Shamanistic Journeying or Trance Meditations...What was your experience?

I haven’t taken a course in Shamanism, nor have I been on a trance meditation. The closest I can come is an experience drumming for a sweat, and my dance experiences. Both of these were guided, and guided with minimal instruction—just a few suggestions periodically during the course of the journey.

I never saw any visions or had any revelations of a substantial sort. In the drumming, I began to gain a sort of clearer vision after a while—a kind of noticing that I do not ordinarily experience. I distinctly remember the smell of the air, and the clarity of the leaves against the sky. I also had a feeling of drifting off into an aloneness, even though there were people all around.

Dancing is very different. There is is about people, and connecting with people. It is a process that tends to result in an experience of connection with everyone who is dancing. It is very powerful to be able to dance with everyone at the same time. It is like being the same creature and understanding the same things. Perhaps it is a mutual shamanistic journey? Hard to say.

I used to want to be a shaman of some kind, but I never ended up taking those courses. I forget why, although I do think it was because there seemed to be better ways of getting there at the time.

thank for your input @dabloon… all that was said sinks up perfectly to what i would expect a beginners experiences to be like…i had the same types of feelings…especially with the drumming…the drum is a hollow space…a circle…it represents and is a gate way through and to…the universal womb…the dark inwardness and solitude of the creative forces of the universe…this “going back to the source” of things can indeed clarify ones perception of the world around them…as well as their perception of their inner self (mind, spirit, intrinsic nature)...very good work for your first experiences…

as for the dancing,...this is also correlating well with the intrinsic nature of movement….it is getting in touch with our physical forms…and those sharing that similar experience…so feeling that mutual journeying is very natural

do you remember what your train of thought was like during these events??

Fuck no!

I had no thought. I was not in my verbal brain. My perception…. oh, I can’t begin to describe it, or remember it. All I know is that I was being, and in being, I was freed to do things that I can’t do. Or so I am told.

It was so blissful. I didn’t remember anything about who I was, nor was I aware of being a person or not being a person. None of it matters when you are in the eternal now. I was. I did. No plan. No agenda. Just doing what the moment required of me. Flowing. Flying. Stronger than I am. More stamina than I have. Oh it was glorious! I want to be there all the time. I want to forget my mundane existence. I want to live in that love and trust and beauty all the time.

But no. I have to come back here. Work. Responsibilities. Depression. Loss. I know this stuff is important but it is too hard sometimes. But I don’t have enough energy for it, and sometimes when I go there, I get recharged—for a few hours, anyway.

EXCELLENT!! most people i teach have a raging torrent of thought…great job my friend

but in regards to your want for that all the time…it is not only possible it is and enevitability

you do not HAVE TO do anything…it is always a choice…but a choice many people, even the most trained and powerful shamans and gurus, have a unbelievable time making

constancy…is the key…keep doing it..very often…the more and more you do it…the more and more time you spend in that state of existence and non existence…the more our consciousness and spirit are reconditioned to be there…and the easier it is to maintain…

if your work doesn’t WORK then fuck work…just introvert…one can sustain their physical form in this system while still being in this state…with a little effort and vast discipline

responsibility is not a obligation…the word is misunderstood by over half whom use it…break it down…it is the ABILITY to RESPOND…to any situation or circumstance with effective effortless action

Depression…to De-Press…the constant crippling in effective pressure system of society and psychology is one that is aimed toward crushing ones spirit into submission to keep those that build it and manipulate it in power…depression with in healthy cycles…can free one of that pressure…be sure not to fall into a spiral of self pity in your depression..as most do…but rather when being Depressed…use it as DEEP REST…its a play on words yes…but on that through phonetics can retrain the mind to utilizing the power of that state of mind

i sympathize with the lack of energy…but this method of introversion to gain peace, bliss, and more…requires the least energy and is more direct than any other path…

good luck my friend…don’t give up on your spiritual development due to the discouragement of the system your a slave to…

break your shackles…be free

Why thanks, Gurudev.

I have recently been exploring the idea of depression as a source of… something. Knowledge? Perception? Feelings? I feel it has to have something to teach me or it wouldn’t call me. So, deep rest it is. I can’t fight it. I know that. I am afraid to embrace it because I’m afraid I will go to that place you described. I have to be careful, though, because if I get mad at myself for pitying myself, I run on down without being able to appreciate the scenery. I assume this will make sense to you. Hmmm. Never thought of it that way—as a Shamanistic Journey of it’s own. We’ll see.

But I am a slave. A willing one. A slave to my ability to respond. Which I have had much training in. I have been practicing improvisation for years, and building it into more and more of my life. That is also a way of being present in the moment. Even when I am thinking thinking thinking.

And I have many attachments. I am attached to the deep rest. I am attached to love; to my feeling of unworthiness. I embrace them all—perhaps because they help me attend to my deep rest. In a way, it’s all nonsense. What is this “I” that is unworthy? But there I am.

good…keep digging…keep questioning the concepts we all blindly accept…and do not mis understand Responsibility and The Ability to Respond…still the in context you usd it just now it is flawed….

but enough out of me…if you’d like to hear more or have any questions feel free to contact me on here…on facebook…by the same name as here…just be sure to remind me of were we spoke…

namaste and keep it up…dont waver and keep excavating