Lesson Nine: Introduction to Journey Techniques
The Lesson:
"Do not lie in ignorance like a corpse; enter the natural sphere of unwavering attentiveness. Recognize your dreams and transform illusion into luminosity. Do not sleep like an animal. Do the practice, which mixes sleep and reality."
What do we mean by saying journeying? When speaking shamanically most have heard of an out of body experience or something similar. Well journeying is something like that. When one does journey work one is letting the spirit temporarily leave the body to interact with the spirit real, or the astral plane. Many types of meditations are also journey. All journeys have specific purposes.
The way that one lets the spirit leave the body is by intentionally changing their state of conscious awareness. The common states of consciousness are full waking consciousness and the dream state, but there are many levels between these states. With practice and intent one learns to enter those states at will.
What is day dreaming?
Many times during the day one finds oneself daydreaming. It is distinctly different from full awareness although it borders closely to being awake. The mind is aware of its physical surroundings, but is not fully present; part of the awareness has slipped between the levels of awareness into the realms of dreams and spirit. Imagery flows through the minds eyes. One sees symbols, has revelations, and receives messages.
This is done through the imagination which is a vehicle that your Higher Self, or Soul can use to communicate with you. Think of your imagination as an interpreter of the Realms.
Many people disregard their imagination as being nothing of importance. And sometimes that can be the case, but generally there is a lot more to it. In some ways you create what you see within your imagination, but what you see isn't as important as what the message behind what you're seeing is.
Many daydreams are just your subconscious mind trying to tell you something — maybe the solution to a problem that's been troubling you. The hardest thing is for people tot rust their imagination. Many people see or imagine something great only to tell themselves it is just another silly fantasy. The trick to using daydreams is to figure out the symbolism. Misinterpretation can cause frustration and mistrust of your dreams. Don't get upset at your brain. Instead, learn to listen more clearly. Learning to KNOW when to listen and really haring what is being said are the two most difficult aspects of journey work, or any psychic work for that matter. Your subconscious is the receptor of information and the navigator of the astral and spiritual realms. So learn how it works and how to use it.
During daydreams things like ‘what ifs' always pop up. For example: what if I won the lottery? This is a sort of escapism and a way of leaving the mundane world. They do have their purpose; most are very relaxing and enjoyable. Premonitions often come through this way and are missed due to the abstract form that they take.
Dreaming is Journeying:
Another state of conscious is the dream. Generally you are barely aware of your surroundings when dreaming; the separation between full consciousness is much deeper in this state than when merely day dreaming and one's connection to the astral levels is stronger. Messages from the spirits, journeying outside the body, and communication are all more developed in this state. During the fall asleep period much of the dreams are sorting out the days events and storing them away for future reference. After that the mind starts going into the astral levels to explore. You generally y become immersed in the Other worldly levels as consciousness shuts down and the subconscious takes control.
The state of deep sleep is the goal for most experienced journey workers who practice retaining an alert state of mind as they enter this state. The subconscious will freely navigate on its own if the conscious mind shut down. If you can control this subconscious mind by keeping your conscious one alert you will be able to move through and bring back whatever you experience. You can also physically communicate with other people during the dream time.
Lucid dreams are what happens when the conscious mind suddenly reactivate during deep sleep and finds itself in unfamiliar surrounds that seem totally real. It assumes that the new surrounding are real and controls things as it would in the mundane world. Completely unaware that it is not in the physical realm. You can learn to do this intentionally, and it is good practice to have a specific goal in mind when you do.
To learn this skills it is recommended that you go to bed with a clear head, no alcohol or drugs. Before laying down to go to sleep spend a few minutes relaxing and clearing your mind of the day's activities. When you are calm, state a goal, and then go to sleep.
Meditation, regular exercise, and general good health care help also.
Keep a dream journal. Keep a pen and paper or recorder by the bed. Write everything that you remember; and as you write you will remember more.
Dream Practice:
One of the first ways is to establish a conscious rapport with your dreaming self by learning to recall dreams. Although some people have no trouble remembering dreams, for others it takes considerable effort. When you wake from a dream, write it down. If you remember nothing, then write down the first thing that pops in your head.
Without trying to analyze the dreams, look for patterns and recurring images.
If there is a recurring dream or symbol then examine it more carefully. This is usually the spirit's way of getting your attention to focus on a subject that will be important for you to work with.
Earlier cultures believed that divine messengers came to us in dreams and one of the services that shamans performed was to translate these messages. This is called re-dreaming and meant that the dreamer retold his dream twenty-two times.
Next the shaman asks clarifying questions meant to help the dreamer recall details. These are not interpretive questions, but merely questions aimed at filling in any blanks spots.
Then the shamans ask interpretive questions meant to focus the dreamer on the message of the dream; these usually involve feelings and thoughts on the dream images.
Working with spirit guides in dreams:
Recall your dream, then summon your guide, and travel back into the dream. Once there you can communicate with anything and everything that was within the dream. So ask the images what they mean, what they're message is. Then ask your guide what the images represent. Three good questions to ask are:
From your reading you should be able to answer the following questions: