A User’s Guide to Your Spiritual Consciousness
We are all seer walking between two worlds. Have you ever felt free from the bounds of your body in deep meditation? Have you ever sensed an energy transcending everyday reality in the beat of a drum or the movement of dance?
This is no illusion—it is your inner shamanic consciousness awakening.
The Wayfarer Between Two Worlds
We stand with one foot in the material world, fulfilling our daily duties, and the other in the spiritual realm, speaking with invisible forces. This ability to cross worlds is not the exclusive domain of mysticism, but an innate potential of human consciousness.
Whether it is the trance journey of shamanic traditions or the visualization meditation of magical rituals, their essence is the same: by shifting states of consciousness, we cross the veil that divides the worlds, and bring back wisdom, healing, and transformation from another dimension.
Eight Paths to Spiritual Consciousness
Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca, proposed the Eightfold Path of Power. These eight methods are not merely energy-raising techniques in witchcraft—they are classic shamanic consciousness-shifting practices, divided into two core categories:
Restrictive Techniques
Calm the body, slow brainwaves, and enter a deep state of consciousness.
- Meditation: Gaze at a candle flame, count your breaths
- Breath Control: Alter consciousness by regulating the rhythm of your breath
- Seclusion: Step away from electronics, connect with nature, and limit screen time
Excitatory Techniques
Stimulate the senses to raise energy and heighten awareness.
- Music & Drumming: Rhythm alters brainwaves and propels consciousness shift
- Dance & Movement: Spinning and rapid motion transform perception
- Herbs & Incense: Unlock perceptual gateways when used with trained intention
- Pain Perception: Used as part of initiation rituals in certain traditions
Shamanic Consciousness: Another Dimension of Reality
In the shamanic state of consciousness, the “mythical beings” we know—dragons, giants, fairies—are no longer metaphors, but real entities in another form of existence.
Modern researcher Michael Harner named this the shamanic state of consciousness (SSC), in contrast to our everyday ordinary state of consciousness (OSC). The hero’s journeys in many ancient myths did not take place in the material world, but were real experiences within shamanic consciousness. Crossing the upper and lower worlds, speaking with deities, and bringing back stories and wisdom—this is the very heart of shamanic work.
Doubt & Verification: Am I Just Imagining This?
Nearly every beginner asks: Is any of this real, or am I making it up?
The answer: Imagination is your bridge to the Other world.
It is not an obstacle to cast aside, but one of your most powerful tools. Yet unlike daydreaming, in a true shamanic journey, you cross a threshold—the journey unfolds on its own, and the beings you meet possess their own will and power, ungoverned by your personal imagination.
A practical way to verify: Try altering the form of a spirit you encounter on your journey. If you cannot sustain the changed form, or the being reacts with displeasure, you are almost certainly not facing a product of your imagination.
Shamanic Practice in Modern Life
You do not need to live in the Siberian taiga or the Amazon rainforest to practice these techniques.
In modern life, we can:
- Guide journeys with music: Traditional drumming, new age melodies, even electronic dance music—any steady rhythm that propels consciousness works.
- Build an inner sanctuary: Through visualization, find a path to your personal sanctuary at the roots of the World Tree, a starting point for all spiritual journeys.
- Cultivate “second attention”: Awaken awareness of non-ordinary reality through practices like observing shadows, walking with eyes closed, silence, and breaking daily habits.
The Most Important Test: Does It Work?
On the spiritual path, the most practical test is not Is it scientific?—it is Does it serve you?
If you can enter a trance state, speak with spirits, bring back knowledge or healing, and let others benefit from it—then you are practicing a form of shamanic work. As one practitioner put it: I do not care if you think you are talking to your inner self or to the gods—does it help you? Does it heal you? If yes, then it is real.
Become a Citizen of Two Worlds
We live in an age that desperately needs to reconnect with the spiritual dimension. Whether through ritual or the shaman’s drum, we are relearning how to be citizens of two worlds.
This ability to cross the veil has never left us. It is merely waiting to be awakened, waiting for us to remember again: we are both physical and spiritual; we belong here, and we belong there.
Reference:
- Eliade, M. (1964). Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton University Press.
- Harner, M. (1980). The Way of the Shaman. HarperOne.
- Thorsson, E. (1992). The Book of Ogham. Llewellyn Publications.
