Our work on the sanctuary land was to listen to Pachamama’s (Earth Mother’s) needs…if indeed she had any. Our hope was that she would tell us how she wanted this land to be used.
While Annette and Mary Jane made themselves comfortable for the journey in a lying position on their blankets I sat up so that I could drum. If you recall from another of my posts, the drum is called the “shaman’s horse” because its’ monotonous and steady beat is what carries those who journey into the non-ordinary realms. Beating somewhere between 205 and 220 beats per minute creates a sonic beat that allows the body to go into a theta state which then allows the spirit body to free itself from the physical body so that it can travel into other dimensions.
This is the perfect time to share the actual journey process with you step-by-step. I will take you through it the way I teach it in my journey workshops.
First of all, there are three different non-ordinary worlds or realms in which we normally journey. They are the Upper World, the Middle World and the Lower World. They are shamanic cosmological locations and spiritual in nature rather then having anything to do with the religious concepts of heaven or hell. You may think of these three realms in connection with the World Tree, which connects the heavens, the terrestrial earth and the underworld. The Upper World can be seen as the branches, blossoms and leaves, the middle world as the trunk and the Lower World as the root system. They can also be thought of as the three states of consciousness: the upper world being the superconsciousness, the middle world as our waking consciousness and the lower world as subconsciousness.
The Three Shamanic Non-Ordinary Worlds
The Upper World, generally speaking, is ethereal in nature and where we typically journey to meet with the divine ones including: spirit guides, angels, star beings and other celestial or cosmic beings. In this world, you may find yourself in a cloud-like atmosphere and see cities built of crystals. It may seem as if you are floating rather than standing firmly on the ground yet you feel supported. To journey to this world, one might climb up a rainbow or sunbeam or fly through an opening in the clouds.
To help you understand this realm in a different way, you could think of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz traveling upward to the Land of OZ in the tornado. Once there, she meets three of her spirit guides: Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion from whom she learns so much about herself.
The Middle World is where the elementals, nature spirits and hidden folk reside. The hidden folk include those known as Faerie, elves, trolls, brownies, dwarves and other sundry beings. In the shamanic tradition, these beings are not simply myth or fairytale characters. They are as real are we are and have their purpose for existing just as we do.
The Middle World is a place where questions about everyday life can be answered. For example, when there, you could ask about where to find a lost object, for information about a job you are hoping to land or about relationship issues. This realm is similar to the ordinary world but with a twist! To me, everything there seems crisper, more alive and the colors are extraordinarily vivid. After all, it is cared for by these wondrous magical beings! Ways to enter this world can be by walking through a garden gate, down a woodland path or by circling around a tree. It can be the trickiest world to navigate as described in many tales of the misinformed adventurer. Think of Rip Van Winkle who entered the faerie realm for what seemed like only days to him and actually came out 20 years later in the ordinary world!
The Lower World is very earthy in nature and resembles our ordinary world but actually looks closer to how it may have been in pre-human times. There you might find yourself in a meadow, a desert, on a mountaintop, in a jungle or even under water. Ways to journey to this realm include downward travels through holes in trees, sliding down tree roots, diving into a pool of water or falling through a rabbit hole…like Alice in Wonderland! And, like Alice, in the lower world, we can meet up with a myriad of helping spirits including power animals like the White Rabbit and spirit guides or allies like The Mad Hatter. In the lower world, we can also meet up with our ancestors and even ourselves at different ages.
One of the first times I journeyed, I met up with myself as a 5-year old child. I saw, little Nina, as I used to call myself, sitting on the edge of the old wooden bridge that had to be crossed to get to the farmhouse where I lived until I was 8 years old. Little Nina and I sat and talked about things that had caused me sadness as a child. I told her that as an adult now, I would do what I could to help her heal. This meeting with myself was one of the major reasons why shamanism felt right for me. I felt empowered and capable of healing from past events in a way that I had not previously experienced. It was exhilarating!
The Journey Steps
Hopefully, you now have a good idea about the three non-ordinary worlds and how they function. Now it’s time to go through the journey steps. It’s important to have all this information down pat ahead of time because, once the journey begins, I am silent and the only sound that will be heard is the sonic beat of the drum as previously described. A journey is not a guided meditation. I do not lead you through each step along the way. You simply follow a storyline on your own to get there and back.
I will tell you a story of one possible way that your journey may go so you have some sort of formula or plan to go by. If the storyline I give you changes in any way, forget what I have told you and follow what is naturally happening for you. After all, your journey is not my journey! Your journey will take you where you most need to go and how you are meant to arrive there and return from there. This is a very important piece of information to remember!
The story to the lower world goes like this (It is different for each world.): Once the drumming begins, you will go to a real place that you know well and have physically visited before. It is a place where you feel safe and consider to be sacred. Once solidly in your sacred place, look for a portal or way down into the lower world. You may find a hole in a tree, choose to slide down the roots of a tree, see a rabbit hole or even opt to dive into a body of nearby water. Whatever you choose, it will take you down into the earth.
Envision yourself physically going through your portal. As you do so, you will then find yourself climbing down a ladder and at the bottom of the ladder you will find yourself in a cave. Wander through the cave until you find yourself walking in a tunnel. Soon you see a light at the end of the tunnel. Walk toward it until you finally step out into the light of day and discover yourself in a beautiful meadow (or in your very own landscape). This is the lower world!
At this point, you will look around you and take in what you see, feel, taste and smell. Notice your surroundings well because this is where you will most likely find yourself whenever you travel to the lower world. Remember that if the world you step into looks different from what I have just described, it is exactly where you are meant to go and be. It could be the jungle, a dessert, the mountains or even an underwater kingdom. You will travel to the right and perfect place for your needs! The lower world is quite different from our ordinary world in that it is much more natural looking and without our worldly noise and distractions. It’s more like it was long before the earth was inhabited by us.
Once you get your lower world legs, it is time to state your intention for being there. Remember that our reason for journeying that day at the animal sanctuary was to listen to the land to see what it may need from Annette…if anything. As with humans, it’s important not to assume what another needs. Asking another person, or Pachamama, Gaia, or Mother Earth, whatever name you choose to call her, what she needs honors her.
We then invite those beings who are ready and willing to show up and offer information to us to do just that. Our allies want to assist us, but will only do so when invited. From this point, our work is about watching and listening to what comes. We become open vessels ready to be filled with the information that is given to us.
Sometimes our way of receiving information in journeywork comes in ways other than visually. Some of us experience a journey and receive information through other means. There are five Claire’s, as they are called, with which we humans pick up information. They are 1) clairvoyance, clear seeing or vision; 2) clairaudience, clear hearing; 3) clairsentience, clear sensing or feeling; 4) clairalience, clear smelling; and 5) clairgustance, clear tasting. Each one of these are important to keep in mind when journeying. As you journey you will discover which Claire or Claires you naturally use. None is better than another. We simply work how we work!
At the end of the journey, the drumbeat will change from the steady sonic beat to what is known as the Callback. You will hear four sets of seven beats, then about a half a minute of a rapid beat, called a double beat, and then a final four sets of seven beats. These different beat sets are calling you back from the non-ordinary world or realm back into this ordinary world.
When you first hear the drumbeat change, it is time to complete your journey. Respectfully, finish any conversations that are occurring, then, in whichever way feels right to you, thank those who have come to give you information and thank the experience itself. Then, you may find yourself traveling from wherever you are back to and through the tunnel, to the cave, climbing the ladder and passing back through the portal to your sacred place. From there, you will begin to feel yourself back in your physical body in the ordinary world. When so, begin to move your fingers and toes to reacclimate yourself to this world and your surroundings.
Some people find themselves skipping some of the backward steps and so it’s possible to find yourself anywhere along the route working your way back to your physical body. This is perfectly fine! Again, there is no one way to either journey or to come back from a journey. We each have our very own way of doing it!
Once back in your physical body, it is very important to write down all that you can remember from your travels. Just as dreams fade away quickly when we wake up in the morning, journeys fade. As you write, more details may come back to you. If you are in a group journey experience, talking to another person will also help solidify your journey. Take turns sharing until you have recalled as much as possible. Many times when in a group, there are similarities between people’s experiences. Listening to other’s stories may remind you of something more about your own journey. Record any symbols as well as anything you gained through your Claires as these can also be valuable in understanding your journey. All in all, you are the most important person to translate your journey. While others may have good input, it is what makes sense to you that will most benefit you.
Now that we have gone through the full journey process step-by-step, it is time to return to the journey before us; that of Annette, Mary Jane and me as we listen to what the Happy Trails land wants to share with us.
With our intention set, I began to drum us to the lower world…
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