A few weeks ago I drove up to Mammoth Lakes from my home in LA. I brought my drum, my Rapeh, flute and my mesa cloth. These are some of the basic tools that many who practice shamanism often use.
Its a 14 minute hike up through the beautiful woods of Mammoth Crest, and came to my favorite place in the world, my “axis mundi”, a lake called McCleod Lake. Here I sat down to drum and meditate.
My experience was this.
When I let myself sit with the steady beat of the drum and the grounding effect of the Rapeh, I suddenly could dissolve my identity of being Marcus and become the lake itself.
I was the beautiful calm, cold waters, the dark blue green color and the deep stillness of the water.
As the lake I was increasingly aware of the present moment, of the wind combing the surface, of the trees swaying around me, and I realized that I had no story. That there was no person to remember the story of my life. Neither the suffering or the pleasure. There was no more person, just a lake. Nature expressing itself without any story, in pure essence and beauty.
Why am I sharing this? Because I want to show you that there are ways of shamanism that helps us to dissolve the gnawing pain associated with our story and our self importance. Of course there are times in our healing when we need to sit with the trauma that has lodged itself in our bodies, but when we are sitting in meditation with the lake, forest, mountain, the hawk or the bison, allow your consciousness to explore other possible expressions of life.
This feeling of being the lake, or the soaring hawk, or the still rock, lets you release the deep seated identity that we all carry in our daily lives. When we can let go of ourselves and move our attention to other beings or entities we also release all forms of our personal story we may have. This is a beautiful way to experience the oneness of everything that already is and to find freedom from our ingrained sense of self.
So while most of us are caught in our daily worries and toils, going into nature and meditate with Her is a way to commune with the soul of Pachamama herself. When we do we experience the space of no mind. In this space we also get to connect with the inner space of our own inner light and love. This connection within each one of us is the same as the connection we have to Earth Mother and to each other. So by becoming more familiar with our inner state of beauty and stillness, we also grow in our sense of connection to everything that is.
I wish you a beautiful day or evening and that our paths may cross soon. Blessings, Marcus
Here are a few pictures from that day and below a video of the drumming journey. I suggest you put on your headphones and listen in on the drumming. It's a sweet journey.