What Is Shamanic Astrology

“So, just what is shamanic astrology?” I’ve been asked several times in the last several weeks.

It’s an understandable question, given the rise in interest in shamanism of various kinds in recent years.

But, for me, it’s also a very personal question. Every day, I’m grateful for the years I spent learning from some incredible and remarkable professors and experiencing experiences I could never have imagined.

Perhaps you’ll be motivated to see how far your own inner-planetary explorations can carry you.

My Living Cosmos

It might resemble a Dr. Seuss book. But without it, my world would be a lot more lonely place. And it’s a lot less magical.

This is not how I grew up. It was the product of spending my twenties in weekly ceremonial circles with my mentor, novelist and ecofeminist Eileen O’Connor “ike West is a fictional character.

We didn’t refer to our work as such “But you’re probably most familiar with the term shamanism.

It’s about co-creating with SPIRIT as you sit in a shamanic circle. It’s an animistic paradigm at its core, dealing with the spirits of our forefathers and dream keepers, as well as the spirits of the rocks, trees, and animals. The Earth’s very own Spirit. Yes, even planets.

Shamanism is a celebration of the fact that we are all parts of a larger network. It is a living, sentient cosmos that you experience all the way down to your bones, not simply an academic creation.

Soul of the Planets

The planets have a LIVING ESSENCE, according to shamanic astrology. One that works in a different way than our human consciousness, yet is no less real. And that we have the ability to communicate with this live spirit.

As a result, shamanic astrology is possibly the oldest form of astrology. It likely predates the creation of astrological charts. Every indigenous culture on the planet has had its own version of this.

The planets are clearly special to societies who have spent a lot of time under the night sky. The planets MOVE against the backdrop of stationary stars. The word “planet” is derived from a Greek word that means “world.” “intrepid.

Things that moved had wants to the ancients. They were soulful. And if it had Soul, it had the potential for Intelligence, as we term it now “the state of mind

In fact, the word Zodiac comes from the Greek word Zoidia, which means “belt of the heavens across which the Sun and all the planets traverse” (from the Greek , zion). Zoidia (pronounced Zoy-ja) is a complicated phrase referring to a constellation, according to Hellenistic Astrologer Joseph Crane “A living entity, as well as a god’s seat or a painting or symbol.

Zion also has another meaning “The term animal comes from the same origin as the word animism, which is central to the shamanic worldview.

Shamanic Astrology

Shamanism, in general, employs tactics and tools to generate altered states of consciousness, allowing us to communicate directly with the Spirit world. Sometimes it’s for healing, other times it’s for divination, and other times it’s for communion.

Guided visualizations, energy work, channeling (aspecting), music, drums, chanting, dancing, attuning to natural objects and spirit allies, dreams, and entheogens have all been used as techniques. As well as astrology.

In reality, astrology was created expressly to help us build a closer relationship with the planets’ living essence. To figure out what people desire.

To the Hellenistic Greeks, who established our known style of astrology with signs and houses and charts, the planets served as midwives to our Soul’s manifestation. They served as intermediaries, connecting the divine and terrestrial realms.

A Brief History of Planet-Talking

The desire to connect to the universe is so deeply ingrained in the human experience that it has found its own expression in every time and place “I’m having a conversation with the planets.

Astrology was employed in ancient Greece and Rome to help people identify their guardian spirits. Dreamwork and guided visualizations were employed by the healer-seers of the Ascelipian dream temples to promote healing and completeness. To build a route to enlightenment, Neoplatonists employed astral theurgy to converse with the planets.

Even after the institutional Church demolished the old gods’ temples. Archangels became affiliated with each planet and served as messengers for them. We used astral magic techniques to make talismans and rituals to work with planetary spirits during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Despite the fact that the Scientific Revolution put an end to talk of “Living Spirits,” modern psychologists such as Carl Jung and Roberto Assagioli advocated for the use of the “active imagination to work with what they called “spiritual entities.” “dreamwork, hypnosis, and guided visualization are some of the techniques used to work with archetypal energies.

Astrologers evolved in the 1970s and 1980s “As part of chart interpretations, use experiential types of astrology, such as astrodrama and guided visualizations.

All of these methods have one thing in common: they foster personal interaction with the planets. According to Babs Kirby, a psychologist and author, “Experiential astrology adds a depth and variety to readings that are rarely seen in cookbooks.

Because shamanism is an ancestor of the astrological tradition, shamanic components of astrology appear century after century. Because it’s hard-wired into the astrological system, even if someone hasn’t studied history, the desire to connect will resurface.

Beyond Astrology Schools

You can probably see why shamanic astrology isn’t exclusive to a single school of astrology. It functions on a level that transcends such divides, therefore it crosses these lines.

So it’s not a problem that I’m a traditional astrologer as well as a shamanic astrologer. Whole sign houses, vital dignities, and time lords are some of the things I utilize. Traditional astrology has a deep mystical history, which complements the way I work with clients. But I’m also a shamanic astrologer, as I’m consciously connecting with the planets’ live spirits and employing various methods to generate altered states in order to communicate with them.

There are also shamanic evolutionary astrologers to consider. The concern for the soul in evolutionary astrology aligns well with the shamanic worldview. The use of active imagination techniques to connect with the soul in order to find healing has shamanic roots. The Shamanic Astrology Mystery School arose from the skills and worldview of modern astrology.

The shamanic spirit of Indian astrology, also known as Vedic or Jyotish, has never been lost. The practice of this tradition includes planetary invocations and corrective procedures. Altars to the planets can still be found ” (called navagrahas, the “9 who seize you.)

To practice shamanic astrology, you don’t even need to be able to read an astrological chart. It’s possible that you’re practicing without even recognizing it.

If you’ve ever taken part in the rite, you’ll know what I’m talking about “Even if you haven’t called it that, you’re already practicing shamanic astrology when you draw down the Moon.

If you believe in Gaia, that our planet is alive and conscious in her own right, it’s only a tiny leap to assume that other planets have consciousness as well.

Shamanic Astrology and You

“Hey, you’ve made it sound like all astrologers are shamanic astrologers if they’re talking to their planets,” you could be thinking if I’ve told the story effectively.

Many seasoned astrologers have personal accounts of spontaneous experiences with the planets as something greater and more sublime than themselves. This isn’t surprising because astrology was created with this impact in mind.

Other shamanic approaches that improve your potential to connect on a deeper level can help to facilitate these amazing moments. You can acquire and practice these skills for yourself or to assist others in making the connection.

My shamanic astrology practice has enhanced my life in ways I could never have anticipated over the past 20 years. Astrology is more than a science or an art form for me; it is critical to my spiritual practice.

Maybe it’s also for you. If you already have a strong desire to connect with your planets on a multidimensional level, try guided visualization, dreamwork, or magic to see what you come up with.

Alternatively, if your astrology has been feeling flat, or you’ve been struggling to understand astrology using buzzwords that sound cerebral or sterile, a shamanic approach to astrology could be just what you need to re-enchant your worldview.

What is a shamanic astrology reading, and how does it work?

There are several different styles of Astrology: Vedic, Western, and Esoteric. But what sets Shamanic Astrology apart from the rest? Shamanic Astrology incorporates an emotional connection to the night sky, as well as the utilization of the planets’ cycles for ceremonies, readings, and other purposes. In contrast to Western Astrology, it focuses the reading on the moon signs and a few planets and their houses. Shamanic Astrology does not place as much emphasis on the sun signs as other astrology genres do. It’s a modality that’s bringing people back to the traditional methods of living in harmony with nature, reconnecting with it.

What religion has shamanism been linked to?

Shamanism is a part of the indigenous Ainu religion as well as Shinto, the Japanese religion, albeit Shinto is unique in that it is shamanism for an agricultural civilization. Shinto has been influenced by and syncretized with Buddhism and other parts of continental East Asian culture since the early Middle Ages. Percival Lowell’s book “Occult Japan: Shinto, Shamanism, and the Way of the Gods” digs more into Japanese shamanism or Shintoism. Japan Through the Looking Glass: Shaman to Shinto delves into the fascinating world of Japanese ideas.

What does shamanism imply?

Shamanism is a religious phenomena that revolves around the shaman, a person who is said to be able to gain various powers through trance or ecstatic religious experiences.

Today, where is shamanism practiced?

During an epic road trip from California to the Yucatan to do anthropological study in the summer of 2010, I met two shamanswise men, healers, diviners, and explorers of holy worlds by happenstance. Later, when working in rural Haiti, I met and got to know a number of other religious people who I came to believe practiced shamanism. These strange and mystical religious figures found all over the world are frequently regarded vestiges or exemplars of archaic religious culture in scholarly literature and popular imagination (Eliade 1964). Anthropologists who have studied shamanic beliefs and practices extensively have discovered that such religious practitioners exist in various cultures throughout Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the Americas.

What is the best way to figure out what your spirit animal is?

Here are a few methods for identifying your spirit animal:

• Learn about your ancestors’ animal relationships.
• Pay attention to what you’re dreaming about.
• Consider how you’ve felt about certain animals in the past.
• Keep a journal about the animals you’re drawn to.

Is it necessary for me to have an astrology reading?

Astrology is the belief that the locations of the stars and the movement of the planets through the solar system have an impact on human lives, events, and behavior. While you probably already know what your zodiac sign is, studying the important characteristics (as revealed by the zodiac) is essential if you want to improve your self-awareness. You will not only learn how to live your best life, but you will also acquire vital insight into how to live in harmony with others.

To begin, you must first learn how to comprehend astrology: Each of the 12 astrological signs is classified as a quadruplicity (cardinal signs that begin new seasons), mutable (signs that adapt well to change), or fixed sign (one that occurs in the middle of the seasons), as well as a triplicity (a sign associated with one of the four elements: Earth, air, water, or fire). Fire signs are passionate and lively, earth signs are realistic and grounded, air signs are analytical and curious, and water signs are observant and emotional, in a nutshell.

Because there is so much information to process, an astrology reading is always an excellent idea. Trust us when we say that after you learn more about the divine goodness that comes with one, you’ll understand why so many people look to the stars for guidance on life, love, and everything in between.

Who are the shamanic gods?

Shamans, particularly in the Oroqen tradition, paid homage to a plethora of gods by giving sacrifice gifts to them. The sun god, the moon god, the gods of the stars, the god of thunder, the wind god, the water gods, the river god, the fire god, the mountain spirit, and other sacred deities were among them.

What is a shaman’s function?

Shamans are the most well-known of traditional Aboriginal religion’s many religious figures. They serve as healers, prophets, diviners, and religious legend keepers. They are also frequently the organizers of religious and cultural ceremonies, such as the Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, and other Northwest Coast communities’ Sun Dance (a world-renewal ceremony) and Winter Ceremony (see Aboriginal People: Northwest Coast).

In some societies, a single person performs all of these roles; in others, shamans are specialists. Healing practitioners may be members of several orders, such as the Ojibwa’s Midewiwin or Great Medicine Society, while others (Kwakwaka’wakw, Siksika) maintained secret or exclusive societies. Although not all members of these societies were shamans, they did participate in religious events and rituals.

Spiritual and Healing Powers

Shamans were linked with powers that were generally deemed to be beneficial to the tribe, but they were also suspected of using their abilities for sorcery in some situations. Shaman-prophets and diviners were tasked with forecasting the hunt’s outcome, retrieving missing items, and detecting the core causes of societal discontent and malice. In the spectacular Shaking Tent ceremony, diviners from the Siksika (Blackfoot), Cree, Ojibwa, and other societies made their forecasts (maybe in trance states). Shamans were the keepers of sacred medicine bundles, which contained objects and materials endowed with enormous mystery and power. By burning a caribou shoulder blade and interpreting the cracks and fissures generated by the flames, Innu shamans might divine game paths. Shamans were frequently consulted in times of sickness or collective calamity. Many disorders, especially those that were physically treatable, had natural causes; others were widely thought to be the result of things placed in the body by sorcerers. The treatment of such ailments was prescribed by the shaman’s guardian spirit, although it usually involved the shaman ritually sucking the disease agent out of the body, brushing it off with a bird’s wing, or pulling it out with theatrical movements. “Spirit loss” can also lead to illness. The shaman-next healer’s task was to reintroduce the patient’s spirit (either the soul or guardian spirit power, or both) to the body.

Banning Shamanistic Rituals

The Indian Act was revised in 1880 to make it illegal to organize or participate in certain traditional healing rites, such as smudging, a sacred cleansing ceremony involving the burning of medicinal herbs. In order to avoid government punishment, certain communities continued to follow their customs in secret, while others supported the prohibition.

The government relaxed limitations on traditional healing ceremonies in the early 1950s. Indigenous medicine began to resurface when Aboriginal peoples attempted to regain their traditions. Within and outside of Aboriginal communities, many shamanistic rites and healing ceremonies acquired prominence during the 1980s. In a special study published in 1983, the Department of National Health and Welfare of Canada formally recognised “the relevance and utility of conventional techniques.”

Shamanism Today

Many shaman-led healing practices, such as smudging, sharing circles, and healing circles, are still practiced. Most modern shamans consider themselves as healers’ facilitators rather than healers. Shamans provide emotional, mental, and physical healing skills to individuals in need. Connecting with spirit guides, negative energy extraction, holistic cures, engaging with nature, and spiritual cleanses are common examples of such practices. Modern shamans, like their forefathers, execute rites of passage ceremonies such as births, marriages, and deaths.

What does shamanism look like in practice?

There are many different types of shamanism around the world, yet all varieties of shamanism have a few similar principles. Eliade (1972) highlighted the following common beliefs:

• Spirits exist, and they play essential roles in people’s lives as well as in society.
• The shaman has the ability to speak with spirits.
• Spirits can be either good or bad.
• The shaman can heal illnesses brought on by evil spirits.
• To induce visionary ecstasy and go on vision quests, the shaman can use trance-inducing techniques.
• The shaman’s spirit might leave the body to seek answers in the supernatural realm.
• Animal representations are invoked by the shaman as spirit guides, omens, and message-bearers.
• The shaman can do different types of divination, such as scrying, throwing bones or runes, and foretelling future events.

Eliade’s idea of shamans, as Alice Kehoe points out, creates a universalist vision of indigenous cultures, perpetuating notions of the dead (or dying) Indian as well as the heroic barbarian.

Shamanism is founded on the idea that the visible world is penetrated by unseen forces or spirits that have an impact on people’s lives. Although disease is caused by malevolent spirits in the spiritual realm, both spiritual and physical means are used to heal. In most cases, a shaman “enters the body” of the patient to confront the spiritual ailment and heals the patient by exorcising the infectious spirit.

Many shamans are well-versed in the medicinal plants unique to their region, and herbal treatments are frequently offered. After getting permission from the indwelling or patron spirits, shamans in many locations learn directly from the plants, harnessing their affects and therapeutic properties. Shamans and curanderos in Peru’s Amazon Basin utilize medicine songs called icaros to summon spirits. A spirit must teach the shaman its song before it can be summoned. Totemic artifacts, such as rocks with particular abilities and an animating spirit, are frequently used.

Such activities are most likely quite old. “The first predictions were the words of an oak,” Plato wrote in his Phaedrus, and those who lived at the time found it rewarding enough to “listen to an oak or a stone, so long as it was saying the truth.”

Many societies believe in witchcraft and sorcery, known in Latin America as brujera. Other cultures believe that all shamans have the ability to both heal and kill. Shamanic knowledge confers enormous power and status in the community, but it can also be viewed with suspicion or terror as potentially dangerous to others.

A shaman takes a substantial personal risk by engaging in their practice, as shamanic plant items can be deadly or fatal if mishandled. In an attempt to defend against these dangers, spells are frequently utilized, and the usage of more harmful herbs is frequently heavily ritualized.