Journey for Steve

This is a summary of a shamanic journey that I undertook for Steve (name and some personal details have been changed to protect his identity).  I held a video interview with him on Skype and then he completed and email consent and personal history forms to me (one page each).  We set up a time for an audio Skype session.  Both of us would be laying down with our eyes closed so a video Skype session wasn't needed.  Here is the summary:

Steve is a 45 year old, divorced male.  He was experiencing a number of symptoms including constant Headaches, slight sickness in stomach, abdominal pain with cramps, and painful urination. He reported heavy tobacco use, moderate to alcohol usage, and denied narcotic or recreation drug usage.  He reported to have good relations with both of his parents and his ex-wife.  He as a few friends at work but doesn't go out with them outside of work.  We enjoys watching sports but doesn't participate in any physical activities other than work (he is a machinist).

I undertook a journey for Steve and used a portal that I had recently discovered.  I start the journey walking alongside a stream, against the current.  Following the stream I come to a small, wide waterfall that hides the entrance to a cave.  By walking around the side of the waterfall I am able to enter the cave without getting wet.  Walking down the path in the cave I quickly see a opening through which light is streaming and walking towards the light I find myself in the underworld on a path next to another stream.  The stream is on the right with a field on the left.  A forest appears on the far side of the stream.

Today I was met, as is usual, by Raven and Bear.  Raven has been with me for as long as I have been journeying.  Bear appeared recently.  Bear usually gives me a hug when I appear and then drops to all fours and I place my hand on his neck as we walk together.  Raven usually does all of the talking.  I asked Raven where we were going and Raven responded, “Follow me.” so we did.  He led us around a corner where we found Steve sitting on a log in deep shade.  I could tell it was Steve, although he was more slender than Steve’s 220 pounds and looked like a man in his mid- to late 30s even though he is now 45 years old.

Raven flew around Steve a few times and then landed on my left shoulder.  I asked Steve who he was, expecting him to tell me that he was Steve, or at least part of him.  He responded with, “I am heart.”  I responded with, “You mean that you are Steve’s heart?” and he replied, “Yes, I am.”  I asked why he was here sitting in the dark when there was so much light in the field.  He explained that he hurt too much during a separation and decided to leave and the he felt best alone in the dark.  I told him the Steve needed him to come back and Raven started to fly around him again.  He finally agreed to return, I put my arm around his shoulder and we started to walk back to the tunnel.

I was thinking that this was really easy.  We seemed to walk for a long, long time, much longer than it had taken us to arrive to where Steve was sitting.  Finally Steve’s heart said that he was tired and that he wanted to sit down.  I looked and we were back at the same log, in the same place where we had started out together.  After resting for some time we got up to leave and started walking again.  This cycle repeated itself three more times with us always returning to the same place.  The fourth time that we returned to the same log I looked carefully at Steve and detected a dark shadow within his chest.  I reached my hand inside and pulled out what looked like a large, oblong, black balloon made of leather, roughly four inches in diameter and about a foot long.  The balloon was sort of moving and pulsating.  I reached into my bag and pulled out a knife and slit the bag open and a flock of hundreds of yellow butterflies escaped from the bag.  Steve looked up, saw the butterflies, and said one word, “Love.”

This time when we stood up to leave we were quickly able to arrive at the entrance to the tunnel, walk back to the cave and through, not around, the waterfall.  That water felt refreshing and cleansing.  The 30 minute drum track that I was using had just started the callback at this point.  I looked down and saw Steve, the physical Steve, lying on a blanket.  I took Heart Steve into my hand, he was now small and wispy, put him into my Native American Flute, closed all the flute wholes with my fingers and blew Heart Steve into Steve. 

Once again I thought that all had been accomplished when I saw Heart Steve sit up inside of Steve.  It appeared that the two Steves were superimposed on each other and Heart Steve was sitting up so that he protruded from Steve’s chest.  He looked at me and said, “I need the butterflies.”  I replied, “Of course, here they come.”, when all of the sudden hundreds of yellow butterflies streamed into Heart Steve.  When the last butterfly disappeared Heart Steve too seemed to melt back into Steve.  I noted that a yellow aura had begun to build around Steve with the arrival of the butterflies and then that it was quickly absorbed into Steve.  All of this happened so fast that the absorption of the yellow aura coincided with the ending of the callback on the drumming track. 

My analysis is that sometime during Steve’s separation and divorce he had lost the ability to love or feel love.  That left a whole in his being that he was trying to fill with other substances.  The return of Heart to Steve should fill that void and I expect, with that his other symptoms will start to fade away, as should his reliance on substances as substitutes for love.