I practice shamanism.
I have studied on my own, with the Spirits and with a gifted psychologist and shaman, my dear teacher, Dr. Steve Serr.
I have also attended several workshops over the years and have taught a few of my own, as well as earned some certificates for my studies. I don’t hang them up however, and generally don’t talk much about the fact that I am a shamanic practitioner.
I mention that it’s an interest of mine and may occasionally tell a story or two about it - sometimes here on my blog, but that’s pretty much it. That will sometimes cause someone to ask me to journey for them. I also journey for myself and things, places and animals.
Oh, let me explain what I mean by journey…
A shamanic journey is the trance-like state that a shamanic practitioner enters, where they work with the Spirit world to bring healing, information and peace to people and to the world. This dreamlike, yet conscious state, is usually achieved through the rhythms of a drum, rattle or other instrument.
These journeys usually last 15 - 60 minutes, depending on the depth of the work being undertaken I suppose.
There are other shamanic techniques, all of which I will not bore you with here. :)
Over the last few years, I have taken about 300 of these shamanic journeys for myself and others. I have filled journal after journal with notes about my discoveries in the Spirit World - thoughts, images and pictures of things I have seen on these adventures and scribbled onto the page. Most often in pencil, sometimes with a crayon or marker or two thrown in there.
If the journey is one I have undertaken on someone else’s behalf, I will always look at my notes as I recall the experience to them. A few times people have recorded me and I have a dozen or so audio files of myself talking about specific shamanic journeys. I smell audiobook. :)
As "out there" as this may sound, I actually journeyed recently for my house. Yes, my actual house. There is this fundamental belief I have, that there is life in everything. I studied this especially with shamanism. So, for me, my house has life in it. It has a past, a present, a future - honestly, my house kind of feels like (to me anyway) like it has a soul. So, why not journey for it?! :) I've also done a lot of shamanic work with Nature - trees, plants and animals mainly.
It’s always helpful though, to be able to go back and listen to or read these notes, as there is usually something else I will see when I take a second, third or even a fourth look.
Usually, when I am doing shamanic work for someone else, they will take their own notes as I speak about the experience. It wasn’t until recently that someone asked me if they could make a copy of my actual notes. As in, put my little pink notebook in a copier and make a copy of the page.
Doing so had honestly never crossed my mind, or the minds of anyone else I’ve ever worked with.
I was surprised by the suggestion and stuttered with, “You want to copy my actual notes? Oh they’re so sloppy - a lot of chicken scratch - writing up on the side of the page and little things I’ve drawn. I hardly understand them.”
Her wonderful reply, “Oh, but that’s where the true energy of all of this is. The actual spirit of this experience is in those notes.”
It was definitely an ah-ha moment for me. Like, "you know, she’s right - there is power in these notes." I saw the funky little bohemian journal I held in my hand differently than I had before - it's actually beautiful - inside and out. Full of soul.
For a few years now, I have yearned to share my opinion of shamanism and let people know what it’s actually like and how it really works.
What better way to share the true spirit of what shamanism is to me, than to show my actual notes to others. These pages are full of the mysterious workings of the Spirit world and the kind of information a shamanic practitioner taps into in these worlds.
So, I decided to write a book. :) One that will show my work from over years in it's raw form. With permission from the people involved of course and probably a name or two being crossed out. I wanted to do this, rather than just go on and on talking about shamanism, with chapter after chapter of explanation of technique, etc.
In this book, I will be providing commentary on each unique journey and lessons and meanings of some of the symbols and characters.
It is my desire that the reader will be able to get a clear picture of how shamanism works from these stories that I will be sharing.
Please stay tuned for more information as I am working on this project. I will create a page on my blog here with a link to some quotes and snippets as I have them.
In love and light,
Katy
