9 The Shaman
As I look at the Shaman card I see a man creating a potion in a cauldron and fly agaric mushrooms on the boarder, my initial impressions are that this is a powerful card and perhaps quite exciting in its inner journeying.
Deck created by Anna Franklin and Published by Llewellyn Deck available to buy from both websites.
I talk first to the fly agaric mushrooms - They say "We are powerful and will take you to realms you never could have conceived of - but treat us with respect to do this journey - for doing it lightly or without the proper preparation can lead you into the dark realms with little guide or reference to you current life. Beware too as we can take your life in return for ours....reverence honour and humility are required to go the journey." I ask whether I could pick one and journey with the Shaman in this card, "Yes, you may take a small one with you - don't be committed till you are sure." "Thank you greatly" I say and place a stone I find in my pocket - white quartz, as a thank you.
I ask the ivy above on the border for its teaching here. "We are the threads that run through the backbone of all life. We represent the web of wyrd that is the foundation of interconnectedness. We hold onto all and take our nourishment from everything that surrounds us and everything that we find, for all can support and nurture in some way and we give to to earth in return. When we fall and loose our leaves, when we are in a place that is not suitable for our life, we gratefully return our energy to the earth and remaining parts continue elsewhere. Know that you are part of the fabric of the universe and that even if you die there are parts of you that are still continuing and these will find expression in the connectedness of all. You are never alone even though you may wish to rely on one support there are always many available, know there is no end to the structure of the cosmos."
"Thank you" I reply I feel that there is depth to this card. I walk into the main picture and stand for a few moments by the Shaman watching him at his work. I see him drumming and being with his potion. He looks up and says "You have arrived and excellent you have brought the remaining ingredient this brew requires." I hand him the small fly agaric. I ask him if he will journey with me and show me the hidden realms and the meaning he has as an archetype. I feel a bit more interested in the hidden realms than I do finding out about this card - I am excited to be meeting this man as I feel he has great strength and also provides great protection, I sense his knowledge of these realms and his ability to accept the world as it is rather than trying to change it. I want to learn.
"You have answered your own questions already as you stand and contemplate what you are about to do, this is indeed the energy of this place. To find what you already knew but to see it more clearly than you did before and to know your place in the world around in a deep way. Many do not understand what we are doing here but that is of no concern for this is the journey that each must take for themselves and that no other persons journey will have another's answers even if they contain hints and tips, answers come from within. Come sit with me and contemplate what you are willing to see and experience today. I will be your guide and will help you gain further knowledge - if you feel you still wish to travel at this time. "
I sit beside him and allow my mind to go blank, as I stare into the twisting smoke coming from his cauldron. The drum beat gives me a sense of security. I ask myself am I willing to go on this journey not knowing quite where it will take me, do I feel ready now? I suddenly have the urge to check the surroundings, partly I feel, out of a sense of wanting to know the area I am in at the start, and partly I feel to delay the decision, it seems quite a serious one. I look round and see woodland behind us and a view across a valley in front, we are in a clearing at the top of a rounded hill and can see for miles ahead, yet from behind we are sheltered. I feel we are many miles from the world and from civilisation, it feels private and remote. Somehow this feels right for this experience. I feel I want to not bump into the ordinary world.
I take my attention and gaze back to the cauldron and smoke, I feel it is right for me to do this. I will trust that whatever happens is for my higher good and that I will catch a glimpse of the world as it really is beneath the veils. I mentally send up a prayer to say I am ready to receive what is right, I will trust and I will step out in faith.
I turn to the Shaman, "You are ready then? " he says, "This mixture will show you yourself, the things you hide from the things you would rather ignore as well as how you can improve your world - Are you ready to step out of the mundane world and into a world with no supports but the Spirit?" "Yes" I say and feel it is a magickal rite we are performing. He takes a wooden spoon and dips it in the potion and hands it to me to drink from. It smells sweet, mushroomy, and yet bitter at the same time. I take the spoon and drink down the potion, I feel my mouth go numb and tingling as the hot liquid enters me. I sit back and meditate.
I feel the world envelope me in a whiteness, first like a canvas which then swings round and wraps it self around me. I feel slightly nauseous and then there is a big bird, I think an eagle or perhaps a vulture flying around in front of me it seems huge. It picks me up in its claws though it doesn't hurt me - I remind myself that there is nothing to fear and that it is reality I am being taken to.
I am carried out across the valley. It seems the scenery appears before me as it was, yet it seems somewhat washed out and not quite real in colour. I see myself below and my life as it is, I watch as I play out my daily life. I hear the phrase "Look at yourself, Look at your Self" over and over again with different intonations and I start to see a wispy part of light over me which I am seeing as My Self, true spirit, higher self part of me.
I Sense this part of me is coming close and into my body then is drifting out and far away as the days progress, it is like I am connected well at times then other times I am so far away. I also get a feel that I want to sit down and balance this energy as my Self and I ask myself why is it that I avoid taking the meditate space that would do this for me in my life. "What if I get it wrong? - What if my life falls apart? - What if all the commitments I make to others and myself get forgotten what then? I see that I let things get more important than my soul in my life though I would like to think otherwise. - I see that I am distracted and affected by my negative judgement and I still think that if I am organised and get everything done then there will be lots of time for me in the end....... hmmm what end I wonder?
I see my distancing have a rippling effect on those around me and also I can see me dealing with this changing how I see my tasks and myself and this having a rippling affect on those around me - changing the interactions and the stresses and how all these things are dealt with. I feel a bit overwhelmed and am scared. I am going to turn this information into something else to bash myself with. Can I really accept this as truth and also accept myself being in the place I am? - imperfect and yet good enough, whilst trying to change these things. I feel nervous at this. Yet I would so like to be able to achieve what I have been shown.
Eagle (and I feel it is Eagle now who has been carrying me ) sets me down and says "go talk to yourself tell you what You have seen and gently help yourself remember your Self again. Show yourself the way to your Self. And allow this to be known when you return."
I find myself shadowing my self. I find myself whispering in my own ear - "Take a breath, breathe out the tension, call your Self into you. Balance who you are. Now carry on see how it changes. Is this really necessary?, Is this with the flow? I ask myself? What does your Self think here?"
"Trust, trust, trust. It is easy, your life is flowing, remember .... it is easy if you stop being attached and judging how things are. "
I notice I am feeling somewhat nervous at this point - I feel I will destroy what I have if I let go into spirit this much - If I don't control and direct my life so much, if I just accept and let it be, won't it just stagnate and nothing change. I also know I am challenging a message here, so the new way is the best. I feel unable to put it into practice now though.
I hear a voice say "Accept that then, this is where you are and it is right for now. To see is to see, not necessarily to change, what you see. Each moment is perfect for the time that it is, each movement and reaction right for that time - even if you see the 'issues' it is only knowing that you have the ability to create whatever you want, that you feel the stress from, - What if you know that indeed to create everything that you are indeed creating it all exactly as it needs to be at this moment in time. There is no wrong, there is no judgement. It is right, to both see linear time and act within it as well as know that it is not like that in 'reality', to know that there is only the moment and that moment is eternal and ever changing. This is true acceptance and indeed true creation and growth."
I feel myself against cool grass and hear the voice of the Shaman I think(or could it be my Self in a future time coming back to give me some guidance? ) I do not know if there is a difference :). I am glad to be back it has shaken me somewhat as I do have big 'judge myself' buttons and I felt so close to going into one, but I am back and clear thanks to the Shamans guidance. I thank him for being with me and he says "You did it all yourself." He hands me a piece of bread and tells me to eat it to bring me to earth. As I do I feel a lot better, I remember a time I took a risk and followed my heart,when it seemed so insurmountable how I could. It was in a place so similar to this (hilltop/woods), I see how that situation was so right, how could have not followed my heart and I see how I call destructive, that which is growth and how my judgements of a situation change from my perspective over time, so it really is just a matter of acceptance each event is neither good nor bad.
"You can put what you have learned into practice." he says. "What would you say you are as a card then?" I ask. "Well you tell me" he says. "I think you are about going within finding your own answers to problems. Perhaps also about accepting the world as it is rather than judging it and somehow not feeling you have to be part of this world even though you are in it. I guess reversed you could be refusing to accept things as they are judging one way as good and another a bad, perhaps refusing to look within and see your own truths. Perhaps not having the confidence to spend time with yourself. Would this be about right?"
"Yes indeed you do know - there is more too as you look at your journey in your life, you will find other things that I am. I am that which someone really needs at the time, something to take one out of their normal way of viewing themselves and their lives and into a new and yet special way of seeing how they live.
Share only what you wish with others for I too value privacy and intimacy that is shared with only those who can hear what I have to say. I am not about to shout to the treetops of what I know, only say when asked for each has their own knowing and I neither need to defend my knowing nor do I need to force my knowing on another who differs in their knowing. I do represent silence and knowing the time to talk and what to say and not say. I am about the hidden. "
"Thank you so much for all you have shared with me, I shall leave now maybe to visit again later." I walk out towards the card edge, as I go past the fly agaric, I thank them for making my experience so informative and yet gentle at the same time. "All honour to your kind." I say and leave the card.
As I look again at the card in my hand I see that actually there is also a wolf standing by the Shaman, I feel the wolf is symbolic of family, love and loyalty and I feel it is the Shamans power animal who guides him on his travels to other realms.
I decided to sleep with this card under my pillow as I really like it, see what my dreams bring.
For your own journeys you can just visualise white light all around you and then see the card image in front of you and step into the card, asking questions as you explore the card. Notice how you feel in the card, what the temperature is and what you can see - you don't have to remember the card precisely and you may see things in your journey not depicted on the physical card but all is relevant.
If you have any comments on this journey or wish to let me know of your experiences please feel free to send me an email.
Please Note: The card depicts a Fly Agaric mushroom as a symbol of entrance into other spheres of being in the way shamans have done through the ages. In the visualisation I take part in this ritual, however I would like to point out that in our physical world Fly Agaric is a very poisonous fungi and I do not recommend anyone try it without appropriate shamanic training in its use and preparation. It can make you very ill indeed.
Meditation Tapes
For those of you who have one of our tapes the B side of any of the tapes can be ideal for use like this. When you are led into the garden you can visualise the card there in front of you.
Often people find it easier to maintain the focus into the card when using the light visualisation as directed in these tapes. It stops your mind wandering so much and helps you receive the images, developing your intuition. Go to the Seeds of Light homepage to explore or buy one of our tapes.
Readings onto CD or Cassette.
The readings I give from my website are detailed and last between 1/2 hour to an hour, also I record them onto CD or tape so you can listen to them time and time again – often people find that the things I have said take on new meanings as time passes and that the information that comes through really helps as situations unfold. Information is gained both from the tarot cards as well as psychically the two forms of guidance merging together to give insight to any situation you are concerned about, or you general future.
Readings can be done by distance onto a CD or tape and sent to you in the post, so there's no need to be living in my area, or need to find a time we can both be present. Limited face to face and telephone readings are also offered. If you are feeling you would like a reading then please visit my tarot page.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about this months card. Should you no longer wish to receive these emails monthly please reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE ME in the subject and I will remove you from the list. Please be assured I do not share your email address with any third parties, your privacy is important to me.
Love and blessings, may you experience peace and joy!
© Seeds of Light 2004 - 2010. Logo design by Fractally Yours
