Introduction to Shamanic Journeys

Before we return together to soul retrieval I thought that it might be helpful to review shamanic journeys. This is an update to my post from 14 April 2012.  You don’t need to go back and read it because this post contains everything from my previous post and more.

If you have been reading along as I have posted about core shamanism you might be ready to try your first shamanic journey.  As I mentioned in a previous post, the big difference between a shamanic journey and a dream is that shamanic journeys are intentional.  Your intention guides you on your journey.  

I’m asked very often to distinguish between a shamanic journey, a dream and day dreaming. Unless you are doing conscious dreaming you have no control over what you dream about or what happens in your dreams (might write a future post about conscious dreaming, let me know if you are interested in the topic).  When day dreaming you let your mind wander.  Most people, when they take a shamanic journey, begin by using their imagination.  For example, when I journey to my favorite entrance I use my imagination to “walk” to the tree.  I use my imagination to “enter” through my portal.

My Favorite Underworld Entrance . . . Please Use It If You Don't Have One

Eventually, while imagining, things start to happen that I didn’t consciously imagine.  I recounted this experience in my best journey ever  about  my expectations and how I “saw” images that were different from what I expected.  That is a sign that Spirit has taken over.  Occasionally someone at a journey workshop will ask, “But what if I imagined everything?”  My response usually is, “Why did you image what you saw and not something else?  How do you know that Spirit wasn’t helping you select what to imagine.?” 

Another common concern that people have when they journey is, “What if I close my eyes and all I see is black?  I don’t see any images when my eyes are closed.”  Well guess what?  Many people, include me, have that experience.  I have learned to “see” in my mind.  I don’t “see” images, rather I know what is there as a thought and the thought creates a mental image.

Before the Journey

Before you begin your journey you need to do a couple of things.  First, determine the purpose of your first journey. To common objectives are to (1) explore the lower world just to get to know your way around, like how to get there and how to return, or (2) to meet your power animal.  The second thing that you need to do is to identify your portal.  I use an opening in the bottom of a big oak tree that is along a path where I frequently hike.  Your portal can be any opening into the earth, it might be a well, a lake, a waterfall, a cave, the roots of a tree, an opening in a wall  (see below) or you can borrow my opening at the bottom of the oak tree.  Don’t worry about the size of your portal.  You will not enter it with your physical body, rather your intention will lead you through the portal.

Portal in a Stone Wall

Your opening might be a place that you have seen before, once or many times, or one that you imagine.  I prefer openings that really exist in the physical world because they help me experience passing from one reality into another. I think that the best portals or openings are ones where you feel that the veil that separates one reality from another is thin.  The opening in the wall (above) is one that I dive through (it's less than a foot wide) so my imagination dives through it, not my physical body (which is a good thing because its about 30 feet to the ground on the other side of this opening).

Taking the Journey

At the end of this post you will find a short drumming video.  You might want to play it while you take your first journey.

1.    Lay down in dark, quiet place where you won’t be disturbed.  Get comfortable.  It may help to put a pillow under your head or knees.  You might want to put an eye pillow over your eyes.  If you don’t feel totally relax then tighten all of your muscles and then starting at your feet and working up to the top of your head slowly relax each muscle.

2.    Turn on a shamanic drumming track (you can download one from iTunes, get a CD of shamanic drumming, or check YouTube (I’ll post one later and will update this page with the link).   You can easily find 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes tracks.  I usually use a 15 minute track.  I suggest that you use a track or have someone else drum for you until you are an experienced traveler, then you can drum yourself.

3.    When the drumming starts then find your opening.  I usually take a few minutes and walk, in my mind, through the forest to my portal.  Go through your entry point.

4.    As you pass through your portal see or imagine that you have entered a dimly lit tunnel, hall way, or passage way.  The tunnel may be only a few feet long or it may go on for hundreds of feet, either way see or imagine that you can see a bright light at the end of the tunnel.  That bright light is the opening into the otherworld, the lower world.

Note:  Some of you may be able to close your eyes as see visual images that are as real as the world around you. Others, like me, close your eyes and “see” darkness.  Your ability to “see” images with your eyes closed is irrelevant.  If you can’t “see” in the dark, then imagine or “know” what is around you.  Some people don’t “know” or “see”, they may hear.  Use whatever sense seems to work best for you.

Don’t worry if you have to “imagine” to get things started.  Aristotle said that image is the language of the soul.  It’s alright to help your soul get started on this journey by using your imagination to image a new reality.

5.     When you enter your portal or opening  don’t try to go into the ground.  Our objective isn’t to see the dirt, bugs, or roots that are under the surface.  We are traveling to a different realm that we perceive as existing beneath the surface of ordinary reality.

6.     Once you are in the passage way take a few minutes to get centered.  Breathe deeply, relax and become familiar with the sensations or thoughts of being out of ordinary reality.  You might want to look around and notice the texture of the walls, the smells, the flow of the air, temperature, humidity and anything else that will help you get a sense of the place.  If your intention was only to go and return then once you have soaked in the sensations of the passage way, turn around and move back up and out of your opening.

7.    If your intention was to meet your power animal then walk to the end of the passage way into the light.  Look around a get a feel for the other world.  When I enter the otherworld I don’t find myself in a dimly lit cave under the earth.  I find myself in a different reality, a different world with bright light, sky, trees, rivers, and mountains. Call to your power animal and ask it to accompany you and to introduce you to the otherworld.  Enjoy your stay.

8.    When the drumming changes (usually the drummer will stop for an instant, and then change the drum beat to a very fast beat for about 30 seconds, and then takes up a slow and quiet beat.)  you have your signal to return to ordinary reality.  Ask your power animal to take you back to your passage way.  Power animals sometimes take you back, retracing your steps, to your passage way.  Sometimes they just point and say, “There it is.”, and sometimes they use my favorite way and transport you at the speed of thought back to the entrance to your passage way.  Return through the passage way up through your original opening and back into ordinary reality.

To summarize, here is a general template for lower-world journeys:

1.    Lie on the floor, cover your eyes and relax.

2.    State the intention of your journey.

3.    Begin the drumming.

4.    Find your entry point to the lower world

5.    Go through the entry point and into the passage way.

6.    Emerge from the passage way into the lower world

7.    Call to your power animal.

8.    State the purpose of your journey to your power animal.

9.    Let your power animal conduct you on your journey.

10. Return to the passage way when the drumming changes.

11. Go through the passage way, up and out of your entry point, and back into ordinary reality.

Drumming Video

You may play this video to help you as you take your first journey.  Please let me know if you would like me to record a long version.  Click the drum above to view the drumming session on YouTube.  

Here is a link to a blog about the drum that I built and which I am playing in the YouTube video.

Enjoy your first journey . . . more next time.