We always begin and end all prayers and rituals by thanking Them for watching over us and for guiding us in all our undertakings.
Medicine Wheel
The global concept of the sacred circle, which is the Sacred Hoop of Life, is found here also. The most common form of sacred circle amongst the First Peoples of the Americas is what is called in this culture the Medicine Wheel. A form of Medicine Wheel can be found in North America, the islands, and South America. It can be made of stones or simply drawn onto a ceremonial object. For many of the northern nations, it is commonly represented as a circle with at least two lines intersecting through the center. For islanders such as the Taino, it was simply a ring of twenty-eight stones with no lines going through the center.
The Medicine Wheel holds many spiritual teachings, and one of them is a foundational belief that to Walk the Red Road, one must be practical in both spiritual and physical aspects, which is why the ways of this path are very natural and simple. It is because of this belief that the Medicine Wheel acts both as an actual physical calendar of the natural world and also as a representation of the Great Spirit, people, and all beings of the natural and spiritual world.
Connecting with Nature and All Our Relations
Part of being a shaman is consciously walking in both the physical and spiritual worlds at all times with as much Balance as possible. One of the most important relationships you can develop is with nature. It is part of learning the practice that all things are connected. In all the traditions that I learned from, all of them emphasized being constantly aware of how the physical and spiritual realms interact and touch each other. Growing these relationships needs to be done on a daily basis and not just when you are journeying to the spirit realms.
A major step in reconnecting with Earth Mother and All Your Relations is spending time in nature. The steps of cultivating a relationship from a mere acquaintanceship to a deeper friendship and beyond are very similar here. Spending quality time daily in a place where a living element of nature can be found is critical for this sacred connection to develop. If you live in the city, parks or places where there are some potted plants and water fountains are where you can connect with nature. It is important also that you gaze upon the sky to make your connection with Sky Father.
Although it is preferable that at least some of these locations be outside in order for you to deepen your connection with nature, it can still happen inside of a building, but your progress will be slower. What matters is directly connecting with the elements of nature so that your spirit can become attuned to them and All Your Relations can be comfortable with you. I will go into how you can do this in greater detail further in this book. For now, take time whenever you can to relax and be still. Listen with all your senses and your Heart. It is not the length of time that matters as much as the quality and attention that you give to being fully present.
Walking in Balance
Another Powerful concept in Native American spirituality is the idea of Walking in Balance. What does this mean exactly? It has several meanings. It is learning to move through your life in such a way that you achieve inner harmony by creating a life that is the proper mix of healthy interactions in your public life and taking time for your private life. It is being in touch with yourself so that you achieve inner peace, while seeing how it relates to the greater picture. It is knowing when to act and when to be still. But for a shaman, it also includes the ability to Walk in between the physical world and spiritual realms. The shaman’s job is to help create Balance wherever they may be. This includes helping an individual achieve Balance within themselves, within their community, and between the community and nature and with spirit beings. It includes bringing Balance to those in the spirit realm: for example, helping people cross over when they become earthbound.
Walking in Balance is a dynamic state much like walking with the physical body. Your body makes millions of microadjustments so that you can walk down the street—it is attentive to the demands of the terrain and your pace. Sensing this, your body will work harder at Balance as well as automatically adjust how much energy to use. It will signal the need for rest after much exertion. Your spirit body will do the same as you grow in your shamanic practice.
Part of learning to Walk in Balance means living mindfully. There are several ways to accomplish this. One way is being thoughtful of yourself and others so that there can be greater harmony wherever you are. An example of this is practicing common courtesy. It lessens the pollution of negative energy into the environment. Another simple way is to be fully present with whatever you are doing. I personally love a good cup of tea. When I am practicing mindfulness, I enjoy the cup of tea with all my senses. The rest of the world goes away, and I am grateful for having all my senses to enjoy that moment. I reflect on and envision the beauty and bounty of nature. I think about and send gratitude to the people who cultivated and harvested the plant. I thank everyone, including myself, who made it possible for me to be able to have that moment of rest while sipping something delicious.
Every day, take the time to be mindful of at least one thing that you participate in. Although seemingly trivial, it accomplishes three things: it helps you develop an attitude of respect and gratitude, it trains you to be able to completely focus on what you are engaged with at the time, and it makes you more attuned to all your senses as they become sharper, detecting subtle changes in your environment. These are important skills to have when you are developing your shamanic abilities.
Give as You Would Receive
I cannot stress enough how important it is in the Native American tradition to give as you would receive. If you wish to have help, and wisdom from All Your Relations seen and unseen, then treat them as you would wish to be treated. Learn about them and approach them with respect. As you would receive Medicine from them, be active in preserving and protecting Earth Mother. Our entire world is a sacred land, and the shaman understands that every step should be gentle so as to leave as little of an imprint as possible. You will find that if you do this when you do journey, your reputation of Walking in Balance will precede you, and those with whom you interact in the spirit realms will be much more receptive and welcoming of you. Your Relatives in nature will be there for you.
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• Three •
Preparing Yourself to Journey
What precisely is journeying? It is when a person is able to send their consciousness and soul body into alternate forms of reality. This alternate reality is known as the Dreamtime. There are those who would say that meditation and journeying are the same thing. I disagree. Meditation is similar to journeying in that both can be guided. However, in meditation, the images and visions are controlled with the mind and can be altered upon command. Your consciousness and soul body remain intact here in this world. Sensations in your body can be easily correlated to suggestions given during the meditation. With journeying, on the other hand, you will find that you will have experiences and interact with beings that you had not expected nor can you explain. Messages and helpers that you meet while journeying in the Dreamtime will find a way of communicating with you here in this three-dimensional world. When you become proficient at journeying, you will feel that you actually are there physically in the spirit realms. Upon your return, you may find that what you’ve experienced in the spirit realms will remain with you, sometimes as physical sensations, in this one.
Just as with anything else, it’s important to be in a good space when you begin to journey. Make sure you are rested, feel healthy, are well hydrated, are in a good emotional space, and have been eating nutritious food. You do not need to fast, but it is better if you do not eat heavily before you journey. Do not indulge in alcoholic beverages before you travel into the spirit realms, since they can interfere with journeying or, worse, leave you vulnerable to psychic and spiritual attacks. The use of illegal street drugs, misuse of prescription drugs, or abuse of sacred d
rugs are forbidden on the Good Red Road. Check that your energies are as Balanced as possible.
I would like to share a few exercises with you to help you become energetically Balanced. With all these exercises, please make sure to be in a comfortable space where you can be alone for a short period of time. Make sure that you are free from distractions, especially electronic ones. It should be a place where you can sit in peace and quiet.
In Native American tradition, we view Power as neutral. How we use it determines if it manifests as good or evil, order or chaos. Therefore, when I write positive energy or negative energy, I mean them in that sense. Read each exercise thoroughly before attempting it. You need to be familiar with every step, since you will have your eyes closed for most of it.
Over-Positive Exercise
Figure 1: Over-Positive Exercise, Above View
The first exercise will be how to handle when you are feeling over-positive. You know you have an excess of positive energy when you feel as if you are constantly edgy and full of nervous energy, and you can’t slow down. It is very much like when someone has too much sugar or caffeine. It is when you are restless and can’t seem to relax no matter what you do. Or, as I like to say, when your bow is strung too tightly! Make sure to sit so that your legs are touching each other but not clenched. Your hands will be in what I call a relaxed prayer position. Put your hands together as if in a prayer posture in front of your chest and then let them relax. There should be a space between your palms, and your fingers should very naturally fan apart from one another. Your hands should naturally point at an upward angle.
Figure 2: Over-Positive Exercise, Side View
Close your eyes. I want you free and able to bring to mind and Heart all those people and things that cause you stress, tension, and unrest. Breathe naturally. Feel the energy and emotions building up and send that down your arms and into the palms of your hands. Do not let your hands come apart! Exhale forcefully to the count of seven while envisioning that excess energy leaving through your fingertips into the sky. Hold your breath for a count of four. Breathe naturally until the energy builds up again. You will be doing this cycle a total of seven times. Every time you forcefully exhale to the count of seven, focus on releasing through your fingertips all those things that are creating this unrest within you.
What you are doing is releasing excess energy into the heavens. We say that Sky Father will purify the energy and send it to where it needs to go. In Native American tradition, the number seven represents the Seven Directions. Holding your breath for a count of four honors the Four Directions and is a number of stability. By doing this you are releasing excess energy and giving it back to the universe so that someone in need of energy may receive it after it is purified by Sky Father. You will know that you’ve done this properly because you will feel clearer and more relaxed. You will finally be able to breathe more easily!
Over-Negative Exercise
Sometimes the opposite is true, and you feel over-negative. You know you feel over-negative when you just simply can’t seem to wake up that day, feel foggy, and cannot seem to gain energy no matter what you do. Even though you are healthy, you still feel drained.
Sit comfortably but make sure that your legs are not touching. Rest your hands on your lap and have only your index finger and your thumb of each hand touching each other. The point of your index fingers should naturally go between your legs and slightly toward the ground. Close your eyes. Call to Heart and mind all those people and things that are draining your energy. Focus and direct that draining energy down your arms and into your hands to the tips of your index fingers. You will feel the need to take in more energy. Exhale naturally. When you inhale, do it forcefully for the count of five, completely filling your lungs; hold for the count of four, and then breathe normally. Repeat this cycle five times.
Figure 3: Over-Negative Exercise, Side View
In the Native American tradition, it is taught that we are made of five elements: fire, which is energy; air, which is thought and process; water, which is Heart; earth, which is physical body and environment; and spirit, which is soul and transcendence. When you breathe in, you actually are recharging each of the elements. The number four, as stated earlier, creates stability. Releasing your negative energy to Earth Mother allows her to turn your emotional crap into purified energetic fertilizer. After this energy is cleansed, someone who perhaps needs to calm down will be gifted this energy you have recently released.
Figure 4: Over-Negative Exercise, Above View
Just as the physical body will only take in as many nutrients as it needs, so your spiritual body will do the same with these exercises. If you’re not too sure if you are over-positive or over-negative, then do both exercises. Nothing but good can come from it. Indeed, if you do them both, you are honoring the sacred circle of giving and receiving equally, which is an important practice on the Good Red Road.
Waterfall Exercise
The final exercise I will give you is a practice called the Waterfall. This practice allows you to connect evenly with both Earth Mother and Sky Father. It will allow you to truly connect with the Great Spirit within you and All Your Relations. Doing this will allow the sacred Power that is pure to flow through you. Performing the Waterfall will benefit you in shamanic practices and any other disciplines you follow. This is because you will not become exhausted since you are not using your own life force but instead harnessing pure universal energy for your tasks. Another benefit is that the Waterfall protects you from those beings that would like to latch on to your energy in order to attach themselves and drain you. This practice also shields those you’re working with from (as I call it) your “psychic backwash”; this keeps it from touching others so that you do not accidentally harm them. This exercise has survived the ages and in turn will preserve you as you begin your Walk upon this traditional shamanic path.
Once again, sit in a quiet place with no distractions. As long as your feet are flat on the floor and you are comfortable, you may place your hands as you wish. Relax and breathe naturally. Feel your breath as you breathe in. Notice how your breath feels good as you inhale and it moves over your breastbone. Allow yourself to be completely lost within your breath. Focus on relaxing all the muscles in your face, in your body, in your arms and hands, down your legs, to your feet, to the tips of your toes. Breathe naturally and deeply. Focus now on the good earth beneath your feet. Feel her energy, the energy of our Earth Mother, rising through the soles of your feet and up your legs. This energy should feel good, warm, and very comforting. With every breath, draw that energy up to fill your body, filling your arms and hands to your fingertips. As you breathe in, focus your attention on your heart beating. Be within your heartbeat. Allow the sacred energy, this sacred “water,” to fill every part of you until it goes through the crown of your head, where, on its own, it continues to flow upward and touches Sky Father.
This sacred energy will flow on its own from the sky back down into the earth. From the earth it will once again flow into the soles of your feet, filling your Heart, through the crown of your head. As you breathe and feel your heart beating, let your focus be completely taken by the sacred flow of Power as it moves from the earth, through you, into the sky, and back again. Relax and allow yourself to become part of this flow while it strengthens your Heart. Let your awareness feel the strength of your own spirit, the Light of Great Spirit within you, and your connection to All Your Relations.
You know you have done it properly when you feel relaxed yet alert, grounded, and energized at the same time. This flow of sacred “water,” the Power of Creator, is very much like the flow of water as studied in natural science. Just as water goes from under the earth and finds its way to the surface and ultimately to the sky, which in turn will precipitate back down to the earth, so it is with this Waterfall. You will find
that in the beginning the boundaries of your Waterfall will naturally fall a little bit outside your auric field. As you become adjusted to it, you will find that you will be able to make your Waterfall stronger and the area it encompasses around you will be larger in proportion to the flow of Power.
Make sure you go through this checklist of exercises before a journeying session every time. It will guarantee that you are in the best condition to succeed in your shamanic practice and gain greater health in body, mind, and spirit in your lifestyle.
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• Four •
How to Journey
One of the spiritual gifts that a shaman must be adept at is that of journeying. It is this ability that allows us to walk between this physical realm and that of the spirits. Through journeying, you will be able to directly connect and communicate with your sacred helpers and the healing energy that is offered to you. During this time, it is important to learn how to correctly interpret what you have experienced and any messages that have been given to you. When a person is proficient in the basic techniques of moving easily between the worlds with accuracy and discernment, then they are ready for further training. This further training includes methods that permit a shaman to be a living bridge to bring helpful spirits and benign energies from the worlds unseen into this one. Beyond this, one can also help both the living and the dead by guiding them to where they need to be on their path. In these advanced lessons, an individual learns how to access where there is imbalance and what practical steps need to be done to restore harmony. Your teacher and the type of healing they specialize in determine which tools and Medicines you master over time.
Journeying Between the Worlds Page 3
