06-15-2005, 12:00 AM
The Sacred Nest
Jaguar Shamans always begin any type of ceremony, healing, or initiation by opening the Sacred Nest. In this sacred space, we leave behind the affairs of the ordinary life, the busy world of meetings and schedules, and we prepare to meet the divine. The Sacred Nest allows us to enter our quiet inner world where healings take place. The mundane cannot distract us, and every act is hallowed and deliberate. The Jaguar Shamans take their work very seriously, but they do not take themselves very seriously at all, and there is often laughter during these ceremonies. Within the Sacred Nest we experience the lightness of our being. Laughter and tears come easily. After we finish our healing work, the Sacred Nest must be closed. When the Jaguar Shaman does this, she releases the archetypal energies and they reintegrate into nature. Although there are certain components necessary to create the Sacred Nest, you can bring in your own personal expression. We begin by calling on the four points of the compass, and the earth and sun. You can summon them using the symbols you feel most comfortable with, and describe those powers according to your own heart. These six directions plus the Jaguar Shaman in the center represent the seven organizing principles of the universe. When you summon them, you align your self with the forces that animate all life.
The Jaguar Shaman's agreement with spirit is that when she calls, spirit answers. Powerful Jaguars from the spirit world appear in the form of luminous beings and assist us in our healing work. We use the four cardinal directions to get our bearings in the material world. The qualities of each of the four directions are represented by symbolic animals. These creatures are more than just symbols; they are primordial energies. Each direction has a life and power of its own. While the representations very from culture to culture, the properties of these energies remain the same because they stand for the same organizing principles of nature. The important thing is not what we call these energies, or even which archetype we use, but that we get to know them well enough so that when we call, they respond. The call comes from the heart. When we call within the Sacred Nest, the universe conspires on our behalf.
I will begin the by sharing the invocation that I use. Again, remember that the symbols or archetypes used can be changed for your own comfort.
To the winds of the South
Great Serpent.
Wrap your coils of light around me..
Teach me to shed the past the way you shed your skin.
To the winds of the West.
Mother Jaguar.
Protect my medicine space.
Show me the way beyond death.
To the winds of the North.
Great Eagle.
Keep me under your wing.
Teach me to fly wing to wing with the Great Spirit.
To the winds of the East.
Hummingbird. Ancient Ones.
Warm your hands by my fire.
We honor you who have come before us.
Mother Earth.
I work for the healing of all your children.
The Stone People, the Plant People.
The four-legged, the two-legged.
The finned, the furred, and the winged.
Father Sun.
Great Spirit. The unnameable one.
Protect me with your light.
Thank you for allowing me to sing the Song of Life.
You can employ a smudge stick of sage or little scented water if you like. Fan the smoldering sage with a feather in the appropriate direction, or blow a few drops of scented water toward the direction you are addressing. Use a compass if necessary. Begin by facing south. Smudge or blow the scented water to the south then hold up your power hand, palm facing out. Recite the verse for the south. Then the West. Face each direction in turn as you repeat the process. Then, touch the earth and look to the heavens when directing your invocation there. You close the Sacred Nest by thanking the four archetypes and releasing their energies allowing them to return to the four corners of the earth. Thank and release Mother Earth and Father Sun. Do this in the same way you invoked them.
Upon completing this, we utilize the light of the eighth well, above the head. The power of the Sacred Nest is amplified many times when we expand this radiant orb and rest within it. When we expand it like a crystal dome, we can actually sit within it and shield ourselves from the static of the world. Your eighth well is a small radiant sun above your head. Some people experience either a hot or cool sensation when they feel it's membrane. Use your imagination to picture an orb the color of the rising sun. Bring your hands to your chest in the the spider position. Slowly raise your hands, still in the spider pose, until they are above your head. Sense your fingertips entering the globe of the eighth well. Sense how the spinning sun yields and opens to you. Very slowly, like a peacock opening its fan, expand the circumference of this brilliant orb to envelop you, by turning your palms outward and extending your arms. Bring your arms down until your hands touch the chair or the ground and bask in the light of your sun. Pay attention to your breathing. You are within a bubble. This is the vessel that houses your soul between incarnations.
Now you are within the Sacred Nest. When you have finished your work, with outstretched arms bring your hands up slowly, like a peacock closing its fan, until you have gathered this luminous well again above your head. Bring your hands again to your chest in the spider pose. Then release the six directions as stated above. When we do not close the Sacred Nest, we contaminate it, like polluting a freshwater spring. The archetypal animals no longer come to you, the forces of nature stop responding to your call.
Invoke the Sacred Nest with the greatest respect. Holding this space is like holding the tone of a single note. Your song must be true for its quality to be pure. It requires all our intent, as well as practice, to hold the sacred nest for more than a few moments. With practice it becomes effortless; the space sustains itself.
Jaguar Shamans always begin any type of ceremony, healing, or initiation by opening the Sacred Nest. In this sacred space, we leave behind the affairs of the ordinary life, the busy world of meetings and schedules, and we prepare to meet the divine. The Sacred Nest allows us to enter our quiet inner world where healings take place. The mundane cannot distract us, and every act is hallowed and deliberate. The Jaguar Shamans take their work very seriously, but they do not take themselves very seriously at all, and there is often laughter during these ceremonies. Within the Sacred Nest we experience the lightness of our being. Laughter and tears come easily. After we finish our healing work, the Sacred Nest must be closed. When the Jaguar Shaman does this, she releases the archetypal energies and they reintegrate into nature. Although there are certain components necessary to create the Sacred Nest, you can bring in your own personal expression. We begin by calling on the four points of the compass, and the earth and sun. You can summon them using the symbols you feel most comfortable with, and describe those powers according to your own heart. These six directions plus the Jaguar Shaman in the center represent the seven organizing principles of the universe. When you summon them, you align your self with the forces that animate all life.
The Jaguar Shaman's agreement with spirit is that when she calls, spirit answers. Powerful Jaguars from the spirit world appear in the form of luminous beings and assist us in our healing work. We use the four cardinal directions to get our bearings in the material world. The qualities of each of the four directions are represented by symbolic animals. These creatures are more than just symbols; they are primordial energies. Each direction has a life and power of its own. While the representations very from culture to culture, the properties of these energies remain the same because they stand for the same organizing principles of nature. The important thing is not what we call these energies, or even which archetype we use, but that we get to know them well enough so that when we call, they respond. The call comes from the heart. When we call within the Sacred Nest, the universe conspires on our behalf.
I will begin the by sharing the invocation that I use. Again, remember that the symbols or archetypes used can be changed for your own comfort.
To the winds of the South
Great Serpent.
Wrap your coils of light around me..
Teach me to shed the past the way you shed your skin.
To the winds of the West.
Mother Jaguar.
Protect my medicine space.
Show me the way beyond death.
To the winds of the North.
Great Eagle.
Keep me under your wing.
Teach me to fly wing to wing with the Great Spirit.
To the winds of the East.
Hummingbird. Ancient Ones.
Warm your hands by my fire.
We honor you who have come before us.
Mother Earth.
I work for the healing of all your children.
The Stone People, the Plant People.
The four-legged, the two-legged.
The finned, the furred, and the winged.
Father Sun.
Great Spirit. The unnameable one.
Protect me with your light.
Thank you for allowing me to sing the Song of Life.
You can employ a smudge stick of sage or little scented water if you like. Fan the smoldering sage with a feather in the appropriate direction, or blow a few drops of scented water toward the direction you are addressing. Use a compass if necessary. Begin by facing south. Smudge or blow the scented water to the south then hold up your power hand, palm facing out. Recite the verse for the south. Then the West. Face each direction in turn as you repeat the process. Then, touch the earth and look to the heavens when directing your invocation there. You close the Sacred Nest by thanking the four archetypes and releasing their energies allowing them to return to the four corners of the earth. Thank and release Mother Earth and Father Sun. Do this in the same way you invoked them.
Upon completing this, we utilize the light of the eighth well, above the head. The power of the Sacred Nest is amplified many times when we expand this radiant orb and rest within it. When we expand it like a crystal dome, we can actually sit within it and shield ourselves from the static of the world. Your eighth well is a small radiant sun above your head. Some people experience either a hot or cool sensation when they feel it's membrane. Use your imagination to picture an orb the color of the rising sun. Bring your hands to your chest in the the spider position. Slowly raise your hands, still in the spider pose, until they are above your head. Sense your fingertips entering the globe of the eighth well. Sense how the spinning sun yields and opens to you. Very slowly, like a peacock opening its fan, expand the circumference of this brilliant orb to envelop you, by turning your palms outward and extending your arms. Bring your arms down until your hands touch the chair or the ground and bask in the light of your sun. Pay attention to your breathing. You are within a bubble. This is the vessel that houses your soul between incarnations.
Now you are within the Sacred Nest. When you have finished your work, with outstretched arms bring your hands up slowly, like a peacock closing its fan, until you have gathered this luminous well again above your head. Bring your hands again to your chest in the spider pose. Then release the six directions as stated above. When we do not close the Sacred Nest, we contaminate it, like polluting a freshwater spring. The archetypal animals no longer come to you, the forces of nature stop responding to your call.
Invoke the Sacred Nest with the greatest respect. Holding this space is like holding the tone of a single note. Your song must be true for its quality to be pure. It requires all our intent, as well as practice, to hold the sacred nest for more than a few moments. With practice it becomes effortless; the space sustains itself.