A shamanic journey is entered deliberately and temporarily, and we come back from it at will. Being stuck in the shamanic realms, unable to return, would itself be a form of psychosis. Therapeutic Shamanism also holds that not all madness is shamanic awakening, as shamanic cultures themselves clearly distinguished the two, and that groundingGrounding. Returning fully into the body and physical reality; the bedrock of safe practice, and how every journey ends. More about this in ordinary reality is the bedrock of safe practice.
What is the key difference? #
It comes down to coming back. A shamanic journey means being able, at will, to temporarily leave ordinary reality, go into a trance state, travel in the shamanic realms, and then come back. “The ability to come back at will is essential. The ability to do so is one of the differences between shamanism and psychosis, for being stuck in the shamanic realms and unable to return would indeed be a form of psychosis.”1
Choice matters too. Shamanic people live with a sense of ordinary reality and shamanic reality being side by side, and “there are times when they choose to deliberately and temporarily immerse themselves more fully in shamanic reality; to go on a shamanic journey.”2
What does “one foot in each world” mean? #
Shamanism is sometimes described as having ‘one foot in this world and one in the other’. “To live shamanically is to be aware of both realities, and to be able to move between them at will. Having both feet in the shamanic reality all the time is not shamanism, but madness.” Most people in the modern world have the opposite problem: both feet firmly in ordinary reality, having forgotten that shamanic reality even exists.
Healthy shamanic practice therefore means maintaining “a good, strong, grounded connection with ordinary, day-to-day surface reality”. “That is the difference between healthy shamanism and psychosis. Grounding is the bedrock of shamanic practice (and should be the bedrock of any spiritual practice really).”3
See How can breathing practice support shamanic work?
Is all madness really a shamanic awakening? #
No, though Paul Francis often hears people in the West saying that it is. “It is certainly true that sometimes shamanic awakening can feel like a form of madness (largely because in the modern world, people having a shamanic awakening usually do not understand what is happening to them). However, it is not at all true to say that all madness is, therefore, a form of shamanic awakening. In fact, shamanic cultures clearly differentiate between healthy shamanic experience on the one hand, and madness on the other.”
There is a story of a young Westerner who went to stay with a tribe to find a shamanic teacher. He came back from the desert excited, having found one: “Oh, he’s amazing. He talks to trees”. The villagers’ reply: “Oh, him. Actually, he’s not a shaman. He’s just mad because he doesn’t know when to stop talking to trees. Talking to trees is all he does”.4
See What are moments of awakening?
Should most people worry about not being able to come back? #
“Psychosis aside though, for most of us getting back is not a problem. For most people, not being able to leave this surface reality is the problem!” If we are not actually psychotic, there is “absolutely no reason to approach shamanic journeying with any trepidation whatsoever.”
The psychotherapist Sheldon Kopp used guided imagery in his groups. There was almost always someone anxious about not being able to ‘come back’, so one day he brought a large hat pin and told the group that if he jabbed it into someone’s thigh, they always came back straight away. The point is that “(if we are not psychotic) we can come back if we want to, because we are used to being in this physical reality. In fact, our physical bodies are anchored here, and offer a place of safe return after a shamanic journey.”5
Who should not journey for themselves? #
Anyone prone to schizophrenic episodes, paranoid fantasies, moderate to severe dissociation, unstable and unmanaged manic-depression, “or anything else that makes it hard to keep a grip on ordinary, everyday reality”, could make matters worse by journeying for themselves. Shamanism may still be of great help, done with an experienced practitioner journeying for them. For anyone who is actually psychotic, or having psychotic episodes, “the first starting point of their shamanic practice should be grounding practices, and most definitely not shamanic journeying.”6
See Is shamanic journeying safe? and Is shamanic work safe if I have a mental health condition?
How do we come back from an ordinary journey? #
Simply, through the body. We do not need to retrace our steps, “as your physical body is your anchor and is already there. All you need to do is to become aware of your physical body again.”7
