Journeying
Shamanic tool for learning knowledge and wisdom.
Journey on it
When facing a problem requiring answers the advice commonly heard from a shamanic practitioner is ‘journey on it’. There is a profound wisdom within this one phrase and its implied instruction. All of the answers that we need to all our problems lie within our selves. The only thing that stops us accessing this knowledge is the conscious mind and its logical approach. In order to bypass this and look inside ourselves we need to alter our mental state. This is achieved by trance, such as journeying or hypnotic states and allows us to gain the wisdom of the unconscious mind to show us the way forward in life.
Traditional Journeying
A traditional shaman would be approached for advice on a problem and the first reaction would be to consult with his spirit guides, or the deep unconscious mind, and seek out advice on how to tackle the problem. This style of journeying is the safest kind of journey, as the shaman is travelling to known places where there are friendly spirits. This is the medicine journey, since the shaman is bringing knowledge or 'medicine' back to help the client. This knowledge is then used to effect a cure or resolution to the issue.
Another style of journey, possibly following the first type, is where the shaman must journey to recover something. This may be following instructions received in the first journey where he is told he must retrieve an object or some hidden item or knowledge. The shaman is going to a known place but may encounter unknown phenomena or hazards. He may be going to an unknown place instead. In these cases the shaman must be aware of anything that is out of the ordinary, since what he seeks may be obscured by symbolism.
Consider 'The Odyssey' and other greek myths. Odysseus travels back from Troy and spends many years travelling back home, facing all manner of threats and challenges. He uses his own wits and knowledge to overcome these and triumph. On the face of it, this is a classic story of adventure. Looked at in another way the whole story could be a journey. The man is triumphant in war, he looks to return home and is seen by his men as a successful leader. He is then challenged in ways he never was before, he angers the gods and must make amends in order to make peace with the gods and return home. Having made peace he is able to restore order to his domain and triumph at the end.
In many ways a shamanic journey will have the same goals, to restore order by discovering facts about oneself or about the world in order to restore harmony.
The key to understanding the journey is that it is a symbolic journey. The shaman does not actually travel anywhere. He enters a trance state in which the unconscious mind will reveal information that is of assistance to resolve the matter at hand.
It is often the unconscious mind that does all the work.
See how the journey can help you.