Shamanic Journey with an Earth Spirit Guide – Wisdom Comes in All Sizes

I had been told I was to make a journey- a shamanic journey, I wasn’t told where, only that I would go down into the Earth, some way or another, to gather information to help me on my path. I was told I would have a helper, of some sort, an Earth Spirit Guide in the form of an earthly creature. What form it would take, again I didn’t know, but I was told that when I met this guide I would know he or she was the one. 

A drum beat began. Trepidation, excitement, curiosity, vulnerability; all these emotions began to race through me, one after the other, as I prepared myself for the unknown. 

I surrendered to the feelings then took a deep breath as they passed and the sound of the drum beat washed over me again.

I found myself on a beautiful sandy beach in a cove surrounded by tall cliffs with rocks at one end and a small peninsula at the other. I walked towards the peninsula, drawn to its harsh edges and deep colours. 

As I walked closer, I noticed a small opening, the entrance to a cave that descended down to who-knows–where. By the entrance to the cave I saw Marie, the elderly Shaman who had helped me on my journey many years ago. She smiled at me as she banged her drum in time with distant drum beat that had followed me, and with a simple look of her eye, invited me to walk into the cave and trust.

As I entered I could see that the cave had a step, or lip, that stopped the high tides from gushing down into it, except where a small channel had been worn into the rock allowing just a trickle of water to flow down into the depths of the Earth. I followed the stream meandering down through the cave, given strength and confidence by the continuous drum beat that bellowed around me. 

As I got further down, the light from the beach began to fade around me and my fear began to rise. I sensed my vulnerability- not knowing where I was or where I would end up… but again the drums called me, or perhaps pushed me, onwards. Either way, I knew in my heart that this was the way I was meant to go and so I accepted the fear and continued forward. 

Soon after I had accepted the feeling and began to trust my feet to keep me on the right path, I saw light appear before me. Faint at first, it became stronger and stronger and eventually, as I rounded a slight bend in the cave, I saw an opening. 

Beyond it was a beautiful expanse of countryside under a blue sky. The cave was not a cave, but a tunnel that had led me, along with the drum beat, to a new land.

I stood in the entrance of the tunnel and looked around to find that the opening had two trees either side of it, standing enormous and proud, strong and healthy. On one side; an old oak, gnarly and winding with age and beauty and on the other; a cedar, dark and powerful, its branches and leaves seeming like stepping stones to the sky.

As I walked out from under the protective branches of the trees that stood sentry to this world, I found myself to be in a land lush with nature, colour and vibrancy.  I saw so many animals, birds and insects, all living with a sense of peace and tranquillity imbued in everything they did and all that was there. I soaked up the beauty in which I found myself, appreciative and joyful to have arrived in such a place. 

The little stream that trickled out of the entrance to the cave joined a small river, which flowed past and round the mountain that I now realised enveloped the tunnel I had just come through. The mountain was huge. Above where I stood, the grassland turned to woodland, heavy with firs and pines until they also thinned out to rocks and a snow-capped peak that touched the sky.

In front of me I saw a verdant pasture with an unlikely array of all sorts of animals roaming around. Horses, cows and deer grazed on the grass, rabbits hopped and skipped by and strangely enough, there was a panda sitting chewing on bamboo, tucked away in a quiet corner! There were even lone tigers and prides of lions sauntering by but I noticed they were all in harmony with the other creatures and, at that moment anyway, had no intention of attacking any of the animals that were their usual prey.

The pasture was nestled next to the river which flowed from a small waterfall surrounded by rocks and moss. I wondered what was beyond the waterfall, I couldn’t see, but I knew it would be another stunning sight.

I walked quietly into the pasture, not wanting to disturb the peace of the place but to connect with the creatures and find my guide. I asked a butterfly that floated by me but she said no, she wasn’t the one. I asked a beautiful spotted horse, the panda and I even had the courage to ask a tiger who had just strolled into my path but no, he said, he wasn’t here to guide me. I then doubted myself, my false self spinning into action; ‘Why am I here? Did I come to the wrong place? Who could be my guide?’ 

As confusion and vulnerability gripped me, that comforting, consistent sound of the drum beat again took me back into to myself and I accepted that this was right. Maybe I just needed a little patience.

So I sat down on the grass and just took it all in, letting my mind wander to the sound of the bird song floating through the air and the chirping of the grasshoppers around my feet.

After some time, I looked round to the small pool under the waterfall and was drawn towards it. A small fish, glistening grey and pink suddenly jumped out of the water with her tail fin flaying back and forth as if she overflowed with happiness. She made my heart leap too, so I asked her with an incredulous giggle: ‘are you my guide?’ and she said ‘yes!’ with a big grin. 

The most joyous fish I had ever seen! So strong was she, so powerful, small, happy and free.

 ‘I can be anywhere in the world!’ she said, ‘for I flow with the water that connects all things!’ 

She invited me to climb on her back and experience the world from her perspective. This surprised me (just a little!) considering her size but I began to walk towards the water’s edge and as I did so

, I found myself magically shrinking so small that by the time I got to her, I was the perfect size sit on her back! This all happened so spontaneously that I didn’t even have time to question it. It felt strangely natural….right. So I climbed on, held on to her dorsal fin and off we went!

I was amazed when she sped away from the bank with me on her back and then leapt up the waterfall with a great swish of her tail! I held on tight and found myself laughing with glee like a child on a ride at the fair. Then we swam fast upriver against the current, Fish taking me away from the pastures, up the valley, through the forest and finally all the way to the mountain stream.

The beginning of the watery path we had travelled was surrounded by snow and rocks and was icy cold with the meltwater of the glaciers above.  It was beautiful here, the snow all around shining like millions of tiny crystals, the blue of the sky so deep against the pristine white mountain-top bathing in the bright sunlight. 

But it was cold here and Fish had other places to take me. So we turned around and gently flowed with the river water taking us all the way back down, through the rocks, forests and trees. We jumped over the waterfall with a giant leap and floated by the pastures, the animals around taking a quick look as we passed them by, then lowering their heads to continue grazing.  From there we flowed down the river, my heart blown away by the diversity and beauty of the changing lands around me. The river grew and grew the further we went until we found ourselves in a large estuary floating out to the ocean.

As I had travelled down, I knew that was where we were headed, but was not surprised by my feeling of insecurity as we approached the big blue…a part of the planet that I had never really explored and one so immense, so full of life I didn’t know and felt I couldn’t understand. Fish gave me strength, though, her confidence and joy enveloping me like a protective bubble as we moved further and further from the land.

We met with the sea creatures; fish of all kinds and colours, octopus and even a shoal of silky jelly fish pulsing by, but I wasn’t scared. I was surprised at that. I had always found the deep blue to be a scary place for me, being so aware that I was a land animal in a place that I didn’t know. I didn’t have time to think about it, though, while Fish took me on this wondrous ride. There was so much to see! 

We even said ‘Hello!’ to a Shark gliding by and then quickly swam away, laughing together, releasing the fear that had bubbled up inside me. He looked surprised to see us together and yet calm with no ill intent. This world was, indeed, a wondrous place to be!

Soon the deep blue began to turn turquoise as Fish took me to the shallows and told me to take a break on a beautiful pacific beach with glistening white sand, littered with pieces of drift wood and the husks of coconuts which had fallen from the trees that lined the sand. 

On the beach was an indigenous shaman sitting by a fire, drumming the beat for me with a smile on his face. I sat with him and joined his meditative gaze at the ocean as Fish jumped in and out of the turquoise shallows. 

She called out to me: 

‘I am blessed because I live in water and I can flow from one place to the next. I am connected to the trees and the plants and the animals for they drink the water in which I swim. I am connected to the sky as the water evaporates up and forms clouds which traverse the globe and fall again on my back as rain drops when I surface. ‘

I asked the wise fish: ‘What information for my highest good can you give me to help me on my path?’

‘Be like me!’ she said with glee. ‘Revel in your connection to all that is. Be fluid as a fish in a mountain stream. Let your emotions flow and honour them for they are the language of your soul and will guide you to your inner truth if you let them. Know also that you have the strength of the salmon that swims upstream and me as I jump up the waterfall! 

You are so much more powerful than you realise! Trust that when you are truly centred in yourself, the current of life will take you to rich and beautiful lands on a journey of joy and connection.’

I sat with the Shaman smiling next to me, allowing the wisdom of the Fish’s words to sink into my whole being and fill me with the joy she embodied so fully.

After some time, the distant drums called us home as the sun became lower in the sky, so we said goodbye to the Shaman, thanking him for supporting and sharing with us and knowing that the drum beat will always connect us wherever we are.

 I jumped on to Fish’s back and we sped across the ocean, waving goodbye to the sea creatures as we darted past them all the way to the estuary.  We swam up the estuary and forked off into the small river, the waters calming as we made our way toward the tranquil haven of the pasture, which I now felt so attached to, and found ourselves in the babbling waters under the waterfall. I got off Fish’s back, grew again to my true size, as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do, and climbed up the bank.

As I dried off in the warm sunshine, I spent a moment with the land creatures who had gathered around. Horses, cows, dogs, cats - big and small, rabbits and deer, and not forgetting, of course, the peaceful panda! A menagerie of happy, co-existing animals were all around and we laughed together as Fish jumped and splashed in and out of the water for our amusement with a big smile on her face.

I gave thanks to Fish and to Mother Nature for the wonderful journey I had been gifted and followed the sound of the drum back towards the tunnel. The darkness didn’t worry me this time. I stepped into it and calmly, contentedly and followed the stream and the sound of the drum on the upward path whilst remembering all the amazing moments I had experienced on my journey and the wisdom of the lesson that Fish had given me. 

Eventually, I arrived at the entrance. Marie welcomed me with a final beat of her drum, hugged me and wandered away without a word but with so much love, wisdom and joy in her eyes-as if she knew all that I had seen and learnt.

I stepped out into the blazing sunshine. My senses appeared heightened by the knowledge I had connected with during the amazing experience with Fish. My feet were warmed and tickled by every grain of the soft sand, aware of the support that our beautiful planet gives us. My eyes were wide, soaking up the vibrant colours of sea and sky and land. My hearing seemed heightened; the clarity with which I could hear the distant cries of sea birds and the rustling of the breeze through the leaves of the trees lining the beach, was amazing- a new soundscape that took my breathe away. The clean, fresh smell of the sea breeze entered my lungs as I inhaled a deep breath and took it all in. I was in awe of Mother Gaia and filled with love for her and all she provides.

After a few moments of soaking up the incredible feeling of being alive and part of this awesome world, I picked up a small twig of drift wood and wrote in large letters on the beach where it began: 

                           TRUST AND BE FREE

As the drum finally hit the last beat, I rubbed my face with my hands and slowly opened my eyes. I felt a sense of huge release, happiness and excitement for the future, knowing that I am here for a reason and that my journey of connection was just beginning to unfold.