Has anyone else already been writing 2016 when they write the date? I have now done it several times. Others have mentioned making this same error. I don’t know what it means, but it feels like we are rushing into the future at high speed. Everything is heating up, literally and figuratively.
These days we are relentlessly confronted with an overwhelming barrage of frightening crises both around the globe and at home. We often experience events as they are unfolding, and our protective capacity to distance ourselves is diminished. There is a great deal of fear, and people are feeling very vulnerable.
In these intense and unprecedented times, a valuable resource available to us is Shamanism, an ancient system of knowing and healing, the wisdom tradition of indigenous peoples. Wikipedia defines Shamanism as “a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world.”
Michael Harner, an anthropologist who founded the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, travelled around the world, much like Weston A Price, observing indigenous cultures’ Shamanic practices. Through this study, he distilled common principles and practices of Shamanism, shared by diverse cultures all over the world, from Siberia to Peru to Africa. He calls this body of knowledge Core Shamanism, a system designed for Westerners to apply shamanism and shamanic healing to their daily lives.
I recently had the privilege of hearing Michael Harner speak, and the opportunity to ask him if he believed that Shamanism has a role to play in responding to the crisis on the planet. He responded that people in the modern world do not believe that the Spirits are real. But that they are, and that if we ask them to assist us, that they are ready to help. He maintained that we should regularly consult the compassionate helping Spirits for guidance and use them as a resource.
It is indeed difficult to imagine that we are going to be able to avert planetary catastrophe on our own. The magnitude and scope of our problems are so vast and complex and the political will for international cooperation so feeble. That is why I titled this post, The Need for Shamanic Creativity in 2016. We need to collaborate creatively with the Spirits, to access wisdom from non-ordinary reality in order to solve our middle world problems.
The cosmology of core Shamanism describes three worlds, the middle world, which is our ordinary everyday reality, and the non-ordinary realities of the upper and lower worlds, all of which are populated with Spirits. Through Shamanic journeying, it is possible to access the upper and lower worlds, and to meet with compassionate helping Spirits, who can provide knowledge and spiritual direction.
Shamanic journeying is facilitated through closing the eyes and listening to rhythmic repetitive drumming (sonic driving) which entrains the brain and induces an altered state of consciousness without the use of hallucinogens. A person is taught to make contact with their own Spirits and to learn from them. This process can enable a person to discover hidden spiritual resources, facilitate healing, provide answers and access to needed information.
Last summer I attended a Shamanic Counseling workshop in Boston sponsored by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. The designation Shamanic Counseling is to my mind a misnomer, as it has nothing to do with counseling, but rather involves a methodology of teaching others to journey. Journeying allows an individual to travel “outside of time” and utilize ancient shamanic problem-solving tools. This fall I have been offering shamanic journeying in my practice to those who are interested, and everyone who has participated has had a profound and moving experience. Several patients received creative instructions about how to deal with stubborn habits of behavior and mind, which subsequently spurred them to make long overdue changes. Another person accessed surprising ideas and information for the historical book she is researching and writing. I have received innovative ideas and direction for my own creative projects through journeying. It’s a powerful and effective tool.
These are no ordinary times. There is an urgent need to think outside the box and to avail ourselves of multidimensional approaches to all of our dilemmas, personal and collective. The cardinal is a shamanic symbol of vitality achieved through the recognition of personal power. There is no time now to wait for someone else to do something. Each of us must become empowered to contribute to planetary healing in our own unique way. But we do not have to do it alone. The compassionate helping Spirits are close at hand, ready to be of assistance if we just ask for their guidance.
I love your work, Judy, and how open you are to ideas outside of conventional, logical realm. I too have been writing 2016, and you nailed it. Time is moving so fast.
I experienced what you described as journeying under hypnosis, I was shown pictures and given knowledge—assistance from the Higher Self and spirits. I can call upon this now, as I received my Reiki attunements. I give the messages to others, and teach them about doing it for themselves.
Indeed this is no ordinary times. I love that you mentioned planetary healing. If not us, then who? Thank you so much. A beautiful full-moon in homey Cancer Christmas and 2016 to you and yours. <3
Thank you, Sue and many blessings to you for the holidays and 2016. I think there are many different ways of accessing this non-ordinary consciousness which is so rich and offers us so much in the way of inspiration and wisdom. I am happy to have you on the journey with me as a kindred Spirit.
Hi, Judy,
This is a great post that really captures the essence of what makes shamanic journeying so powerful and promising as a strategy for helping heal the world through co-creative partnership in 2016 and beyond.
I have studied, practiced, and taught shamanic journeying and other techniques for increased self-awareness, creativity, and healing for the last 20 years. From that foundation, I vouch for all that you say is possible through connection with all the Spirit teachers, guides and totems of power waiting for us in non-ordinary reality.
I am grateful to you for offering this information and perspective to the world.
Thank you, fellow journeyers, for taking the time to read this and write. 27 people unsubscribed from my blog in response to this post. It’s an all time record. It seems that this perspective is polarizing. Either you resonate, or you really don’t.
I just read the comments here. Again I want to thank you for having the wisdom and gumption to stand up and speak outside the box. Very interesting that functional/integrative/nutritional medicine resonates, but if the same expert brings up the spirits, some people disengage. What you are doing here is innovative and holistic, addressing the whole being, which is our humanity.
Thank you, Sue. It does take courage. The same separation of church and state has been applied to medicine. It’s like medicine is just about the body as machine with no consideration of Spirit. It’s so misguided, as I believe that the Spirits are intimately involved in illness and healing. Writing about Spirits and Astrolgy is a recipe for losing credibility. But I care more about conveying the truth as I see it, and being inclusive of everything I think is important, than just writing about that which we have been conditioned to think is “real.”
Indeed. The Chinese have a saying, the frog at the bottom of the well –that little piece of the sky over the well is the frog’s whole world. There is so much we need to integrate.
What a great saying! I love the image. I love sayings. I know many in German that my father and grandmother used to say. I will definitely add that one to my repertoire. The situation it represents happens all the time, and I don’t know of any equivalent saying in English or German. Thank you!
27 people unsubscribed! Weird! I find non-ordinary things far more real than the ordinary.
This is a beautiful and inspiring post, Judy. I couldn’t agree more – these are intense times. We are offered the powerful help and guidance of Spirit and connecting with it magnifies our intentions and energies. Just imagine the impact of each of us in connection with Spirit! What possibility!
Thank you, dear friend, for reading and writing. I am so happy that you found beauty and inspiration in it. We are all in need of as much beauty and inspiration as possible at this time of terrible uncertainty and possibility.
Judy,
This is wonderful information and a great post. Thank you! I’d like to learn more about taking one of the workshops.
Thank you, Jeanne, for reading and writing. I think you would really love it. Glad to talk to you about it. Blessings for 2016.
Thank-you for another great post. I have attended Spiritualist church services and healing circles frequently over the years and use a pendulum daily to help guide me.
Thank you for writing. There are so many ways of knowing and navigating besides our 5 senses. And each person finds the tools that speak to them. We are all so unique.
I better understood and fully accepted myself at age 44, spring 2007 when I saw my astrological chart. Since my birthday is July 23 I grew up thinking my sun was in Leo. My sun is actually at 29 degrees Cancer in my 11th house, but my rising sign is 28 degrees Leo. My moon, within conjunction to the rising sign at 3 degrees Virgo in the first house is in exact conjunction with Uranus and Pluto is at 10 degrees Virgo. In chinese astrology, I was born in the year of the rabbit and the element of water. Sensitive, unique, and grateful to be serving my purpose.
Thank you Judy! Validating & reaffirming. Carol
It is certainly not the mainstream approach to problem solving. I appreciate that you took the time to write. It can feel lonely to have such a different perspective than the majority.