Shamanic Vision: Living Life through the Eyes of the Heart Issue #1, Fall 2016 | Page 12

Shamanism—Five Hours
by Jan Kirk

The Journey:
We are on a journey, driving from Delhi to Jim C orbet National Park in
northern India. The drive is supposed to take 5-6 hours. In that span of time,
with all the jumping and shaking of the car, all the breaks and brakes, I'm
going to write a little something on Shamanism.
Journeying is very central to Shamanism, however the Shamanic journey
does not take place in the physical world—it takes place in what is called
Non-Ordinary reality.
Non-Ordinary Reality is experienced through the senses of the Shamanic
Practitioner. And note that it's called Non-Ordinary Reality not NonOrdinary fiction or something else. If the Shaman or practitioner is any
good, Non-Ordinary reality is as real to him or her as the Ordinary World,
because the belief in both is equally strong.
In Non-Ordinary reality, the practitioner collects information and interacts
with anyone and anything. The actions carried out there have a direct effect
on ordinary reality because everything is energy and everything is
connected. In fact, the Non-Ordinary reality is more real than the Ordinary
“normal” World because anything can happen there. Events which seem
magical in the Ordinary, are common in the Non-Ordinary. For example, if I
heal the Spirit of my Mother in Non-Ordinary reality, then I will heal her
equally in ordinary as well.
Spirit:
In Shamanism, everything has spirit, be it stone, plant, animal, or human.
Spirit is energy, and every spirit is connected. So if my sister throws a stone
in the water, it affects my right earlobe and everything else. Of course it also
affects Non-Ordinary reality, or I should say: The ripples in the pond begins
there first, and from there, reach my earlobe.
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