This symbol represents sorcery for me. It’s all about embracing the magical nature of reality.

But Don Aapo What Do You Mean?

Well I mostly mean by this that there are magical roots to the universe. Think about your own mind for example, it’s like a supercomputer that makes sense of reality during each present moment in a lightning speed.

For example it’s able to comprehend if you move your finger just a little bit in an instant. That to me is pretty mystical, to be honest.

Going Meta

If we go meta just a little bit on our own minds, we might start to comprehend what reality actually is. The paintings of Alex Grey are all about this kind of mysticism and to me they represent the miracle of consciousness and the mind.

So actually, I read up on Alex Grey and apparently he is a practitioner of Tantrik Buddhism, which is cool. I’ve also looked into Tantra myself, indeed the tradition of Tantrik Shaivism. I am really interested in these traditions also.

I’m also interested in Islam, for example Sufism and Shamanism, or Core Shamanism as popularized and taught by Michael Harner.

So What Is The Point of These Traditions?

So what is the point of these traditions, you ask. Well, let me tell you, the point of being a spiritual practitioner is Mukti. That’s like a spiritual liberation that is achieved through spiritual practice.

So for example shamans use drumming as a spiritual technique and shamanic journeying and doing healing ceremonies and stuff like that.

For me one crazy shamanic experience I had is when I did a darkness retreat. In his website, Harner has a section even written about healing PTSD with shamanism. I haven’t read it yet but I should do that indeed.

Harner’s work is super interesting if you want to learn more about shamanism and he does have a few books out which are about shamanism and it’s applications and he was named a honorary shaman by real shamans of Siberia, apparently also.

Core Shamanism?

So Core Shamanism is the term that Harner came up with in his study of Shamanism and it means the application of shamanism in a cross-cultural way, by which I mean that to practice core shamanism you don’t have to be born in that culture for example, and that anyone can do it and learn it.

All you need is a monotonous drumming sound of around 220 beats pre minute, if I am quoting Harner here.

Someone has been kind enough to create this video and let me tell you this one is wonderful if you want to shift your state of awareness as the Shamans did. Preferably done in the dark with no to minimal lighting going on and maybe also breathe deep while listening to this.

Shamanic Symbols

I’ve had a long interest in shamanism and stuff like that ever since first discovering the books of Carlos Castaneda and Michael Harner. Something in these books deeply resonates with me, shamanism being the art of Ecstasy after all.

Spiritual Ecstasies

One thing I’ve actually learned from a Guru from the tradition of Kriya Yoga, SantataGamana.

What I learned from him is that when Yoga is working it starts to happen on it’s own and we might just randomly get these “bliss-explosions” inside our bodies and I guess energy bodies also.

So through first doing the practice, the practice now starts to happen, as if on it’s own.

So yeah that’s how I became a scholar of spiritual traditions. I really always enjoyed to read about them and let me tell you there are some great books out there by these authors that I’ve mentioned.

Didn’t Read Them All Yet

These authors I’ve talked about to me are some of the best out there and my definite favorites I’ve mentioned quite a few now.

Doing Shamanism is like being an explorer of Consciousness. It’s like taking a ship to try to sail to India as Christopher Columbus did in the middle ages.

So it’s like being an explorer or an astronaut, only doing so in our own minds and bodies.

So yeah, now you know what I am really interested in, is these traditions of Tantra, Yoga, Shamanism, etc. If it’s something to do with mystery, I am in that school, all right.

There’s also holotropic or shamanic breathing which you can experiment with.

I think it’s funny now in the summer because I really enjoy summer but I also like winter because it’s a time for introspection and going within and for me, being in the dark a lot which I really have come to enjoy a lot.

Somehow being in the dark just relaxes one into this non-dual state of awareness of being one with all of reality, if you know what I am talking about.

Glad It’s Still Summer Tho

Still I am glad it’s still summer but nothing wrong with the winter coming up either, at least there’s a lot of time to meditate and work on projects and perhaps be with low to no lighting and meditate and go on a shamanic journey in the dark while listening to monotonous drumming.

So yeah I hope this has been helpful and remember to stay wild and stay shamanic all right.

See you soon!