JOSE ATID LENA STEVENS 21nary reality and the spirit world that was so available in
childhood. Shamanic techniques rely on childhood skills.
Specific visioning techniques are an integral part of the jour-
ney process. By exercising your imagination, you will be pre-
paring yourself for using "shamanic vision" in the powerful
journey method.
All of us have had experience with some form of vision-
ing. For example, you may have daydreamed about an up-
coming family vacation during a boring business meeting, or
planned the scrumptious dinner you wished to serve for a
romantic evening at home. In "daydreaming" two types of
visioning can take place: passive and active. The passive
form truly requires you to allow whatever thoughts and
images you have to flow as in a dream. The active form, on
the other hand, requires conscious thinking and manipula-
tion of images.
Unlike many goal-setting and problem-solving tech-
niques, visioning includes both active and passive forms of
imaginative "daydreaming" or visualization. You must first
actively focus on your question, problem or goal, be able to
clearly "see," sense, and feel it, and then be receptive to the
answer or guidance given.
Detachment and Surrender
Since shamanism is based on sensitivity and listening, the
aspects of detachment and surrender play important roles in
the success of any shamanic process. Coming up with a satis-
factory solution to a problem while in the midst of an in-
tense, emotional feeling about the problem itself is most
difficult. Your intense emotional identification with a situa-
tion keeps you attached to it in such a way that the changes
needed to bring about a result cannot be made. When you
are heavily identified with your problem via these emotions,
the result is a blockage of energy that stops progress toward
your goal. Usually with time the emotional intensity fades
and you can continue on your way. Thus the old saying
"Sleep on it, things will look brighter in the morning" has a
ring of truth to it, since your sleep state requires a surrender
to the dream or spirit world.
This state of surrender is also important when it comes to
goal setting and creating things or situations that you want.
A great emotional attachment to these wishes can actually
keep them from manifesting. You have heard that the
"watched pot never boils." The same can be true for a desire
you are too attached to. Often this is the case in dealing with