Shamanic illness is a severe gift of spirits. “Big” dreams, lucid dreams and dreaming

Conscious movement and stretching during daily activities Movement and stretching during any activity - good way burning extra calories. When, for example, you are on the phone or talking to someone, instead of sitting in a chair, try

“Before becoming a shaman, a person is sick for a long time, and it seems to him that the souls of dead shamans, his “utha” (ancestors), come and teach. When these dead shamans come, then you become unconscious, as if you are talking to them as if they were alive . No one outside sees them. Sometimes one comes, sometimes several, many, almost all the dead shamans come.”

(testimony of Mikhail Stepanov from the book by G.V. Ksenofontov “Legends and stories among the Yakuts, Buryats and Tungus”).

“One hundred and fifty years ago, in the 4th Kharanut clan of the Kudinsky department, there lived a Buryat named Aldyr-Areev. He had been ill for fifteen years, gone crazy, gone crazy. In winter, he ran naked five miles. Then his utha found him - Baruunai (from Khondogor-Shosholok). (Utha tells him) - “Why are you fooling around? You don’t know us, you be a shaman, depend on us - utha! Agree?" “I agreed.”

(testimony of Bulagat Bukhasheev from the book G.V. Ksenofontov).

As we see, utha, “spirits of dead shamans,” plays a significant role in illness. In the Buryat tradition, utha is also associated with the meaning of the root, the blood right to become the chosen one. If a person has strong shamans in his family, this means that he has utha, so the spirits can offer him the difficult fate of being chosen by the spirits. In the proposed passage, Utha appears as a personified phenomenon that addresses the initiate. In most cases, Utha asks about the chosen one’s agreement or disagreement with new role, as well as with what the subject must do in order to safely pass the path of Initiation.

Modern ideas about the course of shamanic illness are mainly associated with nightmares. Their depth and realism is amazing. At the end of the 90s. XX century The following case was described. Two spirits of Mongolian shamans began to appear to the Buryat woman. The visions were terrible: the woman was pursued by arms and hands. The dream was mixed with reality. One day, after another nightmare, the woman woke up, opened her eyes... And to her horror, she saw above her the very palms that she had seen only in her dreams. Only after a cry of horror and the family lighting the light in the room did the vision disappear. The woman’s tragedy also lay in the fact that she did not know the Buryat language. And Utha talked to her in Buryat. The chosen one simply did not understand what the spirits of her ancestors wanted from her.

In a word, shamanic disease is a sacred phenomenon, which, naturally, has its own mythology. The idea that the world is inhabited by spirits, on which the life of the race significantly depends, goes back to the times when man was defenseless against the forces of nature. The man looked especially closely and listened attentively the world around us, developed those qualities and senses that gave him information that allowed him to survive. Obviously, then the belief arose: spirits live next to a person, but not all people can see them. This ability is characteristic of the chosen ones, which appears during the process of initiation, the shamanic disease.

“While a person has not yet become a shaman, his soul (amin) is taken by the utha (those shamanic spirits from which the shaman comes) in “Saitani suulgande” (suulga - gathering) to heaven and there they teach. When the teaching is finished, his meat is boiled so that he ripens. In the old days, all shamans were boiled so that they knew the shamanic literacy<...>

(At this time) the shaman lay dead for seven days. When he lies half-dead, relatives gather and sing songs: “Our shaman will be alive, he will help us out!” Women don’t come, only men.”

For Siberian peoples the place in which learning occurs is quite arbitrary. It could be the sky, or it could be the underworld. Sometimes they say that the “color” of the shaman depends on this: white or black. But the black shaman is not the shaman who is called upon to harm people, he simply communicates and resorts to the help of the spirits of the lower world. Here is a fragment of the visions of Spiridon Gerasimov, a Yakut shaman:

“When I was lying in this position, they began to pull the bridge of my nose to the left with an iron hook. I raised my head, my eyes still able to see. It turned out that I was lying at the mouth of the Bloody River with a flow back and forth... They drew water from this river and gave me plenty to drink, then, having drilled into my ears, they put me in a clay vessel... and said: “You have become a famous shaman with a bloody foot." They threw in a piece of dried blood the size of a pillow and, placing me in it, they said: “Be the famous of the evil shamans with a bloody base.” I repeated these words, without knowing why. They put a noose of rope around my neck and took me somewhere very far away.” (V.N. Basilov. Chosen Spirits. - M.: Politizdat, 1984).

As we can see, we have before us a description of the shamanic disease of an “evil” or “black” shaman. Noteworthy is the image of the Bloody River, which gave the chosen one the name of the famous shaman with a bloody foot. The riverbed branches, creating the image of a tree. In this sense, water as a symbol of Chaos becomes the main guide of the shaman in the Lower World. Thus, we're talking about, of course, about the World Tree, connecting the Upper, Middle and Lower worlds. The mouth is the beginning of a river, the point from which a tree grows. Therefore, Spiridon stands at the foot of a tree, which he intends to use to travel to other worlds. In the Yakut tradition, the souls of unborn shamans were fed in the nests or “cradles” of the world tree. Similar ideas were obviously characteristic of the Buryats. In particular, in the materials of Zhamtsarano, in the description of the shaman’s initiation, three bird's nests on the “Mother Tree” and one at the top of the “Father Tree”.

Equally important is the symbolism of suffering. Before becoming the chosen one of the spirits of the aspirant, the spirits were boiled in a cauldron and killed... Perhaps it was the degree of torment that befell the initiate that determined his future strength:

“Now we will trim your meat and cook it so that you ripen. You will lie dead, (and we will put your meat back) and you will come to life, you will become a shaman. You are not the only one who will cook the meat, (so you need) to recognize your meat. If we use someone else’s, then bad things will come out!”

(testimony of Bulagat Bukhasheev)

According to other sources, the spirits of future shamans counted the bones. If there were any required quantity, then the “applicant” could become a shaman; if it was not enough, the person died. It was considered a good sign if a shaman had more bones than an ordinary person. This was a sign of his strength. Therefore, the Buryats greatly revered six-fingered shamans who had a biological deviation. The famous Olkhon shaman Valentin Khagdaev has six fingers on one hand.

One way or another, the meaning of a shaman’s illness is the death of an ordinary person and the birth of a shaman. Under normal conditions, such a birth is the result of a person being called by the spirits of his ancestors. True, there is evidence when people became shamans differently:

“In the Bulagat khoshun, ten years ago, a large black shaman (hara buo) named Mylyksen Baltaevsky died. When he became a shaman, he gave seventy of his relatives to his utha. He didn’t have his own utha, so he shouldn’t have been a shaman... He climbed in by force, took someone else’s utha... Through this they punished him... he killed seventy people and became a shaman.”

(testimony of Bulagat Bukhasheev)

“Buryat Mylyksen gave his utha seventy people from his relatives to become a shaman. Previously, he did not have a utha, but a new utha was formed from seventy people. A shaman who has utha should not give.”

(testimony of Buin Bulagatov and Bagduy Bashilkhanov)

It remains a mystery how this shaman survived the shamanic illness, if he did not have utha, how he managed to come into contact with the spirits from whom he bargained for the right to be the chosen one. And what does the 70 people mean with whose lives he was forced to pay? Was this a fate that haunted him all his life, or did he symbolically sacrifice his relatives and deprive them of protection, or something else.

The shamans of the Amazon consider the world of dreams and sleep to be a real looking-glass of the human dimension, and our dreams and dreams are the thinnest bridges into this looking-glass. Local shamanic traditions view dream culture as more than just an important part of their lives. It is believed that a special state - a dream - allows a person to receive great wisdom and an irreplaceable sip of Power from otherwise inaccessible sources. For shamans, this is not just a way of spending time for the purpose of relaxation and rest, as for most people. In his magical practice and ritual rites, Peruvian shamans use dreams to enter a completely different dimension and obtain important information on issues that interest them.

When returning from a lucid dream, a person does not forget the dream and can use the information received

To visit the world of dreams, each shaman uses his own already established method. Some people need to smoke a ritual mapacho pipe, some just need to inhale the smell of the sacred drink Ayahuasca, and some need to chant their dream Icaros or take their dream pose. But one way or another, the path to penetration into the dream worlds of every Amazon shaman lies through contacts with plants of the Power of the Jungle. They are the ones who point out the passages and teach the shaman to act through the looking glass of our world. Each shamanic tradition can have its own friendly plant of Power and this connection is passed on by the shamans of the line. But this does not mean at all that the shaman cannot find his own, individual plant or helping spirit.

Traveling in the world of dreams, the shaman not only sees a dream, he realizes that it is he who is in another spiritual world. In it, the curandero is no longer a passive object, he is a full-fledged inhabitant. Thanks to this, the shaman boldly asks questions and receives answers to them, changes the elements of the dream according to his own needs, and perhaps thereby changes human destiny. This is how he acquires the skills of lucid shamanic dreaming. By controlling his sleep, the shaman charges his body and mind with the positive energy of the dream world.

In their healing practice, shamans use various techniques and methods of influencing human illness. Among the main ones are the rituals of ayahuasca, magical fumigation with the sacred mapacho, ritual spicy-herbal fires, aromatic oils of South American flowers and herbs, as well as the singing of the ancient Icaros.

Various shamanic tricks, which are saturated with Power in the hands of the shaman, help to tune a person (student or patient) to the wave of another dimension. Curanderos prepare special aromatic sleep pillows by collecting herbs from special places jungle, brewing magical concoctions, singing special songs or make special sounds and whistles. All this is necessary, because only with a certain adjustment of the mind and the entire human being will the dimension of sleep open its gates and accept not a guest, but a full-fledged inhabitant of its world.

When returning from a lucid dream, a person does not forget the dream and can use the information received. Once in the dimension of dreams, a person is able to solve many problems related to him personally or to his loved ones, both in terms of health, material well-being, business, and in general in terms of changing his destined destiny.

But we must admit that learning to enter a state of sleep and manage it is a potential ability of every person. And today it has also become a realistically feasible ability for every person. Consciousness modern people opened for the awareness of worlds beyond the limits of the material world and that’s all more people they try to enter there consciously. The plants of the jungle help everyone who turns to them, and shamanic experience and dreaming techniques certainly provide some guidance for the mind of the practitioner, although they cannot be a guide.

For example, Peruvian shamans - experienced travelers into the world of magical dreams - in their practice divide dreams into “simple” and “big”. Simple dreams are simply ordinary dreams that do not carry any information. But the big ones are special, prophetic dreams. Such dreams carry special predicted information and precisely in the form and form in which actions should take place in our dimension, but in the future. In such dreams, everything is predetermined; it is impossible to change fate. It is impossible to change, but you can deceive. And the shaman knows how to do this.

One day, a great shaman had a “big” dream, where his fellow tribesmen capsized in a boat in the middle of the Amazon. This dream was filled with fear, despair and death. Waking up in the morning, the shaman already knew what he should do. He gathered the fishermen and forced them to swim a few meters from the shore, deliberately turn the boat over and scream, feigning fear. Thus, the irreversible situation from the shaman’s dream has already “happened” and the tribesmen have been saved. The shaman gained knowledge of how to “deceive” fate in the same dream.

The art of shamans inspires great respect, but this respect is not for something special and exceptional, but for the courage that is necessary to once cross the boundaries of the familiar world, and for the steadfastness of their progress in their own.

Shamanic Dreams and Changes in Perception

In their magical practice and ritual rites, shamans very often use dreams in order to enter a completely different dimension and obtain important information. The shaman knows about the existence of other worlds with other types of energy that are hundreds of times stronger...

As we can see, if the soul of a deceased shaman plays significant role in the manifestation of the shamanic calling, then this role comes down to preparing the candidate for subsequent revelations. The souls of deceased shamans bring him together with spirits or take him to Heaven (Siberia, Altai, Australia, etc.). Finally, after this first ecstatic experience, training occurs with the old shamans. Among the Selk'nam, spontaneous calling manifests itself in the strange state of a young man who sings in his sleep, etc. But such a state can also be induced arbitrarily: we are talking only about seeing spirits. "Seeing spirits" in a dream or in reality is a decisive sign of a spontaneous or voluntary shamanic vocation, since maintaining relationships with the souls of the dead means, in a sense, being dead oneself. That is why in South America the shaman must die in order to gain the opportunity to meet the souls of shamans and receive lessons from them, since the dead know everything.

As we have already said, the selection or initiation of the shaman in South America sometimes preserves the perfect pattern of ritual death and resurrection. But death can also be instilled by other means: extreme fatigue, torture, fasting, beatings, etc. When a young Jivaro decides to become a shaman, he looks for a teacher, pays for training, and then leads an extremely ascetic lifestyle: he does not touch for days on end. not to any food, drinks narcotic drinks, especially tobacco juice (which, as is known, plays a fundamental role in the initiation of South American shamans). Finally, the spirit of Pasuk appears before the candidate in the form of a warrior. The master immediately begins to beat the neophyte until he falls to the ground unconscious. When he wakes up, his whole body hurts: this serves as proof that he has been possessed by a spirit; essentially, suffering, intoxication and beatings that cause loss of consciousness are in some way identified with ritual death.

It follows from this that the souls of the dead, regardless of their role in the appointment or initiation of future shamans, do not determine this appointment by their very presence (with or without manifestations of possession), but serve the candidate as a means of establishing contact with divine or semi-divine beings (through ecstatic travel to Heaven, to the underworld, etc.) or give the future shaman the ability to adapt to sacred realities that are accessible only to the dead. The methods of obtaining magical skills through supernatural revelation from Australian magicians were beautifully shown by Marcel Maus. Here, too, the role of the dead is often confused with the role of “pure spirits.” Moreover, even when the spirit of the deceased himself directly gives the revelation, it involves either a rite of death, after which the candidate is reborn (see the previous chapter), or ecstatic journeys into Heaven - a highly shamanic theme - where the ancestor spirit acts as a guide shower; this theme, by its very structure, excludes “obsession.” Thus, it seems that the fundamental role played by the deceased in obtaining shamanic abilities is not to “possess” a person, but to help him transform into a “deceased” - in a word, to help him also become a “spirit” "

The great importance of “seeing spirits” in all versions of shamanic initiation is explained by the fact that “seeing” a spirit in a dream or in reality is an indisputable sign of achieving a certain “spiritual state,” that is, a sign of overcoming the state of a mere mortal. This is why among the Mentaweans the "vision" (of spirits), whether achieved spontaneously or through voluntary effort, immediately endows the shaman with magical power, kerei. Andamanese magicians go into the jungle to achieve this vision; those who had only dreams acquire magical abilities more low level. The Dukuns from the Minangkabau tribe from Sumatra, in order to complete their training course, go to the mountain, where in solitude they learn to become invisible, and at night they manage to see the souls of the dead - this means that they become spirits, that they are the dead.

An Australian shaman from the Yaralde tribe (Lower Murray) delightfully describes the horrors of seeing spirits and the dead during initiation: “When you lie down and wait for these visions and when they come to you, it will be very scary, but don’t be afraid of anything. I find them difficult describe, although they are in my mind and in my mivi (psychic power); and I could transfer their experience to you if I had prepared you well in advance.

And so, in some visions appear evil spirits, in others - something similar to snakes, sometimes something resembling horses with human heads, and in some visions - the spirits of evil people, like an all-consuming fire. You will see how your home burns, how streams of blood flow; there will be a storm, lightning and rain, the earth will shake, the mountains will shake, the waters will boil, and those trees that will still stand will bend from the wind. But don't be scared. If you get up, you won’t see these pictures; but when you lie down again, you will see them, but only if you are not too afraid of them; otherwise the fabric (or thread) from which these pictures are hung will break. Perhaps you will see the dead walking towards you and hear the sound of their bones. If you see and hear all this without fear, you will never be afraid again. These dead ones will no longer appear because your mivi will become too strong. And you will become powerful because you have seen these dead." Indeed, healers can see the spirits of the dead near their coffins and easily catch them. Then these spirits become their assistants, and during shamanic treatment, healers send them over long distances to find the lost soul of the patient they are treating.

Among the same Mentaweans, “men and women can become visionaries if they are physically carried away by spirits. According to the story of Sitaqigagailau, as a young man he was carried away by celestial spirits into Heaven, where he received a miraculous body similar to their bodies. When he returned to earth, he became a visionary; heavenly spirits helped him heal... To become visionaries, young men and women must endure illness, dream and go through a period of madness. Illness and dreams are sent by the spirit of Heaven or the jungle. The sleeper imagines that he is ascending to Heaven or going into the forest in search of monkeys. ..." Then the visionary mentor begins to initiate the young man: they go together into the forest to collect magical plants; the mentor sings: "Spirits of the talisman, appear. Cleanse the eyes of this youth so that he can see the spirits." Returning home with his disciple, the visionary mentor calls upon the spirits: “May your eyes become clear, may your eyes become clear, may we see our fathers and mothers in the lower heavens.” After this invocation, "the master rubs potions into the disciple's eyes. For three days and nights the two men remain with each other, they sing and ring bells. They will not rest until the neophyte's eyes become clairvoyant. At the end of the third day they return to the forest to look for new herbs... If on the seventh day the young man sees the spirits of the trees, the ceremony is over. Otherwise, these seven days of the ceremony should be repeated."

The world of dreams interests all people. Why we see dreams, and some of them may foreshadow events real life? Shamans have their own answer to this question, which is fundamentally different from the generally accepted one. The Dream Book of Shamans is not a list of interpretations of certain dream images; it is based on a different approach to this issue. Let's consider the features of shamanic interpretation of dreams.

Shamans claim that in dreams the world of the living and the world of spirits are united. According to shamans, each creature can release its spirit and connect with the spirits of other creatures in the dream world. Since the world of dreams is different from the earthly world, different transformations can occur there. For example, a person may appear as a tree or an animal, and an animal may take the form of a person.

Therefore, the interpretation of shamanic dreams is never straightforward. They are sure that the image of an animal or plant symbolizes a person. But the image of a person or plant speaks of an animal.

Shamans also believe that the appearance of images in a dream always brings important information. However, this information is encrypted, so an ordinary person cannot interpret the dream - the help of a shaman is needed. Messages in dreams cannot be ignored, since the spirit world always warns about something important. If you correctly decipher symbolic messages, you can live to a ripe old age and not get sick.

How to learn to understand dreams

Shamans always use dreams to lift the veil of secret knowledge. How ordinary person Can you learn similar techniques? To do this, it is necessary, first of all, to change thinking - to make it flexible and pliable.

First you need to go to a bookstore that sells esoteric books. Choose a book about shamans and their journeys. You can visit this store in your dreams and in reality. In the book you will find detailed description worldview of shamans, you will be able to touch a different perception of the world.

Spirits of nature and things

Next, you need to realize that the entire universe is a living organism. No inanimate objects, no matter how lifeless they may seem. Plants, stones, all objects and water have soul and consciousness. You need to learn to feel it - then you can open the door to the world of shamanic dreams.

However, just knowing is not enough. You should feel the spirit of the surrounding objects and nature. Start saying hello to your things, sending a ray of love to the sun and wind, and mentally talking to animals. This does not have to be done in the presence of strangers, because not everyone can understand and accept your changed worldview.

Symbols and signs

Next, you must realize that there are no accidents. For example, identical thoughts are not an accident - they are a manifestation of a different pattern. If you met a person in real life, and then he came to you in a dream, this has a special meaning. You need to start a dialogue with him in your dream.

Be able to notice and distinguish between symbols and signs - this is the right way to shamanic dreams.

Further, symbols in dreams can be both archetypal and personal. For example, religious symbolism refers to archetype symbols, and the caw of a crow refers to your personal symbolic meanings. Both smell and musical melody. This is something that only you and no one else understands.

The Twilight Zone

This is not a darkened consciousness, but the border between sleep and wakefulness. The twilight zone state can be caught immediately after waking up. This time needs to be spent usefully, for example, planning a successful day. The twilight zone can also be used before going to bed, when consciousness begins to “blur.”

Before going to bed, imagine that you are climbing a staircase leading to heaven. This way you can get to the upper world during sleep. But don't just climb the stairs, but with a clearly posed question. For example, you want to know about your future or the past of your ancestors. Go up the steps and think about your question. You can go down the stairs in the same way if you want to get to the lower world.

Three dream worlds

So, shamans distinguish 3 worlds of dreams and 3 levels of perception:

1. upper;
2. average;
3. lower.

The first level is always associated with spiritual manifestations or knowledge. Usually a person contemplates the heavens, the planets, or a source of spiritual light.

The second level is ordinary everyday dreams. This is due to a person's daily experiences, which are processed by the brain. These dreams are devoid of information content and do not mean anything.

The third level is the level of shamanic journeys to the lower world. It is associated with ancient knowledge. In these dreams you will see nature and animals. At this level, you can gain knowledge and find a spiritual patron from the animal world.

What to do if you feel yourself in a dream at a certain level? If you find yourself on the middle level, try to find the door - this will be the exit to the lower or upper level. You will simply go there through the portal.

If you are at the top level, look for answers to questions about the meaning of life or connections with your ancestors. If you find yourself on the lower level, look for a patron from the animal world.

Now you need to learn to wake up in your sleep. This does not mean opening your eyes and staying awake - it means being conscious while dreaming. You must continue to sleep, but at the same time you must be aware that you are dreaming. There is no need to wake up in reality!

Ways to develop awareness in dreams:

• Throughout the day, constantly ask yourself whether you are sleeping or awake - this skill will transfer to sleep.
• If you ask yourself this in a dream, it means you have achieved lucidity in the dream.

How to understand that you woke up in a dream and not confuse the dream with reality? There are several characteristic signs:

• watches and other devices in dreams are always faulty;
• the shape of the body in dreams looks different than in reality.

As soon as you notice these features, immediately ask yourself: is this a dream or reality?

To quickly get into a lucid dream, use binary rhythms - record them on your player and fall asleep with headphones on.

Decoding symbols

How to correctly interpret what you see in a lucid dream? Only with the help of sensations. You need to remember what feelings you experienced during a given dream episode. There should be a notebook on the bedside table, in which you should immediately write down the scenes you see and the feelings associated with them. Subsequently, you will learn to decipher symbols directly in your sleep.

Everyone has heard that shamans can use hallucinogens in their practices. However, this cannot be used by an uninitiated person. First of all, you don't know how to take substances correctly. Secondly, it can harm you. Therefore, do not experiment with unfamiliar ingredients.

Tell your fortune for today using the “Card of the Day” Tarot layout!

For correct fortune telling: focus on the subconscious and don’t think about anything for at least 1-2 minutes.

When you are ready, draw a card: