Above and Below
My first introduction to shamanic work was from a friend who tried to introduce me to journey work and a finding an animal spirit to work with. The plan was for her to drum, and for me to use the sound to imagine travelling to a sort of underworld. I would imagine myself entering a hole in the ground, going deeper and deeper until I found a different world where I would meet my animal spirit. It’s a common practice, especially for “Neo-Shamans”. Despite how actually traditional it might be, it can have a place in magical work.
It was later explained to me that many times these sort of Astral journeys can be broken up into travelling in three different worlds. The is an Underworld, a place of power and wild energies. There is a Middle World, the realm in which we all exist in. The third is an Upper World, the realm of knowledge and Guides.
Fast forward to me beginning to learn ritual through the AODA (Ancient Order of Druids in America). When beginning that work, the start is with the four elements, and their corresponding directions. Then, the three types of Spirit are introduced. There is Spirit Below, a realm of power and wild energies. There is Spirit Above, the realm of knowledge and the heavens. Then there is Spirit Within, the place where you find balance with the six powers that have been invoked before.
As far as I know, many of these shamanic traditions evolved quite separately from the Druid Revival, so the correlations interest me. In “The Druid Magic Handbook” by John Michael Greer, Spirit Below and its corresponding current, the Telluric Current, are compared to Kundalini practices and other practices that draw power up. Spirit Above and its corresponding current, the Solar Current, are compared to the many traditions that draw power down (including many mainstream religious work).
It is theorized in that book that these are the two major power currents that most religious and magical work draw from. Most of the time, groups will pick one to work with and ignore the other at best. At worst, the powers that be will demonize the other current, saying that their current is the proper one to use, while the other is evil. Druid magic, and a lot of the shamanic work that I’ve learned, believe otherwise. Instead, they try to utilize and balance both.
I have a clear memory of walking through the woods as a teenager trying to understand the energies that I was experiencing. On one hand, I could feel the wild energy that I associated with the forest around me, and the spirits that I experienced there. On the other, there was an energy that I felt when in an intense church service, experiencing what I understood as God. I remember sitting below an ancient pine tree, comparing the two, and marvelling at their very different feel. At the time, I believe that I felt this meant I needed to make a choice between the two. Now, I have a language for what I was feeling, and a way to deal with it.
In my Druid work, one of the things that I am supposed to be aiming for, through meditation and ritual work, is combining these two currents within me to make a third. In this tradition, it is referred to as the Lunar Current. I think that this may have been one of the deal makers in my decision to work with the Order’s system; a way to mediate between and use both planetary and celestial energy in my work.
The interesting correlations between my Shamanic work and Druidic work does not end there. Part of the Druid work is to do Pathworking exercises into the realms of the elements, and the different realms of the three Spirits. The method used is in ceremony, where you call in the help of the elements and the three realms of Spirit to help you explore the Astral realm of a specific element or direction of Spirit. Shaman work involves exploring realms like this, using repetitive sound to shift your brain into a Theta state. I enjoy using both these tools at the same time to explore these powers.
Another interesting connection between the work of using both the Telluric Current and the Solar Current, and other traditions is the presence of trees in sacred mythology and magical practice. Trees are often seen as point of connections between the worlds. With their branches absorbing solar energy and their roots drawing nutrients from the Earth, they make a great metaphor, if not example, of the work of both the Shaman and Druid. That is why they find their way into the work. One of my first tasks as I began my apprenticeship with Adhi was to find a tree to work with, my Burden Tree. My relationship to that tree would grow as the tree helped balance my energy, and acted as a spot that I could use in my journey work to access different worlds. In the Druidic tradition I work in, trees are eventually used as a blueprint to create a flow of the Telluric and Solar Currents within you as you use them to create the Lunar Current.
If you have any thoughts about the use of these currents, and see them in whatever practice you use, let me know in the comments here on the blog, or on Facebook. I love comparing commonalities in practice, and hearing what works for others.
Until next week,
The Green Mountain Mage