Today we went to our first day of the Shamanic Life course.
We got there at 8:30, and it turns out there are 20 people taking this course, which is more than I expected. My psychotic shyness kicked in immediately. Plus all the names to remember! I felt slightly uncomfortable, I’m coming from a history of doing a lot of spiritual things on my own, and this group thing is a huge (and difficult) step for me.
During coffee people walked around and introduced themselves to one another, I kept ahold of Michael and that helped %)
The morning went well, I even talked some in that big scary group, people asked a lot of excellent questions. Everyone is really nice, and throughout the day I was able to gather up the courage to chat with a few people.
In the afternoon we did our first Shamanic “Journey” which I might go into detail about later. I felt somewhat unprepared because so many of the people in the group already had experience with this and I had only read about it. But my first Journey went well, since it was my first time I had a more experienced person journey “with me” to help me find my spirtual guide. Afterwards we both talked about what we saw, it was a really interesting discussion.
I keep almost elaborating on these things, but it’s so hard to explain without seeming weird. Perhaps sometime in the future I’ll be able to articulate this experience in a way that doesn’t sound crazy. Of course if anyone is interested I wouldn’t object to trying to explain it in a more private setting, just drop me an email.
For now I am just going to say that I’m pursuing this spirtual path because it feels right. Shamanism has been practiced all over the world for thousands of years, with very little variation from Africa to South America to Northern Europe. With this path I’m able to get in touch with my ancestor’s practices before they were taken over by Christianity, and practice the rituals of the natives of America, where I make my home today.
Today we also did some drumming, which was fun, but I’m horribly self-conscious about my lack of musical talent, I’ve got no rhythm! I am hopeful that practice will remedy this. I didn’t do bad though, everyone makes mistakes. Michael and I even stayed late to do a short drum dance, it was great!
Tomorrow we have to leave the house by 6:30 am so we can get to the class at 7:30 to build the fire and have a sweat lodge at 8:30 am. I’m sure tomorrow will be more exhausting than today, but I’m ready!
Now I need to go get my pajamas on and get sleepy %)