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ShrhMMIICTRM1CGPOSTURGS
Howard
G.
Charing
&
Juni Parkhurst
One of the core practices ofshamanism has been defined as the
'spirit'
or
'trance journey'.
1
In this journey theshaman journeys to the
'spirit
world',
(often
referred to as 'Upper & Lower
Worlds'),
to
directly
commune
with
the
spirits
who reside in the other realities.
This
is done for many
reasons,
forexample to receive guidance for healing,
maintaining
the psychic
integrity
of the
community,
and
divination.
There are a number of ways to embark
on
a
spirit
journey.
These
can be throughdance, dream, using
teacher
plants, and
by
assuming certain specific physicalpostures. The latter is
known
as
'shamanic trance postures',
and are amethod for achieving ecstatic trance andentering that place of both personal and
collective
vision.
The ecstatic trancebrings
with
it a
shift
in our perception, a
way
of becoming aware of a
reality
outside of the
world
of the ordinary, themundane.The trance makes us able to perceivethe
continuum
of
life,
from
what has been
called
'non-ordinary
reality'
2
, a
realitywhich
has been
known
to co-exist
with
our
physical
reality
throughout
time.
There are certain works of ancient art,
glyphs,
carvings, rock paintings
which
are more than creative expressions of
their
culture, they are visual teachings fora specific
ritual.
These
paintings and
statues
from
theancients depict people adopting distinct
bodily
postures. Many of
these
bodily
postures are ways to an altered
state
ofconsciousness,
visionary
experiences, anda way to embark on a
spirit
journey.There is an extensive geographic
distribution
of the trance postures, and
indications
are that they belong to allcultures and
traditions
3
.
In
western psychological systems, theexperience of
'journeying'
to other realms
to
commune
with
the
'spirit
beings' is
often
regarded as the
individual
exploring
an extension of their
self
(or
mind)
and
not a
journey
to a 'different' place.
However
this psychological
view
is
only
a theory, and it is something that
you
yourself
will
have to decide. In any
case
what you believe
does
not alwaysmatter, the most important
issue
is,
does
this
work
or not ?
When
someone
adopts a specificposture as shown in one of the ancientdepictions, together
with
an accom
panying
rhythmic sound such as a rattle
or
a drum, they may experience a
visionwhich
although is personal, is also
specific
to the posture.
It
is as if, however personal theexperience, the
vision
will
conform to aconsistent framework.
Ritual
has great power in this
reality,
it
is a way of
combining
the heart,
mind,spirit,
and body in a single physical
action
and
intention;
religions
from
allover the
world,
have
long
recognised itsimportance.
Ritual
is also a
means
of
communication
between the Spirits andourselves. It is a way that the Spiritscan
cross
over
from
their
world
into
ours. In Western society we have
forgotten
that the ordinary and other
reality
belong together, they are twohalves of one whole.
Ritual
is a way to empower and
enhance
the trance
state,
and is a gateway
to
contain, translate, and safely guide analtered
state
of
consciousness
into
a
spiritual
experience. Another way ofsaying this
would
be that a
ritual
carriesan innate
intention,
a purpose.Each of the shamanic trance postures
is
in
itself
a
ritual,
and it is a
ritual
with
such
intrinsic
qualities of
exactness
andpower, that its objective is achievedoutside the
original cultural
setting. This
means
that we in contemporary Westernsociety can also successfully participate
in
the shamanic trance postures.
Page 14
SACRED
HOOP
Issue 13 1996
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