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6 The Journal of Shamanic Practice VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2 FALL 2012 and was in fact a psychologist working in the psychiatric ward of a hospital in an industrial city. She possessed very little knowledge of shamanism. Two months later I received a letter from her telling me that that since the healing ceremony she had had absolutely no symptoms of the illness. She also wrote that during her holiday she had visited an uncle who was a guru. Her uncle had giver her exactly the same message as the python to seek her spiritual path. My intention at the start of the work had been to remove the spirit of the ill- ness. The cure in fact was to introduce the patient to the source of her power. The Spirits At this point it is necessary that we consider the Spirits. In the past I have often described spirits as being bundles of the energypower of the Universe that present themselves to us in ways we can understand if we are so inclined. To this I would like to add Richard Nolls com- ment that Spirits can be thought of as ego-alien currents that step forward from the shadows of the not-I to introduce new information to the individual who cannot access this information while in an ordinary state of waking conscious- ness 198748-49. Spirits are certainly agents of change as many of us come to nd out and the change that the sha- man undergoes at initiation is certainly testimony of this. But most importantly the spirits are the agents of change that make shamanism possible no spirits no shamanism no shaman. I feel that this is especially relevant in this day and age where so many would try to make sha- manism socially acceptable and turn it into another form of psychotherapy. Of course it is a form of psychotherapy the oldest form that exists but that is only on the surface. Beneath the surface is the spiritual discipline and practice that comes from the teachings of the spirits. The Journey The shamans journey is often seen as a metaphor. This point of view is handy for those with no direct experience of the shamanic journey or who wish to explain or understand the shamanic jour- ney from within the narrow framework of our time and culture and indeed it is clear that the spirits often communicate with what we call metaphor. However the shamanic journey is much more than metaphor. The shaman has spirit helpers. The shaman works by asking them for help. The key to doing shamanic work is knowing how to ask for help knowing what to ask for being able to receive the help offered and being able to bring it back home with all its power and depth. The journey begins when the shaman steps into the spirit world and this generally happens while the shaman calls to his spirit helpers guides and teachers asking for their help as in for example this incantation of Ghindia a shaman of the Orochee of eastern Siberia I am a poor woman. There is nothing that would distinguish me from any other woman in our village. I was a poor orphan. I was a deserted girl. My parents died very early. I do not remember my mother. My youth was hard my childhood was without joy and my girlhood lonely. My relatives reared me I have always worked hard I was just a poor woman but thou noticed me. Thou powerful spirit chose me a poor woman. I became thy servant thy humble worker. Thou didst not dislike to enter into me. My body was pleasant for thee Thou didst choose me and I became a shamaness. Without thee I am only a poor woman. With thy assistance I am powerful. All people respect me all buseu lesser evil spirits fear me. I am thy servant thy messenger thy worker. I have entertained thee with my singing and dancing. My drum frightens thine enemies. The clanging of my belt scares them away . I have prepared food for thee. Thy favorite dishes are ready. Come my master I am ready to receive thee. Come come Lopatin 194041. Anthropos 353635455 The deeper the shaman journeys the closer he comes to the essence of his power the Power of the Universe both metaphorically and literally. Meta- phorically in that the journey takes him further and further away from the reality of his daily life where he started literally because the experienced separation be- tween him and the essential Power of the Universe dissolves until in some cases there is no separation. The World of the Spirits In accounts gathered from shamans in traditional cultures and experiences of shamanic practitioners in modern west- ern societies it is clear that the geogra- phy of the spirit world is extensive. These areas are often referred to as the Upper World Middle World and Lower World of the shamans universe and changes in them which can be horizontal verti- cal or multi-directional often seem to be synchronous with ever-deepening changes in the journeyers consciousness. Some practitioners feel that one travels to the Lower World to get power healing knowledge or primal energy to the Mid- dle World for practical advice and help and to the Upper World for answers to the great or existential questions which life gives us. These guidelines should be looked at as rules of thumb as in many traditional societies there are shaman specialists who journey only to certain areas of the spirit world under specic circumstances and for specic reasons. The shaman experiences many shifts in consciousness during the journey. These shifts can occur with changes of location in the spirit world but there is no limit to the depth of the shamanic journey or to the changes of conscious- ness experienced by the journeyer. Embodying a spirit helper is a won- derfully empowering experience and involves a total reorientation. It can also happen that the shaman enters into the body of one of his spirit helpers and experiences the Universe from the spirit helpers being while at the same time maintaining her own awareness. With each of these changes the shamans expe- rience of consciousness expands. Some people even experience dying and death during the journey.