Chapter Twelve – Entheogenic Dreams

Along with the shamans and animals, came the dreams of the plants. In waking life I have only ever taken two entheogens, ayahuasca and amanita muscaria, but in the dream state I encounter not only these but many other plant teachers. Often I will enter into communion with the plant, which leads to an altered […]

Chapter Eleven – 11:11, DNA and the Rainbow Bridge

‘The potent essence of creativity, the kundalini fire fused into streams of pulsating light that rippled up and down their bodies like flames in a raging burning forest, tidal waves of energy -snakes of living light. Cascading rainbows of photons swirled around and out of their heads in unimaginable radiance.’ Susan Ferguson The central thesis […]

Chapter Ten – Trail of Spirit

During my first ayahuasca retreat I made everyone laugh when I came out of mareado and declared, I have awoken with strange devotion to Shiva! I didn’t understand why ayahuasca was repeatedly taking me to Shiva, as I had no real affinity with, or knowledge of this deity. Now I see more clearly. Shiva wears […]

Chapter Nine – First Drum

‘…the shaman drum comes to us by the destiny of the spirits…’ Sarangerel Upon returning to Europe I adhered strictly to the post dieta restrictions and ayahuasca continued to do her work, bringing me slowly towards a more shamanic state of being and I began to have dreams of drums and drumming. […]

Chapter Eight – Ayahuasca

There are certain conditions that western medicine seems ill-equipped to deal with, as very often the symptoms are treated but not the cause. Within our own family we found ourselves with a life or death situation on our hands, urgent healing was needed and conventional approaches had failed miserably. One thing that comes […]

Chapter Seven – Mother

I was some years into my spiritual awakening when my mother died. I would have loved to share with her my experiences, I felt she would have perhaps understood, but she was seriously ill and I didn’t want to burden her. She died a long and terrible death from emphysema. She had been […]

Chapter Six – Strange Initiations

About a year after the initial awakening, I went outside one night to admire the stars. We live high on a plateau with zero light pollution and are blessed with some magnificent night skies. I was standing in a field equidistant between two trees that grew on each side opposite each other. […]

Chapter Five – The Spirits of the Soul

Interspersing these repetitive snake and spider dreams the power animals began to come. They are the essential companions of the shaman and one of the ways in which shamanism differs from all other spiritual modalities. As non-human intelligences with their own individual existence and purpose, they are, ultimately, like the cosmic aspect […]

Chapter Four – Snakes and the Web of Oneness

Surrender to the song, surrender to the way of God, surrender to Kundalini. Mantra received in a dream. With me, there have been two main avatars of kundalini Shakti, the snake and the spider. Broadly speaking, they represent the two aspects of the power described by Gopi Krishna. The snake may be […]

Chapter Three – Kundalini and Shamanism

It is in India that the phenomena of kundalini awakening has been observed, preserved and most clearly elucidated. It is therefore not surprising that India should produce one of the most eloquent authors on the subject, Gopi Krishna. His simple definitions of kundalini remain the best, ‘Kundalini is the super-intelligent Energy behind consciousness.’ 1 […]