In the Neolithic Shamanism book review thread, Rae'ya suggests;
Well, why not then. So I'll begin by sharing my own understanding of my soul, and where I came to these conclusions. Perhaps our members could offer their own thoughts on the subject, how their awareness of the soul differs, or compares with mine. I'm interested to learn about how other faiths perceive the soul.
My very first introduction to the physiology of the soul was in my earlier wiccan days (by BoS entry on the subject was written in 1998, which means I was in a teen coven and getting my information from a whole manor of different books I could find in the local library. I had little Internet access back then, so had to go on what I could find). I believe this concept came from a yoga manual. Rather than the body being an aspect of the soul, it was presented as being the other way around, that the soul was a layer of our physical body. It called these layers the Physical Body (Annamayakosha or food sheath), the Astral Body (comprised of the pranic sheath, mental sheath and intellectual sheath) and the Causal Body (Karana Sharira or seed body). I clung to this system for many years, and when I was in a position to meet and work with other, more grown up and experiences witches, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this system is pretty common within Wicca, presumably because Gardner drew from various sources, including Eastern influences. In those days, I was already constantly dieting and most probably had an eating disorder, so any work I was doing to strengthen my 3 bodies was probably being negated by the excessive fasting. I didn't have BDD at this time. I think I knew I had an odd face, and I already had a broken jaw from a skateboarding accident, but an ex-girlfriend had told me I had a pixie face, like I was of the fae world, and that made me feel good about my odd appearance.
It was about 6 years later that I started to find inspiration in Anderson feri traditions. These groups are pretty diverse, with some calling themselves shamans (sorry Rae'ya, they don't seem to have gotten your message about using 'shamanist' I'm afraid), and others even calling themselves wiccans. From what I've so far read of Neolithic Shamanism, I'd say AF could well be described as the Celtic equivalent of what they've done with the Nordic faiths. That is, rather than concerning themselves too much with historical accuracy, things are done because 'the spirits told us to do it this way', some aspects, those that Victor Anderson himself learnt with his contact with the spirits, have become a backbone of the traditions (most of which are initiatory with a value on lineage to Victor). Of course, as a non-initiate, I've had to learn from fringe versions, and fill in the gaps the only way an Anderson Feri witch should; by asking the spirits themselves (how accurately I received their messages is another subject of course, although at the time I was much more grounded, stable and spiritually aware than I have been for the last few years. I had allowed my faith to be ridiculed and my self-respect destroyed 5 years ago. I've had to build myself back up from scratch. It's why I'm so inspired by my BoS; it's like the previous version of myself is re-teaching me those things I'd forgotten).
One thing that is common knowledge within these traditions, is the anatomy of the soul. This is now the version I use, and this sadly has no emphasis on the physical body (and yes, come to think of it, it was after this switch that the BDD appeared, although it became much worse after that unfortunate relationship). This too is a 3 part system, although they're not really layered. It begins with the talking self, the part of you that is your every day thoughts and feelings.. the ego.. the intellect. I guess it's basically the astral body. Then there's younger self (often called the fetch). This is a part of me that I couldn't change my belief of. I know my fetch well, and have done for many years now. Some might call the fetch the higher self, she definitely knows much more than I am consciously aware that I know. I use hypnosis, and have recently, after about a year and a half of trial and error, learnt to make effective self-hypnosis recordings (which I'm very excited about!!). My fetch does a lot of work to take these hypnotic suggestions from my conscious mind and allow them to make real changes in my sub-conscious. She is also apparently (although honestly, I don't feel this process personally) responsible for transferring messages from the godself to my conscious mind. Which brings me to the godself (or deep self), which others would argue is the subconscious rather than the fetch. This part of me has become ever more important because of my new concept of deity. Anderson Feri tells us this is located above the head, and in one of the many crazy coincidences, the inner flame meditation that I started using again just as these changes in perception were beginning, has a section where you visualise a ball of light above your head that rains down on you.. it was largely this part that made me realise I have to start using this meditation again. (this meditation was also from a library book btw, called 'Being the Light' By, I think, John Pepper, I've tweeked it a bit of course).
I like the above system. It works for me and it feels tangible enough to trust in it, but it doesn't have the emphasis on the physical body, and I'd like now, to include this too as a part of talking self. After all, you can't talk without a mouth, a tongue, facial muscles and vocal chords can you?
I certainly like the theory, and am willing to explore this idea further. I know something felt instantly right when I read that line in the book. Somehow, I just knew this was somehow the key to overcoming my dysmorphia and loving my 'Brian Froud faerie features' once more. I'm just not entirely sure where to start. I was hoping the book would offer more than just grounding and centering in the Earth section (okay, it does.. but it's all wicca 101 stuff too, it's not like I wasn't already doing those things). Maybe the fact I've started meditating more deliberately every day will help. I might also dust of the old Fellowship of Isis course material and see if there were any lessons in the temple of the Earth that I could revisit.
If I don't engage all 3 aspects of my soul, I just get an imaginary playground. I like it, and I use this aspect of Rotokia even now to unwind and for a bit of escapism. But as we've previously discussed, there was too much of this and not enough deliberate effort to journey. My second world appears to be much deeper, and because there is much less dialogue, it is more image-based, which is more characteristic of my fetch speaking to me. I don't go there more than once or twice a week though, because I won't allow myself to visit while in bed, as this just lends itself to daydreaming, because that's how the bulk of my Rotokia adventures were experienced. I also think that going there sparingly, allows me more time to fully digest the information I receive.
Originally posted by Rae'ya
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My very first introduction to the physiology of the soul was in my earlier wiccan days (by BoS entry on the subject was written in 1998, which means I was in a teen coven and getting my information from a whole manor of different books I could find in the local library. I had little Internet access back then, so had to go on what I could find). I believe this concept came from a yoga manual. Rather than the body being an aspect of the soul, it was presented as being the other way around, that the soul was a layer of our physical body. It called these layers the Physical Body (Annamayakosha or food sheath), the Astral Body (comprised of the pranic sheath, mental sheath and intellectual sheath) and the Causal Body (Karana Sharira or seed body). I clung to this system for many years, and when I was in a position to meet and work with other, more grown up and experiences witches, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this system is pretty common within Wicca, presumably because Gardner drew from various sources, including Eastern influences. In those days, I was already constantly dieting and most probably had an eating disorder, so any work I was doing to strengthen my 3 bodies was probably being negated by the excessive fasting. I didn't have BDD at this time. I think I knew I had an odd face, and I already had a broken jaw from a skateboarding accident, but an ex-girlfriend had told me I had a pixie face, like I was of the fae world, and that made me feel good about my odd appearance.
It was about 6 years later that I started to find inspiration in Anderson feri traditions. These groups are pretty diverse, with some calling themselves shamans (sorry Rae'ya, they don't seem to have gotten your message about using 'shamanist' I'm afraid), and others even calling themselves wiccans. From what I've so far read of Neolithic Shamanism, I'd say AF could well be described as the Celtic equivalent of what they've done with the Nordic faiths. That is, rather than concerning themselves too much with historical accuracy, things are done because 'the spirits told us to do it this way', some aspects, those that Victor Anderson himself learnt with his contact with the spirits, have become a backbone of the traditions (most of which are initiatory with a value on lineage to Victor). Of course, as a non-initiate, I've had to learn from fringe versions, and fill in the gaps the only way an Anderson Feri witch should; by asking the spirits themselves (how accurately I received their messages is another subject of course, although at the time I was much more grounded, stable and spiritually aware than I have been for the last few years. I had allowed my faith to be ridiculed and my self-respect destroyed 5 years ago. I've had to build myself back up from scratch. It's why I'm so inspired by my BoS; it's like the previous version of myself is re-teaching me those things I'd forgotten).
One thing that is common knowledge within these traditions, is the anatomy of the soul. This is now the version I use, and this sadly has no emphasis on the physical body (and yes, come to think of it, it was after this switch that the BDD appeared, although it became much worse after that unfortunate relationship). This too is a 3 part system, although they're not really layered. It begins with the talking self, the part of you that is your every day thoughts and feelings.. the ego.. the intellect. I guess it's basically the astral body. Then there's younger self (often called the fetch). This is a part of me that I couldn't change my belief of. I know my fetch well, and have done for many years now. Some might call the fetch the higher self, she definitely knows much more than I am consciously aware that I know. I use hypnosis, and have recently, after about a year and a half of trial and error, learnt to make effective self-hypnosis recordings (which I'm very excited about!!). My fetch does a lot of work to take these hypnotic suggestions from my conscious mind and allow them to make real changes in my sub-conscious. She is also apparently (although honestly, I don't feel this process personally) responsible for transferring messages from the godself to my conscious mind. Which brings me to the godself (or deep self), which others would argue is the subconscious rather than the fetch. This part of me has become ever more important because of my new concept of deity. Anderson Feri tells us this is located above the head, and in one of the many crazy coincidences, the inner flame meditation that I started using again just as these changes in perception were beginning, has a section where you visualise a ball of light above your head that rains down on you.. it was largely this part that made me realise I have to start using this meditation again. (this meditation was also from a library book btw, called 'Being the Light' By, I think, John Pepper, I've tweeked it a bit of course).
I like the above system. It works for me and it feels tangible enough to trust in it, but it doesn't have the emphasis on the physical body, and I'd like now, to include this too as a part of talking self. After all, you can't talk without a mouth, a tongue, facial muscles and vocal chords can you?
I certainly like the theory, and am willing to explore this idea further. I know something felt instantly right when I read that line in the book. Somehow, I just knew this was somehow the key to overcoming my dysmorphia and loving my 'Brian Froud faerie features' once more. I'm just not entirely sure where to start. I was hoping the book would offer more than just grounding and centering in the Earth section (okay, it does.. but it's all wicca 101 stuff too, it's not like I wasn't already doing those things). Maybe the fact I've started meditating more deliberately every day will help. I might also dust of the old Fellowship of Isis course material and see if there were any lessons in the temple of the Earth that I could revisit.
Originally posted by Rae'ya
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