The shamanic journey: tapping the spiritual wisdom within.

Shamanism has existed since the beginning of time as a spiritual practice, philosophy, and system of healing. The shaman played many roles and was seen for example as healer, spiritual advisor, diviner, dream interpreter, ceremonialist and storyteller. The shaman's most important role however was the maintenance of the spiritual integrity of the community (Eliade, 1964). While shamanism has given way to more bureaucratic and hierarchical forms of religion the shaman has continued to distinguish him/herself from other religious or authority figures by what has been coined the "technique of ecstasy" (Eliade, 1964). The shaman has the ability to intentionally enter alternative states of consciousness and journey between the physical world and the world of spirit or the world of the spirit self. This journey creates an expanding pathway of relationship and trust with a repertoire of spiritual helpers. This intentional journey is done in order to find power, knowledge, wisdom, and practical healing methods for others or him/herself.

Shamanism is a way of knowing based on perceiving the nature of the universe in a way that incorporates the normally invisible world of spirit and the shifting of consciousness from an ordinary to a nonordinary reality. This shift in consciousness enables the journeyer to view life and life's problems from a detached, spiritual perspective, not easily achieved in a state of ordinary consciousness. Matthews (1995) states that "the experience of shamanism leads to a sense of non-duality where the contraries of life are dissolved and replaced by a primeval, paradisal wholeness; where memory is restored to the forgetful, unity is given to the separate, transmutation comes to the stagnant spirit" (p. 21).

Research, Theory and Phenomena of the Shamanic Journey

The phenomenon of the shamanic journey was introduced to mainstream North Americans in the 1970s (Harner, 1980). Michael Harner, an anthropologist, had extensive fieldwork with the Jivaro and Conibo tribes of South America. Harrier befriended the local shamans and was introduced to new spiritual perspectives and healing techniques. From these experiences he recognized a core group of shamanic practices that were widespread across indigenous cultures. Harner believed that these practices were universal techniques that could be mainstreamed and beneficial to Westerners. These techniques and practices are not about imitating any specific cultural tradition but are focused on educating and utilizing cross-cultural principles that can be integrated into a people's lives. Harner soon began to teach core shamanic practices and later created the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. The training in core shamanic techniques is not about becoming a shaman but becoming a shamanic practitioner.

The shamanic journey is well documented but not in the research literature. There is a plethora of anecdotal literature describing journeys but an absence of experimental studies specific to the effects of shamanism (Harner, 1995). The anecdotal literature primarily reports subjective experiences and images with common themes for participants involved in a shamanic journey. Namely, participants of shamanic journeys describe a qualitative shift in mental functioning that corresponds to what Harner calls the Shamanic State of Consciousness. Participants in the journey process describe vivid visual or sensate images, experience some loss in time, energy moving through their body, temperature fluctuations (cold/hot); relaxation, varying states of emotional or physical discomfort, sensations of flying, dancing, running, and visitations from significant people from their past and spiritual teachers.

Despite the scarcity of research in this area several studies merit mentioning, namely, theoretical works on the connection between shamanism, imaginative experience and mental illness (Ackerknecht, 1943; Noll, 1983, 1985, 1989); experimental studies of mental imagery on health (Achterberg, 1985); personality studies and Rorschach testing of shamans (Boyer, Boyer, & De Vos, 1982); psychobiology of trance (Ervin, Palmour, Murphy, Prince, & Simons, 1988; Simons, Ervin, & Prince, 1988); and the immune and affect response to shamanic drumming (Harner, 1995).

The Shamanic Journey in Counseling

From a shamanic perspective health is wholeness and balance. Whatever is separate, divided, fragmented or disconnected creates an imbalance or disruption resulting in a loss of power of the individual. Power from the shamanic context refers primarily to the power of Spirit that imbues every animate and inanimate object. This power is the vitality and life force that flows through us all. Any disruption or frustration of flow results in a variety of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual anomalies.

Loss of power can result from a myriad of life circumstances. These factors include but are not limited to, negative life experiences, trauma, poor personal boundaries, unethical or manipulative behaviors, addictive behaviors, excess fear, anger, personal and family discord, poor self-esteem and efficacy.

The shamanic solution to a loss in power is to re-spirit the individual that is suffering. This can be done in a variety of ways, yet central to any of these processes is the shift from an ordinary to a non-ordinary state of consciousness. The shift enables the shaman (or individual) to expand their consciousness to comprehend the pathways, symbols, and spiritual allies that can lead them to the intended source for healing and/or guidance.

The shamanic journey facilitates an awakening as the client reconnects to the subtle energy of Spirit. Bateson (1972) states "the individual mind is immanent but not only in the body. It is immanent also in the pathways and messages outside the body; and there is a larger Mind of which the individual mind is only a subsystem" (p. 461). Counseling clients are on a journey of power retrieval that inevitably takes them back to their "center", restoring balance, connection, and personal agency back in proper proportion.

The Shamanic Journey Process

In the shamanic cosmology there are three worlds or avenues in which the journeyer can travel. These are described as the lower world, middle world, and upper world. The Lower world is the place of ancestral roots, clan totems, and deities who initiate and empower. This world activates our deep understanding and reconnects lost or diminished communication with our wise ancestors. The Middle world is a place to heal the disconnect with nature. This world helps bring back the consciousness that nature is more than a backdrop for our lives but a living knowing intelligence. The Upper world is the visionary and archetypal realm where we find inspiration and vision that will nurture our lives. This is a place of spiritual vision that clarifies the pattern of our soul's questing.

As stated earlier, what distinguishes a shaman or a shamanic practitioner from other visionaries is the intentional journey into the spirit world. In this case the journeyer initiates contact by crossing over from this physical plane into the invisible realm of spirit. With practice the journeyer becomes acquainted with the entry points and can cross the borders of these dimensions at will and develop skills and competencies that help in functioning in this environment.

Before beginning a journey the practitioner needs a motivation or intention for the journey. The intention and direction of the journey can best be guided by a therapeutic question or issue. The issue and its clarity are important as the journeyer will be asking or seeking advice from companion spirits. The issue may be framed as a question: "How can I forgive my spouse for marital infidelities?" or as a request for advice: "Please--."

To begin the journey, the practitioner will select an entry into the earth that is known to him/her in ordinary reality. This opening might be a cave, well, spring, hollow tree or any opening that holds some particular fascination or where the practitioner intuitively senses spiritual energy. If an opening does not come, the practitioner will then imagine an opening that truly exists in the physical world. The opening can be anywhere and any size, as your physical body is not going through it, only your consciousness or spirit.

When the practitioner is ready the drumming will begin. One of the most universal and efficacious methods for altering consciousness for the shamanic journey is a persistent mesmerizing drumbeat. The drum is often referred to as the "horse", "rainbow-bridge", or "canoe" that propels the journeyer between the physical and spiritual worlds. Eliade (1964) states "the shamanic drum is distinguished from all other instruments of the 'magic of noise' precisely by the fact that it makes possible an ecstatic experience" (p. 174). It is preferable to have live drumming from someone assisting but a CD of monotonous drumming may be used.

With the aid of the drumming the journeyer is ready to enter the opening and immediately imagine him/herself in a tunnel, hallway, or chute using all senses to be there. The journeyer will make his way to the end of the tunnel whereupon he will enter a magical realm. This is time to examine and explore the landscape in detail. Following some exploration it is time to voice the specific intention or question. The shamanic journey unfolds in its own way and can bring answers to questions in a variety of ways. Exploration and dialogue continue until the journeyer is signaled to come back. The return is along the same path as the descent but at an accelerated pace. When the journeyer has come back she can sit up and describe her experience to her companion or write down the journey. It is often helpful to draw the journey experience symbolically when interpretation is not clear.

Case Example

Steve, 40 years old, worked as a clergy for a rather large congregation in a small conservative town. He was well respected, loved, and seen as a leader in the community. He came to counseling as a result of increasing anxiety, depression, and headaches that incapacitated him. He had been in consultation with his physician and no physiological etiology for the headaches could be found. He had been referred to a pain clinic with only minimal relief. He was interested in getting to the bottom of his maladies so we focused on getting to the source of the pain. Steve made some progress over the weeks yet continued having difficulty. At the beginning of one of his sessions, which appeared to be going down the same old path, I asked him if he would be willing to try an experiment. I explained the shamanic journey process as an ancient problem solving method using the power of Spirit, imagination, and the mind that we don't normally utilize consciously. With a few questions and with his consent we began the journey. He phrased his question as "What is blocking me from experiencing the positive side of myself as others experience me"? Steve made a descent to the Lower World and was greeted by a helping spirit with whom he felt immediate comradeship. After some exploration of the terrain he posed his question. A teacher and guide revealed himself to Steve and instructed him to look into a clear pool of water. In the water several scenes appeared of Steve's life of which he had no conscious recollection. In these scenes lies were revealed that Steve had taken on and told himself that created the current pain in his life. Steve immediately asked sobbing out loud "What is the truth?" In that moment Steve reported that the teacher/guide clapped his hands and it began to rain, cleansing him "down to his bones." Steve returned to ordinary reality and we debriefed the session. Steve stated that he experienced for the first time a knowing "that I am a child of God." Steve journeyed several more times in subsequent sessions getting more insight and clarity concerning the scenes witnessed in the pool. With each journey he felt more empowered, grounded, and complete in a way that he had not previously experienced. He commented in our final session that the journey "was a most peculiar way to pray."

Conclusion

The shamanic journey is an effective and exciting technique for self-exploration with an unusual potential of creating the capacity of reconnection. Berry (1977) suggests that only by restoring the broken connections can we be healed. Connection is health. This reconnection is reparation of relatedness to self, to others, and to a presence greater than the isolated ego. The journey process as an experiential technique has the potential to offer a valuable alternative to conventional verbal psychotherapy and illuminate realms of reality that are transcendental and transphenomenal.

References

Achterberg, J. (1985). Imagery in healing: Shamanism and modern medicine. Boston: Shambala.

Ackerknecht, E. (1943). Psychopathology, primitive medicine and primitive culture. Bulletin of the history of medicine, XIV, 30-67.

Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. New York: Ballantine Books.

Berry, W. (1977). The unsettling of America: Culture and agriculture. San Francisco: Sierra Club.

Boyer, L. B., Boyer, R., & De Vos, G. (1982). An Apache woman's account of her recent acquisition of the shamanistic status. Journal of Psychoanalytic Anthropology, 5, 299-331.

Eliade, M. (1964). Shamanism: Archaic techniques of ecstasy. New York:Pantheon.

Ervin, F., Palmour, R., Murphy, B., Prince. R., & Simons, R.. (1988). The psychobiology of trance II: Physiological and endocrine correlates. Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, 25, 267-284.

Harner, M. (1980). The way of the shaman. San Francisco: Harper.

Harner, S. (1995). Immune and affect response to shamanic drumming. UMI Dissertation Services, 9530609.

Matthews, C. (1995). Singing the soul back home: Shamanism in daily life. Boston: Element.

Noll, R. (1983). Shamanism and schizophrenia: A state specific approach to the "schizophrenia metaphor" of shamanic states. American Ethnologist, 10, 151-160.

Noll, R. (1985). Mental imagery cultivation as a cultural phenomena: The role of visions in shamanism. American Ethnologist, 26, 443-461.

Noll, R. (1989). What has really been learned about shamanism? Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 21, 47-50.

Simons, R., Ervin, F., & Prince, R. (1988). The psychobiology of trance 1. Transcultural Psychiatric Review, 25, 249-266.

* H. Ray Wooten, Associate Professor, Department of Counseling and Human Services, One Camino Santa Maria, St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX 78228-8527