Shamanic Journeying

by Sandra Ingerman

  Relating to Your Helping Spirits

  Power animals, guardian spirits, and teachers are known as helping spirits. Sometimes your helping spirits will show themselves to you as tired or sick. It is important to remember that they are spirits—they do not get tired or sick. They might be role-playing your physical or emotional state. They also might be testing you to see if you will offer assistance or love to them. It is a show of loyalty and commitment to be nurturing toward them in light of all that they give you.

  Power animals and guardian spirits do not become jealous of each other. Sometimes in a journey you might see two of your power animals fighting. It is important to remember that they are spirits and when they show themselves in a journey as fighting with each other, they are most likely role-playing something going on in your life that you need to look at. Ask them what they are trying to communicate through their behavior so that you can receive the lesson that they are intending for you.

  It is important to find a power animal or guardian spirit you can trust who can be your guide through your adventures in non-ordinary reality and who can answer questions for you. If you see or feel a spirit and you are not sure it is a helper to you, you should avoid it, just like you would move around a reptile or insect you did not want to interact with while hiking in the woods. Journeying is very safe, and it is important to learn that you always have full control over where you travel and with which spirits you interact.

  Classically, shamans would merge with their power animals and teachers through ritual song and dance. It is considered a generous offering to invite our helping spirits to move through our bodies, as they are disincarnate and unable to experience the pleasure of physical reality themselves. This practice is a way for shamans to connect with the power of their helping spirits and to honor them by allowing them to “dance through” their bodies.

  I recommend that you explore how best to honor your helping spirits in your own way. In so doing, you will find that they stay with you for a longer time than if you were to ignore their presence and their attempts to help you in your spiritual life. One way to honor your helping spirits is to write a poem about them or draw a picture of them. Sometimes when I journey in non-ordinary reality, I bring my helping spirits a picnic basket and feed them. During one of these journeys, my intention is simply to give thanks, and I do not ask them any questions or ask for their help. This is my way of saying “thank you” for all of the help that they have given me during my twenty years of journeying.

  There is no cross-cultural agreement on the appropriateness of sharing the identity of your helping spirits with others. In some cultures, everyone in the community knows the identity of the protecting spirits of each person. However, I would suggest you journey to your helping spirits and ask them personally what they feel is best. I find some of my helping spirits say it is okay to share their identity with the public, and I write about them and talk about them in my lectures, but my main power animal has told me it is best to keep his identity to myself. On the other hand, it is sometimes beneficial to share the identity of your helping spirits in order to explain your spiritual practice to others, but I recommend that you ask for permission first.

  Power animals and teachers live in both the Lower and Upper Worlds. You can do exploratory journeys as part of your shamanic practice to meet different power animals and teachers in different levels of the Lower and Upper Worlds. Power animals and teachers can travel between all the worlds and can accompany you on your shamanic journeys wherever you go. You can also call them into the Middle World when you feel you need their protection or help.

  For example, let us say you are feeling nervous about going into a difficult meeting. With a clear intention, call to your power animals and teachers and ask them to be with you during the meeting to help guide you and diminish your anxiety. Or, if you are about to drive on the freeway and you are feeling nervous, you can call to your helping spirits and ask for their protection to help you get home safely.

  I use this technique a great deal in my day-to-day life. For example, I am a very nervous flier—and I spend a lot of time traveling on airplanes. When I get on the plane, I do a particular silent meditation to help me feel more at ease. I silently ask that all of my power animals, teachers, and helping spirits join me on the airplane to ensure a safe and smooth flight all the way to my destination. I also ask that the crew and other passengers’ power animals, teachers, and helping spirits come forward in order to create a safe and smooth flight for everyone. From a shamanic perspective, everything is alive and has a spirit—so I also call upon the airplane’s power animals and helping spirits to be present to ensure a safe flight.

  Our relationship with our helping spirits also provides us with protection from the common phenomenon of burnout. Energetically, when you come into close contact with other people, you can “pick up” their feelings and thoughts. You may even have someone “tugging” on your energy because they are in need of support or help. Shamanism gives us ways to be fully present with someone without taking on their suffering on an energetic level—which can lead to burnout as well as illness. In this situation, a classic shamanic practice is to silently ask your power animal or teacher to fill you up with power and strengthen your boundaries before you meet with someone who is in need. In this way, you are not open to the invisible exchange that occurs on an energetic level, where someone else’s material is transferred onto you. You can also use this method before walking into a crowded room or street in order to remain energetically intact.

  This technique of calling your helping spirits into the Middle World is not the same as beginning to journey in the middle of your day—or when you are engaged in your ordinary life. There are times when it is appropriate to journey and times when it is not. In fact, traditional shamans perform ceremonies and rituals before journeying and are very deliberate about when they choose to journey into non-ordinary reality to contact their helping spirits. People who cannot follow the discipline of deliberately entering and leaving non-ordinary reality are no longer practicing shamanism—they are entering the world of psychosis. People who are psychotic do not know what world they are in. In contrast, a shaman’s journey is always deliberate, purposeful, and intentional.

  You will find as you begin to practice journeying on a regular basis that the helping spirits you work with can provide you with all kinds of assistance. Of course you must take responsibility for the choices you make in your life. Your helping spirits will not do everything for you. However, you will find that they can truly support you as you continue moving forward on your soul’s path.

  Chapter 4: Preparing to Journey

  Traditionally, shamans created ceremony and ritual around their journeys. They only journeyed with intentionality and purpose. They took time to prepare themselves by singing and dancing in order to clear their minds so they could become “a hollow bone”—a true instrument for the power of the universe.

  When you are ready to undertake your first journey, make sure you have a clear intention and purpose for your journey. Even if you just want to explore the Lower World, Middle World, or Upper World, make sure that you are clear that this is your purpose. If you have a question in mind, repeat the question several times. If you just lie down and listen to the drumming without setting an intention, it is possible that you might have a powerful journey, although many people report that when they journey without an intention their journeys are fuzzy and disjointed. The key to all spiritual practice—whether it is shamanic journeying or meditation—is concentration. It is important to learn how to concentrate during your journeys and not to get distracted by mind chatter or the concerns of ordinary life.

  It is important for you to determine when the best time of day is for you to journey. You will need to experiment to find the times of day when you can concentrate the best—when you are fresh and your mind is clear, not when your mind is cluttered with a lot of details. Many people report that the best time for them to jou
rney is in the morning before they engage in their lives. Late afternoon is not usually a good time to journey. People often complain that their journeys are fragmented and confusing during this time of day. Some people prefer to journey right before they go to bed at night. I can journey at any time of the day for a client, but when I journey for myself, I tend to have the clearest journeys in the morning before I get pulled out of that quiet after-sleep space into my daily life.

  There is no one cross-cultural belief about what kind of diet best supports shamanic journeying. It is true that in many cultures shamans adhere to a special diet before they do certain ceremonies and healing work. You really have to explore what works for you in terms of foods that increase or diminish your ability to focus. Generally, I find that alcohol interferes with maintaining concentration and staying alert in journeys. Also, if you eat a heavy meal before you journey, your body will be focused on digestion and it might be difficult for you to concentrate and stay alert. Some people find that caffeine can help their concentration on a journey, although my experience has been that a little caffeine may help create clear journeys, but too much caffeine can “close the curtains” between you and non-ordinary reality.

  I suggest that you find a comfortable, quiet place for your journey where you will not be interrupted. Disconnecting your phone is a useful precaution to take. You can journey lying down or sitting up. Remember that you will have a clearer journey if you are alert, so you might not want to get too comfortable or you might just fall asleep.

  Once you have established your spot, you may want to dance, sing, chant, or do some movement exercises to get the oxygen moving through your system. This will also open your heart and help you feel a sense of unity with all of life. Movement, dancing, chanting, and singing help to break down the egoistic barriers that can prevent us from having a clear journey. In addition, the spirits communicate with us through our hearts, and we “see” in our journeys through our hearts. So taking the time to breathe into your heart to allow it to open more fully is beneficial. I teach people who have a hard time concentrating during their journeys to focus on breathing deeply through their hearts, and people report great successes from adding this to their practice. So if you lose your concentration while you are journeying, or if you feel that you are not experiencing anything, make sure you are breathing through your heart. Keep repeating the intention of the journey and what you are asking for until your focus returns and you are back on track.

  One of the many definitions of shaman is “one who sees in the dark.” It is a lot easier to journey in total darkness. Therefore, some people close the shades and curtains to darken the room. You can also use a blindfold of some sort—such as a bandana, scarf, or eye pillow—to keep the light out of your eyes. Do whatever is most comfortable for you.

  Once again, take some deep breaths before you begin and during your journey to facilitate a clear experience. Then, before you start the drumming CD, clarify your intention. Repeat it to yourself as many times as you need in order to be focused and clear about the purpose of your journey. Visualize your starting place in nature through which you will leave to go to the Lower or Upper World. If you are journeying in the Middle World, visualize the doorway through which you will leave.

  Remember that you have complete control of where you go, whom you talk to, and when you return from the journey. Journeying is not like a sleeping dream where, unless you have studied lucid dreaming, you are not in control of what is happening to you. If you are having a nightmare, for instance, you are stuck in the nightmare without a way of ending it. This will never be the case during a shamanic journey.

  During a shamanic journey, you can choose to go to the Lower World, the Middle World, or the Upper World. You can choose to engage in conversation with a spirit or to move on. You cannot, however, choose what helping spirit volunteers itself to help you, although you can hold the intention that you want to meet a particular helping spirit that you have already met on a previous journey. Allow yourself to be surprised.

  The Role of the Drum in Shamanic Journeying

  Cross-culturally, most shamans use monotonous or rhythmic drumming to alter their state of consciousness when they journey. There are also traditions that use rattles, sticks, and bells. In Australia the shamans use didgeridoos and click sticks. The Sami people of Lapland and Norway use either drums or monotonous chants called joiking. The monotonous sounds generated by these instruments put the shaman into an altered state of consciousness, allowing him or her to successfully journey into the invisible worlds.

  Today there are scientific instruments that can measure brain activity during altered states of consciousness. When we are in an ordinary state of consciousness, our brainwaves are in what scientists call a beta state. However, when we listen to monotonous drumming, scientists have discovered that our brainwaves slow down. First they slow down to the alpha state, which signals the beginning state of meditation. Then our brainwaves slow down even more into a theta state. This is the brainwave state in which we do our shamanic journeying—where we can explore the invisible worlds and have contact with our helping spirits.

  It is possible to journey without a drum, although by making it a habit to listen to percussion or other music that helps you alter your state of consciousness, you will become more focused and disciplined in your shamanic practice. You may continue to receive spontaneous intuitive insights throughout the day, but it is important to create a routine within your shamanic practice. This ensures that your journeys are clearly separate from the rest of your day.

  Certain shamanic traditions include the use of psychotropic plants (hallucinogens), or what some people today call “vision plants.” There are many psychotropic plants that are native to the Amazon and other parts of South America that shamans use to heal or to help them divine guidance for their communities. There is also evidence that psychotropic mushrooms and other plants are used cross-culturally for these purposes. Of course, this is a controversial topic that has long been debated among anthropologists.

  However, since shamans have also traditionally used drums, rattles, and other forms of percussion in their journeys, I consider drumming and rattling to be the most effective, appropriate, and easily adaptable accompaniment for our culture today. As we continue to rely on the practice of shamanism to help solve the problems of our times, we must make sure the methods we use are appropriate and safe for people today.

  Although traditional shamans developed their own drumming rhythms to support their travels into non-ordinary reality, Dr. Michael Harner has found that using one drumbeat is the best way to teach beginners how to journey. Therefore, the enclosed CD uses one monotonous rhythm. During the first twelve-minute drumming track, I begin by doing some whistling and rattling for a few minutes, which will help prepare the space for you. Whistling and rattling is a way to call in our helping spirits. There are also longer drumming tracks that you can choose from: a twenty-minute double-drumming track and a thirty-minute single-drumming track. I recommend that you experiment with each track to see which amount of time feels the most comfortable for you.

  Making a Drum or Rattle

  It is easy to make a rattle using ordinary household materials. If you take some corn kernels or small stones and place them in a container, they make a great rattle. You want to work with materials whose sounds are pleasing to you and not harsh to your ears. I like the sound of corn kernels, and many of my rattles at home are filled with corn. However, in a pinch, I will use a bottle of Advil or a bottle of vitamins, whose sound is just as effective for supporting my journey. You can also go out into nature and find things with which to make your rattle or drum—in fact, anything can be made sacred with intention.

  If you do decide to buy a drum or rattle, you want to look for a sound that is pleasing to you and supports you in going into an altered state of consciousness. Some people like a low tone and some people like a higher tone. All drums and rattles sound different, so be sure to try them
out before buying them.

  Climate changes can dramatically affect the sound of a drum that is made from animal skin. For instance, humidity will make the drum skin loose, and you will not get a clear sound. Traditionally, shamans used a ceremonial fire to dry the drum when the skin would be too loose to produce a good sound. A modern solution is to use a hair dryer to dry the drum skin. If your climate is hot and dry and the skin tightens, the sound will be very high pitched. In this case, finding some way to humidify the skin is important.

  The drum I used for the drumming on the enclosed CD is a Remo drum, which is made out of FiberSkin. This type of material stays consistent in any climate. Since Remo drums are not made of animal skins, they are also suitable for people who have philosophical reasons for not wanting an animal-skin drum. Although my drum is made out of a synthetic material, it still has a strong spirit that truly comes alive when I am drumming.

  I recommend that you experiment with different rhythms and different speeds of drumming or rattling to see what facilitates the strongest journey for you. For instance, some people find that they need a slower beat, or else they feel as if they are rushing in their journeys. If you find a rhythm or speed that supports you better than the drumming I have provided, you can record your own drumming to use while you journey. I also suggest that you experiment with the differences between listening to the drumming CD using speakers or headphones. Sometimes people report that one or the other helps them drop into their bodies and focus more effectively.