Feeling Good

Life is the Sacred Mystery singing to itself,
dancing to its drum, telling stories, improvising, playing.
And we are all that Spirit,
our stories tell but one cosmic story that we are love indeed, that perfect love in me seeks the love in you
and if our eyes could ever meet without fear
we would recognize each other and rejoice,
for love is life believing in itself. -Except From Manitongquat’s Prayer

The shaman can reach the altered state of consciousness necessary to perform his or her spiritual work through the use of repetitive motions or sounds such as a drum beat, the use of a shaker, or dancing, just to mention a few.  Of these methods, the drum seems to be a particularly powerful method for facilitating the shamanic journey.

During the workshop on core shamanism put on by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies that I recently attended, the use of the drum was the method of choice for learning to take our own journeys.  Following some introductory information, we began our time together by drumming (a few had shakers) in a constant rapid rhythm.  I closed my eyes and within moments I could feel my muscles relaxing.  This rhythmic repetition was, and is, quite hypnotic.  Everyone in attendance applied his or her own forcefulness to their respective implements.  I personally found I rather enjoyed putting a bit of “umph” behind each strike!  When we concluded this particular session at the end of the 10 or 15 minutes, I opened my eyes and took an inventory of how I felt.  Basically, it was a bit like having had a “power nap”.  I felt refreshed and calm.

All of our journeys during the two day workshop were aided by this rhythmic drumming though it’s common that a helper does the actual drumming for the journey.  It’s very easy to understand why this approach to inducing the altered state of consciousness is so popular and widely used as it seems to not only aid in making the journey, but it’s actually quite a bit of fun.  Think about how much fun children have banging away on almost any type of surface that’s percussive in nature!  I am personally convinced that as children we have a much greater connection to the unseen and are often taught to turn away from that connection as we mature.  I further believe that reestablishing those child-like tendencies can have a significant impact on how we experience our physical existence.

I’ll continue discussing the activities of our workshop in future posts so stay tuned.  The “Animal Dance” is up next!