Medicine Journey: To My Spirit Community

When have you belonged to a community? Think back to your earliest ones—perhaps in elementary, middle, or high school. We often fall into those based on limited options and circumstances. But then…

Recall your first chosen community. Perhaps in college…or when you first left home and ventured out on your own.

• Who were the people in this community?
• What were their characteristics?
• What did this community provide that you hadn’t gotten from earlier ones? Or from your family?
• Or, perhaps, how did this community serve as a “replacement” for what you did get from your family after you left?

I spoke recently with Jane Claire Bradley about this subject for an upcoming episode of The Sober Shaman Podcast.

She described a time, in young adulthood, when she was living on a street with run-down buildings full of musicians, artists, witches, writers, and that ilk. Piled atop each other in close quarters and poor living conditions, they found community and created a haven.

Seeing a light on across the street—from any apartment and even at 3 a.m.—meant she could go out in her pjs and slippers, knock on their door, and connect on their steps over a cup of tea. Putting the world right for a while. Lingering until sunrise.

I get this, and I get this kind of community. For me, it fell into place and I fell into place around the same age. Leaving home. Driving cross country from NY to LA. Them and me—a pack of feral, long-haired, rock-n-roll knuckleheads.

Setting up camp in LA, we shared a house and made it home. We embraced a one-for-all and all-for-one knowing in the bones. The sort that you can only get if you’ve gotten it.

As in Jane’s case, our less-than-ideal living situation was easy to overlook amidst the gifts of living in community. These gifts were Medicine that overpowered unfavorable logistics.

So for You…

• What were the qualities of the people in your first chosen community?
• How was that and how were they Medicine—despite any less than ideal logistics, circumstances, or details?
• Did you lose that community? If so, was it by choice or against your will? Why? Then what?

Take a moment and reflect on anything lost. Have you managed to replace it?

Just for Today

One thing we can do—at any point in our lives and regardless of whether we have a supportive community in everyday, ordinary reality—is to find and receive the Medicine of connection and nurturance from our Community of Spirits.

These spirits—which exist in non-ordinary reality, or the realm of spirit—are waiting for us to join them.

Exactly who are these spirits? Depends. The spirits of your community might be:

• Ancestors—whether from your family or beyond
• Angels
• Saints or other religious figures
• Spirits of a place
• Animal spirits
• Spirits of Nature
• Mythological beings

…to name but a few.

Shamanic Journey to Your Spirit Community

If you’re game, I invite you to press play on the recording below—journeying to the sound of my voice and beat of my drum with the intention of connecting with your Spirit Community.

• Keep this intention in your awareness as you undertake the journey.
• You can allow the first audio below to guide you, as performed at and in the language of addiction treatment centres…or you can take the journey on your own, riding the solo beat of the second audio’s sonic drumming.

Either way:

1. Leave from your place in ordinary reality, whether at home or in Nature.
2. Call upon and meet your helping and compassionate spirits.
3. Follow them up through the barrier to the Upper World, down the tunnel to the Lower World, or into the Middle World—if that’s where you’re led.
4. Once there, repeat your intention to be brought to your Spirit Community.
5. Receive answers to the questions below.
6. When the drums change, this is your cue to come back. Thank everything you’ve seen and done and return the way you came.
7. When the drums change again and announce the end of the journey, send your thanks into the place you left from in ordinary reality, feel yourself fully in your body, give everything a little wiggle, and open your eyes.

Here’s the guided journey, as performed at inpatient addiction treatment centres:

Here’s the recording with just the drums:

On the Journey…

• Look around. What’s this place like? Who’s here?
• Settle in and breathe into it—what’s your feeling in this place?

Then, ask your helping and compassionate spirits:

• Who should I connect with here?
• What’s important for me to know about this community?
• How can this community help me at this time?
• What gifts can I bring to help support this community?
• What can I do back in ordinary reality to support this community?
• How can this community support me back in ordinary reality?

Integration & Application

Once the journey is complete and you’ve returned to ordinary reality, ask:

• Why is this important? Why is this relationship important?
• How does the information you received relate to life and Nature back in ordinary reality?
• How can you turn your gift to your Spirit Community into an ordinary reality ritual?
• How can you honor their gift to you as an ordinary reality ritual?
• How does all this relate to your life now? How can it be applied to specific difficulties, issues, and places of stagnation—supporting you in resolving them?

Now You

If you’d like to share what you received from your journey, please do in the comments. Also feel free to email me directly at Randy@AlchemistRecovery.com.

And if you want more, the The Sober Shaman’s Path of Recovery makes use of guided journeys to reveal information related to addiction and health concerns.

Each of the 52 Lessons—one a week for an entire year—includes its own unique journey. Here are a few that relate to the support received from community:

• Mother & the Divine Feminine
• Communion: Through Her Eyes
• Inheritance
• Your Family Tree
• Ancestors: Your Chosen Lineage

You can go on another journey through the Free Preview with Lesson #8: How Did I Get This Way? While there, you can also check out other lessons in the Program. Hope to see you inside.

With All Good Medicine,
Randal

Copywriting and editing by my wife and partner, Dr. , who shares raw, unfiltered writing about sobriety and soulful living at .