Shamanism II – How I healed my ‘inner bride’
and found my Bali soulmate…
Trance is usually a component of shamanism. A shaman
will typically be in a light, medium or heavy trance (light,
meaning easily broken; heavy, meaning, impervious to outside
input.) The trance is often reached by dancing, shaking
rattles, singing, or, in Bali, by praying.
I have frequently seen people in trance in Bali – I
witnessed three people together at the temple high on the
hill at Jatih Lui. They started shouting and moving
rhythmically during the praying.
And our ancient village priestess, tiny and skinny, clad all
in white, with her grey hair piled atop her head, frequently
starts dancing a crazy dance and singing raucously.
Balinese people generally take this very matter-of-factly
‘oh – there’s someone in a trance!’
but deal with it practically – a strong, usually male,
member of the community will ready themselves behind the ‘trancee’,
and another priest or priestess will come to the fore and
splash the affected person with holy water. At this,
the ‘victim’ suddenly slumps in a daze and is
caught in the arms of the person waiting behind.
Another shamanic belief that exists in Bali is that if someone
is involved in a traumatic event – an accident perhaps,
or a relationship that has ended – part of the soul
can be left behind, tied up in the tragic or shocking events.
There are shamanic techniques for visiting ‘the other
world’ and retrieving lost parts of the soul.
In Bali, when my husband’s cousin fell off his motorbike
recently, a small entourage of family and priest, clad in
traditional sarongs and carrying offerings held high, visited
the crash location, and did a special mini ceremony to retrieve
parts of his soul that might have been left behind in the
shock of the collision.
Potent power of a wedding dress
An important precursor to my Balinese wedding was a major
piece of shamanic healing that happened kind of by accident
when I was still in London. I wanted to make a ‘bride’
doll, and decided to use left-over material from my mother’s
wedding dress to make it. (Actually, making a
bride doll was the clever suggestion of Vie, the shamanic
healer – I’m sure she knew what she was asking
and what the result would be!).
As I took the dress down from a high shelf, I could feel what
a potent shamanic object it was – the wedding dress
belonging to my mother held such strong feelings of a child
waiting to be born (me!) and my mother’s longing
for a child. The dress is of heavy oyster silk-satin,
and has a high cross over breast and then below, a massive
full swathe of material reaching to the ground. It really
is almost like a maternity dress! I piled the rustling
dress and gauzy veil onto a cushion, then spontaneously put
my head down on top of it and just cried and cried.
I was weeping for me, for my mother, my grandmother, and all
the women going back through time. I wept and wept.
Then, following my instincts, I undressed and pulled the dress
on over my head. I decided not to put on the original
headdress – instead opting for a beaded and glittery
crown and long rainbow coloured hair of soft mohair wool that
had recently served as a fancy dress costume – I wanted
the crown to be ‘me’ and ‘now’.
I wanted to bring something of the powerful me from now into
the picture, not just be held sway by the past. I walked
into my bedroom, where a wall of mirrors awaited me.
Looking at myself in this fantastical and somehow poignant
garb, I meditated.
White light began to emanate all around me. Spontaneously
I began to chant ‘I heal you, I heal you, I heal all
of you’. Hairs pricked up on the back of my neck
as I felt hands on my back, hands on those hands, hands on
those hands…An astrologer had told me that ‘when
you connect with ancestral energy, you will know because you
will feel a strong kick of energy’. This was definitely
it! I carried on with my ‘I heal you’ chanting
and felt the energy shift back, back back, through the hands,
through time, all the way back to the women in the line of
descent behind me. Brides behind brides, behind brides.
In my visualization, I saw a room of brides, all standing
behind me, dressed in red.
I carried on with my ‘I heal you’s and felt the
energy shift, the energy came back to me in a whoosh through
all the hands, and I felt them all saying, thankyou, thankyou,
and smiling. The whole room was clapping and laughing.
It was an amazing moment! This was a major piece of
healing that finally let me get in touch with my desire to
become a bride, and ultimately, enabled me to be one!
Back to the plot…
So, shamanism is not a religion – more a means of connecting
to, and flowing with, the natural ways of the Universe.
And of manifesting what you want to happen.
Shamanic techniques include drumming, dancing, and chanting
(usually to induce a trance), creating rituals, and making
objects which express the desired effects.
A Shaman is someone who has learned (or who naturally has
the ability to) channel the power of the Universe in these
ways, and help to make sense of it, either for him or herself,
or for other people. Advanced shamanism includes the
ability to ‘visit’ the ‘other world’
and bring something back from it – new understanding,
new options, or even, to bring back the soul of a ‘lost’
person..
The American Indians believe that a birthing mother travels
to the ‘other world’ to collect the soul of her
baby, and bring it back. This is the best description
of birth that I have heard. Perhaps many of us are shamen
without realising it.
The Practical Shaman
Here are some ideas on how you can experience shamanism too:
1. Drum. Get a good drum, and drum. Drum
what you want, how you feel, where you are going. Remember
to keep breathing. See where it takes you.
2. Dance. Start by focusing on moving your feet,
then focus on your ankles, legs, knees, hips, and so on in
turn, up to your head. Then dance your own dance, whatever
that is. Try not to judge it. Remember to keep
breathing. Dance all your feelings into your dance.
Breathe. See what happens.
3. Make Something Symbolic. It could just be
a pebble arranged on top of a leaf, or a stick stuck in the
ground. Whatever it is, fill it full of your intention.
Reflect on what happens and how you feel.
Further information: “The Art of Dreaming”
by Carlos Castaneda. Gabrielle Roth’s books about
her ‘5 Rhythmns Dancing’.
I use Shamanism in many practical ways, all the time.
For example, I drummed my way out of my old place and into
a lovely new flat. I sing my way out of a difficult
situation, and find a new understanding, at the end of the
self-created song. And I make ‘shamanic totems’
and jewellery (left: Salamander’) funny little animals
or people that represent aspects of myself or how I am feeling.
By the end of making a totem, I understand myself –
and maybe heal something.
When I made ‘fertility doll’, straightening out
the womb, ovaries, and other inner organs, as I constructed
them from silver wire and glass beads, I felt my own body
shifting and changing. That is shamanism.
NEXT WEEK: Chakras and You – fascinating insights
into an ancient system for understanding your deepest needs.
ASHRAM of SPIRITUAL JEWELLERY & ART is at 1 Sukma St,
Tebesaya, Ubud (Oppositie Jazz Cafe). Tel: 081
239 43354. Open 10am-10pm (to 5pm Sun/Mon)
Jeli welcomes comments and may be contacted on:
Email: jelila@jelila.com
Website: www.jelila.com or www.imagine-retreats.com
