DISCOVERING SHAMANISM: A Path to Healing and Knowledge by Irina H.Corten, Ph.D.

It was a snowy January afternoon in l995. I was visiting a friend, Rose, who is a holistic healer. Warming ourselves by the fireplace, we began to talk about our childhood memories. Mine were not happy. I spent my early years in Russia when it was still under the tyrannical regime of Joseph Stalin. Although my family was loving and supportive, I suffered from the authoritarian methods practiced at school and from the general atmosphere of fear and oppression that pervaded the country. These experiences had left deep emotional scars. Having listened to my grim stories, Rose said: "I think you would benefit from a soul retrieval." Seeing my baffled look, she explained that soul retrieval is a healing method used in shamanism. It is intended for people who, as a result of some physical or emotional trauma, lose parts of their spiritual selves; in other words, their soul becomes fragmented. The belief is that, in order to escape the trauma, a part of one's soul splits off and moves into a multidimensional realm called non ordinary reality. This leaves the person in a weakened and dispirited condition, and it is the task of the shamanic healer to restore wholeness. The healer goes on a visionary journey into non-ordinary reality (otherwise known as the shamanic journey) and with the help of spirit guides tracks down the soul fragment and brings it back to the patient. The soul retrieval method sounded intriguing, and I wanted to hear more about it and about shamanism in general. Rose said that shamanism is a spiritual discipline which requires years of study and practice to master, although basic shamanic methods can be learned relatively quickly and applied effectively if one has a penchant for it. A shaman, she said, is a person who enters an altered state of consciousness -- at will -- to contact an ordinarily hidden reality in order to obtain knowledge, power, and healing. Shamanism is the world's oldest spiritual tradition that has beenpracticed for thousands of years. Although there are variations in shamanic rituals from culture to culture, the underlying principle of the visionary journey is shared and adaptable to the needs of modern society. Shamanism is a holistic practice that enables us to live in greater harmony with our environment. It is a source of knowledge of the vast and fascinating world that lies beyond the limits of our rational mind and three-dimensional perspective. I decided to have a soul retrieval and returned to Rose's house several days later, feeling excited and a bit nervous. Before we began, Rose spoke about the importance of the drum in shamanic journeying. The steady rhythmic beat of the drum enables the journeyer to enter a relaxed and expanded state of consciousness. Ideally, there should be live drumming, but in its absence one can listen to a recording. Rose also explained that, in working with me, she would deviate somewhat from standard practice. Typically, when a shaman journeys on behalf of a client, the client lies passively waiting for the shaman to bring back the soul part and blow it into the client's body. Knowing my strong interest in things metaphysical, however, Rose decided to have me do a parallel journey of my own. In shamanic cosmology, non-ordinary reality is divided into three realms: the Lower, the Upper, and the Middle Worlds. The Lower World is accessed through an opening such as a tree hollow, a crater, a water hole, or any other natural conduit leading downward into the earth. The Upper World may be reached by going up a rainbow, a column of smoke, or on the wings of a flying bird. The Middle World is entered horizontally through a bank of fog, a thicket of leaves or some other type of natural membrane. An experienced shaman knows intuitively which of these locations is the most suitable for the task at hand. Beginners usually go into the Lower World, as it seems to be the easiest one for most people to visualize. In every one of these domains there are landscapes, objects and entities waiting to teach and to help us. Information is given either in words or through symbolic images. And so, Rose and I lay down on the floor next to each other in a darkened room, covered our eyes, and began listening to a CD recording of shamanic drums. With some trepidation I visualized jumping down a tree hollow. The following sequence of events was completely unexpected and had the quality of lucid dreaming with perfect recall. I saw myself going through a long, foggy tunnel that eventually brought me to the playground outside our apartment building in Moscow. I saw myself as a child of about nine. It was twilight, and no one was there. I felt disoriented and driven by an urgent need to find something or someone. I looked up at the sky and saw a huge, illumined visage of Stalin floating through the air. This image was based on ordinary reality. On December 2l, l949, Stalin's 70th birthday was celebrated with a lot of fanfare, and blimps carried his lighted portrait over Moscow at night. I was very impressed with that spectacle as a child. In my shamanic vision Stalin's image expanded, descended from the sky and enveloped me with a thick, cold mist. His presence felt masculine and paternal, but at the same time frightening and evil, almost diabolic. I cried out for help, whereupon a beautiful black mountain goat with long silky hair and golden eyes materialized and came toward me. I slipped under her belly, and she carried me safely out of the Stalin cloud. She told me to call her Mother Goat. Next we went to my school which was nearby. The building was empty. I went through its corridors looking for my soul, and finally saw it under the ceiling of my classroom. It looked like a long pale-blue ribbon of energy, a kind of spectral snake. Realizing that I was looking at it, it zigzagged swiftly through the air, drifted out of the window and disappeared. Then Mother Goat and I left the school, crossed the yard, and came up to the steps of a Russian Orthodox Church. There was an old crone sitting on the steps of the church. She called me and said I had to go with her. I was aware of some danger in this situation, but it seemed important that I accept the challenge. Mother Goat was by my side and I knew she would protect me. The old crone took me to her village deep in wooded countryside. The time dimension was a mythic past of Russian fairy tales. I saw myself as a little peasant girl in a shabby long dress and babushka scarf of nondescript color. I played for a while in the old woman's garden and then wandered off into the woods, followed by Mother Goat. Suddenly I saw my soul again. This time it appeared in the form of a little peasant girl identical to me in age and appearance, only her clothes were new and pretty and her babushka scarf was bright blue. She was as confident and playful as I was confused and sad. She laughed and frolicked and teased me, running among the trees at a distance. I realized that she was luring me deeper into the woods, and I followed her. Finally we came to a clearing where a tall bonfire was blazing. The little girl began to dance around the fire and finally merged with it, her body transforming itself into long, ribbon-like shapes of vertical flames. For a fleeting instant I saw her in the flames as a huge goddess-like entity. Then the fire went out, and I saw Mother Goat standing over the ashes with the girl sitting on its back. The animal leapt up and galloped joyfully off into the sky, carrying the laughing child with her. The concluding episode of my soul journey had the quality of a cosmic teaching. My consciousness hugely expanding, I saw the entire landscape of the earlier scenes: my house, yard, school, church, village, woods, and forest glade. Underneath this landscape there was a vast network of subterranean tunnels. Snakelike energy ribbons, similar to the ones I saw in the classroom and in the bonfire, danced energetically in the air before my eyes. Then, like powerful electric shock waves, these ribbons zoomed through the entire landscape, penetrating and connecting everything and showing me that it was all One. The drum stopped, I opened my eyes and said: "WOW! INCREDIBLE!" I began to sit up, but Rose pushed me down with great urgency, telling me to lie still. She then blew several forceful breaths into my chest and the crown of my head. She was using the shamanic technique of blowing a retrieved soul part into the patient's body. A few minutes later she helped me sit up and described her own journey: "My power animal -- a flying horse -- came to me, I mounted it, and we rode off into the Upper World. There was a portal, and on the other side of it we were met by my Guide -- a wise old man in a black pointed hat. He gave me a large box, saying that it contained important and valuable things, but I was not to look at them. Riding further, I came face to face with a very powerful and malicious spirit -- a human male entity with large whiskers. He blocked my way, but I held out the box to him and said he could open it and take anything he liked. He did and let me ride further. "The horse carried me to a very far region of space. I saw a lush garden encircled by a fence. It was full of children's souls. They seemed happy enough, but were unable to leave the enclosure. They were tended by small, silvery-colored Beings with circular heads. I saw your soul -- a pale little girl with large clear eyes -- peering out from behind the others. She seemed interested in going with me, but the Beings told me she was happy with them and would not let her go. I held out the box to them. They extracted something from it and released your soul to me. As we began to descend, I realized that the silvery Beings had changed their mind and were pursuing us to take you back. I spurred the horse with all my power, and we barely made it here in time for me to blow your soul into your body." This soul retrieval was a big turning point in my life. It enabled me to make contact with the 'lost child' aspect of myself. I was unable fully to grasp the symbolism of the journeys, but eventually it became clear and explained many problems that had been plaguing me from childhood. I became extremely interested in shamanism and have been studying and practicing it ever since. I learned that shamanic journeys are undertaken not only for the purpose of soul retrieval but also for obtaining answers to a wide variety of questions ranging from profoundly serious to relatively mundane, such as how to cope with cold winters. Mother Goat and my alter ego -- the little girl in a blue babushka whom I now call Fire Child -- have been my teachers and frequent companions in other journeys. Although I still have much to learn about shamanism, I have started to do journeys on behalf of other people. With the help of the Spirits, most of them so far have been successful. Shamanism teaches one to be healthy, joyful, and eager to be of service to others. If any of you, dear readers, have questions about shamanic practice and its benefits, I shall be happy to address them as best I can.