The Return

SoulCollage card I created before my Vision Quest 
(yep...that's me in the drivers seat) 

Returning from journeys out into the world can be challenging. Being out on the open road, exploring foreign lands, and being alone in wild nature offers a sense of newness in everything; a permissioning of expansion into the Now Adventure. 

Returning home from a Vision Quest is an interesting loop around in the spiral.  We move forward then come back. We are changed and new, then put back into old to cultivate transformation. 

Coming back from a Shamanic Journey is similar. There is such a visceral and ethereal understanding that emerges when we do journey work; inspiration and soul stirring messages infiltrate the core of being and ignite the Aliveness of Now.

Returning home from these types of adventures can be disorientating. Our return holds up a mirror to see forms and constructs we have created with our life. Often times, the life we return to seems limiting, restrictive, flat, boring. We may find ourselves slipping back into old ways, writing off journey expiernaces as memories to simply reminisce about.

The Return is an important part of the Hero's Journey. On Vision Quests and Shamanic Journeys you are provided a magical potion; one that must be consumed, digested, and metabolized for its full effects to take place. Journey work calls us to bring what we discover on our journeys back into our daily living, back into our communities and how we relate with others, and into living our soul service to the world. 

This week I honored my return with ecstatic dance at Rhythm Sanctuary. Before entering, I gazed up at the starry sky, remembering my relationship to them on my recent journey. Deepening my gaze, I expanded into the space between the stars, breathing in the Great Dark Void and the expansion this space encourages in me.  

SoulCollage card I created to capture 
the experience I had
on my journey and in my dance. 
Potent Medicine. 

Learn how to make SoulCollage cards
to honor life experiences and understandings 
Intro to SoulCollage Playshop 
Denver, CO  More Info 

My dance begins. Embodying the Great Dark Void 

I expand in all directions, into no-thing-ness. To Be. 

My aura reaches out in all directions 

To touch stars around me, my fellow dancers

made of star dust and cosmic wisdom, are radiating 

Swirling through the universe at their own velocity.

I connect with other, a universe of sacred brother. 

Body to body we move through cosmic void 

Expanding and reaching out towards one another. 

His front body pressed to my back 

Our arms up-stretched, eyes closed, 

Breath Connected, Hearts Open, We Expand.

Then BAM...another universe merges with us. 

The fullness of another presses up against me. 
I am a star between two universes. 
We stay open. We Expand. We Breathe. 
Our stars pour into one another. 
A new universe is created through our dance
We engage in ecstasy
These two men and me. 

They lift me over their heads

I am spinning around shoulders. 

4 man hands support me. 

The Dark Void encourages me to stay open. 
It feels good to be supported by strong men
that love me. At one point, my mind kicked in, 
Fear of falling....I hesitate; 
He says, “I’ve got you” 

What a wonderful thing to hear from the universe. 

My abdomen rips open and so much joy spills out. 

I start laughing. 

I pulsate with gratitude. 

What A Beautiful Return. 

Shamanic Journey to the Upper World

Me; Expanding Into the Cosmos

Last night I went on a Shamanic Journey into the Upper World. It took me a while to get there. I tried going up in a tornado. I tried jumping up on cloud trampolines. I kept trying to find ways up, with my mind of course. 

Then, a spiral vortex grabbed me by the back of my body and pulled me up through a time-warp of space, moving fast through the swirling cosmos..then boom, it released me and I was floating in the stars. 

I asked my spirit guide to appear. I was excited to meet my guide in the Upper World, a wisdom force to support me in my journey and offer guidance as I traveled through the unknown. 

All that greeted me was the dark void of space. That did not seem right. How can the dark void of space be my teacher? I explored that question for a while, then realized how small I felt. All this room to move around in and I was still retaining my contracted smallness of the ordinary world. 

Then a worm hole grabbed me by the back of my head and pulled me backward through another portal. I was released into a deeper realm of cosmos with instruction to open up in all directions. The void informed me there was plenty of room between the stars surrounding me to expand. 

Release Constrictions. Expand in all Directions.  Take up Space with Being. 

I relaxed tension in my head, thoughts and mind, and felt my cranium expanding in all directions. There was still so much space between me and the stars. There was freedom to open up. It felt good. 

As soon as things started to get comfortable, another worm hole grabbed me, this time by the back of the neck. It pulled me through another portal and once again, the void of space released me into a field of stars with instructions to expand. I open my throat in all directions, a bit tentatively at first. This is a place of a lot of wounding for me. Songs, stories and fears stuck in my throat started to loosen.  There were stars all around me, cosmic light beings serving as beacons for my expansion. 

"Open up till you reach us" they encouraged. "There is so much space here for you to expand". 

One of my SoulCollage creations. 
Although I did not create this card from 
this Upper World experience, it shows the cosmos
in an inspirational way and supports 
an essence of this journey in visual form. 

Another worm hole grabbed me from behind, this time by the back of my heart, pulling me through a portal, releasing me into a wider realm of space with instructions to expand. I opened my torso in all directions, feeling constrictions between my ribs and vertebrae soften and release. I found myself taking up more space with my breath, finding that I was actually being breathed by the cosmos. 

This process continued throughout my journey; a worm hole grabbing me by some part of my back body, moving me through portals and depositing me with expansion instructions. 

The stars were there to witness the whole thing!!!!

The further down my body this process went, the harder it was for me to expand, especially in the pelvic region. The void taught me there is still so much healing for me to do in this area of my being. 

The starts twinkled for me. My teacher, The Great Void reminded me to take up space, to expand into the ether of all and allow the circumference of being to open outward into the expansive space of cosmos. I bowed in gratitude, offered a deep breath of gratitude to my new resources, and gently floated down to earth and into a deep sleep. 

Soulful Pondering's

• What is your relationship to the stars? 
• What does The Great Void have to teach you? 
• What constructions are held in your BodyMind? How can you release them? 
• How can you open up and take up more space with being? 

SoulCollage creation by Raven Shree 

Vision Questing

My spot along the Rio Grande River;
Truth or Consequences, NM
Hawks lived in the cliff walls.
They brought deep medicine to my journey. 

I’m often asked, “What do you do on a Vision Quest?” 
My response: “Well....it’s different each time.” 
However, there are 3 parts of a quest for me; 
the preparation, the quest, and the integration. 

When I head out into the wild for a Vision Quest, I usually have some inspirations already seeded in my soul. I do an Oracle reading before my trip, which offers me metaphors for contemplation. I almost always have SoulCollage cards, and most often a chakra theme I’m exploring.  All of these inputs fuel my journey, weaving together in unique and powerful ways to guide and support me at my location.  

When I get to the location for my quest, the spirit of place informs and guides me through my journey. The rituals I co-create with the space are inspired by terrain, weather, animals that show up, and the play of light and shadow as I move through day and night.    

This year, on my drive to southern New Mexico I had several experiences that activated energies within me, adding contemplations for my quest.  

I love to create altars;
in my home, in nature, in my car.
They are prayers that honor
 Passage, Inspiration, Hope.
They help me stand in the light
and see my shadow.
Bringing all pieces together
into wholeness. 

A I drove to my location read Bill Plotkins book “Wild Mind”  and began to embody the archetypal force of the Nurturing Generative Parent and naming my Loyal Soldiers. This expansion of archetypal energies in my being ripped me open, activated emotions, and primed me for my arrival in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. 

Once I landed in my location along the Rio Grande River,  an altar started to take shape, bringing forces brewing inside of me out into visual form. As I created my altar, the hawks that lived in the cliffs soared overhead. They became a vital part of my experience, leading me on journeys along the river as they hunted and sang with one another. 

I Cried. Journaled. Did Yoga. Laughed. Danced. 
Talked to the Cliffs. Walked. Slept. Prayed. Listened. Created Intention Flags. Drew. Read. Meditated. Sang. 
Crawled on my belly. Honored Bones. Gave Offerings. 

As I return home, and integrate lessons from the trip, I create altars around my house, journal and write blogs, the keep the energy alive and activated in my daily living. 
Creating SoulCollage cards around what shows up is an essential part of my Vision Questing integration process.

• How can you get out into the wild for your own Vision Quest? 
• Even if it only for a day, how can you get out into nature, for soul time? 
• Find a location that calls to you, sit there, and apprentice to the lessons of nature. 
• Enter into relationship with the land.  
• What animals show up as companions for inspiration? 
• What laughters want to ride the wind? What tears does the ground want to soak up? 
• Schedule time for your Winter Vision Quest... Your Soul is Yearning...

SoulCollage card I created before my Winter Vision Quest. 

New Year Oracle

To honor the New Year, 

I enter the Shamans Cave
with a 3 card Oracle reading. 

Each card offers a perspective 

for me to explore 
during the 3 months of Winter.  
January. February. March. 

One of my favorite decks; 
The Psychic Tarot

The first card in my spread, 
guidance for the month of January

shows me walking a thin stone bridge, 

over a deep, dark canyon, 

with a river flowing at the bottom. 

The bridge is missing a section...

and that missing section 
is right in front of me. 

There is only one step 

between me & the other side. 

Surrounding the chasm is a red circle, 

This is where I face fear. 

Fear #1: Leaping 

Fear #2: Standing Still 

Etched into the stone pathway, 

on the edge where I stand,  

is an image of a bird 
with wings outspread;  

 indicating movement, flight, capability.  
A reminder of the vows and intentions 
of my living model
from my totem & namesake Raven. 

This card calls me to face fear, 
...and I have lots of it. 

Fear of Pain. Fear of Death. 

Fear of Stagnation.
Fear of Chocking. 
The list goes on ... 

This card says, "yes, you have fear....

What are you going to do about it? 

What strength do you have to leap anyway? 

What courage do you have to fly? 

You may make it. You may not. 

Both options are possible.  

However, standing still 
is no longer an option. 
Move forward. 

Me crossing a bridge; Sedona, AZ

Ponderings for Action 

- What leaps are calling you to the edge of preparation? 

- What inner principle can you engage to support you 

through your fears into wider realms of courage?