r/Shamanism

Sharing this story because a) I think it's good for noobs to be aware that even drugs largely viewed as "safe" by many practitioners can lead to death in rare cases and b) I want to highlight how dangerous it can be to put your life in the hands of a grifter.

Be very careful when choosing a shaman - many who claim to be such are just con artists with no concern for your well-being and safety.

The woman who died had "sought out magic mushrooms as an alternative treatment for anxiety and, in the hours after ingesting the substance, went into cardiac arrest and needed resuscitation at home. She was taken to hospital, where she died a short time later."

As the article notes, "deaths caused by magic mushrooms are rare and occur mostly due to traumatic accidents or self-injury while under the influence of the drug" but it also mentions that a 2024 National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre study did find that some deaths were caused by an apparent acute toxic reaction after psilocin ingestion.

It's not clear why this woman died (a formal inquest is about to begin) but it IS clear that her shaman withheld information and didn't mention to paramedics that she'd ingested mushrooms.

I find that outrageous. When someone is experiencing an acute medical crisis, you give the paramedics/hospital all the information you have so people can do their jobs. This dude was just saving his own skin.

Unfortunately, these kinds of unscrupulous pracitioners are not rare in spiritual spaces.

Be safe out there, everyone.

edit: A retrospective study of the characteristics and toxicology of cases of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)- and psilocybin-related death in Australia https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16518

No one is claiming these outcomes are a common occurrence, but let's not make silly statements like 'it's impossible'.

That's really all I'm looking for from this post. Found this subreddit via a google rabbit hole I went down in relation to the issue I'm about to talk about-- saw others discussing similar subjects. Guess this might be a good place to ask for space to be held, and to take the next step in understanding. Be warned, this is going to be long.

A few years ago I was...shall we say, gifted an experience where I encountered my animal guide. In contravention of all given prompts during the visualization process, my mind went to the sky, and I saw a jaguar, shining like the sun with all the brilliant colors of the rainbow in its rosettes.

My life has not been the same since.

I was an active Mormon at the time. Long story. I didn't find this experience threatening even despite the conservative nature of myreligion, because I remembered a biblical verse stating that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove after His baptism. It was the bridge between that experience and my religious framework that prevented the experience from traumatizing me. I figured it was just the kind of experience I was having for myself. For Jesus it was a dove-- for me, a jaguar.

A lot has changed since then. And one of the chief ones is...well, idk even how to describe it really...but my jaguar has been mostly responsible for my journey out of deep, enduring mental and emotional agony. The only one that really knows the depth of his role in my healing process is my therapist, who has witnessed its impact in session. None of my immediate family or close friends know. It isn't that they aren't worthy of that knowledge-- it's that they would have absolutely no frame of reference to understand it. I wouldn't even begin to know how to describe it to them.

When I am in agony, I consciously envision the pain as a storm, and visualize myself retreating deep into a cave. Just me, and my jaguar. While the wind howls and the menacing thunder roars, He holds me. He is calm. He licks my face, He looks at me with love. He rolls over and looks at me silly and lets me rub His belly. Sometimes I'll see Him bat around objects in the cave and it makes me laugh. He purrs-- I know jaguars don't purr, but He does. His calm, his centeredness...it makes me feel calm and centered.

Then all of a sudden, storms over, and I feel better. This is my primary coping mechanism. It has worked where deep breathing, meditation, reframing and just about every other mechanism I've tried has failed.

But as time has gone on, I've noticed that His influence is growing. I see Him in more contexts. He guides me to places in my psyche I've never gone, and from which I receive really intense insights into my path forward.

He has an alter ego-- a melanistic jaguar with broken, rusted chains on his paws. He is menacing, challenging, dangerous-- but they are friends, and they are always affectionate when he shows up. The alter ego usually has some message that I don't want to hear, but my jaguar stays calm, and I can see him out of the corner of my eye, signaling to me that despite the difficulty of the moment, I am protected and safe, and that permits me to navigate the experience without descending into madness.

All this just...happens. In my minds eye, as I sit on a couch or in my bed. As time has gone on it's gotten easier and easier to slip into this mental space. The insights and messages are coming faster, the inner forces manifesting as various symbols (my inner child is an adorable little girl) are multiplying, and I am feeling growing power coming from this part of me.

This post was precipitated by asking Google some question about the jaguar, I forget what, and AI said that for the native Americans the jaguar represented a guide to the underworld and the unseen, transformation, and intuition. While I am a fairly skeptical and skittish person in terms of believing what I read, especially around AI, I read the sources it provided enough to realize that its summary had a basis in truth. Annnnnnnnd that cracked me open, because that's exactly what my Jaguar has been doing for me this entire time.

It scares me. I am grateful, but also I didn't ask for this. In many ways I am just your typical white American gay guy from the 'burbs. I didn't seek it out-- it found me. But found me it has, and the transformations facilitated by my connection to Spirit through my Jaguar are increasing. I don't know how to interpret the experiences I am having, and I don't know what else to expect.

Thanks for listening. Time for bed. Feel free to share your thoughts.

I don’t live in an area where foxes are incredibly, incredibly, rare but I have seen about 100 just this year so far which is a beyond unusual amount. And in the past 2 years I’ve seen at the least 200-300 of them. And this is spread out over 100s of miles, urban, suburban and rural areas. And through every season, I am not just seeing the same lil guy a bunch of times. They are always the red variety. (Which is kind of funny because I have red hair.) and odd because grey foxes also live in my home state it feels like I should’ve seen at least 1.

Believe I know this next part is going to sound insane, I think it’s crazy too but well after something happens 60 times in a row it’s just not something you can deny anymore.

When I see foxes on my left side I’m usually about to get good news, making a bit more money, random bout of luck, or reconnecting with someone im close to. In the past 2 or so weeks I’ve seen 3 foxes on my left hand side and every time it was just minutes before a friend I was having issues with was about to contact me

When I see foxes on my right side something bad is about to happen to me, years ago about an hour after seeing a fox on my right side I was involved in a car crash, then again just months ago I saw one and was again involved in a car accident, a year ago I saw one on my right side and right after got the most sick I have ever been in my life. Most recently 4 or so days ago after seeing a. Fox on my right side I had a massive falling out with a “girlfriend”

I could go on and on with different examples of the right/left rule it has happened so many times I just can’t deny anymore thst I am genuinely receiving signs/warnings it would just be to coincidental for this to happen 100s of times like that with near immediate results.

I’m just wondering what this communities take on this will be. It’s certainly extremely bizarre and in asking multiple people I live around, people that I’m friends, with or people who come around the places as I do, they’ve all told me they have seen a fox once maybe twice in their entire lives. And after having looked into it in my state there hasn’t been any crazy habit loss or overpopulation or anything like that.

This has been going on for so long, I genuinely would like to know why this is happening? What it means? “What” is doing it?

Did anyone ever meet the holy grail of people who had herbalists and connections to ancient indigenous civilizations and perhaps learned of a herb good enough to kill a cavity and dental decay?

I truly believe it exists out there somewhere.

Please let me know

I want to travel but hopefully I get a better job to catch up on my heath etc

i just found out about shamanic journeying a couple days ago but i realize i’ve been doing it since i was young but since learning about it, it has been so fun!!! i’d love to learn more and hear about other peoples experiences!

I am speculating the mirrors are the cause for activity in my bedroom, I could be wrong and am open to input. Since I moved in in 2022/2023 I’ve had crazy nightmares about things happening on the property. I assume something traumatic may have happened on the past bc before I even knew there was a barn on the estate (I live in a the carriage house closer to the road) i had a dream I was back in the 1800s ish and there was an invisible entity wreaking havoc on the property. I found bodies ripped in half & torn apart gory and bloody in the barn and watched their spirits leave their bodies.

Terrible stuff. Did some work to cleanse the property as best I could but I still see lots of activity in the way of energy moving around my bedroom from time to time. It always feels like there is someone in the too.

Last night was one of those very active nights and for the first time after staring at it for a long while I started to make out a man’s hand, then his torso, then a face and his whole body. It started looking the way heat rises off the pavement when it’s hot out and turned into a glassy quick silvery outline of a man the longer I stared. He seemed to notice me noticing him, tilted his head and took a step towards me almost like “you can see me?” I got spooked so jumped out of bed & said absolutely not get out! He seemed to leave but I noticed there was a lot of the same gassy looking movement - all over my room. I have a long mirror at the end of my bed facing the right side of my room and noticed threads of energy coming from the mirror.

Eventually I fell asleep but today I texted my aunt who asked if I had a mirror opposite that one. I said no but then remembered there is a shallow closet I never use that might have an old jewlery chest mirror I didn’t use in there. Low and behind the mirror was there facing the mirror in my room, diagonally across from the one in the hallway - next to my bedroom door. I don’t know if this is cause that’s why I’m giving all this context - sorry for the length of this just wanted to be thorough. Aside from moving the mirror or mirrors- any suggestions or ideas on next steps? I don’t really want all of the activity in my room, it’s funny bc a medium told me two weeks ago there are lots of people in my bedroom- which I brushed off bc I didn’t think she was very good. Anyways thanks for reading all this, curious what you guys think!

TLDR: found a second mirror facing another mirror in my room after lots of energetic activity & seeing a man/ghost/person from another dimension & more in my bedroom. Wondering if that’s the cause of this activity and if so, besides removing the mirror(s), what can I do to stop the activity or at least calm my room down. Thx

Hello, all.

I'm needing a reliable and comprehensive guide to plants, animals and stones and their meanings/properties.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Hello Beautiful Souls! I hope all of you are doing well. I have been dabbling in photography to capture the birds I see. Going through my pictures I realized that the Cardinal has been making himself known the past few weeks. This is not an uncommon bird by any means, but it is not common for them to sit and pose while you awkwardly take pictures.

One big thing that the Cardinal represents is the Ancestors. It is common the southern United States for someone to connect seeing a Cardinal after a loved ones death, as that loved one coming to visit you. I have been focusing a lot on ancestor work and veneration along side my very folk magic based practice.

The Ancestors are letting you know that they are here and watching over you. You are not alone. They are on your side and the more that you honor and connect with them the stronger that relationship is.

Have you been seeing Cardinals? It could in your waking life, your dreams, or even in media. Let us know in the comments.

Hey all :)

Hoping someone can shed some light on my experience/shamanic trance dance in general

I've not practiced any Shamanic ritual other than a Shamanic Trance Dance on a retreat a few years ago, where I experienced and remembered a 'past life', so to say. This was the most spiritually profound experience I had ever had at this point, and the most altered state of consciousness.

I had this experience before I had any psychedelic, a few years later I tried psychedelics and I was wondering if there is a link between the two.

Since this experience I've felt drawn to shamanism but honestly, where do I start!

Thank you for reading :) x

For a while now it feels as though the frequent spirits who used to be easily talked to are all four missing . Either missing or being repelled .my offers to draw, music ,talk all go completely unanswered.Ive had spirits move on before, but never all of them so suddenly. I will usually ask for protection in the form of a blinding white shell which I wrap around my self like a ball of yarn to build layers and focus ,the most recent time I asked no light ,no protection, just loose yarn with the feeling of the "dark thing" closing in .

If they left of their own accord then that's just how it is but I worry that something in me is making me unreachable by anyone not just the four I know . Any advice is appreciated Thank you