Belief in the spirit world is common. Half the world’s population meets regularly to learn about them. There are over 10,000 mutually exclusive religions. Each one believes its version is correct, and everyone else is wrong.
The churches, ashrams, and synagogues all have their version of myth. How are they more valid than shamanism and metaphysical realms of indigenous teachings?
The idea of other realities prompts some interesting questions. Is the authenticity of shamanic journeys experience a genuine reality? What qualifies as genuine reality? These questions deserve further investigation.
Religions have their versions of spiritual reality, but there are other interpretations. Many of the concepts found in religion come from indigenous cultures, which existed long before organized religion.
Shamanism and Metaphysical Realms
Understanding shamanic practices starts with acknowledging non-ordinary reality. Our dreams also take place in non-ordinary reality. When we experience them, they are just as real as waking reality. If they are just imaginary creations of the psyche, how does this differ from reality? We know we experience everything with the mind and not the senses of the body. This leads to the conclusion that everything we experience is an elaborate fiction of the mind.
Does that mean everything we think is real, or everything is not real, or that there are degrees of reality within our perception? That’s a discussion for another time.
Let’s assume that what we call reality is real. The first thing we need to do is determine how to define it and what the boundaries of ordinary and non-ordinary reality are.
Thankfully, some people have already set up the rules on the boundaries of reality. Who gets to decide on what is acceptable and what is not? Those in control of the societal unit get to make up the rules. They tell us and set penalties if we disobey. If you visit other cultures, you’ll see a whole unique set of boundaries about reality. The less modernized the culture, the greater the differences.
Naïve Realism
Robert Anton Wilson would probably say yes and no. It all depends upon your frame of reference.
“We think this is reality, but in philosophy, that’s called naïve realism: What I perceive is reality. Philosophers have refuted naïve realism every century for the last 2,500 years, starting with Buddha and Plato, and yet most people still act based on naïve realism. Now the argument is, well, maybe my perceptions are inaccurate, but somewhere there is accuracy.
Scientists have it with their instruments. That’s how we can find out what’s really real. But relativity, quantum mechanics, has demonstrated clearly that what you find out with instruments is true relative only to the instrument you’re using. It also depends on where that instrument is in space and time.” ― Robert Anton Wilson
The mind is the instrument we use to fathom the complexities of reality. So, is the shaman’s guided meditation for spirituality another instrument for understanding reality? This takes us back to our original question. Is the authenticity of shamanic journeys experience a genuine reality?
Understanding Shamanic Practices
The shamanic journey uses rhythm and imagination to create an altered state. It reveals a landscape of ancient typologies. The journey is as important as the destination. The quest reveals our unique psychic structures.
A guided meditation is simply the script or goal of the journey. The journey can be guided by someone else, or you can take charge and guide the quest for yourself or others.
Yes, shamanism is another way of explaining the experience we call reality. Everyone has their own experience of reality. What standards do you use to understand reality? Are your criteria scientific and measurable, or do they involve the parameters of some religious beliefs? How do you distinguish between ordinary reality and non-ordinary reality?
Many people believe that non-ordinary reality is fiction created by the imagination, so it isn’t genuine. Then, ask those same people what they think about dreams.
When most people dream, they don’t know they are dreaming, so their dreams seem genuine. Dreams are proof of non-ordinary reality, so are dreams any different from the experience of the Shamanic Journey? No, they are the same.
Some say shamans are the magical athletes of the spirit world. They travel to the landscape of the subconscious mind. They help us find answers and healing. Understanding shamanic practices takes practice. It’s like skydiving. You can learn about skydiving, but until you experience it, you don’t really understand it.
The Authenticity of Shamanic Journeys Path
If we consider the possibility of non-ordinary reality, we open the door to the possibility of many realities, not just one. Everything we experience happens within the mind, so yes, our experience IS reality because we are shaping it.
The landscape of shamanism and metaphysical realms is just as genuine as our collective experience in the waking state. In fact, people can have a collective experience of the shamanic journey.
The spirit canoe is an ancient practice where people sit in an imaginary canoe and travel down a river. Without discussing what they experience, they write down what happened. Amazingly, they will all recount similar occurrences on the journey. How this is possible is just as mysterious as our recollection of shared events in ordinary reality.
The shamanic journey remains a shared reality. It is a universal method rendering a similar expression of awareness. No matter what you call the journey, the experience is the same, no matter the culture. It is a collective reality.
“Shamanism is a kind of universal spiritual practice with indigenous cultures around the world, and one important element of it is taking care of spirits.” — Daniel Pinchbeck
Do you think a collective experience is enough for us to conclude it is an authentic function of creation? Is there some way to measure this partition of consciousness? Could understanding shamanic practices answer this question?
The Shamans Guided Meditation for Spirituality
Wow, you may not have expected this, but science tells us this partition of awareness is a valid measurable state of consciousness. In this state, the brainwaves are in the theta-wavelength of 4 to 7Hz. This signature differs from our default states of waking, sleeping, and dreaming.
It’s a “spiritual technology” that opens a doorway to a separate consciousness state. Michael Harner (1) is an anthropologist and author. He calls this state “The Shamanic State of Consciousness” (SSC).
“Shamanism is a great mental and emotional adventure, one in which the patient as well as the shaman-healer are involved.” — Michael Harner
SSC is similar to another non-ordinary state known as transcendental consciousness. It has many uses. This process can be used to heal the mind, body, and spirit. It’s another one of our default states of awareness, just like waking, sleeping, and dreaming. Bottom line: The shaman’s guided meditation for spirituality is repeatable and scientifically verifiable. The authenticity of shamanic journeys spirit world is as valid as those of any religion. Shamanism and metaphysical realms of the spirit world predate all myths. It leads to the next logical question.
Is the Mythology of Religion Real?
Are the mythologies of religion another accurate representation of ordinary reality? The faithful followers of all religions believe their superstitions are genuine. However, we doubt most believers would call their beloved faith is mythology.
“One man’s myth is another man’s religion.” — Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell’s (2) observation prompts a question. How does the mythology of religion become an accepted standard for a culture? The answer is when it achieves sufficient social acceptance of the group. Every religion has its unique brand of mythology and superstition. Every religion starts as a cult.
When a cult reaches acceptance within a given group, boom, it becomes a religion. There isn’t one singular universal worldview. Everyone within a given religion has slightly different beliefs than others in the same group. Religions control the content of these beliefs. All the major religions change, mutate, and shape the culture to make customers. There are two significant groups of religious mythology, Western and Eastern.
Western Mythology
Abrahamic religions (3) are the home of the Semitic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These belief systems aren’t new. They are the rebranding of Egyptian, Persian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mystery religions. Their focus differs significantly from that of indigenous shamanic traditions. They are systems for generating cash flow.
Shamanic practices focus on healing, mind, body, and spirit. In contrast, the focus of Western religion is on selling the afterlife. That’s a vast difference. Western religion is absent any processes for consciousness exploration. Only in death can we finally test the afterlife promises of these mythologies.
Eastern Mythology
If we look at Eastern Traditions (4), we see how they focus on exploring and developing consciousness. Eastern religions include Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and animistic indigenous traditions. Here, we find mythologies are used to explain concepts and methods. These traditions keep the knowledge of processes intact.
Anthropomorphic forms (5) to symbolize and describe these techniques. By understanding shamanic practices, we can explain the typologies in the subconscious mind.
We see several Eastern traditions act as storehouses of spiritual technologies. Eons of research have gone into processes to reach higher states of consciousness. The main point is that religion and mythology are not a shared illusion, but rather a personal and cultural choice. Historical validity is equivalent to fiction, albeit spiritual fantasy. So, is the make-believe of religious mythology factual? Is it as valid as any illusion of reality? Or is it another of the infinite possibilities?
The processes of shamanism and metaphysical realms of consciousness are not myths or fiction. We know SSC is a separate state. It has a long history of use which catalogs the symbolism and typologies of the subconscious. Perhaps these typologies are where Western religion got its myths.
If the stories in Western religion are valid, then the story of Harry is just as valid. Potter Fiction is just fiction. We acknowledge that fictional stories can contain facts and truth. But one must learn to discern between anecdotal stories and facts. You’ll need to look in the right places. Even Harry Potter has some gems of wisdom.
Is the shaman’s guided meditation for spirituality real? Yes, and you can experience this journey safely for yourself. The experiential and scientific evidence for non-ordinary reality are compelling.
The foundation of Western religion is mythology borrowed from other sources. Some stories may even contain nuggets of wisdom when understood as metaphors. However, there is no verified factual basis for Western religion’s mythology. It is the rebranding of ancient mystery religions.
Eastern traditions contain other processes, like those of the Shamanic Journey. There are methods for expanding awareness and opening the doors of consciousness. The belief in myths and superstition does not do that. The spirit worlds of the shaman are more genuine and factual than any myths.
In Conclusion
The authenticity of shamanic journeys reality is something you can prove for yourself. Many publications contain simple step-by-step methods using a CD drum track. Understanding shamanic practices is something you do on your own quest.
Shamanism and metaphysical realms of consciousness await you. Take the journey. This process is a guided meditation for spirituality and healing. You decide if it’s just your imagination or if the landscape of your psyche is real. You can decide if the spirit worlds of the shaman are real.
References
The following references are from Wikipedia:
(1) Michael Harner:
(2) Joseph Campbell:
(3) Abrahamic Religions:
(4) Eastern Traditions and Religions:
(5) Anthropomorphic forms: