{"id":7417,"date":"2017-12-07T04:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T10:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=7417"},"modified":"2017-12-07T07:46:56","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T13:46:56","slug":"parting-mists-introduction-journeying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2017\/12\/parting-mists-introduction-journeying.html","title":{"rendered":"Parting the Mists: An Introduction to Journeying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Over the past couple weeks I\u2019ve had multiple requests for information on journeying. I may have planted the seeds for those requests with September\u2019s post Travel Is Good For the Soul \u2013 Including Travel Beyond the Veil<\/a> where I discussed the benefits of journeying, but not how to do it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been very reluctant to write on this in any detail. Journeying is best learned face-to-face. It\u2019s not risk-free, you can do it wrong, and you can end up in some places you don\u2019t want to be with some persons who aren\u2019t particularly nice. The topic is also subject to derision and ridicule by skeptics, which makes it that much more difficult for those attempting to learn it. But multiple requests are usually a sign it\u2019s time for me to write about something, so here goes.<\/p>\n

Warning: this post is intended for people who are interested in journeying as a spiritual and magical activity. If that\u2019s not you, you shouldn\u2019t comment on this post. I will be extremely liberal with the delete button. But if you have honest questions or something helpful to add, I welcome your thoughts.<\/p>\n

\"mists<\/a><\/p>\n

Foundational assumptions: animism, polytheism, experiences<\/h1>\n

A lot of people approach journeying from a psychological viewpoint. There can be value in that approach, but too often that\u2019s an excuse to cling to materialist assumptions<\/a>. And in any case, I\u2019m a Druid and a priest, not a psychologist.<\/p>\n

As with all my religious and spiritual work, my thoughts on journeying are grounded in animism<\/a>: the idea that everything in the universe is not a thing but a person, and that we can relate to them as persons. My thoughts are grounded in polytheism: there are many real Gods whose existence and agency are not dependent on humans. This includes the existence of other spiritual beings who are not Gods, such as ancestors, nature spirits, and the fae.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly, my thoughts are based on my own experiences. This is what I\u2019ve done. This is what works for me, and what I\u2019ve seen work for others. How it works is a worthy question, but it\u2019s less important to me than the fact that it does work.<\/p>\n

What is journeying?<\/h1>\n

Journeying is the first-hand experience of other times, other places, and other realms. That\u2019s a rather vague definition, but it\u2019s the best I\u2019ve got (another reason why this is best taught in-person).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s similar to dreaming, remote viewing, and out of body experiences, but it\u2019s not any of those things. It can be directed \u2013 as in a guided meditation \u2013 but it cannot be controlled. What you experience depends on where you actually go and on your interactions with the persons you encounter. For example, you can journey to meet an ancestor, but you cannot compel that ancestor to come to you, and if they do you cannot control what they say and do, if anything.<\/p>\n

The journeying I do is not shamanism, but there are things we can learn from shamans and those who fill shaman-like roles in indigenous societies \u2013 mainly, techniques for achieving altered states of consciousness.<\/p>\n

Journeying isn\u2019t Otherworldly tourism \u2013 it\u2019s not something you do just to see what\u2019s over there. It\u2019s something you do for a purpose: to form and strengthen relationships with spiritual beings, to find knowledge you can\u2019t get otherwise, and to learn something you need to learn so you can do something you need to do.<\/p>\n

\"San<\/a><\/p>\n

Training to journey<\/h1>\n

If we lived in a magical and animistic society, we would grow up seeing examples of journeying and learning how to do it ourselves. But we don\u2019t, so this doesn\u2019t come easily to most of us. We have to work at it.<\/p>\n

Reading fiction is perhaps the most useful exercise to prepare you for journeying. Any fiction will do \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have to be fantasy or magically-oriented. In some ways it\u2019s better if it isn\u2019t, to avoid setting unreasonable expectations. Reading fiction is to journeying as weight lifting is to playing football \u2013 it improves fitness for the primary activity. Fiction trains the mind to see with inner eyes.<\/p>\n

Practicing visualization is another big help. See an apple in your mind\u2019s eye. Pick it up, see its colors and feel its skin. In your mind, take a bite: experience the tastes on your tongue and the textures in your mouth. Set it back down and see it sitting there with a bite taken out of it. Do this and similar exercises until you\u2019re comfortable with the process.<\/p>\n

A significant minority of people (I\u2019ve heard estimates from 10% to 25%) simply can\u2019t visualize. They can\u2019t \u201csee\u201d with their mind, but they can hear or touch or smell. If that\u2019s you, find the method that works for you.<\/p>\n

Guided meditations are a good way to practice journeying. The process is similar, but someone else is guiding you.<\/p>\n

Changing consciousness<\/h1>\n

Changing consciousness is a means, not the end goal. I do not know if it is impossible to journey into the Otherworld in an ordinary state of consciousness or if it is just extremely difficult. I know I need a setting free of distractions. Setting an Otherworldly atmosphere helps, such as a dark room with candles, or outdoors at night around a fire.<\/p>\n

Learning to meditate helps. It teaches you to focus on one thing, not the hundreds of inputs your mind receives at any given moment.<\/p>\n

Drumming and dancing are traditional ways of changing consciousness. Don\u2019t have somebody to drum for you? There are recordings available. I have an iPhone app called \u201cShaman Magic\u201d that\u2019s very good for this.<\/p>\n

I have very little experience with entheogens. People I respect report generally good experiences with them, but many are illegal and some are lethal if you get the dosage wrong. A little alcohol helps me lower my resistance to Otherworldly experiences, but too much just puts me to sleep.<\/p>\n

\"full<\/a><\/p>\n

Parting the mists<\/h1>\n

Parting the mists, parting the veil, jumping the hedge, crossing the bridge\u2026 There are many metaphors for moving from this world into the Otherworld.<\/p>\n

I want to be very clear what I mean when I call this a metaphor. I do not mean it\u2019s not real or that it doesn\u2019t exist outside your head. I do mean that what actually happens is unclear and uncertain. I think we\u2019re all doing the same thing but we\u2019re seeing it differently. But I might be wrong \u2013 there may be multiple ways of accessing the Otherworld. Again, understanding this intellectually is far less important than experiencing it and learning from it.<\/p>\n

After relaxing, grounding, and centering, I project myself into an idyllic countryside. From there it\u2019s a short walk to a sacred tree or a forest clearing, to a cave or a mountain, or to where ever I need to go to see and do whatever it is I need to see and do.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a guided meditation to meet the Goddess Brighid in Imbolc \u2013 A Solitary Ritual<\/a>. I\u2019m including the YouTube version here \u2013 the ritual post has the text and a link to a downloadable audio file. This is a good example of how to do this work. And if you\u2019re just starting, I can think of no better journey than to meet Brighid.<\/p>\n