Initiation experiences can come in different forms. Sometimes they come in dreams and visions. The most common form is to be taken by spirit into another dimension. In most cases, shamanic initiation occurs in a dimension known as the upper world, a “place” that most describe as etheric or celestial in nature.
I will give you three examples of my own initiation journeys to give you an idea of what a shamanic initiation is like. Each is quite different from the other with three different experiences, reasons and outcomes. We will begin with my first initiation that occurred in 1987:
On the Harmonic Convergence (one of the first synchronized meditation events on a global level), August 16, 1987, I experienced what I believe to be as close to a near death experience (NDE) as is possible without actually having been near death. Throughout the years, having read much literature on the subject, I came to understand that this experience was a shamanic initiation. In the Eastern tradition, it would be called a Kundalini awakening or Kundalini rising and is also what American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, called a “peak experience.” Psychiatrist, Stanislav Grof, would call it a “spiritual emergency.” Each of these represents different traditional viewpoints for a process of awakening to spirituality.
My experience occurred while I was deeply meditating with three other people. I simply “found” myself in what I call another dimension. I did not “go” there, I simply “was” there. This “place,” for lack of a better description, was truly one of complete peace. While I was in this place I felt as if I was not separate, but part of the whole of existence. For a time, I was without ego. I did not know that I was Regina, mother, daughter, sister, friend. I did not see anything other than what seemed to me to be an ocean of pure energy, which completely enveloped me. This energy can best be described as if standing inside a television set when the picture turns to snow. I did not “feel” anything. However I “sensed” life force very close to me, in front of me and loving me as I have never experienced being loved before or since. I remember thinking that this is what death was like. It was then that I “heard” telepathically, that yes, this is what it would be like, but that for now I must go back. I thought, “No, no, no. I just want to stay here in this wonderful, peaceful place.” The voice then telepathically repeated that I had to go back, that I had things I must do, but that this was where I would come when it was my time. I didn’t have a concept of what going “back” was. I was only conscious of where I was right then and there. And although I protested, I sensed my body somehow swooshing backwards at a rapid rate of speed, yet I was not physically moving! When this sensation concluded, I opened my eyes and was “back” in my body. As the other three people in the room began to discuss their experience, I sat quietly still, trying to understand what had just happened to me. As hard as I tried, it was not easy to discredit what had occurred.
Soon, I began to feel emotions arise within me, overwhelming emotions. With all my might I endeavored to push the emotions down, to make them go away, but they persisted with more force than I was able to control. I told another woman who was there that I didn’t know what was happening to me. I told her that I felt like getting up and running outside. I wanted to run and scream until I could no longer do either, but, try as I might, I could not move my body!
Tears began to flow down my cheeks and I began to cry and then laugh hysterically. Before long, it seemed as if every possible emotion was pulsating through me simultaneously. I had the cold sweats. My teeth began to chatter so hard that I was afraid that they would shatter into pieces and fall out. At that point, I actually thought that I was losing my mind.
Next, my body began to move from side-to-side and then back and forth. I remember my friend telling me I would be okay and to just let go and allow whatever was happening to run its course. I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea, but I had no choice! Relaxing the best I could, I became like a ragdoll and began flopping in every which way while the other three people tried to hold me as securely as they could so that I wouldn’t hurt myself. I do not know how long this persisted. It seems to me that I faded in and out of reality. Later, my friends told me that these involuntary movements had lasted about 20 minutes.
Looking back, I now understand that what occurred was a heightened transcendental experience. This “after event” was the process of my spiritual body reincorporating with my physical form. It was as if an electric current of 220 volts was being forced through a 110-volt electrical line. My energy grid had been upgraded or re-wired! From that point on I “knew” I had a purpose for being on earth. I “knew” that someday I would consciously become aware of that purpose, and until that time I would just have to be content in knowing that I was on the right path.
Sixteen years later, on June 21, 2003, I met my first shamanic teacher, Tom Cowan, and everything divinely clicked into place! Although I didn’t associate the two events until several years later, I now realize that what had happened to me in 1987 had prepared me for taking my place on the shamanic path in 2003. There are forces in both the ordinary and non-ordinary worlds that work together to bring us to the right place at the right time. Hearing Tom talk was the vehicle that finally brought me to that perfect place and time. In 1987, I was initiated or reborn. Between times, I was guided to explore, in depth, many other facets of spirituality. In 2003, I was finally ready to accept my place on the shamanic path. On that day, I felt this to my very bones. I was home!
Regina
To learn more about shamanism on your own, here are a couple of good books you may choose to read:
Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with another Reality – Michael Harner
Shamanism as a Spiritual Practice for Daily Life – Tom Cowan
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