Dreamtime Consulting

A lone figure, dressed in the vestments of his or her tribe, walks upon a lone hillside searching for an opening in the ground which meets a select criteria. In a secluded forest glade, a lone figure sits beneath a tall tree, while in another landscape a third figure enters a cave and sits in total darkness.

Such would be the start of a Shamanic journey, not just in the past but in our present day as well. Our ancestors, if Jung is to believed, left us not only their memories and images to instruct us in wisdom, but their experience on emotional levels as well. Perhaps one of the eldest of the legacies from our ancestors is that of the journey of the Shaman.

The Shamanic journey today is still very much alive and happily often in the very heart of our community. Perhaps the most striking and powerful element of the journey is that which has been given many different names over the course of time. "The dark night of the soul", "The Getheseme experience" and "The disassembling of the soul." Whatever name is assigned to the experience, the process is the same. It is one not only of great sorrow, but one of great beauty as well. It is the nature of the journey itself to be thus paradoxical, and is unalterable and unavoidable.

One of the experiences most useful to Shamans, is that of being disassembled by the inhabitants of the underworld, and then reassembled at which time the Shaman resumes his/her journey back to the community. This aspect of the journey came to be known in one way to me while I was taking some classes. Much to the dismay of the instructor, in a paper I described the role of counselor/psychologist as that of the Shaman.

The process of being disassembled is a core requirement for those who pursue the professions of counselor, psychologist or social worker. Before effective therapy can occur, the counselor/shaman must first go through the process themselves. A very vital element indeed for the process is not halted here, for the Shaman must return reassembled and become guide to those going through the same process. The Shaman is sought out not just for his reassembling ability, but for his disassembling ability as well. For the counselor, or others of his/her profession, therapy takes on new meaning and new dimensions once participation as a traveler has occurred. One can not visit the Elysian fields and return without bringing their influence back with them.

The instructor, unfortunately, did not see it as such and all but accused me of black magic. Had I known she worked for a traditional religious Hospital in Orange County, CA, perhaps I would not have made this analogy. But those who travel the underworld are not given foresight. To do so in this case would have invalidated my journey for as in all such travels part of the disassembling process is to encounter those who would not have the journey completed.

Pitfalls along the way are many. Dragons sent by the ego to consume the soul, dream killers who masquerade as masters lay in wait to stop the journey. Self imposed darkness brings the traveler to the brink of insanity, while bogs of dogma, and others, mire our footsteps.

To enter the realm of the Sidhe, or open the gates of paradise is not all illusion. There is beauty as well. To be transformed into the beauty of paradise, pain must first be touched by the water of the grail. The Shaman's expierence is not a solitary one, for it doesn't stop when the Shaman is assembled whole again. There a new phase of the journey begins and the Shaman becomes the person who both disassembles and reassembles the new fledging knight to seek the grail better equipped. A touch of insanity must also be present, for one to be so bold in such an undertaking in the first place could only mean sanity has taken on the quality of illusion.

As in the past, our Shamanic journey today can be just as horrific and just as beatific as those who go before them. The illusions spring from the same sources, but they change faces. Deep within us our souls call for the journey, for us to seek that entry point into the realms of healing and transformation.