A few weekends ago I attend another advanced shaman class. This one was titled Death, Dying, and Beyond. These series are from the Foundation of Shamanic Studies as developed by Michael Harner. The course I took was taught by Nan Moss and David Corbin. I forget how I originally heard about Nan and Dave, perhaps Weather Shamanism caught my attention once while searching around the Internet. The workshops I’ve taken with the dynamic duo have been phenomenal not to mention extremely helpful in the energy work I conduct for myself along with others. This last one, I knew was going to be emotionally challenging but essential for my spiritual growth and understanding of shamanism.
The workshops are something to be experienced, writing about them feels out of context. The understanding gained is thrilling but hard to explain in type. Nevertheless, I did want to share some of what I’ve come to believe with you because it is useful for all of us.
From my notes taken during class discussion and after journeying (a form of meditation) here are some key points around the topic of death, dying, and beyond:
Tried viewing or understanding the end of this life differently; thinking of death as another state of existence. I was able to learn from a bat, during a lower word journey, that the world is not just understood by a human’s existence. Animals and other kingdoms go though life and death with all sorts of understandings from how they operate (get on in this lifetime). I was taught about opportunities to view the world upside-down, use other senses than our eyes, and the importance of movements in the dark. Then, to top the lesson off, I realized a bat is classified as a mammal making the lesson heavier to this mammal.
Another take on the topic of death, dying, and beyond is the belief gained about levels of a soul’s journey when the body is no longer living. The class meditation was done individually by the group and then those who wanted to share their experience afterwards did so in circle. Many people, including myself, witnessed in our dream like state, types of places where souls were waiting or learning or regrouping or figuring out just what is going on. Yes, we can interact with those on the other side. I have done it a few times pryer to this workshop but it was good to get a stronger base of how to conduct the meetings, so to speak.
A piece of the weekend’s wisdom sticking with me is realizing my death is important. It is a normal phrase of life. When I pass on, the people who love me are challenged to adjust their lives allowing them to grow and fulfill what they intended to do when they came into this world. Typically my guides and spirit helpers always put in something light hearted to help me with the seriousness of it all. With realizing death is part of the cycle, it was pointed out how my death creates jobs for others as well, ha! Funny cause there is truth there too!
Blue Aventurine 