There is much debate regarding shamanism and illuimniation /enlightenment ,some say shamans do not pursue the path of enlightenment .............my personel feeling on this matter is this ......there are no rules anywhere within shamanic cultures that says this is so .........also i had asked my shamanic teacher this question his response was imediate "in our tradition this is so ,for a shaman cannot heal unless he is illuminated ......also part of our tradition is dzogchen (a meditation practice older than tibetan buddhism perhaps older than bon* )
* my interjection not Nunklars words
part of my path is a love of haiku with its reference to a season (time) perhaps the weather (the healing and magic of the elements )and quite often the observation of the behavour of a particular animal ......all in all capturing this moment in time is aided by the parring down of the words to a five/seven/five sylabic structure .
i also find koans interesting and aid a deeper reflection , contemplation & understanding of nature and the nature of mind .
snow flakes descent
from the heavens
dissolves upon ponds surface
falling raindrops
repetition of concentric circles
ripple upon the ponds surface
which is better? ,is either one better than the other ........?
J.H.Bardwell may 2013
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
I havent done much shamanizing recently ........the last time was for the winter solstice 2012 ........and ive paid the price ......too say i had been de-spirited would be an understatement ,
sometimes a synchronicity comes along so profound it wakes me up and makes me take action .
many of these have taken place recently .................from the sighting of the heron that inspired the heron haiku......the actual image downloaded for the purpose of this blog does not do that moment justice but will have to be adequate ......it really was illuminated against dark clouds and heron has always been a symbolic bird for me .... a rather enigmatic creature .......symbolizing stillness ,contemplation ,meditation ...penatration
of surface matters to get down to the roots the bottom of a matter .....and patience .....but also the fact it hunts at a liminal place between water and land the gateway too the other worlds aa place of boundaries of magical dimensions .
The other synchronicity -wake up call took place on sunday 12/5/2013 i work with autistic children and most weekends we take them for a fun day out somewhere within reasonable driving distance .
Last sunday we the support staff had taken them to a local zoo called Marwell zoo .....and due to the nature of this Zoo its out in the countryside and therefore spacious with plenty of room for the animals in captivity too roam .At this zoo there are snow leopards and i had been looking forward too seeing them ,after luch which was a fun affair .......i kept feeding the opertunistic rooks titbits ( being a member of the crow family i always hounour these brothers of crows and ravens .....perhaps another synchronistic moment i had at first over looked .) Eventually almost at the end of the tour of the zoo we came to the snow leopard enclosure and there he was really close to the wire fence asleep flat on his back oblivious to the general public with their "ooohing and aaahhhing " and camera flashes .i watched with a couple of the kids for quite a while ,eventually the kids got bored of this beautifull and when in the wild elusive creature and we peeled away too look at other creatures asleep ..............i turned around and low an behold the snow leopard enclosure was right nest too the owls ..................too anyone else this holds no significance whatsoever ....but too me who was transfixed and dumb for a couple of seconds ...........my shamanic teacher in the other world Nungklar his animal ally is a snow leopard and my other teacher of only the last few years Owl woman .......well i think you can guess what her ally might be .
Most of the return journey my thoughts turned too the realization that i knew whad i had to do on my next time off .
sometimes a synchronicity comes along so profound it wakes me up and makes me take action .
many of these have taken place recently .................from the sighting of the heron that inspired the heron haiku......the actual image downloaded for the purpose of this blog does not do that moment justice but will have to be adequate ......it really was illuminated against dark clouds and heron has always been a symbolic bird for me .... a rather enigmatic creature .......symbolizing stillness ,contemplation ,meditation ...penatration
of surface matters to get down to the roots the bottom of a matter .....and patience .....but also the fact it hunts at a liminal place between water and land the gateway too the other worlds aa place of boundaries of magical dimensions .
The other synchronicity -wake up call took place on sunday 12/5/2013 i work with autistic children and most weekends we take them for a fun day out somewhere within reasonable driving distance .
Last sunday we the support staff had taken them to a local zoo called Marwell zoo .....and due to the nature of this Zoo its out in the countryside and therefore spacious with plenty of room for the animals in captivity too roam .At this zoo there are snow leopards and i had been looking forward too seeing them ,after luch which was a fun affair .......i kept feeding the opertunistic rooks titbits ( being a member of the crow family i always hounour these brothers of crows and ravens .....perhaps another synchronistic moment i had at first over looked .) Eventually almost at the end of the tour of the zoo we came to the snow leopard enclosure and there he was really close to the wire fence asleep flat on his back oblivious to the general public with their "ooohing and aaahhhing " and camera flashes .i watched with a couple of the kids for quite a while ,eventually the kids got bored of this beautifull and when in the wild elusive creature and we peeled away too look at other creatures asleep ..............i turned around and low an behold the snow leopard enclosure was right nest too the owls ..................too anyone else this holds no significance whatsoever ....but too me who was transfixed and dumb for a couple of seconds ...........my shamanic teacher in the other world Nungklar his animal ally is a snow leopard and my other teacher of only the last few years Owl woman .......well i think you can guess what her ally might be .
Most of the return journey my thoughts turned too the realization that i knew whad i had to do on my next time off .
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Shamanizing took place on the 28 th of June 2012
I had been feeling de-spirited for a few weeks and realised i was disconected from the spirit world my teachers and the earth so i knew in my heart and soul that i neeeded to shamanize .......the following is taken directly from my journal .
I walked to a local woodlandnot far from where i live ,once in the woods i slowed down the pace of my walk to a much slower pace and allowed my intuition to guide me to a suitable place too shamanize .
After a while of this slow gentle pace wading through brambles listening to the woodland bird-songs, letting the sunshine that penatrated the canopy warm my soul i felt i had found the right spot or perhaps it had found me , a small clearing the woodland floor covered in beech mast .
spreading out a blanket and my meditation cushion unpacking my drum i sat there for sometime ,allowing myself to just be letting go breathing with the woodland ,"yes"i said inside, this is the place i need to be ,it just felt "right".
After about a half an hour of sitting and breathing and letting go i felt i was ready to begin shamanizing , having lit some insence i took up my drum and began drumming only to discover the moisture present in the woodland atmosehphere was making the drum skin really quite slack with little or no resonance ,i had an idea if i moved to where there were shafts of sunlight was penatrating the woodland canopy i could warm up the drum skin............it worked .....shamanizing commenced.
I began drumming and praying (throat singing) to father sky , mother earth the elements ,each time facing the coresponding cardinal direction all the while asking for my fragmented soul/spirit to be healed& restored.
calling out for Nungklar's help support {usually i am required to travel to Nungklars home in the otherworld too meet with him ,what followed was unusual )
Almost immediately Nungklar was floating gracefully down to the woodland floor in front of me ...........he appeared in full shamanic garb ,his long white beard flowing in the breeze ,his eyes werent visible as his headress covered them .
He smiled in greeting and took my spirit body by the forearms and gently motioned for me to kneel ,i felt my spirit body slump to its knees .then Nungklar inhaled deeply and cupped his right hand forming a tube shape ,he placed his right hand still curled into a tube shape on my forehead(fontanelle area) and blew energy into my spirit bodys head ,he then inhaled deeply again and repeated the procedure this time over my heart chakra ,Nungklar then showed me how to use certain symbol too seal the energy in ,by placing his hands either side of my chest one over the front of my heart , his other hand located at the back , as he performed this action i could see the deighn of this symbol (i was told later that no one should know what this symbol looks like ,which is why i have ommitted the description of the symbol /seal from this account ) intuitivly i felt it was right to place the drum over my chest as i continued drumming .
As i continued to drum Nungklar was still facing me cocking his head on one side he looked straight through me ....he put his hand on my stomach and then pushed straight in ....rummaged around inside my spirit body ,grappled with something and pulled out what can only be described as "a long bloody worm ".
Nungklar told me it was a manifestation of doubt and fear that had been feeding on my spirit ,life force otherwise known as windhorse , he then placed the worm into a fire that had suddenly materialised at his side .
Nungklar then told me that i should never allow it to take root ever again ,i said thankyou and that i wouldnt ,then Nungklar just simply gracefully rose up into the heavens and was gone .
Drumming faster and faster then ceasing i returned to normal reality and slowly i began to take on board what had occured ..
After a while i wondered what time (normal human wristwatch time) it was and looked at my phone ,there was a text from a good friend Jean ,she was asking me how i was as i had shared with her the day previously how i had been feeling . i sent her text telling her i had been shamanizing in the woods and was feeling much better for it ,jean mentioned that she was ment to be revising (jean is a psychiatric nurse who is now a manager)but felt to unwell too revise and could i do a dance for her .. i replied i would do it now for her ,putting the phone down ,and placing my hands on the earth first ,am really not keen on the way mobile phones feel ,i got up ,and picking up my drum
i began drumming, immediatly i could feel myself shifting back into trance .As the sun shone down upon my closed eyelids......throat singing a prayer for Jean too recieve power/healing from each of the elements .i felt my spirit body rise up and soar above the tree canopy ,looking around i could see flocks of birds and too many dragonflies too count ,the birds and dragonflies began to circle around and above me they then took off, in a southerly direction (in hindsight i realised this was the direction Jean lived in )i flew with them and was soon in Jeans home and watched as they circled above Jean as she lay on her couch ,as this happend i could see jeans lightbody glowing and getting stronger ,then i saw Jean climbing into her bath i had a sense this would be healing to her ,i thanked the spirits for there assistance and returned to my physical body .once back to ordinary reallty i conveyed what had happened to Jean .jean thanked me .
what i realised directly after this had taken place ,was this ...........as soon as i had been assissted in my own healing by Nungklar i was required to facilitate/help in Jeans healing ,its as if i was being given the opertunity to A.respond to anothers need for healing without feeling doubt of my ability.B i had been helped supported healed and now i was ready to help others "shamanically "and that it was my time to give help too others ..........................it has been said by many shamanic teachers that when we have been healed ourselves we are ready to assist /facilitate in others healing on this earthly plane and others .
shamanism isnt about attending workshops ,reading books and" thinking" this makes you a shaman ,this is a falsehood ,shamanism is a path that is experiential,it requires diligence, ability to respond too our calling .......shamans are born not made ,its not about making money through shamanism ,its a vocation for service to spirit through spirit too the mother earth our home ,too beings of many different dimensions ,its about being authentic ,its about being awake ,.....enlightend .....illuminated , seeing the shadow of ourselves and others recognising our wounds living with them healing them ,then if its our calling if its spirits the "Divine's" will then we are shown how we can serve .shamanism isnt an "ego trip" trance it is an ancient divine/sacred technology that is beyond time and culture ,it dismembers anysense of falsehood/illusion ....delusional self belief including false ego and is not a path for the faint hearted .shamanism is not a new age fad ,you cannot go on a weekend course and call your self a master (sorry slight dig at rieki masters ) having been on this path for twelve years now ......im not a master ,still a fledgeling .................... ...........................................may you receive many blessings
james harold bardwell
I had been feeling de-spirited for a few weeks and realised i was disconected from the spirit world my teachers and the earth so i knew in my heart and soul that i neeeded to shamanize .......the following is taken directly from my journal .
I walked to a local woodlandnot far from where i live ,once in the woods i slowed down the pace of my walk to a much slower pace and allowed my intuition to guide me to a suitable place too shamanize .
After a while of this slow gentle pace wading through brambles listening to the woodland bird-songs, letting the sunshine that penatrated the canopy warm my soul i felt i had found the right spot or perhaps it had found me , a small clearing the woodland floor covered in beech mast .
spreading out a blanket and my meditation cushion unpacking my drum i sat there for sometime ,allowing myself to just be letting go breathing with the woodland ,"yes"i said inside, this is the place i need to be ,it just felt "right".
After about a half an hour of sitting and breathing and letting go i felt i was ready to begin shamanizing , having lit some insence i took up my drum and began drumming only to discover the moisture present in the woodland atmosehphere was making the drum skin really quite slack with little or no resonance ,i had an idea if i moved to where there were shafts of sunlight was penatrating the woodland canopy i could warm up the drum skin............it worked .....shamanizing commenced.
I began drumming and praying (throat singing) to father sky , mother earth the elements ,each time facing the coresponding cardinal direction all the while asking for my fragmented soul/spirit to be healed& restored.
calling out for Nungklar's help support {usually i am required to travel to Nungklars home in the otherworld too meet with him ,what followed was unusual )
Almost immediately Nungklar was floating gracefully down to the woodland floor in front of me ...........he appeared in full shamanic garb ,his long white beard flowing in the breeze ,his eyes werent visible as his headress covered them .
He smiled in greeting and took my spirit body by the forearms and gently motioned for me to kneel ,i felt my spirit body slump to its knees .then Nungklar inhaled deeply and cupped his right hand forming a tube shape ,he placed his right hand still curled into a tube shape on my forehead(fontanelle area) and blew energy into my spirit bodys head ,he then inhaled deeply again and repeated the procedure this time over my heart chakra ,Nungklar then showed me how to use certain symbol too seal the energy in ,by placing his hands either side of my chest one over the front of my heart , his other hand located at the back , as he performed this action i could see the deighn of this symbol (i was told later that no one should know what this symbol looks like ,which is why i have ommitted the description of the symbol /seal from this account ) intuitivly i felt it was right to place the drum over my chest as i continued drumming .
As i continued to drum Nungklar was still facing me cocking his head on one side he looked straight through me ....he put his hand on my stomach and then pushed straight in ....rummaged around inside my spirit body ,grappled with something and pulled out what can only be described as "a long bloody worm ".
Nungklar told me it was a manifestation of doubt and fear that had been feeding on my spirit ,life force otherwise known as windhorse , he then placed the worm into a fire that had suddenly materialised at his side .
Nungklar then told me that i should never allow it to take root ever again ,i said thankyou and that i wouldnt ,then Nungklar just simply gracefully rose up into the heavens and was gone .
Drumming faster and faster then ceasing i returned to normal reality and slowly i began to take on board what had occured ..
After a while i wondered what time (normal human wristwatch time) it was and looked at my phone ,there was a text from a good friend Jean ,she was asking me how i was as i had shared with her the day previously how i had been feeling . i sent her text telling her i had been shamanizing in the woods and was feeling much better for it ,jean mentioned that she was ment to be revising (jean is a psychiatric nurse who is now a manager)but felt to unwell too revise and could i do a dance for her .. i replied i would do it now for her ,putting the phone down ,and placing my hands on the earth first ,am really not keen on the way mobile phones feel ,i got up ,and picking up my drum
i began drumming, immediatly i could feel myself shifting back into trance .As the sun shone down upon my closed eyelids......throat singing a prayer for Jean too recieve power/healing from each of the elements .i felt my spirit body rise up and soar above the tree canopy ,looking around i could see flocks of birds and too many dragonflies too count ,the birds and dragonflies began to circle around and above me they then took off, in a southerly direction (in hindsight i realised this was the direction Jean lived in )i flew with them and was soon in Jeans home and watched as they circled above Jean as she lay on her couch ,as this happend i could see jeans lightbody glowing and getting stronger ,then i saw Jean climbing into her bath i had a sense this would be healing to her ,i thanked the spirits for there assistance and returned to my physical body .once back to ordinary reallty i conveyed what had happened to Jean .jean thanked me .
what i realised directly after this had taken place ,was this ...........as soon as i had been assissted in my own healing by Nungklar i was required to facilitate/help in Jeans healing ,its as if i was being given the opertunity to A.respond to anothers need for healing without feeling doubt of my ability.B i had been helped supported healed and now i was ready to help others "shamanically "and that it was my time to give help too others ..........................it has been said by many shamanic teachers that when we have been healed ourselves we are ready to assist /facilitate in others healing on this earthly plane and others .
shamanism isnt about attending workshops ,reading books and" thinking" this makes you a shaman ,this is a falsehood ,shamanism is a path that is experiential,it requires diligence, ability to respond too our calling .......shamans are born not made ,its not about making money through shamanism ,its a vocation for service to spirit through spirit too the mother earth our home ,too beings of many different dimensions ,its about being authentic ,its about being awake ,.....enlightend .....illuminated , seeing the shadow of ourselves and others recognising our wounds living with them healing them ,then if its our calling if its spirits the "Divine's" will then we are shown how we can serve .shamanism isnt an "ego trip" trance it is an ancient divine/sacred technology that is beyond time and culture ,it dismembers anysense of falsehood/illusion ....delusional self belief including false ego and is not a path for the faint hearted .shamanism is not a new age fad ,you cannot go on a weekend course and call your self a master (sorry slight dig at rieki masters ) having been on this path for twelve years now ......im not a master ,still a fledgeling .................... ...........................................may you receive many blessings
james harold bardwell
Sunday, 6 November 2011
many years ago my otherwold shamanic teacher told me one of the ways i would be taught was to watch nature ,
i have taken heed of this and spent a great deal of time in natural world just being "aware " paying attention to what animals ,birds and insects were present and how they were behaving ,alongside this i realised it became necessary to become symbolically literate and learnt too listen to my intuition as to what i had witnessed in the dance of nature ,then backing this up with research on animal symbolism. i began to trust my first impressions more and more .some insights that are revealled to me have produced genuine eureka "aha" moments .some of which i document as haiku and return too again and again each time they reveal more and more, like an onion each skin revealing something new.
here is such an even that i witnessed while walking one day that became a haiku ,it produced an instant revelation but still it teaches me more and more each time i return too it ,
" Black cat stalks....
white butterfly ,strikes......
and misses !"
j.h.b 2011
i have taken heed of this and spent a great deal of time in natural world just being "aware " paying attention to what animals ,birds and insects were present and how they were behaving ,alongside this i realised it became necessary to become symbolically literate and learnt too listen to my intuition as to what i had witnessed in the dance of nature ,then backing this up with research on animal symbolism. i began to trust my first impressions more and more .some insights that are revealled to me have produced genuine eureka "aha" moments .some of which i document as haiku and return too again and again each time they reveal more and more, like an onion each skin revealing something new.
here is such an even that i witnessed while walking one day that became a haiku ,it produced an instant revelation but still it teaches me more and more each time i return too it ,
" Black cat stalks....
white butterfly ,strikes......
and misses !"
j.h.b 2011
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Dear reader ,
i have been on the shamanic path for over eleven years now ,
i may call myself a shaman ,however i still feel like a novice and in the spirit of generosity and sharing i would like from time too time share my thoughts and experience along the way ,exploring shamanism,philosophy,mysticism,and its relevance in contemporary life so please read enjoy (hopefully) and i would love to have any feed back ,
"learn your theories well ,but lay them aside when you touch the reality of the human soul"
Carl G Jung (1875-1961)
Following a recent shamanic journey which took place on the 21st of October in local woods, i have been prompted to start this blog,the following account is a sincere record of what took place during the shamanic seance ,the only thing that has been changed is the name of my otherworldly shamanic teacher , i feel it would be unwise and disrespectful to leave his name unchanged .
Shaman's Ascent -night flight
The fire glowing illuminates the woodland canopy ,embers fly heavenwards, as my eyes follow them up i can see the waxing moon and starry night sky, incense & earthy smells fill my nostrils,woodland creatures stir in the night, roe deer bark ,owls hoot . sitting there waiting waiting and then just being ,relaxed, meditatively absorbed in the atmosphere of this sacred place , the owls call a signal from spirit i begin too shamanize.
with reverence and humility in my heart and soul i pick up the drum and bell , i begin too drum, throat singing a song too spirit and the elements,to all of nature and to the sun, the moon & the stars, calling to crow to accompany me on the journey to the otherworld .
As i continue to sing ,drumming all the while rhythmic vibrations fill the air around me traveling through my body i feel the ordinary world slip away as i pierce the veil entering the otherworld, its shadowy, yet at the same time it has a certain luminescence which surrounds and permeates my spirit body.
Sunday, 23 October 2011
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