Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition - Raven Kaldera 2012
Smoke
The Red World: Fire
Galina: Fire transforms. That is its nature. Air fans Fire and augments its transformative power. One of the first sacred functions that I learned early on when I was training as a priest was how to burn sacred herbs and use the smoke to purify people, places, and things. I never gave any thought to Fire’s role in this process; for years I thought it only a technique of Air, and perhaps Earth, from which the herbs are drawn. It wasn’t until I began to apprentice to the Gods of Fire, learn its mysteries, and carry a tiny bit of its medicine that I came to understand what a tremendously powerful and holy partnership was in play every time I burned a recel of mugwort. Fire’s power here isn’t just that of transformation, but also a gift of communication. Fire helps us to tease out and awaken the blessing spirit of the herb. It accesses the herb’s deeper power and sets it forth in our world. Fire is generous and keeps the natural world from growing stagnant. Through its power to break down and transform, it helps us to partner better with the spirits of certain herbs.
Raven: While we touch on the powers of cleansing smoke in the Green World of plant spirits, it is most appropriate to introduce the concept here because sacred smoke is the pairing of Fire and Plants. The burning of powdered amber, as we explored in the Golden World chapter, reflects Fire’s partnership with the long-fossilized sap of trees. Inhaling the smoke—the blood-perfume—of burning plants may seem cruel and barbaric when you think about it, but it is a sacred act.
Plants—especially trees—have an interesting relationship with Fire. We consider forest fires to be a terrible event, but they are a part of the temperate-zone forest cycle. Fire breaks out naturally every so many generations of the Green World, cleanses choking underbrush, creates space for sunlight to enter, and sweetens the forest floor with ashes. Without this periodic purification, forests become dark, dank places where the only real growth is at the top. I’ve spoken to trees, and they dream of dying in flames. It is the best death that they can imagine.
Exercise: Sacred Smoke
Fire is purifying and transformative, even as it kills, and when the bodies of the Green World’s denizens go up in smoke, something beautiful happens. An essence is released into the world that had been contained within them, and when we speak of this we mean more than just volatile oils being physically released into the air, although that’s part of it. Any specific plant may have purifying properties, for example, and waving it about it the air spreads a certain amount of its power . . . but when that plant is devoured by fire, a measure of its power is released that is greater than if it had simply decayed and gone back to the Earth. In the second case, that power would have been reserved for the next generation of plants to grow; when we burn a plant, we release that spiritual essence into the Otherworlds. We can breathe it into our bodies, or infuse the aura of another person, or spread it over an entire area.
Our first historical accounts of smoking, anywhere in the world, are associated with shamanic activity. Somewhere along the line, the ancestors figured out that certain substances, when burned and inhaled, created a variety of altered states. In some cases, smoking the plants was safer than taking them straight into the body, especially when the plant might cause nausea or other unpleasant symptoms that could interfere with the trance state. In some cases the plants were dangerous enough that their smoke could only be inhaled from a distance, as incense. This was the beginning of incenses and recels.
Since you’ve already read the Green World chapter—one hopes—you understand the procedure for getting to know the spirit of a plant. For this exercise, you can either roll dried plant matter and actually smoke it or just throw it on a small fire as incense. However, if you smoke recreationally, you might want to work with the plants as incense to maintain the right attitude. You also shouldn’t do this exercise with any herb that you currently smoke recreationally.
If you are addicted to any smoking herb, quit. By addiction, we mean that if the idea that you might suddenly be banned from ever smoking it again, starting now, sends you into paroxysms of great distress, you’re addicted, and you need to work toward quitting. Addiction does not reflect right relationship with anything, and if you’re involving Fire with that addiction—and anything that is smoked involves Fire—then Fire has the lawful right to eat you, and just might if it feels like it. Don’t think that being a shamanic practitioner will get you out of that fate if you continue to disrespect Fire in that way. If anything, it will be worse because you should know better, and more is expected of you.
Galina was an avid smoker of tobacco when she first began shamanic practice, and one of the first challenges she had to face was breaking that addiction. She still smokes ceremonially when doing ancestor work or when working in some way with the spirit of the tobacco plant, but recreational smoking is no longer part of her life. The tobacco spirit is acknowledged as an ally and thus it cannot be abused or misused. Consider it a good exercise in the discipline necessary for shamanic practice, and break those addictions now. It’ll serve you better in the long run.
Drying plants removes most of their water, which can interfere with fire, and in most cases keeps the greater part of their essential oils intact. Regardless of which method you decide to use for this exercise, make the fire in one of the ways listed above, thank the Fire spirit for coming, and thank the plant spirit for giving its body to this lesson. Then either roll up the herb and breathe it into your lungs carefully and mindfully, or cast a good deal of plant matter onto the fire so that it smokes. If you choose this latter method, sit just at the edge of the cloud of smoke and breathe. Every other breath, turn your head and breathe fresh air. Keep an eye on your senses and feelings—what do your intuitions tell you about the essence of the plant spirit who Fire is bringing to you?
Do this exercise at least nine times with nine different burnable plants. None of these should be traditional entheogens such as hemp or henbane or even tobacco. Go simpler than that—use any of the plants in the Green World chapter, or coltsfoot or mullein or lavender or marshmallow or catnip, or other plants whose smoke is beneficial but mild. Write down your experiences, and thank the Fire and the plant spirits. If you use amber, thank the Sun as well.