ShamanPortal Quarterly Review vol. 7

Shaman Portal Quarterly Review ISSUE 7 - FEBRUARY 2024

Renee Baribeau Rekindling Our Ancient Connection with the Wind: A Shamanic Remembrance Alan Francis Waugh Excerpt: Alchemical Ayahuasca: Take the Journey from Depression to the Sweet Spot Graeme Kapono Urlich Think, Feel, Relax, Rehearse don Oscar Miro-Quesada A Shamanic Reflection on being an Ancestor Andreas Kornevall Blot – the ancient Nordic Ritual of Sacrifice

S ha m a n P or t a l Q u a r t e r ly R e v ie w

A Note from the Publisher

TABLE OF CONTENT ISSUE #7 FEBRUARY 2024

Greetings.

As the world undergoes rapid changes, I believe it is essential that we commit ourselves to the wisdom and survival methods practiced by indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Failing to do so might result in our disappearance from the planet.

Renee Baribeau Rekindling Our Ancient Connection with the Wind: A Shamanic Remembrance Alan Francis Waugh Excerpt: Alchemical Ayahuasca: Take the Journey from Depression to the Sweet Spot

In Tungus, the language from which the term ‘shaman’ originates, ‘Saman’ means “Keeper of the Fire.” This refers to the individual responsible for maintaining the dying embers of a fire, symbolizing the caretaker of their community’s mental, spiritual, and physical health. They are the guardians of their stories, songs, lore, history, and medicinal knowledge, essential for survival.

Graeme Kapono Urlich Think, Feel, Relax, Rehearse don Oscar Miro-Quesada A Shamanic Reflection on being an Ancestor

SPQR magazine, the Shaman Portal website, our social media presence, and all other projects I am involved in, are part of my commitment to a promise made to a spirit I encountered years ago in the Amazon. I am excited to share this journey with you, the members of our expanding global community.

Andreas Kornevall Blot – the ancient Nordic Ritual of Sacrifice Art by: Imelda Almqvist.

Shungo - (From my heart to yours–Kichwa).

Copyright. All rights reserved by each of the authors. No part of this publication or photographs therein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

Itzhak Beery, Founder & publisher

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A Note from the Editor The authors who kindly contributed their articles to this issue may come from different traditions and walk of lives – but I think there is a thread that connect all their writings. The being present in the here and now, calming down and listen – to the wind, to the ancestors. The reciprocal relationship between the seen and the unseen world.

Dear Reader, Welcome to our seventh issue of the Shaman Portal Quarterly Review.

More than two years ago I wrote a post on our ShamanPortal Facebook Group titled “THIS IS NOT SHAMANISM!!! Shamanic Evangelism and the remote control dilemma.”

So rather than debating what differentiates and divides the different traditions, let’s celebrate what unites them – the life honouring presence in between the worlds.

In this post I made a passionate plea to stop the often narrow minded discussion about the “right ways” of practicing Shamanism. With over 124k members from around the world, we will never agree on a single definition. It is like a big multi-generational family on a Saturday evening in front of the TV, fighting for the remote control.

I wish you much joy in reading this issue of the Shaman Portal Quarterly Review.

Blessings, Christian Thurow Editor

Although the discussion still rages on in various groups, this 7th edition of the ShamanPortal Quarterly Review gives me hope that we can overcome the dualistic right way/wrong way thinking and embracing the beauty and multidimensionality of the vast spiritual heritage that our ancestors bestowed on us.

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Rekindling Our Ancient Connection with the Wind: A Shamanic Remembrance.

By Renee Baribeau

In the emerging days of our universe, four and a half

where magic went silently underground. This humanwind connection, I am certain, is not folklore. While birthing the book Winds of Spirit, I delved deeply, uncovering the presence of Wind Spirits in creation myths across the globe. Ruach, Nirvana, Holy Spirit, OM—all are manifestations of the Wind. In every culture I researched, wind spirits stood out as guiding forces.

billion years ago, the winds stirred, disseminating life’s seeds as they were spiraling into being. Our species was born from these seeds five to seven million years ago, and our forebears were attuned listeners.

Around 16,000 years ago, however, a shift occurred: Humanity went indoors. After moving into shelters, our gaze shifted to viewing nature through wind eyes (an antique term for windows) and we began to rely on intermediaries like priests, monks, and swamis to interpret the world’s essence for us.

As ages lapsed and civilization evolved, we forgot the winds’ potency until its essence eluded us. Today, even those of us who participate in nature-based spiritual traditions rarely consider the wind an intelligent being. Reflect on your personal spiritual practices.

Have you been communing with power animals, the quintessential guides of shamans? And for how long?

But have you ever endeavored to commune similarly with the wind spirits?

Prior to this retreat, our bond with the formidable forces of wind was profound; we could decipher the wind messengers’ tongues. In the South Pacific, for example, tempestuous winds assisted sailors in their open-sea navigation. In the enchanted fields of Poland, a compassionate breeze illuminated the path

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Why we do not is quite the riddle, isn’t it? Everpresent, like power animals and plant spirits, the wind spirits have been poised by our sides, ready all along to educate and aid us.

if we equipped ourselves with blinders that make it impossible to perceive the subtle guidance of Spirit.

Harnessing the Whispers: A Journey in WindWork® Spirituality

Although I wrote a book about wind, I myself was oblivious to the power of the wind until a day when I was strolling toward a cliff overlooking Puget Sound in Washington State and the wind’s howl as it rattled through a gnarled old Douglas fir tree drew my attention. I paused, offering the wind the same reverence one might to a crossing owl or a soaring hawk. Little did I realize that the wind was imparting a tale to me that was old as time itself. I became curious about its characteristics as this sculptor of nature began to reshape my journey forward.

My journey with the wind began with skepticism.

How could something so common, so . . . invisible . . . hold any real power? But as my relationship with wind deepened, the power was revealed to me, and the messages carried by the wind to me grew clearer. The learning process resembled the acquisition of a new dialect—the dialect of breezes, gusts, and calm. I was also forced to cultivate patience, the art of listening, in order to discover the wind’s potential as a formidable ally on my spiritual voyage.

WindWork® is a set of spiritual practices that I developed in the company of a dedicated community of Wind Believers, or Windies, as we like to call each other. We have nurtured this body of work through multiple yearlong apprenticeships, shared experiences, and persistent experimentation. Our journey hasn’t been without its challenges, and not all of our attempts have been fruitful. However, we’ve discovered that Windspirations—insights inspired by the wind—tend to surpass our preconceived notions. I recall leading a seven-day wind challenge to invoke a different wind spirit each day. Midway through the week, the participants and I mutually recognized the need to pause and release all summoned wind spirits so we could spend a full day inhabiting the stillness of the doldrums.

Through persistent shamanic practice, the WindWork community has honed our ability to decipher the wind’s messages, much like establishing a connection with power animals, by tuning into a frequency that’s both delicate and tremendously powerful. Once the basics were mastered, we turned our attention toward the prospects of calling upon the wind spirits for help with divination and healing.

I took my butt over to the library to explore its resources and also scrolled through pages of history and mythology on the internet. Through diligent research that was matched by direct contact with this ubiquitous elemental force, I began to learn to differentiate among numerous wind spirits. Working with wind spirits is not an innovation of modern times; the roots of this practice are as ancient as the wind itself. Ancient shamans across diverse cultures long recognized that the wind was more than mere air. They knew it was the Earth’s breath, a conduit for spirits, and a herald of the changing seasons. The people of many Indigenous cultures mastered the art of heeding, comprehending, and harnessing this element.

Reconnecting with the Wind Spirits In shamanic tradition, wind spirits are messengers, healers, and, at times, the bearers of fate. They can dispel negativity as effortlessly as a breeze scatters fallen leaves. They also serve as mentors, imparting wisdom when we’re prepared to embrace it.

Now that I am aware of how detached I used to be from the wind, I understand that my unconsciousness echoed that of everyone’s industrial-age ancestors: My senses numbed, the din of my routine existence was muffling the wind’s gentle murmurs. As a whole, most of humanity is now fixated on the physical the materialistic. We inadvertently have been turning our backs on all sorts of natural forces that could have been steering our course, including the wind. It is as

As the wind’s wishes began to infiltrate the writing of my book a few years ago, my quest for wind metaphors in literature began, and I uncovered many.

Sherlock Holmes alluded to an “East Wind coming” in conversation with his friend, Dr. Watson. Mary Poppins arrived with a tumultuous East Wind and departed on a West Wind. However, it wasn’t until a coaching client of mine got stalled in her own writing process and asked me to summon a wind spirit to

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propel her forward that I actually understood their potential influence on human creativity. When I invoked Holle, the spirit blew in, literally slamming a screen door shut behind her. The Germanic goddess imbued both my client and me with a jolt of energy in the process. Each week after that, we summoned a new wind to propel us through our projects. Our subsequent experiences with diverse wind spirits always bore remarkable similarities.

from complete class downloads for my programs to new techniques, like wind chakra clearing and wind divination.

In my book, Winds of Spirit, my exploration spans the four cardinal Greek winds, twenty-eight regional winds, and the stillness of the doldrums, a windless zone near the equator. But my exploration of wind spirits has actually revealed over 150 in total with individual names and personalities. Those that grace the pages of my book are the ones with narratives and legacies I could authenticate through the annals of history.

Embarking on Wind Walker Practices and Other Rituals Setting forth on a journey as a Windwalker is beautifully uncomplicated. It begins with fostering a shift in awareness. This is as effortless as stepping through your doorway to leave your house, posing a question to the breeze, and awaiting a sign, like a kiss from the wind, a sensation of its gentle caress upon your cheek or the stirring of leaves in the trees or bushes around you. Shifting your awareness to include the wind involves not just opening your windows to the world but also stepping out into it, and when your heart signals readiness, extending a hand to beckon a wind spirit to join you.

When you step out of your door, any of these wind gods and goddesses might join you. For a longer, more involved process, you may wish to summon a wind spirit by name. One trick for picking which wind spirit to invite to walk with you is to randomly open to a page in section four of the book where details about the different wind spirits are described.

Instructions for Taking a Wind Walk for Insight If you intend to become a Windwalker, then it is best to choose a time of day that is right for you and adhere to it as an ongoing practice. Sticking to routines can help keep you steady no matter what life throws at you.

Think of this as like being a cook in a busy kitchen: Good habits keep you afloat when things get hectic.

Consider leaving your phone and gadgets behind.

Nature’s own sounds can be healing if you’re ready to listen.

Amid the ceaseless rush of modern life, it’s all too easy to overlook these subtle forces that persist around us. Yet, imagine if you perceived every brush of wind against your skin as half of a dialogue. Integrating WindWork® into your daily life could be as simple as acknowledging the wind’s presence, expressing gratitude, or seeking its counsel. During my own Wind Walks, I’ve received numerous revelations,

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Before you start, ask a simple question. It could be about the main influence in your life right now or what you should concentrate on. Really open up to the experience and you’ll feel the wind gently pushing you in the right direction. Take note of how the wind moves and feels.

There are many sacred gifts in the wind.

The wind reveals.

The wind expands.

The wind is generous.

The wind lives within me.

The wind offers a sweet melody.

Walk in any space available to you. In the city? A wellkept park is a place to connect with the natural world.

Notice the leaves in the trees, the sky above, and the grass shifting in the wind. Walk for at least twenty minutes if you can.

I share my gifts to the world by offering them to the wind.

Be alert. Answers can appear in different forms, so watch for little signs and meaningful coincidences.

You’ll usually feel better after your walk, but sometimes the insights you gain can be unexpected. Regular walks make you better at noticing and understanding these signs.

Always end your walk by saying thank you to the wind.

Being grateful can make you happier and help you see the good that’s already in your life.

How to Invite Wind Spirits to Attend a Solo or Group Ceremony Wind-believing shamans utilize various rituals to welcome the presence of wind spirits, which can be as uncomplicated as standing with arms wide on a wind-kissed hill or engaging in ancestral ceremonies handed down through generations. The essence of these practices is rooted in location, intention, and reverence.

Here is a wind invocation used in WindWork® gatherings that embodies this spirit of connection and respect. We begin by taking three deep breaths, using an ocarina—a type of flute—as we exhale. The use of this wind instrument forces us to intentionally release the wind from our bellies. Afterward, to make the ceremony joyous, we begin with group laughter.

We go: “Ha, ha, ha.”

Then we say: I call upon the divine winds.

Eurus of the east, Notus from the south, Zephyrus of the west, and Boreas in the north.

Come here today to help me navigate my life.

The wind feeds my life.

The wind renews.

The wind is prosperous.

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My body is borrowed from the earth while my spirit flies free like the wind.

I am grateful to the winds for these teachings.

Blessed be.

After you speak an invocation to welcome a wind spirit, pause and wait for its arrival. Now the wind will be present with you for the rest of your ceremony.

Feeling Lost or Confused? You May Request Guidance A simple mantra that can be used when you are lost or confused is to call the wind goddess Mari. Mari is from northern Spain who is considered the source of all creation by the Basque people. She can be a guide if you get lost while hiking or if you are mulling over an issue in your life that has you feeling confused. She has many wind and weather manifestations and can be easily summoned by calling out, “MARI MARI MARI.” After you speak an invocation to welcome Mari or another wind spirit, pause and wait for its arrival. The sensation of a breeze indicates its presence. When you have caught its attention, ask for the guidance you desire. Be still and listen and look for sounds and signs.

Trust the advice you receive.

A Couple of Releasing Rituals Any work you do with the wind has the power to recalibrate your being. Much like how the movement of wind can sift grain from chaff, it can purify our thoughts, move our emotions, and invigorate our physical bodies, allowing us to connect deeper with the spiritual source of our being. A wind ritual of release is a process for entrusting what no longer serves you to the capable hands of the wind.

Some people I know find the wind burdensome

and destructive. But if you ever feel overwhelmed by something in your life—a thought, a feeling, a problem—this is the ritual for you. Ideally, find a tall cliff to stand on and let your concerns go on the wind.

When I do this ritual, overlooking the roaring of the sea through the Puget Sound, it is as if I can hear the wind whispering, “Let go.” My doubt is lessened, and I feel lighter. My heart becomes more open. But honestly, you can do it anywhere that the wind can touch you.

emerging before us. Just as sailors navigate from their own wheelhouses, how this work will fit into your life is for you to discover. The deeper you traverse, the more you uncover the boundless teachings available. The wind spirits have been patient, enduring tutors, awaiting our collective remembrance and reconnection. As you engage with them, you’ll find that they have accompanied you throughout, whispering their guidance in the rustle of leaves, the wail of the storm, and the gentle zephyrs.

Another releasing ritual you can try is one to purify relationships. First, identify a prevailing issue with a business partner, love interest, family member, or friend. Then, write your concern in the air by being direct, and take sweeping broad strokes with your hand as you write. Summon the Chinese wind goddess Feng Po Po. Visualize her as an old crone swooping down on the back of a tiger, collecting your invisible writing, and putting the words into her wind sack. Watch as she tightens the neck of her bag with a taut rope. Turn away from the crone and then, as she ascends, feel your burden lifted from you.

There are countless stories of individuals who have experienced profound changes through establishing a new partnership with the wind. Whether it’s a newfound clarity of mind, a physical healing, a windfall of luck, or a spiritual awakening, the wind has been at the center of their transformations. One truth emerges undisputed: When we immerse ourselves in these narratives, a connection with the wind spirits starts to take root.

Reclaiming the Wind for Our Contemporary Needs

Renee Baribeau, aka the Practical Shaman, is a spiritual leader and podcaster with a gift for translating ancient wisdom for modern readers. As the Nautilus Award-winning author of “Winds of Spirit: Ancient Wisdom Tools for Navigating Relationships, Health, and the Divine” (Hay House, 2018), she captivates readers with profound insights and pragmatic shamanic tools reclaimed from the mythology and living teachings of diverse Indigenous and ancient cultures around the world.

She is cohost of the popular weekly podcast, The Shaman’s Cave.

My opinion is that as more individuals in our society engage with ancient wind practices, our collective attunement to the spiritual domain will deepen. I recall a holiday spent in a church where, as carols filled the air, I replaced every mention of the word with the wind. Remarkably, it seamlessly fits every verse.

There’s a journey of spiritual evolution awaiting us, an invitation to let go and place our trust in the forces unseen yet deeply felt. We inhabit a cyclical universe, breathing the same air that has sustained life from the beginning.

One of the most enchanting aspects of wind is its fluidity and adaptability. The practices that the ancient shamans employed can be refashioned to resonate with our contemporary existence. Deer know to change direction in the wind to elude hunters. We can do the same. Our landscapes may differ from those of our forebears, and our daily rituals may have evolved, but the wind remains impartial; it is ever eager to instruct us in ways that resonate with who we are in the present moment.

Reclaiming our relationship with the wind is not a destination; it is an odyssey—a road that is perpetually

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Excerpt:

ALCHEMICAL AYAHUASCA

Take the Journey from Depression to the Sweet Spot

By Alan Francis Waugh PART I My Journey Begins

Chapter 1 THE VOICE – that changed my life!

“Life shrinks or expands In proportion to one’s courage.” ~ ANAÏS NIN

I was Suicidal.

I was 28 years old, living in Croydon, a suburb of South London. I had been working in the building industry for the last six years and was the owner of a small construction company that primarily focused on renovating Victorian houses in the area; there are a lot of them in London and therefore I was very busy.

As a workaholic, I was working a lot and doing my best to manage a few troublesome employees. Financially I was doing the best I had done up to that point in my life but I was feeling desperate. I mistakenly thought that money would be the source of happiness, but having money in the bank made no difference to my challenging mental states.

Day after day, I was plummeting into the depths of hopelessness, with no way out from my negative mind space. Being only 28, I didn’t have the life experience, wisdom, or awareness for figuring out how to be happy.

I perceived my world and my future as hopeless. I was

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not in a relationship; I did not love myself, let alone even like myself. I was masterful in self-criticism and self-shaming and I was moving on the treadmill of life believing that happiness would never be a reality for me, only different degrees of unhappiness.

I recognize today, with hindsight, that I had been depressed since ages 10 or 11 and possibly even earlier.

I lived in a family where we weren’t encouraged to talk about our feelings. Despite having four sisters, I always felt alone, and outside of work, I kept myself fairly isolated. My best friends were a bottle of wine, self-rolled hashish cigarettes, speed pills and a cute little grey cockatiel bird named Beaker. I had suicidal ideation from a young age and can remember thinking I would be dead by sixteen.

soul searching. I was connecting with a place deep in my core that I had not accessed before. Previously, I was always stuck in my head, trapped in patterns of despair.

Not only was the Voice talking to me but, the source of that Voice was guiding me in how to look inside myself, literally to the heart of the matter: to the heart of myself.

I took this question: Do you want to Live or do you want to Die, into a new realm of experience -- a feeling experience, beyond my egoic patterning and conditioning. I quickly began to experience a gentler, more spacious and open relationship to myself, which was markedly different from my old rigid and fixed views. I was being gently guided to really look beyond the me that I knew.

I was ready to leave this life -- not realizing that I was about to leave this life, but not in the way I expected.

In the gentleness and expansiveness of that moment, I connected to Love.

A voice in my head?

Instantly, I knew I had a choice to make: either keep believing that unhappiness was my normal operating system (my old conditioning), or make a different, unfamiliar choice, where I had full sovereignty over my life outcome.

One typically dreary day in London, I found myself sitting on the floor in my apartment where I lived alone, feeling desperately unhappy and with no hope of a brighter future. This for me was just the course of my life: a predetermined reality, deigned

by God. With waves of depression rolling over and through me, I knew this was the day I would end my life.

From out of nowhere a Voice spoke to me! It sounded like the Voice was outside of me, but I couldn’t be sure. It was a male Voice, strong and clear.

He said, “Do you want to live, or do you want to die?”

I was taken aback but felt it was a serious question that I needed to respond to. In my despair, there was only one answer to give: ‘I want to die!’

Even though this was a unique experience in my life and far out of my normal frame of reference, I took it in stride because it felt completely natural.

Again, He asked, “Do you want to Live, or do you want to Die?” This time, I knew He meant business so I searched deeper inside myself, into the source of my pain -- deeper than I had ever given myself permission to go before. Up to that point I had grown accustomed to wallowing in self-pity and had become resigned to a life of hopelessness. In that moment, I began moving beyond mental reasoning -- to a state of being. I began

I responded: ‘I want to Live! I want to Live! But how do I Live, I am so unhappy? How can I continue to endure such pain?’

“I’m going to tell you.” The kind Voice responded.

“You have to change the patterns of your life.

Actions have consequences and if you continue to live your life the way you have been living, then nothing will change.”

Upon hearing that, I shrunk back into my fears, worrying that I would not be able to move away from the negative beliefs that felt comfortable and familiar. I quickly reviewed my life and asked: But what about the last 15 years of my life? Am I just going to give that up? If I just move out of depression, then all of those years will have been for nothing? All of those years will be wasted and lost?

The Voice Responded “Who cares - just You?” It was simple, powerful and life changing.

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I realized in that moment that I had been attached to beliefs I was using to keep myself small. I was afraid of life. I was using my depression as a crutch to support myself on my journey into smallness -- to hide myself away and not be seen. I realized I was being given a choice -- a choice to break out of my cocoon of misery that allowed me to feel safe.

It’s true, only I cared. Why live the rest of my life in misery, just because I didn’t want to let go of the past suffering of fifteen or sixteen years, during which time I believed that I wasn’t lovable? In that moment I realized that I had become addicted to my depression and I remained addicted to give myself a distorted purpose for my life.

PART II The Alchemy of Ayahuasca

Chapter 12 Rewiring the brain.

I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

“My brain is only a receiver.

In the Universe there is a core From which we obtain Knowledge, strength and inspiration.

I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, But I know that it exists.” ~ Nikola Tesla

That laugh was the first big energetic release of density and overwhelm that I let myself feel in over fifteen years. The energy shift of that release has guided me on my path of happiness ever since.

THE POWER OF LAUGHTER For as long as I could remember up to that point, I had been the Joker, the Comic. When out with friends, I was always the one with the quickest wit. I wanted people to laugh around me: to validate me as the funny one, the Wise Cracker. I was in competition with my drinking buddies to be the funniest joker.

Otherwise, I was introverted, quiet and painfully shy.

Making self-disparaging or sarcastic remarks and being the source of humor was my way of relating to the world without giving away my secret — I am depressed and I feel terrible about myself.

I was a sad clown who wore a mask and cloak of happiness. My jollity was a form of self-medication and like so many comics -- I was a depressed funny man.

That density releasing laugh, was liberating. It felt good to be real and honest at last. That laugh was a panacea to my inner conflict, my inner delusion and it quickly became a catalyst for a truer version of myself.

I lead annual tours to South America to have my clients experience Peruvian indigenous healers and their medicine ways. One of the tours I lead includes visiting sacred sites of the pre-Columbian cultures of the Andean areas, primarily known as Incan Sacred Sites.

The most famous of these restored ruins in the Sacred Valley of Peru is Macchu Picchu, which is also the most visited tourist attraction in all of South America. I tend to focus on other sites that hold a similar spiritual significance in the Sacred Valley such as Pisac and Ollantaytambo. These also transport the visitor back into the rich history of cultures that left us carved monolithic stones of granite which were often brought from valleys far from their current locations. These stones have been mysteriously hewn with exactitude and precision, interlocking with each other like a threedimensional jig saw puzzle, and are usually accredited to the Incan Empire.

The four-ton rocks in the Temple of the Sun located in the powerful fortress known as Ollantaytambo (place to see down) is located at the confluence of three valleys. The sacred site is quietly observed by a massive rock formation in a mountain adjoining the site, representing an upturned face of Wiracocha: The Creator God. The level of craftsmanship required, is mind boggling.

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I also lead groups to the Amazon Rainforest, to experience Ayahuasca plant medicine traditions primarily with members of the Shipibo tribe. They are renowned for their expertise in Ayahuasca healings and have been deeply steeped in those medicine ways for thousands of years. I generally take groups to Pucallpa, Peru, which is the primary city of Shipibo culture.

Several years ago, the ceremonies on my upcoming retreat were going to be guided by a Shipibo husband and wife team, both in their early eighties – Benjamin and Antonia Maui. I was really excited that they had agreed to lead our group in the retreat center, La Casa de La Madre. The center was owned and run by my good friend Cielo Tierra. She was an Australian woman who had been in this area known as Yarinacocha for more than fifteen years. Sadly, she died this week – at the time of writing. Cielo and I had been co-creating group retreats for several years in Pucallpa. I also participated in many personal retreats at her place over the years, with different maestros.

Benjamin had taught many students and had trained many esteemed Ayahuasqueros, spanning a long and arduous career. He is a well-known and highly regarded Shaman and had spent many years of his life living in remote jungle huts, training and doing traditional diets.

He once told me that in his 80 years, he had probably spent a quarter of his life in a restrictive solitary dietary practice which enhanced his spiritual and healing gifts.

This is a traditional way to apprentice with plants.

Despite that time in solitude, he had managed to have eight children with Antonia and they have remained married for over six decades.

In typical Shipibo style in Ayahuasca ceremonies, Benjamin being the male, was the energetic driving force, with his rhythmic and powerfully sung Icaros.

Antonia, being the female, did the energetic sweeping up and offered the nurturing softness that helps to keep you feeling safe in your body and to trust in the work.

This is commonly the way in Shipibo ceremonies -- a dance of the masculine and the feminine, using the power of opposites known as Yanantin. They had a very beautifully choreographed energy, as you can imagine, after six decades of leading ceremonies together.

Their work with us went very deep and there was a significant amount of purging within the group during our ten-day retreat. Cielo and I were their assistants, making sure the participants physical needs were taken care of -- emptying buckets and wiping butts, if necessary. Always a fun job!

In general, the experience with the medicine is directly related to the intention of the ceremony leaders and the style and energy in which they sing and facilitate it. Setting a pure intention for healing is critical for the leaders and the participants in ceremony. Direct communication with the spirits of Ayahuasca and with the ceremonial space, has a very profound influence on the healing potential for all participants. Benjamin and Antonia were masterful in holding space, which allowed all the participants to take deep dives into their inner worlds.

One ceremony night, as the group was getting quieter following an intense earlier phase of the ceremony, I laid back to luxuriate in the stillness and peace. I was lying on my mat in the darkness enjoying the sounds

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of the cicadas, frogs and bamboo rats who were adding their vibrations to the jungle heartbeat that pulsed through the ceremonial Maloka. Antonia was singing in the high-pitched raspy way that the Shipibo women typically sing their haunting medicine songs.

of healing. One does not need to drink Ayahuasca to receive deep healing, however, learning how to do this work would have been very difficult for me without my Ayahuasca experiences.

In observing Benjamin working on me, I was amazed that these things were even possible. As I have mentioned before, observation of the maestros is how one learns in this tradition. I learnt a great lesson that night that has served me and subsequently my clients, in the years following that experience.

All of a sudden, I felt a strange tingling sensation in my head. It was extremely unusual and a bit freaky; it felt as though someone was literally cleaning my brain.

I sat up and saw Benjamin looking at me through the darkness and blowing smoke directly at me from his Mapacho cigarette.

He was looking intently towards me, unblinking. I was aware of the single mindedness of his focus. Incredibly, I felt like my brain was being recalibrated, as though a Rubik’s cube in my head was clicking and rotating to create a reorganization of anything that was out of balance. I sensed that Benjamin was helping me step up my game and my capacity as a healer. He knew the path that I was on and that I was here to be of service to the people on retreat and also back home in the U.S. It felt like he was doing what was necessary to give me a neurological and energetic upgrade and a re-alignment of my brain’s neural pathways. I focused deeply and expanded my awareness as best I could, so I could try to learn how this gifted maestro worked in such an advanced way. This was new to me: I had never experienced this unusual brain activity before, in or out of ceremony. I knew that I was being given not just a healing, but a teaching at the highest level -- for which I felt incredibly grateful.

This all lasted about ten minutes and then it was over.

Benjamin turned and started to work on the person to my right. I laid down again on my mat in the darkness and surrendered to the healing moving through me.

I now believe that this recalibration by Benjamin has allowed me to explore to a new depth, the art of working in the subtle realms.

Now, let’s explore some of the ways that Ayahuasca ceremonies may unfold for you and how to gain the most from these experiences.

PART III The Easy Path

Chapter 23 THE POWER OF WORDS “A session with Ayahuasca Is equivalent To 10 years of therapy.” ~ Anonymous The above quote can be seen on a variety of websites that I have come across over the years. I have no idea of its origin and it is a claim that cannot be verified. I do not wish to dispute it. I imagine it is referring to the potential for transformation one might receive from a powerful Ayahuasca session. It does however, beg the question -- why would someone continue therapy over many years, with negligible results? Do they go into traditional psychotherapy not expecting any shift? Are they content to ruminate about their issues with no expectation of a beneficial outcome?

With spiritual healing work of any type, the healer can only help a person to the level of spiritual and conscious awareness that the healer themself possesses.

This session with Benjamin helped to deepen my awareness, which in turn supported me in helping my clients to a greater depth. Working in these subtle realms is done through focus, intention, skill and aligning within the energetic flow and The Sweet Spot

I mean no disrespect to respectable and highly trained therapy professionals, as I know they help many people

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through crises. I have had many licensed therapists as clients over the years. They have their own views about the efficacy of their profession.

on a regular basis and give her healing sessions and emotional support. The evening of the first session, I looked her in the eyes and said:

On the other hand, if you go into an Ayahuasca session or a shamanic healing session with the agreed-on goal that you are looking for a powerful transformation -quickly -- the energy and the focus of that intentionality will often result in a noticeable shift. I have seen this with myself and with many clients. My healing sessions start with the question: “Are you ready to change”?

When I get a clear “Yes”, I follow up with something like: “Great! Let’s get this done”!

“How would you like to completely get rid of this cancer!?”

I continue by asking about their story and about what might be considered high impact events in their lives.

We only talk about this once.

I saw a flicker in her eyes; the sound of these words offered her a new possibility that she hadn’t considered before -- a hope that she certainly wasn’t receiving from the doctors nor her boyfriend. I knew from that spark in her eyes, the potential of this new possibility was being actualized in that split-second. It wasn’t something I had planned. The words were guided by a force outside of myself.

I continued weekly sessions with Lise for a few months, supporting her emotional and spiritual needs with words of positivity and hope. I made sure my language was always powerfully strengthening her well-being.

The instructions after that are all focused towards quick, significant transformations using words that support the desired changes. Words such as transformation, potential, hope, light, exceptional, contain power, while words like trauma, wounds, triggers, negativity, PTSD, helplessness or limiting beliefs, are energetically diminishing. When both the client and the healer set the target clearly and powerfully, a change is likely to occur. I have a long track record which proves this to be true.

Fifteen years later, Lise is thriving and cancer free.

She attests that her sessions with me were a significant factor as to why she is still alive. I know that my initial words of hope along with my care and concern for her well-being, were all part of the healing she received. I learnt from that experience the profound healing power of words supported by the healing power of love.

I am not interested in long-term professional relationships with clients -- no offense intended! We may become friends - which is a wonderful benefit of my work -- but I’m completely focused on helping you heal -- quickly!

This exercise shows the power of the words you use and the instant response of your feeling state which responds to positive and uplifting words, as well as to negative, diminishing words. Your body’s nervous system instantly matches the words and the significance that those words have for you, whether you realize it or not. Speak your truth. How can you set clear boundaries if you can’t speak your truth? Similarly, you cannot live your truth if you cannot speak it.

*Lise’s Story* Many years ago, when I first began offering healing work, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I hadn’t received any formal training; it was just training from my heart, my life experiences and some early teachings from Michael Harner and Ayahuasca.

Be vigilant and mindful of the words you use. Words are very powerful; they become manifest. Your words are part of your embodied self. What you say you become.

One of my fellow hospice volunteers, Lise, had been diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer throughout her abdomen, liver and diaphragm. She was told it was a very aggressive form of cancer and she had started treatments of chemotherapy. Her partner at the time -- a medical doctor, was not very positive about her long-term survival and consequently, she was scared and anxious. As a friend, I offered to go to her house

Start by talking to yourself. Speak out loud anything positive or loving you wish to say about and to yourself, that you haven’t said out loud before. Let positive energy be expressed through your words. Remember, it is you talking to YOU. You being honest with YOU. Continue speaking with one hand on your heart to

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focus your intention there. Use these sentences as a guide: “Something I’ve never told you is …”

“What I am angry about is …”

“When I was young, I felt afraid because of ….”

through it. The fear of confrontation or truth talking is just resistance. Talk through it. Talk with feeling. Speak from the heart. Nobody can deny your feelings, but they can resist your thoughts; often when you speak from your head it might trigger their own wounds.

Encourage them to go into their feelings. That’s where transformation happens.

“My heart closed down because….”

“I’ve always wanted to tell you how much I….”

“I forgive you for….”

As you speak, go into your heart feelings. See if you can soften those feelings. Feel the impact that the words spoken out loud have on your body or feeling state.

Take your time. Transformation happens through the whole body, not just the head. The deeper you feel the meaning of the words, the deeper the transformational opportunity. You cannot think your way into a deeper state, you can only surrender into a deeper state.

Surrender has a feeling associated with it: can you sense the feeling of surrender?

Words spoken out loud are a portal into deeper feeling and emotional states. The throat chakra tends to be the first chakra I work on with energy release, as it has the most significant and fundamental impact on the client.

An energetically blocked throat chakra causes looping energy patterns and associated negative looping thoughts -- which keep you stuck in the head. When the throat chakra is cleared by speaking your truth, the energy can flow down to the heart and then the rest of the body. Thoughts can be more heart centered and embodied.

You will notice how expressing affirming loving words, your body experiences loving affirming feelings. The opposite is also true. Pay attention to the words you say or think to yourself.

Go out there into the world and start speaking your truth to family and friends. Challenge yourself. Be honest. Write a list of everyone you want to have a heart centered conversation with and work your way

Alan Waugh trained as a plant Shaman in the Shipibo tradition of Peru.

He is an internationally recognized Healer, Ayahuasca Ceremony Leader, Reiki Master, Hypnotherapist and Freedom Breathworker.

In his mid 20’s facing severe depression Alan took dramatic steps to change his life. He left his birthplace of the UK and spend several years traveling the world to places of spiritual power such as India, Tibet, Nepal, Africa and locations in South America.

Through it he gained a clear understanding of mind/ body connections and skills to release negative states of mind. Alan has not experienced depression for 30 years. He now dedicates to create a better world by helping others achieve a life of happiness and fulfilment. With over 20 years of working as a hospice volunteer, he assisted hundreds of dying people through the final stages of life.

Alan has successfully guided over a thousand clients in safe medicine ceremonies in the US and South America. He founded the Sacred Valley Spiritual Retreat Center in Mount Shasta, CA and now lives in Vilcabamba, Ecuador with his Beloved Dianna, where they offer healing work, training and plant ceremonies. www.alchemicalayahuasca.com

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Think, Feel, Relax, Rehearse

By Graeme Kapono Urlich Having personal boundaries has come up in

up anger or hurt behind it. Any time we come across someone or something that we have built up a strong resistance to, and a strong reaction to, it will tend to resurface. Often people hit redline immediately with just a mild reminder.

discussion recently, mostly in the context of rules that people have about how other people should treat them.

Other boundaries may be about what we are prepared to do, or not, but this doesn’t seem to get talked about as much. Quite often they involve double standards but this article isn’t about that.

Boundaries to me implies creating barriers so personally, I would set standards for how I would prefer to be treated because, we will inevitably encounter situations where these standards will be broken.

What many people fail to do when setting boundaries, is determine what the appropriate responses to them being broken would be. The more rigid the rules, the stronger the reactions tend to be.

Often boundary setting comes from the experience of having none, or insufficient confidence to assert them, and being treated badly so there is often a lot of built

When people and situations crop up that even remotely remind us of an incident, we are likely to respond the same way unless we have developed an awareness of it and have done something about programming a new response. I wrote about this in What’s In A Name, where someone had treated me badly and every time I met someone with the same name, or even heard the name, I felt as if I was being treated badly by this person briefly.

One of the techniques I used to reprogram this is “Think, Feel, Relax”, which I learned during my training with Huna International. This consists of using a memory to trigger and retrain the physical part of the reaction. There is always a physical component to a thought or emotion.

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Think, Feel, Relax.

Get as relaxed as possible, physically and mentally, I usually use piko piko breathing (a special form of breath that creates balance within the body) for this, and notice how you feel physically. Next, think about the person or situation that you want to change your reaction to for a few moments. Notice the change in your body. I don’t think too much about the thoughts that come up initially because these will be easier to deal with when the physical response is changed.

Once you have an idea of how you responded physically, typically there is an increase in physical tension, shift your attention to something beautiful and do what you can to relax that away. If you get such a strong reaction to the memory that this is hard to do, then the process may need to be broken down into smaller aspects of the issue first or using a technique like The One Inch Belief (to focus all attention into a single belief) to bring background tension down enough to use TFR effectively.

Once relaxed again, think of the memory and notice the physical response. If it is even slightly less, some progress has been made. If it is greater then, as above, some other techniques may need to be used first or instead of TFR. Dynamind Technique (a combination of tapping, visualisation and breathing as taught by Serge Kahili King) is very useful and effective as well.

Typically, on recalling the memory the second time, there is a reduction of the level of tension that is triggered. By repeating the process in brief rounds, always finishing with the relaxing phase, it is possible

to get to a point where you can recall the memory and have no increase in tension. In this more relaxed state we are able to look at the rules and reactions we have with more presence and awareness.

In this more present and calm state we can decide if our rules are reasonable in the first place, if they are effective and consider what the most effective responses will be, taking into account the context, if they are broken. Responses may need to be different depending on circumstance. It can take some effort but when we can get into the habit of observing ourselves like this we can build up framework of thinking that will reduce the number of times boundaries get crossed and to handle it better when they do. Building confidence and selfesteem is always a foundation for this.

This technique can be used for a number of things.

One lady I taught it to, used to get headaches anytime she went near a church. This was based on childhood experiences. By imagining going near a church, feeling the tension and relaxing over and over, she eventually was able to physically go into a church without getting a headache. Another person was similarly helped with a fear of flying.

Rehearse.

Alongside TFR we can use a process that doesn’t change the memory as such, but uses the memory to rehearse staying relaxed and then choosing a more appropriate response, the one we would have liked to have chosen so the situation resolved more favourably, not only for

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us but for everyone involved. By doing this often we eventually develop the habit of reacting that way, or closer to it each time it happens.

skills, are able to expand their performances to more and more complex dives. The same is true in life. From Small Beginnings, we can build a more harmonious life.

If Ku, the body mind, doesn’t have rehearsed behaviours available as a response, we will often go into confusion or pick a pattern that sort of half worked before, sometimes as a child, or pick up the nearest equivalent from a source of significance to us.

Sometimes, in a desperate attempt to have some power in the situation, we go ballistic.

Graeme Kapono Urlich, a native of rural New Zealand, experienced Maori stories and traditions.

This influenced his interest in esoteric knowledge, philosophical writings, and divination systems such as Tarot and I-Ching until his interest centered on healing systems. This brought him into contact with Dr Serge Kahili King and training with Aloha International. He was trained as a teacher counselor and began teaching Lomi Lomi and Huna worldwide. In July 1994, he was ordained as an Alakai of Huna International.

We can also use role models for this. If we have friends or know of celebrities etc. who seem much more confident and handle challenges more easily than we have historically, we can pay attention to them and replay their behaviour in our minds. The more we do this, the more Ku will adopt the behaviour.

We may not handle every situation as well as we would like to but with practice, we will find ourselves gaining confidence in these situations, we will fear certain people, types of people and situations less and less, and we will encounter them less and less.

This works the same way as it does for athletes when, for example a high diver or toboggan driver might rehearse what they are planning to do in their imagination before they go ahead with their event.

Divers start out with basics and, as they develop basic

His Hawaiian Names: Kapono means “The Harmonious One” and was given to him when he was ordained as an Alakai of Huna International. He was given the Maori name Kahurangi in another context, and it translates into Hawaiian as Kahulani. Each language has slightly different meanings, with Kahurangi meaning “Gift From Heaven” and Kahulani meaning “Heavenly Caretaker.” https://www.hunahawaii.com/bio.htm

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A Shamanic Reflection on being an Ancestor By don Oscar Miro-Quesada “Breathing in, I see all my ancestors in me: my

mineral ancestors, plant ancestors, mammal ancestors, and human ancestors. My ancestors are always present, alive in every cell of my body, and I play a part in their immortality.” --Thich Nhat Hanh Our world’s Original Peoples understand that clues to our identity may not lay solely in the past but as much in the present, in awareness of the infinite spaces known to our immortal soul, to our universal shamanic Self. All of time and all ancestors are found within this eternal present and infinitely unitive dimensionality. I have begun to consider not so much who my human ancestors were but what kind of ancestor I am. The worldly self we cultivate and the actions that live beyond us are the pedigree that surpasses mere physical heredity. What we pass to the future is no longer simply genetic but a trans-genetic legacy that we safeguard and generate as ancestors into the future. So, the most virtuous existential question we should seek to answer in service to our seven generations is: Who’s ancestor am I right now in this exact moment of awareness?

Any action guided by compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness, in however small a way, heals the past.

In shamanic practice, healing the past means being willing to see without looking away. We must again learn to perform love-inspired rituals to feed the hungry ghosts, all those beings that society rejects, and the denied aspects of ourselves we’ve chosen to abandon or unconsciously suppress, for as the Buddha taught, all beings are heirs to their karma; we cannot escape our individual or collective past deeds. We are more than what happens to us and what we have done out of ignorance, fear, or unhealthy attachments to certain people, places, and possessions. We are also innately capable of compassionate awareness and love-suffused understanding. Being fully human depends on discovering within ourselves a state of awareness and level of consciousness more significant than our conditioning, inherited beliefs, and reactive functioning.

I’ve made a remarkable discovery about ancestors: you can adopt whoever you want as an ancestor. Even if you don’t get to choose your biological parents and grandparents, as most Western acculturated people

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believe, when you’re adopting ancestors, you get to invite people you admire into your experience of being human—the teachers, historical figures, writers, and artists who have influenced you and encouraged you— to be your ancestors.

Perhaps one day, “ancestor” will become a verb: to ancestor, meaning ‘to cultivate the ground of the self for the future.’ The eternal ancestor of the Present is continuously generative, expansive, and evolutionary.

What we receive from the past, we can give to the future. And yet, what we give to the future, we are also giving back. Akin to the Andean spiritual principle of Sacred Reciprocity known as Ayni—or ‘Law of Right Returns’—best understood as an altruistically generous, non-transactional balanced exchange of material and spiritual goods in communal service to the wellbeing of All Our Relations.

shamanic Self, today exists to repair yesterday and prepare tomorrow. We don’t have to wait for some prophetic utopian future wherein humankind is finally united in loving purpose and guided by love for Mother Earth. What awaits us is an eternal flow of present moments, countless experiences of being here and now, prompting us to live as humans are meant to, in defiance of all the seemingly bad surrounding us.

In essence, this alone is itself a tremendous victory, a feat worthy of shamanic celebration and praise to be freely shared in the form of communal storytelling, song, dance, earth-honoring ceremonial artistry, and any other forms of ancestoring yourself as a loveempowered gift of seven-generation healing light in service to cherished Gaia-Pachamama’s species-wide magnificence. For in our imaginations, where does childhood end and adulthood begin? Aho Mitakuye Oyasin!

A life inspired by Ayni has been honored by Quechuaspeaking Andean people since pre-Columbian times.

More than a conditioned cultural expectation or inherited behavioral pre-disposition, Ayni is a lived ethos based on heartfelt reverence, caring partnerships, and sacred reciprocity between humans, Pachamama’s awe-inspiring interdependent web of life, and our originating Cosmos. Engaging in sacred reciprocity is a re-creation of our origins, an act when you must acknowledge that you are both back there and here, creating the future with every thought, word, and action. Yesterday is today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.

Don Oscar Miro Quesada An internationally respected kamasqa curandero, altomisayoq adept, and earth-honoring ritualist from Peru, don Oscar MiroQuesada Solevo is the visionary founder of The Heart Of The Healer (THOTH) Shamanic Mystery School, the originator of Pachakuti Mesa Tradition cross-cultural shamanism, author of Shamanism: Personal Quests of Communion with Nature and Creation, Healing Light, and co-author with Bonnie Glass-Coffin, Ph.D. of Lessons in Courage: Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life.

Therefore, from the perspective of our universal

https://heartofthehealer.org/

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Blot: The ancient Nordic Ritual of Sacrifice

By Andreas Kornevall A Blot (blessing) is a religious and spiritual ceremony

and celebration that is pre-Christian in form and shape, we read about blots in many of the sagas. A building where the “blot” takes place is called a “Hov”.

Other “sacred place names” are also named, Hörgr, Vé, Lund and Haug. Lund is similar to the “Sacred Grove” of Ancient Greece. Haug means “a barrow” and is directly linked to the chthonic powers, the Elves and Ancestors, living within the earthen element.

Christian laws forbade blot-rituals in barrows and grave locations. Therefore, we know that blots (and Seidr) were practiced in those places - it’s paradoxical and unintended, but the laws against the Heathen practices by Christians lawmakers are today important academic sources to understand more of the old Heathen culture. Academics work, by definition, to reflect knowledge of these matters from credible sources, but here I am taking a step further and exposing a more practical side of ceremony, which leads inevitable to a more subjective thinking, a kind of inner ceremonial engineering - a dream physics.

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But I will try and answer a small part to the big question: how do we construct old ceremonies today to benefit ourselves, our families and the community where we live?

For the early Anglo-Saxons, the month of November was known as Blōt-mōnaþ (Blot-Month) this later Old English passage points out: “The month is named in Latin Novembris, and in our speech blot-month, because our forefathers, when they were Heathens, always bloted in this month, that is, that they took and devoted to their idols the cattle which they wished to offer.”

And more here from Hákon the Good’s Saga, section 16, Sacred Texts website.

“It was an old custom, that when there was to be sacrifice all the bóndis [freeholders] should come to the spot where the temple stood and bring with them all that they required while the festival of the sacrifice lasted. To this festival all the men brought ale with them; and all kinds of cattle, as well as horses, were slaughtered, and

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all the blood that came from them was called hlaut, and the vessels in which it was collected were called hlautvessels. Hlaut-staves were made, like sprinkling brushes, with which the whole of the altars and the temple walls, both outside and inside, were sprinkled over, and also the people were sprinkled with the blood; but the flesh was boiled into savoury meat for those present. The fire was in the middle of the floor of the temple, and over it hung the kettles, and the full goblets were handed across the fire; and he who made the feast, and was a chief, blessed the full goblets, and all the meat of the sacrifice.

And first Odin’s goblet was emptied for victory and power to his king; thereafter, Niord’s and Freyja’s goblets for peace and a good season. Then it was the custom of many to empty the brage-goblet; and then the guests emptied a goblet to the memory of departed friends, called the remembrance goblet.”

What is the intent and purpose behind a blot?

My view here is that blot as a verb (to do blot) is to “ceremonially” create a relational thread to the Gods, Goddesses, Spirits, Ancestors, Elves, Land Wights and other local powers in the area where we live.

This blot-act can balance and reveal some of the spiritual debt we owe to the larger world around us all that which works for us in the background, but in our daily lives we forget about and take for granted.

In the blot we re-address an important balance ultimately it can be seen as an attempt to be in balance with the great Tree of Life. To elucidate this idea, from the beginning of the Norse creation myth, perhaps the most mysterious of all are the beings of Time. Where time is free and eternal, it has no purpose, it counts no stars, nor follows any movements. It is when we have decay and death that time reveals itself. Within this time, memory is born, named Mimir and he had a daughter called Urd. Urd the Goddess of Life and Death, the Goddess of the cycles of time, all time flows toward her like currents of sea, she is all past.

The memory of yesterday is transformed into Urdwater, she collects each wavelet and fills the great Well of Memory. This water in turn grows the eternal Tree, Yggdrasil, the great Anima Universalis. This means, collecting memories to fill the well, in turn feeds the roots of the tree: these memories become the basis of the ceremonial function: when we blot we collect these memory to feed life.

Here is a question following from this thinking: today, what would be a suitable ceremonial debt repayment to the motherly cow? The very wet-nurse of humanity?

How can we even begin to feel the magnitude and weight of such a question? How would we even approach such a re-balance? With what words or gesture of beauty can we say “thank you” to those beings that have kept us fed and clothed for millenia?

These were central questions for the nature-based communities in the past and here a blot had a real purpose of making visible environmental boundaries and a function of remembrance of what we take for granted. In short, what you received from the land you also had to pay back: blot can be a ritual currency to the land, local spirits and the Gods and Goddesses.

Emma Wilby in her excellent and much recommended book “Cunning folk and familiar spirits, - Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic” she writes about offerings to the fairy before the reformation in the 16th century: “at night, housewives across the length and breadth of Britain would leave out bowls of water of milk and plates of bread and cake on the kitchen floor for the fairies. By day, out in the fields and the animal sheds, their husbands would tie up cords and bury bones and mutter charms in an effort to please these capricious spirits of the land.” The fairy faith is still active today and we still see more mainstream remnants of this during the main festivals of the year, such as giving porridge to the local spirit (Tomte) in Sweden, or the giving of cognac and mince pie to Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. This can be seen as “doing blots” by entering into a gift-giving relationship and sharing of our “spirit-currency.”

But just like any relationship, a blot ceremony needs to have its own balance of giving and receiving.

The currency here is in our gesture. How much effort and beauty we offer up. A small clay bead that you have worked through the fire and patience has more value than a golden ring that you have simply acquired.

This doesn’t have to be spelt out: in the eyes of the larger life, goods that you easily acquired through an exchange of money have less ritual currency.

I learnt this when I visited the San peoples in Namibia

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some years ago. I had brought my stunning Viking glass beads along, hoping to trade them with their ostrich shell-beads.

They didn’t see much value in the beads I had as a machine had made the hole in the bead, whereas on their ostrich shell beads, they had pierced the bead manually. Their beads therefore carried a higher spiritual price.

The three points to a blot ceremony usually are: the hallowing of the gifts, then sharing them together, and then offering part of them as a libation to the Gods/ Goddesses, or other entities you are offering to: the spirits of hills, lakes, mountains, fields, trees, and rivers. The modern expression of a blot can be created within the reality of today - animal blood sacrifices are not used as they were in the past. When our ancestors lived as farmers, giving some part of the slaughtered animal to the Gods/Goddesses and land would have been second nature, it would be an act of thanks and a gesture of appreciation and respect for the gifts of the meat received.

A Native American teacher once told me that some hunters would carry one extra arrow in the quiver, an arrow made with the finest feathers, minerals and braided with beads and this arrow would then be shot into the earth as a gift once the deer was seen amongst the thicket. If you carried such an arrow you would also be a more respectful and selective hunter.

A horn containing mead (or non-alcoholic when appropriate) is the traditional and common libation.

Here, the mead is blessed by the God/Goddesses, your acts, or the local spirit and ancestors, then the mead is drunk amongst the participants and finally poured out and given as a libation. Often the mead is poured into a ceremonial bowl called a “hlautbowl.”

When drinking the blessed mead we enter the ceremonial time, and here words become important to attempt to express gratitude, grief or praise to what has been, and what is to come. To stand with a horn in hand, tear in eye, and to praise your loved ones is something holy, especially when the words are breathed through with emotion. Speaking through tears means speaking the truth. To speak truthfully and to feel joy and grief in a ritual is an indication that the ritual is alive and has a beating heart, it gives us a feeling that Gods(esses) and Ancestors are present and

some amnesia is being lifted.

Each of us have our own gift and expression in these matters and its best not to audition a person’s voice or actions during ceremony. The more deeply personal the blot becomes, the more important it is to have a freedom of individual expression. There is a deep well of feelings within people and some feelings have been hidden or suppressed for a very long time, to keep the blot open is the responsibility of the blot-Godi, or ceremonial leader.

Speaking words into the air is a magic act.

Here are pointers of the structure of the Blot ceremony: First preparation: Clear the area, smudge with local herbs, or sweep with a broom. The broom is a great banishing aid that was used to clear out anything unwanted; hence the witches use of broomsticks. Birch rice and an ash handle broom would be most suitable. Also a swanfeather, found in the wild, is most excellent at clearance of an area through fanning the air. Swan-feathers are also good for fanning a person’s Hamr (astral body).

Don’t just take my word for it, try it and see what happens. This is something you can do to every blot participant, fanning them with a swan feather, a good alternative to smudging with smoke. If you are using smudge, I would recommend, Mugwort, Juniper, Pine and Rosemary - all excellent.

Singing a Galdr or Vardlokkur is also effective as a clearance ritual, especially those with strong resonating vowels. Vardlokkur translates as “calling in the Wardens.” A vard (ward) can sometimes be viewed as an old ancestral memory that can enter the area/room when the vardlokkur’s are sung.

Also this is the time to place statues of the Gods and Goddesses and to bless them. Or laying other sacred objects down, such as pictures or materials from your ancestors.

You can build a “Harg” which is an altar made of stone (cairn). I personally prefer a cairn if natural stones are available, because everyone can help build it together and it can remain there after the ceremony and become part of a regular blot practice.

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A start signal is a good idea - you can sing, blow a horn, or ring a bell. The sound or song indicates that the blot is starting. Then pour mead into the horn and bless the mead with all the inspirations, peace, good will, and powers that is being called or sung in. The mead transforms into the water of life, the elixir of all that is holy and good, that which gives inspiration.

Drink some of it, find some words and pass the horn and allow it go through all the participants. Each one must drink their equal share, all of the world’s problems can be solved if we re-enacted this in real life, hence the blot can be a social catalyst where we consider the importance of fair-shares. If sharing a horn is inappropriate for hygienic reasons, then everyone has to carry their own cups/horns and the mead to be poured into their horns before you drink it. (Just to reiterate, as there can be people who do not wish to drink alcohol, a non-alcoholic drink is absolutely fine to use as well).

in this way the prayer becomes an exchange. Frigga carries the property of Motherly love, and when she is called, then we also call in our own Motherly love to be enhanced.

Then pour the rest of the mead onto the cairn as the libation and gift. The more the cairn is used for this purpose, the more of a sentience you may start to feel within the stones.

Please view the above as the bare bones, add your own ideas and imaginations as you see fit to where you live.

Hallowing the area with the participants: You can dedicate someone to hold torches out in the four directions, or someone to walk with a torch around the people gathered (the eldest in the group for example).

As the participants join the blot, call out for reconciliation, to leave conflict and past grievances behind as we are entering a dream time, a ceremonial time. If one grievance is pertinent and present within the group or family, then this is the opportunity to lay it to rest once and for all. If forgiveness is appropriate and possible, then this can be the right time to forgive and be forgiven.

The Blots-Peace (Blots-fred) is an oath that during this time there will be no bad language or conflict between the participants when the blot is ongoing. An oath ring can be used for this purpose. Try and not begin the blot until reconciliation is established.

A prayer is often a praise to the properties of the power in question, and we attempt to give the same properties to those around us. For example Thor has the property of strength. A prayer can be called to offer strength with his name and then it’s appropriate to follow on to say: we will use our own strength to help others,

Also the “calling in” is an invitation, not a command.

Once people have spoken and the libation given, close the circle in the same way as you started - a call/blast from the horn, and declare the blot as finished and part as friends.

Afterwards you can have a Ceilidh/Gille to celebrate together and partake in some of the food that has been offered, make sure to share the meal with the Gods by leaving some of the best pieces for them on the cairn or a plate on the headed table. The Ceilidh/Gille can also be ritualised. A theatre performance, music or storytelling is also great to include.

The most important notion is reciprocity and reconciliation.

The Year of the Wheel This text below of the Wheel of the Year is partly translated from Forn Sed in Sweden, which I am a member: samfundetfornsed.se - and it will help you see the reconstructions around the blot: Julblot - Midvinter Blot One of the main Blot at Mid-Winter Solstice, the Sun has reached her lowest point. Afterwards the sun will be returning. The big power here is Odin’s character as Julfather or the JulGod and also the God Frey which blesses fertility and growth for the coming year, when the light returns. Also a few weeks before the solstice, the Goddess Sol (Sunna) she gives birth to a daughter and she resurrects the light. This happens every year. As the old sun sinks into the west her newborn daughter returns. For those who have been to Scandinavia, this is today widely celebrated and similar to the Lucia tradition: girls and women walk around in the streets and woods with candle-tiaras and offer gifts to all the households.

Disablot Disablot is a celebration usually in February and this is for all the feminine Goddess-powers. The celebration

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that the sun has been re-born and the light is coming back to stir and awaken the seeds that are under the soils. This is the coldest time of the year and fire takes a central role in this Blot ceremony.

and Goddesses to invite are Sunna, Skade, Ull, Frey, Freya, Frigga or Odin. If you are harvesting, then it’s appropriate to have a toast and praise words for Thor and Siv.

Seger Blot Seger Blot - a victory blot for having come out of the winter! It can take place any day between the Disa Blot and Var Blot.

Alvablot The Elf-Blot is celebrated during the end of October/ beginning November. This is the big Blot for the forefathers and foremothers. And those who are no longer with us here in Middle Earth, also the unborn are praised.

This Blot is dedicated to Frey, Freya, Odin and the Elves. Frey is the King of the Elves. It is a time of remembrance. Some also call in the power of winter in the shape of the ski-Goddess Skadi and the WinterGod, Ull.

Vårblot Vårblot, (Spring-Blot) - a time when the green starts to grow. This is a Blot for the God and Goddess Frey and Freya, Sunna and the Light Elves. Also you can turn to Frey’s lover, the Giantess Gerd, her naming day is the 23rd of March.

Majblot May-blot, the summer is beginning and the trees are cloaked in green. This blot celebrates with lighting large fires, singing songs and also a walk in procession with corn Gods/Goddesses. The “Corn Gods” blesses the fields to strengthen their growth. The blessing is foremost to Frey, but also Freya, Gerd, Thor, Siv and Jord (Earth).

Here it is common in Forn Sed to re-enact the conflict between the spirit of winter and summer.

Midsommarblot The sun is at her highest. Dancing around the Maypole, eating pickled herring and the first of the summers fresh potatoes! Also beer and white grain alcohol is consumed, Aquavit, Water of Life. This Blot is dedicated to the union of Frey and Freya both their spiritual and physical union. Also the light Elves are praised and Sunna, the Sun. Sensommarblot Harvest Blot celebrated beginning of August, the summer is waning, and it’s time to share the harvest.

Much wheat is harvested: bread being central to the celebrations. Here the “Son of Jord (Earth), Thor” is praised. Thor is he patron for the fields Tor and his wife Siv, whose hair is often described as a full grown field, both oversee the fertility and growth of the farms.

Höstblot Autumn Blot - thanking the summer for all the gifts!

Time to prepare for the darker times again. Many practice Seidr at this time, and journeying. The Gods

Andreas Kornevall is an author, storyteller and ecological activist. He grew up in South America, Sweden and Switzerland, and now directs the Earth Restoration Service charity.

In response to the sixth mass extinction, he was the catalyst behind the Life Cairn movement: memorials for species rendered extinct at human hands. As a storyteller, he works with old myths and fairytales which shine a torchlight on life’s journey; his stories tend to gravitate around the Norse material which have led him to lecture and perform in universities and other educational centres. He is also a prize-winning author, whose work has been published in magazines such as Resurgence, The Ecologist, Permaculture magazine and in the Dark Mountain series. He is a member of the ‘Forn Sed’ (Old Customs Association) in Sweden which works closely with ancient Norse culture, traditions and spirituality, unearthing old legends, forgotten folklore and endangered Norse languages.

The Ecologist, Permaculture magazine and in the Dark Mountain series. He is a member of the ‘Forn Sed’ (Old Customs Association) in Sweden which works closely with ancient Norse culture, traditions and spirituality, unearthing old legends, forgotten folklore and endangered Norse languages.

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About our 7th SPQR Magazine featured artist Imelda Almqvist.

My name is Imelda Almqvist. I am an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seiðr/Old Norse Traditions.

I am also a painter and author of nine books. In addition to non-fiction books, I write and illustrate picture books for children (The Green Bear Series).

I currently teach in the UK, the US, Sweden and Greenland.

My paintings can be found in collections all over the world. You may have seen me in a TV program called Ice Age Shaman, in the series Mystic Britain, on the Smithsonian Channel. My on-line school is called Pregnant Hag Teachings. https://www.shaman-healer-painter.co.uk/

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S ha m a n P or t a l Q u a r t e r ly R e v ie w The SPQR is an advertising free quarterly online publication of articles by leading Shamanic practitioners and teachers about Shamanism - Ceremonies, Rituals, Traditions, Techniques and more.

Each issue contains 4-7 articles and featured art work. If you like to contribute your artical, artwork, photography, and poetry send Christian Thurow a request with samples.

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