Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition - Raven Kaldera 2012
Ocean
The Blue World: Water
Raven: I have always loved the ocean. If I could afford it, I would live right on its edge. I visit it several times yearly to work with my allies there, bringing them offerings and learning from their wisdom. They have helped my body to heal when it has been at its worst—I’ve joked that the next time my arthritis gets so bad that I can’t walk, my partner should push my wheelchair down to the shore and dump me in the surf, and the Ocean spirits will take care of it. As the River speaks to Galina, so does the Ocean call to me. I understand the song that calls to the sailors and makes them run from their homes, a song that prompts more than the urge to travel.
As I write this, the cleanup commences of the vast error of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The sea has been hideously mistreated by our species—not only oil spills but also pollutants, dead zones, mile-wide swirling vortices of trash, and severely depleted fish populations. We have a lot to answer for. The sea was our original mother, before the beauty of the land, and we have been assiduous in our destruction of her realm. There is no amount of apologizing or verbal propitiation that will make the smallest dent at this point. The best—the only—useful propitiation we can give to the ocean is to contribute in some way to its cleanup. It doesn’t matter if you only go to a beach and pick up the trash that you see—do something, if you intend to have anything at all to do with the volatile and capricious spirits of the ocean. Our credit with them is at an all-time low. You would do best to remember that when you approach the shore with intent to make any kind of alliance.
Galina: I learned to truly love the ocean through my devotion to Ran, Aegir, and their daughters. My adopted mother often took me to the beach in Big Sur, and we’d make offerings to them and while we were at it, spend some time picking up the trash. She taught me to love and respect the ocean, but to never, ever turn my back on it. Elemental Powers behave according to their nature, after all, and nothing any human being does can change that. She taught me to love the water in its grace and in its beauty, but also in its anger and in its fury. Water has never been an easy element for me to connect with, but her example made it a thousand times easier.
My kindred regularly makes donations to the Big Sur Land Trust in my adopted mom’s memory, and through her influence I have learned to be mindful of how I treat the Earth’s waters and its bounty. I believe that we as a species owe a blood debt to the oceans that we will never be able to repay. We have raped and plundered our waters with little thought and even less respect for the creatures that call those waters home. We have trespassed, and sooner or later I think we will have to pay a terrible price. Part of the fundamental job of shamans and shamanic practitioners is to restore balance: with ourselves, our Gods, our spirits, our ancestors, our world, and the Otherworlds. We create and maintain, and teach others to create and maintain, right relationship with everything in our worlds. That might sound daunting, but it’s easy to begin with something small.
Begin with your own self and your own mindfulness. Begin with the way that you yourself choose to relate to your world and all the beings in it, large and small, human and not. I stopped buying pearls and shells (which I loved) when I learned how they were so often harvested in ways harmful to the ocean. I began to be mindful of the fish that I ate, choosing to eat only those types that were sustainably harvested and taking more care with how I dispose of my garbage. We don’t get to claim a relationship with the spirits of our world without giving any thought to what we’re doing to theirs. We have a sacred obligation to respect the land and waters and their resources. We have no right to do this work otherwise.
The only rule of thumb in dealing with spirits is respect. There are very few absolutes. As I write this, Japan is recovering from a colossal earthquake and tsunami. This is Elemental Power unleashed: immense, terrifying, utterly devastating. Ages before we as a species existed, the Elemental Powers held sway. We would do well to remember that in our interactions with them.
Modern Neopagan thought tends to class water as gentle, healing, flowing, and other rather tame adjectives. While those qualities are indeed found in water, in Northern Tradition shamanism we explore the most destructive side of an element in order to truly understand it, and, make no mistake, water can be an incredibly powerful and destructive force. This is most clearly shown when we examine the mythical Gods and spirits of the northern oceans—Aegir and Ran, the king and queen of the ocean, and their nine undine daughters, who might pull you in and devour you as quickly as they might bless you. While all Water spirits are deceptively dangerous, the spirits of oceans—which are the largest bodies of water—are the most dangerous of all. Imagine a storm at sea, and consider that we must see the sacredness in its fury before we can truly love the sea for itself. The ocean loves to eat people. This is one of its integral qualities, and we must never forget that. On the other hand, for those who are drawn to the ocean, it can be a source of great healing and joy.
Ocean spirits are a plurality that works as one. This plurality versus singularity of spirit is a complex and subjective phenomenon that varies with each human’s perceptions and how the spirits choose to interact with them, but in general we have found Earth spirits and Air spirits to be much more distinct and separate. Water spirits tend to be singular when they are associated with a smaller, contained body of water, like a stream or lake, but the ocean hosts a multitude of spirits, and they may approach you singularly or as a localized group moving and singing in unison. Don’t worry too much about it—Water is changeable and capricious by nature, and Water spirits will do what they will. You don’t need to understand in order to behave properly and respectfully. Understanding is oftentimes a luxury that we are simply not given at first.
When making offerings to the Ocean, don’t throw in anything that is not edible by local sea life, and don’t throw in anything that isn’t biodegradable. We’ve given the ocean far too many of our trash offerings already, an unfortunate reality clearly revealed by the giant swirling island of garbage in the Pacific. In fact, the best offering is, as we’ve mentioned, to clean things up and take our garbage away. The best course is to do it in a mindful manner, using your Intent to extend your small cleanup of one area of beach to hopefully spread out through the ocean and help it to clean itself further. The Ocean spirits are as quick to wrath as they are quick to play, so keep your own mind serene and respectful as you work, and never turn your back on them. It might be construed as disrespect.
Exercise: Greeting the Ocean
Having the Ocean as an ally requires actually visiting it. While certain sea deities can be propitiated inland (check the Resources for this information), the actual Ocean spirits want you to show up and get wet. If their aid is truly required, buy yourself a bus or plane ticket and go. Stand on the shore and announce yourself to them, and then do whatever cleanup you can find to do. If it’s a particularly clean beach, you might want to go find a dirtier one and clean it a bit, and then go back to the cleaner one. When the work is done, sing to them—they love singing of any variety, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a great voice or can’t stay on key. Continue singing as you walk into the water, to whatever depth seems right. (Don’t go too far in if you are not a strong swimmer or have little experience with swimming against ocean currents.) If you brought a little food with you, release it into the water. Be careful not to accidentally drop in wrappers or plastic bags—that’s incredibly offensive.
Ask the Ocean spirits to bless you and to show you what you need to work on to improve yourself. This is one of their specialties, and they’ll probably offer this to you anyway, so asking for it is a way of acknowledging that it will happen and declaring yourself ready and willing to change. Then spend about an hour moving in the waves and seeing what emotions come up. Remember that Water has an affinity with the emotions and that Ocean—containing the deepest water—has an affinity for all the deep hidden emotions that we bury in our subconscious. Facing these emotions—at least a few, at least to some extent—is a way of proving yourself worthy of an alliance with the Ocean spirits, who can taste hypocrisy on the flesh of your body. So watch your feelings and allow yourself to experience them. Were you annoyed because you were knocked over by the waves? Were you timid; did you have trouble letting go to the experience? Were you outright frightened by the ocean’s power? Did you experience wild joy? Did grief well up in you, or anger? These feelings are keys to buried emotions and experiences that you need to work on.
Take some ocean water home with you in a large bottle and hold it while you deal with them. Once you’ve shown the Ocean spirits that you are willing to access your own depths, they can be great allies for healing, both physically and emotionally. They can also help with divining, and a good second exercise is to pour your bottle of seawater into a glass bowl and scry with it. Try swirling it with your finger or gently sloshing the bowl back and forth to simulate the tides as you gaze into it. Seawater is cloudy, and that’s normal—it is full not only of salt but of the bodies of dead plankton. Ask for the Ocean spirits to grant you a vision, and deliberately blur your eyes as you stare at the bowl. Then, quickly, refocus your gaze while looking at the center of the bowl, and see what image jumps into your mind. This is your message, and while it will probably be vague and subjective, remember that water by nature is not sharp or structured. Meditate on your vision for one turn of the Moon, and if you figure out its relevance, remember to thank the Ocean spirits again.