Author: A Solitary Pagan

Managing stress and anxiety improves your dailyfunctioning, enabling you to cope more effectively withthe very situations that can stress you. Managingstress can improve your physical, mental, andemotional health, as well as support your self-esteemand confidence.Fill Yourself with LightTaking a few minutes to fill yourself with light can give youthe mental break you need to reset your headspace. ...

Once you are comfortable journeying, this is a Middle World journey you can use to bring healing to a place, such as your neighborhood or even your whole city. It does not have to be a place where you live; it can be any place you are familiar with that is in need of healing. Set aside at least 30 minutes of time and prepare for your journey. When you are ready, hold the intent in your mind to jou...

ALTHOUGH JOURNEYING TO MEET WITH OUR helping spirits is a keystone of shamanic practice, it is certainly not the only component. The journeys themselves are extremely important, but equally important is the integration process. Integration refers to the way in which we bring the lessons of Shamanism into our daily lives. This process involves both acting upon the knowledge we receive from our help...

THE THREE WORLDS MODEL IS A COMMON BELIEF across shamanic practices and defines how reality is set up, with reality divided into Lower World, Middle World, and Upper World. Many journey practices are built around this belief; but while it is common, it is not universal. Several cultures travel to both Lower World and Upper World, but some travel to only one or the other. As you gain experience wit...

HONORING OUR ANCESTORS IS AN IMPORTANT part of shamanic practice. As Shamanism aims to help us exist in harmony with ourselves, the planet, and the spirit realm, it also urges us to recognize our place within the story of humankind. We all have ancestors, and we will all have descendants, as our legacy continues whether or not we personally procreate. This happens in a variety of ways. When our bl...

JUST AS WE ALL HAVE POWER ANIMALS, WE ALSO have human-form teachers looking to help and guide us. All spirit entities can travel to any of the spiritual dimensions, but our human-form guides are generally found in Upper World. Before we journey in search of our ancestral helping spirits, it is important that we understand that they are a very specific type of ancestral spirit. Not everyone leaves ...

IN SHAMANISM, WE HAVE A COMMON BELIEF THAT everyone has at least one power animal that accompanies them throughout their life. In some cultures, this belief states that no person can survive beyond infancy without a power animal. As we move through life, other power animals will join us as we navigate particular challenges, and then they will move on. Even if we are not aware of them, they are sti...

OUR BODIES AND OUR SELVES ARE THE PRIMARY and most important ceremonial tools at our disposal. As such, we must learn to honor ourselves and better integrate our bodies, the material self, and our souls, the immaterial self. Learning to be in harmony with and within ourselves is one of the key processes of shamanic healing. When people are called to Shamanism, they are generally seeking to heal pr...

WE CAN HAVE COUNTLESS CEREMONIAL tools and power objects for ritual use, but there are two specific tools that play an essential role in shamanic ceremony: the drum and the rattle. These instruments are ancient and resonate with us on a primal level. When we use drums and rattles, we are using tools and tapping into ritual practices that have been part of our genetic coding and ancestral memory fo...

If you are feeling unsure or self-conscious, use this as a basic guideline to allow your soul song to come forward. You will need a drum or rattle and a quiet place. If you do not own any ceremonial tools, you can get creative. Fill a small jar with dry rice, dry beans, or even pebbles to use as a rattle. Find a quiet space where you can be undisturbed for 15 to 20 minutes. This can be indoors or ...

You feel most at home in nature. The shamans of a culture are the bridges between nature and humans, serving as translators between the mountains, oceans, rivers, animals, and people. You may sense that nature is talking to you or that you get your most tuned in downloads when you are surrounded by the natural world.