The Shamanic Journey and Poetry

A nice "side-effect" of undertaking a shamanic journey on a regular basis is inspiration.  Within a shamanic journey, we venture into areas that appear to be foreign to us, but in many ways are reflections of aspects of ourselves. As we become better acquainted with those hidden aspects, we get the chance to be inspired by them.  I don't know many shamans who do not have some other creative talent. One lends itself to the other. Dancing, singing, art and poetry are all used in rituals and even as ways to go into a trance before undertaking a shamanic journey.  After journeying regularly for a few years, I began expressing my experiences afterwards in the form of poems. This allowed me to share something that was deeply personal with others without revealing so much I felt exposed. It also helped me to make sense of experiences I didn't always fully understand.  As these shamanic journeys changed my perception of all aspects of my life, my poetry was able to show me how and why those perspectives were changing.  Below are a few poems of journeys I have had in the past. They have been published in my chapbook, Back to the Garden: Prayers and Love Letters of Persephone‍

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER

I never knew my father

Until I gathered up his bones

Strewn across the banks of the Nile

I felt I owed him this

For loving my mother

For never denying me

I reassembled his carcass

To acknowledge his role in my creation

To acknowledge my power within him

My power was gained from that actIt took his death to bring me to life

Brother, I do not want my story

To be retold in your wordsWith memories of my father

Replaced with memories of yours

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THE MORNINGSTAR HAS COME AND GONE

Fifteen years have passed

You are still the most beautiful of angels

I have grown to be a woman

You are still the most terrifying of demons

I have survived Hell

I still smell your endless tears

I have saved my soul

I still recall you pining for yours

My nightmares have passed on

Yet that moment with you lives forever

I believe in Divinity

For I felt Its absence where you wait

Where you wait and shiver

Where you wait and cry

Where you pray eternally for an old Love

To bring a dawn that never comes