Shamanism

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Practiced by our ancestors and many surviving indigenous people worldwide, shamanism is more than a healing tradition. It is a way of life that resurfaced among New Ager and now Millennials. The term is an umbrella term, coined by anthropologists to explain the practices of indigenous people worldwide. 

 

The concept at the core of shamanism describes the world as composed of three different planes of existence: the Lower, Middle, and Upper World. Humans and other species inhabit the Middle World. Shamans have learned to enter the Lower and Upper worlds at will. 

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To visit to these alternate realities, shamans may use mind-altering substance, such as ayahuasca. However, the safest and most common way to enter alternate reality is by listening to a drum beating at a steady tempo of about 200-220 beats per minute. The monotonous sound can alter brain waves and induce a trance state and cause other physiological changes. That process is called “journeying.” 

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Shamanic journeying may make a person may feel cold or hot, or sense that the time has sped up or slowed down and they hear the drum sound change. Individuals may experience twitching or swaying. Often they have vivid visions, hear voices, experience a sense of knowing, and smell odors not present in ordinary reality. Drumming positively impacts those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, autism, trauma, or who are emotionally disturbed. (Source: Michael Drake)

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Journeying is a straightforward technique used by shamans to enter alternate states of reality for the purpose of healing. In addition, shamans use other techniques that modern-day therapist are now using, such as visualization and intention. They also use ritual and ceremony. 

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The work I've done has taught me that when you combine shamanic techniques with astrology, the results are transformational and life-changing. It is the power behind Astrology for Transformation.