Wisdom Rising

Elemental Mysticism: What is Shamanism?

August 12, 2024 • Christine Renee, Isabel Wells, and Shantel Ochoa • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Join us, Isabel Wells and Christine Renee, as we share the foundational elements of a Shamanic practice, from the healing potential of Shamanic journeys and Spirit Teams to the sacred nature of animism and ceremony. This episode is your gateway to understanding how Shamanism can help you heal and embody your Highest Self by connecting with the Spirit realm in deeply meaningful ways.

Explore the depths of Shamanic journeys as we reveal the techniques for accessing these spiritual realms through drumbeats that guide the brain into a Theta state. We also walk you through personal experiences, showcasing how symbolic representations encountered during these journeys can profoundly impact our daily lives. Learn practical advice on how to connect with the Spirit world in your daily life and create an impact in your emotional, energetic, and physical wellbeing.

Immerse yourself in the interconnectedness of all things, a core Shamanic belief that teaches us to honor and respect the world around us. We delve into the sacred practices of vision quests and pilgrimages, where physical vulnerability opens doors to spiritual insight and healing. We discuss the importance of maintaining humility and energetic hygiene in Shamanic work, ensuring a pure connection with the Spirit realms. To wrap up, we highlight the balance of Shamanic practices through Chakra alignment and ceremonies, guiding you towards a harmonious relationship with both earthly and celestial realms.

This episode serves as your introduction to Shamanism, including:

  • What is Shamanism
  • The three Shamanic realms
  • The process and theory of Shamanic journeys
  • The psychology and neuroscience of Shamanic practices
  • Connecting with our Spirit Teams
  • Animism
  • The importance of Nature
  • Vision Quests and Ceremony
  • The symbolism of the 7 directions and the four elements
  • A Shamanic tool to start your journey
  • And so much more!

Moon Rising Shamanic Institute Links:
Website: https://moonrisinginstitute.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/moonrisinginstitute
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/moonrisingmystics
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonrising.institute
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@moonrisinginstitute

Book a session with Isabel: https://calendly.com/into-the-deep/schedule

Book a FREE 15 minute connect call with Izzy: https://calendly.com/moonrisinginstitute/connect

Book a session with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/90-minutes-intensive

Book a FREE 10 minute connect call with Christine: https://calendly.com/christinerenee/10-minute-connect-call-srpt

Speaker 1:

It's time to remember your divine purpose and limitless potential. Welcome to Wisdom Rising, the official podcast of Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. Join shamanic Reiki practitioners Christine Rene, isabel Wells and Chantel Ochoa as we guide you on a journey of radical self-discovery and spiritual guidance. Each week, we'll dance through the realms of shamanism, mysticism, energy, healing and personal development to illuminate your path to true healing and self-sourced wisdom Through weekly inspired conversations and interviews with leading spiritual and shamanic practitioners. We are here to help you acknowledge, reconcile and balance your energy so that you can awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within. Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of Wisdom Rising. I'm your host for today, isabel Wells, and I am so excited to be joined by Christine Rene, our visionary, here at Moon Rising Shamanic Institute, as we explore shamanism, or what we're calling elemental mysticism, for today's podcast. The purpose of today's podcast is to really give you an overview of how we approach shamanism here at Moon Rising. Shamanism is one of our four main pillars here at Moon Rising and, as such, it's a really important aspect of who we are and what we do. But this podcast isn't a deep dive. This is an overview of all of the many different aspects of shamanism. So know that everything that we discuss in today's podcast has so many layers and intricacies and depth into which we'll go in future podcasts and especially in our Soul Rising Shamanic Reiki course. If you're interested in learning shamanism and shamanic reiki from Moon Rising Shamanic Institute, check out the link in the description for our Soul Rising Shamanic Reiki from Moon Rising Shamanic Institute. Check out the link in the description for our Soul Rising Shamanic Reiki course. We share more about this program at the end of today's episode, so if you're interested, be sure to listen all the way to the end. But, that said, in today's episode we're going to be talking about what shamanism is and how we define shamanism.

Speaker 1:

Here at Moon Rising, we'll talk about some of the differences between traditional shamanism and neo-shamanism and how it's important to understand that everything we talk about and how we approach it is our interpretation of these practices. We'll talk about how shamanism has its roots in nature and in connecting with spirit directly, as well as going over the main pillars of shamanism, including shamanic journeying, connecting with our spirit teams, animism, vision quests, connecting with nature and ceremony. We'll also talk about the elemental connections of shamanism, so the symbolism of the seven directions and the four elements and how it's so important to remember that, as we are a spiritual being having a human experience, we also have earthly ties and celestial ties connected to Mother Earth and Father Sky. We also have earthly ties and celestial ties connected to Mother Earth and Father Sky, and that we can find the balance in those experiences here on Earth. Here's a sneak peek at what you're going to hear in today's episode that we are spirit, we are nature and we are able, willing, ready and allowed to interact with both in really tangible, profound, healing ways. We're so excited for you to listen to today's episode, so, without further ado, let's dive in.

Speaker 1:

Hello, hello and welcome back to Wisdom Rising. I am with Christine Rene, our visionary for Moon Rising Shamanic Institute today, and we are so excited to dive into the topic of elemental mysticism, or what is shamanism? And I think we really want to start today's episode by actually looking at that last bit. What is shamanism, how do you define that? And especially on my end, talking about why there are so many different interpretations of what shamanism actually is. So, christine, do you kind of want to start us off with how you define shamanism for your own practice?

Speaker 2:

I think that's the caveat for your own practice, because I think that it is different for so many different practitioners out there, and this is why it's so important to ask this question from the practitioners that you are seeing or listening to, because the definitions vary. And so in my personal practice, like what is shamanism? It is the availability to connect with the other side. It's availability to journey to the spirit realm and to do work on that plane, and so that's kind of the surface level answer, right, like it can go so much deeper, but it's really that you can do healing work, but you're doing it on the spiritual realm. You can do physical manifestation work, but you're doing it on the spiritual realm.

Speaker 2:

There's so many different caveats of what is shamanism.

Speaker 2:

So there's this connection with nature, there's this connection with the rhythms of the seasons, there's this connection with spirit, and it all influences my personal practice of what I think I, when I am in that shamanic spiritual realms, my work really is weaving together the timelines, weaving together energies, and in that space I'm doing deep healing work for myself and for others, whether that's in the middle world, the spiritual reflection of this one, or we're working with guides or power animals in the different shamanic realms, and so it just gets curiouser and curiouser, right, like how can we, how can we understand?

Speaker 2:

What does it mean for our personal practice and does it have to match what everyone else is doing in the world? And I mean that so globally. Like, how I practice is going to be different than the Aboriginals in Australia, it's going to be different than the Celtics, it's going to be different from the Native Americans and it's going to be different for the neo-shamanism practices of, like Sandra Ingram or whoever it is Like they don't necessarily have to match. It's how do you communicate and how do you allow your spirit guides, your power animals, teach you? Can we allow them to be our teachers of? How does this need to show up in your world right now?

Speaker 1:

And I think that's such a beautiful point to make about what shamanism is and where it comes from, because a lot of shamanism is rooted be, and why it was such a profound healing art is that it came about in a time where science wasn't a thing.

Speaker 1:

It wasn't as prevalent as it was. It wasn't this. You know, our students hear me talk about all the time how science has really kind of shifted away from what it was originally intended to be, which was a group of people who saw the magic of the universe around them and wanted to understand it more. And so science was invented really quote unquote invented as this way of bringing more understanding about what the universe was, Whereas today it's shifted into. Well, we can only prove that the universe has this magic if we can show it in a scientific experiment. And we've kind of shifted away from that original intention. But that main core intention of I want to understand the magic of this world and the worlds beyond. Right, that spiritual realm beyond, is the same intention as traditional shamanism. It was collectively known and understood that nature was a powerful force, and so the original shamanic people, they were seeking to gain connection to nature through spirit, to gain that wisdom, to gain the ability to heal and to protect and to work with the nature spirits. And so it's an inherently, I think, magical practice, not in a we're casting spells kind of way, but in a understanding that everything in this physical reality has an energetic and spiritual blueprint. It has that spiritual life to it and that is the mindset through which shamanism was really created. And so when we look at traditional shamanism versus what some people call neo-shamanism or this kind of westernized version of shamanism that we see with people like Sandra Ingerman or Michael Herner and modern shamanism practices today, is it really is so varied by culture to culture, to culture. But what I think is fascinating is that you know and there are many, many books on this One of my favorites is Shamanism by Mircea Iliade. So if you want a really great collection of what shamanism looks like across the globe, that's a fantastic book to look into.

Speaker 1:

But what's fascinating about shamanism is that, no matter what time it was developed, which culture, which geographical location, there are common threads that weave through all the different versions of seeing shamanism and it's kind of like world religions of this idea of. There are so many common threads, which means that at the end of the day, we're finding the ability to touch that truth, to touch and interact with spirit, and so the difference between how we would have seen shamanism when it originated and how maybe we view it now especially right knowing that we are in a very white American culture as we are approaching this is that we are looking for what are those universal truths that have come in through this ability to dance with nature, to connect with spirit, to see beyond, and that's something that comes from traditional shamanic techniques that I absolutely love is this idea of the one who can see in the dark, who can see with their heart. This knowing that when you enter into a shamanic practice, you are stepping beyond your physical self, you are stepping into your spiritual self, your ability to see, feel, hear, experience the spiritual world beyond this 3D reality. And that to me, like Christine was saying, is really what?

Speaker 1:

If we try to define shamanism in one sentence, which is so incredibly difficult, right, but if we tried to bring it down to this one understanding, it's that ability to interact with the beyond, with the spirit realm, and a lot of times that comes through working with nature, working with the elements, working with your spirit team, so that you have a deeper connection and I think that's something that sets shamanism apart from a lot of other spiritual practices is, instead of connecting to spirit by escaping this reality, by going out through your crown chakra, by transcending or meditating your way to the divine, shamanism teaches you that you can actually come deeper. You can go deep into yourself, into nature, into your experience, and that you can go so deep that you find what's on the other side. And so, for me that's why I love shamanism so much and I think it's such a beautiful approach to healing is because it's not calling you out of yourself. It's actually calling you deeper into yourself so that you can experience those universal truths that are beyond this physical reality.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, said, and there's that piece of the dream state. I think a really wonderful way to kind of conceptualize this is recognizing that if we can dream it at nighttime, so if you can be a lucid dreamer and you're creating your reality and your lucid dream, what if our life, our waking life, is actually just a dream? How are we actually creating with the energy that we have here and that dreamlike state of our daytime life? How are we communicating with everything around us as a way to co-create our reality and that? I think that's a piece of so much of different shamanic practices is this dreamlike state that we're actually living in a dream, we're actually plugged into this reality from a different position, and I think we culturally have been so ingrained to be in a logical mindset.

Speaker 2:

We've been so ingrained to be outside of our heart space. We have been so ingrained to dismiss spirit, like I, literally while we were talking, I've already seen a visual, like I actually saw a light move beyond the camera to my left here and going oh, spirit is with us. They are like I'm getting the affirmation in a way like affirming what we're talking about right now. I can visually see it. They're showing up for me and so many of us have dismissed that little spark that we see, or that intuition nudge or whatever it is. We've been so ingrained to dismiss it from institutionalized systems to not pay attention to that anymore. And so when we start doing this work, we're saying yes to our intuition, we're saying yes to our spiritual gifts. We're saying yes to that.

Speaker 2:

We live in a spiritual world period, right Like we need to come to this place of understanding. Everything is made out of energy and how is it showing up for us? So that everything that shows up in your life is not by coincidence. Everything that shows up in your life is not by coincidence. So if you see that bird, if you see that feather, if you see that coin on the ground, if you see a spark of light in your eye, like whatever it is, it's showing up for divine reason and purpose. And what is it? Trying to speak to you. And so a part of me is like just having the invitation of like. Let's stop dismissing everything that's showing up, because if we were recognizing that we're living in a dream, we would be paying way more close attention to those things and recognizing the symbology in them.

Speaker 1:

And that's something that is really important to understand from the start of this conversation, I think is this understanding that, like Christine said, everything is spiritual, we are spirit embodied and be able to exhale the thoughts of cultural appropriation or worthiness to be in this space or any of those other things that can come up when we step into this space. Because we're not looking at this specific tribe's shamanism practices, we're not calling ourselves shamans, we're not stepping into this space of claiming this specific aspect of shamanism is the correct one and this is how we do it. Nor are we saying that this approach is inclusive or representative of every single way of viewing shamanism out there. It's not the core of it. Those universal truths that have woven themselves through all the different ways of practicing shamanism and connecting with spirit we're looking for. What are those unifying factors, what are those pieces that come out, that pop out, that remind us that we are spirit, that we are nature, that those things are our birthright to be able to interact with nature and spirit in this way, not because it comes from a specific tradition or a specific tribe or a specific belief system, but because it is a universal core truth that we are spirit, we are nature and we are able, willing, ready and allowed to interact with both in really tangible, profound, healing ways. And so this is the lens that we're going to take this conversation on. We're going to look at it through this aspect of shamanism as a way of interacting with ourselves, interacting with those reflections of ourselves in spirit, in nature, going deeper and going beyond and knowing that as we do that, we get to play in both realms this physical, 3d reality and look at what is showing up for me.

Speaker 1:

What does that bird feather mean? What does this emotion mean? What is the meaning, the deeper meaning, behind these experiences and what's happening in the spiritual world? What does that mean energetically? What is my guide trying to tell me? How is my power animal showing up for me? Can I go through this process of direct revelation and enter that dreamlike state so that I can commune with spirit in a really intentional, tangible way?

Speaker 1:

And that's another aspect of shamanism that is so important to understand is it's not. This idea of your spirit guide is out there and you may happen to hear them. It's no, we can interact with our spirit team, our spirit guide, our guardian angel, our power animal. We can hug our spirit guide. We can receive a spiritual lesson from our team in the shamanic realms, because when we step into this shamanic state of mind, we understand that what happens in the spirit realm, what we see when we meditate or when we journey which we'll talk about in a second is just as real as what happens in this physical waking reality, like Christine was just saying. And so we get to make the spirit world just as real and tangible as the physical world around us, and I think that is an incredibly beautiful gift, and I think we can give you like hundreds of examples of this right.

Speaker 2:

But to just make it tangible, to understand this, I'm going to give you an example from my practice from this morning. So I woke up this morning with anxiety in my heart space and going where is this coming from? And so I could set the intention I'm going to journey to the lower world to meet my power animal and to ask for healing of the anxiety in my heart space. And so you always have this intention to guide you forward into the shamanic realms. And with that I was able to visualize a tree moving down its roots, which isn't my typical way down, which therefore represents something I recognize that's not my typical way down to the lower world. That's showing up for a reason. What does that mean to me? There's symbology there, right? So then I get to the low world and I'm in my seaweed forest. I haven't been to my seaweed forest since the very first time I journeyed over 15 years ago, and I'm like okay, this is interesting. What does this represent? Why am I back in my seaweed forest? I haven't seen this in a long time. Okay, I'm going to move through these, the the like. It's like as if seaweed is hanging from the air. You know it's not coming up from the ground, it's hanging like a curtain and I'm moving through it, I'm swimming through it and then until I find my power animal and I asked my power animal I'm like, help heal my, this anxiety that's showing up for me, like where is it coming from? And she places me in the river. I'm facing up and she has her arms, her paws down between my armpits, holding me, so the river can't take me away, so I can trust her and I can just release and relax and let the water do what it needs to do to heal and feeling all of that anxiety, that heavy emotion, whatever it is, just release down into the water and let it go, let it go. Let it go, let it go until she felt it was complete.

Speaker 2:

She gave me a couple messages and then she sent me on my way back back up and so when we can recognize one that slipping into a trance-like state, like I didn't. I was, um, I didn't have my music on, I didn't have my drum, but I was able to pat my forehead to the drum beat to get me into that trance-like state, to use that cranial bone as the drum to then be able to drop down into the journey Like this one. Yes, it does take practice, but it's totally achievable, it's absolutely achievable. Practice, but it's totally achievable, it's totally, absolutely achievable. And to go.

Speaker 2:

Every single piece of that journey that showed up for me this morning had a symbolic representation in my current everyday life. And so when we get back into our physical body, into the physical realm, recognizing okay, what did that mean, what did that represent? How do I feel now after receiving the healing from my power animal, what internal strength do I have with the messages that I received and how do I want to walk in that energy in my day to day Right? And so there's this beautiful correlation to what we do in the shamanic world, to how we feel in our physical body and how we interact with nature on the regular.

Speaker 1:

And that is a beautiful place to bring in this understanding of those pillars of shamanism, especially for those who heard that story and are thinking where did she go? How did she journey? What's the drum? We can bring in all of these pieces of understanding of knowing that this is one of the things that sets shamanism apart from other spiritual ways of connecting with spirit is that shamanism is based in your ability to perform a shamanic journey, and so a shamanic journey you might think of it similar to a visual meditation where you're going into this trance-like state aided by this drumbeat, a very specific drumbeat that modern science has shown actually shifts our brain into a theta brainwave state, and so what that means is it really slips us into a parasympathetic nervous system state where our brain, our subconscious mind, is actually open and available for us to connect to. If you guys are familiar with RTT or hypnosis, it's the same state that we get into there so that we can actually alter the patterns that are occurring in our subconscious mind. So that's what's happening in our physical body we have this drumbeat going, we get into this relaxed, trance-like state and then our spirit, our energy, is actually able to transcend this physical reality or go deeper into this physical reality, depending on which of the realms the shamanic realms you're traveling to and interact with spirit in a tangible way. And so there are three main shamanic realms that you visit when you do a shamanic journey. There is the lower world, which is deeper than our physical reality. It has our power animals, our mythical creatures, our nature spirits, and there's a lot of symbolism and metaphor that happens in the lower world. And then there's the upper world, which is transcending this physical reality, and that's where our spirit guides, our guardian angels, entities that we might channel, the star families, father Sky. That is in the upper world and there's a lot of inspiration and wisdom that comes here. The upper realm guides are really here to help guide us along our soul's purpose and intention for this lifetime. And then we have the middle world, and the middle world is basically the energetic blueprint of this physical 3D reality. So when that bluebird feather lands in front of you on your walk, there was some kind of energetic impetus that happened in the middle world to cause that bluebird feather to fall in front of you at that time. It's the energetic, spiritual backbone of this physical reality, and so when we journey, we have the honor and the ability to visit one or more of these three realms at a time, and what that means is that our energy is actually shifting into a different energetic state to be able to perceive these realms.

Speaker 1:

And I think that's a really important caveat to put in here, of it's not that we are physically going to a different place, it's that we are understanding that, just as in shamanism is based in this idea of animism that everything has energy, and in quantum physics we see that, as everything is made up of atoms, which are made up of electrons, which are energy, right, electrons, protons, neutrons, it's all energy. We have this understanding that beyond this physical reality is an energetic reality, and when we step into energy, we let go of form. Right, there's not actually a body anymore, there's not actually a chair anymore, it's all energy and we can see it on this spectrum. Right, we have those deeper, denser, more nature-filled energies that we see in the lower world, and then on the other side of the spectrum, we have those really ethereal, divine light, bubbly, airy energies in the upper world. And so when we do a journey, we are shifting our energetic state, our soul state, our spirit state, however you want to phrase that into a different place, so that we can connect with the energy of the different realms and therefore be open and able to receive the information, wisdom and healing that's available to us in these three realms. And so we have the ability to do what's called direct revelation, of shifting our energy into that state, going to the upper realm, going to the lower realm, meeting with our power animal, our spirit guide, our guardian angel, what have you and receiving that information so that we can then bring it back to this physical reality.

Speaker 1:

And because of the openness of our subconscious mind in that theta brainwave state that we can then bring it back to this physical reality, and because of the openness of our subconscious mind in that theta brainwave state that we were talking about, when we return from a journey, our actual neurons, our neurological state has shifted, it's been impacted, and so a shamanic journey takes 15, 20 minutes tops, and yet by the time you return, by the time that drumbeat shifts, brings you back into your waking alpha, beta brainwave state and you're able to come back into your physical 3D reality.

Speaker 1:

You've received an immense amount of wisdom and inspiration. You've connected with your spirit guides or your power animal in a really powerful, tangible way. You've received insight and wisdom and you've literally changed the map of your subconscious mind because you entered into a state where you were open and able to access that healing. And so, when Christine is sharing all of these things that happened in her shamanic journey, these things actually happened to her energy Because, again, when we step into a shamanic state of mind, we're recognizing that what happens in that energetic realm is just as real as what happens here, and that's something that really sets shamanism apart from other spiritual practices.

Speaker 2:

And notice too, how, when you shift in the energetic realms, you also can accept it physically. There's a physical shift. It's not just a psychological shift, it's not just an emotional shift, there can be physical shifts as well, and this is kind of like your distance Reiki. There's so much that can happen that really reflects physically in our well-being when we start doing shamanic work in the different realms, because everything is reflective of one another, right? And so this is where animism comes in, when we can start to identify I am energy, I am the four elements. My body is the earth, right, my blood is the water, my breath is the air and my spirit is fire. Like when we can have this true understanding that I am elemental. I am made up of energy, I am made up of the elements. I am therefore connected to all of the elements as they display in nature and in my home. Right, so I can have this energetic connection with everything. Right, so I can have this energetic connection with everything.

Speaker 2:

So oftentimes I reflect this back to our students and going what's the energy like in your home? Is it cluttered, is it full, is it chaotic? Are you having pipe issues? Like? What is going on in your house and how is it actually reflecting your energy and your body? It just gets more and more interesting the more we can relate to.

Speaker 2:

How do we relate to energy on a whole throughout our experience and recognizing that everything is showing up as a reflection for something for us to learn, to experience, to expand with, and recognizing that the more we can recognize that, the more we start to I almost want to go to the movie Encanto, the Disney movie. Right when she can recognize that the house is alive and they can support one another. That opens up so many doors to understanding your interpersonal relationships and your health and your wellness and your wellbeing and all of these things. Like I really feel so immensely connected to everything around me when I'm doing my shamanic work, when I'm living, the shamanic lifestyle of recognizing everything is showing up for reason and purpose. How is it unfolding? What do I need to do in my physical reality to create that internal peace? What do I need to do internally to create peace from within, to have it shown externally? They're all reflective of one another.

Speaker 1:

And knowing in that that, as we step into that space, as we are recognizing that everything around us is energy, everything around us has reason and purpose and meaning. It creates an inherently compassionate way of walking in the world, because you recognize that everything is so much more than what meets the eye and everything has that intention and that purpose and that life force flowing through it. And so, as we step into this space, we're connecting with that unity of. We are all one, we are all connected how we are in ourselves a reflection of our external reality, and vice versa. And so, therefore, when we do that healing work, it's going to show up in our external reality too, and we can create those shifts that we want to see in the world by creating them first in ourselves. And that's part of why animism is such a powerful and profound way of viewing the world around you, because then it becomes, everything has meaning. My external reality is a mirror of my internal reality and vice versa. And so what am I seeing outside of me and how can that inform how I'm interacting with myself, what I know about myself? And knowing that, when the answer is not readily available, we have the ability to connect with spirit, to connect with our spirit team, to go into that shamanic state, to receive the answers that our minds can't come up with on their own. And so there is this really big piece of intuitive development that comes with that as well. And as we're doing that, knowing that we're doing it in this really sacred, almost reverent space of knowing that we never take this for granted right, it's not that? Oh, connecting with the divine is my birthright and so therefore, it's not a big deal.

Speaker 1:

It's a huge honor to be able to walk this path, to be able to witness the life in everything around you, to be able to connect with spirit, to receive wisdom and support from your spirit team. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to walk in this path, and that's part of why so many shamanic practices come with this really beautiful aspect of ceremony of knowing that we set up our sacred space, we call in and honor each of the directions before we begin our work, we offer things back to our spirit team and to those directions, knowing that they are supporting us, that they are showing up for us in each and every moment, and we're called to do the same, so that it's not a one-way street. We're not just receiving wisdom or receiving support that we may receive those inspirations and those wisdoms from spirit and from our spirit teams, but then we give it back by taking that inspired action, by bringing it into this physical 3D reality, by doing our ceremonial processes and giving our offerings to the direction, setting up our shamanic altars, creating that sacred space and really bringing in that honor and that humility into everything that we do, knowing that we are connected to spirit and we are spirit. And so therefore, just as much as we honor spirit in these ceremonies, we have to honor ourselves as well and make sure that we're keeping up with our own energetic hygiene and our own energetic rituals.

Speaker 1:

And I was at a shamanic retreat with Christine actually, and with this really really beautiful shaman woman, and she was sharing how, in a lot of traditional shamanic practices, the thought is that if you bring your ego into your practice, your spirit team leaves. And I love this, not as a way of like scaring people, but as this really poignant example of the fact that just as we step into this space and it's important to understand that we can claim our power, we can claim our truth as nature and as spirit and step into that. We have to bring in that reverence as well, and we have to remember that this isn't us, this isn't the Isabel character or the Christine character doing this work. This is the spirit within us, communing with the spirit in all other things and bringing that healing work about because of that connection, and that requires us to stay in this place of reverence and understanding that we are connected to all things.

Speaker 1:

And that's another aspect, another pillar of shamanism that we can then bring in of this idea of a vision quest or a pilgrimage is something that you often see in a lot of different shamanic traditions, and it's this idea of knowing that when we put our physical body into either an extreme physical state or into a space where the energy is incredibly strong, we can create shifts and openings in our energy and our connection with spirit through that. And so a vision quest is one side of this, where we are going out into the wilderness, typically by ourselves, maybe with a group of people, and you journey up, maybe to the top of a mountain, maybe to the opening of a stream, you place yourself in nature so that you are fully connected and surrounded with nature, and there's a lot of different aspects and details that go into this. So, knowing that, as we're having this conversation, it's just the tip of the iceberg and that, if you want to learn more, we do talk about it in our Soul Rising Shamanic Reiki course, but knowing that when you step into a vision quest, you're creating this purpose circle in nature where you sit for an extended period of time and you're fasting and you're drumming and you are calling out to spirit for a vision, and that process of putting yourself in this physical state of vulnerability is this physical metaphor for opening yourself up to spirit and giving yourself over to that connection, knowing that you are completely vulnerable but spirit will hold you, spirit will take care of you. It's that act of humbling yourself and crying out to spirit to grant you that vision, to grant you this understanding of connecting with who you truly are, what your purpose is, how you can serve spirit in this 3D reality.

Speaker 1:

And the flip side of that is a pilgrimage, where you're actually journeying to a sacred space right, and pilgrimage comes up in many, many different spiritual and religious traditions. So this isn't necessarily specific to shamanism, but pilgrimage is this idea of when we can physically journey to a place of spiritual significance I'm thinking of, like the Camino, which I almost walked and I didn't get to, but one day it's on my bucket list when you can put yourself there physically. It shifts your energy, that process of the long, hard journey to get there where you're walking. In this case, walking is simulating that drumbeat that you have in a vision quest or in a shamanic journey, where you are matching the heartbeat of the earth, the alma mundi that the drumbeat represents, with your footsteps. And so, as you're walking, you're connecting with spirit and you're opening yourself up and you're stepping into that vulnerable space so that when you reach that sacred location at the end you are so open and so available that profound healing and insight and wisdom can occur, because along the way, as you've put your physical body into that state of vulnerability, you've left your ego behind as well.

Speaker 1:

And so a lot of these ceremonies and rituals that we see in the vision quest and in the pilgrimage, they are these really beautiful representations of this underlying facet of shamanism that we leave our ego at the door. We leave our human personality and mind and our desires and our ego and all of it at the door so that we can step into connection with spirit and with that unity in all things, knowing that it's in that state of vulnerability, it's in that state of openness that that true healing and that true work can occur, so that through that process, through that healing, then the world around us can be uplifted and shifted as well. And so, as we honor ourselves and we honor our own healing journey, we are also honoring the world around us, knowing that as we heal ourselves, we heal the world.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly Right. So it's like, how do we do that? How do we give back, how do we give thanks? How do we stay in that gratitude mindset, that connection with the more I connect inward and really start to dive deep in my physical reality and recognizing that we are energy and that we are connected with the celestials, connected to Mother Gaia Pachamama, right, and so we have these two huge energetic forces that are here with us as we reside on earth. So I always have to remind myself like I came to earth, I'm in this earth suit for reason and purpose, and that gives me the opportunity to connect down into my earth star, that energetic chakra beneath my physical body that is connected down into mother earth, mother Gaia Pachamama whatever resonates language-wise for you that is connected to her spirit, it's connected to her energy, and that we also have an eighth energy star, our sun star, that's above our physical body, that is connected with Father Sky, the celestials, the cosmos, the cosmic realms, and here we are able to connect into both.

Speaker 2:

So, as an earthling, we are tethered both ways. We have our mother earth beneath us, we have father sky above us, holding us in alignment to move in our life and when our chakras are in balance. It's a beautiful thing where all of them are connected, all nine no, it's not just the seven primary. It's like we've got these nine energy centers and forces that help us move and function in this world. And when we are fully connected, we can connect easily down into the earth and we can connect easily up to the celestial realm. And what does that feel like, look like as we move through our lives? And how, how, how are we functioning Like?

Speaker 2:

I find this, this is my core. This is why I do what I do is so that, one, my chakras are in alignment, those energy centers within are in alignment, but I'm also deeply connected with the earth and I'm deeply connected with the celestials, and that is where I reside. I'm in the in-between space between both. There isn't one that is better than the other, like I see so many practitioners. They're either all earth or they're all sky, and I love that shamanism allows us to be in the balance of both, that we allow the chakras, the energy centers, to be balanced from within, and we have this balance in nature, with the seasons, with the celestials, and so it can be both and I love that duality.

Speaker 2:

I love the duality of it. I love that there isn't a right way or a wrong way. There's not a black or a white like that. Duality doesn't have to necessarily exist. We get to play and dance in the energy and noticing that separation is an illusion. Energy and noticing that separation is an illusion, that we can be connected to both. We have both, we are both made of that dust to dust and we are all star dust. We can be both and that's okay. And how do we breathe that into our world and into our life as we move about in our lifetime?

Speaker 1:

and into our life, as we move about in our lifetime, and that idea of being both being connected, being all having that connection to Mother Earth and Father Sky, is something that also ties into something you said earlier that idea of our body representing those elements of air, fire, water, earth. And this is something that when we step into that ceremonial sacred space in shamanic practices we see come through. All of this tied together, come through in that practice of calling in the directions. And so part of that ceremony, part of creating sacred space, is honoring each direction. And so we start in the east, which represents that rising sun, the energy of a new day, a beginning. It's also that element of air. And so when we are recognizing these directions, depending on which shamanic tradition you're looking at, there might be a color associated, there might be a power animal associated.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot of different things that each direction can symbolize, but when we're looking at those universal things, each direction has an element and it has an emotional state. It has this energy that when we tune into it, it has to offer us. And so when we call in the directions, we're acknowledging the physical element in nature, in ourselves that that direction represents, but we're also acknowledging the energy that that direction represents in nature and in ourselves. And so, in this way, calling in the directions isn't just calling in the directions of the compass, it's calling in all the different aspects of spirit to be with us, to hold us, to protect us and to guide us in each moment. So we have the east, that new dawn, that rising sun, that air that we breathe in every moment.

Speaker 1:

We have the south, with its fire and passion and purpose. It's very much that idea of the phoenix burning away what no longer serves us, so that we can rise up from the ashes. It's that fire, energy, and so, like Christine said, that's our soul, that's our spirit, that's that drive that we have, our why, our purpose. All of this is happening in the West, and I just saw my own little spark off the corner of my screen. That's South. And then we have no, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Now we're in the West, yeah, and then we have West, where we have that water. We have that flowing, intuitive connection where we can get curious, we can dive deep, we can understand that life is holding us, that life has those tides, that ebb and flow, and yet through it all, we can be held and supported by that water. And we see that water in our body, right when the majority of our physical being is water, and it flows through our veins and we are part of that water of life. And then we have the north, where we have our grounding. We have our trees or the standing beings where we can learn to be rooted in our physical truth, while also reaching up toward the sky, toward the heavens, and so knowing that we have that earth element that helps us to be here, to be present, to be physical. It keeps us grounded but it also allows us the freedom to be physical. It keeps us grounded but it also allows us the freedom to be able to reach toward our spiritual selves, because we have that base, we have that home center in ourselves. And, as you're listening to these directions, if you've heard us talk about the chakras before, you might be noticing those connections here, and I love that because just like there are seven primary chakras, there's also seven primary directions. So we have east, southwest and north, which are our four directions, but we also have above, which is Father Sky, the Celestials, the Cosmos, the Upper Realm, and then we have Mother Earth, pachamama, the Lower Realms, that nature, spirit, the middle world, or, in this case, our highest self, the representation of who we are when we are in our purest, most aligned spiritual state, who we are beyond the limitations that we have. And so my little bit of scavenger hunt, soul assignment invitation to you would be to go back through those descriptions of the directions and see, can you find which chakra they might match, because it's fun to find these connections between these different spiritual theories and how these truths ring through everything. But when we step into that space for shamanism practice and we're calling in the directions, we have these seven directions that represent the different aspects of spirit and the different elements and how all of these are coming back to that truth that we are nature, we are human, we are here and we are spirit, we are soul, we are energy, we are both and we are all. And all of this is representative of that main spiritual truth.

Speaker 1:

And so, when we tie all of this together and we're talking about shamanism and we're talking about all of these different ways of interacting with spirit, it's, I think, so easy to get so excited about. Yes, I'm going to connect with spirit today, I'm going to do all the things, but where do I start? What does that look like? How do I open the door? And so, like Christine was saying, learning to shamanic journey, learning to connect with your spirit guides, learning to develop your intuition, learning to balance your energy centers all of these things are things that take practice and knowledge and know-how and time, and we do that in our Soul Rising Shamanic Reiki course, which we'll talk about in a minute.

Speaker 1:

But if you're listening to this podcast and you're looking for that thing that you can grasp, at that thing that's going to open the door to living your own shamanic life, connecting with this energy of that elemental mysticism and bringing back in that magic of being alive, that ecstasy that a lot of shamanic traditions say a shaman is able to connect with the ecstasy, the rapture of being alive.

Speaker 1:

It simply starts with connecting with those elements in an intentional way, knowing that when we breathe, when we have that fire within us, when we are interacting with water, or we're hugging that tree and grounding into the earth. All of these things are more than just the element before us. They are representative of these different aspects of spirit. And so when we come into connection with nature, when we create a ceremony and a sacred space, as we're calling in the directions, as we're honoring nature, we're also honoring ourselves and we're honoring spirit in a greater way and we're honoring spirit in a greater way and to add to that, like, if what we've already discussed today is like well, that's not how I practiced or that's not how I learned it, notice that there's no absolutes here.

Speaker 2:

You know, it's very interesting when we were, isabel and I were at a shamanic retreat this summer and two weeks before I had gone to a Lakota Humblacha ceremony where people were doing their vision quests and there were, you know, dozens of us who are holding space and camp praying for them the whole three days while they were on their vision quest. What they did for directions versus what this other tribe, little Shell, which is a Sioux tribe, their directions are different and so, and it's okay so, noticing that there is room for flexibility and there's also room to when you start developing your own personal practice. So when it's not attached to a specific tribe, when it's not attached to a specific lineage, for example, but you are developing your own practice and you look around your own personal geographical location, they might be very different than what we just called in the elements, right? So if you are living on the you know, texas coast, like one of my students just asked me and she's like, but the water is to my south, like it literally is like just a couple of blocks away, like I can't have that be fire because there's literally water right there. I'm like great. Well then you can learn how to shamanic, journey to your own four directions and develop your own invocations, so recognizing that we aren't bringing forward an absolute truth. We're bringing forward an invitation for you to create your own personalized practice, to create, to connect with your own personal elements and team and power animals and and all of what's available to you so that you can come into your highest truth of who you are, to find that balance, to find that security in your practice, find the rituals that work for you so that it can overflow in abundance into your external reality, right?

Speaker 2:

So it doesn't need to be X, y and Z, and I think this is one of my favorite things about our approach here at Moon Rising is that we give such a buffet of options to students. There's not one right answer for every single person, there's not one way to journey for every single person, and so we're going to match you where you come in at. If one thing might work for one student and if another student did the exact same thing, they would fall asleep right. So we have to recognize that every body is going to be different and show up in a different way, and I think this is what really sets us apart from so many other shamanic programs that might be out there is that we're going to meet you where you're at and we're going to show up for you going. What have you learned from that experience? What might work better for you next time? How can we shift and change and balance this to make it more optimal for your success? And that might be very different practice from one person to the next, and one person might pick this up instantaneously and the next person might take months and months, and that's okay. We're going to be able to recognize what are our setbacks and what's holding us back from fully allowing our mind, body and spirit to surrender to this process, versus it just being really easy, right, like I think there's a recognition of we can all be exactly where we're at, like there's not a one person is better than the other or, you know, like there's so many things that we can do to start healing in our external reality that reflects internally when we're in this learning process and it's all okay. So remember, take time to connect with your breath, take time to connect with the earth, take time to give thanks for your spirit team, take time to connect with the celestials. What does that look like for you? And let that be okay. It doesn't have to match what other people are doing on the internet or in TikTok videos.

Speaker 2:

I want to invite you to go. What works for me and that is good enough, and what we are offering is going. Here's a dozen different ways that you could possibly do this that's really going to help you connect in. Let's give you some guidance, give you some structure to see what's going to work best for you. You some guidance, give you some structure to see what's going to work best for you, and I love that. I love that showing up for our students in a way that will allow them to be who they are, that you're not broken. You're not broken right, like, let's figure out what is going on within you to help you connect to your higher self. That's going to connect with these shamanic realms and let's come to a space of discovery and exploration and curiosity, rather than. This is the hard and fast rule. We need to do it this way and this is the only way to do it.

Speaker 1:

And so this is where we can ground and root this conversation back into that initial definition of what shamanism is. It's a way of interacting with spirit, of interacting with nature, of bringing together those two sides of our being the human self and the spiritual self, in a way that allows us to find balance and healing, and that healing is going to look different for everyone. And so, as we're talking about shamanism, as we're bringing this conversation to a close, it really is that invitation of are you willing and ready to show up for yourself in a way that allows you to connect with spirit? However, you are going to connect with spirit in a way that allows you to find that rapture of being alive, to find that joy in your physical experience, to find that sense of connection with the divine and with spirit, so that, as you are living your life, you feel connected, you feel balanced and you feel inspired. And so, if you're looking for ways to bring this into your daily life and you love this idea of connecting with the elements and connecting with spirit and you want something that you can follow, along with knowing that it's not a universal, you have to do it this way, but it's an invitation to say try this one on, see how it feels. What does your intuition have to say? What would you change next time? How do the elements show up for you? How does spirit show up for you? Know that we have a spiritual nature ceremony available over on our YouTube channel for you to connect to the elements, for you to connect to the directions and connect to yourself, so that you can begin this process of living a shamanic lifestyle, of finding out how these practices feel for you, of bringing your energy back into balance, so that you can acknowledge and recognize that you are both. You are nature and spirit, combined and embodied, and that is a beautiful thing. So feel free to go check out that ceremony and do it with us over in our YouTube channel. The link will be in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

And if you're looking for a deeper dive, if you're really feeling called to walking the shamanic self, finding your shamanic self, then we invite you to join us for our Soul Rising Shamanic Reiki course. It is a four-month journey into the depths of who you are, so that you can learn to release those limiting beliefs, connect with Reiki energy, learn to shamanic journey, heal in the spiritual realms, develop your intuition, connect with your spirit team and so much more. So it's this four-month journey that takes you through each of the directions to help you shed your skin and release what's holding you back as you learn to connect with spirit, connect with nature in a way that opens you up, so that your soul can rise, your soul can heal and you can step into that highest, truest, grandest version of who you are. And so, if everything that we've talked about today has sparked your interest and your soul is rising up and saying yes, yes, yes, let's learn more about this, we invite you to go over to moonrisinginstitutecom slash soulrising to learn more about this program, to learn more about what it is, knowing that we are in early bird enrollment right now. So if you do enroll, you do get a little bit of a discount right now, and classes start on September 8th.

Speaker 1:

And, of course, christina and I are both available, open and ready to answer any questions that you have. So if you want to hop on a call with us and you want to talk to a human instead of looking at a website, please by all means go to our website. Book a call with us so that we can answer your questions. We can decide if this is your right next step and if not, maybe we can give you some inspiration on something to try next, so that you can begin this path of embodying your shamanic self, waking up to the magic of the world around you and really connecting to spirit in that tangible way.

Speaker 2:

Yes, we would love to have you. I'm super excited for this next round. It's going to be amazing, it's going to be beautiful, and we would just love to support you. If you are interested in having a deeper connection with spirit like that is what it's going to give you. It's going to give you the availability to have your own direct revelation, with your own spirit team and developing your spiritual gifts the way they present for you, and so we welcome you to come join us.

Speaker 1:

And until next time, may you awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within, to the show on your favorite podcasting app and be the first to know when we release a new episode. You can find us on Instagram, facebook, youtube and TikTok at Moon Rising Institute or visit our website moonrisinginstitutecom to learn more about our mission and find future opportunities to connect with our community of shamanic mystics. Once again, thank you for sharing space with us today and until next time, may you awaken to the whispers of wisdom rising from within.