A Shaman’s Sacred Tools
I have stopped trying to explain to people how difficult it is to balance a creative life and a successful career. I realize that most people who are not ‘creative’ will not understand. So I find it especially rewarding when other creative people perfectly express the frustration of trying to be successful in both worlds.
[It's] going down into dark or mysterious or uncharted places in my memories and my consciousness. Then, having to wake up again to life, to claw my way back into ordered, reasonable, rational, everyday, responsible life. – James W. Hall
I didn’t really know what Jill Jepson was going to discuss in the chapter on The Shaman’s Way, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was the journey into the darkness of creativity and the importance of sacred tools.
The first part of this section focuses on the sacred tools and rituals of writers. One of the sacred tools is a writing space. Mine is the “red room.” This is my creative sanctuary, lined with books, french memo boards and art on the walls. My desk is a mess right now with art supplies and papers mingled together. An easel and blank canvases tempt me from the corner. This is my space to moodle, paint, think, create, write. I spend hours here every day. I just bought a big plush chair (on sale) to treat myself(because my butt hurt from sitting in the cheap one for so many hours). I also write in my exercise room every morning. That room is surrounded by my photography and my vision board. It’s a deep mustard colored room in the basement without windows. It’s like waking up and going into a sacred cavern each morning.
The most important thing about a safe haven is that it must feel protected. The minute you enter that room or sit down on that lawn chair in the backyard, you must know that you are out of danger. It isn’t relaxation, joy, or laughter we are trying to evoke here – although they may come – but a sense of safety. To make the place a shelter from the storm, put objects there that make you feel secure.
In my red room, I am surrounded by books, mostly the ones I studied as an undergrad majoring in English or taught as an English teacher for 14 years. I have a complete set of encyclopedias stacked across the top shelf just because they are beautiful. These books make me feel secure, all that history, all the risk it took to write and publish new ideas. All the daily struggles of writing something that might turn out to be crap, but didn’t. Here it is sitting on my shelf in a different century. I find that inspiring. I also have my wedding gown hanging on the closet door, and sometimes the last gown I wore to a formal event. Beautiful gowns are a work of art and I love looking at them. They remind me of the wonderful life I am living, which allows me to take risks and be vulnerable in my creative pursuits of writing, art or photography.
I have several sacred tools I use for writing. I love my Levenger fountain pen and Ecosystem journal. If I type, my favorite program is Omm Writer on my computer or iPad, because I love the music choices and the background picture with snow gently falling behind my words. I still use other programs, though. I’ve typed this entry directly into WordPress on my computer while listening to Ambiance from my iPad, playing “Central Tranquility.” It’s replaying the same notes with a pulsing beat in the background, which sounds incredible with headphones. I’m drumming my way into the “trance state” or “altered state” that Jepson describes.
Drumming is an excellent avenue into the dreamlike state of the shamanic journey – and it is one that seems to work especially well for writers who are stuck or struggling with dry spells. The sound of the drum echos the rhythm of our heartbeats and brings us to a primal place.
I have always been amazed and excited after a successful writing session, walking into it usually with no more than a vague topic, and leaving with something that surprises and delights me.
When the portal into the mythic realm opens, you will find yourself in touch with a level of awareness most people don’t even know exists. You will break through the straitjacket of logical thought to the world of imagination, where artistic expression becomes a manifestation of your deepest spirituality.
That level of awareness is so intoxicating and deeply spiritual that, having reached it, I can no longer remain stuck in the “straightjacket of logical thought” for long. That is why I continue in the way of the shaman.
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You may find “Shamans and Healers” – the book I wrote about my experiences in Peru very interesting.