Paradigm Explorers: A Shamanic Journey
The monthly Paradigm Explorers meet-up in London, organised by the Scientific and Medical Network, invites post-graduates and graduates in science, psychology and other related fields to explore different topics presented by participants. Alef Trust graduate Lucy Sam shares her experience of facilitating the December event, which focused on shamanic journeying.
As not all of the group knew much about shamanism, I gave a short introduction to shamanism, what it is, how shamans view the world and techniques that shamans use to alter their state of consciousness for the purpose of healing people in their community. I showed a short section of a video from Stanley Krippner, discussing shamanism, called Shamanism and Their World View
The shamanic world view is that everything is connected and part of nature. Unlike Western models of healing and therapy, shamans place emphasis on the work they do as being in service to the whole community and not just for the individual. Shamans work closely with nature, their community and the spirit world. Shamans use different methods to alter their state of consciousness to travel to the spirit realm in order to retrieve information to help heal the person they are working with. They do this in service to their community.
After a brief introduction, I invited people to share their experiences with altered states and non-ordinary reality. Following this, I provided the group with an overview on how to access the journey experience using the resonance of the drum. The drum is repetitively beaten at 5-6 beats per second to assist in altering the brain waves to the theta state. I then used my hoop drum which I created in sacred ceremony and guided people on a shamanic journey, to the lower world to connect with their guide in the animal world.
This provided participants with an opportunity to experience shamanic journeying first hand. People fed back on their experience. They said that they loved the resonance of the drum and it took them on a journey.
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