The Accidental Shaman: Journeys with Plant Teachers and Other Spirit Allies - Howard G. Charing 2017

Overview of The Six Creative Enrichment Practices
The Shaman As Artist and Creator

1. Align the mind-body system with the universal creative source.

2. Dissolve the inner obstacles to creativity.

3. Encounter the archetype of primordial creativity.

4. See the world like a child again.

5. Discover the luminous symbol of your creative power.

6. Manifest your creative energy.

From a geometric perspective the practices are not linear but have an interconnected relationship (see color plate 12). Following this primordial creative template, undertake one practice each day for six days. All of the creative enrichment practices are presented in the first person.

It is a useful discipline to make notes or draw sketches of your experiences to assist you in grounding your visions.

FIRST CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICE

Align the Mind-Body System with the Universal Creative Source

To begin with, find a place where you feel comfortable and will not be disturbed for about an hour. When you are ready, either lie down or sit in a comfortable chair and darken the room, or at least cover your eyes. (It is easier to carry out this type of visionary work in subdued light.) Remove or release any tight or restrictive clothing, and allow your breathing to move to a gentle rhythm. As you breathe allow yourself to feel rooted or perhaps feel a kind of magnetic pull to the ground. This empowering meditation was gifted to me by John-Richard Turner, founder of the body of work called the Prebirth Analysis Matrix, with whom I studied in the 1980s.

The purpose of this practice is to open the mind and body to the spiritual essence of creation and to prepare for the subsequent practices. This is the primary alignment to open your soul radiance to the full spectrum of universal interconnectedness and the divine.

Say the following to yourself as you relax:

I am aware of radiance in my toes.

I am aware of radiance in my feet.

I am aware of radiance in my ankles.

I am aware of radiance in my shins and my calves.

I am aware of radiance in my knees.

I am aware of radiance in my thighs and my hips.

I am aware of radiance in my abdomen.

I am aware of radiance in my solar plexus.

I am aware of radiance in my chest.

I am aware of radiance in my spine.

I am aware of radiance at the base of my spine.

And very gently . . .

I bring my awareness of this radiance up my spine to the top of my head. Using my creative imagination I make a little opening at the top of my head. I let my awareness move through this opening, and I let it go instantly to the center of creation, wherever that is, simply by willing it to be there. The words are “I will to be at the center of creation NOW!” (For many people, the center of creation is sensed about six inches above the head.)

And as I arrive at this point of consciousness, I see that all of creation is filled with this radiance . . . this light . . . this illumination . . . pulsing . . .shimmering . . . vibrating. I let myself be enveloped in this radiance . . . embraced in this radiance . . . I merge with this radiance. . . .

I become one with this radiance. As I do, I realize that this radiance is the creative force of all light, and this force has many names. But one name I can give it is unconditional love, the unconditional love of creation for all of itself. And because I share in this creation, am a part of this creation, I know that I share in this unconditional love.

And now, I draw this light down through the top of my head into my brain center. I let the consciousness of all the cells in my brain receive this radiance as a gift from myself for functioning perfectly.

I let this radiance flow into my forehead area, and I let the consciousness of all the cells in my forehead receive this radiance as a gift from myself for giving me perfect inner vision, perfect insight. (This is often experienced as a very physical feeling, a tingling or pulsing in the center of the forehead, as inner vision gently opens and strengthens.)

And now I let this light flow through my eyes . . . my optic nerves . . . my nose . . . my sinuses . . . my ears . . . my mouth . . . and my throat. I let the consciousness of all the sense organs in my head receive this radiance as a gift from myself for functioning perfectly.

I let this radiance flow down my arms into my open hands, and after a moment, I turn my palms upward. I let the consciousness of all the cells in my hands receive this radiance as a gift from myself for giving me a perfect touch . . . a perfect creativity . . . a perfect strength. (This is often experienced as a very physical feeling.)

I realize that I am holding a radiant ball of healing crystal light in the palms and the fingertips of my hands. As I feel this healing light in my palms . . . I know that I have brought this healing light to the consciousness of every cell in my body. It is simply that in my hands I can feel it very clearly.

And now I offer this healing light to all those who have requested help or healing from me . . . that each may use it in whatever way is most appropriate for that person’s evolution. I see or think of each person.

I offer this healing light to all those whose names do not come to me at this moment . . . that those people too may share in its benefits. I offer this healing light to all those who have died . . . that each may use it in whatever way is most appropriate for that person’s evolution. I see or think of each person.

I offer this healing light to all those whom I have loved, love now, or ever will love. I see or think of each person. I offer this healing light to all those whom I have loved, love now, or ever will love whose names do not come to me at this moment . . . that those people too may share in its benefits.

Now I offer this healing light into my own heart center. I let the consciousness of all the cells in my heart receive this light as a gift from myself for giving me perfect, unconditional self-love . . . perfect, unconditional love of myself. And I feel joy in my heart as it realizes that I have actually merged back with the source of my own being . . . that I am no longer alone but connected with this source.

I thank my heart for pumping the life blood through my body every moment of this life; I am no longer alone but connected with that source. With each beat of my heart, not only is it pumping the blood but it is also spreading this radiance to my lungs . . . to my breasts . . . to my solar plexus . . . and to my abdomen.

I let the consciousness of all the cells . . . the organs . . . the glands . . . the muscles . . . and the bones receive this radiance as a gift from myself for functioning perfectly. I let this healing radiance flow down over my head . . . my face . . . my shoulders . . . and my back, and I realize that I am sitting in a cascade of radiant healing light, which is flowing in, through, and around my whole self.

I know that I can renew this energy whenever I want. I let it flow over my hips and thighs . . . my knees . . . my shins . . . my calves . . . my ankles . . . my feet . . . and my toes. And because I have been very conscious and very wide awake . . . when I want, I can gently open my eyes.

SECOND CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICE

Dissolve the Inner Obstacles to Creativity

The purpose of this practice is to release the nonconscious, disempowering energies that over time have become entangled with your luminous soul essence. These are the judgments that others have made and, of course, your own self-judgments. These judgments are a diminishing negative energy that has calcified and becomes intractable over time. These are the so-called blocks to our soul essence. Typical judgments are: “Who do you think you are?” “I can’t do this,” and “I’m useless.” These messages infiltrate our mind-body system and sentence us to live our life within these limitations. It is part of the “original sin” paradigm, which holds that even as newborns, we are sinners, not good enough. This paradigm—a bedrock of Western culture—has established an insidious pattern of disempowerment and has undermined self-esteem, separating us from our inner creative power. We have the ability to free ourselves from this.

Say the following to yourself as you relax:

I start to gently breath, inhaling deep into the base of my stomach, and then after a second I gently exhale. I repeat this inhalation and exhalation six times. While I am breathing in this soft way, I simply allow the inner feelings to emerge, without any thought, without any judgment, without the inner disempowering messages from my life. . . . The unconscious obstacles that impede my primal creativity stir within me and arise.

I gently allow this energy to rise, and as I feel it move I expel it by blowing it out through my mouth like dark smoke. I blow this smoky substance into the space in front of me like a cloud, where it curls, swirls, and then dissipates and dissolves. I realize that this disempowering energy never had any substance in my life . . . and as I continue to breathe it out, I know in my heart that it had substance only because I allowed it to.

With each breath, I release this energy, and I know that I am now experiencing true freedom. Now I breathe in through my nostrils a rainbow-colored light. This rainbow light is the quintessence of grace, wisdom, and an empowering, revitalizing energy that permeates my entire body, from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head, becoming centered in my heart.

Now from my heart I project this rainbow healing and purifying light into the space in front of me, where it becomes in my mind’s eye a luminous and vibrating sphere of radiance.

I now open my mouth wide, and I make the sound “aah,” and with this vibration I manifest this radiant sphere into the world. I know it is the primordial, universal energy of creativity, and I know that I too am part of this divine imagination. I know that my separation from the source of universal creative power was only an illusion.

Again I make the sound “aah,” and this light moves into my third eye in my forehead, infusing and empowering my creative spirit. I know that the primordial divine creative energy is being expressed through me and that I am no longer disconnected from this source. I pledge to manifest this energy in ways that heal and bring benefit to myself and to others.

THIRD CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICE

Encounter the Embodiment of Primordial Creativity

To begin with, find a place where you feel comfortable and will not be disturbed for about an hour. When you are ready, either lie down or sit in a comfortable chair and darken the room, or at least cover your eyes. (It is easier to carry out this type of visionary work in subdued light.) Remove or release any tight or restrictive clothing, and allow your breathing to move to a gentle rhythm. As you breathe allow yourself to feel rooted or perhaps feel a kind of magnetic pull to the ground. Focus now on the first principle of intention. Concentrate on your intention as you align your energy with thought and outcome.

The purpose of this practice is to journey to the upper world to encounter the embodiment of primordial creativity. This practice draws upon the quintessential archetype of the being who has gone beyond conventional human bounds and has attained deep wisdom. This is the epitome of the spiritual master. This encounter with the master can actuate your creativity and empower your vision.

Say the following to yourself as you relax:

In my creative imagination I allow myself to go to a location I know of that reminds me of Earth. In this location I will find a place where I can go up, or climb. It could be a tree, a mountain, a hill, or a pyramid, and I will recognize this place where I can ascend. I possess a strong sense of being present in this location, and I gently relax and feel increasingly comfortable.

I now see the place where I can go up, and I start to make my ascent. During this ascent I am aware of passing through an ethereal layer, with the texture of tissue paper or clouds. I know that this is the separator between realms, and as I move through it I arrive in the upper world. Here I am totally present; I am totally aware; I am totally conscious; and I gradually become increasingly aware of the colors, the sounds, the scents, and the movement of the air around me.

I now begin to explore, and with all of my sensory faculties functioning in a heightened state, I soon know where I need to go to encounter the embodiment of primordial creativity. (This embodiment can be in any form, shape, or size. It could be a water fountain, a crystal, a cloud of spiral particles, or a field of colored energy, or it could be personified in the form of a master or celestial being.) I will recognize the form and substance of the creative energy.

At this time there is nothing to do but to be present with the source of primordial creative energy and allow its sublime essence to infuse and merge with my being. During this I may receive inspirational imagery, hear elevating words, or just feel embraced by the source of divine creativity.

When I feel ready and my being is filled with this transcendent creative energy, I will speak words of gratitude and appreciation. Now it is time to return to the manifest world. The creative energy from the primordial source is now within me.

Coming Back

This is all important and needs to be integrated into your intention, either spoken or unspoken. This work has no point unless you come back into the physical world so you can build your bridge between the manifest and the unmanifest realities.

Return to everyday reality either by setting a prearranged time with a drumming friend or using the call-back drumming rhythm on a shamanic journeying track. Coming back requires volition and discipline because you may be in a place from which you do not want to return. When you hear the call-back signal, stop what you are doing, say your farewells, turn around, and return the same way that you came. Make your descent, and when you have arrived in the place that you started from, the place in your imagination that reminded you of Earth, become aware of that place, feel your feet on the ground, and sense the ground pushing up against the soles of your feet. Be back in the physical world.

FOURTH CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICE

See the World like a Child Again

In this practice, we reach back through our lives to a time when everything was new, magical, and filled with wonder. Time in this practice is not linear, and rather than just recapturing a memory, we reincorporate the extraordinary and miraculous experience of being our magical child. We go back to a time when the surrounding world was unstructured by linguistic form and we experienced the world through sensory systems without the mediating influence of language.

Say the following to yourself as you relax:

In my creative imagination I allow myself to go to a location that I know of that reminds me of Earth. In this location I will find a place where I can go down, or descend. It could be a cave entrance, a hole in the ground, an animal burrow, a body of water, or a well shaft, and I will recognize this entrance.

I possess a strong sense of being present in this location, and I gently relax and feel increasingly comfortable. I focus my intention to encounter my magical child as I move into the entrance and make my way down to the lower world, the place of nurturing and connection to the primordial mother, the Earth.

When I arrive in the lower world, I feel a sense of being present. My feet are firmly on the ground, and I sense the ground pushing up against the soles of my feet. I feel the wind around me; I can hear it blow through the trees. I hear the sound of rushing, flowing water. It could be a river, a stream, a water-fall, a fountain, a sea, or an ocean. As I stand there, I know that all my senses are functioning at an optimum level—my vision, my hearing, my sense of smell, and my sense of touch. I fully embrace my sensory experience as I am drawn to the presence of my magical child. I allow myself to become fully receptive to the miraculous, enchanting, endearing, lovable, engaging, and heavenly being that I am.

I realize that my magical child and I were never separate; that separation was only an illusion, a mirage. This sacred energy has always been a part of me. I allow the experience of being that child envelop me. My mind remembers, my body remembers, my soul memories return, and I recall and reexperience what it felt like the first time I saw a flower . . . the first time I smelled the perfume of a flower . . . the first time I heard music. . . the first time I saw clouds . . . the first time I was in the rain . . . the first time I smelled the grass after it had been raining . . . the first time I saw the color yellow . . . the first time I saw the color red . . . the first time I saw the color blue . . . the first time I saw a tree . . . the first time I laughed because I was happy . . . the first time I cried because I was sad. . . .

As I relive these experiences, I gently and lovingly allow all these feelings to reenter my conscious mind and body and be absorbed.

Now it is time to return to the manifest world and to bring back this sacred child that is now a part of me. When I return I pledge to bring a child-like beauty and innocence into my life for the benefit of myself and for the benefit of others.

I give my thanks and blessings to the magical child, and I go back along the path to where I started this journey, and because I have been fully conscious and wide awake, I gently open my eyes and return to the present. I realize that I am the same person, but I have changed. I have transformed into my whole self—the sublime combination of inner child and adult.

FIFTH CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICE

Discover the Luminous Symbol of Your Creative Power

This practice guides you to discover the symbol of your innate creative potential. It will have the effect of a magnetic attraction force that draws in your personal creative power from the transcendent and transpersonal realm.

Let’s look for a moment at what a symbol actually is. Although there are a number of definitions, one unifying idea is that a symbol is not a sign. A sign is an indicator of something that is already known, such as traffic signs; signs that provide information, such as “Exit” signs; and increasingly signs that prohibit a specific activity, like “No Skateboarding.” A symbol is something very different; it represents energy, a quality that stands in both the unmanifest and manifest realms of consciousness. It functions as a bridge between the two or a locus between the universal flow of creativity and human consciousness. Symbols are not static; they possess flow, motion. They are a luminous ordering of universal patterns that can enrich our hearts and minds. A symbol is a manifestation of the living cosmos that unites us with the primordial patterns of nature; it is a way to make the invisible energies of creation visible.

Each of us has a unique pattern that is woven throughout nature, which itself is a web of interconnected patterns. In this practice you will experience your unique pattern, a unique design interwoven in your soul. This is your personal symbol drawn down from the collective consciousness.

Say the following to yourself as you relax:

In my creative imagination I allow myself to go to a location that I know of that reminds me of Earth. In this location I will find a place where I can go up, or climb. It could be a tree, a mountain, a hill, or a pyramid, and I will recognize this place where I can ascend. I possess a strong sense of being present in this location, and I gently relax and feel increasingly comfortable.

I now see the place where I can go up, and I start to make my ascent. During this ascent I am aware of passing through an ethereal layer, with the texture of tissue paper or clouds. I know that this is the separator between realms, and as I move through this I arrive in the upper world. Here I am totally present, I am totally aware, I am totally conscious, and I gradually notice the colors, the sounds, the scents, and the movement of the air around me.

I now begin to explore, and because all of my sensory faculties are functioning in a heightened state, I soon know where I need to go to discover the luminous symbol of my creative power. This symbol can be in any form, any shape, or any size. It could be a stone, a tree, a flower, a crystal, or a word. Typically, it would be something tangible, a sacred object that I could hold, and I know that even if it is large, as I reach out to touch it, the sacred object will reduce in size and I will be able to hold it in my hands. My heart will recognize this luminous symbol as being totally perfect for me.

And now I hold this sacred object in my hands, and as I do this, I bring this luminous symbol to my heart, where it becomes absorbed into my being. I know now that I have entered into a true communion with the divine energy of spirit. I allow these waves of consciousness to move throughout my body, informing every cell in my body, and I sense as this energy flows to my fore-head that my creative visionary faculty, my third eye, gently opens like a shining flower of many petals.

At this time there is nothing to do but to be present and allow the sub-lime essence of the symbol to infuse and merge with my being. During this I may receive inspirational imagery, hear elevating words, or just feel embraced by this divine creativity.

When I feel ready and my being is filled with this transcendent creative energy, I will speak words of gratitude and appreciation. It is time to return to the manifest world, knowing that this symbol, this locus of creative energy from the primordial source, is now within me.

When you return from this journey, it is a productive practice to paint your symbol on a stone, a physical reminder of the symbol of your personal creative power.

SIXTH CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICE

Manifest Your Creative Energy

Grounding or manifesting your vision is a fundamental tenet of shamanism. Unless your vision is brought into the world, it has no power. This has important implications; for example, if you have a vision that offers you the potential to change the course of your life, and you do not act on or implement this vision, then it remains a vision with unrealized potential. The purpose of a vision is to realize it in your life, nothing more and nothing less. To manifest your vision, to give it birth into the world, is often the most challenging act. When you do this it is a true act of power. I recommend that you embark on this journey only when you feel the inner call to do so. In the words of Sun Bear, “Don’t tell me your visions unless they grow corn.”

In this journey you will receive insight, an understanding of how you can consummate your vision in your life. In the previous five creative enrichment practices, you opened up to your inner creative power and placed yourself in alignment with the universal creative consciousness. This practice will help you unleash the power of your vision into the manifest world. That is the ever-evolving cosmic dance of the shaman.

Focus now on the first principle of intention. Concentrate on your intention as you align your energy with thought and outcome. For the purposes of this practice, the intention is to journey to the middle world to discover how to manifest your creative energy. From a shamanic perspective, the middle world is the energetic template of the physical world in which we live, and actions performed there have a direct influence on the physical world.

It is a useful discipline as with all the above practices to make notes or draw sketches of your experience to assist you in grounding your vision.

Say the following to yourself as you relax:

In my creative imagination I allow myself to go to a location that reminds me of Earth. I possess a strong sense of being present in this location, and I gently relax and feel increasingly comfortable. In this place I will find a gate-way, which can be of any shape, form, or size. It could, for example, be a space between two rocks, a space between two trees, a traditional country gate, or a form of energy gateway. I will recognize this gateway, and when I move through it I will know I am in the middle world.

I now begin to explore, and because all of my sensory faculties are functioning in a heightened state, I soon know where I need to go to discover how to manifest my creative energy in the everyday world. As I remain present in this place, I realize that the sacred is all around us. It is in me and in nature, and I know that I am an expression of the primordial creative consciousness that is experiencing its creation through me. The language of this universal mind is perceived through geometric patterns of which my mind, my body, and my soul are a part. I understand that I do not have to do anything; I am already an element of the universal consciousness.

As I establish my presence in the middle world, I feel that my feet are connected to the ground and that the soles of my feet are like magnets grounding me to the Earth. I sense roots growing from the soles of my feet into the ground, drawing nurturing force into me. This force rises through my body and into my heart center. I raise my arms to the sky and draw down celestial energy, which permeates my entire body and meets the nurturing force of the Earth in my heart center. I am like a tree, standing strong and purposeful between the worlds, a focus of celestial and Earth energies. In this state of consciousness, I know that everything I do from this moment on will be an expression of my innate creative power and by extension the primordial creative power of the universal consciousness.

And now, because I am filled with this transcendent creative energy, I know it is time to return to the manifest world, the only realm where it can be expressed. I return to the gateway, and once I am through, I know that I am fully awake and alert. I open my eyes, and I am back in the physical world, ready to express my creative power in all the things I do.

The Accidental Shaman: Journeys with Plant Teachers and Other Spirit Allies - Howard G. Charing 2017

Overview of The Six Creative Enrichment PracticesThe Shaman As Artist and Creator

Overview of The Six Creative Enrichment Practices
The Shaman As Artist and Creator