SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE 101 · centre of everything is the: ‘axis mundi, the Maya cosmic centre....

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H OOP ISSUE 101 2018 www.sacredhoop.org 1 © Sacred Hoop Magazine 2018 Please don't distribute this ebook to other people who have not paid for it. We are a small magazine and we need sales to help us publish. If you are reading this because you found it online somewhere, please visit us at www.sacredhoop.org and take out one of our low cost subscriptions. Thank you Nicholas Breeze Wood and the Sacred Hoop Team This is a text only version of Sacred Hoop - the full version of the issue - with all the images - is avail- able as a pdf and also as a printed paper magazine from our website www.sacredhoop.org THE FOUNDING INSPIRATION FOR SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE IN 1993 “Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and around and about me was the whole hoop of the world... I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit and the shapes of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the Sacred Hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight and in the centre grew one almighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father, and I saw that it was holy.” (From the vision of Nicholas Black Elk Lakota Holy Man: 1863 - 1950) EDITOR, DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Nicholas Breeze Wood DESIGN AND EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Faith Nolton PROOF READING: Linda Booth. Martin Wilford CONTACT DETAILS: Sacred Hoop Magazine Anghorfa, Abercych, Boncath, Pembrokeshire, SA37 0EZ, UK Email: [email protected] Tel: (01239) 682 029 www.sacredhoop.org PUBLISHING POLICY: SACRED HOOP seeks to network those wanting to learn the spiritual teachings of indigenous peoples as a living path of knowledge. Our contents cover the integration of both old and new ways, and insights that contribute to a balanced and sustainable lifestyle in today's world. We honour all paths and peoples and do not include material from, or give support to, any individual or group which seeks to oppress or discriminate on grounds of race, lineage, age, gender, class or belief. Nor do we knowingly publish any material that is inaccurate. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor. ISSN 1364 - 2219 DISCLAIMER: Whilst making every effort to be accurate, the editors will not be deemed responsible for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies appearing in Sacred Hoop Magazine. © Sacred Hoop Magazine and-or individual contributors. No part of this magazine, either written text or visual art, may be reproduced in any way whatsoever without the written permission of the Editor. SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE 101 TEXT ONLY PDF

Transcript of SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE 101 · centre of everything is the: ‘axis mundi, the Maya cosmic centre....

  • HOOP ISSUE 101 2018www.sacredhoop.org1

    © Sacred Hoop Magazine 2018

    Please don't distribute this ebook to other people who have notpaid for it. We are a small magazine and we need sales to helpus publish. If you are reading this because you found it onlinesomewhere, please visit us at www.sacredhoop.org and take outone of our low cost subscriptions. Thank you

    Nicholas Breeze Wood and the Sacred Hoop Team

    This is a text only version of Sacred Hoop - the fullversion of the issue - with all the images - is avail-able as a pdf and also as a printed paper magazinefrom our website www.sacredhoop.org

    THE FOUNDING INSPIRATION FOR SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE IN 1993

    “Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all,and around and about me was the whole hoop of the world... I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things inthe spirit and the shapes of all shapes as they must live togetherlike one being. And I saw that the Sacred Hoop of my peoplewas one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylightand as starlight and in the centre grew one almightyflowering tree to shelter all the children of one motherand one father, and I saw that it was holy.”

    (From the vision of Nicholas Black Elk Lakota Holy Man: 1863 - 1950)

    EDITOR, DESIGN AND PRODUCTION:Nicholas Breeze Wood

    DESIGN AND EDITORIAL CONSULTANT:Faith Nolton

    PROOF READING:Linda Booth. Martin Wilford

    CONTACT DETAILS:Sacred Hoop MagazineAnghorfa, Abercych, Boncath,Pembrokeshire, SA37 0EZ, UKEmail: [email protected]: (01239) 682 029www.sacredhoop.org

    PUBLISHING POLICY: SACRED HOOP seeks to network those wanting to learnthe spiritual teachings of indigenous peoples as a living pathof knowledge. Our contents cover the integration of bothold and new ways, and insights that contribute to a balancedand sustainable lifestyle in today's world. We honour all paths and peoples and do not include materialfrom, or give support to, any individual or group which seeksto oppress or discriminate on grounds of race, lineage, age,gender, class or belief. Nor do we knowingly publish anymaterial that is inaccurate.Views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor.

    ISSN 1364 - 2219

    DISCLAIMER:Whilst making every effort to be accurate, the editors willnot be deemed responsible for any errors, omissions orinaccuracies appearing in Sacred Hoop Magazine.

    © Sacred Hoop Magazine and-or individual contributors.No part of this magazine, either written text or visualart, may be reproduced in any way whatsoeverwithout the written permission of the Editor.

    SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE 101TEXT ONLY PDF

  • HOOP ISSUE 101 2018www.sacredhoop.org

    CONTENTSA JOURNEY TO DARKHADThe shamans of the remote North ofMongolia are considered to have the bestpreserved traditions.Eugene Johnsontook a trip to work with them.

    A LIFE WITH THE MEDICINERoss Heaven, who died earlier this year,was well know for his books andteachings. Brett Lothian interviewed him,before his death, about his life and viewson shamanism.

    RISING FROM THEEARTH LIKE MAIZEThe Maya people of Central America arecustodians of an ancient tradition. GeralBlanchard, with Mayan ‘Day Keeper’Victoria Murcielago, shares a little aboutthem

    DOLLS AND RITUASome of the oldest items from ourancestors are effigies, and dolls andeffigies are used all over the world inmagical traditions. Nicholas BreezeWood looks at the tradition.

    KOREAN HEALING DOLLSIn Korean shamanism effigy dolls hold animportant place. Traditional Koreanshaman Jennifer Kim shares some of theways of working with them in her tradition.

    WHEN SPIRIT HELPERS MANIFESTShamanism is full of stories that teach andinspire people. David Kowalewski looks atwhy the developing Western hamanism hasneed of them, and shares a few himself.

    ORDEAL MEDICINESOne Native Amercan proverb goes; ‘fairweather never makes strong timber.’Travis Bodick looks at why we need totoughen up in our sacred practice and ourlives.

    MENDING THE SACRED HOOPMaking stone Medicine Wheels on the landis a lovely and simple thing to do, for ourown learning and as a sacred act in itsown right. Shima Maria Yraceburuexplains.

    BOOK AND MUSIC REVIEWSPEOPLE ON THE PATH EVENTS DIARY

    EDITORIALIssue 101. The term is often used for abeginner’s guide - an introduction to something- and of course it’s also the infamous torturechamber where Winston is finally taken in GeorgeOrwell’s dystopian novel ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ -a place of ordeal.

    I had crazy thoughts of making this a 101-style introduction issue to shamanism, butlife (and the vagaries of what articles appearout of the ether) thought otherwise.

    But all new experiences are a ‘101’ ofsorts, so we start with an account of oneman’s experience in the wilds of NorthernMongolia, and follow it with the 101experiences of the late Ross Heaven, as hefollowed the path which led him to his life’swork.

    We have a 101 on the use of ritual dollsand effigies in healing work, and articlesabout the need for stories - which arealways good 101 experience, as they oftengiven people traveller’s tales of adventuresnew.

    And then we turn towards the othermeaning of 101, the place of ordeal, withan article about how we need to facethings and toughen up, because it is onlythrough that, that we reach the centre -which of course brings us to the final articleof this issue, the making of medicinewheels, in which the centre is essential.

    On the medicine walk of our lives, ourown serendipitous life journey of newexperiences and ordeals, the centre of allthings is the place all of life orbits.

    To quote from Geral Blanchard’s articleabout Mayan traditions in this issue, thecentre of everything is the: ‘axis mundi,the Maya cosmic centre. From here, theancestors are summoned, intentions arepresented, petitions are offered, and atransformative fire is ignited for those whoare in discomfort, and desiring ofblessings, or a life renewal.’

    So blessings on your individual lifewalk,our lives are always a 101 - in both sensesof the word - and all we can do is traveldown the road before us and seize theadventure.

    Blessings to all BeingsNicholas Breeze Wood

    A JOURNEY TODARKHAD

    The Darkhad people of theNorth of Mongolia are thecustodians of perhaps thepurest form of Mongolianshamanism remaining.Living in such a remote place,they were affected less thanother Mongolian peoples, firstlyby the influx of TibetanBuddhism into the country inthe C18th - which tried toeradicate shamanism - and thenby the ravages of Communismin the C20th, which almosttotally destroyed shamanism inthe country

    With his Darkhad udigan, hiswoman shaman teacher,

    Eugene Johnsontravelled up to Darkhad Valleyto work with elders of theDarkhad people, and receivesacred objects of shamanismthey had prepared for him

    IMongolia is not always an easy place totravel in, and when I arrived in Ulaanbaatar,a friend there said these words to me,which would eventually sum up my wholeexperience of the country and my timethere: “If one can accept a certain amountof the unexpected, even chaos, things willusually work out in the end.”

    My trip to the country was to be centredaround receiving my shaman’s ritual tools -once they had been blessed by my udigan[woman shaman] teacher - and then for meto receive an initiation into ‘full armourshamanism1’ by her own teacher, who livedin Darkhad valley, a remote valley in the northof Mongolia, some two long, hard days travelaway from Ulaanbaatar, which everyone callsUB for short.

    The shamanic tradition in the Darkhadhas remained pure and resiliently vital andvibrant, despite the long period of Sovietdomination in the earlier parts of the C20th,which did great damage to Mongolianshamanism and Mongolian culture ingeneral.

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  • The evening after my arrival in the city,after sunset - which is the time for ‘fullarmour’ shamanic ceremonies, according totradition - I came to the home of myteacher, my udigan, and her assistants formy first ceremony.

    They had prepared an altar, placingsmall bowls of milk, milk· tea and vodkaonto it, as well as more offerings oftobacco, sweet biscuits and a bottle ofvodka.

    Her shaman’s drum was placed in frontof this altar, and her shaman’s robe wasdraped around it, as if the drum was thebody of a shaman; then her shaman’sfeathered and fringed headdress wasplaced on top of the drum, and hershaman’s boots put in front on the tiledfloor, as if the shaman’s legs werecrossed.

    When it was all finished, it looked for allthe world like there was a person, ashaman, sitting there - the drum hadbecome alive.

    The assistants then burnt small juniperbranches - the Mongolian form of smudge -to purify everything, and started a small firein a special round metal pot-like fire basketcalled a tulaga, which is a small portableshaman’s fire place. Then they helped theudigan into her armour, dismantling thedrum figure they had created.

    When she was dressed in her ritualclothes, she stood in front of her altar,beating her drum and making special soundsand cries to call to the spirits. The ceremonyto bless my shamanic tools began.

    But, things did not go as planned; asshortly after she went into her shamanictrance, the metal plates, fixed to theoutside of her shaman’s robe, between hershoulder blades, broke in half and fell off.These metal plates, which protect theshaman’s back, are considered theshaman’s main protection against attacksfrom hostile spirits.

    My udigan began shaking withconvulsions, and was in obvious pain,crying out from time to time, while herassistants quickly placed burning juniper inher mouth to help expel a hostile spirit -which they were sure had come into her -and help to safely return her own spirit.

    She slowly recovered, and spent a goodwhile trying to figure out where this attackcame from. It later came out that thissurprise attack was from a wrathful lu(naga) spirit which was attached to me, andwhich had come with me to Mongolia. Thiswas later dealt with so it wouldn’t cause anymore problems.

    This initial setback was taken in ourstride however, and the next 48 hours were

    largely spent preparing for our trip to visitmy ugidan’s teacher in the Darkhad Valley. Ialso took this time to becoming familiar withthe tools which had been empowered forme, especially my khuur - my shaman’sjaw-harp - which had been made especiallyfor me by a special blacksmith shaman.

    THE ROAD TO THE NORTHWe laid in food supplies, gifts for the eldersand others in the shaman’s camp, and evenchains to pull our car out of difficulties incase we got stuck - which would soon proveto have been a good idea.

    It was to be a two-day long trip, the firstday’s objective being to make the 500 miledrive on proper asphalt roads, up to asmall town called Mörön, which is aprovincial capital of the part of NorthernMongolia, where the Darkhad valley is.There we planned to spend the night,before setting out on the second day ofthe journey.

    But once again, things did not quite goas we planned, due to a unexpected snowstorm that hit us as we travelled North,making the journey long and hazardous.An 800 km road trip and all four seasonsin one day, but eventually we arrived inMörön safe and sound and retired for thenight.

    The next morning we left the snow-covered city - thick in a morning haze - andwe also left the asphalt road, replacing itwith a bone-jarring 300 km journey overrough terrain. This next dirt road had nopaved roads, no sign-posts, and sometimeseven the tracks left by previous travellersdisappeared under the unexpected snowfall.

    At first it seemed we were merelytaking a short-cut across a field, in orderto save us some time - or perhaps avoid apotentially dangerous spot in the ruttedtrack - but it was to be like that the wholejaw-rattling day, and I’m sure the insideroof of the car we used still bears theimprint of my skull from the numerousimpacts which, both it and I, suffered.

    At key places along the way, andespecially at the entrance to DarkhadValley, we made offerings at ovoos - sacredpiles of rocks with tree branches and polesin them, all covered with blue cloth khadagoffering scarves. These mark sacredplaces, and we would get out of our carand circle them three times clockwise - thedirection the sun travels across the sky -and throw rice into the air to show respectto the powerful guardian spirits, and to askthem for safe passage and blessings.

    As we jarred further and further north,the crossing of the many small streamsand innumerable boggy areas became aparticularly delicate affair, the risk of

    getting bogged down and stuck out in thewilds was very high, and the possibility ofpassers-by being there who could come toour aid if we did, was very low.

    Despite the expertise of our two drivers,who shared the miles, the inevitableeventually happened, crossing aparticularly boggy bit of ground our wheelsgot stuck. We were - it seemed - not likelyto be going anywhere fast.

    As we stood around wondering what wewere going to do, we saw a herdsman, witha troop of horses, but in the end, even hewas not able to be of much help to us andwe felt forlorn in the empty expanse.

    Then fortune smiled upon us, a passingmini-bus saw our predicament from a greatdistance away, and took the time andtrouble to make its way across to us - foroften people make their own roads acrossthe vast openness, and their road was notour road. Our chains were attached, andwith effort, the minibus pulled us out. Itwas a moment of great relief, and theunwritten code of mutual help wasillustrated anew.

    At sunset we finally made it to theelders camp, located next to a stunninglybeautiful snow and ice-covered lake; butnot before a flat tyre made it necessary tocompletely unload our car, in order to getat the spare one which, as it turned out,was also flat,

    THE HOME OF THE SHAMANSThe next few days were mainly spent inand around the home of my udigan’steacher - whom I refer to as Elder One inthis article to keep their actual nameprivate.

    Elder One has now sadly passed intospirit, but he was, I believe, one of the lastshamans in Mongolia who made all theregalia and tools himself, and even huntedthe animals whose skin are used forvarious ritual purposes. He hunted themhimself, the better to honour them andensure their blessings. He was also trainedand recognised as a blacksmith shaman,and therefore - although rather advancedin age at the time I was with him - wasalways quite busy tanning hides, rollingsheep’s wool into long cylindrical strips,and covering them with cloth to makemanjig - the cloth snakes shamans havehanging on their ritual clothes.

    His passing was greatly mourned by theDarkhad people and by others around theworld who knew of him - he was a greatshaman.

    The ritual clothes of a shaman arecommonly called the shaman’s armourbecause they protect the shaman - andsome manjig snakes were being made forthe armour which was being put togetherfor me, as well as the finishing touches be

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  • made for a shaman’s drum which wasbeing made for me.

    Visitors from within the camp droppedin regularly - neighbours, and peopleseeking help from the shaman, as well aswell-wishers.

    The lack of a fixed, closeable orlockable door, and the spontaneouspopping in of strangers - all speaking awayin a language I did not understand - was, Imust admit, a bit unsettling in thebeginning, but I soon overcame my initialunease, and went with the flow.

    In the afternoon of the first day of ourvisit, another highly respected andpowerful shaman - whom I will call ElderTwo - came to do a divination for me,using his toli - a bronze mirror.

    The wrathful lu - naga - spirit, whichapparently had come from the dwellingplace of one of my ancestors, and whichwas a rather greedy spirit, had beenfollowing me around, and that, togetherwith some unresolved issues from my past,were found to be blocking my progress andpreventing the realisation of my potential.

    Elder Two was able to trap the negativeenergy I carried - as well as the greedy luspirit - inside a shaman’s mirror, althoughto this day I do not know if, or how, he gotrid of them again afterwards.

    A thorough cleansing would have tobe done on me the next day, using oldhorse manure, in a kind of fumigationtechnique, in order to chase away anyremaining negative spirits and energy.This was to prepare me for my initiationceremony.

    I was told it was also important to ‘feed’the big flightless birds which live in theland of my ancestors - and I could onlyimagine this to mean turkeys.

    DONNING THE ARMOURThe next day was a Saturday, whichaccording to Darkhad tradition is a day ofthe week on which no shamanising isdone; as it is instead idevoted to purely‘human’ activities.

    So, it was not until the Sunday that wedrove out - early in the morning, in brilliantsunshine, over non-existent roads, forwhat seemed like hours - up to a sacredhill, where my initiation ceremony was totake place.

    But first the purification ritual I hadbeen told about had to be done. Old, dryhorse dung was placed in a specialcontainer by Elder One, who then lit it, andbegan praying and asking the spirits forblessings.

    I was instructed to cleanse myself withthe horse dung smudge smoke, using myhands to bring the smoke over my wholebody.

    During this time, Elder Two put on thearmour which had been made for me byElder One, which comprised of shaman’sboots, a long blue deel coat with metaljingle cones, cloth snakes and a metalprotective plate between the shoulderblades attached to it; as well as aheaddress with feathers, and with morecloth snakes attached to that.

    His putting on of my armour was toavoid the spirits from recognising meafterwards, it was to protect me, to stopthe spirits coming to me uninvited.

    After putting on my armour, Elder Twopicked up the drum which had been madefor me, and began singing, asking forblessings from the spirits. As he did this, alarge eagle flew overhead, which everyoneagreed was an auspicious sign. Thisapparently often happens when heperforms rituals.

    Elder One supported the ritual, and hetoo sang his shaman’s song, while tossingspoonfuls of milk offerings into the air, andcircling round me with the smoking dung.

    And then Elder Two went into a deeptrance still playing my new drum, untilsuddenly - as he played it - the drum’sskin split open in two places. This ofcourse was a dramatic thing to happen,and not really a good sign.

    Elder Two was then very quicklyundressed by others who were assisting,and the armour was immediately put onme, in order for the spirits to accept andbless me after having been called in byElder Two during his ceremony. And yet theskin of the drum was irreparably split, and itwas impossible to go further in theceremony.

    It was indeed an unfortunate setback, asthis drum had been made by Elder Two overseveral weeks, during which time he hashunted the deer, cleaned and dried the skin,carved and formed the wood for the frame,and made all the protective metal work andother objects which had been attached to it.

    So, we sat about talking, and figuringout the reason it had happened, andseeking the best solution to the problem.The interpretation given about the drum’ssplitting was that it had taken on all mydifficulties, my past experiences, etc. It had,in effect sacrificed itself, in order to free mefrom my past, so I could go forward.

    It so happened that my udigan was alsoto receive a new drum during this trip tothe valley - made for her by Elder One -and it was therefore proposed that I inheritmy udigan’s old drum, which I felt to be agreat honour.

    It took a good while for this new drumto be fetched, and for Elder One to attachthe jingle cones, manjig snakes and other

    items onto, what was to be my new drum,and then bless it. He drummed andchanted for a while, while Elder Two wasagain dressed in my armour, and the wholeprocess began again.

    At the end of his trance, the shaman’sarmour and drum were again quicklytransferred onto me, and it was now up tome to ask the spirits for acceptance andblessings.

    In all truth, I really don't remember muchabout this part of the ceremony, it issomewhat of a blur, and only snippets ofimages and sounds remain to me. Iremember ‘waking up,’ lying on my back onthe ground, my udigan and Elder One lookingdown at me smiling.

    For hours afterwards it seemed like mysensory perceptions were heightened, andmy impressions intensified. It also seemedas though I could register what was goingon around me, but that it took longer forme to process these impressions insidemyself. It was as if I was functioning at twospeeds - one which connected me to theoutside world, and an internal one, whichtook longer to integrate these impressions.

    Needless to say, sleep and rest werethe program for the rest of the day, alongwith offerings of rice to my drum.

    THE ROAD OF RETURNThe next morning we drove about twelvemiles over bumpy paths, and throughstunning countryside, to reach a sacredmountain that is particularly important toDarkhad shamanism, because of theextremely powerful spirits who live there.The atmosphere indeed felt other-worldlyand uncanny, and it was important to treadlightly, and in silence, in order to show duerespect to these spirits.

    Strips of white cotton cloth had beenprepared beforehand, and we tied these tothe branches of a pine sapling, which wasto be used as a place for making offeringsat the altar we set up for the spirits of theplace and the ancestors spirits there -collectively called the ongods.

    When cups of milk, milk-tea and vodkahad been poured and a plate piled high withsweet biscuits had been set upon the altar,Elder Two sat down, holding the pine saplingin front of him, and, waving it back andforth, began to humbly call and to makeofferings of purity to the spirits.

    At one point another shaman steppedforth and - while whistling and makingsmacking sounds with his lips - madeofferings of vodka as well. Then heremoved the sapling, and Elder Two wentinto a deep trance, chanting and twirlingaround a manjika - a mirror with clothsnakes attached.

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  • Afterwards I was given four strips ofwhite cotton cloth to attach to a tree, whilemaking a request of the spirits, and then,when this had been done, we all sat arounddrinking tea, consuming the offerings andpartaking of vodka in a sort of post-ritualcelebration.

    Elder Two then did a divination aboutsome health issues I have. He sat behindme, playing his khuur, in order to call tothe spirits, and then did some kind ofhealing work on me. I couldn't see what hewas doing because he was behind me, butI felt warm energy diffusing through mybody.

    Then, taking a pair of pine cones whichhad grown into one, he dipped them invodka, had me break them apart, and throwone in the direction of my birth-place, andthe other in the direction of the place I nowlive, thereby releasing me of all negativeenergy causing these health issues.

    On our way back to the camp, we cameacross several motorcyclists who had stoppedfor lunch in a clearing. It was somehow verysurprising to come across Westerners on amotorcycle trip in such a remote part ofnorthern Mongolia, and it turned out theywere French, and on their way to try to lookup some Durkha herders who, by definition,move from place to place and are thereforenot easy to locate.

    The Durkha are another tribal group inMongolia, often called the Tsaatan, whichmeans ‘Reindeer People, although theydon’t like this name. Mongolia is made upof many tribal groups, the Darkhad and theDurkha being just two of them.

    It was quite strange and funny to meet upwith these fellows and their support team - acouple of guides, and a very impressive vanfull of equipment, food and spare motorcycleparts. Le monde est petit!

    That evening a ceremony was held inorder to bless my udigan’s new drum,made for her by Elder One. Elder Two puther armour and headdress on, as the drumwas passed around to several shamanswho had gathered for the ceremony, inwhat felt like it was a kind of welcominggesture.

    A make-shift altar was set up, with allthe traditional offerings we had placedbefore on the altars, and Elder two begandrumming and chanting. This went on forwhat seemed a very long time.

    Elder One led the ceremony, chanting,spooning offerings of milk into the air,circling around with burning junipersmudge for purification - there was somuch, the air of the small dark hut wasthick with it.

    At one point another shaman placed acup of vodka to Elder Two’s lips - who was

    by now in a deep trance - makingsmacking and kissing noises all the while,to facilitate the possession by the spirits.And then all of a sudden, Elder Two wentas completely stiff as a board. His bodystretched out and his muscles tensed.Elder One then quickly used burningjuniper to bring him back, blowing thesmoke into Elder Two’s nostrils and throat.

    At this, the birthing of the new drumwas considered successful, and theceremony was then concluded by anothersmall ‘celebration.’

    The major objectives of our trip toDarkhad Valley being fully achieved, weset out the next morning, after a warmround of good-byes, on the long journeyback to UB.

    Lake Khövsgöl was still partially frozen,and the melting snow and ice made thesoil of the taiga’s dirt roads treacherouslymuddy.

    Despite the driving expertise of ourcolleagues, we ended up stuck in the mudfor a good long while, sinking deeper anddeeper, despite every renewed effort topull the car out. We were saved by abrilliant flash of Mongolian ingenuity andgood common sense.

    The rest of the trip was done in brilliantsunshine and when we finally came backonto the blacktop highway, it felt as thoughwe were driving on silk.

    After sundown on the evening of mylast day in Mongolia, my udigan performeda ritual to bless my shamanic tools and mybinding to my spirits. The traditionalofferings were made at the altar, and I wasgiven my khuur manjika2, made by theblacksmith shaman. This is used fordaytime - or walking - shamanism, as wellas ‘light’ interventions such as divination,prayers for blessings. In Darkhadtraditions, full armour is reserved for‘heavy’ work, involving negotiations,struggle, and even battle with the spirits,which is always done at night.

    I was then instructed to shamanise atthe altar of my udigan, in order to receiveblessings from the spirits. I remembercalling them for quite some time with mykhuur, which I hadn't yet really mastered,and then feeling a kind of diaphanouspresence hovering above and around me.

    The life-long journey into traditionalMongolian Shamanism had indeed begun.Eugene Johnson has lived most of his adult yearsabroad, mainly in France and China. Cross-culturalties have always been central, both professionallyand personally, to his life. A follower of Buddhism,then core shamanism, for many years, he isfortunate to have found a traditional Mongolianshamanic teacher. This article was written tohonour the path he is on, and to share his

    experience with readers interested in the power andtruth of Mongolian shamanism.

    Sacred Hoop is grateful to Kate Smith for herpermission to use the photo of the ovoo at theentrance to Darkhad valley.

    NOTES:1: The armour of a shaman is their ritual clothingand the metal work fixed to it. Armour includes acoat, boots and a feathered crown with fringed facemask. A shaman’s armour is considered to be aliveand a house in which the shamans ongods (helperspirits) live.

    2: Khuur Manjig are important Darkhad ritualobjects. They consist of a jaw harp (khuur) with abundle of cloth snakes attached. These are stuffedwith wool from a special sheep, chosen because ofcertain markings on the sheep’s fleece.The manjig has other objects attached to it too, suchas an arrow head which has taken a life, a driedwolf’s paw, a bear claw, a weasel’s skin and otherobjects. The khuur has to be made by a specialshaman blacksmith with metal taken from a horse’sbit - the part which goes into its mouth.When completed the khuur manjig it is blessed andawakened, and the lu spirits and the shaman’s spiritare bound together. Shamans use them during theday in ‘walking shamanism,’ because it is easy totravel with a khuur manjig - than a full set of ritualclothes, which generally do not leave the shaman’shome and which are only worn for big night timeceremonies.A khuur manjig gives the shaman as much protectionas their full armour.

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  • A LIFE WITHTHE MEDICINE

    An interview with the lateRoss Heavenby Brett Lothian

    How did you discover shamanic plantmedicine?

    I learned about it as a child. I lived in thecountryside, so I grew up with plants andmy first medicine was mushrooms, which Ipicked myself. But then I got distracted fora while with jobs, and making money, so itwasn’t until 1998 that I first went to Peruto drink ayahuasca. This, in turn, led me toSan Pedro, which led me to Salvia[divinorum], which led me back tomushrooms.

    What qualities must one have to be ashaman?

    What is a ‘shaman’? Well, my personalopinion is it’s a job - like any other job. It’slike being a plumber, and just like any job,you get on with it. It’s no great mystery.

    I’m sure you’re as bored as me with allthose ego-stuffed Western buffoons whowrite new age books called ‘The Shaman’sLast Apprentice’ or ‘The Chosen One inHigh Heels,’ documenting their wildadventure, which apparently qualifies themto be the next chief shaman of some tribeor another. Why do they need to be thelast or chosen anything? Are they so dulland uninspiring in themselves?

    Just look at what they’re asking you tobelieve about them - or about shamanism -and how special they are. The effectwouldn’t be quite the same would it ifthey’d called it ‘The Plumber’s LastBlocked Drain’ or I Was the Chosen ToiletCleaner?

    But the thing is - if they actually had anyidea what a shaman really is - they mightas well have given their books titles likethat because shamanism is just a job, nodifferent from plumbing, cleaning toilets orshovelling shit in a factory.

    The job I had - marketingpharmaceuticals - was literally killing me, aswell as my customers, so I went to Peruand drank ayahuasca to find out what Ishould be doing instead. Then I begantraining in shamanism, including a four yearapprenticeship with San Pedro in Peru andSpain, running an ayahuasca healing centrein Iquitos, and travelling to Mexico for Salviaand mushroom ceremonies with a disciple

    of the Mazatec curandera Maria Sabina,who lived in the Sierra Mazateca ofsouthern Mexico

    I suppose I worked at it because I caredabout shamanism - the job I’d chosen formyself - not just about having a ‘shamantrophy’ I could hang next to my MichaelHarner books, Sandy Ingerman relaxationtapes, my Simon Buxton Bee Maidendiploma and my Munay Ki - or, as I call it‘Money Key’ - ‘Master of the Universe’certificate.

    As for what a shaman is and thequalities you need to do it: I thinkshamanism is everything that Harner,Ingerman, Buxton and their like are not.

    Shamanism is a way of being, aworldview, a belief system which is theantithesis to the exploitative, misleading,money-grabbing capitalism, which many inthe modern western new age shamanicscene stand for. It has integrity, authenticityand honesty in a way they don’t.

    How has following the shamanic pathimproved your life?

    For the most part it hasn’t. As manypeople discover when they wake up to thetruth of this world, the new awareness andawakeness they find can be far morepainful and frustrating than liberating.

    But it’s also the only honest thing to doif you want a life of integrity so you can bereal and face the world you’re living in andfind your own solutions to it.

    But don’t coming looking for quick fixesand improvements from shamanism,because you won’t find them here - or ifyou do it’s a good indicator that you haven’tfound true shamanism, but have wanderedby mistake into a new age, weekend warriorseminar instead.

    Do you have a personal favouriteshamanic plant medicine to work withand if so, why?

    If I do, I suppose it would have to be SanPedro. In a way, my four-yearapprenticeship to San Pedro never trulyended, because every plant I work withsomehow falls under the umbrella of SanPedro, so that the cactus dieta surrounds ittoo.

    San Pedro is the plant of the Earth - itteaches us how to be ‘the true human’ -so I guess that’s the lesson I most neednow. I do, however, very much enjoymushrooms - los ninos - and they still havea great deal to teach me, which is alwaysfun: to find a new teacher with plenty toteach, not just the same old lessons to belearned again, over and over.

    Are all shamanic plant medicines

    equal and able to be used in the sameways?

    Every plant has its own unique personalityand ways of teaching, but what they teachis in many ways similar. They very quicklyshow us the lies we have been fed andaccepted, including those we’ve fedourselves, and the true nature of humanlife.

    If this is what you mean when you talkabout ‘enlightenment,’ then this is what allteacher plants also provide us with.

    Of course ‘enlightenment’ is not aprocess of addition or multiplication - not away to add more happiness tour lives, orsound cleverer at dinner parties - it’s aprocess of subtraction. It is the shreddingoff of all you know, while having yourarmour ripped off. So, whetherenlightenment turns out to be ‘all you everhoped for’ is a whole other matter.

    Working with teacher plants is likejoining an academy of advanced learningand - like the professors in any academy -each plant has particular skills, talents andareas of expertise.

    Salvia shows us the nature ofexistence, for example, while ayahuascateaches us about the creative possibilitiesof the universe, and San Pedro educatesus in how to be human.

    But that is not all that plants do. Theybelong to the plant kingdom as well - justas every professor - no matter what theirspeciality, is also a human being andshares characteristics in common witheveryone else through his humanity.

    Plants are the same, so everyoneknows something about all the others, andcan teach us about them as well as itself.

    Finally, all plants are aware - as much assome humans, and even some professorsmay be - that they are ultimately part of the‘mind of God’ - or, in quantum language,one expression of the same energy thatmakes up the entire universe - so they canall open doorways for us into a widerunderstanding of life.

    Can you explain how shamanic plantmedicine works?

    Sure. There are basically four levels ofhealing with every plant:

    The first one is: the plant as a‘medicine.’ It can be used in the same waythat any herbalist might use a plant. Salvia,for example, can treat stomach problems,rheumatism and depression, among otherconditions. Pharmaceutical drugs, derivedfrom the plant, could also be used tocombat diseases including Alzheimer’s,AIDS, leukaemia and diabetes. In this waySalvia addresses the ‘nuts and bolts’ ofthe body; the material stuff that modern

    HOOP ISSUE 101 2018www.sacredhoop.org 6

  • medicine and medical herbalism alsoconcerns itself with.

    Modern medical treatments, however,are based on rather primitive ideas ofcausality and cure - i.e. that ‘A leads to B,’or that giving a patient ‘Medicine X’ willclear up a disease in 96.4 percent ofcases.

    But this is different to shamanism, asshamanism also pays attention to theattitude, motivation and psychology of thepatient, and to the spirit of the plant. Thenotion of magical illness and cure is anexample of this, and raises, again,questions about the nature of reality anddisease.

    For example, panzón de Borrego is ablockage in the stomach. It is seen as astone, put there magically by a rival, and itmay arise because of mal d’ojo - givingsomeone the ‘evil eye’ because you arejealous of them in some way.

    The person who receives such anattack is, of course, a victim of sorcery -but that does not mean that they areentirely innocent, since they might in facthave provoked their misfortune bybragging about their wealth or success toothers, and making the other person feelbad. Even though they are on the receivingend of negative energy, therefore, theymay also be part of its cause.

    Orthodox medicine or herbalism mightwell be able to cure the symptom of thedisease, but by ignoring the ‘magical’component of the illness, it would leavethe cause untreated, and so invite arecurrence.

    Nor would it offer suggestions for thepatient’s continuing good health byrecommending - for example - that theyact in a more dignified manner in future, soas not to provoke the ill-will of others.

    Used shamanically, however, Salvia candivine the cause of a problem, and find anongoing solution to it, as well as animmediate cure.

    Even from a purely herbal perspective,then, the medicinal use of Salvia is morefar-reaching and holistic than orthodoxtreatments, and includes aspects ofpsychology, counselling and pastoralspirituality.

    The idea of magical illnesses and cures- even from this more psychologicalperspective - is often met with cynicism byWestern doctors and sceptics.

    But ‘magic’ itself is used extensively inmodern medicine, they just have a morescientific -and, therefore, more seeminglyvalid - name for it: the placebo effect. Inmodern usage, the placebo, which is Latinfor ‘I will please’, is a medically ineffectualtreatment, given to patients to deliberately

    deceive them into wellness. Common placebos include inert tablets,

    sham surgery or false procedures, basedon what the medical profession calls‘controlled deception.’

    In a typical case, a patient is given asugar pill, and told that it will improve theircondition, and because they believes this,there is often a real improvement, despite- or, rather, because of - the lie they havebeen told.

    The researchers Wampold, Minami, etal, in their paper, ‘The Placebo is Powerful’[Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2005]conclude that placebos - the power of beliefalone - can, in fact, exceed theeffectiveness of ‘real’ treatments by 20percent in some cases.

    The use of placebos by generalpractitioners is widespread, in fact. A studyof Danish doctors found that 48 percent ofthem had prescribed a placebo at least tentimes in the past year. One Americansurvey of more than 10,000 physiciansshowed that 24 percent would, or did,prescribe placebos, while a 2004 study ofphysicians in Israel found that 60 percentused placebos.

    The point is that they work. We arecapable of magically curing ourselves.

    Brain imaging shows that placeboshave real organic effects too, causingchanges to the brain in the anteriorcingulate, prefrontal, orbitofrontal andinsular cortices, amygdala, brainstem andspinal cord, among other areas - which isanother way of saying that belief - a non-material ‘substance’ - has an effect on ourmaterial selves. In terms that a shamanmight use, the condition of the bodydepends on the condition of the soul.

    The second level of healing a plantmedicine gives is the role the plant has asa spirit ally.

    Beyond their purely medicinal uses,plants can teach us about ourselves,reality, existence, and the wider patterns ofour lives.

    To some extent this comes down towhat shamans call ‘intention,’ or ‘focus,’or ‘having a good concentration’: enteringinto a committed partnership with theplant, with the express intent that it willreveal certain information to us or pass oncertain powers.

    For our part, we need to pay closeattention to the signs that the plant sends us- and the changes it makes to our bodies - inorder to receive its messages and gainmastery of the new abilities it gives us.

    In Amazonian traditions the dieta, theshamanic diet, is likely to be part of thisarrangement. The shamanic diet involvescertain actions and inactions, includingrestrictions on the behaviour of the dieter,

    so they can learn from their plant spirit ally.Foods such as pork, fats, salt, sugar,

    spices, condiments and alcohol areprohibited, leaving the apprentice with abland menu, so the apprentice is notoverwhelmed with flavour, and can morefinely sense the plant.

    It also weakens the apprentice’sattachments to routines, some of whichrevolve around meal times and foods. Forthe same reason there is a prohibition onsexual activity, since sex is another worldlydistraction, and during orgasm we can alsogive away the power that has been buildingwithin us during the diet - which would bea pointless waste.

    Breaking these taboos can lead theplant to turn against us, so that it takesfrom us not only the power it has given,but any similar power we may already havehad.

    In the case of Salvia, for example, sincethe plant’s intention is to teach us aboutthe nature of true reality, breaking the dietbefore it is complete can lead to theopposite of expanded awareness and aclear perspective on life - that is, tomadness, according to warnings fromMazatec shamans.

    The third way a plant works with us isas a guide to the spirits of other plants.

    Once it is a part of them, the plant allybegins to teach the shaman about itself,about other plants, and about how to heal.As I said, since all plants are part of thesame plant kingdom, they have an affinitywith all other plants, and know somethingabout the specific powers of each one.

    San Pedro as an ally, for example, ismore than just a healer in its own right, itbecomes, for the shaman, a guide to thespirit world in general, and an ambassadorwhich will act on his behalf and introducehim to other plants.

    In one of my books, I talk about a longshamanic diet I did with San Pedro, andhow, during an ayahuasca ceremony tomeet its spirit, it introduced me to anumber of other plants that it wanted meto diet, including tobacco, rose, and theAmazonian plants jergon sacha and chancapiedra.

    In this way the shaman becomesknowledgeable about a range of plants andtheir healing uses, and has a guide thatthey can call upon, to lead them to thosethey might need, in order to heal anypatient who comes to them - even if theshaman is unfamiliar themselves with thepatient’s illness, or the plants they mightneed to help in the healing.

    And the last level of working with plantsis that the plant is a ‘gateway to the void.’

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  • HOOP ISSUE 101 2018www.sacredhoop.org 8

    We can learn the deepest secrets throughworking with them.

    Perhaps the greatest teaching of theseplants is that there is nothing to theuniverse except what we make of it. In thissense, we are God ourselves.

    Healing then often comes back to thesame message: that there is no absolutereality, that our life stories are exactly that -stories - and that the first essential forpositive change is to make new choices,based on greater awareness, and a decisionto embrace love, rather than fear. None ofwhich is impossible for a God.

    Do you think that modern psychedelicdrugs like LSD, MDMA etc, can have aplace in modern shamanism?

    The Mazatec curandera Maria Sabina triedsome of Albert Hofmann’s syntheticPsilocybin once, and declared that therewas no difference between it and hermushrooms; and the American biochemistand pharmacologist Alexander Shulgin dida lot of good therapeutic work usingMDMA, which is effectively syntheticPeyote or San Pedro.

    Personally however, I think there is adifference between synthetic drugs andnatural plants, but useful results can stillcome from using synthetic drugs.

    What is of no use to anyone in thiswork however, is science. Science is ourfavourite new religion which - perverselyand paradoxically - asks us to accept itsfindings as a matter of faith, and treat itand its ministers - the research-fundedwhite-coated priests of our age - as almostlittle dictator-gods themselves. The entirehistory of science is one of arrogant know-it-all dabblers, and dangerous interferers innature, being proven wrong, wrong, andwrong, over and over again.

    When science enters, soul leaves, and noeffect of value results.

    The psychiatrist Rick Strassman wrote inhis book ‘The Spirit Molecule’ how hebecame disillusioned with DMT a substancehe was doing research into, because despitepeople’s reports of major insights, theynever did anything to actually change theirlives.

    But then, when you look at the settingfor their experience, is it any surprise thatthey got so little from it. A clinical,emotionless injection of drugs in a sterilehospital setting, administered by soullessautomata-humans, who did nothing toguide or support their ‘subjects.’ I can tellyou that people who come to myayahuasca ceremonies - unlikeStrassman’s DMT experiments - go on tomake all sorts of positive changes to theirlives - they write books, open healing

    centres, give up crappy jobs and sadrelationships. And I’m not unique in that.

    Precisely because shamans are notscientists, their participants benefit. Somodern psychedelics, yes, maybe they canhave a role in healing and therapy, butscience can’t - ever under anycircumstance.

    Can shamanic practice coexist, and orcompliment, modern western medicineand vice versa or are they mutuallyexclusive?

    Western medicine certainly has a lot tolearn from shamanic plant medicine, butthe reverse isn’t true because Westernmedicine has next-to-nothing of value toteach.

    For example, around 80% of Westernpharmaceutical medicines are derived fromrainforest plants, yet we have so far onlyinvestigated about 3% of plant specieswhich live in the forest.

    One thing modern science could dothen, to advance our knowledge, is to stopapplying itself to the destruction of theforest, and instead make an inventory ofplants that can heal.

    That’s about the limit of what I’d ask it todo. Every time pharmaceutical science getsinvolved with plants - developing a new pillfrom a jungle species for example - it endsup with a watered-down version, whichexists not to cure anything, but to create asteady flow of still-suffering customers. Thatis the fundamental proposition of Westernmedical science - create customers notcures. There is nothing useful that it canpossibly add to the curing knowledge of areal healer like a shaman.

    Are there limits to what a shaman andshamanic plant medicine can heal?

    I don’t think so. Or, rather, since all healing- even modern hospital medicine -ultimately comes down to faith healing,exactly what can be achieved depends onhow much belief, passion and intentionyou are prepared to invest in the medicineand your own recovery from illness.

    But, for example, I have seen peoplecured of cancer from drinking San Pedro, aswell as diabetes, paralysis, MS, ME,Parkinson’s… pretty much you name it.

    Then there are stories like this one... Idecided to go from Mexico to Perubetween December 2014 to January2015, but just before I got onto the plane Iheard that one of my co-workers -Fernanda, a 23 year woman - neededemergency heart surgery within the nextfour months, or she would die. But the

    surgery would cost $350,000 US, whichneither her, or her family could afford. Andon top of this, the Mexican peso had justhad a big depression, compared to the USdollar, so for Mexicans that was a really bigsum of money. And yet, it was a matter oflife or death.

    I was really concerned, but I wasn’tsure if I could do anything. I knew I had tohelp, but I didn’t know how. So I took myplane to Cusco and I drank San Pedro,and I literally talked to God.

    I felt an immense kind of joy, anorgasmic one, during our conversation. Godtold me that I had to make a fundraiser forFernanda, that this situation would also bean exceptional gift for me, and that all thejoy I was feeling in that moment wouldremain with me during the whole process offundraising.

    I got pretty scared, I felt overwhelmedand very dizzy, but then God told me to havefaith in myself.

    But He also told me that I had free willand could say “No” to His proposal, and Iwas about to, but then He told me “Forthis cause I will put an Army of Angels atyour service; many people will embrace thecause because of you, and the army ofangels who are about to come into yourheart, if you open it now and say “Yes.”

    I ran to Mark - the shaman at theceremony where I drank the San Pedro -and told him what had happened, and thatI just couldn’t do what San Pedro and Godwere asking of me. He just said; “Well,sorry, but if San Pedro tells you to dosomething you must do it!”

    Then I looked up, and I saw an army ofangels commanded by four bigarchangels. They were dancing in the skyand flying towards me. So I said “Yes.”Then I began to panic at my commitmentto God, and I asked myself a lot ofquestions, like how should I start? Whatshould I do? Because I had never raisedmoney for any cause before.

    Through San Pedro, God answered me.He told me to keep my eyes and heartopen, and that ideas would pop into myhead, amazing people would enter my lifeand help make it happen, and the army ofangels would remain with me until March20; and on that day I would have all themoney that Fernanda needed.

    So I got back to Mexico, excited but stillwith no idea how to start.

    I told some friends - Michelle, Georgina,Macarena and Rosy - what had happened,and invited them to help me, and withoutblinking an eye, or asking any questions theyall said “Yes.” I understood then that theywere the four archangels I had seen on SanPedro day, and they were leading otherangels. Yet out the four of them, only

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    Macarena knew about fundraising.The first days were difficult, we didn’t

    know how to start; no one in the campaignknew how to do it. So on January 22, Iwent and saw Fernanda, and I took apiece of paper and wrote a prayer on it. Iwrote: ‘I want her heart to keep beating.Please help us.’

    I asked a girl from our office to take ourpicture with the sign, and the girl wasreally moved, so after taking our picture,she said she also wanted a picture withFernanda, and that sign to put on herFacebook page.

    So that’s how everything began,suddenly all the office was taking pictureswith my sign and Fernanda and uploadingthem on their Facebook pages to help usraise money. That was the first time I sawthe army of angels in action.

    Then, one day, we got a phone callfrom an important guy in Mexico who musthave seen this. He promised us a bigdonation, but he wasn’t able to meet us fordays, and I became so disappointed andtired after going every day to his home totry to see him.

    We were already in February, and Godhad told me in the San Pedro ceremonythat the army of angels would only remainwith me until March 20, and the campaignwould end then; and so far we had onlyraised $22,929 out of the $350,000 weneeded.

    That night I cried in anguish, and Idared to tell God: “I am out now, I’mdone!”

    But, once more, on the next day I wentagain to try to see the guy who hadpromised to give a big donation, saying tomyself all the time; “This is the last time youtry with this guy”.

    And guess what, it really was the lasttime, because on that day he saw me, andhe gave me $60,000!

    But the most exciting thing of that daywas still about to happen. After giving methe donation, he invited me into one of hisfavourite rooms. It turns out that he was anangel collector. The room he showed mewas a beautiful room with figures of angelseverywhere; archangels, angels, cherubs,on tables, on walls, on shelves, everywhere.

    The experience of the San Pedroceremony in Peru came back to me, and Ijust felt the same amazing joy again. It wasa pretty clear message to me: “There is anarmy of angels behind you; do not giveup!”

    So a lot of angels came into thecampaign, we called them ‘urban angels.’There were still some very difficult days, aswe all felt the stress. There were fights,tears and dramas, but every time I nearly

    said again; “I am really done with this now,I am out!,” God sent me help.

    National TV shows came knocking tointerview Fernanda about her condition,newspapers got interested. One time anational paper actually used the headline‘An Army of Angels are doing everythingthey can to save Fernanda.’ I told nobodyabout the army of angels that I saw inCusco, so it was clearly another messagefor me. Keep going.

    Then God sent me another gift. Afterthree really bad days we got a call from theMexican rock band Molotov - my favouriterock band of all time. They joined thecause, and began doing concerts forFernanda, and from the stage they askedtheir fans to buy little heart-shapedkeyrings we’d had made. As an extra giftfor me, I even got to meet the band, myheroes, several times.

    In Cusco God had told me the truth,that during the campaign I would feel thesame orgasmic joy that I felt at the SanPedro ceremony, without even taking anysubstance at all. That feeling is so amazingthat I do not have words in English or inSpanish to describe it.

    Then came March 20, and just as Godhad promised, we made it. In fact we crossedthe goal and on that day we had $361,214US! Fernanda had her surgery and she isalive. Her last words to me before she flew tothe Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit medical practiceand medical research group based inRochester, Minnesota were; “You are asuperhero, thank you for saving my life.”

    I felt it for real then - because I reallydid. Me, I had saved someone’s life. Herfather’s words to me were: “Thank you forbeing a sister and mother to my child.”

    Other than doctors very few peoplehave the grace to save a human life, and Iam so grateful to San Pedro, because itshowed me how I could, and it cleanedand revived my relationship with God onsuch a level that I could trust in His plansfor me and follow His instructions.

    Nowadays, many of us have lost ourconnection to God, to our Mother Earth andeven to our humanity. For me, San Pedrowas the key to opening the door to wheremy humanity was hidden, and to realisingthat I am an important piece in the world. If Ilisten to God, and the divine, in myself I willbe free, and infinitely happy - as I am rightnow. San Pedro showed me that nothing isimpossible.

    What are the potential dangers ofshamanic plant medicine?

    In general, pretty much zero, unless you’rean idiot.

    In 2005, for example, the British MedicalJournal warned that ‘in England alone,reactions to drugs which led tohospitalisation, followed by death, areestimated at 5,700 a year, and couldactually be closer to 10,000.’

    By comparison, between the year 2000and August 2004, there were just 451reports of adverse reactions to herbalpreparations, and only 152 were consideredserious. And there were no fatalities.

    That statistic equates to just 38problem cases a year resulting from plantmedicines, compared to perhaps 10,000deaths a year as a result of acceptedmainstream medicine. Reviewing thesefigures the London Independentnewspaper concluded that, ‘Herbs may notbe completely safe - as critics like to pointout - but they are a lot safer than drugs.’

    The situation in America is very similar.There, orthodox medical treatment itself isnow the leading cause of death, ahead ofheart disease and cancer. Infections,surgical mistakes and other medical harmcontributes to the deaths of 180,000hospital patients a year and another 1.4million people are seriously hurt by theirhospital care.’ [Consumer Reports online:www.consumerreports.org].

    Other studies reveal that adverse drugreactions are under-reported by up to 94percent, since the US government doesnot adequately track them. Death, as aresult of plant healings, meanwhile remainnext to zero.

    With teacher plants specifically, as longas you approach them in a grown-up andresponsible way, they are as safe as anyplant. In fact, in perhaps the last five yearswe have heard of just three deathsconnected to ayahuasca ceremonies inEcuador and Peru, and, while themainstream media like to have a frenzywith stories like these’ and to dwell on thedangers and the exoticism, three deaths infive years is nowhere near 10,000 deathsa year from pharmaceutical drugs, which iswhere the real danger lies.

    What is your opinion of the modernrecreational use of shamanic plantmedicine?By definition, there can never be arecreational use of shamanic plantmedicine; there can only be a recreationaluse of drugs.

    In plant medicine ceremonies a numberof factors are at play: the ceremonialspace and the healing energy invokedthere; the ceremonial setting and context -which focuses the mind on healing - thehealing work, and the curanderismoperformed by the shaman; and also ofcourse the medicine plant you take.

  • All of these contributes to the healing,and is part of the respectful, responsiblecontext to healing that is created. It goeswithout saying that this is quite differentfrom dropping a few tabs at a party.

    There may be nothing wrong with thelatter either, if that’s what you’re into, and,once again, you take responsibility for yourexperience and well-being, but it won’t be amedicine ceremony, so there’s no pointpretending it is, or that you’re doinganything very useful or sacred.

    Has the role of the shaman changed inour modern society and if so, how?

    Well, firstly I’m making a distinction, whenwe talk about the role of the shaman,between ‘authentic shamans’ and ‘coreshamans’ who are generally a wishy-washy, weekend warrior brand of ego-ledspiritual interference, which hasunfortunately come to be seen as ‘modernshamanism,’ when it isn’t.

    In terms of authentic shamanism, theprinciples of healing haven’t changed at all- shamanism is, and always will be, faithhealing in the true sense of the word.

    But the application of those healingprinciples - their method of delivery, if youlike - may have changed to make thathealing felt and understood. In otherwords, as the modern world becomesmore faithless - and more diseased as aconsequence - the shaman must dowhatever new thing is required toreactivate faith in his patients andreconnect them to God.

    But then, shamanism has always beena creative force, which works uniquely witheach individual patient, so maybe at itsroot, shamanism hasn’t really changed inthe modern world, not at its basis.

    Can shamanic plant medicine changeour modern world for the better?

    Absolutely not; it can do nothing at all.One of the first lessons you receive

    from the plants is about responsibility: thatno-one is going to do it for you, so youneed to stand on your own two feet andget it done for yourself.

    Be the change. No-one is interested inyour cry-baby whining either, when thingsdon’t go your way - not even as youimagined - you either get busy living andcreating the world you want, or, well,you’re just getting in the way of others andwasting oxygen your kids could be using.

    So it’s like this… plant medicine can,and will, expand your mind, give you freshideas, bring you beneficial insights,potentials and possibilities, but the thing is,

    a good idea never did anything to changethe world.

    A potential remains a potential, and apossibility a possibility until you make astand and do something practically in thereal world, with everything you’ve beenshown and taught. So no, plant medicinecan’t change our modern world at all. Youcan.

    If there was one piece of advice youcould give to someone beginningalong the shamanic path, what wouldit be?You must do this with commitment, withintegrity and authenticity. The shamanicworld - or what passes for it these days -already has enough con men, jokers andcore idiots; we don’t need any more. Whatwe do need is new, creative thinkers andgenuine healers who are prepared to put inthe work.

    The late Ross Heaven was a shaman, psychologist,author, healer, workshop facilitator and presenter.From early childhood he trained extensively in theshamanic, transpersonal and psycho-spiritualtraditions. From the late 1990s he apprenticed tothe Ayahuasca healing traditions of the PeruvianAmazon, and the San Pedro traditions of theAndes. He also working with the curanderos ofMexico, the houngans [shaman-priests] of Haiti,and with other indigenous shamans.He wrote over 20 books, as well as many articlesfor Sacred Hoop magazine and others, about onshamanism, empowerment, plant medicines,teacher plants and healing.Ross passed into spirit in January 2018.

    Brett Lothian is an Australian ethnobotanist,researcher and writer. He is a regular contributor toNew Dawn Magazine, Dragibus Magazine and is theauthor of the Tricho Serious Ethnobotany blog. He isalso the creator and administrator of ‘The San PedroTrichocereus Appreciation group’,the ‘Peyote Appreciation group’ and the‘Ethnobotany Appreciation group,’all on Facebook.

    RISING FROM THEEARTH LIKE MAIZE

    The Mayan Way ofSelf-Realisation

    Geral Blanchard withVictoria Murcielago

    There are several profound and enduringconcepts which always find their way intoany discussion about the Maya worldview.They include: the foundational ideas ofseeds, and the importance of maize, thecardinal directions, multiple cosmicdimensions, honouring the ancestors, unitywith the divine, and the mathematicalordering of the universe(s), with a relatedcyclical perspective of sacred time thatoverlays ordinary time.

    In ancient Mayan cosmology, a person’sbirthdate is the starting point from whicheveryone can unravel our very personaldivine story, whether we are from Antiguaor Atlanta.

    Our birth date determines who we are,and our preordained destiny. In this way,Nature can be understood as a mathematicalgenius. She works from a complex set ofmathematical computations. It is a science ofHer own, far superior to anything humanscould ever contrive, even with the help ofcomputers. The origins of the rules are notfully known. They help to partially unravelmiracles humans can’t fully comprehend.What remains is an elegant and enticingspiritual mystery.

    OUR SEED AGREEMENTThe Holy Seed that rests inside us has acountenance before it is born. An identitytoo. It comes with a life script that iswritten into our spiritual make-up, onewhich can be announced and interpretedfrom the day of our first breath.

    The natural beauty of who we are meantto be is present and, much like the seed ofa plant, we open to the world on that firstday, we begin to sprout, and start on thepath created for us by the Divine.

    This natural expression constitutes oursoul. Once our life’s purpose is understood- and if we are faithful to its meaning - wecan embark on a soul-making journey.

    All of us enter the world with anunspoken agreement with Nature -a sacredtrust - to live out this divine expression, orpurpose, to its full fruition. In doing so, weare rewarded with a sense of wellbeing, afeeling of being at home, wherever we maybe, or whoever we are with.

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  • Following this path never requires us toinvent an image of ourselves, or to reinventourselves with changing circumstances.There is an authentic part of us encodeddeep inside awaiting our full discovery.Who we are is good. After all, it is divinelyinspired and therefore perfect.

    It is beautiful, or as Victoria would say,“Delicious.”

    Along with revelations computed by thedaykeepers, Victoria believes there is anobligation to develop into an even moreadvanced being - to personally transformourselves.

    It is important to avoid repeating thesame way of life, the same patterns.Knowledge is gleaned from the sacredcalendar [Cholq’ij], which form 260energies - guided by Fire, Water, Earthand Air - and the pulsing of our blood,which is used to guide our growth.

    With this information, we can advanceto new and higher spiritual dimensions.

    This process is the evolution of the soul,or the growing of the seed. It is an ongoingsacred process, and every person, at thecentre of the cosmos, is responsible fordoing their part to keep creation going. Thisisn’t simply about self-centred growth asmuch as it is about a far broaderperspective - about growing the universe.

    The seed can be regarded as aneverlasting spiritual force. With humanbirth and death this spirit - or energy -which moves through us. It unites us withall sentient beings, whatever their formthat appears as matter.

    From this Mayan perspective, the rocksupon this earth are kin to the water, thewind, the animals, and to you and me. Justwhen we feel lonely and alienated, a walkin the forest, a dip in the ocean, a glanceat the evening sky, all can foster acomforting feeling of belonging, andhealing too. Simply by looking upward,many of our small personal problems caneasily feel insignificant and fleeting in thegrand scheme of things.

    The Maya are intensely focused onenergy and time, and they remind us theuniverse has plenty of both. In the grandscheme of the universe, there will alwaysbe time for personal attunement, whetherin this dimension or the next.

    We are not to waste this existence. It isimportant to always use our knowledge tomotivate personal growth. For each of us,it matters not where we are on ourevolutionary path, it simply matters that weare on our path, otherwise, like beanswithout water, we wither on the vine.

    Maya belief is that we are integral andimportant co-creators of this existence,and finding our place in this interlocking

    energy system is vital to the sustenance ofall life forms. After all, everything inexistence is the child of stardust, thereforeall of us have arisen from a sharedheritage.

    With these insights we are left towonder, who and what is the father andthe mother who spawned all thismagnificence?

    THE SACRED TREE OF LIFEThe shamans and daykeepers of thisancient culture serve many functions.These men and women explain theoverriding order of the universe, theintricate patterns that we are intertwinedin.

    Shamans organise knowledge, blendingthe old and the present-day, to facilitate acooperative alignment of all the energysystems.

    From atop the temples, on 2-3000 yearold pyramids, their predecessorsmeticulously observed and recorded thevast ordering of life, the unfolding ofpredictable patterns.

    When Mayan shamans conductceremonies, it is often at volcanoes -depicting a fiery birth from the underworld -or within ancient ruined cities, such asIximche, where Victoria frequently leadshealings.

    Visiting these locations one will noticeisolated trees towering above largemounds of earth, often with sacred altarsat the base. This signifies what Mayanscall ‘The Tree of Life,’ a portal forcommunion with the divine. It symbolisesthe centre of the universe, or the naval ofthe world.

    Whether this is understood from the oldteachings of the Lakota Holyman NicholasBlack Elk, or from the Mayans of today, thesymbols are instructive and far ranging.

    On one hand, the elevated treeepitomises the three worlds - upper,middle, and lower, and it also connects allthe worlds, all the dimensions - fromwhere life originates. It links the everydayworld around us, and the unlimited reachesof the cosmos.

    It can also be described - as Black Elkregarded Mount Harney in the Black Hills -as a place where everything is joined,everything converges; a place of unity,where all things exist without separation.

    In many respects the lofty trees andmountain tops can help modern peopleanchor themselves in deeper truths thanthe day-to-day trends of modernexistence.

    At the base of such a tree sacred altarsare artfully created by Mayan shamans.They symbolise and become the axis

    mundi, the Maya cosmic centre. Fromhere, the ancestors are summoned,intentions are presented, petitions areoffered, and a transformative fire is ignitedfor those who are in discomfort, anddesiring of blessings, or a life renewal.

    What we focus on, we can become, iswhat some refer to as a ‘destiny retrieval.’Swept away in ritual, vibrational change,brings about a restoration of spirit, health,and of overall wellbeing.

    The high-rising tree points skyward,while firmly rooted in the earth below. Itcan be regarded as the stable central axisof our world, and it reminds us that we areall fruit of the same tree. Other culturessymbolically liken the tree trunk to a spinalcord with energy moving along its main lineof physical support.

    People - like trees - carry afundamental kundalini energy up and downtheir spines. This transmission, whileinvisible, can become apparent when wequiet our lives and meditate.

    Still other worldviews regard thesepillaring trees as suggestive of an innerworld that looks beyond the traditional fourcardinal direction of north, south, east, andwest, and directs us inward - the fifthdirection.

    Being at the centre of the universe isnot to be interpreted in the Western ideaof being singularly important. Unlike ourchants at sporting events, we are not‘Number One,’ rather, all of us areessential parts of a unified whole, notranked by importance, but equally valuedfor reverent service to a greater good.

    With our outward signs of diversity, themetaphorical tree reminds us that internallywe are individual branches arising from thesame life source, subtle variants of asingle, unified creative force.

    When a Mayan shaman makesreference to centrality, they are usuallyreferring to being consistently rooted in -and faithful to - the sustaining authorityof this ancient knowledge. Yet, on thatsame day, the shaman may be seentyping their thoughts into a computer,and emailing them to a friend, absorbingand utilising the gifts of today’s timeperiod too.

    Beyond the sacred, a shaman can be asfluid as water. Similarly, with the cyclicalpassage of time another thing remainssteady, namely humility, which can functionlike a moral compass. The shaman has onefoot planted in the past (which cyclically alsoexists in the present) and another positionedin the shifting dynamism of this modern era.

    When a fire is lit at the base of thesacred tree - the centre of the universe - it

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  • is the symbolic equivalent of reigniting theoriginal first fire that sparked all existence- what today’s scientists often refer to asthe ‘Big Bang.’

    Aromatic smoke rises to the heavens,connects with the unseen Otherworld, andpleases the ancestors.

    Ceremony brings spirits together and,paradoxically, ‘grounds us in the sky.’ Saidanother way, the sky is like a consolingblanket laid upon the earth. Our smallworries dissolve into insignificance whenpositioned inside this vast and eternalworldview. How can I worry about this year’staxes while situated in the sublime?

    MYSTERY OF THE MAYAN CROSSThe Mayan Cross symbolises the fourdirections that intersect at the centre ofour being, which is the fifth and finaldirection.

    East is represented by the colour redand the energy of fire, west by black andthe energy of the earth and minerals, northby white and the energy of air or wind, andsouth by yellow with energy coming fromwater.

    Although unspoken, two additionaldirections are incorporated, by lookingskyward to the heavens, and bysupplicating ourself. while bowing our headto Pachamama and kissing the altar.

    At the centre of the cross is our day ofbirth and below the centre point is ourdestiny sign, which points us in thedirection of growth.

    Above it, are the conception sign, theforces of energy and the ancestralimprints, which influenced our conception.

    To the right are the physical or materialsigns and, to the left, our emotional andspiritual elements.

    Combining the five signs, it can bedivined what our personal strengths andweaknesses are, those which can beencountered on our path of spiritualevolution.

    If we wander away from ourresponsibilities to Creation, and ourcommunity, a higher force will likely comealong and reset our course -perhapssomewhat agonisingly.

    A person’s individual sign is called anawal. There are 20 such signs. It willhave an energy force attached, and with itthere will be a guardian animal.

    The assigned nawal provides a directionfor the life purpose we will pursue - suchas doctoring, farming, or matters of justice- and additional behaviours we shouldemploy to develop ourselves further.

    RITUAL - INFUSING WITH SOULTo continue the analogies, the Mayacosmovision is about time, the therepetitions and cycles of life energies.

    A healthy life is one which is lived inharmony with the larger rhythmssurrounding us. Falling into disharmony isthe same as falling ill.

    Similarly, rituals that are embedded inceremonies are enacted cyclically,repetitively. These sacred activities carryancient time forward into today’s world.And we can find comfort in theirpredictability.

    When someone feels ‘out of sorts,’ aceremony can be orchestrated by ashaman. They are the organiser ofceremonies, and the carpenter of ritualswhich return much needed balance.

    Whether seeking a cleansing or ahealing, being immersed in ceremonialaromas, ritual chants, and the transfixinglight of the fire, people are more easilytransported to new physical and emotionaldestinations.

    In this way, it can be said that ritualscreate magic in the moment. Rituals mayalso produce altered states, which lift usup and remove us - at least momentarily -from the discomfort and confusion of oureveryday existence. They reenergiseparticipants and change internal vibrations,so that a shift in wellbeing can occur.

    Rituals also reconnect us to our past,reminding us of the life supporting andenduring cycles that are integral to us.

    An altar must be infused with soul andtradition before a ceremony cancommence. Preparation requires that weimagine a three tiered foundation uponwhich we are about to conduct aceremony.

    At its base is the sacred. All shamanicactivity must be spiritual and reverent,filled with prayer and petitions. Never is itabout show or motivated by money.Otherwise no good results will beforthcoming.

    The second foundational block isknowledge. Shamans provide insightsgathered from cultural and ancestralinsights, the teachings of elders andmentors, personal readings, dreams, andtheir’ own silent intuition. This collectivewisdom further energises the sacredspace.

    Finally, and just as important, there is anartistic element. Beauty and sweetness arealways incorporated.

    This may entail the careful arrangementof various coloured candles, copal resinincense, flowers, cigars, liquor or cologne,and sweetness - often in the form of rawsugar, spices, chocolate, nuts, and seeds.

    It is customary to offer three kisses toevery one of the dozens of candles beingplaced on the fire, and prayerful words canalso provide additional warmth andsweetness.

    Combining all these elements is notonly essential and proper, as Victoria says,it is should also be artistically delicious.

    Before ceremony a female shaman willadorn herself in her finest formal clothing.She dresses in colourfully woven attire thatmay display symbolic embroidery revealingbirth signs, or hold other significant meaning- perhaps the sign of lightning, a serpent, orthe jaguar.

    A finely woven cortes - a belt which isyards-long - is cinched around their waist;and a headband is added, just as theceremony commences. This too may havemeaning hidden in designs that are foldedinside.

    THE DEAD ARE NOT DEADAll people are an echo of an earlier time inhistory, from the time of creation onward.Life never ends, it is ongoing. After all, weare energy. Even plants will compost andtransform into new life. No person fullydies, or as one Maya tried to clarify, “The‘dead’ are not dead.” A two million year oldperson still lives in all of us in an unbrokenchain of energetic life that some callgenetic memory.

    We continuously manifest energymasked as matter. It is as if we are tinypackets of energy, dropped into the vastocean of life. We continuously createripples which extend outward, until the nexthuman version of life arrives and does thesame. Our prior way of existing, and ourfuture way of being, is one never-endingform of life, intermingled with all otherforms of vibrant spirits emanating fromCreation.

    Those who have come before us,forever remain our teachers. Some peoplerefer to the ancestors as the ‘pool ofsouls.’ They permeate this reality. Theirspirit is always carried forward and is alivein us, but periodically needs to be renewedin ceremony.

    The wisdom of the ancestors - ifsummoned, respected, and understood - canadvance our personal evolution. All of us, ourhuman and animal predecessors, and ourincarnations of them, have fallen from thesky like rain, and have also risen from theearth like maize.

    All, in a cosmically attuned manner,reside in the middle world in an ongoingmultilayered existence.

    If we forget who we are at the deepestand most ancient levels, we will wonderaimlessly in the modern world. So,connecting with the ancestors is a way ofrealising, sustaining, and following the truedirection of our energetic life. Ourremembrance of the ancestors brings asacred quality to this current moment inthe life cycle. In so doing, we reconnectwith the grand and the grandeur, and feel

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    a consoling embrace. It is the priestly shaman who serves as

    a mediator between the spirit world of theancestors and this Middle World existence.It is their skill at propitiating the ancestralspirits and channelling their energy whichgives the shaman a unique role in theMayan culture. Additionally, they interpretancestral wisdom to her people.

    INDIGENOUS HEALINGMartin Prechtel, the author of many bookson the Maya, has helped us realise a moreaccurate interpretation of the term‘indigenous.’ Its Latin roots, ‘Inde’ and‘genous’, are understood to mean “inside” and“born,” not simply an idea of geography.

    When individuals are healed - at asacred altar in Guatemala, or apsychotherapy office in Wyoming -we mustunderstand that what is most important isour natural or indigenous soul. Itscosmological origins fills everyone withbeauty at the time of birth.

    This soul makes them a part of the‘sacred whole,’ a place of belonging,sweetness, and love. Trauma can defilethat natural feeling of greatness,ceremonial healing can restore it.

    The Mayan way of understanding what isnative, takes us back to an ancient creativeforce which brought each of us into thisworld, as a small, but magnificent part.

    The duty of healers is to helptraumatised individuals return to theiroriginal sweet beauty, a beauty which mayhave been temporarily stolen from them.

    A soul retrieval can occur at the sacredaltar where a powerful force of goodnessovertakes hurt and fosters a homecomingto our original indigenous splendour.

    Explaining the Mayan way, the authors are humbledin the knowledge that there are manyconceptualisations of this ancient cosmovision. Wedon’t pretend to believe our description is thedefinitive one.What we do assert, however, is that Mayanphilosophy is a proud tradition; a cultural way ofbeing in the greater world that extends far beyondmere self. It is not a religion. It is a way of personalevolution.

    Geral Blanchard, LPC, is an indigenous-inspiredpsychotherapist serving people in a private practice.He is the author of several books on indigenoushealing including Ancient Ways and Ancient Ethicsfor Today’s Healers. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa,and can be contacted at [email protected]

    Victoria Murcielago is a Mayan daykeeper orceremonialist - what many people call a shaman.She lives in the Highlands of Guatemala in thecommunity of Tecpan, near the site of the ancientruins of Iximche, where she conducts many of herhealing [email protected]

    DOLLS AND RITUAL

    The Use of Human Effigies inShamanism and SorceryNicholas Breeze Wood

    Many shamanic, and other magicaltraditions across the world use dolls of onekind or another in their practices. Their useis ancient, with evidence for their usegoing back at least 3,000 years to ancientGreece, China and India. Examples arefound in most other cultures too, such asthe ancient Egyptian ushabti - magicaldoll-like figures buried in tombs alongsidethe dead, who come alive in order to actas servants in the afterlife.

    Magical dolls are well known in westernculture too, and have a long history in manyplaces in Europe, but more recentlyCaribbean voodoo dolls have become thestuff of popular fiction and horror stories,and so many people now think of magicaldolls as being a primarily Afro-Caribbeantradition.

    In Britain such dolls are called poppets,which comes from a medieval word for smallchild, and the word has a double meaning -as it not only refers to the magical doll, butis also a term of endearment for a youngchild, mostly a young girl.

    A doll may represent a person or a deityor spirit. When it represents a person, itmay be made to help protect them, help intheir healing, or help in their cursing. Inshort, a doll, in this form, is a surrogate,representing the person for whom themagic is intended, in lieu of the personthemselves.

    When it represents a spirit or a deity itis an idol or fetish figure.

    Idolatry - the worship of idols - has abad name because of strong prohibitionsfound within the three dominant Abrahamicreligions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism -but I would argue that idolatry is importantand natural, part of the animistic mindset,which I think human beings are hardwiredwith.

    DOLLS AS ACTUAL PEOPLEProbably the most important form of dollfound in shamanistic and animisticpractices around the world, are dolls whichrepresent ancestors. These are verycommon, and they can take the form ofsmall amulets, right up to large statues.

    The modern West tends to see largefigures as sculptures, pieces of art, whichare dead, we have a ‘dead-matter-thinking’ culture and so it’s natural for usto think a statue representing a dead

    person is just a lifeless image - a ‘keepsake’ of some sort, or a figure toremember and honour them.

    For most indigenous cultures howeverthat is not the case, as, of course, a carvingis ‘alive’ and ‘awake’; it ‘is’ the person, or atleast acts as a focus for that person, beinggiven offerings and taken care of, as itguards and advises or watches over itsdescendents.

    In Mongolian shamanism, such a figure iscalled an ongon. These are figures - often,but not always, in human form - whichrepresent important shamanic spirits, mostoften ancestral shamans within theshamanic lineage.

    The shaman will be taken over by thesespirits during a shamanic trance, and thespirit - also called an ongon [plural: ongod]will come into the shaman’s body and advisemembers of their community who ask forinformation, or give healings using theshaman’s body as their own.

    A physical ongon is a house for theongon spirit to live inside of, and once madethey are ritually brought alive and the spiritinvited to live within them. Then the ongodis given offerings and cared for in culturallyprescribed ritualistic ways. These ongonfigures - and the whole concept of ongods -is a vitally important aspect of Mongolianand Siberian shamanism.

    The ritual clothing of a shaman can bethought of as being an ongon - or acollection of ongods - itself, as each part isalive and contains a spirit helper, as are alltheir other ritual objects, such as their drumand drum beater.

    The same thing can be found in TibetanBuddhism in a slightly more formalisedmanner. The statues of the Buddha or anyof the beings of the Buddhist cosmology -such as protector beings - are also seen asbeing alive and hiding the quality - the spiritor essence - of the being they represent.

    When a statue is put on an altar, it isnot a statue in the Western sense, it isalways empowered and ‘brought alive’ in aritual way, by the recitation of mantras andspecific spell-like prayers, and by theofferings made to the being - which is nowsitting on the altar.

    DOLLS AND MAGICAL WORKThere are many ways in which dolls areused for magical work - both helpful andharmful - across the world. Knowledge ofhealing is also knowledge of harming, thetwo are the different faces of the samecoin and if the one is done, the other canbe done equally easily. Anyone who knowshow to heal could - if they so wished -instead seek to harm someone, theimportant thing is the intent of the practice.

    There are two main ways of workingwith dolls, one is to bring something to the

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    person they represent, and the other is totake away something from it.

    In the next article in this issue of SacredHoop, the Korean shaman Jennifer Kimdescribes a doll tradition from her culture,where a person’s illness is taken up in adoll, which is then ritualistically removedfrom the sick person, so the illness leavesthe person and goes into the doll.

    I recently took part in a similar ceremonyperformed by a Nepalese shaman friend.During this ceremony we each made smallclay dolls which represented us. Once thedoll was made, we filled it with our hair andsome toe nail clippings, and then our illness,attachments, defilements, pollutions etc,were ceremonially put into these clay dolls.Once this had been done, the dolls were putout in the wilds - so the harmful spirits wouldattach themselves to the dolls and eat them- not us.

    After the ceremony was performed, andwhile the dolls were being taken outsideinto the wilds, we all had to change ourclothes, so we became ‘ a different cleanperson’. This was done to confuse theharmful spirits, and it is the reason whypeople wear black at funerals - an oldtradition, the black clothes confuse thespirits and stop them following the livingback to thier homes.

    These kind of ceremonies are oftencalled 'ransom ceremonies' and theyoccurs in lots of animistic and shamanictraditions. In many ceremonies the personnot only changes their clothes after thedefilements have been taken, they alsohave to change their name, so the harmfulspirits can not find them and continue todo harm. In effect they become ‘newpeople’ - and the ‘old person’ is left out inthe wilds to be eaten by the spirits whichare allowed to feed upon it.

    Here, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, aTibetan Bon lama, recalls a ransomceremony (Tib: glud) he witnessed,performed for his mother:

    ‘I remember when my mother had been illfor a long time we tried to heal her by meansof different medical treatments, but nothinghelped. We then performed several minorrites, but these did not work either.

    So finally we invited some shaman monks,who performed a big ransom rite, in whichthey prepared a large effigy of her (in fact,people often make life-size effigies), and wedressed it in her clothes, so it was very lifelikeand resembled her closely.

    Then we performed the ritual, offeringthe effigy in her place to repay her karmicdebt to the spirits.

    She was given a new name, YeheLhamo, in place of her old name, Drolma,as a kind of new birth into the world, andshe recovered from her illness.’

    The Korean, Nepalese and Tibetanpractices above, are all examples of takingaway something from the person.

    Ways of bringing something to theperson would include the archetypalsticking of pins into a wax figure to doharm, or other ways of bringing healing orprotection. Remember you needpermission from the person you areworking for - or in the case of a child theirparents - before you do this or any otherform of healing work. You don't just 'do it'on people - that's unethical.

    I use dolls quite often in my ownshamanic practice, and the way I do it issimple. It can easily be adapted by anyonereading this.

    To represent a person, I generally use asmall figure, either a small cut-out made ofleather, or a small bronze figure. The bronzefigures I use, of which I have several I keepspecifically fo