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January/February 2004 Cosmic
The Mystery and Magic of the Shamanic Journey

by Jan Engels-Smith

Jan Engels-Smith

Do you ever wonder... why "you" can’t obtain information from the "cosmos?" ...what it would be like to have a relationship with spirits or spiritual guides? ...how much you would appreciate having the ability to foresee the best answers to your questions?  These skills and talents – that sometimes seem so out of reach – are very available to you. In fact, they are your birthright. Each person is born with the ability to contact spirits. The method I use to make contact with the spirits is called the shamanic journey. In my experience, journeying is one of the most effective ways for finding the answers to my own personal questions, as well as to questions asked by others.

Foundational to shamanic study and healing, the journey has been used as a key passageway to other realms for centuries. Traditionally, a drum or rattle used to create a repetitious beat induces an altered state of consciousness. This altered state of consciousness allows you to magically transcend the limitations of the rational world with which we are so familiar. In the absence of these limitations, you are able to gather information concerning your own intentions, and also listen openly for what the spirits may want to express or reveal to you. A doorway magically opens to different dimensions and realities, providing a pathway through which you can connect to your power animals and spiritual teachers. These spiritual entities provide information that you can use to solve problems, gain clarity about situations, or simply use to develop your experience and understanding of the different worlds beyond. The journey allows you to integrate information and learn what needs to unfold in your life, so that you maximize your happiness and wholeness.

I have found the shamanic journey to be one of the richest sources of understanding and awareness in developing connections with the spirits. The journey often involves contact with power animals and other spirits who serve as messengers from Non-Ordinary Reality. The journey makes what appears to be unreal, real. We often sense that the spirit world exists; the journey allows us to know that other world.

I have experienced first hand, and witnessed the power instilled in those that learn the journey technique. When you identify your power animal and spiritual teacher and ask for their assistance, magic unfolds, and the restoration of your personal power and health becomes dramatically accelerated. Shamanism may be ancient in its origins, but its healing qualities, for self and others, remain effective even in this modern age. Through the rediscovery of these ancient ways, many people are experiencing feelings of wholeness, connection and empowerment. When we apply the teachings of shamanism to contemporary life, the results are magical, bestowing a beauty and a vastness in benefits to the individual and to the world community in which we live.

Jan Engels-Smith, author of Becoming Yourself, the Journey from Head to Heart, is the founder of LightSong School of Shamanism. She is a Shamanic Practitioner and Counselor, Reiki Master, Licensed professional counselor, chemical dependency Specialist, Marriage and Family Counselor and Hypnotherapist. Jan gives workshops on developing skills in the shamanic journey. In these workshops, people learn how to find their power animal and one of their spiritual teachers. Her next workshops are January 12-Feb 23, 2004 and March 1- April 12, 2004. Please refer to the resource guide in the paper for more information. Or contact Jan directly: www.janengelssmith.com 503-669-3013