Shamanic Underworld Journey

by Brian Zoch

(Journey of Enlightenment - January 2007)

This altered state of consciousness for me started as soon as Michael started beating his Native American drum.

I have always felt a strong connection with the Native American Indians; from a very young age when playing “Cowboys and Indians” with my older brothers, I always wanted to be an Indian. I also have the belief that I was a North American Chief in a past life.

When Michael started beating his drum, straight away I could hear tribesmen chanting and singing around the fire. It took me to a place that felt very familiar.

As we slowly moved around the room at Killara, our aim was to imagine or become a Shaman. I had a feeling that I had been sent away from the tribal elders to be tested. Marlyse directed us to find an opening to the Underworld, somewhere deep inside our subconscious mind. Our intention was to go in search of and/or find a trait that we felt was missing in our lives. As soon as Marlyse said these words, I knew I was searching for my self love.

I realised that my self love was something in my past that I have always wanted and looked for, but it was also the thing that I had been avoiding the most.

I found my opening to the Underworld which was a cave that was sitting behind a waterfall. We were then directed to bring in a power animal which could help on the journey ahead. My power animal was an American mountain lion. This mountain lion had visited me in numerous dreams leading up to the journey and I didn’t know up until this process what the meaning was behind it.

We were directed to enter the opening to our Underworld and go in search of our missing trait. As I entered the opening of the cave, I could feel the strength, power and courage of my mountain lion beside me. Marlyse mentioned that during this search into the Underworld we may encounter obstacles that come up unexpectedly.

This cave opened up into a big chasm filled with offshoots running in all directions, and it was also very dark. I could feel my heart rate increase and also felt a sense of fear in my solar plexus as I walked through and passed different openings inside the cave.

I remember seeing a faint glow up ahead coming from one of the openings inside the cave. As I approached slowly with my mountain lion I could feel my heart beating faster and faster in my chest. I initially walked past the opening, maybe trying to avoid what was inside, but then I turned and stepped forward into the cave. As I looked inside, I was confronted by a giant green cobra with blood red eyes. This snake appeared to be three to four times the size of myself. What I felt must be likened to being terrified. The intensity of this emotion was a feeling that I have never felt before. I knew my fight/flight response had kicked in, as my first thought was to run. It seemed very real, but I remembered on a conscious level where I was and that I was safe.

I sat down in front of my fear/cobra with my mountain lion next to me. I noticed sitting behind the giant cobra was a glowing orb. This I realised was my self love. To get to or to embrace my self love, I had to face my fears. I sat in front of the cobra for what seemed an eternity (in reality during the process it may have been five minutes). His head was cocked back as if he was ready to strike. Adrenalin was pumping around my body and all sort of emotions and thoughts were racing through me. I sat there in a sort of “no man’s land”, wondering what to do, but also knowing that if I turned to flee I would be bitten.

Marlyse directed us to absorb the strengths of our power animals. This was like a message from God for me, because as I did this the cobra started to shrink in size. As I faced my fears and absorbed strength, power and courage from my mountain lion, the cobra ended up the size of an ordinary snake. This felt very empowering to the point that as my strength and courage grew I could feel the fear now in the snake. The shrunken cobra revealed a beautiful golden orb of pure self love and acceptance.

I remember the cobra striking out at me out of his own fear. I grabbed the snake behind his head with my right hand as it struck, and picked up the orb in my left and headed back towards the opening of the cave.

When I reached the opening I could see sunlight peeping through the cascading water. I released the snake into the world. He took off into the nearby rocks, glad to be released back into the light. I graciously thanked my mountain lion for showing me the things that I have always had inside. We rubbed heads together and then she vanished.

I then started trekking back to my tribe. As I approached I could hear them rejoicing in my quest. As I reached the camp, I realised I was looking at the elders in a different light - they were actually higher spiritual beings.

I felt fully accepted into their energy. I had become what they are. This quest into the Underworld was a test for me to face my fears and to grow from the denser physical plane into the lighter spiritual realm. I realised as I wrote in my journal after this experience that it healed some unresolved issues/feelings in my past life as an Indian Chief.

I felt the courage and strength is what I have always had inside me, but was unaware of how to embrace it to face my fears. The cobra (my fears) seemed so overpowering from the fact that I had given them so much energy in avoiding them. By avoiding my fears it was only making them stronger – something that I have done for a long time.

This process has empowered me greatly as to make me realise that everything that I am searching for is sitting behind my fears or just on the other side of my comfort zone.

To make positive changes in my life I realise I always have a choice. To stay within my comfort zone and keep getting what I have always gotten, or to expand my experience by facing and overcoming my fears regardless of how big they may seem.

I realised after that process that a lot of my decisions and choices I have made in my life have been made out of fear. Avoiding situations or suppressing certain emotions only gave strength to my fears, keeping me from growing.

Doing this had also caused a lot of frustration and anger to fester inside of me. I have also realised since starting with Inner Peace that my weight training or muscle mass on my body was in my mind protecting the scared inner child within.

As I face and overcome my fears my body keeps changing, and my vibration/energy is becoming lighter. This has given me the experience of living and accepting all facets of what life has to offer, and also greatly enhance my options to create my desires.

To change my life I need to look at my thoughts. To change my thoughts I have to challenge my beliefs. To challenge my beliefs I need to experience different things. To experience different things I need to step beyond the invisible boundaries of my comfort zone. To step out of this place of comfort I need to face and overcome my fears. When I face and challenge my fears, I have found God within.

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