Mackinnon - Shamanism: awaken and develop the shamanic force within

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Text Christa Mackinnon, 2016

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The information given in this book should not be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice; always consult a medical practitioner. Any use of information in this book is at the readers discretion and risk. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any loss, claim or damage arising out of the use, or misuse, of the suggestions made, the failure to take medical advice or for any material on third party websites.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-78180-587-9 in print
ISBN 978-1-78180-691-3 in ePub format
ISBN 978-1-78180-692-0 in Kindle format

Interior illustrations: Thinkstock/Shaiatea

At the center of the universe dwells
the Great Spirit. And that center is
everywhere. It is within each of us.

BLACK ELK: BLACK ELK SPEAKS

Contents

Like everybody who is interested in shamanism, I am greatly indebted to the indigenous people around the world who have often against all odds kept their ancient practices and teachings alive and are sharing them with us.

My heartfelt gratitude goes to all the teachers, students, clients, colleagues, friends and fellow dreamers who have walked with me on my path. Writing about this subject would have been impossible without their input over many years.

Appreciation is due to the truly amazing Hay House team, particularly to Michelle Pilley, Amy Kiberd, Julie Oughton, Polina Norina and Lucy Buckroyd, and to my editor, Lizzie Henry, whose immense professionalism and skill made the editing process not only a pleasurable one, but also an invaluable learning experience.

Special thanks to Matthew Pallamary, shamanic explorer, writer and friend, for letting me reprint the experiences he describes in his book Spirit Matters, to Joanna Pine for giving me permission to use her first trance dance experience, which set her on the path to shamanism, and to all the clients and students who allowed me to share their stories in this book.

Finally, as always, I thank my husband, David, and my daughter, Kamala, for their support and encouragement, and especially for loving me just the way I am.

A friend who knew that I had been on a spiritual path for many years before becoming involved in shamanism once asked me, Why shamanism? And, whilst giving her all kinds of explanations, I suddenly remembered the intense experience I had had during my first shamanic workshop, which I can best describe as the ecstatic feeling of a weary traveller who finally comes home. During that first workshop, something deep inside me woke up and I remembered how it felt when we still gathered around fires in the evenings, beating drums and telling stories, living lives that were infused by the mystical and sacred, a time when we were still deeply connected to nature, community, soul and spirit.

Having walked a fairly eclectic shamanic path now for many years, I am convinced that what I experienced during that first workshop and the deep impact it had on my life explains why we have seen an immense revival of shamanism and, over the last few decades, an unprecedented development of contemporary varieties worldwide. What I experienced at that time is what we now call the surfacing of the shamanic archetype into consciousness, a kind of inherited memory pattern held within the collective unconscious and within each of us. Such patterns, which are also sometimes referred to as the shaman within and which exist already within each of us in potential form, are coming to the fore now because what they represent is needed in the world and because the time is right.

Shamanism is an umbrella term for both the most ancient spiritual traditions known on this planet and the many contemporary varieties. Traditional shamanism was our tribal ancestors way of exploring and working with the forces around them, including the energetic other worlds and spirit forces. The shaman, the one who knows, formed the bridge between these energetic worlds and the material world of the manifested realms, working in alignment with the wishes of spirit for the benefit of the community and its individual members. To this day, shamans are healers, ceremonialists, visionaries, psychics, dreamers, manifestors, divinatory practitioners, psychopomps and more.

For me, shamanism was the last step on my spiritual journey. I had always been interested in human consciousness and knew from an early age that there was much more to reality than what we normally experience.

My early journey led me to travel the world, which opened my eyes and heart. I was drawn to Eastern spirituality, lived for some time in the Osho ashram in India, which was greatly liberating, and later became involved in Buddhist practices. During those times I had my first, very frightening, shamanic calling, which brought me to the brink of death and which I only much later defined as a dismemberment experience, which is well known as an initiation practice in traditional shamanism. This experience, together with my meditation practices and some out-of-body experiences and visions, brought about by my use of psychedelic substances, changed me profoundly. I knew without any doubt that there were underlying realities that were energetic in nature, that consciousness could travel and that life was eternal.

After going to university to study psychology, I became a therapist specializing in trauma and then a university lecturer and trainer. The big adventures of my youth and early adulthood became pleasant memories as I lived a well-ordered life as a successful professional, a wife and a mother. Still, somewhere deep within me there was a longing, a hole, which my by now reduced spiritual practices, my quite fulfilling career, my social activities and even my love for my partner and daughter failed to fill.