In this part, I will provide a series of recommended journeys for you to begin your shamanic exploration. If you did not read part one last month, I highly recommend you read that first. Also, I don't recommend you attempt all these journeys one after the other. Do one or two at a time, so as not to wear yourself out.

A GOOD INITIAL JOURNEY IS TO journey to lower world and just look around. You'll need a CD or tape with some kind of drumming or rattling that is specifically designed for shamanic journeying (it will have a monotonous beat of 4-5 beats/second and a call back at the end) or a friend to play for you. Start the drumming CD, tape, friend etc and set your intent to be protected. If someone is playing for you, ask that they keep a monotonous beat of 4-5 beats/second and play for fifteen minutes at the end of which they should give you a pre-arranged call back consisting of four much slower beats, then very rapid drumming then four slow beats, then very rapid drumming. As with any journey, you begin by setting your intention, in this case, "I will journey to lower world to look around then return". Holding your intention controls where you go in the shamanic world. You begin your journey by deliberately using your imagination. Imagine yourself in a real place in nature and find a way to go down. There are infinite possibilities including going down the roots of a tree, a whirlpool, a cavern, a well, caves, a staircase, an elevator. Eventually you should get the feeling of sort of landing, arriving, or popping out into lower world. If one way doesn't work, try a different path. You may need to experiment with several paths before you find one that works. Also, keep moving and don't stop until you reach lower world, even if it means going back and trying another path. At some point, there will be a subtle shift from imagining to perceiving. You may or may not feel this transition, but if you trust that it's happening and keep practicing, eventually you will likely feel when that shift occurs.

When you arrive in lower world, spend some time looking around. You may find it a place of archetypical nature. You may meet animals (mythical or real) or nature spirits. When you hear the drum call back, return using the same route up to your spot in nature. The ascent will likely be much faster than the descent. Then envision yourself back in your body and come back being fully present in your body. I find that following the steps coming back allows me to return to everyday, ordinary reality with virtually no spacey-ness or disorientation.

When you journey, you should always use the same route to get there. Cultivating this discipline will allow you to achieve a journey state more consistently because you learn how to use the steps to change your perception. Also, it's important to always come back when the call back happens. If you need more time, you can take another journey by resetting the drumming, but it's important to be disciplined about going in and out at will. Of course, if you feel done before the call back happens, you can always come back early, but it's nice to just hang out in shamanic reality. It's a good place to get recharged and there's always the opportunity to just spend time with your guides, which strengthens the relationship. For all of us who excel at doing and struggle with just being, learning to be in shamanic reality without having to do anything can be both challenging and rewarding.

After your initial journey to lower world, I recommend you journey to lower world to meet a power animal. Follow the same steps:

• Start the druming
• Set your intention to be protected
• Set your intention for the journey: "I am journeying to lower world to meet my power animal."
• Imagine yourself in your place in nature that you used previously to go down
• Go down to lower world
• Experience the journey
• Return using the same path you went down when the drum call back sounds, into the place in nature then into your body.

Power animals serve several important functions. They can take you places in shamanic reality, serving as guides. They offer information and protection in shamanic reality. Furthermore, they are generally thought to be a source of protection and power in ordinary reality. From a shamanic perspective, a loss or lack of a power animal can result in everything from listlessness to being accident prone to chronic illness. A strong connection to a power animal that has chosen to come into a relationship with you provides a source of energy and support and enhances the flow of your own energy.

For your next journey, I recommend you journey to lower world, meet with your power animal and ask it a question. While opinions differ on the subject, I recommend you avoid using 'yes' and 'no' types of questions and, instead ask more open ended questions such as, "What can you show me about...?" "What are my next steps for...?" "Why am I having this experience with...?" "How can I shift or heal this experience?" etc. There are many different ways your questions will be answered; my guides tend to answer by showing me something symbolic. If you are baffled by the response, you can always ask to be shown again in a different way. As with anything, 'should' type questions are never a good idea. When getting answers, it's important to bear in mind that the answers are more from an energetic perspective than a physical reality perspective. In addition, there isn't really a concept of time in shamanic reality, so asking questions about 'when' are likely to cause confusion all around. My personal opinion is that spirits can't predict the future, but they can show you how the energy, as it is aligned at the moment, is likely to manifest.

Upper world, as discussed in part one last month, is the realm of ascended masters and teachers. To get to upper world, follow the same basic journey steps, start at a place in nature and then go up. You can climb a tree, go up with smoke, ride in an elevator, climb stairs, climb a mountain, go up a rope, fly up with an umbrella, etc. As with the journey to lower world, keep trying things until you find something that allows you to go up. There may be a slight sensation of pushing through a barrier, like a bubble or membrane, as you arrive in upper world. Again, a with lower world, I recommend you take an initial journey just to go there and look around. Upper world is where you can meet with a spiritual teacher, by setting your intent in a similar way as to meet your power animal. With spiritual teachers, when you ask them a question, the first thing they say or do represents the most significant or important part of the answer.

The final place I recommend you begin your explorations is in your own sacred garden. Often your garden starts as the shamanic aspect of a place in ordinary reality and is then adapted based on your own preferences. However, it's not required to have a connection to a real place. It could be in the mountains, the desert, the beach, a real garden, a lake, or combine aspects of all of these. Your garden is a place of power, where you can go to rest, heal, learn, grow, and explore. You are most protected and powerful in your garden, for you determine who enters and you have the ability to make whatever changes and adjustments you wish. Work done in your garden is likely to be mirrored in your life. If you don't already have a place selected, I recommend you go to lower world and ask your power animal to help you find/select your garden (you could also go to upper world and ask your teacher, if that feels better).

However you get there, spend some time exploring your garden. I recommend you find a path to your garden as for lower or upper world in which you start at a real place in nature and then travel there. It will give you a set way to go and come back, allowing you to avoid disorientation upon return from your journey. When setting your intent before you begin your journey, you can ask your teacher, guide or power animal to meet you in your garden. It's a good place to begin any kind of shamanic work.

If you have difficulty with these journeys, or just want to increase the ease and vividness of your explorations, I can offer several suggestions. One approach is to seek a group to work with. There's something about the energy of a group that allows people to access shamanic reality with far greater ease. In a group, you can work together to set and hold the energy or select a group with a facilitator. If you are local to the San Diego area and interested in participating in a group, please feel free to contact me. Another approach I recommend is to journey for someone else (with their permission, of course). Often times, people who struggle to journey for themselves have a far easier time journeying for another person. It may be that there are double the helping spirits involved (yours and those of the person you're journeying for) or it may be that the pressure is off, or some combination, but you may be surprised by how much easier it is to journey for another person. Finally, of course, I would encourage you to do your own reading on the subject. Hank Wesselman's "Journey to the Sacred Garden" is a good resource, for example.

I hope that your experience of shamanic journeying is as wonderful and profound as mine has been. I feel so blessed that these spirit beings offer their energy to teach me, support me, and guide me, unconditionally, even when I'm crabby and impatient. Shamanic journeying can be used for a wide variety of purposes, from finishing or explaining a dream, to soul retrieval, to meeting your ancestors, to personal healing and growth. The approach for all these things is very similar. Figure out as precisely as possible what your goal is, journey to your guides, teachers, or power animal, and ask them to assist you in achieving it. The tools I have described are a basic map to get you there and back again. What happens while you're there is between you and your spirit guides. May you have many a magical journey.

© Katie Weatherup , 2003

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katie Weatherup was raised in the wilds of Northern California by feminist goats. She is an engineer by profession and a healer by passion.

Katie is delighted by all forms of energetic healing and works with many, including Reiki, Seichim, and Healing from the Heart. She also adores rocks and crystals and uses them liberally in her healing work. In addition, she does beadwork, specializing in necklaces and medicine bags with semi-precious stones.

Katie also sings in a Celtic Folk band called The Wild Oats (www.thewildoats.com). Visit Katie's website at www.handsoverheart.com or you can reach her via email addressed to Katie@handsoverheart.com.