Recently, my three brothers and I made a road trip to Alaska. While there we took one of those plane excursions and landed on Denali. We landed on the Kahiltna Glacier at the location of the base camp for those seeking to scale the mountain. While the hiking season had just ended, we could see the excavations in the snow, forming walls, benches, and counter spaces where climbers operated stoves and prepared food.
At the time of this trip, I was in the middle of teaching the Andean Medicine Wheel to a group of 25 journeyers exploring the shamanic path. Upon return from this trip, we would be stepping into the North direction of the Medicine Wheel, the Way of the Seer. The Seer sees with the heart and is our ability to perceive the invisible world of energy. The Seer initiates a new consciousness, one where we begin to see the hidden inner meanings in an outer event. The Seer sees how an event that happens in time and space is a reflection of the condition of the soul--how the outer and inner mirror each other.
With the insight that the outer mirrors the inner, we develop a relationship with the Seer. We increase our abilities to see the invisible world of energy and spirit that is behind all manifest forms. We increase our abilities to see with the heart, to see from the soul’s perspective. From this perception, the things that happen to us are not just literal, objective events (serpent consciousness), nor are they just emotions, thoughts and stories (jaguar consciousness), the events of our lives are symbolic of our soul’s journey. From this perspective, we begin to read the events of our lives as message from the soul. We begin to see the mythic, the archetypal, the symbolic meaning playing out in our lives. At the level of the Seer, we recognize that all life is symbolic. At this transpersonal level, we discover the stories of the soul that need healing as well as the longings of the soul that call for manifestation.
For example, a client gets very upset about drivers who continually cut her off in traffic on her way to work. Since her reactions seemed to be an over-reaction, I wondered how this event might be a message from her soul. I asked her, “I wonder how you cut yourself off from doing what you want to do? Or how do you need to exercise your own aggression to do what your soul is calling you to do? How does this event mirror what is happening in your unconscious. What is Spirit trying to get you to pay attention to? How do you cut yourself off from living your life? How do you get in the way of yourself
At the level of the Seer, I see that a broken ankle as a warning that I’m going down the wrong path or that I’m not paying attention to something that I need to pay attention to. I might understand my sudden desire to get a new pair of shoes as my soul needing a new expression. I might understand my stomach problems as something in life that I’m having a hard time digesting or maybe I am taking in something that isn’t good for me. I might understand my feeling of being disconnected from my partner as some part of me that I’m disconnected from.
At this level we have moved into the mythic. We see the myth this is playing out inside us. We see what is happening as our soul’s story. The players are irrelevant. The universe has provided them as a mirror. The way of the Seer helps us find and dream the life that the soul longs to live.
Since I was getting ready to teach the North Direction of the Medicine Wheel, I had decided to view my trip to Alaska through the eyes of the Seer. What would be the hidden messages for me in the events that transpired on this journey to Alaska? So, here I was on the Kahiltna Glacier on Denali at the base camp for climbers to ascend the mountain. My mind flashes back to a painting of a mountain leaning against the wall behind my easel in my studio, a painting that didn’t seem yet finished that I did over a year ago to honor the Holy Mountain oracle card I drew for 2024. And now, here I am standing on a mountain at base camp. I had to ask myself, “how am I at a base camp in my life?” And, “is this an invitation to climb new heights?”
Mountains often symbolize strength, resilience, and stability due to their enduring nature and imposing presence. They can also represent challenges, obstacles, or the journey to overcome them, as seen in the metaphor of climbing a mountain. Furthermore, in many cultures, mountains are seen as places where the earthly and divine realms meet, often associated with religious experiences and spiritual revelation. Climbing a mountain can be a metaphor for spiritual growth, enlightenment, and reaching a higher state of consciousness. Mountains have been revered as sacred sites across various religions, often becoming places of worship, pilgrimage, and storytelling.
Literally, a base camp is a physical location, often a collection of tents or structures, that serves as a hub for operations and support. It provides essential resources like food, shelter, and communication for those engaged in activities like climbing, exploration, or research.
Symbolically, a base camp represents the beginning of a journey or undertaking, a place where individuals or teams prepare for the challenges ahead. It can symbolize a safe haven or a place to regroup and recharge after facing difficulties or pushing personal limits. Base camps can foster a sense of community and shared experience, as individuals from diverse backgrounds come together to support a common goal. And, the experience of being at base camp can lead to a greater appreciation for the present moment and a shedding of unnecessary burdens.
As I stepped into the Seer and read the energy and hidden messages in that moment, I realized that I was once again at a base camp. Over the past four years, I had taught classes on shamanism and energy medicine. Out of those classes, a Healers’ Network had formed that met monthly to do healing for each other, for family and friends who had asked for healing, and we had done healings for the earth and the current conditions in the world. I published a book on The Power of Shamanism and Energy Medicine. All of that can be compared to the physical location—the collection of tents and structures, the essentials like the food, shelter and communication for engaging future activities. Working together we had created a safe haven for individuals from diverse backgrounds to come together to support the shared goal of exploring the shamanic tradition and healing practices. Where do I go from here? Where do we go from here? It was like the universe was mirroring to me an invitation to explore more places—perhaps more spiritual growth, another state of consciousness, another sacred journey?
And then I wondered, “how are we as a culture, even as a world at another base camp, preparing for an ascent to another level of consciousness?” Perhaps, as Denali stared at me and as I stared at her, it was not just the mirror of an invitation in my own soul—to climb or not to climb. Perhaps it was more than that. What awaits us at the top of the Mountain?
Back in 1956, Carl Jung said, “So much is at stake and so much depends on the psychological constitution of modern man. … Is he conscious of the path he is treading, and what the conclusions are that must be drawn from the present world situation and his own psychic situation? … And finally, does the individual know that he is the makeweight that tips the scales?” Jung (1956) “Each individual is a new experiment of life in her ever-changing moods, and an attempt at a new solution or new adaptation. …”Jung (1924) “Ultimately everything depends on the quality of the individual,…” Jung (1956) “The change must begin with one individual; it might be any one of us.” Jung (1961)
As the quotes above indicate, Jung recognized the dire condition of the world (which has become much worse since his death in 1961) and saw the remedies not in governments or non-governmental organizations, but in us–individual persons, Nature’s “new experiment of life,” who might come up with a “new solution or new adaptation.” It is up to each of us.
I am including a guided journey to explore the symbolic and spiritual meaning of an event in your life that might provide you information for your life at this time.
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