Deathwalking: Helping Them Cross the Bridge (Shaman Pathways) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1785358189 ISBN 13: 9781785358180

Verlag: John Hunt Publishing, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Deathwalking, or psychopomping, is the shamanic practice of helping the deceased's soul pass on to the next realm. Despite being an essential aspect of the Shaman's historic and contemporary role, it has been largely overlooked in modern Shamanic literature. Shaman Pathways – Deathwalking is an anthology offering ten perspectives on this vital and timeless practice.

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Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Pagan artist and author Laura Perry brings ancient spiritual traditions alive, making them relevant and powerful for modern folks in their daily lives. She lives in Woodstock, Georgia, US.

Pagan artist and author Laura Perry brings ancient spiritual traditions alive, making them relevant and powerful for modern folks in their daily lives. She lives in Woodstock, Georgia, US.

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Deathwalking

Helping Them Cross The Bridge

By Laura Perry

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Copyright © 2017 Laura Perry
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-78535-818-0

Contents

Foreword, 
Acknowledgments, 
Introduction, 
Psychopomps and Psychopaths: Children in the role of psychopomp or soul conductor – Imelda Almqvist, 
Midwife to the Dying: The Post-Tribal Shaman's Role – Kenn Day, 
Deathwalking with the Living: A shamanic healer's perspective – Yvonne Ryves, 
Reality, Spirit, and Death – Elen Sentier, 
Deathwalking with Reluctant Spirits – Dorothy Abrams, 
Hindu Last Rites – Vani Neelakantan, 
Dealing with Misplaced Energy: Examples and practices – Janet Elizabeth Gale, 
Deathwalking: Three encounters with death – Lucya Starza, 
A Path of Song, a Path of Light: Guiding the dead in the Celtic traditions – Danu Forest, 
The How Not to Do It Chapter – Laura Perry, 

CHAPTER 1

Psychopomps and Psychopaths: Children in the role of psychopomp or soul conductor

Children are generally not afraid of death the way many adults are. Possibly because they have not been on the planet too long and often remember (even if vaguely, only in their dreams) where they were before they were born. My own middle son used to call this place Yellow Land (a land made of pure bright light) as a toddler. I once made a painting titled The Before Life (as we focus too much on the afterlife, but that is only one half of the coin!). In the summer of 2016 I made a short film about the young people in my shamanic program for children (The Time Travellers in London, UK) sharing their unique perspectives on death and dying. The title of this film is Psychopaths and Psychopomps because the children in my program have been known to confuse the two terms! If you type in my name and the title on YouTube, the film will appear.

Let me tell you a secret: Death and dying is one of our favorite sessions in the Wheel of the Year for the Time Travellers, yet I can barely drum up registrations for shamanic death and dying courses for adults. We live in a culture that is in denial about death. Death is feared and hidden from view, not embraced as the ally and the great teacher it really is.

When I was a child (growing up in the Netherlands in the seventies) I did a lot of work in other dimensions at night. Often the spirits would appear and say: please come and talk to this newly dead person. He or she is not really paying attention to us, but maybe they will listen to a young girl; you are closer to the world they have just left. So, I would go and spend time with the person concerned. I would explain that they were dead (they did not always realize this). I would show them around the spirit world and explain that there are compassionate beings (who may not look human) waiting to take them to the right destination in the other world. I would accompany them some of the way. Then I would hand them over to those beings and watch them "walk through a portal into the light." I would return to my bed in everyday reality and go to school the next morning. To me, this was as normal as brushing my teeth! I never really talked to my parents about this. I think my mother only found out about this forty years later when she painstakingly read my first book (Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life) using an English-Dutch dictionary!

Today, I am a shamanic practitioner and I teach shamanism and sacred art internationally. Working with children has become one of my specialties. Over the years I have seen many children in private shamanic practice who are psychopomps. In this chapter I will share my experiences of this: what forms this can take, how it can affect family life, and what to do when such a child becomes overwhelmed or frightened.

Children as Psychopomps

I have come to believe that children are soul conductors or deathwalkers for many reasons. Some children are our future shamanic practitioners (or shamans) and this calling is already written into their energy signature.

Children come from the light, from outside time; sometimes they still radiate this divine light. Often they have not suffered the amount of soul loss some adults have, so energetically speaking they are very luminous, especially when they are loved greatly and well cared for. That can add power to their energy field.

Then again, children may also end up conducting psychopomp work for the opposite reason: trauma can "open children up" in the sense that they do not acquire healthy psychic boundaries in early life. This can leave children vulnerable to happenings in other realms, both in a good sense (sensing a loving grandparent watching over them and staying close) or in a negative sense (dissociating from pain and trauma by fleeing to other worlds and not being fully present in their own lives and bodies). This is a condition many people carry into their adult existence.

Other authors in this book have explained why the death process can be compromised, meaning a soul doesn't make a full transition away from the Earth realm. Such restless souls (for lack of a better word) are often found wandering between the worlds. For them, the bright energy signature of a "shaman child" is like a beacon. They are attracted to that light. They may even take it for the divine light they are seeking.

Some children (like the younger me) walk the worlds effortlessly, guided by spirit allies who have been their friends from well before birth. I was never afraid, even when presented with challenging scenarios. However, my brother went through a period in his late teens (he was seriously ill at the time) when ghosts and spirits were appearing in his bedroom. He'd often wake up because people were sitting on the edge of his bed trying to get his attention. For him, this was a frightening and unwanted experience. It stopped when he recovered and he certainly does not feel called to engage in psychopomp work today.

Effects on Family Life

When a child copes well and is rested enough to face the challenges of this world in the morning, there is little parents need to do other than (ideally!) becoming aware of this and being available if a child needs to talk or process. The problems start when children are flooded by nighttime occurrences or experiences they cannot handle. Those children may start avoiding sleep (by trying to stay awake at all costs and this, obviously, affects their health and ability to concentrate in school). They may become frightened and call out, getting their parents up several times a night. Those parents may not always understand what their children perceive, and saying "There is nothing in your room. Go back to sleep!" just is not adequate. Parents need to be aware that there may well be unseen visitors in a child's bedroom; those are real, even if you yourself cannot see or sense them!

In the worst case scenario (which, thankfully, is rare!) nighttime visitors may start wandering around the house trying to get everyone's attention, meaning strange things might occur (noises, lights flashing on and off, sudden changes in temperature) that unsettle (or frighten) the whole family.

If you find yourself in one of these scenarios, please contact a local shamanic practitioner and have them run a check on what is happening. They can provide a range of helpful services from visiting in person and opening portals (moving on those "visitors" by doing psychopomp work) to...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: John Hunt Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1785358189
• ISBN 13: 9781785358180
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 72
• Herausgeber: Perry Laura
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchbär; info@buchbaer.de; ; Weberstr. 67; Osnabrück; 49084; Deutschland