractions. As is said, “Satan dresses up as an angel, and comes to inflict his temptations upon you.” It is the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

As a side note, one might ask then, how do I tell if it is a demon or an angel if the demon can masquerade as an angel? That is where we talk of discernment, something you will get better and better at practising once you embark on this way of exploration and growth. But, you do know, you “feel” or intuit. You have a knowing. We just ignore it in real life, and pay the consequences later on.

There are certain protocols to ascertaining whether this entity that has appeared is for your good or not. One of the principles of this realm is that the entities cannot lie. They can trick you, but it is up to us to ask the right questions.

The entity will reveal itself in the spirit world if you just ask – but truly ask, and are willing to receive the answer – it will tell you. Simply ask: “Are you who you really say you are?” or just pray “I am sacred space. In the name of the Creator who is the source of all beings, who created me perfectly only to serve and give pleasure to Him, if you are of my energy and beneficial to me, remain. Otherwise, I ask you, in the name of the Most Holy of Holies and my sacred space, leave now.”

“I am sacred space. As such nothing can diminish me permanently. I am perfect, whole and complete. In fact, I am more than I could ever believe or imagine.”

6.2. Reason for discipline

Inevitably, the reasons for discipline remain the same, wherever and whenever we encounter them, as long as the goal is not ultimately to gain or hold power over others. Even in collaborative situations, there needs to be some discipline, some constraint, as that is the only way to meld everyone.

Here, however, in the pursuit of greater knowledge of the spirit world, discipline is needed for a number of reasons. The first being so that the left brain is utilised and thus not going to begin to question the process, but instead will be occupied with maintaining the form and continuity of the experience, until it voluntary submits. This is done by engaging it in remembering and being in charge of the definite steps of the process. Making sure you keep on the correct path, in the correct manner.

This discipline is further required to “keep you on the beaten path”. Not to dally, not to get distracted, whether by dramas or by other attractions. The analogy is of a family living in near the forest, whose child needs to pass through this forest on her way to visit her grandmother. The girl would be told, very clearly, to keep to the path, and not to be distracted by anything or anyone, never to be enticed to leave this path, for her own safety. Now, when we think of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, we all agree to the sensible directions given her. Who wouldn’t?

It is the same for the initiate into the ways of the spirit. There are laws and rules, there is a discipline that needs to be practised. Those who do not practice it, or are lax in following these rules, will increase the chances of something not beneficial happening. It might only be that the journeyer becomes distracted by some occurrence, and that will be the place where they expend much of their energy and their time.

As some believe regarding reincarnation, where each one of us has a spiritual purpose to perform. Now we can be distracted for lifetimes, with dramas, or suicides or any number of energies, and we will return again and again, until we find our way back to our true path. Then we will advance to the next level. There is no time constraint as far as God, the Infinite Being, is concerned.

To include another reason for the discipline, I will use another analogy. When setting out on a journey to uncharted lands, over the sea, one wants to be sure that one has a sturdy and well-built vessel. This is the result of the discipline. Thus it is with these journeys.

6.3. Reason for guides

Continuing the analogy of a journey — which is after all accurate, as we are discussing the “Art of Journeying” — upon arriving at the foreign land, our first task would be to find a guide. One who is conversant with the culture and behaviour of the new place we find ourselves. He will be one who can speak the language of the nature, one who can help us differentiate between the real deal and the scammers or “malurgies” as they are known locally.

Thus, in the beginning of journeying, we will need to find our guide. Hopefully he/she/it will be our chief guide, the one who forms our true compliment in the spirit world. Even if we find a lessor guide, one that fits our particular situation, it is necessary to have one. As you can well understand, to sally forth in this foreign land would be folly without some help from the locals.

6.4. Intention

Before deciding to begin this journey, it might be necessary to investigate your intentions. Why do you wish to learn about this? Why do you want to journey? What do you hope to gain? What is your purpose?

Here we once again look at the two aspects of journey, mainly for psychological reasons or for spiritual gain. There is also the entertainment value, and that of being “cool”. Spend a moment checking into what is going on inside yourself, and what it is you would really want or need from such a sojourn into your spiritual world.

If it is to heal yourself from your agoraphobia, then the approach might be different. If you want entertainment, then there are other methods of entry that might be more beneficial.

Essentially, we feel that this method has many great benefits, not the least of which is to bring your spiritual and material beings together, for better and closer communication.

6.5. Integrity

The only real tool you bring with you into this realm is your authenticity. How much you are present and aware within it, so will you reap the benefits. It is like a dance, or any venture, the more completely you enter it, the more beneficial are the results. Dance has been described as a process of assembly and disassembly. How completely you disassemble from the previous position to the new one, will affect the new position you move into. If you carry baggage or residue from the prior stituation to the new one, the new place will not find its true expression, but will be tainted with the old one. As is well known, the only way you can do that is by completely letting go of the previous incarnation.

As with any venture, when you are forging into new territory, when you encounter some unexpected challenge, and have no prior history to base your judgement and decisions upon, you have only your inner knowing, your intuition, to rely upon. The more you atuhentically you are able to judge it, the more likely there is to be a positive outcome. However this could be influenced by a buy-out, or a war breaking out, or a death or retirement or any other event, possibly beyond your control.

In the real world, there are many unknown variables and influences that could affect the outcome. Many more, I believe, than in the spirit world, which is ruled more by love and harmony. In the journey world, however, there are less external variables, for it is mainly your world. There is no death, no money. Though there is strife and elements that work against you. If you feel that it doesn’t fit, question it. The spirit world is ruled by truth and authenticity. That is, "Ask, and you shall receive". Ask “are you my guide?” and you will get the answer. If the answer doesn’t satisfy you, ask again. If it still doesn’t, then send the entity away, “Begone!” As I said, there are laws that govern this space, yet they are different.
Though it is based on a Created world, with certain rules and laws, as does all creation, and you have to take those into account. A Power greater than you or I has decided certain events, and we are powerless to prevent those. But this journey will give us an inkling of what elements are invovled in that event, and will give you a clearer picture of what is yours and what is ordained.

You need to notice everything and pay attention. There is nothing that should not be there or can be out of place. However, check and recheck the authenticity of everything. Ask and ask again, and listen to your inner promptings – which, in this scenario is often your guide – and especially in the beginning when still a novice. Do not be an escape artist, and go for what seems easy or pretty. Go where you need to go, and accept the challenges of what comes. There are parts of this experience that might be scary. Do not avoid them, but neither seek them. Many of the challenges you will encounter are of your own making. The others are sent to test you, to challenge you, to help you to grow and develop so you may better tread your true path. They are another aspects of God’s love for His creation.

The most attractive aspect of this world is the power you can gain. But be most careful of this. Power corrupts. If it is your power however, accept it – it is yours. Perhaps you need to learn more about it, but beware of offers of power that do not seem right, or ask you to break the laws of the spirit, or make you feel uncomfortable. If is not yours then it means that you might be stealing it from somewhere or someone else. For this there will be Divine retribution, when the being that you have taken the power from comes to collect it, or the debt. It might also just be that others of power need/want the power and you happen to be standing in the way.

In the real world, either you have more firepower than the opponent or not, and that decides the outcome. There is some of that in the spirit world, and it is not pleasant. There is also the natural way of this world that will bring everything in balance. For instance, when the other entity reclaims its power, what will happen to you? I could fly and built my dream world around my flying. Now I can no longer fly! What do I do now? I have to start again and recreate my whole world.

6.6. Permission.

As a final note on behaviour, always ask permission. And, once again, listen to the answer. For example, the first time I did a firewalk, we assembled outside close by the fire. During our preparation, we could see the fire, we could feel its energy. When the time came to walk across the coals, we were to ask permission of the fire and listen to its answer. If it was “NO”, we were to ask, “Why not?” for there was a lesson there. If it said, “Yes”, we were then to ask ourselves if we were ready to walk. Again listen for the answer. So it is in the spirit world which we were entering.
The gift/learning that results is that only matter can burn, and the more in-spirit (in-spired) I am, the more walking the coals would feel like walking on velvet.

6.7. Gratitude.

Always show gratitude, and be thankful to whoever or whatever has helped you.^[12]

It is the story of someone who goes to sleep. Each night she is transported to another realm. In that realm amazing things happen. She goes to a psychologist to deal with it. He gives her entheogens. Through these chemicals, she enters other realms. She goes to a therapist to seek help dealing with this. Finally she goes on a journey to seek a guru or mystic that can help her. Through this discipline, she learns to travel to that world and begins a dialogue and interaction with them. They are the spirit world.

Chapter 7: Process

7.1. Continuation

This chapter is for those of you who have found a teacher who is willing and able to introduce you to this method of travelling to and from the spirit world. Once you have read this book, hopefully you will have a clearer idea of what Shamanism is and how it is practised. You should also have garnered some intuition and information regarding the spirit world and the art of journeying to this other world.

We have purposely left out specific instructions on the methodology that we employ, just as a precaution. We believe, nay know, already of the existence of this so-called spirit world. We have journeyed there many times, and carried out many tasks therein. We also believe firmly in correct preparation. It is advisable, even necessary, for you to find a facilitator or teacher who can take you along this path, and keep an eye on you to ensure that you are safe and well-directed, before venturing off on your own.

Many of us fall into using this discipline as a psychological tool, as we have mentioned before. That is part of the training and guidance that your facilitator will provide. To ensure you stay on the path, and do not wander too far from the goal. That you maintain your discipline. That you clean up and deal with the issues that present themselves in the proper manner. Else you will begin to carry out your own willy-nilly stuff in this space that has an large and important influence on us in our daily lives.

7.2. Guide

You will encounter your guide, if not the first time, shortly thereafter. Your spirit guide can manifest in many guises, usually human or humanlike; but often in animal form, sometimes with a human face. Make sure he, she or it is your guide. Simply ask “Are you my guide?” The entity is required to answer. If it does not give you an answer, or if it's answer is unclear either it will remove itself, or you will need to banish it. Sometimes it will morph into something else, or there will be a shimmering effect, or a sudden feeling of discomfort. Pay attention to all of these.

Once you have found out what your guide's name is. Remember this name and do not tell anyone. I cannot stress this point enough. No-one, not your spouse, or lover or parent or child.

Then you can ask what has it has come for, and what its purpose is. Listen to the answer with your heart. If it is not what you want, or you do not feel comfortable with it, then tell it. You can discuss it, even deciding on some other, more appropriate. task.

Having ascertained that this is your guide, and the form that she has appeared in is not working for you, just ask her to change into something that is more amenable for you. For instance, one person’s guide appeared as a huge phoenix. That was unworkable, so she asked him to change into something smaller. He reappeared in human form.

If you have a gift for your guide, now is the time to give it. Perhaps she has one for you as well.

If you do not encounter your chief guide, do not fear, just persevere. Ask for him or her again and again. If there is no response, your trainer will know what to do, but actually, if your guide does not appear, it would mean that you are doing something to prevent its appearance, and you will know, if you look deeply and truthfully into yourself, what it is that is preventing its manifestation.

A point to make here is that we are surrounded by a loving universe. Essentially it is here to give you whatever it is that you truly desire and need. We think the universe is unloving, because it is not giving us what we want: “You can’t always get what you want, but you always get what you need...”

God’s love is very apparent in these moments. If you ask, truly ask and clear your heart of all else, and really desire to meet your guide, she will come, guaranteed. If you ask a question in the spirit world, the truth will be revealed to you, unless you do not want to hear it. If you ask someone or something if they have come to harm you or to help you, they are required to answer truthfully.

One could say that the world we live in is full of lies, however, the spirit world is full of truth.

When you are ready to return, and must leave this land where your spirit guide resides, always remember to thank it, even hugging, before parting.

Your guide is literally that. Think of it as a journey to a foreign land, one in which you are not familiar with the customs, nor the language, nor even the spirits that inhabit that place. You cannot imagine living without time and space, without your body, and your constraints. This guide, who is also you, existing in another world.^[13] It appears, or rather, should we say, is now acknowledged by you who has forgotten that you came from the spirit and embodied your self in a soul and a body, in order to your work here. If at any moment you are unsure about what is occurring or you feel you need some aid, just ask her for help.

7.3. Guide (cont…)

However, the first thing you do once you have cleaned out your space, is to invite a “Guide” to enter. You call this guide. It is a simple process by which you call it. You just say “Guide of mine. Come to me.” Three times you can call, and if a guide appears, you need to check it out. This guide can be a person, or an animal. It could even be an insect. If a guide does not appear after the third call, you do not call again, but wait until your next journey into the spirit world to call. Eventually a guide will arrive.

You need to make sure that this guide appears from either your right hand side, or from the front, but never from the left. You also need to make sure this is a guide of yours, and not some shlurper that has answered your call. In order to do this, firstly use your intuition – in feeling how this guide feels to you. If it feels good and right, then continue. If not, and there is any discomfort or doubt, then banish this entity and tell it to go and return to its source. Amazingly enough, you will see how easy this is, and it will immediately exit your safe place. Just make sure, by checking around, that it is not hanging about outside. You can check this by just feeling around you, using your imaginal powers. You will be gratified as to how empowering these processes are.

Look your guide in its eyes. Make sure it looks back at you with a steady gaze. Just as when you would meet someone and would feel a little discomforted if they refused to look you in the eyes.

This is something that you have to remember. If you are going to interact with this imaginal world, this spirit world, you have to remember that it is, for all intents and purposes, as real as this world. You need to relate to it accordingly. Although you might encounter amazing things there, and some astounding events might occur – such as being able to fly, or being able to change it just by willing it – if you do not relate to it as real, you will soon encounter problems. All the criterion that you use in this world to live a decent life, you need to apply in this world. The eye contact with your guide is an example of this.

It is amazing how many people will explore this realm – either through heart-based, lucid journeying or through entheogenic, and medicine plant journeys. Yet not relate to what occurs and what is dealt with there as real.

For instance, I know of someone who runs Ayahuasca journeys, then extracts entities for the participants, and throws them into the middle of the hut where everyone is journeying. Now, if he believed those entities to be real, and to have a certain amount of power – which they obviously do – why would he leave them in the middle of the room? Would they not just seek another host to suck of and do their mischief on?

Once you have a guide, you can begin to do your work.

What is the purpose of this guide, and who is he? Well, our guides are simply expressions of our higher selves. They are that part of us that exists in the higher, or other, realms. They know better how these things work. If you like, you could call them higher dimensional beings, and as such have a better view of things then we do. Before doing anything, ask their advice. If you get into trouble in this world, they will help sort it out.

Once, when I was still learning, I had done a journey and returned to this world. My teacher, Lyn Spirit Eagle, asked me whether I had closed the door to my safe place. I realised I had forgotten. She ordered me to immediately return there and close it. I descended to my safe place, and found that it had now been invaded by a horde of black energies. It was quite overwhelming and frightening. I called my main guide, who happened to be an angel. We had been working together already for a little while, and he was always quite pleasant and easy. Upon my calling him, he arrived, large and extremely powerful and attacked this wave of place energies that had entered my safe place. I was awed by his power and the determined and absolute manner in which he took them on and fought them head on, eventually sweeping them away and clearing my safe place. It was quite an eye-opener for me and gave me a real appreciation and wonder for this angelic energy that I had called into my field.

Once you have determined who your guide is, you can then ask any question you want – and he may or may not answer.

Every time you enter your safe place now, you can invite him in. Especially if you have work to do down there. Later we will speak of what the concept of “work” in this world means.

7.4. Same way ALWAYS.

Whenever entering or leaving this world, you need always to do it along the same pathway. However you entered, thus you shall leave—“Dust to dust, ashes to ashes”. You enter according to the way according to the method you will have been taught. The path to your safe place from this world, and from your safe place to this world will always be the same path.

The elements of the path may change, in that you could be traversing it at night, or during the day. You could be travelling there in winter in the snow, or summer with everything green and bright. There could be times when there are lots of going-on’s on the path and then other times it will be an easy transition. It will be the same path way, just like you can recognise the road from here to there that you have travelled many times, even in the different seasons and the differing conditions.

Once you have been in your safe place, and you are called to do other work, or explore other places, you may do so, but not before consulting with your guide. Once your safe place has become comfortable enough in this other world, you may begin to explore whatever is needed in the infinite space around you. However, you will return to your safe place before leaving.
Remember to thank your guide, and to close your door before bidding adieu From your safe place you will return the same way you came in.

7.5. NEVER

Never, never, never intrude on someone else’s space.

In dreams, this often seems to happen. People we know will appear in dreams, and act strangely, or we will find ourselves being able to read their thoughts, etc. This is acceptable.

However, only those that work for the dark force, will actually enter someone else’s space without their permission. It is a true violation, an egregious trespass. Immediately upon finding yourself in someone else’s dream, “Leave”, for you know not what you do.

7.6. Mentor

The actual method by which we enter the other world has not been divulged in this book, though many descriptions of these journeys have been given. This is a conscious omission. We firmly believe that it is necessary for anyone wishing to continue to practice this art of journeying, will need to find a mentor with whom he or she can work. We stress that, not that it cannot be done alone, it is not meant to be done so. It needs a community, those that can keep an eye on one another. Barring a community that is disciplined, you will need a mentor. Think of your mentor as your earthly guide. For it seems that we can misinterpret what the spirit, not being in time and space and the material world, is trying to say to us, and we will and can make some miscalculations, in our translation into the mundane course of our lives.

Your mentor will act as a teacher and guide. She will also be your spiritual brakes. Think of it as a puberty ritual. Where the child is led into a deeper spiritual place by taking herbs. Would we not want our child to have a guide who can hold and direct her if she needs it?

It is also easy to enter into communication with your other selves, and then begin to scoot off and not maintain your energy on this plane. That is why the sages said we need to be firmly rooted before we can take on a task such as this.

In addition, there are many tricksters out there, and though your guide will and can help, there are some things he or she is unaware of. For it being a place of truth and transparency, if you only ask, you shall receive. However, if you are not being fed by your conscious actions and placements of yourself, then you are being controlled by unconscious urges, and thus become easy to manipulate and subvert. It might seem benign to you, though you did not ask the right question as you were not even aware that there was a necessity for it at all.

7.7. Discipline

If there is a general desire for a continuation, then there are certain exercises that will need to be maintained for a period of time, until the student is ready to continue on his or her own—besides all the requirements and discipline that needs to be maintained in the journey itself.

This is to create certain pathways in the brain and the body that will enable the student to begin to travel to deeper and more important and/or necessary parts of herself.

7.7.1. Regular journeying

You will be required to journey at least twice a week for at least six months, and perhaps longer, depending on aptitude.

7.7.2. Journaling

It will be necessary to write a report and keep a journal of each of these journeys. This will be handed in to your mentor, if not reported verbally. Your mentor will then respond to the report and guide you further.

7.8. Stop

You may, of course, stop your training at any point. In fact, if you hit a patch that you cannot make it through, we will encourage you to stop, unless you still have the calling. We realise it is easy to hit psychosis, even with guidance. We each have our tolerance level and need to decide what we wish to carry.

It is like climbing a mountain, not knowing where the paths are, the weather patterns, or being fit enough. Yes, it is pretty enough, the view is wonderful. The birds and the trees are lovely, but you can get lost and cold.

Chapter 8: Theory (* Todo)

We will discuss some of the theory that exists behind much of what we have just said about order and chaos, constraint and creation.

8.1. The Brain

Before we foray into the more esoteric aspects of this practice, let us take a look at our brains. This is the interface between the two worlds. It is the place of crossing over. We can only be conscious of something occurring and report back on it, if the brain has managed to cognite the information.

You feel pain in your toe. It is your toe that feels the pain or your brain. Is it that you have a sensation in your toe and your brain becomes aware that it is painful? We forget that everything that we are conscious of, everything that we express has to come through our brains. Every emotion we feel produces chemicals in the brain.^[14] Everything needs to pass through the brain to be reported.

Neuro-peptides have been called the molecules of emotion. Everything that passes through the brain needs to be mapped. We forget that to contain information, we need a state of higher order than the original one. The information needs to have inherent in it a pattern of some nature that we recognise. In other words, the information exists in a state that is separate from the original one – otherwise how could the information be “extracted” or recognized? If we are feeling some emotion, the brain will need to be in an “altered” state from the one that it is in when not feeling this emotion.

These neuro-peptides can be stored in the body and later retrieved to extract the information. Thus we can embed an emotion in the body by storing it there. On the other hand, we can let go of it by releasing it from the place we have stored it and “clearing our memory”. That is analogous to the action of forgiveness.

Taking a step back, we know already that the brain consists of its left and right hemispheres. We know that the left hemisphere is concerned mainly with the rational areas of our beingness and the right contains the more image based, creative and intuitive functions. It is known that the left brain controls our analytic functions, and is the part of the brain that we use for our day to day life within our culture. It is the one that controls our interactions with this culture. It enables us to communicate with one another, being the overseer of words and language. It is the area of logic and mathematics. Detail orientated, it likes facts that can be comprehended and then record what it has realised. It recognises order and patterns and strategises—in a very “practical” manner, and likes to be safe. In other words it is (consensus) reality based. The metaphor is that it is comfortable, nay needs, to live in a structure with all that it needs to maintain the integrity of this structure.

The right side of the brain, on the other hand, deals with spatial abilities, recognition of and creation of visual imagery and music. It exists in the realms of feeling, using imagination and symbols and metaphors to describe these spaces. It enjoys philosophy and religion, living in the field of belief and fantasy, seeking the big picture. It has the ability to “get it” immediately, consisting of deep insights and intuitive flashes. It thus is more impetuous and willing to take risks. It deals more with the present and the future.

A good example of this is if we look at a circle. The right side sees the image, and associates it with the sun, the moon, the earth. With the cycles of life and seasons. The left side will see it as “x2 + y2 = r2” which is the derivation of the equation of a circle. It also illustrates for us the difference between the image “[image of circle]” and the equation, analogous to the right and the left brains. We could extend that to say that algebra is more left-brained and geometry is more right-brained.

When we journey, we enter the realm of the right brain. We investigate the metaphors and images that it has collected in order to understand the deeper currents in our lives. As we know, images can contain huge amounts of information, as the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand worlds” so aptly expresses.

Lyn...

That is also why we need to be careful when we access the spaces, and the portals, that are held in the right brain. People have been known to haemorrhage, due to overheating of that side of the brain. As we said before, to contain, or even to communicate, information requires excess heat. If too much is released too swiftly, it will cause the communication channels to overheat and thus “burn out”. This has occurred to people who take entheogens, or have undergone some other overwhelming experience. It is similar to what happens to an electric circuit which becomes overloaded. The basic information is contained in light, and frequency modulations.^[15] This provides us with a similar on/off mechanism as is used in computer communications

8.2 Pathways in the brain.

How do we make the pathways in our brain? By repetition. Through anything we do over and over again, or anything we think again and again, or an attitude we hold onto. It is through training that we create these mappings. Thus, if we want to change our attitude, or rid ourselves of a habit, we need to go through a period of discipline, of retraining, of repetition.

This lays neural pathways that the brain will remember. Just as one exercises a muscle or muscles for a particular task, whether it is the artist training the muscles in her hand, or the athlete whose muscles have been trained for speed and power. Once these neurons have been organized, we can access these pathways at will – until we forget again, which occurs generally as a consequence of disuse. Though that is not always the case. For instance, once you have learned to ride a bike, you never forget.

A good example of this is that anyone that has taken an entheogen a number of times, will be able to access that space without taking any stimulant. This is known as a contact high. If you have never tripped, you are less likely to be able to recognise the information when it comes to you via a second party. But if you are familiar with it already, you will be more likely to be able to get a contact high.

It is the same for those who encounter a guru. When they are ready, they will understand the teacher’s message and be changed forever. If they have not been practising their craft, they will not recognise the teacher so profoundly. It is the same principle here. If you have been meditating constantly, been praying a lot, often walking with God, then you have already experienced that particular high. If you have not been doing that, you will be less likely to have an empathic reaction.

Last example, if are an artist, and you are accomplished, you know the high of being in the painting, in the energy of creation, working with God. However, if you are a bad painter, or an untrained artist, you will have experienced that feeling less often, and perhaps, it is a race between ecstasy and defeat.

Journeying is a right brain activity. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the left brain, otherwise you will suddenly find a couple of monkeys on your back, disturbing you with their intrusive thoughts. You will be questioning and holding onto outside thoughts. The only way to be in it, is to be in the here and now. To be present with what you are doing. You need silence in the structure to be able to recognise the subtler energies.

Thus we provide a structure, a certain method, a pathway that is the domain of the left brain. It now has something to do. It is occupied with keeping you on the path, recognizing details, focusing on the method, and keeping you on track. Thus it is not annihilated, as is practised by many sacral forms. The ingesting of the entheogens, the ecstatic dance, the angelic chorus is all to get you out of your mind, to quieten it. To remove it from the situation.

We know that a painter or dancer first has to have mastered her trade before she can begin to be really creative in her field. The mastering of the task is the left brained activity. In order to be fully engaged in it. first you have to overcome its doubts, and fears of “I cannot do it” or “This is too difficult” or “What’s in it for me?” or “My friends aren’t supporting me”. Then, once you have learned the technique, your left brain will be occupied and so the right brain can emerge. Thus it is with this particular technique.

8.1.1. Information

The purpose of these pathways, or mappings, is to hold information. It is a chemical representation of this information. We also know that it takes extra energy (and thus heat) to store information in a structure. In fact, we need an additional structure with its requirements to even contain the information.

Perhaps that is what cognitive dissonance really is. (Kabbalah) We need the container to store the information in. If we don’t have that type of container, the information will not register for it does not hang around long enough. It just passes through. For can you imagine how much information actually is ignored by your mind?

In the journey, you will be activating and accessing information that has lain dormant, or perhaps just been hanging around, like an untidy room waiting for the cleaner. It has not found its place yet. Almost like books that are lying around because they have not yet been filed on the shelves. Space hasn’t even been allocated them yet.

That is why we need space clearing as well. We have found that it is self organizing, once there is the space provided. We clear our space, both our inner and outer aura.

A warning is in order. Some people’s brains have haemorrhaged from this work. . Could be for one or both of two reasons.

1. Overflow: One is that there is so much information needing to be downloaded, that the pipe cannot handle it, and it bursts. It is as if the bridge connecting the two lobes overheats
2. Uni-directional: Information begins to flow in both directions. This bridge is used to one-directional flow, not bi-directional. This is due to the fact that both sides of the brain are trying to communicate and update one another at the same time. Having been built for uni-directional communication, its cells align themselves for that. At some point, it malfunctions due to the system being overrun by the extra demands.
3. No space: The information arrives – and remember at some stage it will be coming thick and fast, especially once things flowing – and has nowhere to go. It collides with the information that is presently being held in the space that it needs to be assimilated. That causes a splattering, a dissociative experience.
4. No vessel: There is space, but no container. It begins to pile up and become disorganized, fractious. This produces confusion.
5. Rejection: Just can’t handle it. One could say the vessel cracks. A part of you just says “No!”, and there is generally a shutting down and a fear. A resistance, that if it fails, will thus leave a crack.

It is about light energy and frequency. About being able to tune in to the vibrational kick that is provided. We have to learn to receive the light in a different frequency than our normal one. We have to acknowledge that we play a part in the light that emerges from the Source and are not just victims of some vengeful God.^[16]

Once you meet your spirit in all consciousness. Once you become more familiar with its land and arena, you can enter into deeper conversations and interactions. It brings you closer to your spirit.

Now you have a pathway to interacting with another, more mysterious aspect of yourself. It will give you strength and courage and support to walk through the difficult things in your life. It can even guide and advise you as necessary. It can illustrate trends, show you the result of what you have placed in your future. It will aid you in the creation of your life, which is your future too.

8.1.2. Attitude is altitude

Keeping in mind that what we are discussing here is a tool to add to your repertoire. Albeit a vital and extremely effective tool. As such, we need to spend some time making sure that you understand the importance of using the tool correctly. One could almost refer to it as a sacred tool, and, if not that, at least a chariot that enables one to travel to places inside oneself that have not been explored and have become chaotic and hidden due to the lack of attention and importance that our culture has placed around them.

The analogy here is one of a car. You could use your car in an utilitarian fashion, taking it a short distance up the road to the store. Or you could use it to travel somewhere further for an adventure. Both are using the same tool. Similarly, one can use one kitchen knife for cutting one’s vegetables, but it also can be used to cut someone. The intention behind the act is vital.

Therefore, it is extremely important at this stage to differentiate between using this shamanic journey and the underworld that we visit as a spiritual rather than a psychological tool.

As a psychological tool, it is similar to Gestalt therapy. Where, let’s say you were using this method to overcome your fear of spiders. You would imagine a spider. You could try to connect with something that happened in your life that is associated with a spider – like for instance, say an argument your parents were having. Or the time that your brothers locked you up in the old cupboard, and while you were in there, your only companion was a spider, which at some point you became scared of.

It can also be used to investigate patterns of behaviour that arose as the result of some trauma that occurred during your childhood – like incest or abuse. You would be taken to that time and lead from it to the present time, emphasizing the fact that you are now safe and grown up and no longer need to carry this fear.

You could also journey into your inner world, and spend many happy hours there, playing with your guides and your angels and generally become enamoured by all the performance that is constantly occurring in those spaces. You could become attached to all the internal psycho-drama you have created, and are continuing to create.

However, this is NOT what journeying is about.

This is not the purpose of what we are trying to achieve here. What we are hoping to achieve is a method to enable us consciously to enter into the other space in which we co-exist. Some call it the spiritual plane, some the other world, or the world to come. Others call it the underworld, the world of the spirits. What this requires underlying this method, is a disciplined practice. To enter in a specific way, to behave in a proscribed manner and to exit the same way. To pay attention (mindfulness) to all that occurs in that realm. This practice becoming something we need to practice in our daily life as well. The path of impeccability mentioned in Carlos Castaneda’s books.

Once we attain that, we seek our axis mundi, the still place at the heart of the storm, signifying the axis around which our being revolves. It is called the soul in many of our traditions. We could call it the heart of the soul, as we would speak about the heart of a storm. Therein we can begin to discover our true, our Zen selves, starting off with our spirit guide, who will mentor and guide us in our journeys in this, for the most part, unknown realm.

8.1.3. Conscious/Unconscious

Yes, it is about delving into the unconscious aspects of the mind, but in a proscribed and highly-effective manner. We spend most of our time in the light of the so-called rational. I emphasise the so-called, as the rationality that we uphold is often very limited in its outlook, as the rational, by its very nature, is detail orientated. It works within a closed system, with well-defined limits. It focuses on the small, on the apprehensible. In addition, often what we label rational is based on very flimsy, if not incorrect, information and understanding.

We are afraid to venture out into the darkness of the non-rational, of the intuitive, of the fully apprehensible. Into the world of images, and fantasy, into the night, where shapes look different in the shadows of the moon.

Yet both are necessary to maintain life, and, in fact, one another. We already know that to spend too much time in the endless day light of the Arctic circle can cause mental instability until we adjust to the discipline needed to survive in this environment. Everything needs its compliment. So often we ignore the promptings of our inner knowings until we reach a crisis point.

Only when we sleep do we spend time in that ephemeral space. In general, most of us do not even pay much attention to our dreams anyway. Thus we know that there is a whole lot of “other” inside ourselves, much of it disregarded in our modern, rational world.

Chapter 9: The Nature of Shamanism

Excerpt from "The Nature of Shamanism: Substance and Function of a
Religious Metaphor" by Michael Ripinsky-Naxon:

Moreover, the shaman's intellectual abilities are of real social consequence, particularly as they apply to issues involving the culture-environment system. Equipped with an impressive corpus of empirical knowledge (ethnoscience) and profound grasp of human behaviour, the shaman fulfils the vital role of a psychocultural adaptive mechanism, not merely as a healer of diseases, but as a harmonizer of social and natural dysfunctions and imbalance. In view of his ecological significance, the shaman's role as an agent in transcendental and existential realities tends to be underplayed by those who regard cultures as systems of more pragmatic and functional configurations. The importance of the latter two is undeniable in its own right; however, to de-emphasize symbolic (religious, spiritual, etc.) considerations is to fail in the understanding of the full integrative potential inherent to shamanism as a dynamic factor in the cultural process. Therefore, in a book, bearing the subtitle Substance and Function of a Religious Metaphor, the keynote should be, it seems to me, justifiably placed on the aspect of shamanism as a mythico-religious idiom rather than on its pragmatic ecological values.

The essence of sociocultural existence is centred around mythic imagery, which lends to human life an existential dimension. Pure, rational thought is no more an objective reality than the myths wherefrom such a concept is derived. Myths make up the fundamental responses to the basic human need for meaning. The need is an inescapable condition of human existence, pervading all areas of interactions: from techno-mechanical and sexual to highly symbolic and creative. In effect, myths often become cultural expressions for religious and ethical codes. At the same time, they are of paramount importance to the enactment of shamanistic rituals. Thus, many such rituals and the corresponding techniques, found all over the world, are validated by aetiological mythologies and cosmic paradigms. The significant place occupied by myths in the shaman's repertoire becomes apparent to anyone who has devoted some time to this subject.^[17]

9.2. From Lyn’s thesis: P16

Theories of sublimity (which were frequently concerned with ferocious emotional reactions), made intensity of aesthetic experience a matter of concern. Intensity became important during the eighteenth century with epistemologies conceiving that emotion and imagination—not conscious intellect—grasp that which is important to man and art. Redefining those epistemologies in this postmodern time, I bring forward the notion that while it is not intellect that brings forward the feelings of intensity, it is that we can be conscious of our intellectual process during the feeling of intensity.^[18]

9.3. Young Shaman

Following a period of instruction, the young shaman received his or her first drum. Rarely were the drum and baton received at the same time. The base of the drum was made of a special wooden hoop and was oval or circular in shape. The hide from a wild reindeer or a moose was pulled over the hoop. The main tool of shamans, the drum enabled the shaman to call spirits by means of sounds. The drum was not only a musical instrument, but it was also symbolic of the universe. The World (upper, middle, and lower), Sun, Moon, and many cosmological elements were depicted on it. Among the cultures of the Evenks, Kets, Sel'kups, and Nenets, the drum was associated with the reindeer, the riding of which enabled the shaman to go on journeys. The drum was the main helper of the shaman and was the symbol of his or her strength. This is indicated by the ritual of animating the drum.^[19]

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Footnotes

1. Perhaps those that have had an entheogenic experience? Our great entheogenic explorers, Ram Dass and James Alpert and Timothy Leary, all came to the same conclusion in the end. Entheogens are a means to an end. They can show you the portal, but it is necessary to for you to do the work to be able to consciously access the landscape that exists beyond these portals. ↩︎

2. Firewalk? Daniel in the Lion’s den! ↩︎

3. We seldom take into account the fact that if there is a greater context, and we live in a specific context that is different from the universal one, there must be some sort of border, or barrier, a skin almost that will separate the two realms. ↩︎

4. “Magic of the Ordinary: Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism”, Rabbi Gershon Winkler. ↩︎

5. "Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah" by Jonathan Garb. ↩︎

6. As a final footnote, it is necessary to point out the difference between Shamans and Sangomas – the traditional healers of Africa – who would be closer to what we refer to as witchdoctors. Healers who use alchemy and herbs and chants and incantations to appeal to the ancestors, gods and spiritual essences to heal the penitent. They also travel between the two worlds and use guides to aid in the healing though the template which they use is far different from the shaman’s, being more culturally tied and ancestor based. ↩︎

7. The Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Blavatsky's "Secret Doctrine" stands alone and unique in the field. It is further separated from later imitators by the couple thousand References. ↩︎

8. Unless we integrate and include sexuality in our work and in our ascension, we will not have cleared our karmic package, and this Leviathanic energy will rise up and control us somewhere else. It is part of what the Kabbalists talk about in their descriptions of the “rising via the middle pillar” in that they speak of our attracted, perhaps pulled, to one or another of the archetypal spheres of attraction on either side of the middle pillar. Once that happens, we become stuck in that energy, and have to work at getting ourselves out of it and back on track. That is partly the work of the shaman or healer. ↩︎

9. When practicing magic, you have to step back in order not to get caught in the cauldron, for either you will get sucked in, or you will get a piece of yourself stuck in the explosion, or event. ↩︎

10. I actually think that a merging of this type of work, with the more action/male orientated LifeSprings/Tony Robbins approach is necessary as well. The former does rectification on the inner plane, and thus provides guidance and clarity for the rectification on the outer – which is the latter. ↩︎

11. “Kabbalah and Consciousness” , Allen Afterman, p40. ↩︎

12. This and the last piece is so applicable to life as well. This is such a nice way to present it as well... I will work more on extending it, as an analogy for real life. In fact, I want that to be the tone of a lot of the book. ↩︎

13. Piece on the parallel worlds from SciAm. ↩︎

14. From “What the bleep”, the movie. ↩︎

15. see “Using phases in optic fibre communication”. ↩︎

16. Same as socially. It is about space. If you provide the space, they will self-organize. ↩︎

17. From: http://www.lycaeum.org/books/tradition/naturenaxon.html ↩︎

18. Religious experience as ecstatic. Romanticism -> ecstacy as pathway to God; or as a “proof” of “union with G-d”. ↩︎

19. From . Just a silly note on the fact that perhaps the silly notion of Father Christmas using the reindeer to pull his sled is another deep shaman ritual that was trivialized by the Christian movement. ↩︎