Connecting to Higher Self Through Shamanic Journeying
I told you last week that I was headed to a retreat in Georgia. It was truly transformational.
There are all kinds of retreats. This one was a shamanic retreat. What does that mean? Lots of shamanic journeys, which are guided and unguided visual meditations that connect you to your higher self and guides.
Let's Take a Little Journey
The purpose of a shamanic journey is usually to seek wisdom. Because you're stepping out of the consciousness of everyday life, your brain opens up to your higher self and allows you to get guidance from both that version of you as well as your spirit guides, angels, goddesses and gods, spirit animals, and ancestors.
It's pretty fucking fantastic.
Our leader, Erin Newman, led us through several prompts throughout the retreat, accompanying our journeys with her drumming. One was finding our body protector guide. Mine was a giant butterfly named Mothra (and yes, I thought it was weird that she was named after a fictional sci fi monster!).
Mothra was there to protect me from others' energy gently with her delicate wings. She told me I didn't need the hard casing of protection I'd put around my heart. Point taken.
Others at the retreat had incredible insights from their own journeys that helped propel their healing in this life.
One woman and I even saw the same selenite "Oz" city, which was pretty special!
Why Take a Shamanic Journey
You don't have to be a shaman (or a witch or anything in particular) to go on a shamanic journey. It's simply about being open to wisdom from the higher realms. (And by the way, while some people use plant medicine to go on journeys, it's completely not necessary.)
If you're stuck about what to do next, you can journey and ask your guides what your next steps should be.
You can visit with your ancestors to learn more about your heritage.
You can meet your spirit animal, who follows along you in this life to protect you.
I like taking the journeys to get insights that I maybe can't come up with on my own.
Ready for the Ride?
I'm by no means an expert in shamanic journeying. I encourage you to learn more about them. If you're interested and want an easy low-barrier way to get started once you've learned a little about the Lower, Middle, and Upper Worlds, you can find drumming tracks to journey by on YouTube or Amazon Echo devices.
You can set an intention if you want ("I'd like to meet my spirit animal") or a question ("what's next for me on my spiritual path?"), or you can just go to play and explore.
Happy journeying! I'd love to hear about your experiences!