Summer Solstice shaman session stimulates as summer vibes peak
ROUTINES are made to be broken. The realisation dawned on me last Wednesday night as – instead of trying to pull off a spectacular pass or goal at indoor soccer with the lads – I was performing a shamanic cleanse at a wellness retreat centre on a complete stranger.
In keeping with Summer Solstice it was a balmy night and I was far outside my comfort zone. I’ve never even been to Newgrange and am sceptical by nature. A friend’s son, who is a trained shaman, was there giving a class on ancient natural healing techniques.
The aim of the class was ostensibly to teach people about opening sacred space, Shamanic cleansing, heart centred consciousness, and shedding old trauma and grief. Come 7.00 o’clock on Wednesday evening, after a busy day’s work and bringing my daughter to swimming while entertaining The Little Fella, routine was telling me to just go to soccer, but a new-found willpower kicked in and I soon found myself holding hands in a human circle, ‘opening’ sacred spaces, north, south, east and west in elemental invocations in a hall where colourful images of chakras hung from the walls.
The seven chakras are the centres in our bodies in which energy flows through and we would soon be opening ours. Far out, I know, but I was – along with the 14 or so others in the room – up for the experience.
Our spiritual guide, Danny, was skilled at guiding us every step of the way, so even though there was a lot of traditions and practices to go through, everything flowed seamlessly. Now before you go dismissing this as new, (or rather very old age), hokum, shamanism is growing in an Ireland where many young people have drifted away from the teachings of the Catholic Church, and who are weary of society’s immersion in technology and click and swipe communication. Shamanism, to my mind, (which in shamanism is located in the heart and not the head, incidentally), is about getting back to our roots, celebrating nature, celebrating each other, celebrating communication, living in the now and shedding old grief and trauma to grow and achieve peace of mind.
Basically, it has a lot to offer on face value and was certainly worth spending three hours of my life learning about. Bare footed, our circle rhythmically banged drums, and having opened sacred spaces, ventured outside with a sheet of paper, upon which we had jotted down aspects of our lives and personalities that he wanted to shed, and burned them in a fire, to the sounds of more frenetic drumming and the smell of firewood. I did not envy the lads in that oven of a hall, as I sat outside, barefooted, taking in this communal experience.
I soon found myself using a bunch of rosemary to open seven chakras in a woman I had never met before by gently brushing it against each chakra point in three clockwise motions, before burning (cleansing) the rosemary afterwards. We also noted aspects of our life that we wanted to strive for on headed paper entitled ‘Embracing New Growth’.
Then Danny had us lie down on yoga mats and visualise entering the roots of a tree, before emerging in woodland where we meet a spirit animal, which we bring back to a place of beauty familiar to us, to the sound of powerful drumming. The night ended with us sharing our visualisation stories and a lively dance to The Irish Rover.
The next day, as I drove in Dublin traffic, I saw the benefit of taking the time to try new experiences, with new people, and the importance of breaking the routine every now and again, even if it’s just for the sake of it.