For thousands of years, our ancestors knew about the Other World. Realms of Fairy and Seelie Court, Avalon the Isle of Apples, the Grail Castle and Chapel Perilus and Orbis Alius are names we remember, and great tales we still tell. These realms of Spirit, and the beings who inhabited them, would periodically appear to heroes and adventurers, to the seers and the wise ones who ventured forth in pursuit of wisdom and healings, blessings and even love.
For hundreds of years, other than the stories, the place names and a few sacred spots here on Earth where it was said you could gain entry, the Other World has remained hidden and invisible. But under the right conditions, with the right skills and the right magic, a door between the worlds will open. I know this because I have spent much of my life traveling there.
You’re already developing skills that will help you – meditation, chanting and visualization all alter your consciousness and expand your perception. They remove the blindfold, enabling you to see the unseen and enter the Other World.
There are many shamanic techniques, called ecstatic practices, that enable you to gain access to the Other World; among them are dancing, drumming and journeying, fasting, ritual and working with sacred plants. There’s also the age-old magic of storytelling, now called guided visualization. The right stories told in the right way for the right reasons can take you into the realms of Spirit.
You can recite and record the following text and then listen to it. Have your magical journal nearby so you can write about your visions and experiences. Find a comfortable spot where you won’t be disturbed; if you can work outside in Nature, even better.
Let’s begin.
In front of you is a door. This door only appears when you’re ready to enter the realms of Spirit. It’s old, made of wood and beautifully carved. The handle is made of gold, and is in the shape of a curving branch covered with leaves and berries. Grip the handle and pull. The door is heavy. Pull harder. It opens.
You stand amidst a softly swirling mist settling upon your skin like a soft cloak. Unable to see anything, not even the ground beneath your feet, you take a brave step forward. The mist sparkles, thins and evaporates. A rolling, lush and luminous green landscape appears, beneath your feet a carpet of green grass full of spring violets. The Sun is rising, the sky is blue and there’s a soft warm breeze.
Inhale and fill yourself with the energy of this place. Exhale and return it. (Cue for Goddess and God visualizations ahead.)
A well-worn path appears before you, a stand of trees in the distance. Follow the path through a meadow and into the woods. The sunlight’s brilliance softens. The air is filled with birdsong and the sounds of a tumbling stream. Walk toward the sound of the water, spiraled ferns unfurling as you pass them. You stop beside the stream, sitting on a moss-covered rock.
Watch the light bouncing in the dancing water. Feel the soft spray fall upon you, a blessing by holy waters. Breathe deeply. What do you smell? Damp earth? Flowers? Fallen leaves? Look around you. What do you see? What does the water look like, the light, the plants, the rocks? Look up: what do the trees look like, the sky above? Close your eyes. What do you hear? The wind? The stream? The birds? Is there singing? A voice speaking to you? Listen carefully.
Open your eyes. In front of you is a being of pure love and compassion. She may appear as a Goddess or a fairy; He as a God or Green Man. It may be an ancestor, a wise one, or other being of Spirit. They are your guide. Listen to their wisdom, to the blessing that you’re being given. Open your heart and receive the gift they have for you. Whatever you need is offered. Listen carefully.
Close your eyes and feel their touch on your heart. Feel the blessing entering you, the energy coursing through you to every cell in your body. Feel the energy of Creation coursing through you, the creative force that made you, that made the world and all the living beings of this world and all the other worlds, that made the cosmos and all the places between the worlds to which you have now been granted access.
Fill yourself with the energy of life, the energy of this place, of Spirit. Feel the love and beauty and joy that is the energy of Creation. Feel the gift of your being. You can create anything that you wish with this energy, this life you’ve been given.
Your body is infused with light and energy, love and Spirit. There’s something in your hands, something that you’ve shaped from this energy. It’s a gift from you that your heart has created, an offering of thanks for what you’ve received. Give it to your guide and thank them.
Your time together, for now, is coming to an end. The shimmering mist swirls around your guide and they are gone.
It’s time to return. Feel your heart beating, hear my words carry you back past the stream, out of the woods, along the path through the meadow, and through the door, which you close behind you. Back into the room, into your body, into the present. Feel your body; wiggle your fingers and your toes.
You have returned with the power of Creation to manifest love and beauty, to give shape and form to Spirit, to create the life that you long for. This is the magic you’re seeking. When you’re ready, open your eyes and sit up. Clap your hands three times to help you ground and return your consciousness to normal. Experience yourself fully present and back in your body and the room. Rest in the feelings and write about them in your magical journal.
I want to share one of my favorite, most dependable practices and an essential part of my personal work and my tradition’s: journeying. It has transformed the way in which I practice and teach Wicca; it has transformed my spirit and my life.
Journeying is one of the most ancient, universal and powerful shamanic techniques for gaining access to Spirit realms, non-ordinary reality, and much more. The form I use and share here comes from core shamanism, an essential and universal practice without a cultural overlay. That means you can add cultural specifics if and when you wish to and you’ll be comfortable in other spiritual cultures that use drumming and journeying.
Many Euro-Indigenous cultures – including the Celts, Scandinavians, Sami, Gauls, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans – used drums and rattles to create an altered, ecstatic state. Journeying uses shamanic drumming, or in some traditions, rattles, click sticks or other percussive instruments, to ‘hack’ the brain, literally changing our consciousness. Studies have found that shamanic drumming, approximately 200 beats a minute, alters brain waves from beta, daily survival mode, to theta, a visionary state in which you’re able to perceive and participate in other dimensions and realms of Spirit that you can’t in normal awareness.
Shamanic consciousness is a capacity that’s been part of you since you were born: you haven’t realized it was missing because it hasn’t been part of our culture for hundreds of years and you haven’t been using it. Now you can cultivate your abilities and you’re going to discover worlds of wonder. And you’ll encounter spirit beings residing there who’ll work with you to achieve healing, wisdom, power and other help and blessings.
There’s a key to journeying: you need a guide who is your companion, guardian and teacher. In many shamanic traditions, your guide is usually a power animal – generally wild, not domesticated. Wiccans have always had animal guides and helpers in this and the Other realm, including animal companions like the Witch’s familiar. Often depicted as a cat, a familiar can be any animal with whom you’ve cultivated a deep, spiritual relationship.
Many pre-Abrahamic deities had totemic animals of power, like Cybele’s lions, Athena’s owl, Hecate’s pig, dog and horse, the Morrigan’s ravens, Taliesen’s salmon and Odin’s horse. Or, like Herne the stag-antlered God and Sekhmet the lion-headed Goddess, they were themselves part animal.
Your guide can also be a spirit being, an ancestor, a sage or elder being, or a Euro-Indigenous spirit being like a fairy, elf or giant, or a mythological creature like a dragon, phoenix or mermaid. Or an angel. Whatever form it takes, your guide knows everything you need in order to journey safely and productively, and to lead a life filled with magic and blessings. Your first journey will be to find your guide, or power animal, and to spend time together. If you already journey, please journey for a new animal/guide or for the help you need.
Recordings of shamanic drumming are available online. Shamanic drumming requires mastery and skill, and so I recommend Dr. Michael Harner’s CD, Shamanic Journey Solo and Double Drumming; you can also visit my website, www.phylliscurott.com. A shamanic drumming session lasts approximately 20 minutes.
Important: Read all of the below first, as you cannot read while journeying.
Set up the following things in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed: A blanket on the floor that you can lie on (plus another nearby to cover yourself if you get chilly; your magical journal and a pen; some white sage and something heavy in which to burn it; a candle, placed in a holder or dish, to provide light if you need it; matches.
There are just a few don’ts for journeying:
Let’s begin.
Light the candle and turn off the lights. Purify yourself and the space. The traditional way to do this is to burn some white sage (you can buy this online, or use regular dried kitchen sage). Native Americans call this ‘smudging’; sage was also used in Euro-Indigenous traditions as a cleansing herb. Carry the burning sage around the room in a circle, moving clockwise, and pass the smoke over and around yourself. Set the sage safely aside.
Lie down and cover your eyes with the scarf. Cover yourself with the blanket if you need to. Breathe and relax. Now turn on the drumming CD/recording. State the purpose for your journey, out loud or to yourself: ‘I am journeying to find my power animal or spirit guide.’ Relax and don’t second-guess what happens next.
Visualize an opening in the Earth. It can be a hole in the trunk or at the roots of a tree, a cave opening or an animal’s burrow. It may be a place that you know and have visited, or one that you’re simply imagining. Enter. There will be a tunnel opening up in front of you that pitches downward. Allow the drumming to help you move through it. You may walk or find yourself sliding. You’ll see a light up ahead. This is the end of the tunnel and the opening to non-ordinary reality. When you reach this opening, leave the tunnel and enter non-ordinary reality.
You’ll probably find yourself in a very beautiful natural landscape. Stay where you are. Call out the reason for your journey: ‘I am here to find my power animal, my spirit guide.’ Wait patiently. It may happen immediately or take some time.
One animal may appear or many. You’ll know your power animal is yours because it presents itself to you at least four times, or is very clear and insistent that it’s your animal. If it’s a spirit being, it will probably be the only one to appear and will make its purpose clear. When you’re sure that this is your power animal/guide, embrace it.
You may feel as if it has entered your body, or you may feel yourself entering its body. (This is how shamans shape-shift – a skill for which wicce are famous, and one you’ll cultivate.) Spend time together.
When the drumming stops and you hear a group of very fast beats repeated four times, you’re being signaled to return. Thank your animal/guide, tell them you’ll return and ask them to be with you and guide you in ordinary reality.
Return to the tunnel opening in non-ordinary reality. Drumming will begin again at an accelerated pace. Enter the tunnel and return to ordinary reality. The journey ends when you again hear four groups of fast beats. Take some deep breaths. Open your eyes. Stretch. Sit up. Write down in your magical journal what you experienced and any wisdom teaching you received from your animal/guide.
It’s unlikely, but if you don’t feel fully back, go back to the signal to return and play the fast drumming again. Sit up, stand up, turn on the lights, write.
You may also wish to put the drumming on again and dance your animal – literally welcoming it into your body as it expresses its joy in being with you. Move as you imagine your animal moves and soon and very naturally you’ll feel it move with you. (This is also a first step in learning how to shape-shift.)
The next time you’re going to journey, purify, put on the drumming recording and ‘dance your animal’ first. When you feel it’s with you, lie down and journey into non-ordinary reality. State the purpose of your journey and call your animal to you. Once it arrives, it will guide you where you need to go and to what you need to learn, receive, etc.
It’s important that you know that the animal, or guide, that comes to you is the one that you need now. It has the powers, wisdom and gifts that will best help you at this time. One of my students, a great big burly guy called Jack, was very disappointed, and embarrassed, when he got a chipmunk rather than the grizzly bear he thought suited him. But that chipmunk had precisely the skills, knowledge and magic that Jack needed and their relationship empowered his life.
In time, you may find other power animals or guides. My primary relationship is still with my first power animal, but I’ve acquired several others, each one arriving with just what I needed at the time, and my gratitude to them is profound. It’s important to express your gratitude. I make offerings in the form of donations to organizations devoted to protecting my animals and their environments. I also cultivate our relationship by journeying regularly to work with them, dancing them, and finding ways to do the things they love outside in Nature. And I have statues and images of them on my altar, in my office, and objects I work with that hold their power.
You may find your animal/guide appearing in your life in all sorts of unexpected ways, especially when you need them. Record these encounters in your magical journal. It’s up to you whether you tell people what your animal/who your guide is, but whether you do or not, you may find people spontaneously giving you statues, cards and stuffed versions of them. Whenever I’m in someone’s home and they have a huge collection of some animal, I know that animal has been a protective spirit watching over them.
As you work, you’ll also develop a group of spirit helpers – these may include the spirits of plants, elemental beings and others who have special purposes and gifts in working with you for healing, divination or other specific purposes.
Journeying is simple and easy, but like meditation, it may take some practice to stop your internal chattering and judging. You just have to relax and allow it to work. I want to reassure you if, at first, you doubt the reality of what you experience.
One of my very first journeys was for someone in the drumming circle who was a stranger, although I’d liked her on first sight. My journey was vivid, though a bit disjointed as I moved from one confusing scene to another. Toward the end, I encountered an old woman who told me her name and gave me a symbol and some very specific messages to deliver.
When we returned, everyone shared his or her journey, and I sat there silently, thinking I’d imagined it all. But everyone encouraged me, and so I described what I’d seen. It all made perfect sense to the woman for whom I was journeying, and when I told her the name of the old woman, she knew immediately who it was – a friend who had died months before – and the symbols and messages I’d been given for her were deeply meaningful. It was extraordinary: a blessing for her and for me because I realized that non-ordinary reality was real.
Many students worry that what they are experiencing isn’t real. One of the gifts of working with others is that people return from journeying with similar experiences, helping everyone to have confidence in themselves and the technique. But even on your own, you’ll see how the advice and help you’re given in non-ordinary reality are invaluable in your ordinary life.
People describe their experiences differently. For some, it’s like watching a movie. Others feel as if they’re actually present in the world they’ve entered. Some say it’s like virtual reality, and for others it’s dreamlike and surreal. Sometimes the experience is very coherent and linear and other times it’s erratic, with random images, colors or sounds. Sometimes you journey easily, other times it simply doesn’t happen.
Don’t judge and don’t worry if you find it difficult to journey. For many years, one of my dearest and oldest friends, who is one of the world’s greatest teachers of core shamanism, had a hard time journeying. Instead, she drummed for everyone else. Then one day, she entered the tunnel and found herself in non-ordinary reality.
As you work, you’ll explore the realms of Spirit: the different levels of non-ordinary reality called the Lower, Middle and Upper worlds. To find your power animal/guide, you journeyed in the Lower World, which has nothing to do with the Western Underworld. Be patient, be persistent and be attentive. Journeying is a profound spiritual practice that will change the way you view reality. It will change the way you live. It will change you.
In the past, people used journeying for practical purposes – to help them find shelter, water or game, or to diagnose illnesses and to learn which plants would cure them. It was also used to heal the wounds of psyches and to retrieve lost souls, to help the spirits of those who had died to cross over to Spirit and to visit with ancestors.
You can and should journey to help yourself with healing, both physically and emotionally, for guidance in making major life decisions – like finding a place to live, a new job or someone to love – to visit with a departed love one and much more. And because shamanism has always been a healing and helping practice, as soon as you feel more confident and skilled, you can and should journey for others. The technique is the same: you simply state the purpose of your journey when you emerge into non-ordinary reality and ask your power animal or guide to assist you.
We alter our consciousness and begin to alter reality. Change yourself and you change the world – in ways that are genuinely magical and utterly practical. Storytelling, journeying and other practices are also extraordinary techniques for experiencing the spirits and divinity that reside in the natural world, and Nature is where we’ll discover and awaken magic next.