Wahya Circle
Moon Day
Magick & Medicine

Beginning Practicum
Power Animal / Journey

#NoTwoPathsAreTheSame

Journeying is one of the most ancient, universal, and powerful shamanic techniques to alter consciousness to perceive and participate in the divine Medicine and Magick of life. During our final time here in Wahya Circle, we will explore this skill. It is one that many Practitioners feel all should try to master, even if it gives a headache!

Here are some “Dos AND DONTs  FOR JOURNEYING”
(Path dependent)

DO:

• Have a blanket to lie on and to cover yourself when you Journey in a cool environment or outside, a scarf to cover your eyes, and a journal and pen to write down your experiences and any messages you receive while performing this ritual.

• Turn off your phone, light a candle in a safe spot, and turn off the lights. Set your mood and mind.

• Purify yourself, your space, and your audio tapes or drums before you begin; work with salt water or “smudge” with burning sage, or whatever method you use to purify. “Cleanse, clear, ground.”

The method of Journeying many of us use comes from core shamanism, the essential and universal practice without a cultural overlay. That means you can add cultural specifics if and when you wish to, you will find yourself comfortable in cultures practices like those that use drumming and Journeying in their own practices as ALL HUMANS come from the same place, for now, Earth.

As stated, Journeying employs shamanic drumming, rattles, click sticks, or other percussive instruments with a steady beat to change your consciousness.

Studies have been done which found that shamanic drumming at approximately 200 beats per minute alter brain waves from beta, which we use for our “daily survival mode”, to theta, a “visionary state” in which you are able to perceive and participate in other dimensions of reality, especially realms of Spirit. This is completely different than the alpha state which we go into during meditation. With practice, you will begin to feel the “shift” when it occurs inside your mind each time.

Journeying is simple and easy, but like meditation, it may take some continued practice to stop your internal chattering and judging. When they first Journey, many Practitioners worry about whether what they are experiencing is real. Non-ordinary reality (Spirit realms) is just as real as ordinary reality, and the more you Journey, the more confidence you will have in the method, yourself, and your guides.

Don’t judge and don’t worry if you find it difficult the first few times. Be patient, be persistent, and be attentive. Be kind to yourself. Easier said than done, it is a matter of relaxing and ALLOWING the process to work. #TrustTheUniverse

Because shamanism has always been a healing and helping practice, you can and should Journey to help yourself with both physical and emotional healing, and for guidance in making major life decisions like finding a place to live, a new job, or someone to love, to visit with a departed loved one, and much more. It WILL reveal itself to you and in time.

Journeying is a profound spiritual practice that will change the way you view reality. It will change the way you live. It will change you. Change yourself and you change the world in genuinely magical and utterly practical ways.

DON’T: (some say)

• Eat garlic or drink alcohol before journeying. Garlic severely effects some, just as alcohol. Some indigenous abide by no corn as well. You may also add other things to that list as you begin to learn what effects Self. Example: “I cannot eat pickles before bed, they give me bad Experiences.” All plants work with animals in different ways.

• Engage initially with reptiles or insects when Journeying. Some Practitioners find that there are some more immediate exceptions like turtles, some friendly snakes or lizards, butterflies, ladybugs, or bees. Do not go near anything if they show their teeth or act in a threatening or unfriendly manner, even in Journeying. They are not there for you and they are in essence goading you forward AWAY from them. The exception is if this being continually shows itself to you, indicating messages or need to work with you. ALL BEINGS have medicine. It is on you to discover what medicine is meant for your experience of life.

• Journey without your Power Animal or Guide, unless you do not currently have one. Most Practitioners typically have these but have not met them and that is the first Journey or two, to meet them typically. Also, what was once your Power Animal, may not be so now. As we grow and change, so can they. Evolution and Change are constant.)

• Bring anything back with you. Even if they offer it as a gift. That is a spiritual tether that most Practitioners are NOT ready for. An option that you may consider in your practice at this point is to allow it into your psychic space for keeping. Or, allow it at the edge of that space. YOU do what you feel comfortable doing.

POWER ANIMALS
When we Journey, we need a guide that will fill the role of our Companion, Guardian, and Teacher. In many shamanic traditions, our guide is usually an animal—always wild, not domesticated—called a Power Animal. And by that we mean it is usually something that we DO NOT pet or have lay in our lap. Wild is natural, not tame, not domesticated or corrupted by Human Ego. (These change throughout life and stages too. It just depends on what Spirit is giveing to aid in our guidance.) As a human, we will learn how to have contact with each animal that presents to us.

Cats, both large and small, may only “head bump” and purr at you. Birds may only perch nearby and in time on your shoulder. Snakes may curl around your feet, or where you allow. Insects bother some, but they will crawl on you to give messages for your Divine. It is also of note that an Insect Ally is typically paired with a Plant Ally. Example: Bees and Bee Balm, or Butterflies and Butterfly Shrub, Lady Bugs and Roses. The list goes on but Insects do not typically present alone unless to only give a message. There is always a Plant Ally nearby otherwise. Be mindful of this. Writing in your Journal immediately after a Journey will help you discover this.

Our Power Animal knows everything we need to Journey safely and productively, and they will watch over us while we Journey. They are bearers of Wisdom that we have largely forgotten as a species.

As stated, our  very first Journey or two should be to meet and accept our Guide. When we emerge from the “tunnel” into Astral, however that being appears to us, call for the Power Animal or Guide to come, or show itself, each and every time. This is especially true if one is already established for us. They will appear to you several times or be very insistent that they are your Guide or Power Animal when you hesitate to accept them. Embrace them and you will feel them literally merging with us. Fear not. This too is a natural process as the Golden Thread of Experience connects us all.

Spend time together, getting to know each other. Your Power Animal may also appear to you, in similarly certain and insistent ways, in your dreams or in guided visualizations, or be brought to you by someone Journeying for you. (Yes, some of us do that. Trust is imperative and implicit.) Your guide can also be a Spirit Being, an Ancestor, Sage or Elder being, or a spirit being like a fairy, elf, giant, angel, or mythological creature like a dragon, phoenix, or mermaid. This is YOUR reality, LIVE IT to its fullest without fear of the “unknown”.

It is important that we know that the Animal Ally or Guide that comes to us is the one we need now in our life. It has the powers, wisdom, medicine and gifts that will best help us if it is for us at this time. Later in life, we may find other Power Animals, Guides, or helping Spirits.

Many feel it is important to express Gratitude to our Power Animals and to cultivate our relationship with them. Journey regularly, dance with them, take their advice (or they will stop giving it), learn about them as they appear in Matter, spend time with them by doing things they like to do, like being in Nature, whether it be “woods” or “water”, and help them in this world. Look into and study the species that approaches you. Learn their plight and significance to you RIGHT NOW. Practitioners have always had animal guides and helpers—the Witch’s familiar. We are after all, Kindred Spirits.

You have had a Power Animal or spirit guide watching over you since your birth—a collection of animals is a sure sign of who it is! But now you are going to have a new, special Power Animal, or Guide, who will help you Journey and live a more divinely magickal life after leaving APMS.

Moon Day WD2

General - Journal - Book of Shadows
SUBMISSION: WD2 MON POWER ANIMAL (Due by Sunday)
Do you currently have a Power Animal?
Have you Journeyed to communicate with it if you do have one?
Are you open to attempting to Journey to meet an Animal Ally, Power Animal, or Animal Guide?

EMAIL
Three Circles Medicine & Magick™
Please utilize the above email link
IF NO BUTTON IS PRESENT
to receive full Submission credit.

Lessons are subject to change without notification to Practitioners.
Late Submissions receive no credit without prior approval.