I was honoured and delighted to be asked to talk to the Glastonbury Moot about Shamanism, but I was a bit worried – wouldn’t it be like teaching my grandmother to suck eggs? Or – more accurately – like teaching a load of pagans to walk between the worlds? I talked about my own shamanic journey through the years, and what I do with my shamanism now, so that we could open up a debate and share our shamanic experiences.
I had brought my own 'secret diary' of my journeys over the years; nearly 25 years, in fact. I passed this round, so that people could see the sorts of things I write down when I return from a trance. I was delighted when this resonated with the mooters – some were able to talk about their own experiences in front of the moot, and others spoke to me personally, afterwards. I told the story of my relationship with my two main guardians on the spirit plane, Esmerelda and The Golden Boy, archetypes who advise, and often offer me gifts. I was very happy to share this, and that caused quite a positive reaction, with many people sharing back.
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| part of my shamanic journal |
I believe it is essential that, before you forget, you note down everything that happened in any shamanic journey. Write down something of what you saw, heard, felt, etc, and any thoughts that occurred to you.
Once you get going, you will probably want to buy a nice notebook to keep your writings in. I've had a few over the years, some are fabulous books, but mostly they are just Black and Red A4 notebooks.
The record is essential because it shapes the experience. As you write, tiny details will emerge which otherwise would be forgotten. As you write, some sense is made of nonsensical experiences. As you writer, you may spot synchronicities – likenesses and coincidences in life or story that make even more sense of the journey. And, of course, recording allows you to enjoy reading back after the event; I do this often and am amazed at how a path unfolds (linked to the word 'path working') and how enriched I am by remembering old journeys. Often, then I'll return to continue that adventure.
But as a writer, I soon discovered I could also use these techniques to explore story so that my ideas almost ‘wrote themselves’ before I even got to a keyboard. And at that point, a character arrived in my life - a zesty twenty-something therapeutic shaman called Sabbie Dare, who kept telling me that I should write about her. “I see a lot of clients,” she told me, “who don’t really know what’s wrong with them. They’re on the edge. They bring me some very difficult problems.”
I write the Shaman Mysteries for pagans and crime fiction lovers alike, so I have to be careful to walk a line between the truth of my own spiritual path, and the fictions I create. I don’t want to suggest that shamans can ‘solve crime’. And as the series progresses I am trying to introduce some of the aspects of shamanism and paganism that might enlighten the ‘muggle reader’. Book one, In the Moors, introduces the shamanic journey and Sabbie’s animal ally, an otter called Trendle.
In the second book, I developed Sabbie’s ritual life, and otherworld associations, especially her guardian, a river goddess who she doesn’t yet quite trust. Book three,
Beneath the Tor, uses a theme of transformation, including shapeshifting.This book is set in Glastonbury, and it was my great delight to be able to use some of the legends of the Vale of Avalon In book four, which I'm writing, I'm going to look at the Lower Realms, and introduce Sabbie's father, who is also a shaman.
We ran right out of time (I am hard to shut up, but they finally managed it!). I’m delighted to say that Oak
has invited me back, sometime in the future. There were so many aspects to living with shamanism that we didn’t cover, and I’d love to have that opportunity. The Glastonbury Moot, which meets on Wednesday evenings at the Mitre Inn, is a welcoming gathering, and I’d recommend it if you are looking for like-minded friends and live in that area.
Good Friday Sunrise by Kev Pearson
I was lucky enough to be able to stay the night with two kindly members of the moot, who have recently moved to Glastonbury. Kev is photographer, and (isn’t the universe strange?) I’d only that previous week discovered his wonderful images on the net. Check out his stunning photos, especially of the Tor at http://www.kevpearson.com/recent/
You can read some of the records I've kept about journeys by clicking on any of the links at the SHAMANISM PAGE (
Shamanism; The Crystal Path to the Otherworld)
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