Shamanic Practice
Ancient ways bring richness to contemporary life

By Laureen Rama
Published in Wholife Magazine
March 1998

Contemporary shamanic practice is a wonderful, easy practice to tap into intuition or spirit, for guidance and healing. The guidance can be helpful in addressing challenges and resolving issues. The healing is at a spiritual level and usually has profound positive effects with people becoming more self-confident, alive, and physically healthy. In my experience, 95 % of people can learn contemporary core shamanic practice within a few hours. It seems to be part of the human birthright to be able to do this, children are adepts. It uses our natural sixth sense, that many of us have lost touch with, but can easily regain.

Shamanic practice is the practice of deliberately connecting with "non-ordinary reality" for guidance, power, and healing. Non-ordinary reality is present in the same time and space as ordinary reality (in which you are now reading these words, holding this magazine, and maybe eating your lunch), but we are usually not consciously aware of it. It touches us through our intuitive hunches (we know who is calling on the phone, we feel strongly we should take another route and miss a car accident by doing so); we probably experience it in some of our dreams; it may be our own subconscious, or Jung's collective unconscious; it is what some call the "spirit world," others the "dreamtime." Someone who can work with non-ordinary reality to provide guidance and healing for others, is called a shaman (a word from the Siberian Tungus tribe).

Regardless of our beliefs, religious or otherwise, about non-ordinary reality, it is a realm which we can access to make our ordinary reality lives richer and more fulfilling. When we can consciously move in and out of this realm, we have access to resources that can transform our lives.

The method that I have learned, and that I find easy to teach, is Michael Harner's Core Shamanic Practice. Harner is an American anthropologist who has studied shamanic practices around the world to find what is common, or core, to all of them. They appear to be part of all cultural traditions if we go far enough back in time. It seems to be the way humans originally connected with their spirituality. The shamanic sixth sense that allowed hunters to sense where game was, or gatherers to find the medicines and food they needed and know how to use them, was essential to human survival. With the rise of organized religions and technological cultures, shamanic practices were lost or driven out of many cultures.

A resurgent interest in shamanic practices is occurring world-wide, as people of many cultures realize that a purely technological and material approach to life is barren and not fully human. Not recognizing the connectedness of all life has led to the destruction of many lifeforms on the planet and is not healthy for all other lifeforms living now. In searching for healthier ways to live, many are finding themselves drawn to spiritual practices that are based on recognizing the interconnectedness of all life, and that there is more to life than meets the eye--a magical dimension exists around us at all times that we can tap into to enrich our lives.

When Harner discovered the power of shamanic practice during his fieldwork in the Amazon Basin more than 30 years ago, he wanted to teach this to Western people, so they would learn more compassion and respect for each other and other living things. But in many cultures, the road to becoming a shaman is long and arduous and Harner did not see Westerners as willing to go through that process. He searched to find what was core to shamanic practice around the world, so he could teach people the bare bones of accessing non-ordinary reality without any cultural trappings. He developed a synthesis of the essence of shamanic practice that is simple and easy to learn. He stresses that once you learn basic contemporary core shamanic practice, to learn more you follow the guidance you receive from your own personal connections made in non-ordinary reality and/or work with an experienced teacher.

The first basic contemporary core shamanic practice I teach is the shamanic "journey." Rhythmic sound from a drum or rattle, or free form dance movement, guides the "journeyer" into a receptive relaxed state and she/he has an experience like a lucid dream, which unfolds as she lays or sits quietly and travels to non-ordinary reality in her imagination, asking questions for guidance and interacting with the characters in the journey. Non-ordinary reality can look and feel like ordinary reality, or it can seem extraordinary e.g., crystal cities. Journeying is not an out-of-body experience; one can be aware of ordinary reality surroundings. Yet, in shamanic journeys, people can swim like fish, fly over mountains, visit the spirits of people not physically present and it feels real. Everyone's experience is unique and personally meaningful to them.

One can journey alone or call together a group. The key to doing a shamanic journey is to have a question or an intent that is important to you. Generally, people journey when they feel like it rather than on a regular basis.

The first task in learning contemporary shamanic practice is to "connect with our power animals"--the characters who guide us in non-ordinary reality. In shamanic cultures it is believed that we all have power animals who act as our guardian spirits. Our power animal(s) represents our strengths, our qualities of character, our power. We may have more than one power animal, and they may change over time as our lives change and call us to have different kinds of power. Knowing what these animals are helps us connect with our own strengths, and infuses us with personal power. This helps us create the lives we want.

*Bill's Shamanic Journey. In an hour and a half introductory workshop, Bill,* who was a counsellor, felt a fox jump into his lap, curl up and snuggle in, right at home, just as I was starting to guide people into their shamanic journeys. The purpose of this first journey was for people to discover and learn the qualities of their power animal. Bill shooed the fox away, telling it it was not time yet, and besides he didn't want a tricky cunning fox as his power animal--participants were going to tell their stories and he didn't want others to know he had these qualities! The fox jumped out of his lap and trotted off. Then, as Bill listened to my instructions, the fox came back, brushed against his leg and jumped back into his lap. Bill felt he was stuck with the fox and why fight it.

As I began rattling, Bill felt himself and the fox standing in a virtual nest of rattlesnakes. As someone who had grown up in rattler territory, he was terrified. He yelled to the fox "Let's get out of here!" and with a graceful leap they were out of the circle of snakes and flying along over the landscape. The fox's beautiful coat rippled in the wind and Bill felt somehow part of her--a lovely free feeling.

When they stopped, the fox told Bill he should consider other qualities of the fox beyond cunning. She said, "We are intelligent, quick to assess a situation, and able to observe and determine what's best for ourselves and others. We act instinctively, having a keen intuition. And it is okay to be a bit cunning in this world. You especially should know that, having survived despite major barriers to overcome in your life!"

Then they swept away again to avoid the loud drumming. As they sailed through a leafy forest, Bill complained he was chilly, so the fox led him to an old Roman bath site with crumbling walls, and a warm, sunny, sheltered bubbling bath in the centre. Bill crawled in, soaking up the heat and the fox lay on the deck beside him, her lovely long nose stretched flat along her forepaws. Bill felt she was beautiful and experienced a warm feeling of love for the fox, that stayed with him long after the journey.

*Jan's Shamanic Journey. In a weekend workshop, Jan journeyed to ask how she could care for her soul. Her owl power animal quickly guided her to a bench on the side of a mountain and instructed her to sit. She felt she was being told to trust the process and be patient with the paces of others in her life.

Then she felt herself sitting on the porch of her great grandmother, who had lived to the age of 91. Jan thought "How do we measure success in life?" Reflecting on her great grandmother's life, Jan felt it was a success, since she had had faith, family, and friends. She may not have left many tangible accomplishments behind, but she had touched many lives. In the journey, Jan felt deeply that success in life is truly measured by who we are rather than what we do.

Then Jan thought of herself playing in the mud, making dishes with her young son, a measure of how her life was successful. When that scene ended, Jan asked the owl if her soul needed any healing. She was advised to change her relationships with two people with whom she had unhealthy psychic connections. She was also cautioned not to develop unhealthy ties with another person. As her journey ended, Jan, who is an energetic "doer," felt the overall message she received was that you can learn a lot just sitting on a bench.

* names have been changed and participants have given permission for the sharing of these stories.

Laureen Rama is available to lead retreats and workshops for private groups. She also teaches advanced shamanic healing techniques and offers shamanic healings in person or by distance. Laureen can be reached at info@soulrestore.com or 1-403-851-1198.