A Solstice Greeting and "Shamanism and Ecology"

2011-12-20T19:50:00.003Z

We are approaching the time of the solstice, the shortest day and longest night. From now on the days will turn lighter and and another year will be behind us and new one ahead. This can be a time of reflection and quiet choices and I hope that these prove useful for all of us in 2012.

2011 was very busy for me personally, with shamanising and writing. Since the summer things have been unusual and life is taking a different turn; hence the long gap in writing anything here. I am planning to write a lot more in the future. Here is a link to my latest article, a web exclusive for Resurgence Magazine on shamanism and ecology entitled "Bringing Heaven to Earth".

I wish all of you a wonderful solstice, a wonderful seasonal holiday and a new year that could prove the most adventurous yet for us and for the planet!

Shamanism: Spirit and Technology

2011-07-20T15:19:00.017+01:00

This short piece, Capturing Intention?: PIP photography and Shamanic Intervention, has just appeared in the latest Journal of Paranthropology, edited by Jack Hunter of Bristol University. I recommend the Journal to anyone interested in the serious study of the paranormal.

"We believe that we are showing up an energy interaction with light, which is giving us an insight into the energy counter-part of the body." Dr Harry Oldfield, Inventor of PIP

During a stay at an Ayurvedic health centre for local people and less well-off tourists several years ago, I was invited by the centre administrators to have my aura photographed before and after a one-week Ayurvedic treatment plan. The purpose as I understood it was to measure improvements in general health and energy visible in the auric field as a result of altered diet, meditation and body treatments. I was not particularly interested in my ‘aura’ and promptly forgot the 'before' offer.

Whilst at the centre however I learnt that the purpose of the photography was to explore the camera’s ability to pinpoint areas of physical and mental ill-health before they manifested in the physical body. The photographic lab had been set up in the centre by Dr Thornton Streeter, a British scientist and founder of the UK’s Centre for Biofield Sciences, a company specialising in non-invasive diagnostic equipment and treatments. By the end of my stay I was curious enough to agree to be photographed.

As it turned out, it was not my aura that was being photographed, but the electromagnetic field. I had expected cloudy images of colours around a subject that most aura photography produces and was surprised by the great swirling bands of colour that emerged on the computer screen. A number of images were taken using the PIP - Polycontrast Interference Photography scanning process which shows the energy field, chakra and meridian systems, in colours and patterns. According to the Centre for Biofield Sciences, PIP “reveals the interference and transference of light patterns, at and beyond the visible spectrum and shows energy dynamics at work in a live real time image. The process uses a software programme with a video feed and takes a scan of energetic and light interference at and beyond our visual range. An image is displayed 'live' on a monitor where signals from the camera are graded into clearly visible colours.” More information about the interpretation of colours and forms can be found in the PIP Manual.

Chatting with Dr. Streeter's assistant I learnt that PIP photography makes it possible to see changes in a person's EMF whilst meditating or doing healing work. This made me consider whether any such changes might be manifested during shamanic work. I had no idea of what the outcome of my small experiment might be and thought little or nothing would happen. I recall feeling somewhat embarrassed as I walked into the lab with my rattle and there was a definite air of scepticism on the part of the photographers. I mean, serious yogis showed changes in their fields; who was I fooling with my rattle? READ MORE

Shaman UK

A Solstice Greeting and "Shamanism and Ecology"

Shamanism: Spirit and Technology