Ceremony

Ceremonies and rituals play an important role in the shaman tradition.
The difference between a ritual and a ceremony is not very large. One could say that a ritual follows strictly defined acts with a specific aim, while with a ceremony this is less the case. Conveniently, we will always use the word ceremony here.
With a ceremony a connection is brought about between the person himself and an important event for this person. For everybody involved in such a ceremony, so also the people attending, there arises a connection at a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual level.
The joint participation in the ceremony gives a feeling of connection and trust. You could call the essence of a ceremony: giving a meaning to, giving a meaning to life and everything happening in that. In doing so, you honour your own life and all life existing.

Below, you will find descriptions of some ceremonies a present-day shaman uses for healing.

Medicine wheel
For a Shaman, the word medicine has a much deeper meaning than just a remedy. For a Shaman, it means life energy and knowledge of everything manifesting in our world. A medicine wheel is an expression of that. It is a circle of knowledge enveloping the whole and the completeness of life. In the most original form, the medicine wheel is a circle with a cross in it, also called the Celtic cross. The points of the cross are the entrances to the paths leading to the center, which is the point of complete balance and complete wholeness. The encircled cross enables the life energy to flow into three directions, from the centre outwards, circling around the space, and inwards again. Being in the center means; being in harmony and in balance with everything. This symbol occurs everywhere on earth.

The medicine wheel as it is described here symbolizes the circular course of life and creation. The 36 stones each have their own tales and their own spot and meaning in the wheel. The following description of the medicine wheel comes from Sun Bear of the Chippewa people in North America. He had a vision of this wheel and passed it on to many others through his books The Medicine Wheel - Earth Astrology and Dancing with the Wheel.
The laying of a medicine wheel is done in a ritual way. In the middle lies the creation stone surrounded by a little circle of seven stones, representing the sun, the moon, the earth, and the four elements (earth, water, air and fire). In the outer circle lie the stones representing the specific forces of nature of the four directions of the wind, and the twelve stones for each sign of the zodiac. Three stones on the four directions of the wind connect the outer with the inner circle. These connections are called the spiritual paths and form a cross. Each of the twelve stones on the spiritual paths represent a quality of life, like clarity, wisdom, insight, trust, growth, love, life experience, introspection, power, purity, renovation, purification. The laying of a medicine wheel in nature has a double effect. The wheel does not only heal the people present, but also the place and environment of where the wheel is laid.

Soul retrieval
Literally, a soul retrieval is restoring the wholeness of the soul. Someone can loose a part of the soul due to all sorts of causes, like: the loss of a loved one, a shocking experience like a car crash, threat of death, or near death experience, a way of life not conforming the task of life, events still coming from a previous life. A Shaman may travel for somebody to retrieve the cut off part of the soul. The Shaman needs helpers who are drumming and guarding the space in which is being worked. The Shaman can also count on the assistance of personal power animals and help spirits on his or her journey. They lead the Shaman to the place where the Shaman ought to be. As soon as he or she returns from the journey, he or she “blows” the soul’s energy back into the person. The spot for this is the crown or the chest bone. For the person, there starts a process of integrating the recaptured part. But, not only does part of the soul return but also the old hurts and emotions that were the reason for the loss. Therefore, it is important for the client that there are people who are able to assist him or her. This can be a therapist or the shaman himself. In any case, one should be ready for it and have changed one’s life in such a way that one does not fall back into old patterns.

Labyrinth
A labyrinth takes you via the paths to the core, your core, or the core of the question with which you enter the labyrinth. A labyrinth leads you automatically to the middle and back again. Walking the labyrinth is a form of meditation that offers you the opportunity to listen to yourself. Just like the medicine wheel, the labyrinth can be found everywhere on earth, on coins as well as in beautifully laid out gardens, in old ruins of temples and royal palaces. The most important labyrinth is the one of Knossos at the isle of Crete. A labyrinth is not the same as a maze where you have to choose your direction all the time in order to get out. All sorts of labyrinths have been found, carved in tombs, laid in the ground by means of stones or put onto all sorts of objects as decoration. The Hopi tribe in Arizona has labyrinths stemming from the twelfth century. For the Hopi a labyrinth is a symbol for apparition, birth and creation. The labyrinth was also seen as a map which the soul could use to find the way to the lower world after death.

Sweat lodge
The benefit of sweating has been known for centuries. From Ireland to Mexico buildings have been found meant to undergo a sweat cure in them. Sweating has a purifying effect on body, mind and soul. Joint sweating is not only useful for relaxing and cleaning the body; it is a benefit to the mind as well.

The sweat lodge discussed here is inspired by the one of the Lakota tribe from North America. The sweat lodge is a dome-shaped hut, built from willow twigs and covered with blankets and a sail, so that no daylight can enter. In the middle of the hut there is a shallow pit, in which hot stones are put. Building the fire in which the stones are being heated and placing the stones on the woodpile, all of it is done with respect for the forces of nature (fire, air, water, earth and the four directions of the wind) that are invited to be present at the ceremony. Stone by stone is placed on the woodpile, each stone provided with a spoken intention by the participants. The ceremony in the sweat lodge consists of four rounds (the four directions of the wind) in which one meditates and prays. The order of things used here comes from Sean Casey and Frans Scheerder, both been trained as sweat lodge leaders by traditional teachers. The training for sweat leaders which they used to give together in the Netherlands and in Belgium until recently, has been adapted by them to the European situation and tradition. In the first round, the spiritual forces are being invited. The sweat lodge leader starts with this and makes a chant (song), in which everyone in the lodge joins. After that, the forces of nature, power animals and help guides are being invited. At the same time, the stones are poured over with water, causing the warmth to increase gradually. In the second round, one prays for healing and strength and attention is asked for family and friends and later for each participant himself. One can dwell on one’s own growing process and the different stages in life. In the third round, political and spiritual leaders in this world are considered and prayed for, as well as nature, the animals, the plants, minerals, and the environment. The fourth round is the round of thanking for all the good someone received in his or her life, and one prays for those who came before us, our ancestors, and the ones still to come, the unborn.

Sweat lodges can also be done at transition rituals like birth, marriage, loss, the first menstruation or the initiation into becoming a man, to celebrate a new beginning or to end a period.

Moon lodge
Many women (and men) have lost contact with their female energy, as in our culture contact with the mother Goddess has almost disappeared. Roelien de Lange has introduced in the Netherlands an age-old, on shamanistic tradition based, ceremony for women. This is the moon lodge ceremony. It is a meeting of women of all ages who exchange, in a warm and safe atmosphere, specific women things and learn from one another. In the traditional moon lodge, women came together in their menstruation period to rest a few days and were taught by older women. The present-day moon lodge aims at intimately sharing and honouring the mystery of being a woman.

In shamanistic cultures, the first menstruation, pregnancy and menopause are milestones in the life of a woman. These milestones they undergo as an initiation, and the woman is being honoured and respected in here processes of change. The menopause, for instance, is celebrated as a woman’s transition to the period in which she does not give birth to children anymore and can uses her energy for creativity, wisdom and advice.
In the moon lodge, young women learn from the experience and wisdom of older women. The moon lodge gets her name from the menstruation period, which has a cycle of 28 days like the moon cycle. The moon lodge ceremony is divided in four parts and inspired on the four directions of the wind as well.

Trance journeys
A trance journey is done on the beat of the drum or the sound of a rattle, causing a light trance. This travelling may take place on different levels. Usually, the shaman distinguishes three levels: the lower world, the middle world and the upper world. The division in three areas comes from Siberia. The upper world may further consist of seven, nine and even fourteen higher regions. Someone who makes a trance journey for the first time is asked to go to the underworld. This always happens through a gateway consisting of the roots of a tree, a well, a cave or a gap in the earth. This entrance is a personal one and different for everybody. Through this entrance one travels from the physical world to the spiritual world.
The lower world is not a dark place where all sorts of creatures are crawling around between the roots and the earth. After the entrance has been found, it will lead the traveler to a landscape that can be beautiful, fairy-like, dark, mountainous, or rich of water. The landscape someone will meet there is closely related to the traveler himself. In this spiritual world, it is possible to meet a power animal that can offer you protection and help. Such a power animal represents all the specific qualities of the species. Also, it is possible to meet your guide or guides in these worlds and you can ask them for help or advice there. You make a trance journey to ask healing for yourself but also for others.

Vision quest
A vision quest (in search of your vision) is a deep experience on all levels. Nowadays, one spends four days and four nights in total seclusion in nature, without any form of conveniences and distractions. You are being left alone with yourself, nature and your ancestors. More and more people discover that there is a living connection between the human being and his environment. The silence, contact with the forces of nature, the physical task, they bring you in a meditative state, by which the living connection becomes perceptible and sometimes even visible in the form of a vision.
Before one goes into nature on his own, one is prepared physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually during the days preceding the quest. One remains on the spot for four days without any form of comfort and distraction in the form of books, mobile phones, computer games, watch and without any food. The spots where one comes are selected in advance and have a name. The spirits decide which spot will be yours. Everything you meet on this spot is a sign about you and for you. You are asked to keep a record of what you have seen or experienced. Animals, sounds, plants, stones, water, the weather, the clouds, the sun the moon, and stars; everything plays a part. After the quest, you return on your own or you are collected by the staff, and your images and visions are being interpreted.

Family constellation
A family constellation is not a specific shamanistic technique. However, this method, developed by Bert Hellinger, is closely related to shamanism and especially to ancestors. Frans Scheerder has developed the “ancestral family constellation”, which is more specifically shamanistic and includes more the whole (of family and ancestors) than the systemic work of Bert Hellinger, in which during the constellation only one family aspect is lifted out. In Frans Scheerder’s method, the whole family line is made visible. And, everything that has been left out is included again and recognized.

A family constellation works as follows: a person with a question first chooses from a random group of people (that have gathered for the purpose) a representative for him or her self. Then, this person also chooses representatives for the family members that are important to him or her. These family members, who are no real family members but strangers, are assigned a place in the room. This all happens intuitively. The person is asked not to think about it but to follow his or her impulse. After that, the therapist asks the family members questions about the place they have in the family constellation, how he or she is feeling about this place etc. Also, the representatives get the opportunity to change places if they don’t feel comfortable. By asking direct questions and the changing of place’s there may take place a change in the person and within the family constellation that already may be healing. The amazing thing is that a complete stranger takes the place of, for example, a mother and says exactly those things which the real mother would have said. Hellinger calls this phenomenon “the knowing field” that comes about the moment a group of people comes together with the intention to restore the order in that family. The person undergoing this constellation will emerge as a different person. Moreover, it may have its influence on the real family. Sometimes, there is openness afterwards about problems that have been ignored for years or even generations. Also, deceased grandfathers and grandmothers are represented. Even miscarriages, which have hardly been talked about before, get back their place in the family hierarchy. In doing so, order between the living and the dead is being restored as well.

Medicine walk
The old form of a medicine walk is the pilgrimage. They are still being done as a penance for healing, and for visiting holy places. A medicine walk can have many purposes. It brings you into contact with nature and therefore closer to yourself. Someone who goes into nature with a question will get the answers from nature. Animals, trees, bushes, wild flowers, objects, everything you come across on your way, is willing to answer your questions, if you are open for it. A medicine walk is from sunrise to sunset, or the other way around. During the days preceding the walk, preparations are made in the sense of abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and much food. On the day of the walk, only water is taken along or, if someone cannot do without, a light meal. A medicine walk brings you closer to yourself and you profit from the healing power of nature around you.

Smudging
In almost all ceremonies, smoke is being used for cleaning the auras of the participants and the room where working takes place. The smoke comes from the leaves of herbs that are burnt in a big shell. The smoke is fanned around the person with feathers, by which the person is being ‘wiped clean’. The same applies for the room. Here too, the room is wiped clean and the negative energy that might be there is neutralized. This cleaning by smoke is called ‘smudging’. By the way, smudging is not only done for cleaning but also as a thank offering for everything that exists. Shamans use different herbs like cedar, sweet grass, sage, and tobacco. Sage is being used most often. This plant has a long tradition as healing herb. It is good for the bronchial tubes and is comforting for fatigue. Sage is also used in the sweat lodge. An extract of the sage plant is added to the water that is poured over the hot stones. Smudging is used to prepare participants for a ceremony and for being there in concentration.

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