![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonvoice(Making this post public, because I'm insane. Sorry to the non-interested people on my LJ!)
A lot of people are familiar with the otherworlds as places to visit in order to perform soul healing for the self or others (including soul retrieval, extractions etc.) or to psychopomp / shepherd the dead, or help a deceased spirit on its way to a more peaceable place. These functions of the shamanist have been popularised in contemporary and anthropological literature, and I personally do think they are two extremely important functions of the shamanist in the otherworlds.
However, there are other spiritual things one can do in the otherworlds. Both before you feel qualified to do active soul healing or psychopomping, and in between these events. And all are important things that can be done.
Things to do in the Otherworlds
Establishing a ‘starting place’ - The starting place, or starting base, or safe place, or whatever you want to call it ; is a place that generally sits in a liminal frontier between your own inner universe, and the external otherworlds. It is a place where you feel safe, where you can access at least one of your guides, and where you can store objects for later use and work with the landscape and land spirits. Some people have more than one, depending on how often they work in the otherworlds, what places they travel to etc.
Starting places don’t need constant maintenance, but specifically and diligently working on maintaining your starting place will give you a place to start from and return to, a place to practice energy techniques before you’re ready to try them fully in the otherworlds, and often a place to simply ‘be’ without risk of harm or malice. It can also be a good place to become accustomed to the sensations of journeying. Finally, it is a self-nourishing act; the starting place is primarily for you and your wellbeing, devoting any time to it is a way of devoting time to yourself.
Soul-healing - The most popularised contemporary function of journeying to the otherworlds. Sandra Ingerman has written about it, Michael Harner, Jeanette Gagan, Roger Walsh… it goes on. So I had to include it in the list. As soul fragments often travel off to the otherworlds, soul-healing by travelling to the otherworlds is the next logical step.
Acting as psychopomp - Shepherding the dead, or acting as psychopomp, or assisting spirits or gods who are psychopomps, is another primary function for many shamanists; though less popularised in contemporary culture. It basically involves going to the otherworlds (middle, upper or lower depending on the culture / event / situation / placement of the land of the dead) in order to locate a deceased spirit, and guiding them to what can be termed a resting place. This may involve taking them to the entrance point of a land of the dead, like Helheim; or it may simply involve taking them to a place where they feel comfortable, until they are ready to move on. It’s hard work, as it often involves knowing the locations of different lands of dead, or knowing how to call on if you are unable to assist.
Establishing relationships - It is crucial work to establish working relationships with other spirits (gods / kami / ancestors / animals / plants / angels / demons / whatever floats your boat). Relationships are always re-established no matter what you’re doing, but it is important to sometimes just put time aside specifically for your inter-relationships with helpful spirits. That may involve taking them offerings, asking them for counsel, speaking your gratitude directly in the otherworlds (as opposed to just paying fealty at an altar in this world), or learning more about them and where they’ve come from, their motivations, and your role with them. Of course with gods this might not be something feasible for you, depending on their nature. But many ancestor spirits, animals, wights etc. are often happy to simply chat, be shown that you care about them, and know that you will visit them. After all, as a shamanist who can actually visit spirits / spirit helpers, it’s kind of rude to expect that they will always visit you. Sometimes you have to go and visit them.
Trade secrets - You know, I’ve not seen this written about in books at all and it’s a real shame, because it’s been one of the most helpful things I’ve done. The fact is, there are many artisans in the otherworlds; dancers, artists, tradespeople, craftspeople, smiths, wordsmiths, gardeners. Some are gods, wights, other spirits, ancestors etc. Learning ‘tricks of the trade’ from otherworldly sources is immensely valuable.
Firstly, it means you can get otherworld help creating your shaman’s tools, but perhaps more importantly, it means you can learn how to do craft-based energy work a huge, and diverse range of sources. If you make wallets, why not visit wights specifically connected to prosperity? If you do shamanic dancing, why not find an ancestor shamanist or spirit who can teach you how to dance in ways you’ve never considered? If you want to create art from the heart, why not see if there are spirits out there to teach you some of their techniques? Nothing comes for free, and an exchange might be asked for, but it’s usually – in my own experience – very reasonable.
Events - Events basically involve special occasions. It might be one of the human-based sabbats, Solstices, Equinoxes, festivals that you celebrate. Or alternatively it might be a wight-based event. Those who work primarily with animal and plant spirits won’t be exposed to otherworld events as often as those who work with wights, ancestors and Gods. Events are often rewarding (though sometimes draining!), and can involve extending your circle or network of acquaintances in the otherworlds, as well as being exposed to practices you would not necessarily witness in our corporeal, ‘real’ world.
Rituals and Magic - Most people do their rituals and magic work in this world, sending out their intent into the otherworlds, or realms of energy without actually going there. And this works perfectly well. But for those who can journey, and want the benefits of being around guides, or getting their specific assistance with the crafting of a ritual, or work of magic; doing this work in the otherworlds can be extremely beneficial. It’s also worthwhile to see how magic and energy-work in the otherworlds can differ from ‘real world’ work, i.e. if you feel it’s more potent, if you find it’s more useful for certain types of spells or rituals, or just to test out if there is much of a difference.
Creating and crafting - Currently, I’m working on building a boat in the otherworlds. It’s taking some time, because I’ve never built a boat before. Thankfully, I have a couple of guides to help me with the more technical stuff, but the rest of it is hard work. I had to find the wood and thank the tree spirits involved, I had to find a place of land/land spirit willing to let me rest my boat on it until it was finished. I will need to talk to cotton plants and other spirits about creating sails. This boat, once finished, will never see the real world; but will be a working boat that I can use to help in my psychopomping work, and with travelling over large bodies of water. It’s a complex task, but I am enjoying it and it’s teaching me a lot.
The otherworlds are a great place to create objects or materials specifically for your work in the otherworlds. Tools for soul retrieval, extraction (I have a glue I was given by my patron goddess), psychopomping, events, magic, ritual etc. Sometimes you can take the essence of real world objects into the otherworlds, sometimes you may be able to just ‘find’ what you need, but personally I think it’s more meaningful to actually craft what you need in the otherworlds. It takes longer, but it creates a more lasting, reliable object which has been specifically designed for you and what you need it for.
Mapping - Mapping is a task that can be done both in this world and the otherworlds, but it’s an important one to do. I hear, these days, of people falling back on saying ‘no point in mapping something as spatially challenged as the otherworlds,’ but if there was no point; then why did traditional shamanists in countries like Australia, Russia, Asia etc. frequently depict mud-maps of otherworld locations and places? Why do they still do it? Probably because there was a point to it, and it was important for them to share the places they travelled with trainee shamanists, colleagues, and even just for personal use.
Mapping the otherworlds is an important task that is often overlooked, perhaps because people fear that they’ll get it ‘wrong.’ Well, here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if you get it wrong, it may help someone else to know that you get to a particular healing place by starting at X, going through X forest, and negotiating with X spirit (and knowing they like offerings of bamboo or rum or something). This kind of knowledge is important stuff and should be documented. Not just for your own benefit, but also – if this is a part of your path – for the benefit of others.
I know I often counsel people about gratuitously going to the otherworlds. New shamanists often start to feel a distinct appeal in spending a lot of time ‘over there’ rather than being grounded in the real world, and escapism is a dangerous indulgence; especially in realms that you cannot assume to be safe. However, as you can see, there are definitely a lot of different things that one can do in the otherworlds that don’t count as ‘gratuitous escapism.’ It’s still important to not journey too much, or more than you can handle at any time. But remember, the otherworlds isn’t just about soul-retrieval and psychopomping. It’s not even just limited to this list. The more you journey, the more you’ll realise just how rich and diverse the other-realms are, and how rewarding journeying can be.
This will eventually get put on my website. For now though, it's just here.
A lot of people are familiar with the otherworlds as places to visit in order to perform soul healing for the self or others (including soul retrieval, extractions etc.) or to psychopomp / shepherd the dead, or help a deceased spirit on its way to a more peaceable place. These functions of the shamanist have been popularised in contemporary and anthropological literature, and I personally do think they are two extremely important functions of the shamanist in the otherworlds.
However, there are other spiritual things one can do in the otherworlds. Both before you feel qualified to do active soul healing or psychopomping, and in between these events. And all are important things that can be done.
Things to do in the Otherworlds
Establishing a ‘starting place’ - The starting place, or starting base, or safe place, or whatever you want to call it ; is a place that generally sits in a liminal frontier between your own inner universe, and the external otherworlds. It is a place where you feel safe, where you can access at least one of your guides, and where you can store objects for later use and work with the landscape and land spirits. Some people have more than one, depending on how often they work in the otherworlds, what places they travel to etc.
Starting places don’t need constant maintenance, but specifically and diligently working on maintaining your starting place will give you a place to start from and return to, a place to practice energy techniques before you’re ready to try them fully in the otherworlds, and often a place to simply ‘be’ without risk of harm or malice. It can also be a good place to become accustomed to the sensations of journeying. Finally, it is a self-nourishing act; the starting place is primarily for you and your wellbeing, devoting any time to it is a way of devoting time to yourself.
Soul-healing - The most popularised contemporary function of journeying to the otherworlds. Sandra Ingerman has written about it, Michael Harner, Jeanette Gagan, Roger Walsh… it goes on. So I had to include it in the list. As soul fragments often travel off to the otherworlds, soul-healing by travelling to the otherworlds is the next logical step.
Acting as psychopomp - Shepherding the dead, or acting as psychopomp, or assisting spirits or gods who are psychopomps, is another primary function for many shamanists; though less popularised in contemporary culture. It basically involves going to the otherworlds (middle, upper or lower depending on the culture / event / situation / placement of the land of the dead) in order to locate a deceased spirit, and guiding them to what can be termed a resting place. This may involve taking them to the entrance point of a land of the dead, like Helheim; or it may simply involve taking them to a place where they feel comfortable, until they are ready to move on. It’s hard work, as it often involves knowing the locations of different lands of dead, or knowing how to call on if you are unable to assist.
Establishing relationships - It is crucial work to establish working relationships with other spirits (gods / kami / ancestors / animals / plants / angels / demons / whatever floats your boat). Relationships are always re-established no matter what you’re doing, but it is important to sometimes just put time aside specifically for your inter-relationships with helpful spirits. That may involve taking them offerings, asking them for counsel, speaking your gratitude directly in the otherworlds (as opposed to just paying fealty at an altar in this world), or learning more about them and where they’ve come from, their motivations, and your role with them. Of course with gods this might not be something feasible for you, depending on their nature. But many ancestor spirits, animals, wights etc. are often happy to simply chat, be shown that you care about them, and know that you will visit them. After all, as a shamanist who can actually visit spirits / spirit helpers, it’s kind of rude to expect that they will always visit you. Sometimes you have to go and visit them.
Trade secrets - You know, I’ve not seen this written about in books at all and it’s a real shame, because it’s been one of the most helpful things I’ve done. The fact is, there are many artisans in the otherworlds; dancers, artists, tradespeople, craftspeople, smiths, wordsmiths, gardeners. Some are gods, wights, other spirits, ancestors etc. Learning ‘tricks of the trade’ from otherworldly sources is immensely valuable.
Firstly, it means you can get otherworld help creating your shaman’s tools, but perhaps more importantly, it means you can learn how to do craft-based energy work a huge, and diverse range of sources. If you make wallets, why not visit wights specifically connected to prosperity? If you do shamanic dancing, why not find an ancestor shamanist or spirit who can teach you how to dance in ways you’ve never considered? If you want to create art from the heart, why not see if there are spirits out there to teach you some of their techniques? Nothing comes for free, and an exchange might be asked for, but it’s usually – in my own experience – very reasonable.
Events - Events basically involve special occasions. It might be one of the human-based sabbats, Solstices, Equinoxes, festivals that you celebrate. Or alternatively it might be a wight-based event. Those who work primarily with animal and plant spirits won’t be exposed to otherworld events as often as those who work with wights, ancestors and Gods. Events are often rewarding (though sometimes draining!), and can involve extending your circle or network of acquaintances in the otherworlds, as well as being exposed to practices you would not necessarily witness in our corporeal, ‘real’ world.
Rituals and Magic - Most people do their rituals and magic work in this world, sending out their intent into the otherworlds, or realms of energy without actually going there. And this works perfectly well. But for those who can journey, and want the benefits of being around guides, or getting their specific assistance with the crafting of a ritual, or work of magic; doing this work in the otherworlds can be extremely beneficial. It’s also worthwhile to see how magic and energy-work in the otherworlds can differ from ‘real world’ work, i.e. if you feel it’s more potent, if you find it’s more useful for certain types of spells or rituals, or just to test out if there is much of a difference.
Creating and crafting - Currently, I’m working on building a boat in the otherworlds. It’s taking some time, because I’ve never built a boat before. Thankfully, I have a couple of guides to help me with the more technical stuff, but the rest of it is hard work. I had to find the wood and thank the tree spirits involved, I had to find a place of land/land spirit willing to let me rest my boat on it until it was finished. I will need to talk to cotton plants and other spirits about creating sails. This boat, once finished, will never see the real world; but will be a working boat that I can use to help in my psychopomping work, and with travelling over large bodies of water. It’s a complex task, but I am enjoying it and it’s teaching me a lot.
The otherworlds are a great place to create objects or materials specifically for your work in the otherworlds. Tools for soul retrieval, extraction (I have a glue I was given by my patron goddess), psychopomping, events, magic, ritual etc. Sometimes you can take the essence of real world objects into the otherworlds, sometimes you may be able to just ‘find’ what you need, but personally I think it’s more meaningful to actually craft what you need in the otherworlds. It takes longer, but it creates a more lasting, reliable object which has been specifically designed for you and what you need it for.
Mapping - Mapping is a task that can be done both in this world and the otherworlds, but it’s an important one to do. I hear, these days, of people falling back on saying ‘no point in mapping something as spatially challenged as the otherworlds,’ but if there was no point; then why did traditional shamanists in countries like Australia, Russia, Asia etc. frequently depict mud-maps of otherworld locations and places? Why do they still do it? Probably because there was a point to it, and it was important for them to share the places they travelled with trainee shamanists, colleagues, and even just for personal use.
Mapping the otherworlds is an important task that is often overlooked, perhaps because people fear that they’ll get it ‘wrong.’ Well, here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if you get it wrong, it may help someone else to know that you get to a particular healing place by starting at X, going through X forest, and negotiating with X spirit (and knowing they like offerings of bamboo or rum or something). This kind of knowledge is important stuff and should be documented. Not just for your own benefit, but also – if this is a part of your path – for the benefit of others.
I know I often counsel people about gratuitously going to the otherworlds. New shamanists often start to feel a distinct appeal in spending a lot of time ‘over there’ rather than being grounded in the real world, and escapism is a dangerous indulgence; especially in realms that you cannot assume to be safe. However, as you can see, there are definitely a lot of different things that one can do in the otherworlds that don’t count as ‘gratuitous escapism.’ It’s still important to not journey too much, or more than you can handle at any time. But remember, the otherworlds isn’t just about soul-retrieval and psychopomping. It’s not even just limited to this list. The more you journey, the more you’ll realise just how rich and diverse the other-realms are, and how rewarding journeying can be.
This will eventually get put on my website. For now though, it's just here.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-02-08 12:39 am (UTC)Me too, but I'm glad some people do it. It makes it difficult though when people ask me who my influences are in terms of art and it's like 'er, will you believe some wights in the otherworlds? Whoops.' Heh.
I am crazeh delusional. Lol.