Shhh! I Can’t Tell You Anything - Shamanic Dreaming Workshop (Post 1 of 4)

In early February 2011 I attended a shamanic dreaming workshop led by June BlueSpruce, tree in human form, life coach and shamanic practitioner.  (We’ll get to the tree in human form part next post!)

I too am a shamanic practitioner.  Nonetheless, I found the workshop to be very exciting as it helped me to hone one of the essential skills of shamanic practice – the art of dreaming.

What is a shaman?  In general terms, a shaman or medicine person is a healer who works directly with nature spirits to bring about change in the world of humans. 

There is some truth in the statement that “we are all shamans.”  The ability to connect deeply with nature - deeply enough to talk with nature and have it talk back - is a natural human trait. Other truths are that many in our modern world are out of touch with this ability, others use it to harm rather than help, and not everyone is called to the life path of the shaman as it is one of life-long learning, commitment and discipline.  In this way, shamanism is also a responsibility.  

To this workshop June BlueSpruce brought a sense of integrity and a willingness to protect the safety and security of the group.  She also brought a high level of skill in helping others discover the gift of dreaming within them. 

What then is the art of dreaming? 

As June teaches it, it is the know-how to request a dream on a particular subject and get it – whether through a shamanic journey or the nightly act of sleeping.  It is also the ability to remember the dream, figure out what it means and act on it. 

While shamanism may be an inherent human ability, dreaming skills do not feel intuitive for most living in the modern world.  Therefore, learning and practicing the art of dreaming reveals a new horizon - the sense that dreams are alive, that they are intelligent messengers guiding us in the right direction.  Practiced in this way, 

dreaming becomes a lifestyle, a path June summed up in the phrase, “living by your dreams.”

There is another peculiarity about shamans that should be noted here – we can be secretive or hard to understand. This is because the spirit world can defy description and, traditionally, a strong sense of privacy has been seen as protecting both the shaman’s power and the purity of teachings.  

So, what actually happened in this workshop? 

Being the good shaman that I am, I cannot say… except to note that it was a true adventure, a weekend of guided travels into the mysteries of the self and the spirit world.  I and my fellow workshop travelers rode on the backs of heretofore mythical animals, we were chewed up, spit out, and altered forever by the same (otherwise known as shamanic initiation), we confronted and just as often skirted our truths; in the process, we built community.  There were tears and laughter, fear and trembling, affirmation and transcendence.  We worked really hard.  It was a workshop that altered my life and practice for the better. 

Oh, but wait, … so as not to leave you hanging there are a couple of things I can share.....

(for more, see next post)