Wales on LSD

Below is part of a poem by the American poet Allen Ginsberg, written on LSD, while on a visit to the Llanthony Valley Wales in 1967. A rainy Wales could seem a bit miserable, but you can feel the magnificence and ecstasy in his vision. On my recent experience of the stuff, I didn't write poetry: I did my psychonaut thing under the duvet, which was glorious in its own way :)

White fog lifting & falling on mountain-brow

Trees moving in rivers of wind

The clouds arise

as on a wave, gigantic eddy lifting mist

above teeming ferns exquisitely swayed

along a green crag

glimpsed thru mullioned glass in valley rain.

All the Valley quivered, one extended motion, wind

undulating on mossy hills

a giant wash that sank white fog delicately down red runnels

on the mountainside

whose leaf-branch tendrils moved asway

in granitic undertow down—

and lifted the floating Nebulous upward, and lifted the arms of the trees

and lifted the grasses an instant in balance

and lifted the lambs to hold still

and lifted the green of the hill, in one solemn wave

THE BATTLE AGAINST 'TERMINATION'

Louise Erdrich writes on Native American themes, and is of Ojibwe descent. She is one of my favourite novelists. She combines the nitty gritty of daily life on the reservation, with a closeness to her characters, endless original storylines, magical events and an exploration of some of the bigger themes around being native. Very few novelists have this range of gifts. And she keeps producing a new novel every year or two, often being convinced in the interim that she will never write again.

The bigger theme in the Night Watchman (which won this year's Pulitzer Prize) is the 'termination' of many of the tribes that was taking place in the 50s and 60s, and the successful attempt by her grandfather Patrick Gourneau to petition Congress to put an end to one such attempt at 'termination': it would have taken away all their special rights and protections, and resulted in them losing their land and ending up scattered in the cities. To illustrate what was at stake, Erdrich describes particularly vividly the lives and stories of 2 families on the reservation who, for all their poverty, are very close knit in a way that we whiteys can hardly conceive of: rather, it resonates deeply as something we have lost.

The policy of piecemeal 'termination' (which suited financial interests) decimated 113 tribes. In 1970 Richard Nixon called for an end to it (I like it when right-wingers do liberal things, it messes with our heads 😅). As Erdrich says, "Five years later, a new era of self-determination for Native people began. Indian rights conflicts made their way through the court system, building Native sovereignty, case upon hard-won case."

ESOTERIC SHAMANISM

Any teacher will tell you that Shamanism isn't a religion. Except that it is. In its essence, of course, it isn't. It is about our own direct connection to Spirit/the Spirits. But that is true for any religion. In its essence, any religion is about that direct connection to whatever is seen as of ultimate value in the universe.

"Humankind cannot bear very much reality," as TS Eliot said. Yes, we can take a bit of Spirit. But only so much. We want our solid ground and our certainties, mainly in the form of the teachers and the teachings. Look what happens when an indigenous teacher walks into the room: almost universal deference. We all start behaving a bit differently.

Now I'm not complaining about this. It takes a long time to own your own East (Spirit), out of which we can work on the Shadow (South). Religion is the route in for many of us. And I reckon it's always been like this. Every religion has produced its 'heretics' (a word meaning 'free') who talk to God or whatever directly, and whose source of authority is no longer the teachers and holy teachings. Christianity has had them, Islam has its Sufis, Buddhism has its yogis and forest saints. They are the guys with the real power and inspiration, and their sayings may last, but they often have a tricky relationship with the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

We have the same kind of thing. If you say that such and such an established teacher made up their memoir, or that so-and-so is a pompous git who is always pulling rank, or that we shouldn't defer to indigenous people, you are liable to get slated for it in certain contexts, and even expelled. You gotta leave the holy people alone, people need them there. It was part of my impulse behind starting this group: I wanted somewhere I could speak such things.

I expect shamanism-as-religion always to be the majority thing. As I said, it's often our way in. It has been for me, to a degree. Such shamanism is exoteric: it is about that which can be spoken and followed. And I expect most people to deny that is what they are doing: everyone thinks they are metaphysically autonomous.

The essence of any path is esoteric, it is inner and ineffable. Esoteric Shamanism, which relies solely on one's own connection to Spirit, which re-makes for itself all it has been taught, and which sees through all the holy bull, will always be a minority pursuit. It cannot be organised. It can be a lonely place. It involves being truthful to who you are, at all times, in a deep way that is prepared to take risks and sometimes to be unpopular. But others pick up on that truthfulness, which has a natural and free quality, and move towards it in themselves. This is the esoteric teaching that is energetic, wordless.

There are two emphases I would like to see more of in our Shamanism, that will move it in an esoteric - or more real - direction, but I don't expect miracles:

(1) Don't think that it is indigenous people that have got the goods, and that ours are lesser by comparison. Don't even compare. Yes, learn from and respect indigenous teachers where they merit it, and not all of them do. But we need to make this earth-path our own, and to make our own contributions to it. There is a place for passing on what you have been taught: but even better is taking the years necessary to embody those teachings. Then you become your own tradition, you have the real goods.

(2) There is too much nonsense and ego in many of our teachers. The real qualification to be any kind of teacher or healer is not the courses you have done, but the relationship you have built with Spirit, probably over decades. It is a slow thing, and too many people are in a hurry to be a teacher or a healer. And then it becomes who they are. And then you get a mess, and yes that is often how students also learn, by our example of how not to do it.

I taught Buddhism then Shamanism between the ages of 28 and 47. I did OK, but as time went on, I became increasingly aware that I didn't really know what I was teaching, so I stopped. And spent 15 years waking up in new ways, and doing shadow work. Now I feel I have a solid basis. I know, within a certain range, what I am talking about. But that is just my story; like anything, it doesn't do to be too prescriptive.

MEDICINE WHEEL IMMERSION

MEDICINE WHEEL IMMERSION

A 5-Day Retreat in the wilds of North Wales with Barry Goddard and Emma Edgington. 14th-19th Sept 2021

Over the main 4 full days we shall be immersing ourselves in the Elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air: Initiation, Healing, Incarnation and Wisdom.

Aligned on the Wheel with East, South, West and North, the Elements show us who we are, and how to live in a balanced way. Simple and immediate to our experience, yet containing the whole universe.

We will be connecting with the Elements and the Spirits through circle work, journeying, ritual and ceremony. There will be plenty of free time to dream, and to explore the magical and jaw-droppingly beautiful eco-retreat that is Cae Mabon, a fairy-tale village hanging on a steep hillside, with stunning views across to Snowdon.

Barry Goddard lives on Dartmoor, and is in the process of having his books on the Medicine Wheel and on Astrology published in early 2022.

Emma Edgington lives near London where she teaches shamanic journeying and healing and is the creative director at Knowing Healing Hub.

Prices vary from £279-£349 p/p with the option to camp or book shared accommodation. A 50% deposit is required to assure your booking. Prices include food and accommodation.

For all enquiries and bookings please email Emma at emmaknowing@outlook.com

THE BEST WAY TO BE A TEACHER

I was watching a guy on Youtube a while back, who opens his latest book with the statement, "I am a Shaman." Well that's a dead give-away. But anyway, he talks about the shadow, and more than once owns up to having one himself. Thank heavens for that 🤣 But that is an easy thing to say, if you are not specific about it, and why would you even think it necessary to say something like that?

And this leads on to my main point: I think the best type of teacher is one who talks quite straightforwardly about themselves as part of whatever it is they are teaching. It can be a natural temptation to think you have a responsibility to set some sort of example. I guess that is true, but only if it includes being open, in a specific way, about the usual human difficulties that we all struggle with. The self-doubt, the guilt, the anger, the anxiety, the grief, the envy towards other teachers. And all this in a spirit of self-observation rather than judgement.

You do people a great service, if you are the teacher, when you can include quite naturally all this sort of stuff about yourself, in a specific way. It is saying to people look this path is not about becoming a higher being, it is about being true to yourself in an open and everyday way. There is nowhere else to go. This is about the most powerful teaching there is, and it is dead normal. But also extraordinary.