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The Shaman’s Body: A New Shamanism for Transforming Health, Relationships, and the Community
By Arnold Mindell
Description of Contents
I thought it best to write out this precursor to chapter one. Each numbered item will be fully explored in the subsequent chapters.
PART I – Developing a Double
1. The Shaman’s Body
2. Shamanism and Processwork
3. The Path of Knowledge
4. First Lessons
5. The Hunter
6. The Warrior
7. The Ally
8. The Ally’s Secret
9. The Double
10. The Path of HeartPART II – Dreaming in the City
11. Death or Sorcery
12. Dreaming Together
13. Phantoms and Real People
14. The Deathwalk
15. Dreamtime and Cultural ChangeAlthough Mindell somewhat defines these items, he doesn’t really explain what each one is in terms that are easy to understand for someone not already familiar.
But it’s clear – there’s a journey aspect to the narrative. Psychology merges in and out of the indigenous experience like spirit animals journeying in and out of a western shaman’s dreams – waking and asleep.
There’s a sense of duality and magic, modern and ancient, and a way of packing up the past and moving forward to a future in both the individual self
and the wider community.Wow! I look forward to this! This looks really deep and – real!
It is! I have the next chapter ready to post.
Here is a bit about the key ideas of the author:
American author, therapist and teacher in the fields of transpersonal psychology, body psychotherapy, social change and spirituality. He is known for extending Jungian dream analysis to body symptoms,promoting ideas of ‘deep democracy, and interpreting concepts from physics and mathematics in psychological terms.Mindell is the founder of process oriented psychology, also called Process Work, a development of Jungian psychology influenced by Taoism, shamanism and physics. (Source: Wikipedia – Arnold Mindell)
This is a good video interview with Dr. Mindell and his wife Amy Mindell:
Amy + Arny Mindell: A Process Work Interview for Russian TV in 2013
Part I
Developing a DoubleChapter 1
The Shaman’s BodyWhile reading this chapter, I realized that the reason the key concepts in Shamanism are found in so many cultures is because these concepts come not from experiences defined by culture, but the experiences that are universal to ALL cultures and to ALL humans. As Mindell writes, “Elements of peak and shamanic experiences, such as prolonged trance states, spiritual awakenings, sudden healings, meetings with ghosts, and other paranormal events, are often foreshadowed by various types of inner experiences, or “callings,” such as serious illness, near-death experiences, periods of near insanity, or “big” dreams of wise spirit figures.” (5)
And sometimes people in Western cultures use these experiences to find their way to Shamanism, especially when faced with severe illnesses that go beyond what Western medicine can cure or treat.
I found it interesting that some people don’t become Shamans until they have reached a certain age. Mindell writes about the daughter of his Australian aboriginal healer. Mindell writes, “. . . she mentioned that her father was seventy-eight. He told me that he, too, had not sought to become a healer, but had waited until his parents taught him in their advanced old age, just before death.” (5)
In the Western culture, there is a pro-youth culture that discounts the wisdom of elders. This is unfortunate, shameful, and very destructive to the younger cultures who miss out on the inheritance of wisdom.
Our awareness is further limited in the Western cultures due to tight schedules, living in loud and angry cities surrounded by the destruction of our natural environment. Our inner lives are drowned out, so we have less access to the wisdom found in our own minds, hearts, and souls.
What is so special and important about Mindell’s book is his ability to connect the Western sciences and arts with the Shamanic, as he describes “. . . living on the border between theoretical physics, shamanism, and psychology.” (14)
In studying Shamanism in African, Mindell discovers another connection – that of Shaman to community, especially to the children – “. . . African shaman healers not only worshiped the bush around them, but gave every child who crossed their path a penny, because, they explained, the children were the origins of their shamanic abilities. They said that when the children were happiest, shamanic medicine was most powerful.” (6)
A bit off topic, but I came across an article recently and the pictures in this piece really speak to what is being discussed.
Nothing says love like a tiny child with a big dog
According to Mindell, “Everything you do that is fun is baed on shamanism. Dancing at discos until you go into a trance, screaming yourself into a frenzy at a ball game or music festival, running until you are in an altered state of consciousness: All are shamanic.” (13)
But we also create our own Dark Ages here in Western culture: “Don’t forget that the oldest churches in modern Europe were built upon ancient power sites. We tend not only to build over our past and injure native people, but also to deny our own magic and belief in the unknown and to act like rationalists, as if we had created the world.” (13)
We do tend to get in our own ways in our Western culture of arrogance. Mindell is very critical of Western psychotherapy, as he states it comes “without reference to ancient world history, tends to be mostly white, middle-class dreams with as much air as earth. It is a useful dream, but it misses the eccentric nature of the shaman, love for community, and a culture in which self-knowledge is based on powerful altered states of consciousness.” (13-14)
I am not a fan of Western psychology, as most of it focuses on the individual self, not on the collective, and breeds isolationist theories that enable our industrialized, capitalistic system of oppression. You are taught that if you don’t think positive thoughts – no matter what you are faced with due to income inequality, high unemployment, lack of affordable housing, etc – that you cannot pull yourself up. It’s a lonely form of brain washing that rarely makes people feel good, especially in the long term. There’s definitely a disconnect.
Mindell mentions in several places in this chapter that there is a disconnect from Western psychology and many social justice issues. “After having observed how colonial Western politics have literally decimated millions of aboriginal people in Africa, Australia, North America, and India, and after having realized how the native peoples of Japan, China, Hawaii, and Alaska have been oppressed and murdered, silence is no longer an option for me. The political reality of aboriginal peoples today amounts to lack of civil rights. These peoples are not allowed their religious beliefs.” (14)
Truth to power on that, Mindell. Truth to power.
I’m going to add something that Mindell hasn’t connected (perhaps he will later in the book?). Another social justice issue I see is the lack of space for the reality and purpose of altered states within Western psychology and psychiatry and the link to the War on Drugs, especially in the United States. Western “medicine” has labeled altered states an illness (such as schizophrenia or manic-depression / bipolar) and locked people up and forced them on dangerous pharmaceuticals. And for people seeking altered states through drugs, they find themselves in prison. This is especially true for People of Color. So Western psychology and psychiatry have had a major hand in creating policies that play into the cruel neo-liberal agenda of mass incarceration and the mass pharmaceutical drugging of people from either of these types of experiences in altered spaces.
There are so many reasons to look to Shamanic ideals. The focus of transformation is on the inner life as it relates to aspects of altered states – “I have seen in my practice how many shamanic abilities appear when you stop doubting the reality of the spirit. In this moment, something in you transforms, and you develop a deep attention, a steady focus on irrational events. This basic shamanic tool is attention to the dreaming process. When your inner life calls and you stop doubting, a personal transformation begins.” (5)
However, Mindell is clear that Shamanic cultures also have struggles and are far from perfect – “. . . the rigid roles in which everyone is placed. Men could do this, women had to do that, and only people from certain families could be shamans.” (13)
Far from perfect, but still, with many lessons to teach us, as in the Western world, “[O]ur modern techniques often lack a sense of magic and do not address global issues such as racism, homophobia, women’s rights, and poverty.” (11)
At the end of each chapter, Mindell lists exercises that the reader may do to expand awareness on what has just been discussed. The exercises involve thinking back to when you found yourself having a good “trip” during an altered state. This could be during a spiritual ritual or while doing some process-based innerwork.
He also encourages the reader to think back on prior illnesses, feelings of going insane, the appearance of wise dream teachers, etc.
My favorite exercise is the third one – “Experiment with “assembling,” that is, identifying yourself in different ways. For a moment, see yourself as a person who always follows the dreaming process. Don’t worry about how to define this process; simply let your imagination lead you here. Follow these earlier ‘callings’ in your imagination as if they were a process trying to dream you into a certain state and not simply a symptom of your being troubled. What state have these early ‘dreamings’ been aiming at?” (17)
In the end, if you can, take those experiences of a “good trip” and look for teachings of lessons or a message. And then, “imagine living this message in your life.” (17)
Chapter 2
Shamanism and ProcessworkIn this chapter, Mindell explores two key concepts – first attention and second attention. These are concepts of seeing or perhaps even, seeking.
In “first attention”, there is what we need to do in the day-to-day goals, the ordinary and every day shopping lists of life.
In “second attention”, we travel in altered states and other like experiences. Mindell writes:
“In special states of consciousness–while dreaming, in a coma, in creative dance, in ecstasy, during sports or loving–you slip into the second attention, however, and begin to live the dreamingbody. During psychotic-like episodes–that is, in extreme states of consciousness, such as hallucinations or multiple personalities–the dreaming process may overwhelm you . . . the dreamingbody makes you feel whole and creative.” (25)
I’ve been in such states and it is incredible. Careful, though, society and doctors may see this differently. Just don’t get caught doing this in places that aren’t safe to do so.
Mindell has a background in working with the terminally ill and he has learned many things from his experiences. He writes, “My experiences with near-death situations show me that most people drop their first attention, fall into the second one, and enter the dreamingbody near the end of life.”
This makes sense, as the first-attention activities pertain to the day-to-day things we need to do in life. We shed these responsibilities as we near death’s door. So all of the energy and focus from the first attention would naturally be there for the second attention.
Also, as near-death approaches, we are more prone to altered states of consciousness.
Mindell gives a case study in this chapter that is really fascinating, so I’ll write it out word for word, as he is describing the different types of concepts for dealing with people in altered states.
I remember, for example, a student who got stuck on a drug experience years ago in Switzerland and was brought to me in the midst of a frightening delirium. He stumbled around my room, screaming that the walls of my office were moving. When he touched them, he said, they bent. He cried because he had hurt them by touching them so roughly. The longer this went on, the more terrified he became.
This experience would have been sufficiently meaningful left to itself. But he wanted me to help him because of the terror he experienced. He was on the verge of having a ‘bad trip.’ For me to work with him in such a state, the concepts of ego, conscious, and unconscious were not useful. Instead, I thought of the wall as a secondary process with which he did not identify and asked him to believe in the wall, to feel and look at it.
“Focus your attention upon it!” I yelled. “Look at it!” I had no idea what would happen when he used his second attention. immediately, the moving wall turned into a wave on which he saw himself riding. I encouraged him to show me the wave in movement, to move as he saw the wave moving. He stood and made magnificent wavelike dance movements, surfing his visionary ocean as the waves crashed onto the each.
Suddenly he stopped, looked at me soberly, and said, “Arny, I am just too rigid in my studies!’ His delirium abated as he became excited about new directions in his studies. He needed more flexibility in his life. In this experience, the student had identified himself to begin with as a sensitive person in touch with the pain of matter.(26 – 27)
This reminds me of the saying that sometimes, it takes a breakdown to have a breakthrough.
This student was very lucky to have a shaman nearby, as Western medicine would have likely ended in a much different – and much darker – path.
At the beginning of this chapter, Mindell writes about “dream and body snapshots”. I’m going to go back to this section to piece together what happened with this student.
In exploring the dream, Mindell writes, “Out of context, dreams are fragmented stories, pictures that you can no longer quite remember from ongoing experiences. They are like momentary and incomplete snapshots of a river, so to speak. Shamanic experiences, however, come mainly from the streaming river itself.” (20)
I’m not sure I have this completely right, but I think he’s saying that we are given the pieces of the stories in our dreams, but we need the narrative of the shamanic experience in order to convey a solid story. The shamanic river is that narrative that we can use as a framework to piece our fragments together.
I think that’s what happened in the story of the student.
Again in this chapter as in the earlier one, Mindell comes back to our responsibility to our environment, bringing in a social justice theme. He writes, “Not only are we in danger of losing our rainforests and ruining our natural environment, we have forgotten our second attention, which senses the magic of the world around us.” (29)
As with the student realizing the importance of tuning into his own true sensitive nature by feeling the pain of the walls, we need to tune into our environment and realize the pain we are creating to Mother Earth. This second attention is vital to our very survival.
In the end of the chapter, Mindell gives some exercises to help the reader understand their own dreams. Remember a dream, note the memorable parts of the dream, use your second attention to focus on the lessor known body experiences. Feel. Move your hand. Move your body. Connect to your dream. He ends with, “Swing back and forth between paying attention to your normal body experience and your normal identity and paying attention to this new experience found in your dreamingbody. Practice going in and out of your dreamingbody.”
Chapter 3
The Path of KnowledgeThe various paths to knowledge are explored here, not in detail, just a faint brushstroke illuminating a few.
There’s the shaman’s path, Jung’s path, processwork, the transpersonal path, the Zen path, and so on.
Mindell goes onto to write about “personal growth and development”. He writes, “In Cabalistic Judaism, personal development is likened to a magical tree that takes root, reaches for the sky, and develops all the branches of our powers.”(32)
“In alchemy,” he writes, “people are seen as unrefined mixtures of opposites.” And Keido Fukushima, a Zen master, states, “every day is a fine day,” meaning that even the most impossible fate is somehow acceptable with the right attitude.” (32)
Jung divides your life up in two parts – the first half involves adapting to society and the second half, you are dealing with universal and spiritual roles. Over time, you achieve what Jung called “individuation”.
Mindell asks what I think is a rather odd question – “How does the body change in response to increasing wisdom? (33)
I never thought about the body in this context. I always related wisdom to the brain and to the mind. I now understand more about the whole concept of the “shaman’s body”.
This awareness comes from all of your senses, so it makes sense that it comprises the body – that’s what does the sensing! The eyes, ears, skin, nose, mouth. We are alive that way.
As Mindell writes:
The shaman works at lucid dreaming, stalking visions, following body sensations, and worshiping nature, promoting not only person growth but environmental awareness and a sense of community . . . . the shaman works on the afterlife experience, so to speak–on events that happen after you gain freedom from your identity, your personal history. (34)
But the shaman doesn’t choose this. In fact, the shaman’s path is a forced one – “people are driven to it through illness, hereditary predisposition, dreams, magic, and bodily dismemberment.” (35)
So perhaps this “freedom from your identity” is the result of this illness or injury process, something so severe it causes disassociation and you are freed from your identity. While the event may be forced, it also provides a gateway or a path, perhaps, for those who chose to follow.
As Mindell writes:
Change comes sometimes from an unsolvable problem or koan, sometimes from a group interaction, sometimes from a body experience. Processwork does not focus on who you are or might become but on what you notice.” (34)
To me, this means the loss of identity and possibly a transference to an Observer state may lend itself to such awareness. You are removed from the picture and your awareness takes center stage.
Since, as Mindell writes, “We all live between two impossible worlds: the world of everyday reality and the world of inexplicable nature”, it all comes back to what we notice. And the shaman – through the heightened perceptions – is alive in the shaman’s body.
I think back to the previous chapter which focuses on “first attention” and “second attention” and now this chapter connects the dots between the concept of attention and the concept of development.
I’m understanding more now what processwork involves. In the Exercises section at the end of the chapter, Mindell asks the reader to recall the inexplicable forces on your path.
For me, I think of a very serious illness that I’m surviving. And this is my favorite exercise:
Use your imagination and consider the possibility that these inexplicable forces are potentially useful powers of your own. Imagine owning instead of disavowing them. (40)
Yes, exactly.
Hey Coda – wow, this is good stuff!
There’s really very little to comment on, because it’s so complete!
I realized that the reason the key concepts in Shamanism are found in so many cultures is because these concepts come not from experiences defined by culture, but the experiences that are universal to ALL cultures and to ALL humans
This is what attracts me to Shamanism, it is not dependant upon religion, beliefs, dogma, doctrine – instead, it is about a universal human experience for accessing the unconscious wisdom that we all carry, and learning to apply it in our daily lives.
I was listening to a talk on Dream Yoga, and what he (Andrew Holocek) said was, you want to merge your dreaming (unconscious) with your waking, so that the two braid together and make you stronger.
This is what shamanism is to me, too. Bringing up the experiences of the subconscious, the unconscious, the collective consciousness – and then savouring them in the world of acting and doing, letting them enliven and enrich every aspect of my life.
I found it interesting that some people don’t become Shamans until they have reached a certain age.
This is encouraging, as I’m in the 3rd age of my life, and this seems to hold more wisdom in it as I age. In Yoga, and in East Indian practice in general, the phases of life are childhood, householder, and then when you have earned your money and raised your family, you devote your time to meditation, and become a sage.
I do believe that my experiences were more intense and vivid when I was younger and juicier – but I also didn’t have the wisdom and restraint to integrate and make use of those experiences.
So many things you – and Mindell – write are so true, about social justice, about the eradication of Native Ways, and the programmed social aversion to altered states.
The exercises involve thinking back to when you found yourself having a good “trip” during an altered state.
This is basically what we do in class – not remembering, or focusing on memory – but seeking to gain the positive trip, the affirming Journey. There is much to be learned from the dark, the frightening, the traumatic – but – by focusing on the uplifting, the pleasurable, the delight of Journeys, we can gain so much support and personal power that it aids us when the tough stuff comes up.
Since the group meets only monthly, we really don’t have time to go into the tough and difficult stuff. Besides, most experiences are positive, even if the harsh experiences hold a greater charge. And most experiences – even the frightening ones – can be explored and perceived in a positive light. By adjusting and seeking the pleasurable, we find that most of what we experience, really, is goodness, and this goodness can spread and make us more whole.
I am a huge fan of Shadow Work, of facing and integrating demons – but really, it is not necessary for growth to happen. There is enough growth and affirmation to happen in the “good trip.”
Another exercise:
For a moment, see yourself as a person who always follows the dreaming process.
This fits with the Dream Yoga work, too, where the daily practice is to acknowledge the daytime world as a dream. “This is a dream,” and then, when you are dreaming, it is easier to wake up (lucid dreaming) in your dream. When you no longer prefer the state of waking or dreaming, then that boundary becomes more flexible, and information can pass more freely between the two.
The exercise of re-visioning yourself is a good one. Another possibility might be to vision yourself as one who makes only rational, logical decisions – then – to re-vision yourself as one who only makes intuitive, in-the-moment decisions, following the gut. The real you lies in between, but by exploring these two extremes, you can learn a lot about what you love and what you fear about the way you perceive the world.
This is what attracts me to Shamanism, it is not dependant upon religion, beliefs, dogma, doctrine – instead, it is about a universal human experience for accessing the unconscious wisdom that we all carry, and learning to apply it in our daily lives.
Yes! And I’m also thinking – less belief system and more lifestyle.
This is basically what we do in class – not remembering, or focusing on memory – but seeking to gain the positive trip, the affirming Journey. There is much to be learned from the dark, the frightening, the traumatic – but – by focusing on the uplifting, the pleasurable, the delight of Journeys, we can gain so much support and personal power that it aids us when the tough stuff comes up.
This is really good to read. I did a Shaman journey last week and it was noticeably “lighter”.
I think for me, it’s easy to conflate lighter with having less meaning and darker with being more serious (i.e. having more meaning).
But I think there’s really a lot of meaning in the lighter experiences.
Goes back to lifestyle. Goes to way of being.
There’s only so much baggage I care to take with me.
The exercise of re-visioning yourself is a good one. Another possibility might be to vision yourself as one who makes only rational, logical decisions – then – to re-vision yourself as one who only makes intuitive, in-the-moment decisions, following the gut. The real you lies in between, but by exploring these two extremes, you can learn a lot about what you love and what you fear about the way you perceive the world.
Thank you for this. I like this and will give this exercise a go.
Thanks for the feedback!
Chapter 4
First LessonsFrom the first sentence of this chapter, there is an immediate sense of connection and access to spirits and guides in the form of nature.
Mindell writes:
“Shamans treat the environment as if it were filled with knowing spirits that agree and disagree with your path.” (page 41)
As typical of this book, there are also connections made in the Western and the Shamanic view:
“A Taoist would say that the power of shamanism comes from the Tao. A physicist might explain that a nonlocal connection links different points in the world’s field. Jung would have called this connection between the wind and the ideas of don Juan a synchronicity, that is, a coupling between two seemingly unlikely events felt by the person experiencing them to be meaningful. Shamanism reminds you that the environment has its own intelligence and is a part of you. Native spirituality is based upon the sense that plants are alive and feel. They are our brothers and sisters.” (42)
The book brings up the concept of the earth being able to dream. If you look to the Aboriginals, they believe in Dreamings, or ancestral entities, a kind of “world channel”.
And then Mindell breaks it down, bringing it from the macro to the micro. Individually, we all experience and perceive information through multiple channels – visual, auditory, and all of our other senses.
So this is the dreamingbody connected to the earth’s Dreamings.
And then the word “process” appears. I’ve been wondering how that fit in, as a lot of this is so new to me.
“To our native mind, our shamanic heart, the “world” means everything on earth: leaves, breezes, airplanes. Everything in your world is part of your process.” (43)
And as part of our process, there are guides and spirits to help us along. The process then as a series of “connections” and we aren’t out there in it alone.
We think we are so advanced now with our computers, microwaves, smart phones, and self-driving cars. But it came at a price. We are very, very disconnected with our Mother Earth. Mindell writes:
“Native thinking started from an entirely different paradigm, in which nature and mind were one. For nomadic people everywhere who live closely connected to the environment, being congruent with the world is not merely a theory or a philosophy, but a matter of life and death. If you are not at one with the environment, you could sleep in the wrong place and become the prey of animals.” (44)
It’s like because we have our technology and we don’t need the sun for heat and for light (we have the artificial kinds), we don’t sleep anywhere near wild animals (we have lost contact with their heartbeats), we don’t fear Mother Nature and we don’t respect her.
And another cost – “how you repress your own nature by failing to develop the second attention that experiences the earth as mysterious and alive.” (44)
There’s a sense of “awe” out in nature when you feel the unification – “You feel the world around you as if it were a body part or a partner, sending ou messages of agreements and disagreements, pleasure and stress. This sense is crucial if you need to fish or hunt to eat. But the way that native people relate to the environment is more than a matter of survival. It is the basis of their spiritual traditions and an integral part of their psychology. Sensing this voice of the natural environment can be an important method of self-protection and a path to knowledge.” (45)
Feeling the world around you “as if it were a body part or partner” is such a great, poetic way of exploring the concept of second attention. Remember, in second attention, we can travel in altered states.
Mindell goes onto explore the concept of “personal history” – meaning you need to detach yourself and not view yourself as the center of the universe. He speaks in the language of how you define yourself and the pressures of the outside world to define yourself for you. By removing your personal history, you take power.
The same type of experiences that form shamans – a severe illness, near-death experiences, etc. – are the same things that can make you detach from your personal history. Mindell writes, “During such difficult times, you are forced to undo yourself, to go to pieces, to free yourself from the tendency to think of yourself at any given time as one type of person with one type of task. Either you become fluid, or nature erases you in its own way.” (48)
I like the concept of breaking with personal history because it’s a way of breaking from your past.
As Mindell writes, “Separating from an old identity, system, or relationship is like dying.” (50)
In the section on Death as an Advisor – “According to a Buddhist ritual, you must meditate on your death every day. Many teachers agree that death is the only wise adviser you have”. (50)
It occurred to me that in the Western world, we not only do not do this, our customs of fearing death make us very powerless. We are hyper-attached to our personal histories and we fear death because we don’t mentally “practice” it. And yet, we watch murder after murder after death after death in our box of electric hallucinations, as Chris Hedges calls TV and internet.
We have a very fake and artificial view of it – we see the same actors getting killed on one show only to see him or her appear on something else.
Seriously, we live in a sick cartoon! My words, not Mindell’s, although perhaps he’d agree.
The next section is on taking responsibility:
“Taking responsibility means accepting everything you say, feel, hear, write, see, and communicate as part of you. Accepting your accidents and your lies is an act of compassion. Taking responsibility means that if you are sick, you must understand that the body is bringing up a dream you have not yet known. If you have relationship difficulties, accidents, or world problems, things are happening to you with which you are not in agreement. . . Taking responsibility requires appreciating what happens to you as potentially valuable.” (52)
I like this because it gives “meaning” to suffering.
And you can use second attention for this. It seems like altered states are very, very useful. I can see why the wiser cultures welcome voice hearers and vision seers as shamans.
Mindell lists more exercises at the end of the chapter. One is to be aware of the environment and to use your second attention.
Another exercise is to experiment with telling a lie, but only in your imagination. And turn the lie into a story. Create a myth!
Another exercise is to drop your personal history and use death as an advisor.
I tried this last one and I felt this enormous weight lifted off me! I let go of memory, let go of time, let go of feeling from inside of my body and I reached to feel from the walls and the window.
I get what he says at the end of this chapter:
“Imagine and experience living the freedom of your death in life, in the moment, at work, in relationships, and in the world.” (55)
Chapter 5
The HunterFirst, the shaman must find what Mindell calls “The Spot”. In Western psychology, the spot is acquired by getting licensed, by being able “to regurgitate accepted knowledge under stress”. (58)
But a shaman is tested on being able “to follow your body instincts to survive on this earth. It requires connection to nature.” (58)
How a shaman heals is determined on his or her ability to find their own dreamingbodies and their patient’s.
The is called “the right spot”. (59) And many things determine this spot, including what role you’re being asked to play. This can get rather difficult because where the body needs to be may not be where the mind is.
But the shaman has tools to cope. These include the ability and talent of being in and out of altered states.
In fact, part of the reason for the hunt is to find power, as well as to find psychotropic plants. I found this comment by Mindell very fascinating:
“In my opinion, it is the unconscious interest and talent in hunting power that has addicted many indigenous people to drugs like alcohol.” (61)
I’m sure this is much worse due to the indigenous people’s land being stolen and their way of life being destroyed by the white man.
Considering that for many who hunt, it isn’t just about the hunt but a way of life, Mindell’s words make a lot of sense.
In this chapter, both the hunter and the prey are explored – “The insight that you are not only the killer, but one who someday will also be wiped out, gives you compassion for everything.” (62)
And the prey is also a part of you, taking on the form of perceptual irregularities and even voices and / or visual hallucinations. The prey may be spirits or ghosts, energy or voodoo, depending on your culture and background.
In Western thought, the prey could be “moods, dreams, or complexes” (64). It could be a kind of second sight or intuition.
Mindell encourages the reader to practice seeing visions and hearing voices and to explore altered states. Even hang out with paranoid fantasies! And, of course, use your second attention.
Really, this is about paying attention to all that is around you with all of your senses:
“You listen to what others say, but you also sense the unspoken, emotional background, the excitement, love, jealousy, and ambition that can transport the group out of its own ordinary reality.” (65)
But also, be aware of your own behavior. I think this is how you learn to control your altered states.
And for those of us who have altered states and are learning to work with them, this is very valuable information. The Western world does not look kindly on those who have altered states.
But you can control your altered states and find your talents there.
Mindell writes that your prior knowledge can hinder your hunt for power and for future. I have to wonder if those who go through a severe illness and have everything about themselves emptied out, including memory, may experience this wipe-out of prior knowledge as a gateway into shamanic power. Just a theory I had after reading this passage:
“What is the difference between a madman and a hunter? Actually, there is little difference, which is probably why earlier researchers in shamanism thought that the shamans were psychotic or epileptic. The difference between a shaman and an ordinary person swamped by experiences is that the shaman’s tightness allows her to lead an ordinary life. She knows that now she is ‘hunting,’ and now she is just shopping.” (67)
It is the shaman’s insight and control that defines her as a shaman more so than her experiences. This is the grand take away.
But there’s more:
“She can differentiate herself from her prey” (67).
Keep in mind, the definition of prey can mean your mood, your dreams, and your complexes. So a shaman, even during an altered state, is able to take full control over their mood and their behavior. In this way, the altered state is not out of control behavior. Mindell writes:
“As a hunter, you know you are the witness and do not become entangled in your visions . . . . You know when to identify with and when to dis-identify with your prey so that you are not its victim, not overwhelmed by experience.” (67)
I’m going to insert my own views here – having a steady practice and education in mindfulness can be VERY helpful with this.
I found insight in this passage:
“Psychology certainly has shamanistic roots, but it has somehow forgotten the ritual of honoring its resource. Psychology, without respect for the unknown, looks just like modern technology, which takes from the environment without giving back to it. It may be dangerous to delve into unconscious for one’s personal edification, to use dreams as they were one’s own.” (68)
This struck me as being so profound because psychology is based on an individual’s experience, as opposed to the collective experience of humans, animals, plants, and the universe. Most Western psychology is based on a person’s dreams as belonging to that person! No wonder it has such a bad track record.
I will keep this in mind the next time I have a dream and ask less, what does this mean in my own life? and more, what does this say about the universe?
The environment has so much wisdom, but it’s not ours alone on the individual level. Best to follow its wisdom. That’s the hunt.
The last part of this chapter deals with Personal History, freeing yourself from routines and your personal identity. Mindell says laughter can be a key to this:
“When you are able to laugh, not only are you looking for life, but you are living it. With this sense of freedom, you can track certain processes that have no routines. They are the magic that makes life worth living.” (69)
Gratitude is also key:
“To find the most magical element in life and the impulse for creativity, you need to be in a special, magical mood, the mood in which you are thankful for whatever happens, even if this is nothing. In other words, the way you hunt is by being the very object of your hunting.” (69)
This speaks to the concept of shamanism and being involved in the hunt as a way of life process.
The opposite of this could by your own self-identity. And Western psychology can make this worse because they “may inadvertently solidify that very sense of personal history that could finally hinder you from finding the shaman’s keys. If you always focus on the same issues, using the same methods, life begins to be predictable.” (70)
As always, Mindell ends the chapter with exercises. The one I want to write about is the first exercise – “find the spot”.
I actually have been practicing this for awhile. It’s called the body scan and there are many great versions of this:
Chapter 2 – Shamanism and Processwork
“Second Attention” – Villoldo, Casteneda and Jon Anderson of Yes all speak of Second Attention. I’ve only ever heard it referred to, never defined, so thank you for this.
I’ve thought of it in my own mind over the years as the second look, the deeper look – like the Observer in mindfulness meditation. Who is observing, or as Tolle says, “Who is the person that doesn’t like himself?” This attention-behind-the-attention of everyday awareness seems to fit the qualities of “Second Attention,” too.
According to Mindell, it also includes altered states and dreaming. But is it attention when those altered states overwhelm you from the Shadow? That thing which is called psychosis? Or – recreational drugs? It is an awareness, but I reckon second attention is more deliberate, more crafted. Paying attention while in the altered states, the psychosis, or while on the mind altering drugs, instead of being overwhelmed by it, or riding it for fun.
I watched some of the video interviewing him and his wife – they are darling together! But I realised that he has codified things that I’ve never heard of – like the “dreamingbody” – I’m guessing that this is the body as we perceive it in Journeys. Traditional yoga teaches about the subtle body – that body where the chakras reside and intersect with our “gross” or physical body. Other magickal practices refer to this as the “Astral body,” the part which goes travelling in the Middle World (and, by association, to the Lower and Upper worlds?) I wonder, is there a difference between the subtle body, the astral body, and the dreamingbody – or do we need a new terminology at all?
This gives me a sense that he’s trying to make academic sense of a thing, and hopefully by doing so, bring it to a more mainstream awareness.
This reminds me of the saying that sometimes, it takes a breakdown to have a breakthrough.
And – often even a breakthrough is interpreted with diagnosis words and drugged in our stolid, material Western world….
I’m not sure I have this completely right, but I think he’s saying that we are given the pieces of the stories in our dreams, but we need the narrative of the shamanic experience in order to convey a solid story. The shamanic river is that narrative that we can use as a framework to piece our fragments together.
Again, I think he is using his academic, therapeutic language to describe a thing. I understand that it is vital for him to do so – but the thing itself is an experience.
When one is skilled at Dreaming, as the Taoist Dream Yogis teach, then it is possible to string together a total narrative. When I was younger, nearly all of my dreams were in the forms of journeys – so I don’t preclude dipping into the “shamanic river” in Dream states. As I’ve aged (and suffered health consequences) I’ve lost some of this skill, but sometimes still experience what I call a “Whole Dream,” one with a beginning, middle and end, and a plot that moves through it. These are very special dreams, and are very revealing.
What he is calling the “Shamanic River,” is close to what I call “Unconscious” or even “Subconscious.” I define these two as processes which are below the surface of our awareness, a pre-verbal place where the Truth is waiting, but it is waiting in symbol and sound, vision and picture. The Unconscious is often more collective – involving others and archetypes, while the Subconscious is more personal, involving teachings which are more immanent in the personality.
This guy is making me go really deep in order to reach for his concepts!
The exercises at the end also tie into the “This is my hands” experience. By doing so, you can cross over into the dreaming, and steer the dreams.
Recording your dreams is like gratitude; the more you practice it, the more it will unfold for you.
Chapter 3 – The Path of Knowledge
Jung divides your life up in two parts – the first half involves adapting to society and the second half, you are dealing with universal and spiritual roles. Over time, you achieve what Jung called “individuation”.
I was just reading comments on Mad In America (where I posted about healing with shamanism), Mad In America – Healing After Psychosis where they were talking about Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs – apparently it was later adjusted to become an hourglass, for there is another inverse pyramid on top of the original pyramid, which includes the expansive lessons to learn once one has achieved individuation, or, self-actualisation.
Mindell asks what I think is a rather odd question – “How does the body change in response to increasing wisdom?
I was listening to a talk by Andrew Harvey about the yoga bodies – I think it was this one: Andrew Harvey – Evolutionary Mysticism and I have heard this asserted elsewhere, too: that, as we evolve, and become more aware of our Light body (even deeper, more profound than the subtle body) – it transforms all the other bodies (subtle and gross) into a wisdom and joy which lights the body from within.
This has been observed in Saints – and represented in Western Art as paintings.
I’ll be back for more…this guy is good!
Chapter 4 – First Lessons
The book brings up the concept of the earth being able to dream. If you look to the Aboriginals, they believe in Dreamings, or ancestral entities, a kind of “world channel”.
This ties into what I’ve been reading by John Perkins, “The World Is As You Dream It.” I promise to review that book here when I’ve finished writing about Casteneda.
He speaks of Earth as Pachamama, our Mother, and right now, I reckon Pachamama may be dreaming about how to reduce the numbers of humans and their impact upon her other creatures.
But he also speaks of the power of our own dreams, to envision and Dream a way for Humans to be upon the Earth that will help Her to thrive.
James Lovelock put forth a scientific treatise that the Earth is a whole thing, a being, Gaia, and that by recognizing her, honouring her as a Life Form, we could solve many of our problems and attitudes towards resources.
The indigenous did this by only taking what we need. The concept of having unlimited wealth created from the backs of others, and the resources of the Earth – is counter to Gaia and Pachamama. Instead, approaching Her with love and respect is really, the only way forward.
“To our native mind, our shamanic heart, the “world” means everything on earth: leaves, breezes, airplanes. Everything in your world is part of your process.”
For example, some tribes speak of the Medicine Wheel in terms of the Four Winds. This is very real in ordinary reality (or first attention) as it is in second attention.
When you feel a breeze, where is it coming from, and where is it going to? An East wind blows towards the West – bringing ideas into feeling, for example.
Mindell goes onto explore the concept of “personal history” – meaning you need to detach yourself and not view yourself as the center of the universe. He speaks in the language of how you define yourself and the pressures of the outside world to define yourself for you. By removing your personal history, you take power.
This fits with a lot of Zen teachings, too, and concepts in Buddhism and Advaita (like Mooji). When you let go of the story – “I came from this, this was done to me, I did this,” and allow yourself to be the experience of the story, “This is the source of beginning, this happened, this was done through my body and being,” then you are one step closer to liberation.
This freedom is a step towards enlightenment, and the story no longer has power over you. The trauma did happen to the body which you personally experience, but the trauma itself is not personal. This means that – when someone attacks you for example – you can realise that their attack really has nothing to do with you. Instead, you see that it is a perfect mirror to them, and you are able to act out of compassion: respond instead of react to the story.
Yes, it is a lifestyle!
In fact, the shaman’s path is a forced one – “people are driven to it through illness, hereditary predisposition, dreams, magic, and bodily dismemberment.”
While this is true in traditional shamanism, I’d like to add that it is not essential in order to use shamanic tools. Certainly many people have experienced trauma of many sorts, and certainly many people who are involved in shamanism have a predisposition to the qualitative experiences of shamanism.
But I like to believe that the tools of shamanism, the Medicine Wheel, the cleansing, the Journey, and the integration of the Journey with the daily life – are available to all. Much as the communal experience of tribal celebrations bring trance, visions, and awareness of the Other Realms – and the time between celebrations can bring integration of those communal experiences. Not everyone who experiences shamanic reality needs to be a lifelong dedicated shaman.
I do think that every dedicated shaman must experience the Dark Night of the Soul, or the Shamanic Death – not everyone who participates in shamanism needs to travel that road, and the benefits of Collective Unconscious, or Dreamtime, or the Dreamingbody – are available to all.
Processwork does not focus on who you are or might become but on what you notice.
Mindfulness! Attention is everything. Yesterday I saw black cockatoos flying over the river. If I’d not paid attention, I would’ve just seen crows – but I did pay attention, and it turned out to be 6 black cockatoos. I watched a butterfly flutter at a tree – and I wondered what she was worried about. Turns out her mate was inside the bush, and the two of them flew off together. Attention brought that lesson to me. Watching clouds, observing insects, birds, breezes. It is the same in ordinary reality as it is in non ordinary reality.
Thank you for your comments, JC. So much insight.
I’ve been sick off and on the past couple of weeks, so I haven’t posted in awhile. I’m feeling better and hope to be back on track next weekend for the next chapter.
But I feel up to exploring the wonderful comments you made.
According to Mindell, it also includes altered states and dreaming. But is it attention when those altered states overwhelm you from the Shadow? That thing which is called psychosis? Or – recreational drugs? It is an awareness, but I reckon second attention is more deliberate, more crafted. Paying attention while in the altered states, the psychosis, or while on the mind altering drugs, instead of being overwhelmed by it, or riding it for fun.
Yes, I think you’re right – second attention is very deliberate. I look at it as a kind of “curious observer” state of mind. Like a scientist exploring the altered state without fear.
RD Laing referred to psychosis as “metanoiac voyage”. Loren Mosher described it as a state of consciousness in response to a crisis and it held the door open for major growth and insight. Of course, in western cultures, that is not acceptable and people are generally medicated for these experiences.
Mindell describes more here. I believe this is something you sent me awhile back and it was my introduction to Mindell.
Physics, Dreaming and Extreme States: Arnold Mindell
What he is calling the “Shamanic River,” is close to what I call “Unconscious” or even “Subconscious.” I define these two as processes which are below the surface of our awareness, a pre-verbal place where the Truth is waiting, but it is waiting in symbol and sound, vision and picture. The Unconscious is often more collective – involving others and archetypes, while the Subconscious is more personal, involving teachings which are more immanent in the personality.
This guy is making me go really deep in order to reach for his concepts!
Thank you for this! I hadn’t thought of the Shamanic River as being the unconscious or the subconscious but it does make sense to put it in that perspective.
Yes, he does go deep, doesn’t he?
Mindell asks what I think is a rather odd question – “How does the body change in response to increasing wisdom?
I was listening to a talk by Andrew Harvey about the yoga bodies – I think it was this one: Andrew Harvey – Evolutionary Mysticism and I have heard this asserted elsewhere, too: that, as we evolve, and become more aware of our Light body (even deeper, more profound than the subtle body) – it transforms all the other bodies (subtle and gross) into a wisdom and joy which lights the body from within.
This has been observed in Saints – and represented in Western Art as paintings.
I have bookmarked this talk to come back to when I’m more well. I look forward to exploring the concept of evolutionary mysticism.
This ties into what I’ve been reading by John Perkins, “The World Is As You Dream It.” I promise to review that book here when I’ve finished writing about Casteneda.
Wonderful! Please do write about it. I’ve looked at the Casteneda thread and hope to read more as I’m able.
Mindell goes onto explore the concept of “personal history” – meaning you need to detach yourself and not view yourself as the center of the universe. He speaks in the language of how you define yourself and the pressures of the outside world to define yourself for you. By removing your personal history, you take power.
This fits with a lot of Zen teachings, too, and concepts in Buddhism and Advaita (like Mooji). When you let go of the story – “I came from this, this was done to me, I did this,” and allow yourself to be the experience of the story, “This is the source of beginning, this happened, this was done through my body and being,” then you are one step closer to liberation.
This freedom is a step towards enlightenment, and the story no longer has power over you. The trauma did happen to the body which you personally experience, but the trauma itself is not personal. This means that – when someone attacks you for example – you can realise that their attack really has nothing to do with you. Instead, you see that it is a perfect mirror to them, and you are able to act out of compassion: respond instead of react to the story.
Yes, it is a lifestyle!
This is such a perfect example of how shamanism and mindfulness heals not only our trauma, but heals us in ways that keep us from traumatizing others, even if we don’t mean to, but as you say, we need to “respond instead of react”.
I do think that every dedicated shaman must experience the Dark Night of the Soul, or the Shamanic Death – not everyone who participates in shamanism needs to travel that road, and the benefits of Collective Unconscious, or Dreamtime, or the Dreamingbody – are available to all.
I think this may be why Mindell writes in ways that are speaking in an academic sense, as you mentioned in an earlier post, to make it more accessible.
I find, however, the Dark Night of the Soul to be something that doesn’t always have a past tense, so understanding the Evolutionary concept mentioned earlier is really important.
Processwork does not focus on who you are or might become but on what you notice.
Mindfulness! Attention is everything. Yesterday I saw black cockatoos flying over the river. If I’d not paid attention, I would’ve just seen crows – but I did pay attention, and it turned out to be 6 black cockatoos. I watched a butterfly flutter at a tree – and I wondered what she was worried about. Turns out her mate was inside the bush, and the two of them flew off together. Attention brought that lesson to me. Watching clouds, observing insects, birds, breezes. It is the same in ordinary reality as it is in non ordinary reality.
Beautiful visuals. Thanks!
Chapter 5 – The Hunter
The Spot is something I learned to seek out from Casteneda.
I write about it here: Shaman Explorations – Carlos Casteneda – Finding Your Place
When you have your spot, your place, you acquire direct access to the Earth, and this feeds and nourishes you.
I was listening to a talk by Ann Marie Chiasson about energy medicine and connecting to the earth (she is an MD who uses energetic exercises, tapping, and maybe even a rattle in her treatments – I will be writing about her soon on Surviving Antidepressants).
In this talk, she said that Westerners have chosen Rational Mind, and in so doing have turned ourselves upside down. In Chinese Medicine, we are meant to have cool head, neutral heart and hot pelvis. But Westerners frequently have hot heads, hot hearts, and cold feet.
She spoke deeply about the importance of connecting to the Earth in order to prevent getting depleted (she also uses shamanic principles in her practice). She says that most of us use our energy “sack” by the age of 40, and if we wish to continue in health and vitality beyond age 40 it becomes essential to have grounding and connection to the Earth.
This ties in with what I am learning from Taoist shamanic practices – the original trance practices were very depleting, and aged the practitioners prematurely. It wasn’t until they developed chi gung and yoga, and dietary practices to balance the drain of trance work, that the practitioners were able to live long and healthy lives.
This also fits the drain that psychotropic drugs, when used chronically, can cause. It’s something I’m very cautious about, as I use herbs and other substances to help me experience trance and vision. But I am aware that each herb, each plant, has it’s price – and this Spot, this grounding may be the key to surviving the plant-induced trance, as well as thriving and respecting the power of the plant.
I found this comment by Mindell very fascinating:
“In my opinion, it is the unconscious interest and talent in hunting power that has addicted many indigenous people to drugs like alcohol.”
Yes! I have thought much about this as I have journeyed here on the Australian continent, sometimes using substances. And as I taste the Place, the Power, and the Vision of it, I feel how much the aboriginals must feel cut off from their Place of Birth, their Ancestral Power – and how easy it would be to sniff petrol to “see the Dreamtime,” even if it is not their personal Dreaming, and is a horribly unhealthy way to touch those places. When you are traumatically severed from your Identity and Ancestors, how else can you Touch it?
So you need your Spot, your connection to Earth, your place of personal power.
In this chapter, both the hunter and the prey are explored
This ties into my current studies of “Animals of the Soul,” a study by Joseph Epes Brown, of the Oglala Sioux spiritual practice and relationships to the animals.
Black Elk said, “The animal hunted is sacred power. So to follow his tracks, one is on the path of power. To kill then the animal is to obtain power. All of this is wakan.” Wakan in my white understanding of it, refers to that which is sacred, mysterious, gifts of the Spirit.
In Oglala Sioux, the very acquisition of food – hunting – contained the elements of the Hero’s Quest, the sacred journey, and so the joy of the hunt was also the joy of celebration of life, of acquisition of power, and “success in the hunt” was about much more than just getting dinner.
Mindell encourages the reader to practice seeing visions and hearing voices and to explore altered states. Even hang out with paranoid fantasies! And, of course, use your second attention.
I liked the way, in the video with his wife – he slipped in and out of dreamlike states. He would lower his eyelids (not quite closed), and circle with his body, and drop into a light altered state. In that, too, he talked about how people worldwide abuse alcohol because this skill of dropping into dream while awake has been lost in our culture. I will be trying his technique to see if I can drop into trance just a little easier.
What is the difference between a madman and a hunter? Actually, there is little difference, which is probably why earlier researchers in shamanism thought that the shamans were psychotic or epileptic. The difference between a shaman and an ordinary person swamped by experiences is that the shaman’s tightness allows her to lead an ordinary life. She knows that now she is ‘hunting,’ and now she is just shopping.” (67)
It is the shaman’s insight and control that defines her as a shaman more so than her experiences. This is the grand take away.
I would like to emphasise the discipline of ceremony. Of cleansing, of calling to the Medicine Wheel, of formally honouring and respecting the Spirits, your Guides, and the Spirits of place.
Putting the discipline of this around the altered state makes the state special, and helps to steer the experience.
So as you and I have spoken of – curiosity is vital, but the insights are more likely to be available to you within the context of ritual, of discipline, of gratitude and of ceremony. Of Practice.
In the same way that the Drum has a specific pattern to guide the journey – and you always return, the ceremony puts boundaries, steering and navigation controls – and – the ability to return (which is often missing from spontaneous altered states).
“She can differentiate herself from her prey” (67)
Yes! This is the Mindfulness and the deep value of it. It doesn’t stop with Mindfulness (as we are often taught that Mindfulness is the end-all, be-all of well-being) – it begins with Mindfulness.
The ability to step back, witness and observe from an objective, neutral space is yet another key to accessing the keys, gems, and lessons of the altered state.
This struck me as being so profound because psychology is based on an individual’s experience, as opposed to the collective experience of humans, animals, plants, and the universe. Most Western psychology is based on a person’s dreams as belonging to that person!
Yes!
There are elements of collective – and personal – in the dream, in the altered state. I was working with Charlie5 about this, when I saw a prophecy in his vision, and the prophecy could be considered dark – but his vision was bright and true. How could it be both?
That is the paradox of the collective and the personal being shown in a similar vision. It is extremely difficult to parse this out yourself.
If you dream of being smothered by a bear (for example), does this mean that you personally are suffering from inactivity, or oppressiveness, or being overpowered? Or perhaps the Bear is a Bigger, Collective vision, or prophecy about power and the inability of poor people to get the resources they need because the Bear is taking them all. (to deepen the example, the Bear often represents Russia, in the collective and prophetic realms)
The paradox may mean both – or perhaps the collective part of the vision is true, but the Personal part of the vision finds comfort in the warm embrace of the bear. Like I spoke before, it is difficult to draw a discriminating line between the personal and the collective in vision. Most often, it is personal, but often the collective will peek through and try to educate you about something deeper.
Clues to this often involve archetypes – symbols of religion, or common patterns as described by Jung, that seem universal to much of humanity. This is extra tricky with animals, as they are archetypical – the wolf may be your personal teacher – or the wolf may be “at the door,” in a collective sense. Or both may be true.
It is in stillness that we can truly learn. Stillness, says Black Elk, is the very voice of G-d.
Gratitude is also key:
“To find the most magical element in life and the impulse for creativity, you need to be in a special, magical mood, the mood in which you are thankful for whatever happens, even if this is nothing. In other words, the way you hunt is by being the very object of your hunting.”
I wrote a bit about my attitude toward “The Hunt,” here:
Shaman Explorations – Asking instead of TellingIn reading this, I realise how I should have spoken about Gratitude, as well.
Asking with respect, with honour for the Spirits, is all fine and well, but it is Gratitude which fuels the relationships, the communication, and which propels our growth forward into a Spiral of Transformation.
I’ve written all over the shop here, but it’s been a great opportunity to link together what you are learning with what I am learning so that we both may grow.
Key points:
Ritual / Ceremony / Discipline / Practice
Mindfulness / Objectivity
Silence
and
Gratitude.Thank you!
Thanks for all of your insight and wisdom, JC. I’m still having some concentration problems, so I’ll only touch on a few things, but I appreciate all you have written.
I know after I finish reading the book and have a better “overall” concept of this, I’ll go back through this entire thread and get a lot more out of it, as it’s packed with so many beautiful writings and references.
In this talk, she said that Westerners have chosen Rational Mind, and in so doing have turned ourselves upside down. In Chinese Medicine, we are meant to have cool head, neutral heart and hot pelvis. But Westerners frequently have hot heads, hot hearts, and cold feet.
Yes, I see this. I’ve been damaged by this. We all have.
I liked the way, in the video with his wife – he slipped in and out of dreamlike states. He would lower his eyelids (not quite closed), and circle with his body, and drop into a light altered state. In that, too, he talked about how people worldwide abuse alcohol because this skill of dropping into dream while awake has been lost in our culture. I will be trying his technique to see if I can drop into trance just a little easier.
And worse, the punitive acts that Western medicine applies to people who do see visions, hear voices, and / or experience altered states.
I would like to emphasise the discipline of ceremony. Of cleansing, of calling to the Medicine Wheel, of formally honouring and respecting the Spirits, your Guides, and the Spirits of place.
Putting the discipline of this around the altered state makes the state special, and helps to steer the experience.
So as you and I have spoken of – curiosity is vital, but the insights are more likely to be available to you within the context of ritual, of discipline, of gratitude and of ceremony. Of Practice.
In the same way that the Drum has a specific pattern to guide the journey – and you always return, the ceremony puts boundaries, steering and navigation controls – and – the ability to return (which is often missing from spontaneous altered states).
Due to an illness, I’m unable to be as ritualistic and to practice as much as I’d like.
I do think I’m learning from this illness. But in ways, I’m limited.
And in other ways, a lot of what Mindell writes about is expanding the limitations.
It is in stillness that we can truly learn. Stillness, says Black Elk, is the very voice of G-d.
I believe this.
Key points:
Ritual / Ceremony / Discipline / Practice
Mindfulness / Objectivity
Silence
and
Gratitude.I like how you pulled all of that out of this and gave this order and space.
Thank you. 🙂
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