Shamanic Journey Series – 5: How to Journey

Listen to a Recorded Drumming Track or Drum for Yourself

I have created some special free journey tracks for you that you can download and use any time. There are also many, many other great pre-recorded tracks available in the world. You can find them on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you typically find music.

Some beautiful and powerful tracks were made available by Michael Harner, anthropologist and founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies. Harner developed the concept of Core Shamanism, a modern, cross-cultural approach to shamanic practices that distills universal techniques, such as shamanic journeying, spirit communication, and healing methods into a framework that anyone can learn and practice.

I like to drum or rattle for myself most often when I journey. This takes practice but it can be done! The easiest way to learn is to get a frame drum or a rattle and play along with a good journey track until you have mastered the three-beats-per-second rhythm and can play it without thinking about it. Most people do not start off doing this because it can be distracting at first, and your hand and wrist can get tired until you build up the muscles used to drum with practice, but I find that drumming for myself can often deepen the experience.

One of my beloved shamanic teachers, Anthony Rios, taught me to think of the drum beat as a horse that I can ride into the journey. I have found this to be really helpful in understanding how to best connect with the beating drum and how to hold it in my heart and consciousness as I journey.

Visualize Your Starting Point

If you are going to the Upper World, visualize a high place that you have been such as the top of a mountain, your rooftop, or another elevated location that feels right to you. This will be your starting point for your journeys to the Upper World, from which you go UP.

If you’re going to the Lower World, visualize a place that you’ve been where there’s a natural opening into the Earth, such as a hollow tree stump, a cave, a hole in the ground, or any place that feels right. This will be your starting point for your journeys to the Lower World, from which you go DOWN.

If you’re going to the Middle World, typically you’ll visualize yourself walking out of a door in your home or wherever you are. This will be your starting point for your journeys to the Middle World, from which you go OUT.

Whatever points you choose, it’s best to stick with one starting point that feels right to you for each of the different worlds. As we travel through these realms, we are internally mapping each place we go, and having a consistent reference point helps to anchor and ground our journeys.

At this stage, you are simply using your imagination. Just like deciding to get a glass of water, you hold your intention, visualize moving from your starting point to your chosen world, and allow yourself to have a powerfully helpful experience in response to your intention.

If you need guidance, you can review the section above on The Three Worlds to help you find your way to your chosen world.

Engage All of Your Senses

It’s important to keep in mind that you are accessing these worlds from within your body. The goal isn’t to have an out-of-body experience, but rather to engage all of your senses and stay fully present. The spirits may communicate with you in many ways, so stay connected to your physical, spiritual, and emotional senses as you journey. This will allow you to fully experience all that is showing up for you.

Take the time in your starting out point and all throughout your journey to really feel into the experience with all of your physical and non-physical senses:

What do you see?
What’s the temperature like?
What do you hear?
What sensations do you feel?
Can you taste or smell anything?

Engage all of your physical and non-physical senses to deepen and strengthen your connection to all that is available to you. Let go of the need to immediately understand, judge, or categorize what you are experiencing – remain present and just experience it.

Every part of the journey is a response to your intention, so take it all in and remember it. If you start thinking about it too much, you may miss what’s happening in the moment. Trust the experience as it unfolds. You’ll have plenty of time to unpack it during integration after your journey.

Allow the Journey to Unfold

Shamanic Journeying is different from a typical meditation. It’s a highly interactive experience. Using the power of your imagination, coupled with your intention and the sound of the drum, you are engaging with wise, intelligent, and ancient spiritual beings.

At the start of your journey, your imagination helps you get moving, but at some point, you’ll notice something shifts. Your imagination begins to mingle with something more… your interaction with your helping spirits. Try to avoid controlling the experience, but remember that you are still you throughout the journey. You have free will and agency. Allow the journey to unfold naturally, trust it, and stay fully present, paying close attention to every detail.

As you journey, stay connected to the sound of the drum, your breath and all of your senses. If things become a little foggy or you feel distracted, simply take some deep breaths, restate your intention to yourself and keep going.

If you sense that you’ve entered your chosen World but don’t sense the presence of a helping spirit, call out… State your intention. Ask for someone to help you with your intention.

When you sense a helping spirit, ask them if they are your helping spirit for this journey. Pay attention to the response. You’ll understand the answer, however it comes. If it’s a “no” answer, ask them to take you to your helping spirit , or simply keep going and searching. They will appear.

Be respectful when interacting with your helping spirits. These are conscious relationships you are building. Introduce yourself, ask for their names, and inquire:

What have you come to show me?
What do you want to teach me?
What healing have you brought?

Always express gratitude for their presence and loving guidance.

Your helping spirits may take any form, and their appearance may shift spontaneously. You may not always “see” them. Sometimes you’ll simply sense their presence or have a sudden inner knowing about what they’re doing or sharing with you.

They may:

Take you somewhere to show you something.
Introduce you to another being or helping spirit.
Interact with you where you entered the World.
“Act out” a scenario to illustrate the energies at play in your life or to offer guidance on how to navigate those energies.
Or something else… trust!

There’s no need to fear, even if you encounter something that might seem unsettling in ordinary reality. You are safe. You are having a shamanic journey experience. Everything you witness has meaning, and may not be what it first appears to be.

Relax into the experience, trust the process, and let it unfold naturally.