156 SECRETS OF SHAMANISMare in, and open your eyes. Write down what you experi-
enced for your later reference. If you are artistically inclined,
you can sketch, draw, or paint the mandala and your positon
on it. Periodic check-ins with the medicine wheel will let you
know where you are and how you are doing in reference to
your center.
Shamans have noticed that most natural living forms are
rounded and reflect the larger motif of the medicine wheel or
circle of power. Tree trunks, plant stems, arms and legs,
heads, the spinal column, bodily organs, shells, the sun, the
moon, the stars, tornados, whirlwinds, pine cones, and a
long list of natural forms, are miniature medicine wheels,
reminders of that greater circle of life. Shamans have also
noticed that when they close their eyes, the patterns usually
reflected there are circular in form. It is not by chance that
the tunnels they use to travel to and from the spirit world are
round and the drums they use to help them on their way are
round as well.
In fact, the entire matrix that holds the spirit world and
the ordinary world in a state of balance consists of round
tunnels that connect specific locations with one another.
Shamans use any circular opening in their environment as a
passageway into some location in the spirit world. In many
cultures shamans create their own openings into the spirit
world by digging a special hole in the floor of their dwelling
or in the ground at their ritual spot. For example, the Hopis
and Navajos dig a small hole called a Sippapu in the floor of
the Kiva (circular ceremonial underground room) and leave
an opening in the roof for similar reasons. Artistic shamans
the world over create new openings by making circular draw-
ings on cave walls, shelters, and rock faces. Tibetan Buddhist
shamans create tankas, which are colorful circular paintings
that depict the spirit world within us.
Interestingly, modern physicists have discovered the exis-
tence of black holes and postulated the existence of white
holes in space, where massive amounts of energy seem to
either disappear or appear. Whether these holes are related
in any way to the shamans' holes remains to be seen. How-
ever, judging from recent comparisons of similarities be-
tween modern physics and mysticism, it is most likely.
In the following section we will decribe seven principal
nonphysical holes or openings that have been alluded to by
yogic shamans in India, Tibetan Buddhist Shamans, Native
American shamans, and African shamans, to name a few.
These openings to the spirit world are in addition to the