Secrets of Shamanism

(^26) SECRETS OF SHAMANISM
time. If this is difficult for you, focus first on one, then add
the others one at a time.

Exercise #1: The Steps

1. Close your eyes and relax.


2. Explore your surroundings using your sense of
   touch.


3. Listen to all the sounds around you.


4. Notice the different smells around you.


5. Notice all three senses at the same time.

Exercise #2: A Synopsis

For the sense of taste, it is not necessary to be outside.

Your home, office, or anywhere else will do. This exercise

works best with a piece of fruit. So choose a piece of fruit—

for example, a pear. Then close your eyes and feel the fruit

with your hands. Feel the texture and temperature. Smell the

fruit and begin to eat it. Focus on the sense of taste while

eating. Notice your sense of hearing as well.

Exercise #2: The Steps

1. Choose a fruit.


2. Close your eyes. Feel the fruit.


3. Smell and begin to eat the fruit.


4. Focus on the sense of taste.

These exercises are designed to be done in a short amount
of time and just about anywhere. In doing them you increase
your capabilities to enrich your visualizations and make them
more powerful.

The sense of sight is the one most commonly used in
creating mental images. When you are told to imagine an
object, that object probably comes up as a visual mental pic-
ture. In shamanic visioning pictures make up the base that is
then built up and filled out using the other senses. Therefore
you must be able to "see" your image before you can begin
to round it out.
For shamans not only is the shape or form of a visual
image important but also the frequency at which the energy