Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition - Raven Kaldera 2012
Crescent Moon
The Silver World: Moon
The Crescent Moon is the time when the Moon emerges from the dark, full of hopes and dreams and ready to run across the sky. It is a time for taking the next step in a project, and if you connect with the lunar energy during this time, it can give you the motivation to do that. It is a somewhat self-involved energy, so be careful of the feelings of others. The Crescent Moon imitates horns, and this Moon does have the feel of the charging, enthusiastic bull. Sometimes this Moon comes with the discerning power of a warrior, and we call it then the Scimitar Moon. It is a time to take stock of one’s possibilities, one’s surroundings, one’s resources, and one’s debt. It is a far-seeing Moon, the strategist always at the ready.
Exercise: Purification Divination
As we mentioned in the Golden World chapter, psychic hygiene is very important to shamanic work, especially if one is actually doing work for others. Dirty energy can rub off when you work on someone, no matter how hard you try to shield—getting that close to them can still sometimes pass dirt. In addition, we all build up our own psychic filth, which interferes with one’s spiritual “signal clarity.” It’s worth it to do regular purifications as an ongoing discipline in order to keep oneself as clear as possible. Good signal clarity is crucial to this work.
It’s also useful to have clients do purifications or to do cleansings on them. This can be as simple as recaning them with smoke or as complex as having them take a series of special baths in various substances. However, sometimes it’s hard to choose which purification is best, for you or for a client. That’s when a simple divination system is in order. We suggest choosing a polished stone for each of the types of cleansings listed in this book, as follows:
Simple grounding and centering, no special cleansing needed (in Beginning Place chapter): brown stone
Sun Purification (in Golden World chapter): yellow or gold stone
Moon Cleansing (next exercise in this chapter): white stone
Recaning with Mugwort or Juniper (Recels I and II in Green World chapter): two different green stones
Water Cleansing (Lake exercise or Cleansing Bath in Blue World chapter): blue stone
Fire Cleansing (in Red World chapter): red stone
Raven’s Ice Cleansing (in White World chapter): clear stone
Not necessary; you’re fine: gray stone
You can add other stones as you learn other methods. For example, some animal spirits (like Reindeer) teach cleansing techniques and assist with them. There are also runic methods for those who use runes; methods using song, music, or galdr (shaman singing); and advanced methods using pain and ordeal. Some people like to draw purification methods from other spiritual traditions; Galina has used techniques from Yoruba and hoodoo practices as well, such as the traditional “head cleansings” of Yoruba religions. Raven has been known to use a modern method that involves standing between two speakers with earplugs in and turning up very loud music with a deep beat to use the vibrations to clean him. You may want to try chi-moving exercises such as yoga and t’ai chi. You can add as many as you like to the list, as long as you include all the above purifications, even if one wasn’t your favorite or didn’t work out well the first time. It might turn out to be the best thing for a future event or for another person. (Always try out a purification method yourself before recommending it to anyone else.)
Put the stones into a bag and pull one when you feel logy and cluttered, or tense and overworked, or overwhelmed by any emotional situation. If you are inclined to make lots of internal psychic garbage, you might want to undertake purification before any serious working just to make sure that you are at least temporarily clear.