Using Shamanic Tools to Transform Your Life

My interest in the worldview of shamanism, led me to a path of mandalas and how shamans use mandalas as a tool for healing. Mandalas has strong links with Jung, individuation and transpersonal psychology which will be demonstrated throughout this essay. Mandalas are known to have transformational benefits, despite the tools to create mandalas are minimal (Miller, 2005). It will look at some of the biased comments that shamans have occurred over the years, followed by a brief introduction into the science of neuroplasticity.  Concluding with personal insights to how shamanic counselling and using mandalas has started the initiation into transformation.

Shamanism is historically found in every culture in the world. Shamanism is the oldest ancient spiritual healing tradition still in use today it is widely researched and used in the religious, psychological and medical contexts (Krippner, 2012). Today shamanism has become a huge trend in the west and is practiced as a life path following the perspective of a shaman’s world view. Thank you to the many teachers such as Michael Harner, Sandra Ingeram, Alberto Villoldo and Steven Schimtz who have and are still inspiring others globally with their teachings and wisdom.

 Some of these teachers refer to their work as core shamanism or neo- shamanism, which can be accessed and interwoven via workshops, used by professionals in a therapeutic stetting known as (shamanic counselling), interfaith communities and for self-transformation (Schmitz, 2013).

 Shamanistic Psychology focuses on non-ordinary realities as well as the many teachings and tools that shamans use in their community. Shamanistic Psychology is known to have a transformative impact when applied for self-development, evidence for this statement will be demonstrated throughout (Whitley, 2014).

I believe there is a strong need in modern society to reconnect with nature for personal healing, transformation, balance and inner peace. Tapping into the energy of the mandala helps us to bring these positive habits into our everyday life. Mandala is a Sanskrit language, and when translated means “whole”, “healing” or “circle” (Miller, 2005).

Mandalas have been historically used in many traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism as tools for meditation and to achieve enlightenment (Miller, 2005). Mandalas are so precious, holy and sacred they can be seen everywhere in plants, flowers, trees, fruit, vegetables and even animals hold the power of the mandala within them (Chaudhary, 2012). For Jung mandalas represent the strive for individuation, wholeness, psychological integration of the psychic ground (Davis, 2016).

In the eyes of the shaman a mandala is a tool for healing and communication that opens up a gateway, or a portal that provides access to non-ordinary realities, such as the upper world, lower world and the middle world, to bring harmony, balance and peace into an individual’s life (Duran, 2012).

 Mandalas are used for the initiation into a healing process. In the shamanic worldview for healing to take place there has to be an imbalance or an invasion from a spiritual entity that creates disharmony within the soul, creating a soul loss (Miller, 2005).

There are many ways that shamans use a mandala, one of the many ways are drawing a sacred circle (mandala art) for an individual to lay in which evokes, a feeling of safety, protection, sets a boundary, order, direction and balance in the world of a shaman (Smith, 2007). The energy of the mandala, and the art works helps the shaman to see spirits, illness and diseases in the body, the information they receive from the mandala helps the shaman to remove any unwanted spirits that are causing disharmony or an imbalance in the body (Duran, 2012).  

 Apparently, the power of the mandala holds the energy of signatures of deities, in Jung’s terms (archetypes) and any unwanted spirits. Many shamanic rituals speak of cleansing process that is meant to break down all aspects of the old self, where a new pure self can begin to emerge (Pratt, 2007).  Eliade cited in Smith (2007) agreed that mandalas impose an order on psychic chaos by establishing sacred presence in a protective sacred circle held in ritual and boundaries.  Jung discovered that shamans had a direct line to the unconscious and that their way of treating a patient wouldn’t fully be understood especially by the health professionals in the western world (Smith, 2007).

 Jung trusted that the art of the mandala provides us with a mirror, he stated just like shamans we need to see the dynamic forces that are embodied within us, because we are not able to access the unconscious directly (Chaudhary, 2012).

The western mindset has a huge influence on the way we should heal and how we view illness and disease in the world (Drake, 2013). Some writers such as Devereux (1961) throughout the years have labelled shamans as severely psychotic. Silverman (1976) stated that shamanism is an acute schizophrenia and the nature of the shaman’s work creates a fantasy experience and unnecessary traumatic issues (Krippener, 2002).  Jung symbolised both schizophrenia and psychosis as a natural healing process, he argues that we need to face our traumas in order to truly heal (Smith, 2007).

Wilber (1981) cited in Krippner (2002) seemed to emphasise with the shamans and stated that they were the first practitioners to access higher states but only at the subtle states level because their technology was crude. Even though some of these comments were made decades ago, it does show as stated that the interpretations reveal more about observer than it does about the observed (Krippner, 2002).

Kalweit (1989) makes a valid point that if we understand the sacred illness likes shamans do, we would gain a deeper less biased western view of a psychospiritual process and begin to awaken to the many opportunities presented through suffering. Further he states sickness, death and suffering are a part of the shaman’s path for transformation. Kalweit  (1989) argues that we have to learn how to face suffering, illness and death, in the face like shamans do to understand the truth about what is really happening to us, so that we can learn from the sacred illness (Kalweit , 1989).

Jung also understood that sickness and suffering is a process of a psychic and physical transformation through the use of mandalas (Smith, 2007).  He states that mandala images emerge in time of psychic turmoil and provide us with with a sense of stability and rest (smith, 2007). Apparently, it was Jung who brought the consciousness of the mandala to the western world (Davis, 2016). Jung referred to the mandalas as an archetype of wholeness, that serves as an instrument. As a result of his own experience with creating mandalas Jung discovered that the process of creating a mandala is part of the individuation process.  He stated that mandalas are important indicators for personal growth, unity and wholeness (Davis, 2016). Jung encouraged his patients to paint their own mandalas as part of the therapeutic process he found that mandalas created by individuals often related to the number four, which he termed a “quaternity (St. Clair, 2000). The term gave him further insight into his creation of the four psychic functions: sensing, thinking, feeling, and intuition (Burnley, 2012).

Life has four parts, birth, youth, adulthood, and old age. Things move through four stages and repeat themselves, for example the day has four parts, day, noon, evening night (St. Clair, 2000). Jung also new how important the four sacred mountains were to the Navajo, the medicine wheel and the four cardinal directions were to the Sioux, the four elements earth, air, fire, water and the four directions north, south, east, and west were in the shaman’s mastery and mystery (St. Clair, 2000). Jung knew that the shamans magical circle is the source of eternal creation and transformation of self for the eternal mind (Burnley, 2012).

Like the shamans Jung suggested we look within the psyche, the collective unconscious, to find the sacred, myth, spirit, dream and symbol (Burnley, 2012).  Shamans take us on a journey to connect to the pleroma, the particles of God (Hartley, 2008) the above and the below, our deepest roots of our being, the core of our source (Bright, 2009).

The realm of the Pleroma is where the shaman dwells deeply into their being for healing, nourishment and transformation to take place (Bright, 2009). Ryan (2002) states that the Pleroma is also the transpersonal space Jung called the subtle body this is where the symbols and the energy of the mandala operates to transform mind, body and spirit.

In 2012 I was fortunate to travel to the Amazon rainforest for a ten-day Ayahuasca retreat, my first visual of a mandala was when the Shipbo Tribe, they would attend our ceremonies and sing their sacred songs (icaros). During their singing I would see mandala patterns and see their souls singing. The shamans were stunned that I could see visuals, mandalas, spirits, formless structures and hear during ceremonies as the ayahuasca was strictly for cleansing.

I brought this up because I believe I entered into the Pleroma during one of the many ceremonies I experienced. There were times where I was one with all creation including with the shamans, when the shaman drank, I drank, whatever they did, I did, it was definitely an unforgettable experience. As part of their spiritual tradition the Shipibo Tribe inherit a holy mandala. They use their holy mandala in healing ceremonies and as part of a ritual. They hand craft their mandala patterns in their clothing for protection (Black, 2014).

Moving on slightly, the research of mandalas, led me to the research of neuroplasticity, Doidge (2007) argues that our energy systems are a gateway to healing. He stated that shamans have been showing us the mystical power of the mind and spirit for decades. Neuroplasticity challenges the western world and medicine’s perceptions on shamans. Doidge (2007) shows us that neuroplasticity can reset the energy patterns of our brains and restore them back to health, especially the illness that modern medicine has diagnosed untreatable or have given upon.

In his book The Brain’s Way of Healing: Stories of Remarkable Recoveries and Discoveries he demonstrates that by stepping out of the ordinary reforming new connections to our brains or connecting to the higher teachings that the illness has to teach us, we can reverse illness such as mental health, depression, ADHD and much more. Neuroplasticity is non-invasive and awakens our senses and body to the brains own healing capacitates (Doidge, 2015). Sandra Ingeram and Alberto Villoldo have wrtten about nueroplascity in their recent books and highly recommend this non-invasive miracle scientific approach. Neuroplasticity is definitely something I would like to research further into in the future.

As we can see shamanic practices are diverse and may include plant medicine such as ayahuasca, peyote, mandala (medicine wheel), science, dancing, singing and sweat lodge. One common pathway that we have not touched on is the “shamanic journey” the intentional journey of altered state of consciousness that promotes deep empowerment, known as shamanic counselling, developed by Michael Harner (Schmitz, 2013).

Harner, taught his clients how to journey to non-ordinary realities where the real counsellor shows up to help clients deal with life issues (Schmitz, 2013). With the heartbeat rhythm of the drum we are able to shift into shamanic states of consciousness. The beating drum is the path into the spirit world. In this shamanic state you can meet your power animals, spirit guides, spirit allies, teachers, receive guidance, wisdom and healing for yourself and others (Harner, 2009).

During the study of shamanistic psychology, I was fortunate to experience shamanic journey with Steven Schmitz. I will share with you two journeys in short, one facilitated by Steven Schmitz and one by myself.  Just to reference Schmitz initiates the journey, with the magic circle mandala, which is evoked by prayer and the beating of the drum.

The question I asked my spirit animal before journeying was: What do I need to help me start my transformation?

Through sensing and visuals, a green snake came to me and swallowed my head and sprouted into a flower, the ground then opens up. I heard whispers saying not to tell anyone. I saw a garden, the colour yellow, I heard vibrate to another planet, journal, two snakes, dance and creativity.

The second shamanic counselling journey I listened to Harmer’s solo drumming on YouTube. The question I asked was can you show me a mandala for protection.

As I laid down my eyes led me to the circles in my white lamp. I then saw the colour blue and red, later I saw blue again. The sensations I felt from the unconscious journey was deepening my breathe and put me in a state of rest.

After the journey I drawn a mandala using the colours red, blue and white. I was aware that I wanted my mandala to be perfect. After finishing and trusting the process of creating the mandala, I look at the picture again and the first thought that came to me was a wheel. I was then guided to use Jung’s four functions to help me deepen the process, which I have never used before, however I trusted by watching a basic you tube video.

The first thing I identified with was the colour blue is it represents “thinking” I linked it with my thought process of me wanting the ‘mandala for protection’ to be perfect, followed by an urge to duplicate a mandala. Then red, “feeling” I struggle to go deeper into my feelings. I did not want to feel or admit my inadequacies. For me to trust my intuition I have to sense that it was ok, which resulted in me bypassing my feelings. I know this is a brief evaluation but after going through this process, I began to see the mandala differently with new eyes. Buddhas eight-fold path symbol, a jelly fish and sink hole suddenly appeared and according to Jung’s four functions I need to balance out my thinking and feelings.

The process of the journeys was empowering and transformational. Schmitz open up the shamanic door which enabled me to activate the transcendent function within. This encouraged me to continue the shamanic work with spirit for further healing and transformation alone. Chodrom (2012) applies this process beautifully, “Everything that shows up in your mandala is a vehicle for your awakening, from this point of view awakening is right at your fingertips continually”.

In closing, Shamanic psychology allows us to see life for what it truly is, when we allow ourselves to be awakened to the spiritual world, we enter into a mystical flow that transcends language, time, and space. Shamans never doubt the work they do with spirit, they learn less from human teachers and learn more from their connection to the sacred, nature, spirit and non-ordinary realities (Ivanescu & Berentzen, 2020). Shamanism and Jung have demonstrated throughout that mandalas are a healing system from the intelligence of the natural world, which represents our inner world and helps to transform our lives.

Reference List

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Vega.

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