S. Kelley Harrell's Blog: Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism, page 116

Weekly Rune – Kenaz

Kenaz – Torch – Be prepared to find something long searched for this week. More specifically, expect to manifest what has been most wanted.

Kenaz speaks to the fire we can control, the torch of inspiration we both nurture and bring into being as knowledge.  This esoteric moment is the lighting of the darkness. In practical terms, it’s the point of the match strike.  Fire can illuminate, warm, devastate, all considerations to hold in mind before ever bringing match to striker.  At such moments of divine creativity, we stand fully and knowingly connected to All Things; thus, all self-power is available.

Bear in mind, manifesting what has been most wanted isn’t about what is manifest.  It’s how we react to the inspiration. Often we have enlightenment but we don’t like what is learned, or how it makes us feel.  Nonetheless, we can’t unknow it.  We can’t revert back to who we were before wisdom, not without creating a landslide of ramifications.

Go forward this week with the assurance of gaining what has been sought, and holding ourselves gently to accept what that is, who it demands that we become, and where it demands that our life go.

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

Everyday Journeying: When the Ecstatic Becomes Mundane

“Journeying” is the term most often used to describe the process shamans go through to engage the spirit world. Some call it ecstatic journeying or shamanic journeying, starwalking, skywalking. The journey process encompasses setting an intention, then traversing the layers of the spirit realm with one’s spirit guides for healing or insight retrieval. Often done with drumming or other rhythmic induction, specific tempos induce a theta, or light dreaming, brain state.

Journeying is often confused with pathworking, in which participants are guided in what to see and do. When learning to journey, a general framework is followed to access the ecstatic state, though what occurs once in the spirit realm is entirely organic. Upon mastery of theta trance, the framework used can be as unique as what occurs in the journey, itself, if a framework is necessary at all.

In the beginning, for most eager shamanic students, journeying is vivid, lush. Deep emotions stir and challenge how we hold our changed psychology in waking reality. For many, those first flights out fulfill a deep longing to connect, or reconnect as it were, with the unseen, that other belief systems or practices don’t provide. In those early stages, journeying seems to provide answers to everything, and for that reason it can be addicting, even escapist if not done with care.

Inevitably, though, the journeying process begs to deepen or to expand in some way that challenges the shamanist. Perhaps getting into trance becomes more difficult. The devices that facilitated it at first no longer smooth the path. The sensual experience internalizes. We begin to see that the spirit realms aren’t wonderland, serving up what we want to see, comfort, companionship. Its messages become less clear. Guides are absent or not as forthcoming. What happened? Why would a process that so fulfilled and provided stop working?

Traditionally, in indigenous and ancient cultures, shamans were chosen by heredity or transformation of a trauma (also called a shamanic death), while some were self-appointed. How they are revealed isn’t as significant as noting how shamans developed and were supported by their communities. Most modern students of shamanism come to it out of personal need, be that trauma or a sense of needing “more.” However, we are not a shamanic culture. We haven’t been surrounded from birth in an animistic life view that fosters our connection with the spirit world in and out of trance. As a result, we leave shamanic circles and classes to return to a mundane that doesn’t support our experiences. We don’t have the network of support to help us sustain the miracle of the ecstatic state beyond the journey. Thus, the journey process, itself, becomes strained.

That lack of network also tends to create the pattern of journeying only when something is wrong, when we feel a lack in our lives, or on behalf of others. In this way a constant pattern of taking is established, creating an imbalance in how we relate to the spirit realm. Without making it a daily practice as part of our personal spiritual discipline, we can’t evolve to be truly proficient at journeying, and we can’t begin creating ourselves as an animistic culture. We can’t become solid anchors engaging in waking what the spirit realm guides in trance.

Should journeying lose its initial luster, instead of forcing it to suit expectation and demands, dig deeper into formed being. Find a mentor and community who can support soul travels. Connect with the the spirits of immediate surroundings — familiar space, daily relationships, Nature. The more grounded we can be in the awareness that unseen reality is with us all the time, not just in trance, the more we lace spiritual interconnection through everything we do, the more readily trance comes.

Normalization of the journey experience isn’t failure. It’s natural, it’s progress, integration. The act of journeying is a relationship, not just the connections we make from it. At some point, it is right for the experience of trance to integrate, for us to become the embodiment of the community, connections, and wisdom we gain from it. Yet at the same time, we must hold our journey experiences loosely. Let the process unfold as it desires. Along the path of ecstatic journeying, we learn to trust the inner compass, not just to show direction, but when to be directionless, when to become the direction.

Originally published at The Huffington Post.

The post Everyday Journeying: When the Ecstatic Becomes Mundane appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Weekly Rune – Dagaz

Dagaz – Day – Huzzah!  Our hard work has culminated in completion. Not only have we completed the task we’ve labored over for so long, we became one with it.  We attained its wisdom and made it our own.  We’ve come through external strife and  layers of ourselves to arrive at what we have most sought, definitely most needed.  We have reached the pinnacle of awareness. We are sitting in the moment of power, so…  now what?

That’s pretty much how I refer to Dagaz–”So, now what?” While its meaning is ‘day,’ or ‘daylight,’ it calls us to pay attention to the stellar hallmarks we use to indicate the progression of a day, the most essential opposites of the Natural world: twilight to dawn, likewise, sunrise to sunset. How often do we observe one giving over to the other, not the state of light shifting to darkness, or the dark becoming illuminated, but the point at which they are one and the same? When is the last time we sat at the heart of such extremes and realized the profound magick of doing so, while doing it? And what came a split second after transition to the next phase?

Most of us realize what we go through to get through a day, everyday.    We can rattle it off like a pledge of allegiance: We rise, we work, we love, we sleep, we get up, then do it all over again.  For the most part we can assume that the close of one day brings another. From such routine and faith, the question then arises, what makes one day unique from any other?

The same thing that makes anything unique from all other things: awareness.  What we hold in mind has power. At the end of our awareness is our strongest point of power, and this is the magick of Dagaz.  A Rune of oppositions, Dagaz challenges us to hold extremes not in tandem, but all at once.  We are this and that.  We are here and there.  We are the rock and the hard place. We are the enlightened and enlightenment. In Dagaz, the objective of our effort has manifest. We’ve reached the mountain top, and are left to what? Chart the course again.

The wisdom of Dagaz is in the heart of that mystical moment where polarities meet, clash, surrender to each other. The outcome of it lies in realizing we’ve done this process before, we’ll do it again, a promise of good things coming to those who wake.

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

Weekly Rune – Perthro

Perthro – chance – I say “chance,” because there’s no solid consensus on exactly what this Rune means. There are a few interpretations along the lines of  ”luck,” or “karma.” For many Rune enthusiasts Perthro acts as the modern blank Rune, bringing to light the unknown, the unknowable. Given these glimpses of its qualities of risk, control, and time, it’s easy to see how Perthro eludes us still, and to understand it appears this week to bring our attention to the process.

I think that Thorsson describes the mechanations of Perthro well, commenting on the role of the Norns in its interpretation. The Norns are the Norse keepers of fate: Urdhr, what has become; Verdhandi, what is becoming; and Skuld, what should become.  They are in essence how we perceive cause and effect in our lives, how we relate to the process as also being the tool by which we accomplish it. The fact that we can examine past actions, plan every little detail, yet still not know how things will turn out–yet be assured that they will turn out some way–is the emphasis here. Perthro’s purpose is to make us question, to offer us the affirmation of control over what is happening in our lives, yet remind us there are also other forces at work, over which we have no control.

In short, this week our mission is to realize that we have as much control as we do not. What is before us now is the change that is always the same. The riddle we constantly mine for meaning and outcome is the truth we are never sure we know.

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

Weekly Rune – Ingwaz

 

Ingwaz (or Inguz) – People of Ing – Lie low this week. Whatever trail of change has been blazed, be assured that the end results are in sight. Ingwaz cautions us to stay attentive to those last few details, dotting the i’s, crossing the t’s, so that as we round the corner to the finish line, we can know we’ve covered all of the deeper concerns.

Drawing on deep inspiration, Ingwaz may not seem to have the desired momentum, the go-getter drive we want right now.  However, all good plans must be carefully laid.  Think of this time as the gestation of dreams. The basic framework is in place, born of dramatic change, likely intense work. Final touches gloss on more slowly, gently, intentionally.  It is all coming together, just stay attuned to the inspiration driving it all, and move as led.

Ingwaz is what I call a ‘hinge’ Rune, in that it’s about that tiny space–or maybe nonspace–between Here—> and

 

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

Letting Go and Welcoming Back – Building a History with Souls

Kelley, I lost my cat two days ago at the age of nine. She is a soul I’ve lost before and she found me again, and I knew this through repetitive dreams.  Can I ask for her soul to come back to me again?  This time around, so many events took place that brought her to me I’m hoping it will be as obvious next time. I love this beautiful soul and am devastated she left me so quickly, though I have faith she will be back. Victoria

Thanks for your note, Victoria.  I’m sorry to learn of the loss of your friend.  I know how amazing they are and what important space they hold in our lives.

  Yes, you can ask her to come back. When we make these kinds of requests, we temper them with honoring what the soul wants, and trust that reuniting occurs in the way best-suited to all involved.  It’s perfectly acceptable to put those kinds of requests out to her, to the Multiverse, to the Divine.

That said, when I see your cat out of form, she’s moved on well, healthily. She’s white, etherically clean, and waiting patiently to re-enter form. My sense is that she will come back into your life, though it will be a couple of years before you greet her. As well, she won’t come in as an animal. Next time she will come as a human child.  She has completed whatever that experience brought her, and her needs stretch into the human path to create herself, now. Until that time, she is a tiny sprite walking with you, just over your left shoulder.

My best to you Victoria, and a happy reunion!

The post Letting Go and Welcoming Back – Building a History with Souls appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Weekly Rune – Othala

Othala – property - Week before last Othala visited us with a message of keeping things close to home, protecting the familial clan. This week it reminds us the same, however, with a more internal emphasis. The whole point of banding together is strength in numbers, which etherically speaking means impeccably knowing what falls on the inside boundary of the clan, and what lies on the outside. In other words, understand what we are protecting, as clearly as we understand from what we protect it.

Human nature is to demonize the unknown. The fact that it is unknown often exacerbates fear. Once we begin to process what we fear, the object of fear becomes tactile, approachable.   That intimacy doesn’t necessarily mean we can overcome it alone, though it gives us a starting point to gather the clan and come up with a strategy. It allows us an opportunity to reach into our community and find support. As well, being able to hone in on the object of fear eliminates unnecessary worry and angst, the wasting of precious resources.  With refined focus, the object of fear becomes known. That knowledge becomes the domain of the clan, and a plan can be laid and put into action.

This week consider a family concern that seems to be beyond understanding, thus without resolution. Let go of the concern, and look to fear to inform. Ask the spiritual manifestation of that fear to speak its needs, its purpose. When fear is clarified, precious information, wisdom comes. With that wisdom we can not only address the concern at hand, but cache the interaction for future reference, for self, for clan.

Only when we are comfortable with the unknown can we begin making peace with the unknowable.

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

Weekly Rune – Isa

Isa – ice- Be comfortable where we are, because for now, we’re not moving. We all have our limits, through which we cannot pass until we find the momentum to do so from our deepest reserves. Isa comes when it is time to examine those depths.

Whatever is occurring at this time must be dealt with, not just for the pragmatic benefits of doing so, but because what comes after cannot manifest until present enlightenment is found. “Enlightenment” sounds dramatic, but that’s exactly what is being called for. It’s time to push our boundaries, to go beyond what we think we are capable of, what is possible to expect from the world around us. Perhaps the need is to merely sit and reflect on what needs attention, or it’s to acknowledge something long skirting the edge of awareness. Whatever it is, we all recognize that guttural gnawing sensation, saying what sustains us is no longer working, hungry for authentically feeds.

Don’t expect to advance, for now, and find a way to engage in the stillness. This is the inner spotlight. This is a staycation of the soul.  Maybe a better wish for the week is: Be uncomfortable where we are, because discomfort motivates change.

The post Weekly Rune – Isa appeared first on .

Weekly Rune – Othala

Othala – property- This week we tend the hearth fires, and bring our focus to our immediate clan. This isn’t a time for bold adventures out of the familiar, or for wide eco-centric nurture. Something close to home needs our focus, requires our undivided attention.

Othala is about our direct lineage, distinct to each of us, even within the greater tribe. The steps the ancestors took that resulted in us, the strides we make now to further that legacy rely on our choices, our reactions to the challenges immediately before us.

Know that in dealing with this concern, the wisdom and guidance of the ancestors is with each of us. Realize the responsibility being asked of us, and the inherent finesse we posses in meeting it. Through this rich tradition and our ability to carry it through in our present, not only do we address the pertinent issue, we prosper, we grow.

Books by Kelley

Gift of the Dreamtime – Awakening to the Divinity of Trauma. Revised second edition, with a foreward by shaman, Christina Pratt.

Gift of the Dreamtime Reader’s Companion

Real Wyrd – A Modern Shaman’s Roots in the Middle World, true paranormal experiences from a lifelong intuitive.

The post Weekly Rune – Othala appeared first on .

Tragedy, Collective Soul Loss, and the Healing Story

In shamanic work is the concept of soul loss, or when an aspect of the soul has become distanced (I describe it as “shelved”) and can’t re-engage with the earthly consciousness. Souls are infinite, made up of limitless soul parts that travel in and out of our awareness. This soul traveling is the natural progress of growth, widening our awareness, expanding our consciousness. In times of trauma, when a soul part leaves and can’t return to the earthly consciousness, that’s when problems arise: chronic illness, feelings of depression, lack of motivation, feelings of not being completely present. Such is the path of soul loss in an individual. When considering collective soul loss, these factors plus another comes into play, making mass soul wounding more challenging to heal.

Horrific, heart-wrenching tragedies, such as the killings at Sandy Hook, in Nigeria, China, Portland, Colorado, at Virginia Tech, Columbine, 9/11, cause collective soul loss. Natural disasters such as Katrina, Sandy, the 2004 tsunami, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, result in mass soul wounding. As a population watching tragedy from afar, once we can process beyond our instinctive reflex to assess self and realize we are physically unaffected by the disaster, our hearts go out to those who were. We grieve for those lost. We mourn for those who lost loved ones and survived. We devote compassionate support to the affected community, through donations, prayer, providing manpower. We watch through the haze of the media circus, judicial process, and/or legislative attempt to prevent future disasters, seeking release, perhaps even hope, vindication.

Somewhere along that road we begin to realize that we are more affected by the tragedy than we realized, and we feel guilty for that fact. We feel that because our lives were not directly impacted by the disaster, we shouldn’t be disrupted in the daily honoring of life. We shouldn’t be stunted or disconnected from our joy. We shouldn’t feel it as much as we do. We feel selfish for thinking that we need healing, and for turning that heart focus to ourselves, rather than those in the immediate community.

Guilt and ego are the key inhibitors to healing collective soul loss. To devote healing to the whole dynamic, to treat the wound of collective soul loss, we have to include ourselves in honoring what happened, how it left us feeling, and in the healing offered. We must grieve the dead, even if we didn’t know a single one of them. Have compassion for the survivors, and all of the dark days ahead of them as they put their lives back together. Support them and their community in the way that we best can without depleting our own resources. Then repeat that whole process for ourselves.

Animism teaches us that we are all connected in the web of all things. As trauma in our personal lives creates perceived fragmentation of our souls, so collective trauma results in the perceived tear in that web. Only by remembering that we are all connected do we heal. Nothing heals in isolation, but through the combined efforts of us all. We must do what we can to express support for the immediate community, then our healing efforts must turn to our own wounds, knowing that what we heal in ourselves generates healing for others. This is the shamanic narrative. Through the creation of our own healing stories and sharing them, we inspire others to speak their stories. We create a bond focused on collective healing, assuring wellbeing for all.

Take time to reflect on your healing story. Write it down, if it helps, or draw it, paint it. Express all of the feelings wrapped into your experience of the healing process, and know that in doing so, we all heal. We all move closer to wellness.

Originally published on The Huffington Post.

The post Tragedy, Collective Soul Loss, and the Healing Story appeared first on .