It might be easier to understand how journeys can teach you and give insight if you had a few examples.

Here are a few examples of journeys that were taken by real individuals.   You might also want to go on these journeys yourself, if you feel drawn to do so.

Journey 1

Journey to the Spirit of the Ocean

All life began in the oceans.  The intention of the journey was to go back to the beginning of life and ask the ocean if it had any messages for you.

These were the notes taken after going on this journey:

I went to the ocean and dived into the water.  I swam down into the deep primordial ocean.  I swam around in it, so that I was in all of it.

Eventually, I found the first ocean, which was made of tar, which I think gave birth to the water ocean.  The tar told me that I needed to connect people with something as deep as the principals of that.  When I tried to leave it pulled at me.

When I was back in the water ocean, I could feel how it pulled at me in the same way the tar did.  Then I was told that that was what I was doing, trying to connect people with ancient wisdom.  When I float in the ocean, I feel complete support, and that is how much support I have from the spirit world.

The ocean had air for us and we emerged from it as from a womb.  The plasma ocean runs through my blood.  The same thing about the tar in my journey, and the plasma of the rivers.

Don’t go out to the ocean, call it to you.  The ocean flows through your blood.  You need to connect people with something deep inside themselves.

This journey is a good example of how the messages that come from a journey can be deep and multilayered.  When we journey, we can go ask any part of the world any question we like.  We can ask storms what they have to teach us.  We can ask the tree how to connect with the light around us.

In this example, the journey was completed as part of a teacher training.  Although asking about teaching was not part of the intent, the answer included information about that.   Your journey to the ocean would reveal something different, something unique to your own work or messages that were personal to you.

Journey 2

Journey to Merge With a Canyon or a Cave

You can use a journey to invite energy to become part of your physical body.  In this journey the intention was to merge with a Canyon or a Cave.

Intention: Journey to a sacred cave or canyon and invite it to live in the pelvis.  For women this is the womb, for men it is like creating a sacred room.  If you are going to do this, you must commit to honoring it all of the time such as by singing or dancing, or by expressing your emotions.

Here were the notes taken from this journey:

I found I journeyed to the spirit of a canyon. It seemed to me like it was the spirit of the grand canyon that I met.  It said that if it were to come with me, I would have to honor it every day.  I said that I would water some dirt every day, and it said okay, that it would come with me.  I came back to my body with the spirit of the canyon.  When I came back to my body, I had a brief and stunning moment of feeling what it is like to be the mother earth.  It was amazing, but I was unable to hold it for long.  I felt what it was like to be a dark womb, to creatively hold all things before they come into being.  Then my mind wandered toward the end and I was struck by all this energy that was flowing through me.

When we journey and talk with a spirit of nature, a spirit of an animal, or a spirit of the land, the energy of that spirit will infuse us a little bit.  That infusion from the spirit will return with us, when we return from our journey.  However, merging is a way of inviting the spirit more fully into our being and to truly inviting the energy into our body.  This can be a very powerful experience.

You only want to do this with a sacred spirit.  You wouldn’t want to merge with the spirit of a land that was suffering from pollution, because you could end up taking in unhealthy energy.  Your intention when merging should always be to merge with the sacred part of that something.  If you are unsure how to do this, ask your power animal or spirit teacher for advice on what is healthy for you to merge with.

As you see, this type of merging can leave you with a bodily feeling of great amount of energy.  For some, that may be too much to handle.  You can always ask to merge with the spirit in a way that will not overwhelm you.  Again, ask your helping spirits for advice on what would be best for you to do.

Journey 3

Journeying on Emotional Issues

You can journey to the spirit world when you have an emotional issue that you feel you need insight on.

This is a journey where the intention was to explore an emotional issue.

The notes from a healing journey.

Crow sat on my pelvis.  Hawk filled my chest.  I went to a hill, on the top of which sat an old woman who was large and rounded.  She had a coiled snake in her center.  I asked to sit inside her

She told me that I believe to leave childhood, is to leave behind love.

She said that I feel there is no love waiting for me in adulthood.

She also said that every time I visit her, more of me will stay there, be with her.

I moved like a snake.

Then I was standing outside a lodge. I could not make myself go in.

I said I will go in, and picked up pieces of myself that were lying around me.  Part of me stood and watched another part of me go in.  I stood and watch myself, but I could not follow.  I said again that I wanted to go in, but felt rooted to the spot.  So I turned around behind me and pulled up roots.  I planted the roots in the lodge until only a few small roots remained behind me.  I pulled some of them.

I entered the lodge just as the call came to return back from the journey.  I saw a bear standing at the center of the lodge.  He said I would be back.

You can see from this example, that the journey provided some insight into the emotional issue, but will require multiple journeys to work on the issue.  The presence of the spirits, such as the power animals and the woman, are healing presences.  The snake is a highly transformative animal.  The issue of moving forward was worked on through the process of pulling up roots, after the healing spirits shared their energy and insight.  The process of entering the lodge was a process of moving forward on an emotional issue.

The issues discussed will vary depending on your life experiences and your stage of life.  This journey was done during the individual’s early 20’s, so the subject of transition to adulthood was an active concern.

Journey 4

Journey to a Power Animal

One of the questions that comes up frequently on Shaman Links, concerns power animals.  Many ask how do I know if this or that animal is my power animal?  The answer simple if you know how to do a shamanic journey:

Go and ask it.

The notes from a Journey to Fox:

I journeyed to the spirit of Fox.  I sat and talked with the Fox.  Fox told me that the spirit of the Fox is wild and free.  It has come to me at this time because of that, to learn how to be wild and free.

The Spirit of the Fox is with Me
It is Wild and Free
It is Wild and Free
The Spirit of the Fox is with Me
It is Wild and Free
It is Wild and Free

It flies through the trees
Wild and Free
Wild and Free
The Spirit of the Fox and Me

The Spirit of the Fox is in Me
We are Wild and Free
We are Wild and Free
The Spirit of the Fox is in Me
We are Wild and Free
We are Wild and Free
The Spirit of the Fox and Me

This journey communicated a specific reason for a particular animal wanting to work with the journeyer.  It was also accompanied by as song that represented the relationship the power animal was offering.  In this case, singing such a song would help you connect with the power of that animal.

In other cases, the power animal may offer more than just one thing, or it may offer a different way to stay connected with you.  The relationship between each person and their power animal is unique.  You can only find out what a power animal means to you by exploring that relationship.

Other Resources

If you feel you need more ideas on what to journey on, besides some of the suggestions listed on the Shaman Links Journey Series:

365 Journeys, A Journey Delivered to You Every Day for a small subscription

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