Whoa. Say that three times fast!
This was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful sessions I have had in a long time; and will be one of the most difficult to write about. I’ve been practicing Reiki for 6 years now, and occasionally like to blend and merge it with anything and everything else I can find. Reiki is so gentle and supportive, it lends itself wonderfully to just about anything. In this session, I took my spiritual practice of Shamanism, binaural beats, and an Acushakti and blended them with Reiki for a session all its own. That left shoulder stickiness from yesterday’s IET session will rear its head, only to be all but literally lopped off. Please pardon the detours I will need to take to explain just what all went down….
First off, I have been practicing Shamanism for about two years now. Not professionally, but as a means of personal healing and spiritual connection and transformation. Shamanism as described in Wikipedia:
“Shamanism encompasses the belief that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment.”
Shamanism is a cross-cultural phenomena, with many similarities described even though these cultures may have been isolated from each other (is that what life was like before Facebook? We met in alternate reality? Awesome). Yup, it’s some seriously trippy stuff…that I do 100% without the use of hallucinogens. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on people who use these plant helpers with respect, they just aren’t for me. How do I get to these altered states of consciousness (termed “journeys”) you may ask? Through rhythmic drum beats and, most recently, the use of binaural beats sound tracks.
Binaural beats are thought to work by lowering brain frequency to help relax the listener, enabling the them to experience different states of consciousness. Yes-one can achieve altered states of consciousness with the help of sound waves. Here’s a much more science-y/coherent description than I am capable of coming up with myself from this website. There has been some research in regards to how strobing lights can alter consciousness, making it easier to experience psychic phenomena (I’ve seen this in the field of paranormal research), and binaural beats would be the auditory equivalent. In fact, binaural beats are contraindicated in cases of photosensitive epilepsy-that is to say, those who experience seizures related to strobe lights may also have seizures when exposed to binaural beats.
OK, so I go into alternate realities and work with Spirits, Guides, Angels, Totem Animals etc. with the assistance of brain-altering sound waves. (Insert jokes about tin foil hats, strait jackets, and Timothy Leary here-I know you want to.) So, Sabina (who is also my roommate) sets me up on the couch in our livingroom (it’s ripped to shreds and covered with old bed sheets, for awesome hippie effect) atop our other roommate Joy’s Acushakti. An Acushakti is a mat covered in spiky plastic, much like a modern-day bed of nails that rolls up for easy storage. We even places random objects under this mat where that bad shoulder spot I have is, to make it dig in even more. It actually feels great, despite sounding quite horrible. Streaming binaural beats as a sound file from my phone (because I’m an Urban American Shaman of the 21st Century), the hybrid Reiki session begins.
I easily relax, feeling liquid-like, almost floaty, yet grounded and very aware. I began to see a pathway before me, and a Guide led me up to meet my Teacher (Shamans often have a Spirit Animal and a Teacher among many, many other Spirit Helpers on the other side). I saw my body in front of me, very large and oversized, and I started to unwind and untangle the mess of my left shoulder, which appeared like threads knotted up. I had a lot of trouble really getting much done, so I asked my Teacher for help. And that is when the dismemberment began. Yes, dismemberment.
Dismemberment Journeys are often undertaken by Shamans as a means of removing ego of self and body, and to reconnect to source/great spirit/all that is by way of experiencing our physical selves being destroyed. Physical pain is rare, but possible (I’ve not experienced pain in any of my dismemberments…at least not yet). Dismemberment Journeys are another of the cross-cultural similarities in global Shamanism-they were described and practiced by cultures who were isolated from each other. Usually, I experience and hear of the dismemberment being preformed by the Helper Spirit of either Teacher or Power Animal. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is preformed by the Goddess Kali. So, insert your Universal Cosmology here, I guess, but one word of caution for you do-it-at-home Shamans: only do dismemberment journeys in Upper or Lower world, as they are places of pure love and compassion. Also, your Spirit Animal will not merge with you prior to dismemberment, because it doesn’t want to get hacked/pulled/blown apart along with you. But don’t worry, it’s all Love 
The first time I was dismembered was in my Shamanism, Dying and Beyond training with The Foundation for Shamanic Studies. My (Spirit) Teacher asked if I was sure this is what I wanted, and then led me to a wooded area where he went to town on me with a cleaver and a cannon. Yes, I was hacked and blown apart. And when it was all over, that persistent pain I have in my left shoulder? The one that always comes up for me, and IET theorizes is related to my ideas of who I should be? It disappeared almost completely for about 3 weeks. Remember what I said about the dismemberment journey being about separating from ego of self? Isn’t it funny that the first thing my Teacher cut out was that shoulder….
This time, I was helping my Teacher take me apart. About the final blow was Teacher cutting me in half from head to toe with a sword. This was also the first time I has been “remembered”, or put back together, following a dismemberment (it’s fine if you are not remembered, partially membered, or have other items like crystals places where body parts used to be). Although parts of my shoulder were left empty, the majority of my body was fully intact. Following the rememberment, my Teacher said “Come on, we need to teach you something.” I’ll end the story here, because Spirit would rather I not share the rest of the lesson, but suffice to say, the dismemberment journey was helpful in setting myself aside while learning. And I am grateful for it.
That situation in my shoulder? You probably guessed it. It felt-and still feels-a TON better. Thanks, Teacher.
This session, as I mentioned before, was a hodgepodge of healing I pieced together just for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a stand-alone, tried and true Reiki session (and I will document one with my Reiki Teacher Kim Fleisher in 2 more days!), but I also enjoy experimenting. Healing comes in a myriad of forms, some that you can even augment on the fly. Just like a recipe, we all have our own favorite flavors and combinations; and there’s an art to bringing them into harmony. Keep your intentions clear (and always tell a client what you are doing!) and it’s all good.
Following the session, which lasted a half an hour (it took me as long to write down what happened as it did to experience it), I wrapped up with Sabina as only she and I could. Sabina is also into Shamanism, so there is much we can share about these experiences. I feel free to communicate these things with her in a way I often can’t with others. She is a wonderful practitioner of the Healing Arts, an avid explorer of the other realms, and a true friend. It’s no surprise I have this kind of deep experience with her…hence, the name if this blog.
To all of you-thanks for going down the rabbit hole with me. I promise the next post won’t be so..well…crazy
Sabina Trandafir
Special Thanks to Sabina Ana Maria Trandafir for this session. Sabina is a Reiki Practitioner and Teacher, Yoga Instructor, Graphic Designer, Artist, and all around awesome person. You can catch her Yoga classes at Hawthorne Yoga & Reiki on Thursday nights at 8pm (Vinyasa), and at Banyan Yoga & Ayurveda in Elkins Park Monday nights, 5:30pm Beginner’s and 7pm Yoga & Reiki. She’ll also be teaching an upcoming Reiki Level 1 Course at Banyan. It will be a seven session course Saturday, Feb. 19 and continuing Sundays Feb. 20th and 27th, March 3, 10, 17, 24. For details and to enroll, email Sabina at sabinatrandafir@gmail.com.
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