This Saturday, the Houston Shamanism Meetup group will hold a ceremony of smudging, prayer, drumming and shamanic journeying at the Carmel Temple Annex at 1209 Pennsylvania, South Houston, TX 77587 (1 block north of College Ave., a few blocks east of I-45). For map and directions, see http://www.meetup.com/HoustonShamanism
Adults and older teens who are interested in animism/shamanism and can give full attention and participation for 3 hours are welcome to attend to learn or practice shamanic journeying. The group requests a donation of $7 to the venue.
Houston meets on the second Saturday of each month from 6 pm till about 9:30 pm. Doors are locked at 6:30 pm, and no one is admitted until the ceremony is over, usually about 9:30 pm.
There is a brief orientation before the ceremony starts, then all cell phones are turned off and the ceremony begins. The group sits on the floor in a circle for most of the evening, so attendees need to dress casually and be prepared to sit or lie on the floor.
Shamanic journeying is a deep trance experience that is always done for a specific purpose. In Meetups the purpose can be to learn or practice journeying in order to be able to help others. the group shamanic work varies, depending on who all is present each month.
In June, the Houston Shamanism group did a soul release (psychopomp) ceremony for Galveston Island. The attendees had a moving experience as the souls of people who died suddenly in Galveston's 1900 Storm were helped to move on to the spirit world.
The ceremony was announced last March to give new members a chance to gain experience at a few Meetups and to give "old" member time to get back in practice. That worked well.
Houston Shamanism will another psychopomp (soul release) ceremony in November. Now is a great time to start attending the Meetup and learning or practicing shamanic work to prepare for the November ceremony.
The group does a variety of shamanic practices, including ecstatic trance postures, harmonic toning, group journeys, drumming, chanting, and active dreaming.
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For more information on classic shamanic practices, visit www.shamanista.com. Also, see the list of links to shamanism-related web sites near the lower right corner of this page.
White Cranes has been studying and teaching shamanic practices for over 20 years. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter @whitecranes or at Shamanista.com
To learn shamanic practices in Houston, you are invited to join the Houston Shamanism Meetup group, http://www.meetup.com/houstonshamanism.
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