MEDICINE BAG
Shamanic Services
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Medicine Bag or Bundle A bag of varying sizes usually made of animal skin or hide and usually decorated with fringe and beads. The bag is used to carry spiritual objects. The Druids call the medicine bag a crane bag but it has the same purpose as the medicine bag. (Also similar is the gris gris, mojo, or ouanga bag.) All items in the bag as well as the bag itself should be smudged and can be energized in a special dedication ceremony. The bag and its contents is considered sacred to the owner and should never be touched or opened by another. The medicine that the bag creates is the energy from the combination of items inside the bag and the energy bond created between these items and the individual. Some suggested items for the bag are: Plant World: Plants, Herbs, Seeds, Leaves, Twigs, Roots, Pine Cones, Nuts, Bark The 3 Sisters = corn, bean, & squash Sacred Ceremony = tobacco, sage, & sweetgrass Good Aromatics = lavender, cedar, juniper, & pinion
Mineral World: Salt (represents the earth), Rocks & Soil, Minerals, Crystals, Sea Shells
Animal World: Hides , Feathers, Fur, Claws, Bones , Teeth
Human World: Hair, Nails, Blood, Body Fluids
Other: Oil, Incense, Prayer Scrolls, Personal Symbols, Totems of Animals Smudge Smudging is the ritual burning of grasses or herbs. The smoke from the plants is brushed over a person either by a hand or feather. Smoke carries away negative energy and carries positive intention to the Sky World. Smudging can be used for the following:
Different plants have different purposes. Sage is the most popular and is used to purify or cleanse by removing negative energy. Sage can be followed with sweetgrass, which brings in positive energy. Other common plants are:
Cedar, Juniper, & Sweetgrass
- Attracts Good Influences
Despacho Despacho is a Spanish word used to describe a type of ritual offering. The most common offerings are made to honor Pachamama (Mother Earth) or the Apukuna (Sacred Mountains). The despacho is a gift, a reciprocity of what we receive everyday in our lives. The despacho places us in right relationship, right ayni, with Pachamama. The offering consists of natural items arranged on paper, prayed over, infused with gratitude and thanksgiving, and then folded into a bundle to be burned or buried. Every ingredient has its own meaning and is placed on the paper with specific intention. All the participants blow their prayers into kintus (coca leaves). The despacho can be created for births, deaths, marriages, good luck, prosperity, longevity, and space blessing. Drum
The Drum is the Great Spirit’s favorite instrument. That’s why we were all given a heartbeat. Most drums used for shamanic ritual are a wooden circle (12” to 24”) with animal skin stretched across one side. A mallet is used to beat a rhythm on the skin head. If used in ceremony, it should be smudge regularly. It is sacred like other ritual items and should not be touch unless the owner gives his/her consent. The spirit of the drum has a totem animal like humans. This spirit can be met on a journey and then a dedication ceremony can be performed to initiate the complete power of the drum. To honor the drum, do not display ostentatiously and keep the drum face up when laying it down. Many people have a special square of material or mat to lay the drum on. The drum sounds like a human heartbeat. It vibrates at the resonant frequency of the Earth. The repetitive striking of the drum (approximately 180 cycles-per-second) fixates the mind and cause all chatter to stop. In this alpha state the mind is open to allow Spirit to express itself through images, symbols, colors, tones, and sensations. In this way, the drum becomes the “horse” that is ridden into the shamanic trance state. A drum circle is a group of people that gather to play drums, rattles, and other percussion. Sometimes dance and song is incorporated too. The drums are played impromptu, each individual playing off the rhythm of the others. The drum circle I attend also calls the spirits from the 6 directions and passes the talking stick to each individual in the heart circle. Rattle Usually made of natural materials, such as dried gourds, turtle shells, or rawhide filled with dry seeds, beans, or pebbles. The rattle is another vehicle (besides smudge) used to cleanse and purify. The rattle is a gentle way to call or release the Ancestors from the 7 directions [East, South, West, North, Sky (up), Center, and Earth (down)]. The swishing sound of the rattle acts similar to the beat of the drum, serving as a bridge between the worlds of in the mind. The rattle is sacred and should be covered when it is not being used. A bandana or leather bag is a good covering for the rattle. Vision Quest A time set aside to be in isolation usually in nature and usually while fasting. Solitude and meditation allow the mind to be receptive to visions and/or messages from the spirits. Vision quest was a rite of passage in the Native American culture. Today many spiritual questers spend time preparing for a quest that includes attendance at a sweat lodge. Sweat Lodge A place traditionally made of bent willow or similar wood and covered with blankets. On the inside water is poured over hot rocks to produce steam. The process becomes a sacred cleansing or healing ceremony. The ceremony may only be facilitated by those trained to do so. The hot lodge represents the womb of Mother Earth. Power or Totem Animal An animal spirit guide that watches over a person from birth. The shaman can acquire additional power animals that serve as guides and spirit helpers. Some people have no connection or have lost their connection with a power animal. The shaman can journey to bring back an animal for the client. The client will be helped by the animal by drawing on the positive qualities of the animal when needed. The symptoms of power loss are: chronic fatigue, chronic illness, and run of bad luck. After a person is introduced to his/her power animal, a long term relationship can be established by honoring the animal through communication and paying respect by “dancing the animal”. A power animal will provide protection in all three realms of body, mind, and spirit. Medicine Wheel A medicine wheel is a circle that includes the 4 directions (East, South, West, and North) as well as Above (Grandfather Sky), Below (Mother Earth), and Center (Grandmother Moon). The wheel represents the unending cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The medicine wheel comes from many ancient cultures all over the world. The Native American culture is a predominant user of the medicine wheel. Physically manifested, it can be a small circle hung like a dream catcher or it can be a large group of rocks out on the desert floor. The wheel itself is considered sacred space and is used for many rituals. The wheel becomes a mini vortex of power. It is a sacred altar that is from, of, and on the earth. Click here to see examples of medicine wheels. Click here for more information about using the medicine wheel as a journey of transformation and shamanic energy medicine training. Soul Flight A shamanic journey to enlist the aid of helpers (spirit, animals, sidhe, or others) for healing purposes. The shaman’s world consists of 3 different spiritual worlds. When a shaman journeys, he/she travels to the Lower or Upper World. Shaman’s use a path (such as a tunnel, roots, or tree) to travel to the Lower or Upper Worlds. The steady beat of a drum (and sometimes rattle) is the vehicle that helps transport the shaman to these other worlds. A change in the drum beat is the signal to return to the Middle World. (Other vehicles can also be used such as ecstatic dance, self-hypnosis, and hallucinogens.) While traveling on the journey the shaman is in an altered state of mind. It is a deep meditative trance. This state has been termed Non-Ordinary Reality. The shaman journeys with a specific intent usually for another person. The intent is to bring back some information for healing, whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. He/she waits to meet a spirit, then asks a question, waits for an answer, then thanks the spirit for assistance. The shaman can work with power animals, spirits, and guides. Michael Harner calls ordinary reality the Ordinary Sate of Consciousness (OSC) and the altered state of shamanic trance the Shamanic State of Consciousness (SSC). Mircea Eliade referred to the shamanic trance as ecstasy. The 4 Spiritual Worlds (Realms) consist of:
Above the Upper World is the Celestial World, the highest power, the realm of the gods.
Illumination The Illumination process has been practiced for thousands of years by the medicine people of the Andes and the Amazon. It clears the imprints (toxic memories or fears) of karma and disease from the Energy Body and transforms the heavy emotions associated with trauma and disease into light. During illumination, the chakras are cleaned out. The process can eliminate negative energy, promote longevity, and strengthen immunity. The imprint is the source, the chakra the pipeline, and the nervous system the distribution network. The process includes cleaning the affected chakras and embedding them with healing light. During integration after an illumination, one may experience vivid dreams or have sudden insights. Extraction There are 2 basic types of energy that can penetrate the aura: crystallized energies and fluid energies. If the intrusion is another soul, the shaman can convince the soul to leave for its proper destination in the spirit world. The extraction process consists of scanning the client’s Energy Body to identify the crystallized energy, extracting the energies and then illuminating & re-energizing the chakras. After the extraction, the shaman can fill the void left in the client with a power animal retrieval or soul retrieval.
The symptoms of spiritual intrusion are: feeling low on power, sudden change in personality, desires, or additions, confusion or discomfort, illness, injury, organ transplant, or localized physical or emotional pain with no obvious cause. Soul Retrieval Retrieving parts of my soul that others are holding onto. Soul parts may be lost in one of two ways:
The symptoms of soul loss are many and include: trauma, post traumatic stress syndrome, shock, immune deficiency problems, chronic illness, coma, chronic depression, suicidal feelings, inability to heal, inability to move forward, long term grief, addictions, disassociation, lost memories, spaciness, inability to feel, feeling lost, incomplete, stuck, dispirited, or feeling unable to move forward, like you have no control, like a part of you has died, like something in life is missing, like someone stole your soul or a part of you, or like you want to return to a person/location for no good reason, or lost something you can’t get back. During shamanic journeying the shaman will determine what soul pieces are safe to retrieve and bring them back for the client. The shaman then blows each piece back into the client’s body. Since negative habits or health has filled the holes the missing soul pieces have left, the soul retrieval process requires ongoing sessions to learn to reintegrate the lost pieces. Benefits of a soul retrieval could be: feeling more present, feeling more connected, moving forward easier, making decisions or changes easier, or making self-improvements. Soul Release A client may be possessing soul pieces from others. In the complete process of soul retrieval, it is important for the client to release these bits. This can be done through a personal symbolic ritual. The important point is the intent behind the ritual. Soul Remembering Soul remembering is a way to find your true self after a soul retrieval. An analysis of what one was like at incarnation, what habits replaced the lost soul bits, how to eliminate the habits, how to bring passion back into life, and what beliefs are roadblocks, will help integrate the newly returned soul pieces. Munay Ki Rites Munay-Ki rites are initiations that help the initiate become a person of wisdom and power. Munay-Ki comes from a Quechua (Peruvian Native) word that means “I love you” and “Be as thou art”. The rites are derived from the Laika, the Earthkeepers, from 30,000 years ago. The rites activate the Energy Body and its power to manifest and create. The rites plant seeds in the energy fields of the chakras. They help the initiate acquire the rainbow body where the chakras glow with their original radiance. Once implanted, these seeds need to be germinated and grown by light rituals. The first 4 rites are the Foundation Rites:
These are followed by the 3 Lineage Rites:
Concludes with the 2 Transformational Rites:
Death Rites Dying is the final rite of passage. The Death Rites help the dying person return to infinity. These rites are performed after a person has died. The Energy Body is released and the chakras are sealed immediately after death so that the energy body does not reenter the physical shell. There are 3 steps to the Death Rites.
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