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praxis

Shamanic Journey

The living practitioner's deliberate trance-journey into spirit, underworld, or upper realms — Lemminkainen's descent into Tuoni and Wainamoinen's entry into Wipunen's body in the Kalevala, the Siberian shaman's drum-mediated travel, Inuit angakkuq's submarine journey to Sedna, classical katabasis as ritual technique. The practitioner returns with knowledge, songs, lost-words, or a recovered soul. Distinct from psychopomp_journey (which guides the *dead* soul through afterlife realms) and from spiritual_ascent (which is the soul's *upward* return to source); shamanic_journey is the *living* practitioner crossing into ordinarily-inaccessible domains as a worked technique.

29 passages · 3 traditions
western_esoteric: 19 passageswestern_esoteric19mesopotamian: 8 passagesmesopotamian8finnic: 2 passagesfinnic2
western_esoteric19
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismu
“Briefly stated, the sacred drama which formed the basis of the Odinic Mysteries was as follows: The Supreme, invisible Creator of all things was called All-Father. His regent in Nature was Odin, the one-eyed god. Like Quetzalcoatl, Odin w…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies Which Have Influenced Modern Masonic Symbolismv
“The Odinic Mysteries were given in underground crypts or caves, the chambers, nine in number, representing the Nine Worlds of the Mysteries. The candidate seeking admission was assigned the task of raising Balder from the dead. Although h…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Atlantis and the Gods of Antiquityk
“The Argonautic expedition, listening to the advice of Orpheus, stopped at the island of Samothrace for the purpose of having its members initiated into the Cabiric rites. Herodotus relates that when Cambyses entered the temple of the Cabir…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | Hermetic Pharmacology, Chemistry, and Therapeuticsh
“DILIGENCE, I at last obtained my desire; and, being warned by MR. HONESTY, a stranger in our days, to publish it to the world, I have done it." (From the Introduction to the 1835 Edition of The Complete Herbal.) Doctor Johnson said of Culp…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Cross and the Crucifixionf
“The four major divisions of the human structure--bones, muscles, nerves, and arteries--are considered to have contributed to the symbolism of the cross. This is especially due to the fact that the spinal nerves cross at the base of the spi…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | American Indian Symbolisma
“THE North American Indian is by nature a symbolist, a mystic, and a philosopher. Like most: aboriginal peoples, his soul was en rapport with the cosmic agencies manifesting about him. Not only did his Manidos control creation from their e…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | American Indian Symbolisme
“Guthrie interprets the words Popol Vuh to mean "The Senate Book," or "The Book of the Holy Assembly"; Brasseur de Bourbourg calls it "The Sacred Book"; and Father Ximinez designates the volume "The National Book." In his articles on the Pop…”
◆The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | American Indian Symbolismf
“Now my head will cease to speak, for it is only the head of a corpse, which has no more flesh." Following the admonitions of Hunhun-ahpu, the young girl returned to her home. Her father, Cuchumaquiq, later discovering that she was about to…”
Show all 19 →
mesopotamian8
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet IX — Gilgamish in Terror of Death Seeks Eternal Life | Tablet IX, Section 1
“THE NINTH TABLET. GILGAMISH IN TERROR OF DEATH SEEKS ETERNAL LIFE. . Gilgamish bitterly wept for his comrade, (for) Enkidu, ranging Over the desert: "I, too—shall I not die like Enkidu also? 5. Sorrow hath enter’d my heart; I fear death as…”
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet X — How Gilgamish Reached Uta-Napishtim | Tablet X, Section 1a
“THE TENTH TABLET. HOW GILGAMISH REACHED UTA-NAPISHTIM. . Dwelt Siduri, the maker of wine . . . . Wine(?) was her trade, her trade was . . . . . . . . . Cover’d she was with a veil and . . . . . . . . . 5. Gilgamish…”
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet X — How Gilgamish Reached Uta-Napishtim | Tablet X, Section 1b
“(then) did I fear . . . . . Death did I dread, that I range o’er the desert]: the hap of my comrade [Lay on me heavy(?)—O ’tis a long road that I range o’er] the desert! Enkidu, (yea), [of my comrade the hap lay heavy (?) upon me]— 10…”
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet X — How Gilgamish Reached Uta-Napishtim | Tablet X, Section 1c
“Gilgamish, if perchance thou succeed in traversing the Ocean, What wilt thou do, when unto the Waters of Death thou arrivest? Gilgamish, there is Ur-Shanabi, boatman to Uta-Napishtim, He with whom sails (?) are, the urnu of which in the fo…”
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet X — How Gilgamish Reached Uta-Napishtim | Tablet X, Section 1d
“(Thus) did Ur-Shanabi [answer] him, [(yea), unto Gilgamish, (saying)]: "Gilgamish, take the . . . . away . . . . . . . . . . . Let not the Waters of Death touch thy hand . . . . . . Gilgamish, take thou a second, a thir…”
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet XI — The Flood | Tablet XI, Section 1e
“" (So straightway) she (did so), his flour Baked she (and) set at his head, but the time he was sleeping she noted 215. On the house-wall. (So), first was collected his flour, (then) secondly sifted, Thirdly , ’twas moisten’d, and fourthl…”
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet XI — The Flood | Tablet XI, Section 1f
“(So) into their vessel embarkéd Gilgamish, (aye), and Ur-Shanabi, launching (their) craft [on the billow], They themselves riding aboard (her). . To Uta-Napishtim, the Distant , Spake (then) his wife: "Came Gilgamish (hither) aweary with…”
◆Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet XII — Gilgamish Enquires of the Dead | Tablet XII, Section 1a
“THE TWELFTH TABLET. GILGAMISH, IN DESPAIR, ENQUIRES OF THE DEAD. . (Then), what time that the seine had pass’d through the Architect 's dwelling, (Aye, and) the net [had taken its toll] . . . . [said he]: "Lord, what [is’t I may do]…”
finnic2
◆The Kalevala | Rune XIIIb
“In this rising generation, That can travel in these snow-shoes, That the right and left can manage." To his back he tied the quiver, Placed the bow upon his shoulder, With both hands he grasped his snow-cane, Speaking meanwhile words as fol…”
◆The Kalevala | Rune XVIIb
“Wise Wipunen, full of song-charms, Opens wide his mouth and swallows Wainamoinen and his magic, Shoes, and staff, and iron armor. Then outspeaks the wise Wipunen: "Many things before I've eaten, Dined on goat, and sheep, and reindeer, Bear…”