The Shamanic Journey: Drumming Your Way to Non-Ordinary Reality
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BY NICOLE LAU
The shamanic journey is the heartbeat of shamanism. It's the method by which shamans have traveled to non-ordinary reality for tens of thousands of yearsβnot through drugs or extreme practices, but through the simple, profound technology of the drum.
The drum is the shaman's horse, the vehicle that carries consciousness beyond the ordinary world into the realms of spirit, where healing, wisdom, and power await.
This is your guide to the shamanic journey: how to drum your way into non-ordinary reality and return with gifts for yourself and your community.
What Is the Shamanic Journey?
The shamanic journey is a method of entering an altered state of consciousness (the Shamanic State of Consciousness or SSC) to:
- Travel to non-ordinary reality (the spirit world)
- Meet and work with spirit allies (power animals, guides, teachers)
- Retrieve information, healing, or power
- Perform spiritual work (soul retrieval, extraction, divination)
- Return to ordinary reality with what you've received
Unlike meditation (which often seeks stillness), the journey is active, dynamic, and experiential. You're not just observingβyou're traveling, interacting, doing.
The Science of the Drum
Why Drumming Works
Rhythmic drumming at 4-7 beats per second (theta brainwave frequency) induces a trance state by:
- Entraining brainwaves: The brain synchronizes with the drum's rhythm
- Shifting from beta to theta: From waking consciousness to trance/dream state
- Activating the right hemisphere: Intuitive, non-linear, imaginal thinking
- Reducing left-brain chatter: The analytical mind quiets
- Creating a sonic container: The drum holds you in the journey space
Research Findings
Studies show that shamanic drumming:
- Produces theta brainwaves (4-7 Hz) associated with deep meditation and REM sleep
- Increases coherence between brain hemispheres
- Releases endorphins and creates mild euphoria
- Reduces stress hormones
- Enhances visualization and imagination
The drum is a technologyβancient, effective, and accessible to anyone.
Preparing for Your Journey
Set Your Intention
Before every journey, know WHY you're going:
- To meet your power animal
- To ask a specific question
- To receive healing
- To retrieve lost power or soul parts
- To meet a teacher or guide
- To explore a specific realm
Clear intention focuses the journey and helps you remember what you experience.
Create Sacred Space
- Choose a quiet place where you won't be disturbed
- Dim the lights or use an eye mask
- Smudge or cleanse the space (sage, palo santo, incense)
- Set up an altar (optional but helpful)
- Have water nearby for grounding after
- Prepare your journal to record the journey immediately after
Choose Your Method
Live drumming: If you have a drum, drum for yourself (challenging for beginners)
Recorded drumming: Use a shamanic journey recording (easiest for beginners)
Partner drumming: Have someone drum for you
Rattle: Can be used instead of or with drumming
Most beginners use recorded drumming tracks (15-30 minutes with a callback signal).
The Journey Process: Step by Step
Step 1: Lie Down and Relax
- Lie on your back, arms at sides or on belly
- Cover your eyes (eye mask or cloth)
- Take several deep breaths
- State your intention aloud or silently
- Relax your body completely
Step 2: Start the Drumming
- Begin the drumming track or have your partner start
- Let the rhythm wash over you
- Don't try to force anythingβjust listen and relax
- The drum will carry you
Step 3: Find Your Portal
Visualize an opening in the earth or a passage to another realm:
- A hole in the ground, cave, or hollow tree (for Lower World)
- A ladder, mountain, or beam of light (for Upper World)
- A doorway, mist, or familiar landscape (for Middle World)
Your portal can be:
- A real place you know (a tree in your backyard, a cave you've visited)
- An imagined place that feels right
- Something that appears spontaneously
Use the same portal each timeβit becomes your reliable gateway.
Step 4: Enter and Travel
- Step or fall into the portal
- Move through a tunnel or passage (you might see colors, lights, geometric patterns)
- Emerge into the landscape of the spirit world
- Look aroundβwhat do you see? Forest? Desert? Ocean? Mountains?
Trust what appears. Don't judge or analyzeβjust experience.
Step 5: Meet Your Allies
- Look for beings: Animals, humans, spirits, light beings
- Approach respectfully: Introduce yourself, state your intention
- Ask if they're your ally: "Are you my power animal?" "Are you here to help me?"
- Test them: Ask them to appear four times (a traditional test of authenticity)
- Interact: Ask questions, receive teachings, accept gifts, allow healing
Step 6: Receive the Teaching or Healing
Your allies may:
- Show you visions or symbols
- Speak to you (telepathically or in words)
- Give you objects (feathers, stones, tools)
- Perform healing (blowing energy into you, extracting something, etc.)
- Transform you (merging with you, changing your form)
- Take you to other places
Stay open. Don't force meaningβjust receive.
Step 7: Hear the Callback
- The drumming will change (faster beats or a specific pattern)
- This signals it's time to return
- Thank your allies
- Return the way you came (back through the tunnel/portal)
Step 8: Ground and Return
- Feel yourself back in your body
- Wiggle fingers and toes
- Take deep breaths
- Sit up slowly
- Drink water
- Immediately write down everything you remember
What You Might Experience
Visual Experiences
- Vivid, movie-like visions
- Symbolic images
- Colors, lights, geometric patterns
- Landscapes (forests, deserts, oceans, mountains, otherworldly places)
- Beings (animals, humans, spirits, light beings)
Kinesthetic Experiences
- Sensation of movement (flying, falling, swimming, running)
- Feeling energy in your body
- Temperature changes (heat, cold)
- Tingling, vibration, or pressure
- Merging with animals or spirits
Auditory Experiences
- Voices (your allies speaking)
- Songs or chants
- Animal sounds
- Nature sounds (wind, water, birds)
- Silence (profound, meaningful silence)
Knowing/Intuitive Experiences
- Direct knowing without seeing or hearing
- Sudden insights or understanding
- Feeling the presence of allies without seeing them
- Receiving information telepathically
Common First Journey Experiences
"I Didn't See Anything"
This is common! You might:
- Feel sensations without visuals
- Have a sense of presence without clear images
- Receive information without "seeing" it
Not everyone is visual. Trust other senses. Keep practicing.
"I Think I Just Made It Up"
The shamanic journey uses imagination as the vehicle. The question isn't "Is this real or imagined?" but "Is this meaningful? Does it help?"
The spirits work through imagination. Trust the process.
"I Fell Asleep"
Common in early journeys. Try:
- Sitting up instead of lying down
- Journeying earlier in the day
- Using a louder drumming track
- Setting a stronger intention
"It Was Too Intense"
If the journey feels overwhelming:
- You can always open your eyes and stop
- Call on your power animal for protection
- Return through your portal immediately
- Ground yourself (touch the earth, drink water, eat)
Types of Journeys
Diagnostic Journey
Purpose: To understand the spiritual cause of an issue
Intention: "Show me the spiritual root of [problem]"
Healing Journey
Purpose: To receive healing from spirits
Intention: "I ask for healing for [specific issue]"
Divination Journey
Purpose: To receive guidance or answers
Intention: "What do I need to know about [situation]?"
Power Retrieval Journey
Purpose: To recover lost power or vitality
Intention: "I ask to retrieve my power"
Teaching Journey
Purpose: To learn from spirit teachers
Intention: "I ask to meet a teacher who can help me with [topic]"
Building a Journey Practice
Frequency
- Beginners: 1-2 times per week
- Developing practitioners: 3-4 times per week
- Advanced: Daily or as needed
Duration
- First journeys: 10-15 minutes
- Standard journeys: 15-20 minutes
- Deep work: 30-45 minutes
Journaling
Keep a journey journal. Record:
- Date and time
- Intention
- What you experienced (beings, landscapes, messages)
- Gifts or teachings received
- How you felt
- Any synchronicities or follow-up in ordinary reality
Patterns will emerge over time.
Safety and Ethics
Journey Safely
- Always set clear intention
- Work with your allies (don't journey alone in spirit)
- Respect boundaries (don't intrude where you're not invited)
- Return fully (ground yourself completely)
- Don't journey while impaired (alcohol, drugs)
Ethical Guidelines
- Don't journey for others without permission
- Don't use journeying to manipulate or control
- Respect the spirits (they're not servants)
- Honor what you receive (act on guidance, use gifts wisely)
- Keep sacred things sacred (some teachings are not for sharing)
Troubleshooting
Can't find your portal? Try a different one. Ask your power animal to show you.
Nothing happens? Relax expectations. Try again. It takes practice.
Scary experiences? Call your power animal. Return immediately. Seek support from a teacher.
Can't remember? Write immediately upon return. Details fade fast.
Resources for Journey Work
- Recordings: Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Sandra Ingerman, Michael Harner
- Books: "Shamanic Journeying" by Sandra Ingerman, "The Way of the Shaman" by Michael Harner
- Training: FSS workshops, local shamanic practitioners
- Drums: Frame drums (12-16 inches), buffalo or elk hide
Final Thoughts
The shamanic journey is not escapism. It's not fantasy. It's a technology for accessing non-ordinary realityβa reality that's just as real as this one, and often more healing, more wise, more true.
The drum has been beating for 40,000 years. Shamans across every culture have ridden its rhythm into the spirit world and returned with gifts.
Now it's your turn. The drum is waiting. Your allies are waiting. The journey begins with a single beat.
Will you ride?
Ready to begin your journey practice? Explore our collection of shamanic drums, journey recordings, eye masks, and journey journals to start traveling between worlds.
