A.
i) paths to, from and through the realm,
-visualizing portals down from the middle world: slides, stairs, wells, waterfalls, quicksand
-crossing with a psychopomp or ferryman
-deep meditation
-exposure to the elements, unsheltered time in nature
-slow drumming, heartbeat drumming
-chanting dirges
-past life regressions
-plant medicines
-self-hypnosis
-shamanic trance music
-down the rabbit hole
-float tanks and sensory deprivation environments
-rites of passage
ii) the landscapes,
-wide rivers
-webs of light
-dragon's lairs
-hives eg bee, ant
-dens and animal holes
-deep waters
-caves
-caverns
-crystals, stalactites and stalagmites
-forests and groves
-grottoes
-jungles
-foothills and valleys
-bogs, marshes
- the womb and womblike places
-dreamlike places, daydreams and waking dreams, lucid dreams
-the summerland
-tunnels and mines
iii) domains,
- roots and ancestors
- the Great Mystery
- cosmic soup and chaos
- cthonic gods and goddesses
- the subconscious
- nurture and destruction
-timelessness ie outside of time and pre-time
- karma
-akashic records
-sleep
-past lives
-lost or missing stuff
- symbolic and interpretive
- primal powers
- cauldrons, brews and potions,
- basic essences
-psychic ability and intuition
- emotions
-initiation
-silence
-the hidden/ occult/ obscure/ secret
- deep issues
-the inner child
-the shadow self
-women's mysteries
iv) Beings,
-crones
-dark goddesses
-Hades and Persephone
- Dragons and cosmic serpents
- Mother goddesses
- psychopomps and ferrymen
-doulas and midwives
- bees, ants, hive creatures
-burrowing animals
-forest and jungle creatures
-swimming creatures
-legendary creatures, bigfoot, loch ness monster
-shadow selves
-inner children
-your own past lives
-teachers, elders, ancestors in rest phases
v) notable aspects or qualities,
-a glowing, inner light
-sacred mirrors and insights into self
-the emotional body
-the akashic records or universal collective unconscious
-a time that is no time
-soothing, slow, relaxed pace
-waters of chaos and potential
-healing
vi) spiritual or magical practices aligned with the Realm,
-complex mixtures of raw herbs, potions, brews, basic medicines and whole foods
-entering without fear or grudges
-taking things levels deeper
- past life regressions
- vision questing
- shamanic journeying
- deep meditations
- shadow encounters
-honouring/validating/liberating the inner child
-therapy, healing trauma and releasing baggage
-interpreting visions
-feasting the ancestors
-accessing intuitive knowledge
-psychic surgery
-clearing hauntings
-red tent
vii) other correspondences,
-karma
-soul-level
-water element
-root chakra and sacral hara
-the belly, loins and legs/feet
-sleep and hypnosis
-rebirth experiences
viii) connections we have to the Realm as microcosmic individuals.
-the lower self
-primal urges
-sexuality
-bodily functions
-purging
-menstruation
-connection to the underlying processes in nature
-dark nights of the soul
-soul fragment retrieval
-past life regression therapy
-bringing light to subconscious patterns and unconscious habits
-magic abilities, such as manifestation
-ancestry as our connection to wisdom and all life forms
-the power of the Sphynx "to keep silence" and cook or digest our projects and ideas
B.
Visualization
The Underworld Journey
Take a deep breath and connect to your heartbeat. Relax your body slowly, from head to foot, feeling the tension flow out of your fingers and toes. Feel the weight of your body on the ground. Clear out anything that does not feel good in your heart with a deep exhale, and feel your heart fill with healing love. Ask any spiritual allies you may have for guidance and protection, those known to you and those who are unknown and watching over you silently.
Visualize a staircase leading down. Take the steps down one at a time, from ten to one. (10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1) At the bottom, you see a path before you, leading to the largest Tree you can imagine. Follow it to the tree and see a door in the massive trunk of this endless tree. This takes you in to your inner sanctuary, where you are most safe within yourself.
Once you orient yourself, or perform any purifying action you might be called to do, you find a door in your sanctuary. It might be marked with a colour or a symbol of the underworld, or just call to you with the energy of the realm below.
Open this door and go deeper. You might find a slide, an elevator or some stairs. Descend, allowing yourself to sink deep into the heart of the underworld.
As you emerge, your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, you notice the surroundings glowing with an inner light, perhaps subtly radiating a web or mesh of colourful, pulsing or twinkling energy in the deep darkness. It is mild and damp here, and you are comfortable. There may be sounds, smells and sights that are unusual, allow your senses to take it all in. The realm opens before you into a great chamber with many passages to explore. You feel comforted and soothed here, even in the presence of beings who move from out of the corner of your eye away into the deeper darkness when you look for them directly.
Allow yourself to explore until you encounter a guide, spirit or ancestor, or find an object or scene that seems meant for you to examine. Allow yourself some time to spend here, contemplating the message that is for you.
When you are ready to return, give thanks for your experience. Go back the way you came, and climb or ascend by a ladder, stair or elevator until you come to the portal to your sanctuary. Take a breath and come into your sacred space again.
Here, give thanks to your protectors and guides and to the World Tree itself.
Leave your sanctuary through the door you entered by. Come back to the outer trunk and return up the path you came by. Climb the stairs from one to ten (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10).
Remember where you are, wiggle your fingers and toes, and when you are ready, open your eyes.
Welcome back.