The Bridge between Spirit and Matter

is a journey,
not a place

Last weekend at our Christal Temple celebration
we did some interesting things.

As we usually do, we stood in a circle
and invoked the "sacred winds" of
protection, experience, radical change -
one could say we were making intentions
and then strengthening them in community.
Then we did a "release exercise" -
the kind you would do at a workshop to help
participants become unstuck, on fire and
empowered in new ways in their lives.
After this we drummed and journeyed
as the shamans do, sharing stories.
Finally we ritually shared bread and wine.

In the next few days amazing things happened.
Those who were there, and, even more curious,
those who had wanted to be there, or
who had "avoided" being there, found that
all sorts of changes started happening,
they received deep insights, life-openings.

Why?

The shamans say that when we do such practices
in a "sacred way" - i.e. completely, wholly,
changes have to happen, it's unavoidable.

Shamanism is in vogue today,
especially among the "alternative" community.
The word is bandied about, its meanings are discussed
and courses held "in its name" abound on the internet
- and yet, it cannot readily be defined.

The word, originally meaning a "psychopomp"
from Northern Asia, especially Mongolia/Siberia,
has been extended in meaning to encompass all the indigenous
peoples' Spirit-led practitioners of the "magickal" healing arts
and those in modern western society who have been called
and/or trained in the same (or similar) way.

As with western adaptions of ancient, unfamiliar
and often secret wisdom from forgotten traditions,
possibilities for fraud and incompetence abound.
Alberto Villoldo, founder of the Four Winds Society
- one of those intrepid western pioneers of the
practical translation of ancient healing wisdom into a form
appropriate for use in a post-modern "first-world" context,
never ceases to point out the dangers of attempting to
distill decades-long training based on deep ancestral traditions
into a few weekend New Age course workshops -
shamanism is not a quick fix for anyone!

One of the foundations for indigenous shamanic practice
is the knowledge and uses of healing plants, including
hallucinogens, and other plants which aid the connection
between what are felt to be the seen and unseen worlds.
Most notable among these plants is ayahuasca, the
Vine of Death, administered as a drink made with other
vital ingredients, in a sacred ceremony held at night.

The point of this ceremony is whole-person healing and
enlightenment; the opportunity, usually in community,
to release that which is stopping us from being wholly
who we truly are, whether through fears, illness, emotional
upset or deep generational patterning, etc.

The ceremonies are much more complex than they might
seem on the surface; the powers unleashed by drink
and ceremony are not just dangerous done in an unprotected
environment; here we are dealing with sacred connection!
The botanicals are part of a holy communion.
The shamans who lead the ceremonies have years of
ayahuasca use and experience behind them, and are deeply
conversant with the chanting and prayers which are an
integral part of the journeying-process for all present.
For the shaman, the plant essences in the drink are
living "beings" who they are working with to effect life-
changing transformation, refashioning the substance of life
- a true transubstantiation!

The combination of journeying, chanting and sacred ceremony
changes things in its own way, not as we might "want."
The bridge opened between the realms, between Spirit
and Matter, between Life and Beyond-Death, turning all
perceived "normal" reality (often violently) on its head, is a
many-edged sword. Knowledge is not always bliss - there is
no turning back once the old reality is seen in its true colours!

How does this relate to our weekend Christal Temple celebration?

I am convinced that what we did on Maplewood hill was
a gentler version of what the South American shamans do.
The combination of intention, transformation exercises,
drumming journeying and multi-level communing/communion
brings us into new places from where there is no turning back.
Our responsibility is to use these powerful tools wisely
and to support one another in coming-back-to-ourselves.

Do not expect governments, education establishments or
current health organizations to support this - they are
enmeshed in ways that keep us in a place of servitude.
But limitation, however well-devised cannot win.
The empowered will always burst forth, sooner or later.

Doing sacred exercises like last weekend brings up
Why did I wait so long to grab these amazing tools?

Abundance, freedom and blessings
on us all

John O