How to take a shamanic journey
What is a shamanic journey?
Shamanic journeying is a powerful practice that involves entering an altered state of consciousness to connect with spirit realms for insight, healing, and guidance.
And, as you might suspect, shamanic journeying comes to us from shamanic traditions. When I use the term “shamanism” I’m referring to something that is a spiritual practice, a healing art form, and a way of simply being in the world. I’m not referring to any specific practices from specific cultures.
Every culture on this earth has shamanic roots, and while the mythologies and practices of each culture might look different, all share a few things in common—including the ability to enter altered states of consciousness in order to communicate with the unseen world, forming strong relationships with spirit beings, cultivating a reciprocal relationship with our Earth, and being of service to our communities.
As an aside, if you’re interested in diving deeper into shamanism specifically—including the right use of the term and what it really means—I go into much more detail with all of this in my intro to shamanism course.
In many ways, we can think of shamanic journeying as a type of meditation—but there are some aspects that set it apart.
First is the intention—you’ll generally enter into a shamanic journey with the purpose of transcending ordinary reality and communicating directly with the spirit world.
And second is the idea that your consciousness is actually traveling through alternate realms. We generally refer to these realms as “non-ordinary reality”, and our regular, daily lives as “ordinary reality".
There’s more to whether or not shamanic journeying is meditation, but these are the basics ;)
Note: While some shamanic journeys are embodied, where you do stay in your body and meet with spirits or receive healing in the here and now, the ability to send your awareness into different dimensions and realms of the spirit world is an essential part of this practice—and this is exactly what you’ll be learning how to in this article.
The Stages of a Shamanic Journey
Though the nuances and flavors of journeying will vary culture by culture and human by human, the basic process goes through a few stages:
First, is preparation—you want to prepare yourself and your space for the journey.
Next, you alter your consciousness and allow it to cross some sort of a threshold to intentionally enter non-ordinary reality.
Then comes the journey itself, which will always be a bit different depending on your intentions.
And finally is the return—when you once again intentionally cross a threshold back into ordinary reality.
After this, some additional integration of your experience could be considered the last stage.
So let’s go through each of these stages step-by-step.
Stage 1: Preparation
How do you prepare yourself and your space for your journey? Like most things in shamanism, there isn’t a one-size fits all answer here, but there are a few general tips I’d like to share.
1. Create sacred space.
The first is to make your space a sacred space. By this, I don’t mean throwing out your furniture and turning your living room into a temple. Sacred space comes as a result of our intentions, efforts, and partnership with spirit.
In my personal practice, if I’m doing a more intense ritual or larger ceremony, I will physically clean my space and myself as a first step. The physical cleaning and clearing absolutely supports the energetic cleansing of your space.
On the other hand, If I’m simply engaging in a daily journey to connect with my spirits, I’ll skip this step (unless things just don’t feel good—always trust your intuition).
You’ll also want to make sure that the space you choose is conducive to your practice — so choose somewhere quiet, where you won’t be disturbed, where you feel comfortable enough to really let go and safely alter your awareness.
2. Enhance your space with sacred aromatics & tend your altar.
I use fragrance to both clear the energy of my space and call in benevolent allies.
Spiritual fragrance is a huge part of my practice and I never skip this, even for my daily journeys. Sometimes I’ll light incense or burn a smudge bundle, sometimes I’ll diffuse essential oils or use a spray, and sometimes I’ll anoint myself with sacred oils. Whatever it is, I just about always use fragrance to shift the energy of myself, my space, and my consciousness before journeying.
At this point, if you keep an altar, it’s a good idea to tend and activate it. If you don’t work with an altar yet, no worries. This is something you can learn more about in my intro to shamanism classes.
3. Invocation
The invocation is the official announcement of your sacred space and the calling in of your benevolent allies and guardians.
First, I say out loud “I give thanks that this space now becomes a sacred and protected space.”
Then I call in guardians for each direction—I most often work with archangels for protection. But of course, you can use whatever allies you personally feel connected with. Many people simply call in general guardians for each of the four directions and above and below.
From there, I like to acknowledge the many benefic spiritual beings that I work with, and I invite you to do the same. These might be loving ancestors, spirit animals, spirits of the land, and other deities you feel a connection with.
If you don’t have allies to call in at this point—no worries at all! You’ll get to know your personal spirit team over time. The absolute best way to get started if you’re wanting to meet your spirit guides is with this spirit animal workshop.
4. Set your intentions.
Once your space is prepared, it’s time to connect with your intention for your journey—this is an absolute must. Your heartfelt intention will dictate everything that follows, even if it’s as simple as saying hello to spirit.
While your overall intention will vary from journey to journey, there are a few pieces to be sure to include:
The first piece of your intention should be that it’s basically a “good, helpful journey”.
I always like to begin with a general statement, spoken out loud, that my journey is helpful, that I interpret it correctly, that it unfolds in a good way, and that my practice is in service to all.
The next part of your intention should be to cross a threshold into non-ordinary reality.
When you’re first getting started, I highly recommend setting the intention to clarify whether you want to enter into the upper, lower, or middle world specifically.
If you’re just getting started, please start with the upper or lower worlds. These worlds are purely benevolent, and you don’t need to worry about who you might meet or what might happen there, and you can just relax and trust a bit more.
So, the two pieces of your intention to include are that the journey happens in a good way, and that you cross a threshold into a benevolent realm of non-ordinary reality.
Beyond that, your overall intentions for the journey can vary and are limitless. You can journey for guidance, healing, clarity…anything!
Stage 2: Alter Your Consciousness
Once you’ve prepared your space and set your intention, then it’s time to fully prepare yourself by entering into an altered state of consciousness.
There are many ways to do this — from meditative techniques to breathwork to sound to psychedelics.
The rhythmic beating of a drum is one of the most common ways, as it naturally entrains your brain into a slightly altered state that allows for deeper and easier spiritual explorations. This works whether you listen to a recording, drum yourself, or are able to have someone drumming for you live.
As for your posture during the journey, you can experiment with what works best for you. In most core shamanic classes and workshops, people tend to lay on the floor with a covering over their eyes, and this tends to work really well for most people.
I often will sit up in a meditative posture during my journeys. Since I meditate regularly and also tend to use my arms a lot when I channel divine beings, this feels natural for me.
Still other people like to move or dance during their journeys—or maybe dance to get into an altered state and then lay on the floor.
Keep experimenting to see what works best for you. If you're not sure where to start, go ahead and lay on the ground with a light covering or sleep mask over your eyes.
Stage 3: The Journey Begins
Now you’re ready to enter the otherworlds.
1. Cross a threshold
You must cross a threshold to begin your journey. In core shamanism, the traditional way to enter into non-ordinary is a two-part process:
First, you imagine yourself in a place in nature. This is often somewhere you’ve actually been before—somewhere that always had a special resonance with you or place in your heart. Or, this can be an imagined place—somewhere that has all your favorite parts of the natural world, whether a coastline, forest, high mountain top, vast desert, or country grove.
Either way, your feelings of being drawn to this place are letting you know that there is a portal to the otherworlds available to you here.
At this stage of the journey, this place represents a portal within your own consciousness. Imagining this place tells your consciousness that it’s time to travel. Once you can fully imagine yourself in this sacred place, look for something that represents an actual portal that will serve as your threshold into non-ordinary reality.
If you intend to go to the Lower World, you’ll look for a way to go down. This often looks like climbing down the roots of a tree, entering a cave or hole in the Earth (much like Alice in Wonderland), or swimming down through a body of water. Some people even like to picture taking an elevator or set of stairs down—you can trust whatever works for you.
To enter the upper world, you go up! This might look like climbing a tree and passing through a threshold of some sort–like a thick canopy or layer of clouds. It could be being carried by a bird, or ascending a rainbow. I’ve even had students fly up on a magic carpet! Again, anything goes here.
You enter the middle world by going out—this might look like stepping through your door or a window, or even through a mist, into the alternate dimensions we live within.
No matter where you go, the important thing is that you cross a specific threshold that clearly marks your transition from ordinary to non-ordinary reality.
This might not seem like a huge deal, but it's incredibly important. Shamanic journeying is a discipline. Having the discipline to cross this threshold is a key part of cultivating spiritual sovereignty and responsibility. Loose boundaries in the spirit realms have real consequences in our ordinary reality.
Common outcomes of not having a strong threshold boundary are either you don’t fully enter into non-ordinary reality, so you’re actually processing much more from your egoic consciousness than from spirit consciousness during your journey, or you don’t fully bring your awareness back from non-ordinary reality—which can lead to feelings of light-headedness, spaciness, or just feeling ungrounded.
As your spiritual practices deepen, your intuitive abilities will naturally expand, as well. Setting strong boundaries at the beginning protects you from being overwhelmed by spirits and their many messages down the road. It’s your responsibility to decide how and when the spirit world communicates with you—and crossing the threshold is the first step to showing that you are a serious student on this path.
2. Enjoy the Journey
Once you’re in non-ordinary reality, the journey really begins. Again, every journey will be different, but there are two tips that will support you every time:
First, engage all of your senses. There’s a tendency for people to expect to watch their journeys like we watch movies—we’re kind of programmed like this from years of television. It’s important that you are in your journey and experiencing it through all your senses. Feel the air on your skin, smell the fragrances around you, open your ears and enjoy your sight. This often takes practice, but do try to keep bringing yourself into this full sensory experience of the journey.
Second, allow space for attunements throughout the journey. An attunement is a simple ritual or ceremony that happens in the journey space that harmonizes your energy with your intentions and your journey experience.
For example, if you find yourself arriving in a field or at a temple, ask for an attunement to that place. If you meet a new ally, ask for an attunement to that ally.
These attunements can take many forms. If you’re being attuned to a place, you might simply sit on the ground and harmonize with that place's energy. Or, it may be more complex, with spirit beings coming to anoint you with sacred waters and sound healing. If you’re meeting an ally, you might simply gaze into each other’s eyes, or again, it might be a more complex ritual with movements and merging and dancing. Spirit is limitless and so are these attunements!
3. Return from the journey
Throughout your journey, the drum will continue to hold space and support your shamanic state of consciousness. When it’s time to return, you’ll hear what’s called a “call back” beat.
When you hear the callback, you’ll do two things:
One, you thank any beings who have been with you during your journey. Finish whatever work is being done or conversations being had, and then say your thanks and goodbyes.
Two, you retrace your steps exactly back the way you came. This is part of the discipline of the thresholds. Find that same opening you came through, cross back through that same threshold, touch back at your place in nature, and then use your imagination and intention to bring yourself all the way back into your body.
Once you're back in your body, use all of your senses again in the here and now. Take deep breaths. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Look around your space. Listen for the sounds near and far. You might even find it helpful to drink a bit of water or have a small snack to really get totally embodied again.
Finally, it’s time to officially close your journey practice. I like to speak my thanks out loud to my all the beings who supported my work and kept me safe and protected.
Then I affirm: “I invite those beings who love and support me especially to say with me, and all those beings who were just present for this particular practice are free to go. For our work is done, our parts are done, and we may rest.”
You can find your own language for this, but officially closing the container is good spiritual hygiene, and something to make a habit.
The Complete Arc of the Shamanic Journey
Okay, that’s it! That’s the whole arc of the journey from beginning to end. This might sound like a lot to remember at first, but I promise, it becomes second nature. In short:
Prepare for your journey by setting your space and your intentions
Put on a drumming track, or play a drum yourself
Imagine yourself in a place in nature
Find a portal to enter and cross a threshold
Engage your senses as you enter non-ordinary reality
Receive attunements to the location your arrive and any helping spirits present
Pursue your intentions and enjoy the journey
When you hear the return beet, say your thanks and goodbyes and retrace your steps exactly
Come back into your body
Officially close the journey practice
If you’d like support with your own journey practice, I have limited openings for one-on-one support. Learn more.
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