What is a Shamanic Journey?

What is a Shamanic Journey?

A shamanic journey is a vision quest practice through your relationship with the drum, where you become the doorway for Otherworldly energies to enter into this reality. It helps you access a unique state of consciousness that you enter through guided meditations and breathing exercises.

A shamanic drum beat has healing potential (the drum beats at 4 to 7 bps, the Theta state).

It allows you to revisit the past to heal events that occurred long ago or more recently, to find more desirable destinies for yourself and your loved ones. This can change how you feel about the past, present and future and bring healing, wisdom and guidance. When working with a Shamanic therapist, the state of consciousness in a journey has the potential to help heal a person by restoring beneficial or vital power, or by extracting harmful power.

Journeys access the world tree cosmology of the Upper World, Middle World, Lower World and Under World. These aren’t physical places, but rather archetypal and energetic domains. The world we live in, where we work and raise our families, is the Middle World; the Upper World is the invisible domain of our destiny and our spirit and Angels; and the Lower World, where the record of all human history is held, is the realm of the soul. In these realms time seems to stop, to warp and fold onto itself, just as it does when we are dreaming in a non-ordinary state of consciousness. 

The shamanic journey is one of the most important tasks to be undertaken.

How is it best to journey?
You can do this alone but I highly recommend your first journey at least to be facilitated by an experienced Shamanic therapist or Shaman. Also to note that it is experiential. The benefits of being held in a sacred space by someone who has this experience to fully support you and help with anything that may come up for healing. Let me break that down into simple terms, in a journey you create a relaxed atmosphere, a deep space for you and your imagination to open up and to help you access information and wisdom about yourself to help you heal. Your imagination is not making anything up, this is not fantasy, it is helping you access your subconscious mind and bring into your consciousness to help you move forward. Once you feel this, it is something you can do alone as a self-healing practice. But as with all healing, it is best to have qualified therapists to guide you also and if journeying I recommend working with a Shamanic therapist when you can and this will help you on your self-healing journey. Where to journey to, to help you and your intention in a Shamanic Counselling session is discussed with the therapist. What I’d also like to say that this is simple and easy enough practice to do when you know how but that is not to take away from the power of it’s healing and the intention brought to it for it to be effective. And why knowing how to work with Spirit in sacred space is important also, as the environment creates a quality practice another reason to work with a Shamanic therapist/counsellor as your facilitator. All healing needs external guidance other than yourself in some capacity.

On an other note …

this work is done with help of Spirit, Guardian, Power Animals, Angels and Guides. So a belief and knowing that they are our helpers and guides when journeying is important. A Shamanic therapist has at least one or many to help them.

Back to the drum … The drum is the doorway and portal to Otherworldly experiences and guides to help invoke guidance and healing.

When we drum, the information is many forms comes through. It simply flows through the rhythm. The effect is deep and automatic.

This is ancient wisdom that drumming can be used as a healing modality. Our bodies, minds and spirits synchronise with the rhythm and begin to resonate in more harmonious ways. Very simply (and know anyone can do it with an experienced facilitator) through hearing the rhythm of the drum, you can move into an non-ordinary altered state of consciousness, let your spirit fly, and connect with Mother Earth. There, one’s entire energy field synchronises with the rhythm of the drum.

A natural rhythm exists within a healthy energy field, each chakra as a rhythm, that is connected to our mind and body. Rhythmical drumming can restore the healthy natural rhythm to an individual’s overall holistic wellbeing body, mind and soul.

Ritual alone can bring healing and the changes needed in the spirit and beliefs of a person. But with the drum, specific rituals can create the necessary conditions for effecting a total healing. And drumming assists the shamanic journey as one of the most important tasks to undertaken in healing.

The science part - Drumming produces changes in our central nervous system.

The natural ways of working is in reverence to Nature. Nature is prepared to reveal things not ascertainable in an ordinary state of consciousness (basically how we go about most of our day). It is why we get answers to probing questions or deep inner knowing that we have been unable to answer before when we journey with the drum. It’s deep and effective.

My own personal experiences and with clients has shown me over and over again in the healing power of the drum and I love sharing it.

This was a missing part of my wellness and continued wellness and it may well be the same for you.