Dec 23, 2019 | FSS Polestar
I’m concerned because my journeys are not very visual. Other people report a lot of vivid details from their journeys, almost as if they’re watching a movie. My journeys aren’t like that at all. I often just get vague, disconnected images. Am I doing something wrong?
Not everyone receives strong visual imagery when journeying, and “seeing” is not necessarily a more powerful or better way to journey. For some people, information comes to them more through other senses such as hearing, smell, emotions, and physical sensations such as changes in temperature. Also, the spirits can communicate to you in a variety of non-visual ways. You might, for instance, hear your spirit’s voice or get a feeling in your body when they are near. And sometimes they convey information directly to the heart, which may feel like an intuitive certainty about the issue of concern. Such journeyers often say: “I just knew in my heart.”
If you are not visual in your journeys, the main thing is to be very clear about when you are in the Upper or Lower World, versus the Middle World. If you don’t “see” the zones/barriers that you must pass through to reach these worlds in non-ordinary reality, you must still have certainty about where you are through whatever senses work well for you. If you are unclear about this, it is sometimes helpful to use the simultaneous narration method taught in the Harner Shamanic Counseling workshop.
As one becomes more practiced at interpreting the spirits’ messages, the ways the spirits communicate often shift. And so, a person who had unusually vivid journeys at the beginning may find the message is transmitted in more subtle ways, with less detail, but also with greater specificity and certainty about the answer. Alternatively, those who may have had difficulty perceiving the spirits’ communications at first, may experience visual and other senses sharpening and expanding, with clear messages coming through.
Ultimately, the spirits desire to help us and want to work with those who are assisting others and our world. Results are what matter in shamanism. Thus, if you are getting useful information and are able to work effectively with the helping spirits to help others, there is no need to be concerned about vividness or the manner in which the information is communicated.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Sep 20, 2019 | FSS Polestar
How can I provide shamanic help in cases of natural or human-caused disasters?
Shamanic healing is powerful and can produce miracles of healing. It also operates outside of ordinary reality time and space, so distance healing can be just as powerful as in person work. Where there is trauma from disasters such as war, earthquakes, terrorism, hurricanes, pandemics, massive fires, and so forth, distance shamanic work can bring spiritual healing to souls in need.
The issue of permission is always an important consideration in proceeding with shamanic work. An extra layer of complexity is added when doing distance work, whether for an individual or for large numbers of people. It is crucial in the ethical practice of shamanic healing and divination to obtain express permission, in ordinary reality, from any person for whom you are doing work. This is because none of us can presume to make decisions on behalf of another person’s soul, even if we feel sure that what we want to do is only for healing or “for the highest good.” See “Ethical Considerations in Shamanic Healing” for more: https://shamanism.org/articles/ethics.html.
Given the permission issues involved, there are generally two ways to proceed in cases of mass trauma. One option is to journey to the area of suffering and ask your helping spirits how best to help on a spiritual level. Here, the ethical issues discussed above are paramount. For instance, if in your journey you find living people experiencing pain and suffering, you cannot get permission to do shamanic healing for them from a distance. Remember, permission to work on behalf of living humans must be granted in ordinary reality, not telepathically or spiritually or by communicating with their soul. If, on the other hand, you encounter deceased human souls, you can offer psychopomp work; but again, only with each soul’s express permission and only if you have been trained in this work. Remember, too, that the Earth and all lifeforms and earth forms are ensouled and permission must be sought to use shamanic means to help. See also Shamanism for Local and Global Healing and Assistance.
A second way, often neglected, is to gather in ordinary reality factual information on the issue, then journey to your helping spirits to ask what you can do, in in ordinary reality, to help. The collection of information is an important preparatory step to successfully consulting with the spirits. Once you have done your ordinary reality work, the spirits build upon it and may offer surprising and elegant concrete and spiritual activities to help ease the suffering of the people, life forms, and earth forms involved in these larger disasters. For training and experience in using shamanic methods for addressing both local and largescale healing of our planet, please check out the new FSS advanced workshop, Shamanism for Inspired Local and Global Change: https://shamanism.org/workshops/calendar.php?Wkshp_ID=38. NOW online: Shamanism for Inspired Local and Global Change (online): https://shamanism.org/workshops/calendar.php?Wkshp_ID=44.
Due to climate change and other factors, these days we are experiencing an overwhelming amount of trauma and damage to the earth itself. Many shamanic practitioners want to work in partnership with their helping spirits to relieve the associated pain and suffering. Before proceeding, since the land, the water, the forests — indeed the Earth itself — and all of creation is inspirited, we must ask permission before doing any shamanic work. We do this by journeying to the soul of the land, the water, the trees, and other earth and life forms. And always, we consult with our helping spirits about how to proceed in a wise, ethical, and humble way, never assuming that we know what is best and have the final answers.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Sep 1, 2019 | FSS Polestar
How do I know I’m not just imagining all this, or making it up?
This is a common question among beginning journeyers. Ultimately it is a question that we each must answer for ourselves. We live in a culture that exalts rational mind, intellect, and consensual reality. But we journey in non-ordinary reality where personal truth is experienced through the language of metaphor, feeling states, dreamlike imagery, and visions. What we “see” cannot be verified by others in the usual sense, so it’s easy to assume we’re just making things up. Shamanism is an independent spirituality, however, where each of us must come to know through personal experience the reality of the shamanic realms.
A little coaching about methodology can be helpful too. Successful journeying is a little like learning to drive a car. It’s not a passive process. You can’t just sit in the car and wait for something to happen. You have to start the car, put your foot on the gas pedal, and steer. Journeying is like that. At first it is likely that you are using a bit of imagination to get things started. For example, you have to imagine or visualize your point of departure. And then you have to be active in getting yourself to go up or down through the transition zones/barriers to reach the Upper and Lower Worlds. Journeying is not just drifting and hoping something will happen and imagination can be a valuable tool to get your journey going.
With consistent practice, most people realize that things are happening that they are not directing. Those who do shamanic healing report that information, often in the form of imagery, comes in journeys that is highly specific and relevant for the client yet astonishing to the practitioner. After a time of experiencing these kinds of surprising results and the healing that happens for the client because of it, you stop worrying about making things up. You start asking different questions like: Was the journey helpful? Did I get useful information? Did healing take place?
With experience, the question of “making things up” becomes irrelevant. What matters is the healing and transformation that takes place. And you become as the shamans of old: “one who knows,” not as a matter of faith but from your own direct experience.
For more about imagination and the reality of shamanic journeys, see: Cave and Cosmos, Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality by Michael Harner, chapter 8, beginning on page 109.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Feb 8, 2019 | FSS Polestar
As interest in shamanism grows, online training offerings are emerging. There are pros and cons to this trend. On the one hand, never before has it been so easy to connect with shamanic practitioners and shamanic resources from all over the world. This is an exciting development, since no one with access to a computer need feel isolated in their pursuit of information about shamanism. The downside is that the sheer volume of material makes it challenging to sort through it and to determine what is accurate, legitimate, and useful. And, even when you find accurate resources, having information and truly knowing are not the same thing.
We are both physical and spiritual beings. Shamanism is an embodied practice, traditionally taught and passed on within a living community, even though the spirits work outside of space and time. Through many years of experience teaching the methods of core shamanism, we have seen that the profound depth of live interaction among participants—supported by the power of the gathered circle and the presence of the compassionate helping spirits—is not duplicated in an online format. Though shamanism is an independent spirituality that emphasizes methodologies that help you connect directly to the spirits for answers and knowledge, it is no contradiction that achieving this personal freedom is most effectively facilitated by learning within a grounded and harmonious in-person community.
Online offerings can provide useful introductory information about shamanism and shamanic healing—what it is and its relevance to the individual and our world. As to shamanic methods, just as one can experiment with shamanic journeying by following the process set forth in Michael Harner’s The Way of the Shaman and Cave and Cosmos, an online course in shamanism may provide you with a glimpse into another reality of great power and possibility. This may help you to determine if shamanism is a good fit for your life, worth pursuing fully in a circle of like-minded students through in depth training with highly experienced shamanic teacher-healers.
More About Shamanism
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Oct 2, 2018 | FSS Polestar
Question: “I’ve heard that some people do live drumming for themselves while they journey instead of using a drumming recording. How does this work? Isn’t it hard to do both? And is one method better or more powerful than the other?”
Whether you listen to a drumming recording (digital audio such as an MP3 or a CD) or drum/rattle for yourself while journeying is largely a matter of personal choice and experimentation. We all have to find the way that works best for us, given our personal situation and needs. Many people, after learning the basic journey method, find it both highly effective and convenient to journey with a recording. For one thing it’s quiet, so you’re not in danger of disturbing others. Effective drumming recordings keep a consistent 3-7 beats per second and you can adjust the play time to make short or long journeys as desired, which can be particularly helpful for new journeyers. For some, using a recording can also facilitate a deeper release to the spirits in journeys. And, since most contemporary practitioners rarely have the luxury of an assistant who can drum for them, many practitioners find it works well to use drumming recordings during healing sessions. They report that this helps them to make deeper connections with the spirits, frees their hands for the healing methods, and permits them to focus more intensely on the client.
Most practitioners form strong relationships with their drum and its spirit. For some, doing their own live drumming becomes an integral part of their journey and healing experiences. You might feel a draw toward this, or receive a message from the spirits to drum for yourself while you journey or work with a client. Experiment with your drum and see how it works for you. You can ask your helping spirits for advice about how to proceed. Some people find drumming for themselves forges a very powerful connection with their compassionate spirits, and love the sensations of sound and vibration when interacting with the live drum. As you beat the drum, it sings to you, opening your heart to a beautiful collaborative dance with the spirits.
Remember, the measure of effectiveness in shamanism is “did you get the help and answers you were seeking for yourself or your client?” You’ve been given a set of workable tools and methods for your practice. You are encouraged to find your own way, in consultation with your helping spirits, to bring forth the spirits’ power and knowledge.
Note: When calling in the spirits before and during a healing session or for a ceremony — except in surroundings where sound might be prohibited or disturbing to others — nearly all practitioners will drum, sing, and rattle powerfully for themselves.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
