________

[GentleWanderer]

---------

[AnthroHeart]

I'm looking into Celtic Shamanism. I might not take all pieces from it, but I will take what works for me.

[MangusKhan]

You may be interested in rationalwiki's opinion (thesis?) on Carlos Castaneda.

I've always been fond of the concept of shamanism, but I know very little about it.

One time I took mushrooms and played a drum in the moonlight and experienced an incredible opening of the heart and higher energy centers, if that counts for anything.

Peace be with you.

[Diana]

I don't care about debunkers and pontifications regarding Castaneda's books. I think they're awesome. There is so much good information—really useful stuff. Taken as a whole, the set of several books is amazing, and unique. The bonus is that Castaneda is (was) a great writer. 

One piece of advice though: read more than just the first two books. Not that they aren't good, but there is a lot about peyote and other hallucinogens to break Castaneda's paradigm. There is so much more to read about after that.

[GentleWanderer]

______

[kycahi]

I remember how much I enjoyed reading Castaneda, while wondering a little whether it was true. By the end, I took him seriously and took what he wrote about into myself. Don Juan was a cool dude, whether real or fictional.

[native]

Never got around to reading Castaneda, but shamanic/tribal knowledge can be as developed as anything around. There's definitely nothing archaic about it. I would say that the smaller scale of village life offers many benefits in learning as well.

I personally feel that what's being described in the Ra material is in alignment with indigenous belief. Tribes live the sacramental life daily, expressing the interconnectedness of all things..how the earth, sun, moon etc. are all telling a story about life and ourselves. Myths as well may seem silly at first, but if they teach us something about ourselves that allows us to grow then they're real on some level. There's consciousness in everything, and we're taught that the universe is holographic. Afterall, Ra did build the pyramids by talking to rocks.

[Eddie]

In my 20s and 30s I read all of the books that had been published to that point, over and over.  My copies are worn and have many underlined passages.  They enriched my life immeasurably.  Most probably, I would not be here, without my years of study of Castaneda's works.

Among other things, his techniques for stopping the internal dialogue work.  And that stoppage is extremely helpful toward the attainment of spiritual progress.

[Diana]

In my 20s and 30s I read all of the books that had been published to that point, over and over.  My copies are worn and have many underlined passages.  They enriched my life immeasurably.  Most probably, I would not be here, without my years of study of Castaneda's works.

Among other things, his techniques for stopping the internal dialogue work.  And that stoppage is extremely helpful toward the attainment of spiritual progress.

My copies of Castaneda's books are likewise dog-eared and full of sticky notes. There are no books I have read as much as those, and there were many years when I was reading 3-4 books a week. I am so grateful for his writings.

I agree about stopping the internal dialogue, which was the underpinning of everything. But also, the not-doings and lessons on self-pity and reordering energy were especially helpful for me, and very unique and practical.

I still reread them, especially Journey to Ixtlan and The Power of Silence, which are my favorites, but generally I begin at the beginning and read through them all. 

[Eddie]

My favorite is The Second Ring of Power, but they are all excellent and useful.

[Sabou]

... Among other things, his techniques for stopping the internal dialogue work.  And that stoppage is extremely helpful toward the attainment of spiritual progress.

In what books does he discuss these techniques? I don't actually have any copies of the books and searching online I can't really find the specific techniques you mentioned. I am interested in hearing his approach. 

[Sabou]

Also, in regard to the OP, I have only read bits and pieces of Castaneda in the past, of which I greatly appreciated. I remember stumbling upon the "Topic of Topics" as stated by Don (regarding the "flyers") which was another piece of the puzzle for me at that time and eye opening.

[GentleWanderer]

_______

[GentleWanderer]

_______

[Aion]

I have independently 'discovered' and made extensive use of the remembering technique, it is fundamental to my own practices. Interesting that the same techniques may be found by different individuals. I did not learn it through his works. I can also affirm that there is much reality to the concept of the assemblage point. The idea of the Nagual did not originate with him but was around long before him.

[Glow]

I've not read his books but shamanism in general is changing my life.
I'm taking a few classes from a shamanic group aimed at self healing. Recapitulation is a huge part and if I told you the impact it's had in 7 weeks you likely wouldn't believe it possible.

It's all ancient wisdom from before we became so materially focused. Most cultures had their shamans who held the knowledge. It makes sense that knoweledge so helpful would have keepers around the globe thankfully it waspassed down this long as it's really life changing.

Anyways no comment on Castaneda. never met him.

[GentleWanderer]

_______

[Diana]

I did a recapitulation many years ago, according to the Castaneda writings. I can tell you that even simply making a list of all the people you have met in your entire life initiates enormous shifts in consciousness, or at least it did for me. 

[Aion]

I am not a shaman and I have not read all of Castenada's books, only the first one. Just so you know my background a bit, I have mostly derived my technique from an interest in memory and remembering. I was inspired a lot by stories of monks with incredible memories in developing the techniques although I do not really know if I use the same techniques as others have. I am 'self taught'. I have explored it both through the lens of past life, current life and future life, as well as parallel. I consider learning to be more of a remembering process. I theorize that there is never anything added to the mind, but rather the infinite mind is expressing itself through a finite lens which may be widened and widened. So to learn, you must be willing to remember. This willingness is fundamental to my technique. You must sharpen your desire like a blade, so that you eventually learn to only hit those points in the deep mind you are seeking. It takes time and practice, I am by no means a master.

There is a combination of visualizing with memorization that is particularly useful. If you can create an internal landscape to reflect the journey through your mind, make it less abstract, there is a lot more you can do. This, I believe, is the root of the shamanic, druidic techniques of 'astral travel' and journeying. The idea is to create a concrete structure through which you can move.

The suggestion to start with your own life is because that is the trunk of the tree and is where the heart lies. If you go too far outside of the current life without anchoring well within it you can easily dissociate and become lost within yourself. It is best in my experience to start from the moment and first go back to the start of your life. This means start where you are and consciously try to remember back year by year back until you return to your birth. Do this a few times to discover many different 'corridors' you may not have discovered through the first pass. The mind is opened slowly. You won't get everything in one trip. Sometimes it will seem like you gain nothing. This is part of the journey. You must keep making journeys in order to find all your own hidden treasures. Then, once you have done this for awhile, start to push back further in to your 'pre-birth' mind. This will seem strange at first and you may feel like you are just 'imagining' things. This is part of memory.

Memory is created actively. It's more like a vibration which gives rise to a form. You have to 'make the right music' for the forms to appear. This is done through your intention and with your desires. You have to learn to maintain a dual perspective. Both skeptical and with innocent trust. Allow every form to appear as is and weight it against the truth of yourself. This is how you learn to navigate your own mind. There are parts of the mind which are 'closer' to the core, the heart of you, and there are things which are further away. All is one, but there is a structure. The thoughts which lead you towards the heart are the ones to follow. They will take you to your memories. The thoughts which lead you away from your heart will take you in to imagination.

There are things you will feel, you will KNOW them as reflecting a deep truth when you discover them. Distill this truth and allow its wisdom to reveal itself. Nothing is as it seems, question everything and when the answers stop changing you are beginning to strike gold.

[Glow]

Aion, Glow, i'm curious to know more about how your practice of recapitulation and what does it do for you. Some who claims to come from shamanism consider it like a must.

Many sources (Steiner, mahavira, an old tradition of female kabbalists, the vigyana bhairava tantra commented by rajneesh, even negative philosophies like dianetics...) talk about this kind of practice or a variation of it. It may not be the main purpose of it in shamanism, others sources said it can help to strart to train the faculty of remembering very early memories, past lives, or event in the past that occured without us being there at the time.
And  Castaneda is one of the few who associate remembering with a special kind of breathing. He told recapitulation was the only thing who helped him when his practice of dreaming was blocked. Don Juan said that with each recapitulation practice there is a very little and very beneficial movement of the assembly point.

Castaneda tell that everybody perceive the world the way they do depending on the position of their assembly point and that society has kind of imposed on most people a particular position of the assemblage point. In theory if one could move the position of this point the same way as a bird for exemple, one would perceive word as a bird or even change the physical form. Great concepts, hard to tell what to do with them and when Castaneda is saying what he knows and when he's using his imagination.

Well the first step is recapitulation so its definitely a must. How can you use all your energy for "shamanic things" if you are still feeding all these old emotional dramas and connections.

Even if you wish not to explore energy work, dream work or anything esoteric recap erases the emotional charges so you function from a pattern free, preconceived notion/domestication/indoctrination free mind so you can make healthier, balance rational choices more in keeping with who you are as a being rather than who you have become due to what has happend to you or around you in life.

There is a breathing method involved but where I am learning recap is thorough. Even for the partial recap it takes generally 2 years of daily work. You recap almost everything several different ways, in super high def detail... its extensive and just learning the first stage took 7 classes. I have so much recapping to do for the partial the 2 year guide seems super ambitious but its already changed my life. My energetic awareness and "gifts" has also increased because my energy and consciousness is no longer bound to these old things.

Actually after suffering a brain injury last year and my recovery basically plateauing for the last 6 months I started recapping the injury and the event. Suddenly my brain seems totally back to pre injury state. No it IS back to pre injury state.

Then they have the total recap which is supposed to take you back to who you were born as, your natural predilections before life happened so your perspective is even clearer and less bound to this one incarnation. Apparently thats where the shamanic stuff really starts to happen and is why shamans can do what they do. They have all their energy and no worldly ego dramas interfering with their intuition and seeing. I'm totally hooked so am headed that way at least as far as seems appropriate.

They term it self healing and it really is.

[GentleWanderer]

______

[Glow]

Wonderful replies from you guys ! One thing i wonder is if before doing your remembering work, you first go into a trance state to be in touch with the unconscious, or you start to try to catch the memory from the conscious mind and you push it to unwind like a bobbin.

Basics we started with a conscious memory but as you recap it you find the charge goes and it leads to an another memory, recap that and and another arrives till you eventually end up back where the patterns and drives begin. Even then though the memory will still have ties in the body to recap that were connected to different patterns, smells, places....etc etc get it all.

I'm recapping energetically now as in working with my energy body directly to find stuff. im finding stuff this way im not sure I'd find through remembering. I even found other life memories and recapped those. It's pretty facinating and I would recommend it to anyone even if the only want to recap select things.

[GentleWanderer]

_______

[GentleWanderer]

______

[Aion]

Wonderful replies from you guys ! One thing i wonder is if before doing your remembering work, you first go into a trance state to be in touch with the unconscious, or you start to try to catch the memory from the conscious mind and you push it to unwind like a bobbin.

You can do both. The 'trance' state is for digging deeper in to the unconscious. This is good if you have a 'feeling' which doesn't seem to be connected to anything consciously. You dig in to try and find the part of the mind it is tied to. Otherwise you try to catch things as they come and 'unravel' them as you say. I also have a Reiki mantra I use for deep remembering but I only use it on occasion.

Aion you said you have explored your future life. How do you do that ? I know how to go to the past i remember, but the future ?

That's a little trickier and basically involves making contact with your Higher Self and you can 'jump' from there, but moreso it's that your Higher Self can act as a sort of mirror which lets you perceive the 'probabilities' in the future. You won't necessarily see 'the future', in terms of linear progression, but rather you can see possibilities and probabilities and by viewing the patterns of energy that are tied to them you can get some sense of how to 'steer' your present in order to bring it towards the desired outcome. However this technique can be very 'long range', and so you may perceive things which aren't possible or probable for many lives so it's pretty difficult to hone it and get a glimpse of those events which are closer to your present state. This is because the closer you get to the moment the more the possibilities collapse and the closer perception is to manifestation. I believe that if you do this technique too much or perhaps 'incorrectly' it could result in a shift in consciousness to another timeless, so I usually don't talk about it too much. There are particular details I have left out for safety.

The danger in this technique is that making contact with future selves can have a disruptive effect on the consciousness in terms of its context for living. This can be seen in the spontaneous occurrence of such contacts whereby individuals encounter a parallel or futuristic version of themselves which can disrupt the whole center of the identity as it is situated in this life. Some whom are of the leaning may digest this more easily than others and even pursue more experiences as such. Many are not equipped to consider the possibility of other versions of themselves, let alone making contact with them.

[GentleWanderer]

______

[GentleWanderer]

______

[Glow]

Wondering if there are authors, sources on shamanism, recapitulation some bring4ther have found to be relevant.
Taisha abelar ?

https://www.shamanscave.com/self-healing...pitulation

I took recapitulation 1 through these guys super affordable and I couldn't be more pleased.

[GentleWanderer]

_______

[Glow]

Yes. It has changed my life. Best $65 or $75 I've ever spent to be honest.
Gotta do the work, and some stuff was uncomfortable to work through but life changer and I'm still working away even though my class ended a month ago.