Content warning:
I had taken this post down a while ago but decided to put it back and add this foreword. I feel like leaving posts like this up could be important in helping others distinguish messages from God from things that distract from TRUTH and LIGHT. Some visions may appear as being from the light at times, but ultimately, they yield nothing and will leave you hollow. At worst, they can leave you vulnerable to demonic attacks and possession. Perhaps posting this will also help some others who are stuck in non-truth to find their way to the truth and know that they still can be redeemed.
I studied a bit of Shamanism and dabbled in it, but never really got ALL THE WAY into any particular practice and never labeled myself as anything. I later found that some of the symbolism that appeared in this vision and others were common, especially with regard to journeying to other realms to meet a power animal. Other people have also reported seeing stone staircases and bridges, for example. I didn't know this prior to trying the journey in a trance state.
It's been a long time since I've attempted a shamanic journey or even meditated, but tonight I had a pretty intense journey through the three shamanic worlds.
The following is an experience I had while doing a shamanic journey to the Lower Realm to meet a Power Animal. The spirit medicine given to me by the Phoenix was intended to remind me of the gift of birth, death, and rebirth to help me to cope with my ultimate fear—death. The phoenix teaches us that there is no end, only new beginnings. All that lives will die, and all that dies will live again. The phoenix reminds us of our ability to transform. Sometimes we must “die” to give birth to a whole new self.
I took no drugs or hallucinogens for this journey.
I sat down alone with a candle and incense. For the first
hour, I practiced relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, self-massage
and "feather light touch". I activated my energy centers and then
began my meditation session.
Once I allowed my awareness to transcend into a shamanic state of
consciousness, or non-ordinary reality, I was greeted at a large tree in the center
of worlds by my Native American spirit guide (a familiar old friend). By his
side was a large wolf named Sabaya. We rode on Sabaya through this realm,
evading dark energies and spirits that were reaching out to grab me. Sabaya
breezed past them and took us up a stone staircase, where I went alone to the Upper
World to retrieve two things to help me on my journey: a spear and a Phoenix.
Sabaya took us back to the big World Tree, which connects the
three worlds, and started digging in the dirt near its roots, uncovering a
small hole no bigger than the size of a tennis ball, but you could see another
world through the hole. I thought my guide and Sabaya were coming with me,
but the Native American man laughed and said, "No this is your journey,
not mine. You will find what you need. It is a personal quest."
The phoenix refused to perch upon my arm and preferred to be free
in the sky to watch over me until he was needed. I slipped down the small
hole and found myself in the lower world. I scanned around and tried to
decide which way I was supposed to go. I could see a small wooden bridge
and a cottage on the other side. Before I crossed the bridge, I noticed
that my spear had a small sack attached near the spear end, tied with a string
of suede. I opened it and there were 3 runes inside. (One was an
"X" the other looked like “77” and the third was a line with a dot
underneath and two more lines under that.)
I put the runes back into the sack for when I might need them. I
was glad to know they were there. I knocked on the door of the cottage and
a thin blonde man with dark beady eyes answered the door. He let me in and I entered
into a kitchen. He told me to sit down at a little wooden table. I was
cautious. His energy felt prickly and unstable. I looked past him to see
out the window and he lunged at me with a screeching animal howl. My phoenix
screeched back at him and I exposed my spear. He retreated. He was still not to be trusted. He blew
a ball of black smoke and handed it to me. I was still very cautious and
didn't trust this black ball he gave me so I told him I didn't want to accept
anything from him. Just when I thought I was being smart, I realized,
"Wait. I have the power to transmute this. To transmute this whole
situation."
I asked him to give me the ball back. I could feel it full of hate
and anger and hurt. I sent the ball love from my heart center and blew a
cool air on it from my lips. It was his very pain that I was transmuting. The
black ball turned into a pink ball and I gave it back to him. He took it
into himself and said "Thank you" with love. He was no longer
threatening. He was as harmless as a pure white rabbit. I saw him as a
rabbit and he went out of the window that I was trying to look through before.
Now I could see a world of color and moving energy. I was entranced by
what I saw out the window, but then I realized I was getting distracted and
headed out of the cottage door.
I crossed the bridge back to the other side and was drawn to a
tall tree in the distance. There was something at the top of it that I needed. I
began to climb, but I realized it was covered with some kind of slimy, slippery
mud. I first thought I should use my spear to help me climb up. I quickly
found that disrespecting the tree by stabbing it repeatedly to elevate myself
was not the correct method. I felt stumped. My phoenix couldn't carry me. Then
I realized I had the power to control this situation, too. I used a
technique in Hawaiian Shamanism called "Grokking". I let 1% of
my consciousness stay in my body and 99% went into the clouds to collect rain. I
was actually in one state of consciousness (the quest) while moving into
another state of consciousness INSIDE the quest. This felt pretty
advanced, but I persisted. I was able to collect enough rain and it poured
down upon myself and the tree. I could even see my little self in the tree
from the perspective of the clouds. I then returned to being present in the
tree and felt the cool rain drops falling on my skin and washing the slimy goo
from the branches. I was then able to ascend to the top of the tree, where
I found a bright orange ball of fire.
What the *#@& was I supposed to do with this now?
I sat there with it and thought if I should take it with me or use
it for something. Then something told me I had to put it in my belly. Some
voice, possibly my higher self or guide, told me, "You have lost the fire
in your belly. Put this inside you and you will have a fire in your belly
again."
I placed the orange ball of fire in my belly and I felt empowered. Like
I had found part of myself that I had lost. There was one last task though
before I could return back up the hole leading to the center of worlds. I
scanned the horizon of the lower world from the tree top and I saw this dark
area... Ominous and creepy. I HAD to go there.
I descended from the tree and my phoenix followed me through a
desert to the edge of a cliff. Looking off the edge of the cliff, a giant black
wave rose higher and higher, until it looked like the wave of a tsunami on a
dark night that rose infinitely into the sky. I stood there and stared right
into it. It was an abyss. I stared into the abyss with no fear. This
was death. I knew it. I could feel it. I had always feared
death. I stared into the abyss, and then I jumped into it. At first I
thought it would consume me. That I couldn't breathe. That it would take
me under and trap me. But inside this water-like abyss, I was floating. It
actually turned into a liquid-like cosmos, where I was weightless. I felt
freedom and I felt eternal.
Death was nothing more than dancing suspended in outer space and
making music by touching the stars.
Every time I tapped on a star with my hand or foot, it would create
a musical note. It was epic. I then realized this wasn't all. I had
to find a way out again eventually and not get distracted. Damn... I kept
getting distracted.
I looked down and saw a crack with light coming from it. I went
down to it and poked my head through the crack. My phoenix was still in the
lower world waiting from the other side of the "wave". I was
looking into yet another dimension at this point. It was desert-like with
rocks and boulders, but everything was upside down. The rock formations were up
on the "ceiling" from which I was looking down. I fell into the
gap and landed in sand. I didn't know what to do at first, so I ate the
runes. (Yes.) I realized my phoenix couldn't save me. I then realized
the only way to save myself was to "die", and resurrect myself from
ash, as the phoenix.
So, I let myself die. I stopped breathing. My heart stopped. My
body decayed. My skin wore away and then I was just bones. My bones
eventually turned to dust. I used that technique from Hawaiian Shamanism again
and "grokked" the phoenix. I felt myself rising from my own ashes. I
rose above them and spread two large wings that seemed tremendous. My beak
opened and I let out a loud screech. I soared up through the gap and popped out
the other side of the black wave. I flew back to the hole leading to the tree
at the center of worlds, knowing my work was done for this quest.
My guide was waiting for me with Sabaya and he gave me an
approving smile. I was back in my normal form again and he took me by the
shoulders, drawing me close to put his third eye against my third eye. We
stayed for a few moments and then I looked in his eyes. They were so familiar. He smiled again because there was something unspoken that
he knew that I knew.
I then
awoke from my deep meditation back to my normal state of consciousness and
thanked my guides for giving me tools and guidance which will help me in my
life. I will implement the lessons I learned and I can use the insights I
gained from this quest. I will create—I will find that fire that I placed
in my belly. There is always a way—and there is always a better way. Love
can transmute. We are eternal and death is nothing more than dancing
suspended in outer space, making music by touching the stars.
~Nicole Tancredi
6/22/17
**I just found out there is a name for that little sack that held the runes. It's a spirit bag/medicine bag/witch bag. Celtic traditions called it a "crane bag".
A few days later, I saw this on Facebook, and I landed right on the Phoenix! (Read description below)
**Notice the 77% battery life on my phone?? Like the runic symbol! (Synchronicities everywhere.)
The meanings of the runic symbols:
7 7 - Two "Laguz" symbols.
Original position - Water, life, imagination, energy, dreams)
Reversed - Confusion, despair, perversity, suicide, madness
X - Gebo -
Original position - Gifts, personal relationships
Reversed - Greed, loneliness, obligation
I*II - ??? (Looked at the Iching, but it's not that either.)
