S. Kelley Harrell's Blog: Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism, page 109

Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for fun times with my family.

I appreciate my freedom.

I’m glad for progress, though slow and muddy as it often seems.

I’m relieved to feel quieter inside.

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks?

This post is part of VikLit‘s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Participate by following the link and adding your name to the Linky list, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever!

Click here to hop on… the hop, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment.

Photo credit: Shermeee / Foter.com / CC BY

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Thursday Betwixt – Going Deep with Spirit Guides

To continue the discussion from my previous post on deepening the modern shamanic experience, I’d like to talk a bit about connecting with totems and Spirit Guides, outside the journey state.

A concept that comes up often in circles of traditional shamanism is that of reciprocity with spirit allies, or what some refer to as ‘the demands of their Guides.’ I’ve known shamans whose Guides required them to make all of their ritual items. Some are required to dedicate one day a week to cut off communication and engagement with others, and for that day live in concert only with a specific guide. Leaving a place setting for the Guide at every meal is mandatory for some.  Body modification may be a condition of connecting with a Guide. Others are required to wear talismans of a particular totem, such as feathers, fur, or skin of that totem.

In traditional shamanism, such a demand is business as usual. In the modern context, the concept of demanding Guides is a somewhat off-putting idea, that in order to have their full support, we need to comply with certain wishes, on their part.  Generally speaking, we’re not monastic. We aren’t in a culture that by virtue of a spiritual calling sets us aside while we develop that relationship. Most of us don’t cloister ourselves for even short periods of time, as a means of growing, refining, and maintaining raw connection with the Divine. We find the sacred amidst work, bills, and everything else that has to be done.

Despite this distinction from traditional shamanism,  judging the imperative of ally reciprocity as archaic is a very capitalist way to look at the give-and-take nature that should underlie every relationship in our lives. Balanced exchange is no different with Guides. Despite our best strides in incorporating a shamanistic worldview, we still look upon such bare demands as archaic, or out-moded. By our keen intellect, we see ourselves as somehow beyond that base need. As a result, reciprocal relationship with Guides isn’t taught in most shamanic coursework, despite that there are significant spiritual needs that it fills, and very mundane ones, as well.

Foremost, demands from Spirit Guides, aren’t as rudimentary as “Do this, or no dice.” That simplistic way of looking at it brings to mind the pervasive idea that once called to a shamanic path, we have no choice but to follow, that we surrender free will. For many shamanic students, the idea of ‘fire in the head’ is daunting–the state of being spiritually awakened and unable to dismiss that fact, to return to life as it was before. It should be daunting, though not because it’s a fearsome thing, but because it will demand that we change, and that demand often comes in the form of our spirit guides setting a few ground rules. Once that circuitry gets opened up, we’re in uncharted territory. We need a few easy-to-follow guidelines to keep us in check, but to also hold us steady in the life changes that come. Honoring the demands of Spirit Guides is one way to do that, in a very brass tacks, chop-wood/carry-water approach.

Still, there’s more going on than quickening the mouse in the transpersonal maze. Another component of placating Guides is the subtler demand that you go deeper within yourself, into spiritual being. The requests of guides are at heart designed to keep us on track when we’re not communing with them in trance, specifically in ways that we would not otherwise monitor ourselves. Keep in mind, we’re not all driven by the same challenges. We are only affected by what’s in our context, so the challenges we’re given match that strata.  So you’re not asked to make your own drum, or grow your ritual herbs. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a need and way to go deeper with your Guides. For an advertising executive on a shamanic path, being asked to honor intuition over sales and stats may be as challenging as building an ark.

Our soul allies light the fire in those initial visits, but it’s up to us to keep it burning.  Have you asked your Guides and totems how to take your relationship deeper? What do they demand of you, to maintain your earthly connection to them, to your spirit? How do you honor them throughout your day?

The post Thursday Betwixt – Going Deep with Spirit Guides appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Wordless Wednesday

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Weekly Rune – Berkano

Berkano – Tree – The forces of birthing hard work into manifestation are with us this week. Indeed, Berkano is about dues paid, and the rewards of that process.

Of course, we all know that satisfaction rarely resembles what we imagined when we began its process of creation. Specifically, while the outcome of a project or undertaking may be exactly what we set out to do, we, ourselves are not. During such progressions we grow. Our desires change, our needs, and maybe more than any of those, our perspective changes.

So while we are likely putting into place exactly what we meant to this week, we may not still want it. There is a trickster element to Berkano, in that it deals with deep feminine power, primal chaos that alters the manifestation process as we grow with it, as it becomes. In this way, this Rune ties to Loki’s mother, Laufey, the fir tree.

Through that connection, shades of Winter Solstice flicker in Berkano, interesting foresight, given that we are upon The Dark Time. Berkano is the spark to keep in mind as we enter the coming time of stagnation, processing, and allocation of resources.

Truly potent things are brewing. Stay with the process of their development, and carefully tend their needs, as well as your own.  Likewise, bless the path behind you, and realize that all of new life is ahead.

The post Weekly Rune – Berkano appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for deeper insight into health and healing.

I’m very pleased to have had great family time, this week.

I’m relieved to be able to deal with stress in a functional way.

I’m thrilled to actively feel the support of the Universe.

I’m happy that music exists, especially on this beautiful fall days, when the weather calls me outdoors all day, and I just want to dance!

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks?

This post is part of VikLit‘s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Participate by following the link and adding your name to the Linky list, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever!

Click here to hop on… the hop, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment.

Photo credit: Shermeee / Foter.com / CC BY

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Thursday Betwixt – After the Journey

“Then he began to think of all the things Christopher Robin would want to tell him when he came back from wherever he was going to, and how muddling it would be for a Bear of Very Little Brain to try and get them right in his mind. ‘So, perhaps,’ he said sadly to himself, ‘Christopher Robin won’t tell me anymore,’ and he wondered if being a faithful Knight meant that you just went on being faithful without being told things” ~A. A. Milne, The Wonderful World of Pooh

I’ve been re-thinking the format of my blog, and in doing so would like to create a more open dialogue around modern shamanism and animism.

“That’s not so different from what you’ve been doing,” you say.

Well, yes, but after spending some time clarifying what I need to do on my personal path and in my work, I realize this blog isn’t doing enough. I’m still open to the reader Q&A format, so feel free to shoot me inquiries. The thing is,  it’s hard to ask a question when you don’t know the subject well. While we have come a long way, culturally, in the twenty-five years of my study of shamanism, we still don’t talk about the lifestyle around a shamanistic or animistic lifestyle, which frankly, has a lot to do with the problems that arise when learning to journey. To identify my entries on this theme, I will be posting them under the category “Thursday Betwixt,” dedicated space in my blog to address a topic with a foot in both worlds.

And before you say it, I know I’ve always said there’s no veil. There’s no line that says here’s Here, and———-there’s conveniently, separately located There, the official Other Side. Nonetheless, the need to articulate how that between experience feels and works in daily life requires some kind of identifier, and I’m not going to reinvent the conceptual wheel. Rather, I’ll just go with what we’ve got.

So here’s where this new direction starts: life after shamanic journeying. When I first discovered there were classes that taught shamanic techniques, that collection of techniques was put forward as shamanism. Well, they’re not =) What is even harder to process is that many are still presenting journeying and shamanism in that synonymous way–as if the ability to slide into trance makes one a shaman. Without celebration of our natural inclination toward trance states. Without discussion of what to do with the information stirred by the mere process of journeying. Without discussion of how life after that point changes–even if you have no plans to become a shaman.  Without plans for how to carry the ecstatic experience into daily life–back to the foot in both worlds thing. Without provisions for how to recreate that ecstasy on your own.

Many present the technique of journeying as the feature distinguishing shamanism from other intuitive/psychic arts. It is. But that’s not all. I’ve said from day one of deciding–and it is a decision–to be a modern shaman, that anyone can see. We’re all seers, all intuitive. Going into trance doesn’t make you a shaman, it makes you human. It’s not a special skill reserved for certain people. But knowing what to do with intuition, how to respond to it, how to incorporate its wisdom into everyday life is a very special skill, that can–and should–be learned, for your own journeys, and especially if you want to work with others. Otherwise, dipping into journeying can make a huge mess, a spiritual crisis bigger than what brought you to learning the technique to start with.

To that end, a lot of people come to me, after a crash weekend course in journeying, needing to sort it all out, because that’s the part that can’t be taught in two days. Apart from the emotional fallout–which spans absolute ecstasy to horror, depression to joy, and everything between–that often occurs after learning to journey, the thing I hear most is how they can’t hold the ecstatic experience. They can’t recreate it the way they felt it in those early soul adventures.

The very first introductions we make, actively engaging the unseen, blow our socks off. Most definitely they alter our sense of self and Life, on a dime.  Even people who consider their initial soul travels “unsuccessful,” with regard to meeting allies recognize the innate power of the altered state.  In fact, often those with least expectation are the most deeply affected. Without fail, though, eventually the colors fade, the messages obscure. Sometimes communication stops short, and guides don’t even show up. Why?

Sure,  part of that can be chalked up to dynamics. There’s something magickal about group sacred space, particularly when it’s created with the intention to facilitate and support shamanic journeying. Creating space in isolation doesn’t always get the same results, though if done with the intention of bringing in the totems in your familiar to help you hold the space, it can be even more personal, more transcendent.  Another culprit is not observing ritual for journeying. The key thing to know about not being able to sustain the thrilling, vivid journeys of fledgling soul travel is… no one can recreate it that way, without manifesting through the rest of life what each journey teaches.  Journeys become rote because shamanism isn’t just journeying.

It’s not a personal fault; it’s a deep component of our individualistic culture. We aren’t steeped in honoring the unseen through ordinary, commonplace gestures. Our standard mode of operation is one or the other–Here or There. We don’t recognize both at once. Even those of us on religious paths generally aren’t that thorough in bringing those spiritual tenets through all the days we’re not in earshot of the congregation. We are not known for walking our talk.

Without consistent observation of the unseen  when we’re not in trance, it’s really hard to sustain exhilarating journeys into the Dreamtime. Journeying is all or nothing, in that to continue having life-altering experiences in trance, you have to manifest what you glean in them, in day-to-day life. What we do Here, directly impacts what we can achieve There. It’s all connected. When we water our houseplants, we have to consider our relationship to them, how our care affects them. When we walk through a space, we have to realize we aren’t just moving through it, but are engaging with it.  When we encounter conflict, we mustn’t just rush to heal it, but consider its role in our story.

As seekers on a shamanistic path it’s not just suggested that we root into the unseen as deeply as possible, it’s expected. We don’t just roll up on the Other Side to learn things and heal ourselves or others. Relationships with Guides and totems need reciprocity as much as other relationships in our lives. Also, shamanic journeying isn’t just the formation of relationships to the spiritual allies you encounter in that state, it’s a relationship to journeying, itself.

Journeying is a lifestyle change. It gives you the seeds to grow what you need in your life. Unplanted, nothing can grow, Here or There. Planted, you grow everywhere.

The post Thursday Betwixt – After the Journey appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo by David Longbottom

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Weekly Rune – Laguz

Laguz - Water - All is flowing as it should. This is the message of Laguz. Anytime this symbol of flow shows up, we can at least take heart that the elements around us are aligning as they need to. The question then is, are we aligning with the elements?

Anytime this Rune speaks in a spread, it’s a time to examine if we’re in sync with what’s going on in our lives, and if not, how to get in the groove. Associated with a primal feminine influence, Laguz puts us in direct contact with deep, perhaps even unconscious drives. This inner connection can feel a bit discombobulating if we’re off track, and especially so if we’re not even sure what our track is.

When Laguz comes up, it’s not the time to force outcomes.  If the tide isn’t suitable, if the current isn’t going our way, this is the time to let it carry us.  Funny how often those two things are related–forcing outcomes, and letting What Is carry us. In this culture of ‘create your own reality,’ we forget how much active participation just flowing requires.  How many of us really know how to do that? When we do know, how many of us can or will allow it? Even when you are tapped into the right places in your life, there is an assumption that you will always effortlessly be. The active part of going with the flow isn’t in fighting the urge to do, it’s in asserting a vision of peace no matter what comes–externally, or internally.

Let Laguz lead you to the places that need attention. If you’re not sure what the flow is or should be in your life right now, close your eyes and imagine swinging in a hammock and floating on the air, or drifting in an inner tube along the surface of a calm lake–whatever sensual experience gives you lightness, support, the feeling of being so one with the elements, that you become them.

This is what being aligned with your highest needs and desires feels like, because at the end of it all, that connection is all you need.

–

Contact Kelley for a personalized Rune Reading.

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Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for the quiet this week has brought.

I’m very pleased to have completed at least a more final draft of my thesis, if not completed it, and rounded in on the Proof of my upcoming book, Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism.

I’m happy to have healthy, happy children, and a wonderful lover.

I’m thankful for the patience to sit quietly as priorities identify themselves, and I learn to shelve what isn’t needed.

I’m grateful for so many people out in the world doing empowering, compassionate, inspiring things!

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks?

This post is part of VikLit‘s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Participate by following the link and adding your name to the Linky list, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever!

Click here to hop on… the hop, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment.

Photo credit: Shermeee / Foter.com / CC BY

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo by Margaret Bourne

The post Wordless Wednesday appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.