INTRODUCTION TO CELTIC SHAMANISM
by `LadynRed

In every shamanistic society, certain principles apply, whether they be Hawiian shamanism (HUNA), Native American shamanism (of all tribes), or Celtic shamanism.   Every single one of these traditions hold one thing as the primary belief:  That we as humans are connected to nature and must honor it.

THE WORLD OF THE SHAMAN

The world of the shaman is constantly moving.  Everything in the shaman’s world has its own special vibration, unique energy and power.  The quest of the shaman is to achieve attunement with these vibrations and familiarity with Spirit.  To accomplish this is to attain power.  Still the shaman knows that this cannot be pursued, only received.  Power is a gift.  That is the first wisdom of shamanism.

The shaman taps directly into the purest forms of Nature’s energy.  The shaman deals with the elemental forces of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.  All of the energies of the world spin around like wheels on the shaman’s path.  The upper world of the sky journeys, the lower world worlds of the earth journeys, and the middle world of humankind all connect on the path of the shaman.

All of the worlds of Nature spin like wheels for the shaman.  The world of animals (included the winged ones and crawlers), the world of plants, the world of minerals and rocks, and the world of  humans are all spinning wheels on the path of the shaman.  All world spin and vibrate for the shaman.  To deal with these directly, the shaman must know each vibration.  He must ride the wheel of each world in order to feel its vibration and direct its power.  This brings attunement with the deep shamanic energies of  Nature.

All the while, the shaman must stay centered and balanced in the midst of the chaos of spinning wheels of energy and chaos.  The  shaman does this by remaining rooted in personal connection to the earth.  From this Earth connection, the shaman is able to reach into Spirit.  In this way, the shaman becomes a channel between the energies of the earth and Nature and the energies of Spirit.  Like a living tree, the shaman is rooted deep in the earth, reaching and growing into Spirit.  The shaman is an Earth connection; the shamsn is a connection to Spirit.

In ancient times, the task of the shaman was to be the connection for the people in their dealings with the other worlds.  The abilities of the shamans were both feared and revered.

Today, we live in a world of great blending.  Most of us are free to choose our own path and to make our own medicine from the many wisdoms offered.   All choices are arbitrary, with freedom of mind and consciousness.  We make our own meanings.   We blend wisdom from every source to deepen our connection to Self, to Nature, and to Spirit.  We come to know that only our experience can bring us shamanic wisdom.  Only our own experience can illuminate us, protect us, and intiate us.

We are Aquarian shamans.  We came into this Earth Walk ready to reconnect humankind and nature.  We were born with abilities barely dreamed of by the shamans of old (and that which may have remained hidden in us for years or even decades).  We are here to reawaken the shamanic consciousness of humankind.   This consconsiousness lied deep within us all, sleeping fitfully in the midst of a nightmare of disconnection.   It has already awakened in many of us.  It will continue to awaken in many more.  Each person who awakens his or her own consciousness awakens those of others – without a sound, without a fuss.   The gifts of nature and Spirit are available to everyone.

In short?  EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IS ALIVE, AWAKE, and AWARE.
 
 

ROCK EXPERIENCE EXERCISE

Now, close  you eyes and take a few deep breathes.  Imagine what it would be like to be a rock.  Imagine that you area rock in the desert.  You would have mass and weight, FEEL your weight.  You have an amorphous shape with protusions and bumps.  On your surface,  you have ridges, cracks, smooth planes, and rough curves.   Take a few moments to experience  your rockiness.

Now, it is morning in the desert.  You rest in sand which lies cold beneath you and rises up your sides a little way.  The sand is cold and moist. Dew lies on your upper surface, cold and damp. Feel the droplets of water clinging to your surface, cold and damp.  The sun is rising and now you feel its heat the force of its radiation upon you.

As you heat up, you begin to expand and the dew on your surface begins to evaporate causing chemical reactions with your minerals.  Soon all moisture is gone from your air-exposed surface and you expand under the heat of the sun.  Its energy pours into you and you feel the pressing outward of your expansion.   The pressure peaks and then begins to wan as the sun drifts across the sky and sinks in the west.

Now the temperature drops rapidly and as the cold increases you begin to cool and shrink, constrict.  The stars come out and you feel their movement and as the night increases, you constrict even more, feeling the pulling of contraction.  Water molecules condense and form on your surface collecting in your cracks and crevices.

You grow colder and the water freezes expanding in your crevices, exerting force against the sides of those cracks.  Chips of your rocky self break off and fall as sand to the ground.  The stars cross the sky and dawn again approaches.   The pressure of contraction relaxes as the sun rises and begins to warm the air, the ground, and you once again.

Come back to the room now, perceive yourself in the room and open your eyes.