194 SECRETS OF SHAMANISM
to her chest, and from there over her head and then
around the rest of herself. Next she carried the bowl
around the room, letting the sage smoke drift to all areas,
especially the eight corners of the room where the air
tended to get particularly stale.
Despite the thickness and smell of the smoke, Marian
suddenly felt that she could breathe again. Breathing the
sage-scented air deeply,^she felt her body relax. Thank
you Sage for your cleansing powers, she thought. Her
living room was now livable again.
Rituals and ceremonies are ancient shamanic forms prac-
ticed cross-culturally to access power and honor the spirit
world. For shamans, rituals are a way of bridging the spirit
world with the world of ordinary reality. They make use of
ordinary elements of nature: sage and herbs, fire, crystals,
the six directions, circles and other natural phenomena. All
the senses are employed in rituals or ceremonies to en-
rich the experience and to raise its power to shift, transform,
and create change.
When shamans want to manifest power, they do so ritual-
istically and ceremonially. Through ritual, they are reminded
of the important source of power in the spirit world and the
shamanic perspective they need to remember to keep. The
ritual helps them remember to ask for what they want. It acts
as a kind of focus where they can articulate their goal, ask for
assistance with it, sense connection with the web of power,
and surrender old agendas for new results.
Let us look for a moment at the common ingredients
found in rituals and ceremonies throughout the world of sha-
manism. Most of these elements can be found in modern-day
ceremonies actually based on ancient shamanic practices.
Consider the opening ceremonies of sports events or the
pomp and circumstance of graduations, political events, and
international summits. Observe the rituals of any religious
service or holiday festivity. Although, ceremonially speaking,
they are often watered down, these events still have most of
the ingredients listed below.
Both rituals and ceremonies are characterized by:
- Invoking the power of sound such as music, drumming,
rattling, singing, and chanting.
- Invoking the power of motion such as gestures, postures,
hand movements, and dancing.
