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by Evelyn Rysdyk
Last June, our Nepalese shaman friend, Bhola Banstola facilitated a ritual that used offerings of gratitude to clear the body of disturbances on seven levels. The ceremony involved the creation of a mandala on a cloth. The mandala was created using a mixture of white corm meal and sanctified, powdered pigment.
Here are photos of Bhola creating the symbol:
The mandala has elements that represent the guardian spirits in the four directions, the realms of the Upper, Middle and Lower worlds, and the trident of the god, Shiva. The intent of the image is to represent a "map" of the sacred cosmos. This "map" becomes the playing board/offering table for the ritual which will follow.
Once completed, the mandala is decorated with flowers. This has the effect of making it more attractive to spirit and thereby strengthening it's power.
To fully potentialize the image's power for the ritual, the shaman dances around it while singing ritual songs. He asks that the image actually becomes what it represents. Once it has been the sanctified, the mandala functions as a kind of two-way radio taking our prayers to the realms of the spirits and bestowing blessings in our reality.
What follows is each person transferring their "illnesses" or disturbances into the mandala by making an prayer offering for each of the seven levels. The offering is a small handful of the seven sacred grains. A person transfers their "illnesses" or disturbances into the grain through prayer and song. The grain is then placed onto the mandala image.
The seven levels are as follows:
- The first level of transference and healing is concentrated on the physical internal organs of the body such as the heart, liver, kidneys, stomach, lungs, etc.
- The second level of transference and healing is for the external organs like the skin, eyes, hair, nails, etc.
- The third level of transference and healing is for interpersonal relationships within the family.
- The fourth level of transference and healing is for interpersonal relationships at work and in the community.
- The fifth level of transference and healing is for creating harmony and balance between the five gross elements of Nature which have created our body and the Universe. Any imbalances between these elements can cause illness in both the physical and spiritual planes. This level is useful for healing issues relating to food and to environmental allergies.
- The sixth level of transference and healing is for recognizing and diminishing unbeneficial past experiences and their resulting emotions of fear, anger, sorrow and suffering.
- The seventh level of transference and healing deals with the realignment of negative planetary influences which could be manifesting as illnesses in the physical, spiritual or emotional body.
The participants then make offerings of thanksgiving in the same manner as follows:
- The eighth offering to the mandala is one of thanksgiving to the helping spirits, guides, ancestors, family, friends and community.
- The ninth offering to the mandala is to receive blessings and grace. The participants visualize receiving healing energy from the universe in the form of golden rays of light entering into their bodies and expanding outwards. At this point, the shaman sings the songs of peace, harmony, tranquility, and longevity.
Once the ceremony is completed, the shaman "closes" the mandala by smudging the image and then gathers the cloth inwards so that tit make s pouch for the grain. The shaman then securely ties the resulting bundle with the ends of the cloth.
This bundle is typically released into a body of flowing water such as a roaring river.
Ritual work is a part of the Spirit Passages Two-year Apprenticeship. To find out more, go to: www.spiritpassages.org and click on the "Training" section for details and application information. For those of you who are interested in experiencing time with Bhola, he'll be in Maine again this June.- Editors.
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Evelyn C. Rysdyk, author of Modern Shamanic Living is a nationally recognized presenter. Included in the book Traveling Between the Worlds she is among the world’s most influential writers and teachers of shamanism.
Originally trained in core shamanism, she has integrated practices taught to her by elders from North and South America, Central Asia, Nepal and Siberia. She is also a Medicine for the Earth Teacher--teaching ways that transfigured human energy can heal our planet.
With her partner C. Allie Knowlton, MSW, LCSW, DCSW she presents
eco-spiritually focused training programs--which include advanced shamanism and shamanic healing---across the USA and Canada. In addition, as a founding member of True North, a unique, integrated medical center in Falmouth, Maine--she collaborates with physicians, nurses, a psychiatrist, a naturopath and several other complementary healthcare practitioners to provide a new model of health care that includes Spirit.
www.spiritpassages.org
www.spiritliving.org
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