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EXPERIENCING DIFFERENT REALITIES

By Jane Mountrose

Reality is merely an 
illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

This statement from Albert Einstein provides food for thought as we explore the nature of our reality and the possibility that there is much more happening here than meets the eye.

This month's feature article on journeying suggests ways to access different perspectives on reality through your inner senses. We have found these kinds of experiences to be essential elements of our spiritual journey, taking us to amazing places and helping us to release limitations in our consciousness.  

Such transcendent experiences can become some of the most memorable ones of our lives. They stretch our sense of who we are and provide glimpses of what is happening behind the scenes of the reality we access every day through the use of our five physical senses. 

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SUGGESTED EXERCISE

Journeying provides the opportunity to explore the possibility that our normal perceptions of reality are merely a reflection of higher and more profoundly meaningful levels of reality. As Mikaya Heart mentions in her insightful article, there are different ways to penetrate the veil to receive images and  messages from other dimensions.

On the theme of shamanic journeying, many indigenous cultures believe that we are our reality is providing messages throughout the day. A wonderful way to focus on this possibility as an experiment is to set aside a period of time, go out into nature somewhere nearby, and in a space of silence, encourage nature to communicate with you.

Open all of your senses. Notice what you are seeing, hearing, sensing in your body, feeling emotionally, smelling, and maybe even tasting. You can ask a question and open to a response or just sit and allow nature to communicate. 

This works best if you open your imagination with childlike wonder. A child can easily see faces or other shapes in the clouds, hear voices in the wind or within a bubbling brook, or feel the presence of unseen forces. Quiet your mind and allow whatever comes into your awareness as a possible message to emerge. 

AN EXAMPLE

I have had amazing experiences with this approach. One time, I was out walking alone by a lake struggling with a question about the nature of reality. In my frustration, I formulated a statement clearly in my mind: "If this is real, I need a message and I need it now." 

Hoping for a response, I looked around me for a moment, and I was surprised that I noticed nothing. Then, suddenly, I felt a tremendous influx of beautiful energy coming into my body and I knew that this was it. If felt strongly that it was the validation I had been seeking. 

Then, thinking the communication was complete, I glanced up at the sky and saw a flock of geese flying toward the lake. Thinking that they were going to land as further validation, I watched them closely as they flew overhead and kept going. Surprised again, as I turned to watch them, they flew directly in front of the sun, then formed a perfect V (for victory) as they faded into the distance.

I was so moved by the experience, in my mind, I asked, "Could it be this magical?" and in my head, I heard a simple "yes." 

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Note that your results with this approach will improve the more you do it. Fortunately, the world is out there 24 hours a day for you to open to receiving messages.

JOURNEYING

By Mikaya Heart
Minister of Holistic Healing

Drum journeying is an activity that was and still is utilized extensively by shamans from indigenous cultures all over the world.  They use the sound of the drum to help to carry them to other realms of existence where they can do healing work that affects this ‘ordinary’ realm of existence.  Often it involves relating to power animals who help to get rid of negative energies that are making someone sick, or bring back parts of a person’s soul that were lost in the course of that individual’s life. 

Whether or not one subscribes to a belief in other realms of existence, this method of healing can frequently be effective.  The same method of ’journeying’ can be used by individuals who are seeking assistance in our ordinary reality.  The journey is similar to the kind of dreaming we do when we are asleep.  Just as you can ask for an answer to a question before you go to sleep, and then find the answer supplied either in a dream or simply as a knowing that is with you when you wake up, so you can ask a question and then go on a drum journey to find the answer. 

THE THREE JOURNEY WORLDS 

Traditionally, people would go to one of three places when they journeyed: the upper world, the lower world, or the middle world, which is simply present reality. When you go to the middle world, you stay right here, and that means this is right where you need to be. The upper world is a landscape where you are high up, and often flying; the lower world is one where you are down underneath, often underwater or under the ground. 

My journeys are frequently a mix of these.  They are sometimes symbolic representations of what needs healing or attention in my life; more often they involve going to some fantastic kind of landscape where I meet interesting beings. Usually I can address them with my questions and am given profound answers, either in words or in symbolic actions. Once, as I was swimming underwater - where I found I could breathe easily, a swordfish came up and sliced me open (painlessly) up the middle. This action was repeated four times during the journey. Clearly I was being told I needed to open up.  

YOUR OWN PERSONAL JOURNEYS

It is best to start a journey with a specific intention. Always remember that you can control your journey - if you don’t like the place where you find yourself, you can decide to go somewhere else, and you never have to hang out with any being that you don’t like. It can be a great way to access a power animal or a totem. Remember that the animals or beings that come to you want to be part of your life, so honor that and bring their presence with you back into this reality. One of my friends is always guided by her power animal when she goes on a journey. I once had the experience of becoming a snake in a journey, which gave me the ability to see things very differently from my normal human perspective. My experience of life was broadened. 

If you have trouble starting off on the journey, imagine yourself going down a hole in the ground, through the roots of trees, or through a cave that you already know. Journeying is not for everyone; some people cannot let go of their awareness of ordinary reality and the doubtful mind that tends to go with that.  Remember it’s fine to let your imagination go; it doesn’t matter if you think that everything that occurs on your journey is simply a vivid imagination!  It can still be useful.

You must relax enough to let the sound of the drum carry you; it is the fast repetitive sound that ‘takes’ you. People journey to other sounds as well - rattles, didgeridoos, and even singing. Tapes of drumming and rattling specifically for journeying are available, although it is often easier to take off when a live person is right there making the sound you need. I recommend doing it in a group, where you all get to talk about your experiences afterwards, since I’ve always found that very useful. I have drummed many times for a group of people, and I usually do it for twenty minutes.  I’ve also drummed for people who are journeying to retrieve soul parts for others, which is sometimes a lot longer than twenty minutes. The first five minutes of drumming is often really hard and I can’t imagine how I will keep it up - then something else takes over, and it’s easy.

"CATAPULTED INTO ANOTHER REALITY"

I was once catapulted into another reality - or perhaps more accurately another place and time - by the sound of a Tibetan bowl. I became the sound of the bowl, which was quite an astounding experience, and then the sound came with me, as an instrument of healing, to a place that needed that healing.  However, a journey in an altered state of consciousness can be induced by other means than sound - our sleeping dreams, some daydreams, past life regression, hypnotic trances, and guided visualizations are kinds of journeying. A picture, a word, a smell - anything can suddenly transport us to another reality if we have the propensity to go there.  

Where are we going? Most of us think that this physical world we call Earth is reality, and we don‘t have language to explain things that don‘t fit into it.  Are these really different worlds we are visiting, perhaps different planets? Are they different realms of awareness? Are we time-traveling? Are we going through shifts of consciousness that allow us suddenly to become sentient of other times and places? Are they parallel realities, existing in different dimensions? Are other planes of reality, normally invisible to us, intertwined with this one? And what on Earth (or anywhere else) does all that mean, anyway?

FINDING YOUR ANSWERS, LIVING YOUR LIFE
[editor's note]

Journeying is a time-tested way to enter an altered state to explore what is possible. It is a way to find resources and answers that you can bring back into your daily life. Like soul-centering and other powerful meditative and healing tools, journeying can help you live more deeply and find the direction that is right for you.

Mikaya Heart relates her mission to inspiring others and helping them to change their lives in positive ways. She is a published author writer who currently travels the world. She is committed to actively manifesting truth and love, in every moment and views her most valuable offering to be simply inspiring by example. You can reach her at mikayaheart@myfastmail.com. 

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What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

      - Otto Rank

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.

             - Douglas Everett

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.

            - John Lennon  

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