It is said in the Far East that the longest journey in life is only 13 inches; from your head to your heart. Certainly some synchronicity in that the most meaningful ritual in accomplishing that journey is the “shamanic journey.” If you aspire to live in the flow through love and intuition rather than ego, personas, and conformity, there is no better practice than shamanic journeying to have at your disposal.

The original traditional practice of medicine around the world began with the tribal medicine women, roughly 65% of all shamans are women, while laying next to the patient, touching shoulders, elbows and feet. Then going into an altered state to journey through the patient's body; returning to 'middle world' to treat according to what was witnessed on the journey. Shamanism includes the belief that the natural world has two aspects: ordinary everyday awareness, formed by our habitual behaviors, patterns of belief, social norms, and cultural conditioning, and a second non-ordinary awareness accessed through altered states, or ecstatic trance, induced by shamanic practices such as repetitive drumming. In fact, the umbrella of 'shamanism' was created centuries ago upon discovering that all of these tribal medicine doctors were listening to the identical drumbeat around the world way before they were able to swap emails or faxes. Centuries later it was finally discovered with the advent of brainwave studies that listening to drums at that specific rate causes an endorphin release that is in the mild opiate family thus assisting in attaining an altered state.

The act of entering this ecstatic trance state in a shamanic journey allows the journeyer to view life and life's problems from a detached, spiritual perspective, not easily achieved in a state of ordinary consciousness. Traditionally, journeying begins with meeting your power animals, and then your teacher. The journey is always in the form of a question posed to those unique aspects of your inner spirit to retrieve guidance In the next step towards personal enlightenment.

This video is a primer garnered over 35 years and hundreds of students on how to prepare for and begin taking journeys. Though it is easier, to begin with a facilitator in attendance, it can evolve into a sound practice with aspiration and diligence by one's self. Shamanic journeying is the most powerful form of divination by communicating with your higher self. Your ego may not like the answers to your questions, but in the end, comes the realization that solely your own energy and your unique connection as a fractal of the hologram have created the advice. Once learned, the practice of journeying can lay out the stepping stones for the rest of your life.