Pagan Culture
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Yes, the underfeathers. My mum is a taxidermist, lol. She has many many pairs of feather earings... do you ever put beads in them?
The picture sucks Im sorry........Its sterling silver and a single glass bead with the feather placed inside the bead.
Ah okay... yes, the pictures don't really show the beads, lol. Are you able to get your hands on various pheasant feathers? Their colours can be incredible!
Oh.. well, I guess I won't mention anything else about dead animals. Sorry ^.^
Huh? No........theres no aura to the packaged ones........Where do you think I got the owl feathers?
Oh, I thought you meant you wouldn't get them unless they were from a craft store because you didn't like the idea of killing them. Or something along that line.
Hello, everyone!
I would like to share with you a fantastic experience that I had two days ago. I had another initiation with my Volkhv and in the course of it... well, it might sound hard to believe, but I actually saw our Gods. I saw them with my own eyes. It was already at the end of the initiation, at about four in the morning. We went out to our place of worshp, where all the Idols are standing in a stone circle. And as I entered the circle I saw the wooden Idols come to life, and I saw Gods show themselves to me through these Idols. When I mentioned this to my Volkhv, he told me - go on, then, talk to them. And I walked all over the cicle, talking to each God, as they called to me, one at a time. They actually did call out to me, every God of our pantheon! I talked to everyone of them, but there are several that I remember especially well. First it was Veles, our most revered God. His call was the most powerful, it was like he was pulling me to him, in order to take a good look at me. Then Mokosh, the Goddess of Earth. When I came up to her, the feeling I had was so intense, that the whole world seemed to shift for a couple of seconds. I felt her power, and it was so immense, so benevolent, like she was holding me to her. And then I felt the call of Lel, the God of Love. I came up to him, and though he did call me, he seemed not very willing to talk to me, so I addressed him myself, asking him for help. And he looked at me in a kind of an arch way, and told me - it's going to be fine, go on now! And so I went on to the other Gods. On of the Gods, Cherbog, the God of Protection, he was kind of hiding himself from me for a time. Each time I finished speaking to one of the Gods, I'd say to myself - now it's time to come up to Cherbog. But then something inside me would say that it is not the time yet, and then some other God would call to me. So Cherbog was the last one I came up to, he kind of sealed off my talk to the Gods. I was so impressed by this, and I was so delighted! I mean, I am not a priestess, I am nothing of the kind. I am just an ordinary person, leading an ordinary life, having my mundane cares, and duties, and joys and troubles. And all the Gods came down especially on purpose to take a look at me, and to talk to me! That night I truly felt that I am their Daughter, and that I belong to them.
And after we left the place of worship my Volkhv performed a special shamanic ritual for me. I don't know what it's called in English, in Russian it is called "kamlanie". It is when a Shaman beats a special kind of tambourine, calling to the Spirits. And before and after this ritual he rang a special kind of bell. And I just felt myself flying back from the realms I was travelling to the sound of that bell.
That was an awesome experience for me.
I would like to share with you a fantastic experience that I had two days ago. I had another initiation with my Volkhv and in the course of it... well, it might sound hard to believe, but I actually saw our Gods. I saw them with my own eyes. It was already at the end of the initiation, at about four in the morning. We went out to our place of worshp, where all the Idols are standing in a stone circle. And as I entered the circle I saw the wooden Idols come to life, and I saw Gods show themselves to me through these Idols. When I mentioned this to my Volkhv, he told me - go on, then, talk to them. And I walked all over the cicle, talking to each God, as they called to me, one at a time. They actually did call out to me, every God of our pantheon! I talked to everyone of them, but there are several that I remember especially well. First it was Veles, our most revered God. His call was the most powerful, it was like he was pulling me to him, in order to take a good look at me. Then Mokosh, the Goddess of Earth. When I came up to her, the feeling I had was so intense, that the whole world seemed to shift for a couple of seconds. I felt her power, and it was so immense, so benevolent, like she was holding me to her. And then I felt the call of Lel, the God of Love. I came up to him, and though he did call me, he seemed not very willing to talk to me, so I addressed him myself, asking him for help. And he looked at me in a kind of an arch way, and told me - it's going to be fine, go on now! And so I went on to the other Gods. On of the Gods, Cherbog, the God of Protection, he was kind of hiding himself from me for a time. Each time I finished speaking to one of the Gods, I'd say to myself - now it's time to come up to Cherbog. But then something inside me would say that it is not the time yet, and then some other God would call to me. So Cherbog was the last one I came up to, he kind of sealed off my talk to the Gods. I was so impressed by this, and I was so delighted! I mean, I am not a priestess, I am nothing of the kind. I am just an ordinary person, leading an ordinary life, having my mundane cares, and duties, and joys and troubles. And all the Gods came down especially on purpose to take a look at me, and to talk to me! That night I truly felt that I am their Daughter, and that I belong to them.
And after we left the place of worship my Volkhv performed a special shamanic ritual for me. I don't know what it's called in English, in Russian it is called "kamlanie". It is when a Shaman beats a special kind of tambourine, calling to the Spirits. And before and after this ritual he rang a special kind of bell. And I just felt myself flying back from the realms I was travelling to the sound of that bell.
That was an awesome experience for me.
Oh Sweetheart how WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You ARE a Priestess but we'll have that talk another time. In my world we use a medicine Journing Drum to go to and to bring us back from the other realm. It IS an amazing Journey and I try to do it often. Its a grounding experience, and yet energizing, I always feel like Im zinging across the Universe and back but Im fully grounded tp Goddess Earth, rooted like a great oak.
Im so happy for you, You'll make that trip again and again over your life. In fact it becomes easier each time. Next time you'll have an intention a certain question you want answered and you'll recieve that answer.
Blessed Be
Im so happy for you, You'll make that trip again and again over your life. In fact it becomes easier each time. Next time you'll have an intention a certain question you want answered and you'll recieve that answer.
Blessed Be
Absolutely! It was like I was here all the time, in this reality, but at the same time I was in some other place, in some other world, and I was travelling back in forth, at the same time realizing everything that went on here. It was so amazing... Now I will have to work with this experience, and to integrate it into my life, but I can already say that it will bring me a lot of positive moments.
Tam, thank you very much for your response and for your kind words! I appreciate them so much!!
We are Sisters, Sisters in Spirit. I would love for all of you to read Lynn Andrews series. It explains it all. A group of Shamanic women bound together by Spirit.
http://www.nicholasnoblewolf.com/writings/physiological_explanation_shamanic_drum.html
Physiological Explanation of the Two-Sided Shamanic Drum
Physiological Explanation of the Two-Sided Shamanic Drum
~Nicholas Noble Wolf
This article is an update specifically for the Talking Drum Newsletter of an earlier version which appeared in a now defunct publication, Shamanic News.
A shamanic drum is a sacred article that is used for journeying to help oneself or to help others--typically for healing. While medicines (spiritual helpers) such as the spirit of Horse, can be used in conjunction with the drum to make journeying easier and faster, even in its own right, the drum will carry you. In the following, I offer a "technical" explanation of how the drum, itself, works to carry one into the dream for journeying.
A traditional shamanic drum is typically two and a half to four inches in depth and 15 to 24 inches in diameter. However, I know people with larger and smaller drums that work equally well. The head or heads are covered with rawhide, typically deer or elk, but sometimes goat or horse. Cowhide, a nontraditional covering, is occasionally used, but some people will say such a drum has a tendency to "moo." This is because of what mankind’s breeding of cattle has done to the souls of cows.
When we strike the drum with a beater, the beat draws our attention, helping to still the mind-chatter. One might say that the mind becomes fixated upon the beat. With our mind out of the way, the resonance of the hide’s vibrations can then cause the mind to shift from the normal waking beta state, into an alpha state. The alpha state is the electrical frequency of the brain between 8 and 13 Hz. indicating the lack of external stimulus. It is that of daydreaming and mental relaxation.
Any drum can assist the mind to shift into the alpha state; you could even use an old, plastic water cooler bottle, but the water bottle will have difficulty in shifting the mind into the theta state (4 to 8 Hz.). This shifting into the theta state is accomplished by the drone of the drum and results in a sleepy state of wakefulness or a light dreaming state.
The two-headed drum has an additional aspect not carried in other drums such as single-headed drums. When one side is struck, it sends vibrations through the center of the drum causing the other side to vibrate at the same resonance or frequency. Therefore, beating on one side actually results in two sides playing. When the second side vibrates, it sends its vibrations not only out into space, but also back to the first side. At this point, the drum now has two sides sending vibrations towards one another, vibrations that are identical in frequency, but exactly mirror opposites of one another. Somewhere in the middle of the drum, these opposite vibrations meet and cancel each other out. Those frequencies that are identical opposites of one another actually serve to nullify and create a place of no sound at that frequency. The audio industry has noted a similar situation when one stereo speaker is wired backwards (i.e., one positive to positive, the other positive to negative) and sends mirror vibrations to those coming from the other speaker, cancelling out part of the music.
Unlike a stereo system, in shamanic journeying this cancelling is desired. With intent, you can place your attention on the portion of the resonance that is cancelled. The is the place of no sound. When you place your attention here, you hear nothing--just silence. I want to point out that you can not do anything to find this place. You must allow yourself to find it. Using the words of Carlos Castaneda, shamanic journeying is "not doing." When a person has found the place of no sound, his deep or lower theta and higher delta brain waves and will be stimulated causing him to enter a hypnagogic state or trance. The hypnogogic state is the state between deep sleep and waking--the state where dreaming occurs. It is in the higher portion of this state that lucid dreaming occurs. Lucid dreaming is the awakening within the dream-time such that a person knows they are dreaming and can control the dream. When drumming, though, the hypnagogic state is reached while awake and one enters a deep trance or dream state. Essentially, one is dreaming while awake. Hypnotists take their subjects into a hypnagogic state also. However, unlike hypnosis, during shamanic drumming, one remains in control of his dream.
Once a person has entered into the hypnagogic state, it is possible to free the spirit to journey to the underworld and celestial realms of the soul. However, my intent here has been to explain why shamanic drumming works so well. While there are other ways, such as meditation, the drum, and particularly the two-sided drum, is the most effective and fastest way that I have encountered to reach the mythic worlds.
A shamanic drum is a sacred article that is used for journeying to help oneself or to help others--typically for healing. While medicines (spiritual helpers) such as the spirit of Horse, can be used in conjunction with the drum to make journeying easier and faster, even in its own right, the drum will carry you. In the following, I offer a "technical" explanation of how the drum, itself, works to carry one into the dream for journeying.
A traditional shamanic drum is typically two and a half to four inches in depth and 15 to 24 inches in diameter. However, I know people with larger and smaller drums that work equally well. The head or heads are covered with rawhide, typically deer or elk, but sometimes goat or horse. Cowhide, a nontraditional covering, is occasionally used, but some people will say such a drum has a tendency to "moo." This is because of what mankind’s breeding of cattle has done to the souls of cows.
When we strike the drum with a beater, the beat draws our attention, helping to still the mind-chatter. One might say that the mind becomes fixated upon the beat. With our mind out of the way, the resonance of the hide’s vibrations can then cause the mind to shift from the normal waking beta state, into an alpha state. The alpha state is the electrical frequency of the brain between 8 and 13 Hz. indicating the lack of external stimulus. It is that of daydreaming and mental relaxation.
Any drum can assist the mind to shift into the alpha state; you could even use an old, plastic water cooler bottle, but the water bottle will have difficulty in shifting the mind into the theta state (4 to 8 Hz.). This shifting into the theta state is accomplished by the drone of the drum and results in a sleepy state of wakefulness or a light dreaming state.
The two-headed drum has an additional aspect not carried in other drums such as single-headed drums. When one side is struck, it sends vibrations through the center of the drum causing the other side to vibrate at the same resonance or frequency. Therefore, beating on one side actually results in two sides playing. When the second side vibrates, it sends its vibrations not only out into space, but also back to the first side. At this point, the drum now has two sides sending vibrations towards one another, vibrations that are identical in frequency, but exactly mirror opposites of one another. Somewhere in the middle of the drum, these opposite vibrations meet and cancel each other out. Those frequencies that are identical opposites of one another actually serve to nullify and create a place of no sound at that frequency. The audio industry has noted a similar situation when one stereo speaker is wired backwards (i.e., one positive to positive, the other positive to negative) and sends mirror vibrations to those coming from the other speaker, cancelling out part of the music.
Unlike a stereo system, in shamanic journeying this cancelling is desired. With intent, you can place your attention on the portion of the resonance that is cancelled. The is the place of no sound. When you place your attention here, you hear nothing--just silence. I want to point out that you can not do anything to find this place. You must allow yourself to find it. Using the words of Carlos Castaneda, shamanic journeying is "not doing." When a person has found the place of no sound, his deep or lower theta and higher delta brain waves and will be stimulated causing him to enter a hypnagogic state or trance. The hypnogogic state is the state between deep sleep and waking--the state where dreaming occurs. It is in the higher portion of this state that lucid dreaming occurs. Lucid dreaming is the awakening within the dream-time such that a person knows they are dreaming and can control the dream. When drumming, though, the hypnagogic state is reached while awake and one enters a deep trance or dream state. Essentially, one is dreaming while awake. Hypnotists take their subjects into a hypnagogic state also. However, unlike hypnosis, during shamanic drumming, one remains in control of his dream.
Once a person has entered into the hypnagogic state, it is possible to free the spirit to journey to the underworld and celestial realms of the soul. However, my intent here has been to explain why shamanic drumming works so well. While there are other ways, such as meditation, the drum, and particularly the two-sided drum, is the most effective and fastest way that I have encountered to reach the mythic worlds.
(originally published in Talking Drum Newsletter, Winter 2002)
© copyright 2002, Nicholas Noble Wolf
© copyright 2002, Nicholas Noble Wolf
Wow...that's pretty interesting. Do you take part in this often? How do you end up feeling? What does it do for you?
A friend of mine who I met in therapy often goes to a sweatlodge in the mountains, and she says it's amazing...she feels as though she leaves her body, and it's this amazing spiritual experience for her...and very healing. I'd like to try that sometime.
A friend of mine who I met in therapy often goes to a sweatlodge in the mountains, and she says it's amazing...she feels as though she leaves her body, and it's this amazing spiritual experience for her...and very healing. I'd like to try that sometime.