7

The Path of the Visionary

Activating Your Psychic Vision

SCOTT’S VISION QUEST DREAM

Scott went on a vision quest with four other high school seniors, who would all be graduating in another few weeks. After fasting for the day to help prepare them to receive a personal vision, they participated in a Calling of a Vision Ceremony (see The Thundering Years: Rituals and Sacred Wisdom for Teens). The five then went off to find a place to sleep under the stars alone for the night. Scott set out to climb a steep hill with a friend who was an athlete. He wanted to go as high and as far as she did. But when he was about halfway up he found a place that called to him. It was a little inlet, in the shape of a half moon, tucked into the hill-side. Above him, to the east, a half moon was rising, while behind him in the west the sun began to set.

“I have searched in the darkness, being silent in the great lonely stillness of the dark. So I became an angakoq,* through visions and dreams and encounters with flying spirits.”

—NAJAGNEG, AN INUIT SHAMAN, TRANSLATED BY JOAN HALIFAX, SHAMANIC VOICES

*An angakoq is an owl.

His friend trekked farther up the hill. Scott heard her footsteps fade. He rolled out his sleeping bag, then sat on the grass and watched as the sun went down and the darkness surrounded him. He felt the power in the place he had chosen, its shape mimicking the rising moon, and he trusted that spirit was already working with him. He remembered the story of Half-boy that had been told during the Calling of a Vision ceremony. He sat quietly, a half boy waiting for a vision that might make him whole.

Soon he fell asleep and slept beautifully and soundly, like he had never slept before, until a rustling sound awakened him in the dark. The sound brought up some fear: What could be making so much noise? he thought. Was he in danger? After waiting tensely for a few moments he saw a rabbit emerge from the darkness and approach him. He relaxed, amazed at how something so small could bring up such fear. Then he fell asleep again and dreamt.

He dreamed he visited the other four questers. They gathered around the fire together until horrible creatures from beyond appeared, with the intention to destroy them all. He fought a bloody and fearsome battle but he conquered them all and everyone was safe.

He awoke to see the moon passing behind him, and although he could see only half of it, he felt its fullness. He was not afraid. Now he felt his own fullness. He had a deeper sense of who he was. He felt his courage, and knew he could draw on it whenever he became afraid. He knew he could succeed at following his dreams. He also sensed the fullness of his fellow questers. He knew the potential and promise that were inherent in each one of them. He could feel all this inside of him as he lay in the dark, alone.

At the fire where the questers gathered the next morning, everyone shared the stories and visions they had had. The leaders acted as mirrors, retelling the young people’s journeys back to each of them to further validate their experience. Scott also mirrored back to the circle how their stories spoke of the truth about them. He mirrored their beauty and their strengths, just as a shaman would. It was obvious to everyone in the group that Scott had shamanic vision.

“Trust in yourself. Your perceptions are often far more accurate than you are willing to believe.”

—CLAUDIA BLACK, AUTHOR OF CHANGING COURSE: HEALING FROM LOSS, ABANDONMENT, AND FEAR

“Adepts of all religions speak of experiencing or seeing light around people’s heads.”

—BARBARA ANN BRENNAN, AUTHOR OF HANDS OF LIGHT

No one knows how Scott will express this shaman self as he leaves home. What does seem clear is that his life will be different now that spirit has made contact with him and he has heard its call.

THE SHAMAN’S CELESTIAL JOURNEY

This myth tells the story of the Carib shamans of Suriname, in South America.

I say goodbye to my mother and father, my brothers and my sisters and all the friends of my youth, for I am going on a journey from which I will not return as the one who set off.

Six of us are chosen. I wonder if the others are as proud and as afraid as I. For twenty-four days and twenty-four nights we will be in training for the journey, isolated from the village, living with our Master in a hut set aside in the forest, covered with palm leaves. By day we will work hard, tending to the Master’s tobacco fields, felling a sacred tree and carving the important alligator bench from its wood, whittling our magic staffs, and shaping the bells we will use if and when we are initiated as shamans. By night we will be instructed on how to make the journey.

Six days and six nights pass. For three of these we have worked and fasted, and for three we have rested. The alligator bench is ready, but so far none of us has watched for a vision on it. At night, after we have danced and sung until we are exhausted, we sit on it listening to the Master’s instruction. He is teaching us about the spirit world. If we cannot have conversations with spirits we cannot be shamans. We must know their names, their natures, the locations where they may be found, the ways they can help us, and the ways they can hinder us. We are taught about the great Grandfather Spirit, the Creator, but we will never see him or speak with him directly. Grandfather Vulture speaks for the great Grandfather Spirit.

“Be careful on the journey, they said,
The journey to heaven.
They warned me.
And so I went.
. . .
Visions are everywhere.”

—KASHIA POMO, TRANSLATED BY GEORGE QUASHA

Six more days and nights go by. We smoke, we chew tobacco leaves, we drink tobacco juice. We are instructed in everything about the animal kingdom. My hunger is tearing at my body. I cannot endure it. I crouch. I stalk my prey. I leap. I tear flesh. I am jaguar—and blood runs from my jaws.

I remember . . . What do I remember? I search . . . but cannot find my name.

What time has passed? I do not know. Much time is spent lying on the alligator bench waiting for visions. If they do not come, I will not be a shaman. What do I see? Movements in the shadows. They are here—the spirits—but they will not speak to me.

The Master stretches ropes taut across the hut at different levels. First we dance on the low ones. Then we go higher and higher. I am above the world. I hang from the ropes by my fingers. I see the world dissolving and, standing before me in the air, a benevolent spirit. I cry out to him but he is already gone. I have had no conversation. Will I fail? Will I fail! My stomach is empty. My eyes are wild. There is roaring in my ears. I dance. I dance . . . Suddenly he is before me, naked and ancient, Grandfather Vulture himself, showing me the spiral ladder my Master has told me about.

“Come,” he says, “come. It is time for your journey.”

I step onto the ladder. It feels like air, but holds me firm. I step. I step. I turn. I am climbing to the sky. I am journeying to the sky. I come upon a village. Everyone in it is white as smoke. They ignore me. Beside a river I meet a beautiful woman who draws me into the water. I swim with her and, as we move together like one being, she teaches me spells. When I leave the water Grandfather Vulture leads me to the crossroads of Life and Death. There I must choose to go to the Land Without Evening or to the Land Without Dawn. As I approach one, the light dazzles me. As I approach the other, the darkness blinds me.

“Everything in our lives can wake us up or put us to sleep, and basically it’s up to us to let it wake us up.”

—PEMA CHÖDRÖN, START WHERE YOU ARE

Suddenly a searing pain shoots through my body and I find myself in the hut again, the Master bending over me and ants biting me.

“You must not go too far, too fast,” the Master says. “It is not time to know these things yet.”

More time passes. I do not know how much. I am beyond hunger and thirst.

The Master puts me on a platform suspended from the ceiling of the hut and releases the cords he had twisted to hold it steady. It swings around and around. As I revolve I pass through the many celestial spheres of the universe. I see darkness and light run together like one thing and in that one thing I see the spirits dance. They speak to me. They cry out. Some enter my body and I scream and shake with the pain—wishing my Master would drive them out. I am torn apart. I lie bleeding. The spirits leave me and I am empty, like a nutshell abandoned on the floor of the forest. But others come to me and lead me on and up. They fill me with their wisdom. I am full. I am whole. I can speak with spirits. I am a shaman!

—ADAPTED BY JULIE TALLARD JOHNSON FROM MYTHICAL JOURNEYS/LEGENDARY QUESTS, BY MOYRA CALDECOTT

BRINGING ON THE VISIONS

Visions are messages from the world of spirit that come to you through your dreams, encounters with the natural world, synchronicities (meaningful coincidences), and journeying—where you intentionally communicate with the spiritual world. When making contact with the spiritual world, you are contacting both the higher self within you and an external, greater power that is available to us all. Spirit speaks to us in many ways, every day. This chapter is about opening up and listening for its call.

The ancients taught their teens to listen to and trust their visions. These visions came in day and night dreams. Black Elk, Jesus, Padmasambhava, past and present Dalai Lamas, and Jackie Yellow Tail (Crow medicine woman) all trusted their visions to guide them on their chosen paths.

You don’t need to be a recognized shaman to have visions. In fact, each of us has access to personal visions. There are many ways to call a vision to you—in shamanic traditions you do it by journeying. In the above stories, the traveler did not go far physically from his village or home, but traveled far psychically and had extraordinary, insightful encounters with spirits. Some would describe these experiences as “only a dream,” or say that the boy in the second story was hallucinating. Others will say that both young men have journeyed and walked with the spirit world. What do you believe? Have you had a dream that felt very real and meaningful? Have you gone on a vision quest or shamanic journey?

This chapter is about intentionally taking such journeys. As both of the preceding stories demonstrate, it is best to take these journeys with a skilled teacher or to have done some preparatory work. If you have practiced many of the exercises in this book, you are ready to open up to some personal visions. You too may discover that you are a shaman. At the very least you will discover your visionary self, your psychic self—the self that connects you to the all the shamans past, present, and future.

Journeying is a form of creative visualization. Being able to visualize (see images in your mind) is a basic tool needed for journeying. Many of us have difficulty “seeing” images in our minds. The following is a simple meditation that helps you develop this valuable skill.

GOLD DOT MEDITATION

This Zen meditation practice will help you focus your attention during journeying and visualizations. It is a very simple meditation that will help you “see” things when you journey.

Close your eyes. Visualize one and a half feet in front of your face a gold dot. Breathe and relax, while maintaining your attention on this gold dot. Do this meditation for three to five minutes.

This exercise brings your attention to the present moment and can also help bring focus to other areas of your life, such as exams and complex reading material. The more you practice the creative visualization exercises in this book, the more you will develop your visualizing skills.

THE PATH OF THE SHAMAN

Shamanic journeying is similar in some ways to the creative visualizations you have been doing throughout this book. There are important differences, as José and Lena Stevens point out in Secrets of Shamanism: “Unlike planned visualizations, in the shamanic journey process you don’t always know what is going to happen in your visions. You don’t control the events and situations that you experience but you can control how you respond to them.” Journeying, then, is much like dreaming—you can’t often control the dream but you can decide how you want to respond to the dream.

“A shaman is a man or woman who enters an altered state of consciousness—at will— to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons. The shaman has at least one, and usually more, ‘spirits’ in his personal service.”

—FROM MICHAEL HARNER’S THE WAY OF THE SHAMAN

In the stories that opened this chapter, both young men were journeying. When you journey you will be opening the door between yourself and the spirit world—something we all did quite naturally as children. You will find that in shamanic journeying the most important and powerful tool is, once again, your imagination.

Because in your teenage years you are in closer touch with your imagination, you will not find it difficult to have a “shamanic vision.” For you it may be a matter of trusting that what you experience is truly a vision.

“I attended a shamanic drumming circle with my mother one night. She really wanted me to have this experience, so I decided I would give it a try. Each night the leader chooses a topic to guide the journey. That night the leader said that we would be journeying to ask for a vision about any fears we might have. This was perfect for me because I was really afraid of being alone. It is even hard for me to describe, but the thought of being alone just freaks me out. So that is the fear I picked.
    The leader began to drum and drum and guided us on a shamanic journey. We visualized entering a hole in the ground where we would go into the underworld for help. It was easy for me. And the thing is, it felt real. I know I was experiencing all this in my head, yet it was more than that.
    I found a creature that was holding my fear, like a weapon it used against me. Then I called for some animal to help me release the fear. Crow showed up and took my fear from this creature and flew it into a river. The river was moving very fast and the fear just disappeared under the currents. The crow came back to me, gave me one of its feathers, and told me that I can call on him any time I need him.”

—MICHELE, AGE 18

“The challenge of adolescence, as in all the stages of growth, is to find the self and remain true to the self through all the chaos of physical and emotional changes, sweet longings and painful rejections.”

—BARBARA ANN BRENNAN, HANDS OF LIGHT

Journeying can be simple or complex. You can journey to receive a vision, as in the preceding stories. You can journey to connect with your power animal. You can journey to heal parts of your psyche and body, or to get an answer to a question. You can use journeying to get what you need to create your life.

All the practices that follow are presented in a way that allows you to do them on your own. Consider me your guide.

A Shamanic Journey
Drumming is traditionally used by shamans to help guide the journey. There are many shamanic drumming CDs available that have preset timings for your journeying. It is best to start out with a brief journey of about five to fifteen minutes the first couple of times. Some CDs have voices guiding you through a journey, while others just offer simple instruction and drumming.

Begin your journey in a place where you know you are safe, giving yourself enough time to have a complete journey without being disturbed. Formulate your question. What is it that you want this journey to be about? The following questions are examples of how to focus your journey.

 

What is the next step I need to take in my life?

How can I be less afraid of . . . ?

How can I get stronger about . . . ?

Would so-and-so make a good friend?

What should I do after I graduate from high school?

How can I resolve the problem I have with . . . ?

Now lie down on the floor in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths, letting your body relax into the floor as you exhale. Feel the heaviness of your body on the floor, giving it permission to relax down into the floor.

“I build a home between Earth and Spirit, I work from the creative ground of my Soul. I nourish the World with the Soul’s Rainbow Light.”

—AFFIRMATION FOR THE FLOWER ESSENCE OF IRIS, FROM AFFIRMATIONS, THE FLOWER ESSENCE SOCIETY

“Dreams have always been an important part of my life. I think that is true for most people who are searching for spirituality and go out and fast. Dreams guide you; they show you the way that you should be living, or the direction, or give you signs to help someone else, and they are gifts.”

—JACKIE YELLOW TAIL, CROW WOMAN, FROM WALKING IN THE SACRED MANNER

Imagine yourself lying on the ground in some natural place outdoors. In this place there is a cave entrance nearby, or some opening into the earth. This opening can be a place you have actually visited if one comes to mind. Bring this place into focus and rest your full attention on this image of the cave entrance. This opening goes down deep into the earth, where there are many caverns and rooms. The opening should feel both familiar and comfortable for you.

Start the drumming CD. Slowly approach the entrance to the cave and enter the opening. Notice the smells of the rich earth, the stillness of the tunnel, the feel of your body as it enters this place. Just inside the entrance of the cave, you will meet a spirit guardian that will help you on your journey. It may come in the form of an animal, a guardian angel, an ancestor, a ball of energy, a person, or a voice. This being will be your spirit guide on your shamanic journey.

Tell your guide your question. Your guide then will lead you down a tunnel into the underworld. This passage is usually short, ending in a room or a place in nature. Your guide has taken you to a place where you will encounter the animals, beings, voices, or symbols you need to answer your question. Trust whatever comes. You may get a simple “Yes, go ahead . . .” or “You’d better be careful . . .“ or you may be taken on a dreamlike journey. Just go with the experience and keep focused on the journey. Let the drumming keep you focused. You want to be present for whatever happens on the journey.

When either the drumming becomes rapid, thus calling you back to the room, or you are told in your vision that the journey is done, bring yourself back to the place where you entered the underworld. Thank your guide and come back through the tunnel and out of the cave opening. Don’t bring anything back with you from your journey that you didn’t take in with you.

“Wait until you are calm and relaxed before undertaking this or any other shamanic exercise. Avoid psychedelic or alcoholic substances during the preceding twenty-fours, so that your centeredness and power of concentration will be good, and your mind clear of confusing imagery.”

—FROM MICHAEL HARNER’S THE WAY OF THE SHAMAN

Then feel yourself in your body and back in the room, on the floor, breathing. Take some time to reacquaint yourself with the room. When you feel ready, take the time to journal your experience.

It may take a few attempts before you get a strong sense that you have journeyed. Be patient and practice several times. By the third time, you will likely have a very meaningful journey and vision.

If you are interested in longer and more in-depth journeying, I recommend you refer to the Shamanism resources listed at the end of the book. You can also go to www.shamanism.com or e-mail shaman@shamanism.com to find the shamanic drumming circle nearest you.

The Basics of Shamanic Journeying

1. Give yourself some sacred time and space where you will be safe and undisturbed for the needed amount of time.
2. Have a shamanic drumming CD and a CD player ready or a shamanic healer drumming and guiding your journey.
3. Lie comfortably on the floor, breathing deeply.
4. Focus on your question.
5. Travel to the “underworld,” which represents going within.
6. Meet your spirit guardian.
7. Tell your guardian your question.
8. Travel down the tunnel.
9. Arrive in a room.
10. Receive your journey vision.
11. Return and reflect on your experience.

Interpreting Shamanic Journeys

You will relate to your journey much as you would interpret a dream. The images and actions in your dreams have very personal and unique meanings for you, and it is the same with the visions you will have on a journey. You are the best person to interpret your journey, although you may want to share it with a trusted friend or elder or a shamanic practitioner. Take the time to record your journey. By drawing it or writing it in your journal, you can get more insight into its meaning for you. Most times, the vision you experience is very simple and obvious and leaves little need for interpretation. Shamanic practitioners may have additional insights due to their experience, but your own understanding of the journey should be the principal one. Trust your own understanding of the journey.

“Pearls do not lie on the seashore. If you desire one, you must dive for it.”

—CHINESE PROVERB

“An unexamined dream is like an unopened letter.”

—THE TALMUD, JEWISH HOLY TEXT

DREAM VISIONS

In many traditions, journeying is really “dreaming” during the day. In fact, your dreams can also hold visions.

Ihan’bla is the Plains Indian term for dreams. Dreams are considered by the Plains Indians to be a direct communication with the spirit world. Ihan’bla dreams can come while you are awake or asleep. In Tibetan dream yoga, dreams are considered a means of accessing one’s true nature. To listen to your dreams, then, means to be listening to the spirit world and to your own inner guide.

Your nighttime dreams can help you live the dreams you hold in your heart during the day. They may be encouraging you to follow your dreams even when someone, perhaps a parent or even a coach, is pushing you in a different direction.

“My mother was this way with me. Emotionally she was an unsympathetic person, who never much wanted to talk about stuff of a personal nature. For most of my teen years, however, we considered ourselves ‘friends,’ meaning mostly that she would confide in me about how unhappy she was with my father. But she could never handle my stories, my personal journeys. So I stopped trying to tell her much of anything. Slowly I began to accept that I was not the daughter she wanted. She wanted an extension of herself, someone to play with, to drink with, and to attend sporting events with. I was never this girl, although at times I would try to be who she wanted me to be. I often felt as if I had her face on me—and underneath it was my true face, hidden.
    “At the age of seventeen, I had this dream. My mother had come home with a lot of groceries. She was carrying them in. I was in the back of the house where there was an indoor sauna. I was in the sauna, when my brother walked in and began to push me against the hot sauna rocks. My skin was burning. Then he stabbed me with a knife. I went out into the kitchen where my mother was putting groceries away and cried out loud to her. I was standing there bleeding with a knife stuck in my stomach. She just walked right by me and kept putting groceries away.”

—ANNETTE, AGE 24

With this dream Annette began to realize that she felt invisible to her mother, and that it would be up to her to keep herself safe and happy.

“Jesus said, ‘Show me the stone which the builders have rejected. That one is the cornerstone.’”

—THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS

Remember the eagle who thought he was a chicken? Annette’s mother didn’t see her daughter’s true nature. But Annette wasn’t going to die a chicken!

At the age of twenty-three, Annette had another dream:

“I dreamt I was married to my mom. Twice young men were interested in me and then they found out I was married to my mother. They weren’t objecting to her being my mother as much as the age difference. She was lying on the sofa. Two men came into the room. One whispered, ‘Is she married?’ pointing at me. The other one said, ‘Yes, to her,’ pointing to my mother.
    “I then got up and went into my bedroom and looked into the mirror. I told myself I couldn’t stay married to my mother. I thought that if I knew someone who was married to their mom it would be strange. I decided to tell my mom I wanted a divorce. I went out and she was sitting at a table with a glass and some wine in a bottle. She had a sense of what I was going to tell her. She poured the wine into the glass and it spilled over. I told her it would be better if she didn’t drink. I also told her that I was not going to drink with her anymore. Then I walked out of her house on my own.
    “In my day life, I did stop drinking with her. As a result my relationship with her changed dramatically. These dreams guided me to protect myself when it came to my mother. They helped me become whole. They were personal dreams that held a message, a vision for me. I believe we all have such dreams, such messages that are attempting to help us and guide us.”

“At the heart of all religions is the certainty that there is a fundamental truth, and that life is a sacred opportunity to evolve and realize it.”

—SOGYAL RINPOCHE, TIBETAN LAMA

Tibetan Dream Yoga

Tibetans practice an elaborate (but not difficult) process of dream yoga that allows you to use your dreams to become more present and happy in your life. It is an ancient process that teaches you to “awaken” in your dreams and to be able to receive the visions that appear in your dream time. You can tune in more clearly to the visions in your dreams by following the suggestions below, which are based on the Tibetan model:

• Record your dreams in your psychic journal. This can be done by drawing your dreams or by writing them out.
•  Listen to your dreams and respond to them, as Annette did in the above example. She let her dreams play an important role in guiding her decisions, and ultimately the course of her life. Consider your dreams letters or messages from your true nature or the spirit world. What is being communicated to you?
• Before you go to sleep at night, ask for some guidance in your dream. Then to help you remember your dreams, traditional Tibetan practice instructs boys to lie on their right side and girls to lie on their left side.
• Share your dreams with trusted friends, your therapist, or your spiritual adviser.
• Notice what images, feelings, sensations, experiences, and encounters you had in your night dreams that also occur in the daytime.
• Read a good book on dreams for teens, such as Teen Dream Power, by M. J. Abadie.

Tibetan Dream Yoga, by Lama Surya Das (see the bibliography), is an excellent CD to take you more deeply into this journey.

“It can never be said too often that to realize the nature of mind is to realize the nature of all things.”

—SOGYAL RINPOCHE, TIBETAN LAMA, AUTHOR OF THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING

MEETING YOUR POWER ANIMALS

In earlier days we understood that we are all part of the earth, and we held a deep respect for nature. We respected and honored spirits and thanked them for providing us with life, nourishment, and comfort. In these earlier times we gave recognition to the power of the animal spirits by wearing skins and masks, mimicking, singing praise, and sending prayers to specific animals. We painted the animals on our homes, clothes, faces, caves, and burial chambers. These acts allowed us to remain linked to the animal guides and to accept the power and lessons they offered us in life, and in death.

“The world is divided into various classes of animals, often referred to as the ‘Two Leggeds,’ ‘Four Leggeds,’ ‘Wingeds,’ and ‘Those That Live in the Water.’ Any of these, if acquired by a human as an ally, imparts powers peculiar to its kind.”

—MARK ST. PIERRE AND TILDA LONG SOLDIER, AUTHORS OF WALKING IN THE SACRED MANNER

Each animal has powerful spirits, medicine, and inherent skills. Power animals, also called animal totems, come to you in your dreams or in physical form because they have a lesson you need to learn or a “power” they are willing to share with you. They seek to give you a gift of understanding, of love, energy, and knowledge.

“You’re a fine young man
You Grizzly Bear
You crawl out of your fur
You come
I say Whu Whu Whu!
I throw grease in the fire
For you
Grizzly Bear
We’re one!”

—TLINGIT INVOCATION, VERSION BY DAVID CLOUTIER

Animal spirits choose a person to be a companion to, a friend to, not the other way around. They choose you, as the red-tailed hawk chose me and as the black panther chose Hailey (see story on page 201). Your power animals will choose you by coming to you in your dreams or in your journeying and making themselves known to you. You will only need to pay attention to discover who your power animals are. Once you come to know which animals are your power animals, you can go on journeys to ask them for help and guidance.

Hailey went on a vision quest and encountered her power animal—the black panther. While she slept under the stars, she felt the breath of some animal on her face and dreamt of the black panther. One of the shamanic guides who led the vision quest awoke that same night and felt that Hailey was being “visited” by the black panther. She woke the other leader and asked if black panthers were found in this area. (They are rare, but do visit this area.) They both sent out protective energy to Hailey and could sense that she was safe.

In the circle the next morning Hailey and the guides shared their experiences, and everyone agreed that Hailey had been visited by the panther. The panther then became her power animal. The medicine of this animal resonated with Hailey’s view of herself and her life. Its power includes a silent dignity, independence, and courage in difficult times. It also gave her a place to focus and direct her energies. It became her guide and her totem. She would seek its guidance as one does with a higher power, and she carried the medicine of the black panther with her. She now wears a panther necklace around her neck and a tattoo of it on her foot.

Take the time to develop a relationship with your animal totem. Learn more about its physical characteristics, its habits, and its strengths, and think about how they relate to your life. Having an animal totem does not mean that you are to pet the animal or even be with it physically. Red-tail Hawk is a totem of mine, but I haven’t touched one. Having an animal totem means that you have lessons to learn and a powerful spiritual friend. All totems are powerful but the meaning that the totem brings will vary depending on what type of animal has come to you.

“The unsaid for me exerts great power . . .”

—LOUISE GLUCK, U.S. POET LAUREATE, WINNER OF PULITZER PRIZE

“Dive deep within: You are bound to hear The whispering Peace-sea-messages.”

—SRI CHINMOY, SPIRITUAL TEACHER

“The Creator gives us each a song.”

—UTE SAYING

To meet your power animal, go on a shamanic journey as described previously. Focus your intention on acquiring a power animal to help you at this time in your life. When you greet the spirit guardian at the cave entrance, say that you are there to meet your power animal.

RUNNING PSYCHIC ENERGY

Psychic energy is your intuitive energy on full volume. You have this energy inside and around you. When you bring conscious awareness to this energy and use it skillfully, more of your true nature comes forth.

For thousands of years people who sought to be fully in touch with this energy have done so by going into a state of trance. “Going into trance” means to be one hundred percent in psychic space, to fully control your own psychic energy. It’s like running a water faucet—the psychic energy is the water, your body is the faucet, and your imagination is the hand that determines how much energy (water) flows. Being in a trance is like tuning into a TV station where the picture is clear and crisp. It is not about opening up to other spirits or other entities. In fact, when you run your own psychic energy, there is no room for other energies.

Trancing enhances your psychic skills as well as your general well-being. Its benefits include:

• Opening up to your psychic energy
• Taking control of your own energy
• Stretching yourself to experience more states of consciousness
• Opening up to more of life’s experiences
• Bringing balance to your Rainbow Body

Taking the time to run your psychic energy will help bring balance into your life. If until now you have been closed off from your psychic energy, going into trance will help open it up for you. If you have been too open to this energy, trancing will help you filter it. During your teen years your psychic self is opening up—you are so much more sensitive to the energy around you and inside of you. This is an ideal time to begin the practice of going into trance.

The purpose of this practice is to focus your awareness and to stay present during the time that you are in trance. As you do when you are journeying, you want to remain alert. The Gold Dot meditation can help you build the focusing ability desired for this practice. I recommend practicing the Gold Dot meditation for a while before trying to go into trance.

Grounding yourself as part of the trancing is vital, because you will be running so much psychic energy. Too much psychic energy, without grounding, results in feeling out of control. It is like having the faucet running at full volume with no way of shutting it off. The grounding brings balance. Ideally, you have practiced the grounding meditation offered to you in chapter 1 for some time now. When you are properly grounded, trancing allows you to channel psychic energy correctly and creatively.

“We don’t end at our skins.”

—CHRISTIANE NORTHROP, M.D., HOLISTIC PHYSICIAN AND AUTHOR

“Answers that come through your intuitive processes or through channels may challenge what you would prefer to do. Your lower self, your personality, will not challenge, but rationalize.”

—GARY ZUKAV, TAKEN FROM THE SEAT OF THE SOUL

“I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the color and fragrance of a flower—the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence.”

—HELEN KELLER, BLIND AND DEAF AMERICAN EDUCATOR

Going into Trance

When you are in trance, you will be using the same energy that you bring forth in meditation and journeying. You will want to run psychic energy with:

• control
• breath
• intention
• focus

To begin, give yourself five minutes in a quiet place. Sit in a chair with your back erect, feet on the floor. Breathe and ground. Once you are grounded, bring down the psychic energy through your seventh chakra (the top of your head). Breathe and open up to this psychic energy from above. Pull it slowly down your spine to meet up with your grounding energy, blending the earth energy together with the psychic energy. From there your mixed energy will go down and out through the grounding cords into the earth. Breathe throughout this continuous energy exchange.

Now sit in this energy, aware and focused, for five minutes.

When it is time to break the trance, bend down and touch your palms to the floor.

“Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose.”

—ELISABETH KÜBLER-ROSS, AUTHOR OF ON DEATH AND DYING

Begin with five minutes of trancing a day. When you are in trance you need to breathe. Do not force things—do it with little effort. Make sure to pay attention while in trance, focus on running the energy. After you have practiced going into trance for a few weeks, you will be ready to do any of the exercises in this book again but now in trance.

Psychic energy can sometimes be like a jealous lover: It demands its time and wants to be exercised. I have learned this from my own experience. As I have explained earlier, as a teen I was continually aware of sharp insights into people and situations. This did not result in peace of mind or happiness but in a sensitivity that made it difficult for me to relax and enjoy myself. Before I learned how to trance and direct my psychic energy, social gatherings weren’t much fun for me. I would often find myself feeling stressed and overwhelmed at a party. I didn’t completely understand that it was my psychic energy that had me “reading” and “seeing” into other people’s psyches. It was my out-of-control psychic energy that was causing my stress. Finally, after taking the psychic development class and practicing the same meditations and exercises in this book—I can party! I can go into large groups and, having turned down the psychic volume, relax and enjoy myself. Going into trance on a regular basis makes my psychic self happy. Now I am in control of my psychic energy, and it no longer makes me feel out of control.

Psychic Writing: Communicating with Spirit

Psychic writing—going into a trance state while you write in your journal—is another practice that will help you to open up and communicate with spirit. This spirit can be a specific spiritual being, such as Christ, your guardian angel, or an ancestor. It can also be your own spirit, your true nature. As in journeying, it is important to trust what comes—breathe and go with the flow of the experience. Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God for Teens (see bibliography) has wonderful examples of psychic writing.

1. Begin by grounding and going into trance. Send out a prayer intention. What would you like to talk to God or spirit about? Request to hear the advice of a grandparent or ancestor in your family who has passed and whom you love and trust. Ask him or her to speak to you through your writing.
2. Write the question you have at the top of a page in your journal. For example: Dear Grandfather, please give me some advice on . . . Dear God/spirit, what do you think about . . . Dear guardian angel, what do you think I could do about . . .
3. Take a few deep breaths, and remember that you are in trance. Then write underneath your question: Dear (your name here), . . . and let the writing flow. Let your hand just move across the page as this spiritual connection takes place. Let your grandparent or spirit guide answer your question. Don’t stop until you have written at least a paragraph’s worth.
4. Thank the spirit for the guidance you have been given, and end the trance. Take some time to read over the message.

How will you know the message is really from spirit?

• It will feel true to you.
• It will somehow benefit everyone involved. There will be no harm suggested toward anyone. (Spirit doesn’t take sides but understands everyone’s perspective.)
• It will give you hope, insight, and courage.
• It will sound wise, like something that would come from a Wisdom Keeper—an ancestor or spirit.
• You feel the presence of a benevolent, loving being.

“The reverse also has a reverse side.”

—JAPANESE PROVERB

“A genuine sense of humor is having a light touch. The basis of Shambhala vision is rediscovering that perfect and real sense of humor, that light touch of appreciation.”

—CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA, TIBETAN MEDITATION MASTER AND TEACHER

LAUGH AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU

Too many of our religious institutions try to scare people into following one specific doctrine, and often don’t encourage you to think for yourself. That is why the Buddhists have a saying: “If you meet the Buddha on the street, kill him.” In other words, after reading the Dharma (Buddhist teachings), put it down and go explore your own path. Don’t make the teachings so central to your life that you lose sight of your own opinions and experience, or your sense of humor. Be sincere in your spiritual practices but not overly serious. A lack of fun and play means you are being too rigid. Being flexible will allow you to experience more in your life and in your journeying.

You can honor your psychic self without making too big a thing of it. Scott, the young man who experienced a vision on the hillside during a shamanic journey, can have that experience and then hang out with friends later that day. Don’t take yourself too seriously. The fact is, when you can connect and laugh about the small and big stuff of life, it means you have relaxed enough to trust yourself, and spirit. So be playful with all the exercises. Let your pursuit be your play and your play be your pursuit. Experience these exercises and insights as pointers to the truth, not ironclad rules.

If the exercises in this book don’t put a smile on your face and give you some hope and power, burn it. Use the book to make life better for you but then put the book down and go play—go live your life. Fortunately, teens don’t usually have a hard time getting this point. Go explore your own path . . . it is a big, beautiful playground out there.

“I used to believe in reincarnation, but that was in a past life.”

—PAUL KRASSNER, INVESTIGATIVE SATIRIST

“Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.”

—JANE WAGNER, AUTHOR OF THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

“I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly, because they’re surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable.”

—ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, AMERICAN PAINTER

 

“The temple bell stops
but the sound keeps coming
out of the flowers.”

—BASHŌ, ZEN HAIKU MASTER