top of page
Hi there my name is Geraldine, a Shamanic Practitioner of many years living in Buncrana. I share here a few thoughts on my Shamanic Perspective of Rivers which I hope you will enjoy reading.
In today's modern society the connection with nature and it's elements becomes more diminished as our world of modern technology pushes to the forefront and the exploitation and overuse of our planet's natural resources becomes the mainstay of our worlds corporations and we the people appear to delve more deeply into our overconsumption of material goods within our societies.
The inevitable result of this rises to the surface in the shape of pollution and mass landfills of garbage, and we find our most toxic chemicals shipped off to third world countries where we pay them to take the problem out of our sight and away from our responsibility.
If we consider for example today's rivers, many of which are massively polluted to the extent where the natural beautiful surroundings often mask the chemicals and toxins running into the rivers resulting in poor water quality and the dwindling population of their fish populations. Rivers previously had deep interconnections between human needs, economic well-being, spirituality and the viability of freshwater ecosystems that were respected by all. In earlier times the spiritual connection of indigenous communities in relation to water and the rivers that flowed through their villages had always been held sacred and within some of today's cultural traditions that still remains.
Water IS the life giver and the rivers provided food and a means of transportation connecting communities together which enabled trade and enhanced communications with their neighbours. In today's societies I believe it is a necessity to look at water from beyond an economic perspective and to encompass within the scope of water governance the spiritual and sacred values that many indigenous communities attribute to water and so I find myself pondering over my relationship with the rivers of life and the sacredness of water from within a shamanic perspective.
I remind myself that we are 77 % water at birth with our skin being the boundaries of our internal waters. We are also a body of water and our bodies were created within the mother's womb surrounded by amniotic fluid.
On a spiritual level, I acknowledge that the water in my body and the blood coursing through our physical beings are connected to the rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans: we are kith and kin. When they are polluted and harmed by our careless acts, we suffer also in relation to our health and the toxicity of our external environment.
When we work to protect and save the waterways, we are healing not only ourselves but on a collective level this occurs also within our local communities. The presence of River Guardians, Keepers & Protectors of our natural environment provide an integral link to the health and well being of our communities on an energetic level.
As a shamanic practitioner, within shamanic traditions everything has consciousness and we recognize all natural phenomena as living conscious beings, therefore choosing to walk a life in balance and respect for the awesomeness of our natural environment brings us into a harmonious relationship which not only has the ability to heal us emotionally, mentally but also spiritually.
“When people and nature are in perfect harmony, then magic and beauty are everywhere.”
This becomes evident when we observe the improvement
in our well-being after a walk in a forest, along a river or taking a swim in the sea.
The natural elements heal. Cultures around the world equate water with healing energy and people within many cultures travel great distances to drink or bathe in water from mountains, wells and springs that are imbued with special energy. Many people believe that water has the ability to absorb prayers, cleanse unwanted energy and bestow good medicine upon those who drink it.
Indeed if we look at the work of Dr. Emoto as is documented in his bestseller book The Hidden Messages in Water, Dr. Emoto demonstrates how water exposed to loving, benevolent, and compassionate human intention results in aesthetically pleasing physical molecular formations in the water, while water exposed to fearful and discordant human intentions results in disconnected, disfigured, and “unpleasant” physical molecular formations. He did this through Magnetic Resonance Analysis technology and high-speed photographs of frozen water crystals and the photographs are outstanding.
An excellent documentary for those interested in taking this information to the next level is provided with this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O8LPnlh_sM
So in essence as I walk along beside a river I open my heart in respect, reverence and gratitude not only for the beauty I experience around me, but also to the animal kingdoms and the devas within the elemental realms that reside within the non ordinary realities that exist parallel to our own.
I usually bring offerings of some oats and/or bird seed which I place on the river bank.
I find my place within my surroundings and sit in circle with nature, the water, the ferns and trees, the birds and insects, the stones in and around the nature, we enter into a sacred space, a place of earthling unity of non separation which is simply a recognition that I too am as much a part of this nature as everything else around me.
I remind myself that the river transports the water element which symbolizes cleansing, purity & growth by feeding all life forms on the planet. Rivers are constantly flowing. For this reason, they are a metaphor for energy representing vitality and movement. Rivers are also used as a metaphor for the endless flow of life's experience, in that the river’s source springs up from deep underground making small mountain streams, (symbolizing the beginning of life), and when it eventually meets with the ocean it represents the end of life's journey and the meeting of the great cosmic source of all that is.
In Irish mythology, rivers and streams frequently appeared as a boundary between the physical world and the Otherworld. (It is said that many of the melodies within our Irish traditional music were gifted to us by the water elementals, musicians gathered by the local streams and rivers and listened to its song, mimicking the sounds of the water trickling on past and incorporating them into new compositions and melodies.)
Sitting with a River can be an excellent meditation, as we listen and connect to its song, its flow and its power. You can ask the river for guidance and healing and be open to receiving within your mind thoughts or synchronicities that assist you in resolving any uncomfortable situations you may find yourself in, or you can come sit simply to listen and be together with the river, it's water and it's natural surroundings.
The healthy river is in constant flow, if this flow is blocked then it becomes stagnant
and unhealthy, the same is so for our own 'body of water'.
If Life is a River, where do I find myself now? On the banks, sitting quietly as the Water flows by?
Am I swimming downstream, or wading up? Barely staying afloat?
Maybe there are raging torrents?
Whatever the movement, I ask how does it feel to be here?
Is there a sense of contentment or do I wish for change?
What do I need to help me flow better within the currents of my Life?
Perhaps I may ask for guidance in navigating a challenging situation,
quieten my mind and allow any solutions to flow into my awareness.
ON A FINAL NOTE I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE A POEM BY KAHLIL GIBRAN
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
bottom of page