In Relationship with the Numinous:
Encounters with Animal Allies in the Imaginal Realm
By
Mellissa Anne Rohrer
A thesis submitted to
Sonoma State University
in partial fulfllment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in
Psychology
Committee Members:
Dr. Mary Gomes
Dr. David Sowerby
Jeff Wright, MA.
March 18th 2021 Copyright 2021
By Mellissa A. Rohrer
ii Authorization for Reproduction of Master’s Thesis
I grant permission for the print or digital reproduction of parts of this thesis without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorb the cost and provide proper acknowledgment of authorship.
DATE: ______Mellissa A. Rohrer
iii In Relationship with the Numinous: Encounters with Animal Allies in the Imaginal Realm
Thesis by Mellissa Anne Rohrer
ABSTRACT
This qualitative phenomenological study explored individuals’ encounters and relationships with animal allies in the imaginal or spirit realm and how these experiences have contributed to the individuals’ personal transformation or individuation journey. This study is important because contemporary individuals often lack connection with the imaginal realm and with nature; this research shows that it is possible to regain this connection through shamanistic practices such as entheogenic ceremonies and intentional drum journeys. Seven participants were selected using purposive sampling. Participants were then interviewed using semi-structured interviews lasting no longer than one hour, and the transcripts were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to note themes as they emerged in the data. Themes include imagery, feeling the essence of the ally, shapeshifting, belonging, reconnection with nature, individuation, calling in the ally, and feeling love. Beliefs participants hold about allies were also considered, and it was found that the majority of participants perceive the ally experience as sacred. The thesis concludes that ally experiences can be growth-enhancing for individuals living in the contemporary United States. This study adds to the literature by providing more accounts of ally experiences and focusing on lived experience. Additionally, since these experiences have been growth-enhancing for participants, it affirms the value of these experiences. Keywords: animal allies, soul animals, imaginal, individuation, shamanistic, entheogenic, interpretive phenomenological analysis
MA Program: Psychology (Emphasis in Depth Psychology) Sonoma State University Date: March 18th 2021
iv Acknowledgements
I extend my sincerest gratitude to my committee members Dr. Mary
Gomes, Dr. David Sowerby, and Jeff Wright of the Native American Church whose insights and guidance have been invaluable throughout this process.
Thank you for helping me honor the sacred. Thank you for helping me hold the tension of the opposites. I would also like to extend my appreciation to Dr.
Laurel McCabe whose affirmations and feedback regarding organization were supportive in the early stages of this thesis. To Hannah Miller, my friend and formatting editor, thank you for your support and attention to detail.
Thank you to the friends, partners, and family members who have loved me along the way.
Thank you to the participants for your authenticity and your courage in sharing your sacred stories. Thank you for trusting me to carry them forward.
This work is dedicated with love to my allies and sacred plant Medicines.
Your love is the truest and most enduring love I have ever known.
And for the channelers, the medicine carriers, the shapeshifters, the borderlanders, the wild women, the ones who walk between the worlds: You are not alone. Your gifts are beautiful.
v Table of Contents
I. Introduction…………………………………………………………….……..1
Focus and Research Questions……………………………………..…..….....1
Personal Relationship to the Topic……………………………………….….1
Study Focus and Gaps in the Literature……………………………………11
Research Questions…………………………………………………………...14
Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………....15
Methods………………………………………………………………………..24
Limitations……………………………………………………………………..25
Organization of the Thesis…………………………………………………...29
II. Literature Review: Animal Allies ………………………...... 33
Definitions……………………………………………………………………..33
Forms of Animal Allies……………………………………………………….34
Animal Allies as the Essence of the Species………………………………...34
Allies as Benevolent Companions…………………………………………...35
Co-essences in Mesoamerica…………………………………………………36
Daimons and Demons………………………………………………………...37
Animal Allies in Popular Culture…………………………………………....38
Allies and the Individuation Journey………………………………………..39
The Realm of the Allies: The Imaginal Realm and the Spirit World……...42
Connections to Jungian Psychology………………………………………….45
vi Shamanism and Altered States of Consciousness………………….……….49
Western and Indigenous Conceptions of Mind…………………….……….51
Borderland Consciousness and Animal Allies……………………….……..53
Trauma as a Portal to the Numinous………………………………….……..55
Benefits and Goals of (Re)connection with Archetypal Reality….………..57
Entheogenic Plant Medicines as Portals to Ally Encounters………...……58
Spontaneous Encounters with Allies…………………………….…………..63
Shapeshifting or Animal Identification…………………………….………..64
Summary……………………………………………………………….……….75
III. Methods……………………...……………………...……………….…………78
Qualitative Interviewing………………………………………….…………..78
Piloting………………………………………………………………….……....79
Institutional Review Board Approval……………………………………….79
Participants………………………………………………………….………….80
Procedures………………………………………………………….…………..84
Coding and Analysis………………………………………………….……….86
Voice…………………………………………………………………………….87
Organization of the Findings and Discussion…………………….………...88
IV. Findings and Discussion……………………...……………...……………....89
Overview…………………………………………………………………….….89
Imagery……………………………………………………………………….....90
Feeling the Essence of the Ally…………………………………………….….91
Shapeshifting…………………………………………………………………...95
Belonging………………………………………………………………………..99
Reconnection With Nature…………...……………………………………...101
Individuation: Animal Allies and the Journey Toward Wholeness……..110
Calling in the Ally…………………………………………………………….124
Feeling Love…………………………………………………………………...134
Beliefs Participants Hold about Allies and the Ally Experiences………..136
Future Studies………………………………………………………………....144
V. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….....146
Summary…………………………………………………………………...... 146
Reflections on Composing the Thesis……………………………………....147
A Return to Community……………..……………….……………………...148
Affirmation and Bridging Worlds…...……………………………………...149
Integration: Spirit and Archetype…………………………………………...149
Personal Journey………………………………………...…………………....150
Personal Significance of Findings…………………………………………...152
Letting Go of Ceremony……………………………………………………...153
A Reflection on Language…………………………………………………....155
What is Next in My Personal Journey………………………………………157
References……………………..……………………...……………………………….159
Appendices….………………...………………………………………………………166 Informed Consent Form……………………………………………………...167
Interview Guide………………………………………………………………169 1
Chapter I: Introduction
Focus & Research Questions
I conducted a qualitative phenomenological study of seven individuals’ encounters and relationships with animal allies. Animal allies are internal experiences of animals that occur during entheogenic ceremonies or other shamanistic (Lukoff,
1991) experiences. They are called allies due to the relationship formed with individuals in support of their personal transformation. Through interviews and subsequent interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith, 2008), I was interested in learning about the characteristics of these ally experiences and the perceived effects they had on the personal transformation or individuation journey of the individuals interviewed. I was particularly interested in changes in perceptions, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors viewed as growth-enhancing that individuals experienced as a result of their ally encounters.
Personal Relationship to the Topic
I am sitting in one of my earliest Ayahuasca ceremonies. I see a red fox jumping in the snow, I feel Foxness, and in my inner experience the words “I love you” emerge. With each repetition of the phrase, my smile widens as I feel fully immersed in this feeling of divine love emanating from the fox imagery. The warmth of the phrase, which seems more telepathic than auditory, fills my entire being. Later that night, I am shown Fox curled up, sleeping peacefully. Accompanying this vision is the felt sense of a fox resting against my side. I can feel its fur, its weight against my body. It’s as though Fox is actually present with me in the dimly lit room. Throughout that night I had several visitations from Fox including one of a white, arctic fox facing me as we gazed into one another’s eyes, face to face then another of infinite foxes filling my inner vision during which time I was given the experience of what it feels like to be a fox. . . to be embodied by Foxness. To 2
say that the experience gifted me with deep joy is not saying enough; I recognize that experiences of the sacred are ineffable. In that moment, I felt loved by something greater than myself. It was Fox and simultaneously so much more than a fox. It was as though the divine had taken on the form of a fox to envelop me in an expression of Love that would most resonate in my soul. Prior to this encounter, I had no particular affinity for foxes. I would not have listed them among my favorite animals. These Fox experiences were the beginning of my relationship with Fox as a guide and ally. Since that night, Fox has come to me in every Medicine ceremony as a reminder of this enduring love. Because of this, I have come to view Fox as my primary animal ally in this life. While I experience Fox through other practices as well, it is in plant Medicine ceremonies that I feel its presence most potently. In the expanded states of consciousness experienced through plant Medicines, I feel its aliveness, its Foxness more than ever. It is then when I know that Fox is with me and, as I feel its fur, I remember that it is true: I am a Fox medicine woman. (Personal journal, December 15th 2014)
I am driving home from a full day of courses in my Depth Psychology graduate program. Discussions during a seminar had prompted me to question whether my ally experiences had been manifestations of some part of my soul rather than autonomous, external, spirit guides. Was Fox some aspect of myself? Were these really just symbols after all? Does it matter? Was I foolish to believe in spirit guides? It was in this moment that a living fox, the first one I had ever seen, ran across the street in the residential neighborhood through which I was driving. It paused to look at me. Through my joyful tears, I spoke aloud, “Thank you. Thank you for loving me. I’m sorry for doubting you. I love you.” I was not speaking to this particular fox, but to my Fox ally and, in a way, to the Divine for bringing me this sign. For me, this experience affirmed that a higher intelligence was at play orchestrating these profound synchronicities in my life. I recognize that a symbol can be numinous and that experiences of the sacred can be conceptualized through other frameworks, but I felt like it would be reducing something deeply sacred to me to call Fox or my other allies symbols or to refer to dialoguing with them using the Jungian term “active imagination.” These thoughts and questions have lived in me for years and are partially what inspired my thesis topic and this study on animal ally experiences. (Personal journal, February 19th 2016)
Since 2012 I have walked in the world knowing the numinous love and guidance available from living in direct relationship with animal allies. I am infinitely grateful and deeply humbled by their presence in my life. In addition to Fox, I have also had 3 profoundly impactful and loving encounters with other allies including Puma, Owl,
Deer, River Otter, Hummingbird, Spider, Butterfly, Eagle, Reindeer, Cobra, Black
Panther, and Lion. The stories I am sharing here are merely a sample of an innumerable and ineffable collection of stories that continue to shape me and carry me lovingly through my life.
My encounters with these allies, which I personally refer to as animal guides, began in 2012 during a Lakota-inspired plant Medicine ceremony in Berkeley,
California that included San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi), an entheogenic species of cactus, as a sacrament. San Pedro originated in the Andes Mountains, where I later traveled in 2015 as part of a small group of individuals interested in living more aligned lives and deepening our connection with plant teachers such as San Pedro and
Ayahuasca.
My relationships with animal allies continued to develop through subsequent plant Medicine ceremonies. These included several ceremonies with Ayahuasca, an entheogenic brew and plant teacher originating in the Amazon that has been consulted by various tribes for psycho-spiritual as well as physical healing for millennia. In addition to plant Medicine ceremonies held both in the United States and Perú, I have also encountered allies through depth inquiry methods, shamanistic drum journeys, synchronicities (Jung, 1960) in the external world, intentional movement and dance practices, and spontaneously occurring non-ordinary states of consciousness.
As a result of my personal experiences, I was particularly interested in giving voice to ally experiences that occur spontaneously. There are many individuals who 4 experience their allies without inducing altered states of consciousness through techniques of ecstasy (Eliade, 1951) such as drumming, dancing, or entheogenic ceremonial practices. Spontaneous imaginal experiences are fascinating to me. In the years since my first spontaneous ally encounter, I discovered that there are others who have had similar experiences, both in my personal life as well as in the literature. The intimate accounts of spontaneous imaginal experiences provided by authentic movement pioneer Janet Adler (1996), researcher Sandra Lee Dennis (2013), transpersonal psychiatrist Stanislav Grof (1988), and Jungian analyst Jeffrey Raff (2006) have been deeply moving and affirming of my own experiences. Now, as I endeavor to give voice to more accounts, specifically around animal allies, I hope to aid in a paradigm shift toward interconnectedness and the depathologizing of numinous, sacred experiences. While I found that most of the participants in the study did encounter their allies through intentionally inducing altered states of consciousness, two participants also shared accounts of spontaneous ally encounters.
The area that interested me most as I began this study was the experience of shapeshifting as related to the ally. I am employing the term shapeshifting to refer to the experience of feeling embodied by the essence of an animal ally (Jamal, 1995; Poncelet,
2014). Encounters with allies may move beyond visual experience and into somatic experiences including felt sense, which could include experiences of what it feels like to be a particular animal. These experiences of shapeshifting can also include autonomous movement, in which individuals engage in involuntary movement akin to the movements of the animal ally, and vocalization, in which individuals involuntarily emit 5 sounds made by the ally that they would not be able to reproduce through imitation in ordinary waking consciousness. Due to my personal experiences of shapeshifting and finding through conversations prior to conducting this research that not everyone experiences their allies as somatically as I do, I decided to explore this area. I felt compelled to gain a deeper understanding of this and explore ways to articulate it, drawing from both shamanic and psychological frameworks.
Over the years, I developed a trust in these allies and I came to value the gift of autonomous movement above all others. During one of my first San Pedro ceremonies, a woman received clear guidance to move to Colorado and leave her entire life in the
Bay Area behind. She was sitting on a tree stump outside the inipi (sweat lodge) weeping and I felt inspired to go to her and offer a tissue. Suddenly, Puma and other energies guided my hands and body to channel healing work for this woman whom I had only met that day. My hands were moving in fascinating ways, particularly around her back and head. Despite my ego’s concerns about behaving strangely, there was an inner knowing that what I was doing was right and helpful. I felt love in my body and I felt Puma in my body. In addition to the hand motions, growls came forth unbidden. I witnessed myself in a numinous state of surrender; I was simply a vessel allowing myself to be moved by these healing energies. It was surprisingly easeful and graceful, as though I had been a healer my entire life. It was truly enlivening to be of service in this way and it became my prayer for my life. During trance, shamans and shamanic practitioners “commonly work to heal a patient by restoring beneficial or vital power, or by extracting harmful power” (Harner, 1980, p. 26). They are actively aided in their 6 healing work by their animal allies, often referred to as guardian spirits or power animals (Harner, 1980). While I do not know precisely how my allies were healing this woman, I do know that she was deeply moved and became a dear friend. It was one of the most enlivening moments of my life. The story is included below in narrative form:
It was one of my first San Pedro ceremonies, held legally through the Native American Church. We were already a few hours in and we had already exited the inipi (sweat lodge). I noticed a young woman sitting on a tree stump in the sun, sobbing, fluids falling from her face. I walked over to her and silently offered her tissues. Since this was several years ago, I do not recall whether words were exchanged. I turned to walk away, careful not to interrupt her process, but Spirit had other plans. I started channeling healing energy and doing body work around her body and on her back and shoulders. Growls emerged from me that accompanied both the autonomous hand motions and the internal Puma visions I was having. I felt the strength of Puma in my body and what it would feel like to have more mass, to be a Puma. My ego had moved to the background in a kind of witness consciousness, but I was aware of my thoughts. As hesitant and embarrassed as I was, the effortless movements continued. I felt so much light in my body. I tend to be quite introverted and I certainly did not want to do anything inappropriate or irreverent during the ceremony. I also hoped that this sobbing young woman wouldn’t feel that I had interrupted her healing process. Simultaneously, l hoped that an elder would see me and recognize my gift for channeling healing spirits. . .that I was like them. Not in an arrogant way; I was fully aware that I was not the one doing the healing. The allies were. I believed that being seen in this way would give me more opportunities to serve in community and to live a more aligned life. I felt a sense of home in that community and I had a deep longing to belong and to feel seen by like-hearted individuals on a shared path. The healing spirits moved through me autonomously, beyond the control of my ego which was powerless at the time to stop this Puma energy from coming forth. The woman said, “Thank you so much for the Puma love.” I smiled. She knew it was Puma. Hearing that affirmation and permission released the tension I had been feeling and I was able to surrender even more deeply. She still remembers this experience vividly and we are still friends, although separated by distance. I did not know at the time, but it was her first San Pedro ceremony. She had just received guidance during her Medicine journey to move out of California and leave the life she had built in the Bay Area behind. She needed help to let go and to grieve. I am grateful that I was able to serve as a vessel for that release. I was grateful to have been seen by this woman in my gift as a channel, as a healer, and as a shapeshifter. I had felt true belonging. I had felt the meaning of home. (Personal journal, October 26th 2013)
7
There are a few memorable occasions in which my allies completely altered the course of my life, and, while it has always been a blessing, it has not always been easy to recognize it as such at the time. The day following a sincere prayer to find my path and be of service in a way that was aligned with the will of Source, I awoke and began getting ready for work as a high school English teacher. It felt like an ordinary day.
There were no entheogenic substances or plant Medicines involved in this experience. I had not sat in a ceremony in over six months at the time of this experience. After placing my purse in the passenger seat of my car and closing the door, I suddenly found myself in a spontaneous altered state. I felt blissful, the trees on the property felt alive and shimmering, and my body began dancing a beautiful dance in the driveway of my home. I thanked my guides for the otherworldly dance and began to drive down the forested hill to the high school where I worked. I was moved through again and, this time, my foot was placed on the brake. I pulled over and began asking questions. I imagined perhaps something was protecting me from another vehicle coming up the winding forest road. I drove a few more minutes and it happened again. Now I was concerned, both that this was happening against my will and that I would likely be late to my job that I loved so dearly. I trusted that I was not meant to continue down the hill that day and called to request a substitute. I returned home, eager to use the additional time at home to grade my sophomores’ research essays. As I looked at them, a growl emerged from within me and the stack of essays was placed firmly to the side. Thus began a several month period of autonomous movements, visions, increased synchronicity, and increased communication with my guides. I was rendered unable to 8 return to teaching my high school English class during the final month of the academic year. I was devastated; I had spent years working toward my dream of becoming a high school English teacher, a dream I carried within me since elementary school. Worse, I cared deeply for my students and felt that I was abandoning them. When I went to retrieve my belongings from the classroom, I stood in front of my students’ vision boards that lined the entire back wall. I spent a moment with each of them, holding each student in my heart, praying for his or her life, and weeping.
When I had intentionally taken psilocybin mushrooms the Summer prior, Eagle had visited me and carried the message that I would not be teaching the following year.
I wept as I was consoled in a winged and understanding embrace. I felt grief along with immense love. In the embrace of Eagle, I knew the message was clear and the message was true. Still, when I returned to ordinary consciousness, I put the prophecy aside and continued with my own plans. The prophecy came to pass anyway.
On several occasions, I have experienced the autonomous power of my allies.
Initially, the experiences in which allies acted autonomously and against my ego’s preferences frightened me, and fears of possession or being in service to malevolent forces emerged in my psyche. In addition to my own questions and concerns, members of my family came to believe that in order to believe in animal allies and spirit guides, I would have had to have been drugged, psychotic, or indoctrinated by a cult. After spending a month in Hawaii with my grandparents, aunt, and sister to ease their concerns, my grandmother chose to sever all communication with me for more than 9 five years, beginning the day I chose to book my flight home. We have only recently begun mending our connection.
To this day, there are psychologists who equate Carl Jung’s encounter with the unconscious with a psychotic episode (Grohol, 2018). I felt kinship in reading Jung’s experiences as well as the accounts of others. I have learned a great deal through coursework, conversations, and experiences since these early days. As a result of the early pathologizing I experienced and the lack of support that I felt, I desired to find ways to support others who do not have communities to which to return and be witnessed and affirmed in their experiences. As mythologist Martin Shaw said, “If you haven’t been fed, become bread” (Hopkins, 2012).
It is essential that individuals who have had encounters with the numinous have a safe space in which to share their stories. Contemporary Western culture has too few communities and containers in which to return to community and be witnessed after transformational numinous experiences. The return to community is an important step in the archetypal hero’s journey. This is also important because too often, individuals who experience the sacred are marginalized and even pathologized (Bernstein, 2005;
Grof & Grof, 1990; Heriot-Maitland, 2008). As a result, they may tend to remain silent regarding their experiences. One benefit of this study is that it provides an opportunity for participants who have experienced connection with the numinous to share their stories with an empathetic witness who can affirm their experiences as sacred and meaningful. 10
I once asked Carl Ruck, author of Persephone’s Quest (Ruck, Wasson, et al., 1992), after a lecture at the California Institute of Integral Studies, “In cases in which the sacramental ingestion of entheogenic substances serves as a catalyst for a continued awakening where individuals may continue to experience an expanded or permeable state of consciousness including visions, the Western psychiatric model often labels such individuals as psychotic. What are your thoughts on this and how do we shift the paradigm?” He asked whether I also meant spontaneous experiences or only those catalyzed by entheogens. I clarified, “Both,” and he said, “In order to destigmatize the ecstatic experience, keep talking about it. . .come out of the closet.” (C. Ruck, personal communication, January 14, 2015). I have become much more open about my experiences since gaining language for them and recognizing that these experiences are part of the human experience. Writing this thesis is another way to give voice to numinous experiences and perhaps to inspire others to remember their own connection with the sacred.
Without my guides and awareness of synchronicity in my life, I would not have pursued a graduate degree in Depth Psychology and I would not have found beautiful communities of like-hearted individuals including intentional dance communities and plant Medicine communities. My guides helped me to discover my passions, encouraged me to leave romantic relationships that were not aligned, comforted me through periods of grief, deepened my capacity for self love, helped me navigate health challenges with wisdom, and helped me to become more embodied. 11
During a drum journey in one of our graduate seminars, I asked about my work in the world and received the beautiful message, “Knock on people’s hearts to help them open.” I do not yet know whether this research will play a role in that. When I inquired again about my work in the world in a subsequent, all-women’s Medicine ceremony with San Pedro, Spider told me, “Your work is in trance states” (Spider, personal communication, 2015). I asked whether that meant writing about them or being in them to which I received the answer, “Both.” I was elated. I’m no longer passionate about writing, but I know that writing this thesis is following that guidance and giving back in some small way. This morning when I picked up my thesis to incorporate revisions, a small spider crawled across the pages. On numerous occasions, my guides instructed me to write on the topic of animal allies.
This is me listening. This is me walking in sacred reciprocity.
This is for my allies.
Study Focus and Gaps in the Literature
Companion spirits have been a topic of interest to anthropologists since the 19th century (Houston & Stuart, 1989). Houston and Stuart (1989) define companion spirits as supernatural beings with whom a person shares his or her consciousness.
Companion spirit is only one of a diverse array of terms from various fields of study used to refer to animal allies. These terms will be explored further in the Literature
Review. 12
Despite the anthropological interest surrounding the topic, contemporary first- person accounts of the ally experience are rare in the literature. Transpersonal psychiatrist Stanislav Grof (1988) does include narrative accounts of what he refers to as animal identification. For Grof (1988), these are transpersonal experiences and often involve a complete and realistic identification with members of various animal species.
Grof’s work explores experiences that were catalyzed by LSD-assisted psychotherapy, holotropic breathwork, and spiritual emergence. Benny Shanon’s (2010) comprehensive study of the Ayahuasca experience includes first-person narratives throughout, many of which include encounters with animals. My study will add to what is known by offering detailed narratives of the ally experience from contemporary individuals. This is significant in that it demonstrates that individuals are still experiencing this phenomenon. Participants’ voices aid in normalizing ally experiences as a spiritual and psychological phenomenon with rich cultural histories.
Perhaps the most significant implication of this study is that it demonstrates the potential for individuals in contemporary U.S. culture to live in direct connection with
Nature, the unseen realm, and the sacred. This is important because contemporary individuals often lack connection with the imaginal realm and with Nature; this research shows that it is possible to regain this connection through shamanistic practices such as entheogenic ceremonies and intentional drum journeys.
My study also differs from what is available in existing literature in that it offers an interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith, 2008) of seven individuals’ lived 13 experiences and explores common themes that arose in the interview data. These themes provide insight into the phenomenology of the contemporary ally experience.
I also endeavored to contribute to the phenomenology of shape-shifting (Jamal,
1995; Poncelet, 2014) by compiling accounts from existing literature and seeking to interview individuals who have experienced being embodied by, moved through, or vocalized through, by animal allies. While there are accounts (Aaronson and Osmond,
1970; Grof, 1988) addressing this experience, it tends to receive only brief mention in accounts on contemporary ally experiences. Most references to shapeshifting are included in anthropological analyses of theriomorphic figures depicted in paleolithic cave art, carvings, and sculptures (Aldhouse-Green & Aldhouse-Green, 2005; Gutiérrez and Pye, 2010; Hanna, Helmer, and Lemoine, 1995; Jolly, 2002).
There is an immense resurgence in research demonstrating the healing potentials of entheogenic plants and fungi. Each of the participants encountered their animal allies through the sacramental ingestion of these medicines. The stories included in this study add to a growing body of literature advocating for the healing potentials of entheogenic plants and fungi and the profound impact they have in transforming the lives of human beings. The experience of encountering an animal ally during an entheogenic ceremony is included in the literature (Shanon, 2010) although never as the sole focus. I am grateful to add my voice to this phenomenon.
The interdisciplinary nature of this study will also be addressing a gap in the literature. There are several texts comparing depth psychology and shamanism (Ryan,
2002; Sandner, 1997), but few interdisciplinary texts specifically focused on the ally and 14 the lived experience (Smith, 2008) of individuals who have growth-enhancing encounters and ongoing relationships with animal allies. This study also contributes to the literature by including an interdisciplinary literature review that compiles information from sources across various fields of study including depth psychology, transpersonal psychology, entheogenic studies, and anthropology.
It is important for individuals to have various frameworks through which to understand and communicate their experiences. My own journey in gaining language for my encounters with the numinous has been empowering and transformative. While reading texts in which the authors shared their intimate personal experiences, I have felt deeply affirmed and gained various frameworks through which to understand and articulate my own experiences. Perhaps this interdisciplinary work will serve that role for others. While I privilege a shamanistic lexicon, I recognize the importance of adapting diction in order to effectively communicate within and across particular discourse communities. Perhaps this study will also foster interdisciplinary dialogue.
Research Questions
1. What are the lived experiences of individuals who have had shamanistic
encounters with animal allies in the imaginal or spirit realm through practices
such as entheogenic ceremonies or intentional drum journeys?
2. Do participants perceive their experiences to be growth-enhancing or
contributing to their individuation journey and, if so, in what ways?
15
Theoretical Framework
The concepts from depth psychology necessary for understanding this study’s focus include animal ally, imaginal realm, the Self, archetypal images, and individuation. Each of these concepts will be explored in greater detail in the forthcoming interdisciplinary literature review. As the study and literature review draw on terms and concepts from both depth psychology and shamanism, I will also be exploring parallels between the two.
Animal Ally
Animal allies are internal experiences of animals that occur during entheogenic or shamanic experiences. Allies can be encountered through altered states of consciousness occurring during entheogenic ceremonies or other shamanistic (Lukoff,
1991) modalities. Allies may also appear spontaneously in the lives of ordinary individuals (Corbett, 2000) or through engagement with the imaginal realm using
Jung’s method of active imagination (Bright, 2009; Nouriani, 2017).
Jungian terms such as ally (Raff, 1997, 2006) and soul animal (Kalsched, 2013) may be used interchangeably with indigenous terms such as medicine animal, helping spirit (Ingerman & Wesselman 2010; Smith, 2007), companion spirit (Houston & Stuart,
1989), or power animal (Poncelet, 2014; Ingerman & Wesselman 2010).
Being in relationship with an animal ally is not the same as having a relationship with an individual member of an animal species. The animal ally is described by 16 transpersonal psychiatrist Stanislav Grof (1988) as “the animal soul of a species” (p.
120). Ingerman and Wesselman (2010) refers to this as the group oversoul of the species. The ally carries the learning, energy, and behaviors of the entire species (Grof, 1988; Poncelet, 2014).
Imaginal Realm
The concept of the imaginal realm or mundus imaginalis was brought into analytical psychology by James Hillman to describe a transpersonal level of the imagination (Nouriani, 2017). The term was borrowed from the work of Henry Corbin, a prominent scholar of Islam and has its origins in Sufism, the largest form of Islamic mysticism (Nouriani, 2017). The imaginal realm is the realm of myth, dream, symbol, ancestors, and spirits (Bright, 2009). Some perceive it as synonymous with the collective unconscious in that it is regarded as the realm of the archetypes or the home of the gods
(Dennis, 2013). The imaginal realm is often used to describe a place between worlds where conscious, though not physical entities who exist beyond the ordinarily perceived world, take on form in order to communicate with us (Raff, 2006). The imaginal realm is a “world as ontologically real as the world of the senses and the world of the intellect” (Corbin, 1964, p. 4).
Raff (2006) describes allies as loving beings from the imaginal realm. Animal allies are one of many types of imaginal beings. It is important to note that imaginal is distinct from imaginary and does not imply that the beings encountered in the imaginal 17 are not real. They are perceived as both sacred and autonomous (Corbin, 1964; Sandner,
1997).
Depth psychotherapy often involves a deep connection with the imaginal realm where autonomous imaginal images and figures can be encountered (Nouriani, 2017).
Nouriani (2017) explains that the imaginal realm does not solely include the depths of the unconscious, but also the “cosmic frontiers of the spirit realms that exist beyond the psyche” (p. 386). When engaging deeply with the imaginal realm, there is a coniunctio between body and spirit, the ego is surrendered to the Self, and “numinous archetypal energies can facilitate the healing energies of the Self” (Nouriani, 2017, p. 393).
The Self
In colloquial use, the word self refers to the egoic self. In depth psychology, Self has the opposite meaning. The archetype of the Self is central to Jungian thought and is regarded as both the “centre and the totality of the psyche” (Colman, 2006). It is the totality of all that is conscious and all that is unconscious; this includes both the personal unconscious as well as the imaginal realm--the realm of the archetypes. Jung conceives of the Self as the central archetype from which all other archetypes and archetypal images derive; it is Jung’s God term (Stein, 1998); As Colman (2006) expresses, the psychology of the Self inherently involves religious experience. He further explains, the mystical experience is a result of a shift in centre from the ego to the Self (p. 157). When individuals are connected with the Self, they are in communion with a “deeper and wider reality than merely the practical, rational, and personal 18 considerations typical of ego consciousness” (Stein, 1998, p. 152). Living in connection with the Self guides the ego into deeper alignment with the soul (Stein, 1998).
Archetypal Images and the Self
The Self, like all archetypes, cannot be seen in its wholeness. Archetypal images serve as representations of the archetype. Just as there are many representations of the
Great Mother archetype, there are many representations of the archetype of the Self.
The Self can also be experienced in the form of an animal ally. This is why Raff (1996) defines the ally as a “divine being, a face of God that is unique to each human being” (p.
3). Bright (2009) reiterates the notion that archetypes often emerge in one’s consciousness as numinous images “imbued with sacred power” (p. 7). The energy of the archetype can be experienced through imagery, symbol, felt-sense, or synchronicity in the external world. One way of looking at allies is as archetypal images serving as representations, and as representatives, of the Self. Our engagement and relationships with these beings from the imaginal can guide the development of the soul and aid in the individuation journey.
Individuation
Allies are called allies due to the relationship formed with individuals in support of their personal transformation or individuation journey. Individuation is a Jungian term used to describe one’s path toward wholeness and inner transformation.
Individuation is a process in which the ego becomes increasingly aware of its origin 19 from and dependence upon the archetypal psyche (Edinger, 1972). The goal of individuation is to achieve a conscious relationship to the Self, the center and totality of being (Edinger, 1972). Individuation is a life-long process, and, as individuals continue to consciously engage with the Self, integration must occur in order for transformation and development to continue (Edinger, 1972).
For contemporary individuals, an “encounter with the autonomous archetypal psyche is equivalent to the discovery of God. After such an experience he is no longer alone in his psyche” (Edinger, 1972, p. 104). During these encounters, the Self often expresses itself in archetypal metaphysical images (Edinger, 1972). These include animal allies. Raff (1997) explicitly connects the ally experience with the individuation journey when he defines the ally as a divine partner along the path of individuation.
Depth Psychology and Shamanism
One of Jung’s primary contributions to the field of psychology is the notion of the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is the realm beyond the personal psyche where universal and unchanging patterns, the archetypes, reside (Stein,
1998). Archetypal images are the source of myth, folklore, and religious ideologies. Jung described shamans as having a “direct line to the unconscious”(Ryan, 2002). Sandner
(1997) makes the connection between archetypal figures and spirit helpers explicit in his description of parallels between analytical psychology and shamanism. He states that, in both fields, individuals are seeking “direct experience with an inner world,” but that in shamanism it is considered the spirit world, whereas in Jungian psychology it is 20 called the collective unconscious or imaginal realm. Jungian analyst Donald Kalsched
(2013) also makes this connection when he writes that patients’ healing depends on “the imaginative resources of the mytho-poetic psyche--what Jung called the collective unconscious, popularly known among primal peoples as the ‘spirit world’” (p. 284). In both cases, the figures are perceived as real (Sandner, 1997). They are also considered sacred and as catalysts for healing (Kalsched, 2013). Both depth psychology and shamanism acknowledge the role of the sacred and the role of images in healing and transformation (Bright, 2009).
Sacred in Nature.
Another parallel between depth psychology and shamanism is that, in both ideologies, the sacred can be encountered through Nature as well as in the imaginal realm. Experiences of the sacred in nature can occur through intentionally communing with the more-than-human world, listening to the stories of the living landscape (Shaw,
2016), or becoming attentive to signs and omens in nature (Plotkin, 2003). It is common for encounters with the sacred in Nature to occur spontaneously for individuals across various faiths (Corbett, 2012).
Adherents to a dogmatic and rigid faith often perceive nature as creation and
God as creator which creates a separation. Because of this, for many, God remains removed from the world (Corbett, 2012). The sacred is seen as above and beyond nature and, yet, experiences of the sacred often occur through nature (Corbett, 2012). Corbett 21
(2012) recounts one Christian woman’s encounter with the sacred while gathering flowers:
A wonderful light shone out from every little petal and flower, and the whole was a blaze of splendor. I trembled with rapture. . . It cannot be described. The flowers looked like gems or stars. . . so clear and transparent, so still and intense, a subtle living glow. . . what a moment that was! I thrill at the thought of it. The pleasure I felt deepend into rapture; I was thrilled through and through, and was just beginning to wonder at it when deep within me a veil, or curtain, suddenly parted, and I became aware that the flowers were alive and conscious. (Corbett, 2012, p. 11).
He also shares the following story of a young graduate student:
As I ran across the grass, I could feel that each blade of grass had a life force, that the ground has a life force, that everything was bound together in this wonderful and horrible dance. I could feel my feet crushing the blades of grass, I could hear the crunch, I could feel the pain the grass felt. . . From this experience of expanded consciousness--which came totally unbidden and unexpected in that moment--I realized that I was something more than this pocket of flesh and mind wandering and searching. . . .This is what I had been searching for. . .I knew that there was really a power and presence that was all-inclusive, and that it included me as well. (Corbett, 2012, p. 21)
Another way that individuals experience the sacred in Nature is through signs
(Plotkin, 2003) and synchronicities (Jung, 1952). Receiving a sign from Nature occurs when an event in nature seems to respond to a question, inquiry, or request (Plotkin,
2003). A sign shows us how to proceed. Plotkin (2003), a depth psychologist and wilderness guide, shares a beautiful example of a woman participating in a vision quest receiving a sign from Nature:
A woman on her fast sits writing in her journal, recording her burning desire to discover her soul qualities and her path of integrity in this life. She wonders how she will ever figure it out. A hummingbird zooms in, very loud, hovers, looks her in the eye, drops a feather in the crease of her open journal, flies off. (Plotkin, 2003, p. 174)
22
Upon receiving the hummingbird feather, the woman’s emotional state shifted from confusion and longing to the hopeful realization that she will find her answers by paying attention to “the miracles present in the moment, especially to the little things of authentic power” (p. 175). Another woman received a sign from Nature in response to her question:
A woman reverently constructs a circle of four stones in which she will spend the entire next day praying. She goes to sleep puzzling as to how she should enter the circle the next morning--from which of the four directions--a significant decision for her. In the morning, she discovers mountain lion prints tracking through her camp; the West stone has been moved aside as if a door had been opened. (Plotkin, 2003, p. 175)
The woman interpreted this as a sign that it would be best to enter the circle from the direction through which the stone had been moved. The more we engage and relate with Nature, the more we will notice the natural world engaging with us.
While the anecdotes above are examples of individuals receiving relevant answers about their personal journey, it is important to remember that the purpose of engaging with the natural world is not solely for personal gain. As mythologist Martin
Shaw (2016) says, “To be of [a place] means to listen. To commit to being around. It’s participation, not as a conqueror, not in the spirit of devouring, but in the spirit of relatedness” (p. 21). Abram (1996) points out that the primary role of shamans was to serve as intermediaries between the community and Nature. In his view, much focus has been placed on shamanic interactions with supernatural beings and not enough on the role of the shaman in listening to the animistic landscape and ensuring that the community was living in harmony with the greater web of life (Abram, 1996). 23
While most Western individuals have become disconnected from living in relationship with the natural world, becoming active members of our more-than-human communities is part of our birthright as human beings (Abram, 1996). This collective forgetting is the cause of much dis-ease and destruction of the environment. We can learn to once again enter into conversation with the natural world (Plotkin, 2003; Shaw
2016).
Moving Beyond Ethnocentric and Disrespectful Language.
In a discussion on parallels between depth psychology and shamanism, it is important to note that there are those who recognize parallels between the two, but discuss indigenous peoples in ways that both myself and contemporary depth psychologists (Brewster, 2013) consider racist and disrespectful. Brewster (2013) points this out in Jung’s work and asserts that it is important not to perpetuate terms such as
“primitive,” “savage,” or “uncivilized.” While Edward Edinger (1972), a renowned
Jungian psychologist, contributed much to the field, it would be irresponsible not to call attention to the way that he describes indigenous peoples. While discussing the dangers of inflation, he acknowledges that “primitives” are connected with Nature, but goes on to say, “This is one side, but there is also the negative side. The real life of the primitive is dirty, degrading, and obsessed with terror” (Edinger, 1972, p. 11). He also writes,
“they are also savages and fall into the same mistakes of inflation as do children”
(Edinger, 1972, p. 11). Language is powerful in both shaping and reflecting culture, and 24 it is essential that we move beyond this kind of ethnocentric diction in order to respect and honor indigenous peoples.
Methods
I conducted a qualitative interview study of seven individuals’ encounters and relationships with animal allies during entheogenic ceremonies and other shamanistic
(Lukoff, 1991) experiences such as intentional drum journeys. I was interested in learning about the characteristics of ally experiences and the perceived effects they had on individuals’ personal transformation.
Participants were selected using purposive sampling to recruit participants who claimed to have had growth-enhancing experiences with animal allies encountered through shamanistic practices such as entheogenic ceremonies or intentional drum journeys.
Semi-structured interviews lasting no longer than one hour were conducted either in-person or via video conferencing. The interviews explored participants’ lived experiences in detail including the ways in which they perceive their ally experiences as growth-enhancing.
Interviews were transcribed and interview data were then coded using interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith, 2008) in order to note patterns in participants’ stories.
Once thesis content was composed based on themes discovered in the data, excerpts of this work were shared with participants prior to submission to Sonoma State 25
University in order to ensure that the participants were understood as they intended and that the writing herein accurately reflects and respects their stories.
Limitations
The primary limitation of this study is the small sample size of seven interview participants. The researcher opted for this sample size due to the intensive process of transcribing and coding participants’ interviews using interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith, 2008). The in-depth analysis of interviews yielded an abundance of information despite the small sample size. While a small sample population is not ideal for making broad claims about any given topic, it allows for a more in-depth exploration of a topic. In fact, small, homogenous sample populations are ideal for interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) (Smith, 2008). Coding interview transcripts using IPA yielded abundant insights into the phenomenology of the ally experience as expressed by the seven participants.
Another limitation of the study is its regional bias given that all of the participants currently reside in the United States of America. Participants represent several states including California, Oregon, and Colorado. One participant was born in
Mexico and another spent several years living in Perú in order to apprentice with local ayahuasqueros and Medicine carriers. The culture in which individuals are immersed influences the ways in which they derive meaning from an experience, especially a numinous experience such as an ally encounter. A more cross-cultural, comprehensive, and wide-reaching exploration would also be valuable. 26
While the study included one male participant, the sample population was predominantly female. Further studies could be done with a more balanced sample population or focusing on the ally experiences of individuals across the gender spectrum.
Another limitation is the inherent ineffability of numinous experiences.
Numinous, a term coined by Rudolf Otto (Stein, 1998), is used throughout this thesis to refer to the sacred beyond the dogma of any one particular religion. Numinous experiences fill us with profound awe and wonder and, although words can partially convey these realities, they are inadequate and can merely point to an experience.
Encounters with the numinous, including encounters with animal allies specifically or with the archetypal realm more generally, transcend the limits of language and can never truly be understood. A participant echoed this sentiment when she said,
I do have conversations with people about [my ally experiences] occasionally, I mean
we’re talking about them right now, and sometimes the process of talking feels so
confining that it doesn’t. . . it’s like “Ugh!” There’s no words. It feels like an insult or
like a reduction of the experience or of the medicine to try to explain it.
Discussions of encounters with animal allies as manifestations of the Self in an academic study is inherently limited. In writing and concretizing these experiences that participants hold as deeply sacred, especially in this linear form, I acknowledge that something will be lost. I have personally grappled with the issue of ineffability and, coupled with an intention to honor animal allies without reducing them to psychological constructs, these limitations delayed my writing progress significantly. 27
Ineffability, or the limitations of language in adequately conveying an experience, is one of the hallmarks of the mystical experience (Griffiths et al, 2006). Grof also acknowledges the ineffability of such experiences when he says that they have an authentic quality that can not be easily conveyed in words (1988).
In discussing limitations, I must also acknowledge my biases and inherent otherness as a Caucasian woman studying animal spirit allies and the shamanistic practices through which they are encountered. While my experiences are genuine, I come to them with my own background schemas and limited understandings of the ways indigenous peoples understood these experiences. I am mindful that writing about other cultures and cultural practices is too often done by the colonizers, the missionaries and anthropologists who write accounts of indigenous ways of life as outsiders. As a result of widespread systemic racism and cultural genocide, there are too few indigenous voices in academia. I recognize the inherent privilege in my ability to write this.
I am not seeking to detail the experiences or ideologies of particular indigenous peoples, but of a small sample of contemporary individuals living in the United States.
In respect for indigenous shamans, I have opted for the term shamanistic (Luckoff,
1991) throughout this work rather than shamanic when referencing participants’ experiences in order to acknowledge that participants may have engaged in practices that are shaman-like, but that they are not shamans (Heinz, as cited in Lukoff, 1991).
This mindful choice in diction has also been adopted by other psychologists (Lukoff,
1991). 28
Many individuals called to the plant Medicine path will express their belief that the plants themselves called them to the path. I echo this sentiment. I was never actively seeking to engage with or discover my spirit animal, and I understand that there are those for whom this act of a Caucasian woman claiming to have relationships with animal allies is problematic and controversial. In alignment with my belief that animal allies are autonomous, loving beings, I can only say that they came to me unbidden. I am forever grateful. It is my intention to honor my allies, plant Medicines, and the indigenous peoples who continue to live in relationship with them. I am continuing to learn. I am writing on this topic because my guides asked me to, and I know this will always be an imperfect document. I hope that my heart and genuine love for my allies and plant Medicines is evident throughout.
I also acknowledge that my Scandinavian, Celtic, Cherokee, and German ancestral lineages carry rich indigenous roots and that my ancestors also engaged in shamanic practices and ways of being in the world. I hold that remembering our interconnectedness with the earth and the realm of archetype and spirit is available to everyone regardless of their lineage. This study emphasizes the lived experiences of contemporary individuals in the United States of America rather than offering a concretized view of other traditions or appropriating other cultures. I also included an interview question asking participants to speak the names of the cultures and mentors with whom they have studied as an act of gratitude and honoring.
As this thesis is being submitted as a culminating project for a degree in
Psychology, I am primarily adopting the lens of depth psychology for the purposes of 29 this work. Depth psychology has its own traditions and history of working with animal allies. Numinous animals may appear in therapeutic expressive arts therapy sessions,
Authentic Movement practices, Sandplay or modalities for accessing altered states of consciousness in a more Western context such as LSD-assisted psychotherapy or holotropic breathwork (Grof, 1988). Numinous animals may appear unbidden in the dreams of analysands carrying profound messages.
In considering the limitation of cultural bias due to the participants being contemporary American citizens engaging in shamanistic (Lukoff, 1991) practices under the guidance of both indigenous and non-indigenous elders, there is value in affirming that ally experiences are not reserved solely for those of particular ancestral lineages.
This study raises awareness of individuals living in direct relationship with allies (and, thus, with the numinous) in contemporary American culture rather than an experience described solely in anthropological texts. This study illuminates that living in relationship with Nature and with the sacred is part of our innate capacity as human beings.
Organization of the Thesis
The section that follows, Chapter II, comprises the Literature Review. This lengthy interdisciplinary literature review entitled “Animal Allies” will cite texts from fields as diverse as depth psychology, transpersonal psychology, and anthropology in order to explore various perspectives on the ally experience. It provides a thorough exploration of what has been written on the subject including the myriad modalities 30 through which individuals enter the altered states of consciousness necessary to encounter allies, narrative accounts discovered in the literature, and frameworks for articulating both ally encounters and the permeable states of mind in which they occur.
Chapter III explains the methods utilized in this study in greater detail than the brief methods section included above.
In Chapter IV, Findings and Discussion, the researcher will present findings gleaned from an in-depth analysis of participants’ interview transcripts using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The Findings and Discussion chapter is organized by subheadings indicating the themes that emerged in the interview data and includes discussion of the findings.
The first theme, Imagery, was such a common aspect of participants’ ally encounters that examples can be found in excerpts throughout other theme sections.
The second theme, Essence, explores the experience of feeling the energy of a particular animal as a way to sense that the ally is present. This aspect of the ally encounter moves beyond imagery and into felt-sense. The third theme is related and explores the experience of Shapeshifting or being embodied by the essence of the ally.
The fourth theme explores Belonging and the ways in which participants’ encounters and relationships with animal allies were characterized by the feeling of belonging. For several participants, this feeling of belonging extended beyond the initial ally experience and into a sense of belonging within an interconnected and living world. 31
Reconnection with Nature is the fifth theme explored and conveys the ways in which participants perceived their relationship with Nature as having deepened following their encounters with animal allies.
The sixth theme, Individuation, explores how participants’ perceive their ally experiences as growth-enhancing. Participants share the ways their personality or paths in life changed following their ally encounters.
The seventh theme, Calling in the Ally, explores the finding that the majority of participants expressed the ability to invoke their allies using the same phrases, either
“call in” or “call on.” This was an unanticipated theme and implies the possibility of living in ongoing relationships with animal allies.
The eighth theme, Feeling Love, is a brief section comprising a few participants’ encounters detailing the immense love that they felt during their ally encounters.
The final two themes examine beliefs participants hold about their ally encounters. The ninth theme entitled The Ally Experience as Sacred conveys participants’ perception that allies and the ally experience are deeply sacred. The tenth theme, Both Spirit and Symbol, explores in participants’ own words how they conceptualize and describe allies including whether they perceive them as emerging from within or as autonomous spirit beings.
Discussion of the findings is included throughout each theme section. The discussion explores connections between the study’s findings and the research questions as well as the concepts explored in the literature review. It also includes possibilities for future research. 32
The final chapter, Chapter V, is the Conclusion of the thesis. It includes a personal reflection on the process of conducting the study and composing this thesis. It also includes a reflection on the significance of the findings to me personally and a reflection on the power of language. I will also explore how this process has informed and inspired the next steps in my journey.
33
Chapter II: Literature Review: Animal Allies
Definitions
Animal allies are internal experiences of animals that occur during entheogenic ceremonies or other shamanistic experiences. Animal allies are numinous beings from the imaginal realm (Raff, 2006) or spirit world (Ingerman & Wesselman, 2010) that interact with human beings internally as benevolent guides and messengers (Raff, 2006;
Grof, 1988). The term numinous was coined by German theologian Rudolf Otto in order to describe the sacred beyond theological or dogmatic conceptions (Stein, 1998). Raff
(2006) defines the ally as, “a divine being, a face of God that is unique to each human being” (p. 3). Allies can be encountered through various means of inducing altered states of consciousness or may appear spontaneously in the lives of ordinary individuals (Corbett, 2000).
The term ally can be used interchangeably with guide, helping spirit (Ingerman &
Wesselman 2010; Smith, 2014), companion spirit (Houston & Stuart, 1989), or daimon
(Dennis, 2013), meaning messenger. Anthropologists writing about animal allies in
Mesoamerica have used the term co-essence (Monaghan in Houston & Stuart, 1989) as well as nagual and tonal (Houston & Stuart, 1989). Terms from the shamanic lexicon used to refer to these animal entities also include animal spirits (Winkleman, 1992, Grof,
1988), power animals (Harner, 1980; Ingerman & Wesselman 2010; Poncelet, 2014), guardian animal spirits (Harner, 1980), totem animals (Grof, 1988), and tutelary spirits
(Poncelet, 2014). 34
In Jungian parlance, one may refer to them as archetypal images (Grof, 1988;
Corbett, 2012), inner beings (Smith, 2007; Sandner, 1997), imaginal beings (Raff, 2006), or psychoidal beings (Raff, 1997). Some depth psychologists prefer the term soul animals
(Kalsched, 2013), while others refer to these numinous presences as allies (Raff, 2006).
I’ve chosen to employ Raff’s term ally (1997, 2006) throughout this work.
Forms of Animal Allies
Animal allies may appear in the form of animals commonly found in nature or mythical beings such as dragons or fairies, which in shamanic states of consciousness are experienced as equally real (Harner, 1980). Frequently, allies appear in the form of an animal prevalent in the locale where the entheogenic plant medicine ingested prior to the encounter grows naturally. This is seen in the prevalence of jaguar and serpent imagery commonly experienced during Ayahuasca visions (Shanon, 2010). However, animal allies can be in the form of any animal species and are not dependent upon the region in which the individual resides or the region where entheogenic plant medicines are grown.
Animal Allies as the Essence of the Species
It is important to note that being in relationship with an animal ally is not the same as having a relationship with an individual animal. The animal ally is described by Grof (1988) as “the animal soul of a species” (p. 120). The ally carries the learning, energy, and behaviors of the entire species (Grof, 1988). Poncelet (2014) reiterates this 35 notion by explaining that the animal ally is not a specific individual, but the spirit or essence of that species. Ingerman and Wesselman (2010) also describe the ally as containing the essence or group oversoul of the species. This means that the animal ally is not an individual animal, but a representative who carries the energy of the entire species. It carries with it the nature, characteristics, and behavior of the animal in its entirety. Harner (1980) explains,
This is analogous to the unity of one’s individual guardian animal spirit with the entire genus or species to which it belongs. This unity means that a person usually possesses not just the power of a bear, or of an eagle, but the power of Bear or of Eagle. The possessor of a guardian animal normally draws upon the spiritual power of its entire genus or species. (p. 74)
The animal ally being a stand-in for the species as a whole is why it is common to refer to one’s animal ally as simply Fox or Owl using a capital letter and omitting the article. Another way of saying this is that the ally carries the archetypal energy of the species as a whole. This includes its representation in myths and folklore across cultures and across time. American Indian mythology tells tales of Coyote and Raven rather than a coyote or a raven.
Allies as Benevolent Companions
According to Raff (2006), allies are benevolent companions engaged in a loving relationship with the individual (2006). Raff (1997) perceives allies as companions and guides helping individuals navigate their lives. Renowned transpersonal psychiatrist,
Stanislav Grof, (1988) affirms that animal allies are perceived not only as divine in nature, but as teachers and friends offering help and spiritual guidance. 36
Raff (2006) explains that in one woman’s first encounter with an ally, she felt as if she had been truly seen for the first time in her life. He goes on to say, “The ally greets us with such joy and love that it is hard to mistake it for anything else. No other imaginal being meets us in this way” (Raff, 2006, p. 11).
He adds that living in relationship with allies “can also transform the so-called ordinary world into the place of magic that it should be” (Raff, 1997, p. 121).
Co-essences in Mesoamerica
González (2010) describes animal allies in Mesoamerican cosmology explaining that a non-human creature called a nagual (from the Aztec nahualli) is assigned to protect and guide each individual. He adds that the characteristics and social roles of the nahualli will match the person. Houston and Stuart (1989) echo this notion that the co-essence will reflect the qualities of the individual with whom it is connected. They define a co-essence as a companion spirit or “supernatural being with whom a person shares his or her consciousness” (p. 1). They add that a person may have more than one.
The Huichol in Mexico and the Maya of Central America still believe in these beings
(Houston & Stuart, 1989).
Houston and Stuart (1989) posit an alternative interpretation of Maya iconography, suggesting that figures once perceived as gods likely represent the co- essences (animal allies) of deities and human beings. This reinterpretation, they claim, aligns with already accepted tenets of Mesoamerican ideology and cosmology. 37
It is important also to note that there has been an evolution of terms used to refer to the animal ally in Mesoamerica. Now, it is most common for the term nahualli or nagual to be reserved for the shape-shifting sorcerer or witch and the term co-essence to be used to refer to one’s ally (Houston & Stuart, 1989). In other literature, both the guardian spirit and the shape-shifting shaman are referred to as a nagual. Harner (1980) explains that nagual animals are sometimes also confused with tonal animals in the anthropological literature on Guatemala and Mexico, which are animal guardians assigned based on one’s date of birth and part of a calendar-based system. The distinction between nagual and nahualli from tonal was originally made by Foster (1944 in Houston & Stuart, 1989) and has been accepted by many (Kaplan, 1956; Houston &
Stuart, 1989). Not all anthropologists agree.
Daimons and Demons
Although her spontaneous imaginal visitations predominantly included dark, destructive, chthonic, erotic, and instinctual energies, Dennis (2013) recounts her encounters with daimons as encounters with messengers of the gods. As Dennis (2013) notes, the term daimon originally carried numinous and positive connotations.
According to the ancient Greeks, daimons were guardian spirits that were assigned at birth and served as intermediaries between heaven and earth, gods and humans
(Dennis, 2013; Kalsched, 2013). In contemporary usage, the term daimon is typically employed as synonymous with demon and used to denote a malevolent force (Dennis,
2013). 38
This shift in language is due in part to the evolution of Christianity and the role that having familiar spirits played in accusing and condemning individuals as witches. It was a common belief in the Middle Ages that the devil could come disguised as various animals (Dennis, 2013). As a result of this belief, witches were believed to have “familiar spirits” which took the forms of various animals (Dennis, 2013). Sax (2009) examines the role of the English witch trials in catalyzing the removal of animal guides and familiars from English folklore. Even animals that served as protector figures were demonized and removed from the stories. The term familiar (Sax, 2009) was a term used in witch trials to condemn those who engaged with animal allies and, to this day, it remains a preferred term for animal allies by some practicing witchcraft, Wicca, or Neo-paganism.
Remnants of these early beliefs and concerns remain embedded in contemporary culture prompting some individuals who experience animal allies to question whether allies are genuinely loving beings. This is especially true in cases in which animal allies appear in forms more frequently associated with qualities that evoke fear such as spiders or snakes. The culturally entrenched disdain for witchcraft is also seen in the tendency of evangelical Christian organizations to seek to ban works of fiction featuring magical themes and animal allies.
Animal Allies in Popular Culture
Animal allies have appeared in several beloved works of fiction, although under different names. In Philip Pullman’s (1995, 1997, 2000) fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, each human being and witch is born with a daemon, a companion in animal form who 39 remains close for the duration of the individual’s life. In Pullman’s world, daemons are the physical and external soul of the individual. They can communicate and act as loving guides throughout the individual’s life. Daemons can change form until the individual hits puberty, when they settle into their final form. The form a daemon settles in is the form that best represents the person’s character. When a person dies, the daemon disappears. Similarly, if one’s daemon is killed, the person dies as well.
The Harry Potter book series (Rowling, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007) also popularized the idea of a magical animal ally that is unique to each witch and wizard. A Patronus serves as a guardian and protector when called upon using the spell, “Expecto patronum.” It is said to be a positive force and a projection of good feelings such as hope, happiness, and the desire to survive. Because a Patronus cannot feel despair, it can not be harmed.
In the Harry Potter universe, a Patronus can be both non-corporeal and corporeal. A non-corporeal Patronus appears as a “thin wisp of silver” and hovers “like mist” (Rowling, 1999). More advanced witches and wizards can cast a corporeal
Patronus that has a more clearly defined form. Animals represented in the Harry Potter series include, but are not limited to: a stag, a doe, a phoenix, a cat, an otter, and a terrier.
Allies and the Individuation Journey
Raff (1997) explicitly connects the ally experience with the individuation journey when he refers to the ally as a divine partner along the path of individuation and 40 transformation. Individuation is a Jungian term used to describe one’s journey toward wholeness and inner transformation. It is the emergence of the Self--Jung’s God term--in one’s consciousness (Stein, 1998).
In childhood, the developmental task to separate from the Self and develop an ego is paramount. Jung saw the second half of life as a time to become aware of and engage with the Self as supraordinate and separate from the ego (Edinger, 1972). In an individuated state, there is a conscious relationship between ego and the Self (Edinger,
1972).
Dennis (2013) explains that daimonic energies emerge to “aid in the expansion of consciousness, facilitating the incarnation of higher vibratory soul qualities into the physical body”(xxiii). This is another way in which ally experiences facilitate transformation and guide the individual toward greater healing and wholeness.
From a Jungian perspective, an ally could be considered a living image
(Aizenstat, 2011) similar to a dream symbol that carries rich mythopoetic nutriment and potential for transformation. Working with images that his clients encounter in dreams,
Aizenstat (2011) says:
The more deeply I listened to dream figures, the more my clients experienced a positive change in their lives. Sometimes in just a single session, making contact with a particularly potent living dream image transformed someone’s addiction or opened new heights of intimacy in a couple’s relationship. . .Not only were serious problems worked through, but an authentic life emerged, one informed by the truth of what existed at the inner core of each individual. (p. 7)
While the living images described by Aizenstat are initially encountered in dreams rather than during entheogenic experiences, their autonomous and numinous nature 41 remains. Through his method of Dream Tending, Aizenstat guides his clients and students in engaging with and learning from living images long after the initial dream encounter. Living images bring with them the potential for integration into the individual personality and, thus, for transformation.
Another way this potential for personal transformation can be expressed is through the Jungian concept of archetypal images residing in the collective unconscious. Jung believed that archetypes were carriers of numinous energy and that the archetypes would be constellated in the unconscious when needed by the individual
(Jung in Jacobi, 1959).
Individuation and the Importance of Integration
Bright (2009) reiterates that encounters with the imaginal can be beneficial, providing insights and catalyzing personal growth when they are interacted with through various modalities including movement, art, active imagination, or other depth inquiry methods (Bright, 2009). It is often in the time following the initial ally encounter when one engages in integration practices and derives meaning from the experience that much of the transformation occurs.
As noted by Harris and Gurel (2012), who conducted extensive research on the
Ayahuasca experience, a numinous experience does not necessarily lead to a transformed life. Likewise, encounters with allies do not necessarily lead to a transformed life. While profound healing can take place during the ally encounter itself, 42 transformation is often dependent upon the responsibility of the individual to integrate and act upon the guidance received.
The Realm of the Allies: The Imaginal Realm and The Spirit World
From a shamanic perspective, allies are described as being encountered in the
Upper or Lower World (Poncelet, 2014), places to which human beings journey to from the Middle World during altered states of consciousness. Winkleman (1992) adds that spirits and supernatural beings may be found in the Upper, Lower, and Middle World.
Many indigenous communities refer to this realm simply as the spirit world (Ingerman &
Wesselman, 2010). In the Celtic tradition, part of my own ancestral line, the term Other
World was used (Ingerman & Wesselman, 2010). In depth psychology, this other world is known as the imaginal realm.
Imaginal is a term attributed to Henry Corbin, a prominent scholar of Islam
(Dennis, 2013; Nouriani, 2017). Corbin borrowed the term from 12th century Islamic mystic Ibn Arabi’s notion of alam almithal (meaning imaginal world). Corbin also refers to the imaginal as the mundus imaginalis and writes that it is “a world that is ontologically as real as the world of the senses and that of the intellect” (As qtd in
Dennis, 2013). The term was introduced into analytical psychology by James Hillman
(Nouriani, 2017).
Nouriani (2017) explains that Hillman applied the notion of the imaginal realm to analytical psychology by considering it as a transpersonal level in the imagination, but that he misinterpreted it by locating it within the psyche. In Sufism, Nouriani 43 clarifies, it is viewed more expansively to include “levels of the spirit world and. .
.dimensions that are independent of the psyche” (2017, p. 387). He distinguishes the imaginal realm from theoretical ideas Jung expressed regarding the unconscious, but notes that Jung engaged with imaginal figures such as Philemon, Elijah, and Salome
“who did not appear to be merely inner unconscious figures” (p. 389). He states that
Philemon is an example of an autochthonous spirit form that exists independently in the imaginal realm (Nouriani, 2017).
Following her own experiences of imaginal intrusions, Dennis (2013) researched the subject and found that some analytical psychologists believe that animal images may point to unintegrated or “split off instinctual aspects” of the personal psyche. After much integration work, she wondered why the animal images and experiences persisted. As a result of this, she came to believe that the animal images, at least in the later states of integration, “rather than representing split-off parts of a whole, appear in their own right as representatives of the imaginal world” (Dennis, 2013, p. 141).
Jung would not have explicitly referred to animal allies as spirit guides. Many claim that Jung did believe in spirits, but that he was often cautious to maintain his reputation within the scientific community (Nouriani, 2017; Smith, 2014). Smith (2014) addresses the limitations in Jung’s interpretation of spirits as manifestations of the unconscious and possessing spirits as complexes. I, too, believe that something is lost in reducing these figures to symbols or complexes emerging from within the personal psyche or reducing engagement with allies to the Jungian notion of active imagination. 44
Raff (2006), a Jungian analyst, describes allies as loving beings from the imaginal realm. The imaginal is a place in which “conscious, but not physical, entities put on form and appear with shape, substance and definable attributes” (Raff, 2006, p. 16). He further explains that this is the realm in which spiritual entities who exist beyond this world communicate with us by “assuming form in the imaginal” (Raff, 2006, p. 16). In earlier writings, Raff (1997) called allies psychoidal beings and defined the psychoid as a space neither within the ordinary world nor in the unconscious. He explains his shift in terms as due to the psychoid—in his perception— being within the imaginal realm and as one type of imaginal experience (Raff, 2006).
The psychoid, according to Jung, is the gray area between psyche and soma where the psyche and the world meet (Stein, 1998). In psychoidal experiences, it is not quite clear what is inside and what is outside (Stein, 1998). Analyst Clarissa Estes describes the psychoid beautifully as “the place where biological and psychological worlds share headwaters,” (p. 26) “the crack between the worlds,” (p. 26) and “home of the Mist Beings,” (p. 26, 1996) and goes on to explain that it is the place where visitations, miracles, and healings occur. Estes (1996) also differentiates the psychoid from Jung’s collective unconscious in that the psychoid is a “more ineffable layer.”
According to Dennis (2013), her daimonic denizens also reside in the imaginal realm which she says is a “world of relationship” distinguished from imagination and fantasy. The imaginal realm is synonymous with the collective unconscious in that it is regarded as the realm of the archetypes or the home of the gods (Dennis 2013). It can also be defined as where body meets soul (Dennis, 2013) or the place “where the mythic 45 and mundane interpenetrate each other” (Buhner, 2014). Bright (2009) adds to this discussion by stating that imaginal images are images through which “the unknown expresses itself” (p. 6). For each of these depth psychologists, the term imaginal conveys that the unknown is taking form.
Regardless of field-specific diction, the experience of animal allies is agreed upon as taking place in a numinous and liminal space between worlds. One similarity between depth psychology and shamanism is that there is a space beyond ordinary consciousness to which the psyche has access (Sandner, 1997). Whether ally experiences take place in the imaginal realm or collective unconscious described by depth psychologists or the spirit realm, qualitative parallels can be made.
Connections to Jungian Psychology
“Jung believed the unconscious to be not only the territory of repression but also a mysterious landscape of autonomous, teleological intelligence that compensates for, supplements, even opposes consciousness” (Miller, 2004: p. 2).
One of Jung’s primary contributions to the field of psychology is the notion of the collective unconscious. This is the term used to refer to the realm beyond the personal psyche where universal and unchanging patterns, the archetypes, reside (Stein,
1998). Archetypal figures are the source of myth, folklore, and religious ideologies.
Sandner (1997) makes the connection between archetypal figures and spirit helpers explicit in his description of parallels between analytical psychology and shamanism.
He states that both are dedicated to “the healing and growth (individuation) of the 46 psyche” (p. 3). He also states that, in both fields, individuals are seeking “direct experience with an inner world,” but that in shamanism it is considered the spirit world; in Jungian psychology, it is the collective unconscious or imaginal realm. In both cases, he adds, the figures are perceived as real. In both cases, the figures are also perceived as sacred.
One difference is that, in a more shamanistic framework, animal allies are perceived as existing externally and separate from the personal psyche, whereas psychologists may consider animal allies as existing within the psyche. In a psychological framework, animal allies may also be perceived as symbolically representing an aspect of the individual’s soul. In Jungian psychology, the language of the unconscious is imagery. Jungian analysts guide clients in connecting with images brought forth from the unconscious--most often in dreams--as symbols. While these images, sometimes called “living symbols,” (Aizenstat, 2011; Bright, 2009) are perceived as meaningful, they may be perceived in a way that those who hold more shamanistic belief systems find limiting or overly humancentric. Still, even within the field of psychology, there is nuance and varying beliefs.
In depth psychology, the methods for engaging with these numinous beings differ from those used by indigenous shamans and those engaging in shamanistic practices. In shamanic traditions, animal allies may be engaged with through offerings, ritual dances, plant medicine ceremonies, drumming, or other practices, whereas psychologists work with animal allies as they work with symbols. Methods used to 47 engage with animal allies in the field of psychology include active imagination, arts- based exploration of the animal as a symbol, archetypal amplification, and animation.
Aizenstat (2011), inspired by James Hillman, explains that imaginal images are more than symbols representing a meaning: “They were. . . like living animals, and had presence, place, and body” (Aizenstat, 2011, p. 19). Because of this belief, Aizenstat’s method of working with dream images moves beyond association, amplification, and active imagination to include a process called animation. In this practice, individuals experience dream images
“in their living, embodied reality. For example, the lion, rather than just referring to our childhood rage or the universal archetype of nobility, now takes on a physical existence, actually present in the room. . .we are able to actually interact with the lion, talk to it, ask it questions, pet its fur, hear what it has to say, and follow it through its habitat. It’s a full-immersion, interactive experience” (Aizenstat, 2011, pp. 19-20).
In animation, individuals engage with the ally when it is present in the space.
Aizenstat’s practice also includes honoring the ally by making some form of gratitude offering to honor the ally (Aizenstat, 2011).
This aligns with Jung’s experience of archetypal images. Jung discovered what he thought to be consciousness in archetypes. When archetypal images invade the ego, for example, and take possession of it, they have a voice, an identity, a point of view, and a set of values. There is self-awareness within the archetype (Stein, 1998).
Stein (1998) describes archetypes as having a numinous quality that can only be described as spiritual. He adds that while they can be destructive or healing, they are never indifferent. Jungian analyst Lionel Corbett makes the connection between 48 archetype and spirit explicit when he states, “Operationally they are synonymous”
(Corbett, 1996, p. 15). Jung also made the connection between spirits and archetypes and referred to spirits as the “autonomous complexes” of the collective unconscious (in
Jacobi, 1959, p. 23).
Jung (in Jacobi, 1959, p. 35) also made a distinction between the “archetype as such,” which is too vast and potent to be experienced in its wholeness, and the archetype once it is filtered by our consciousness and actualized in the form of an image
(in Jacobi, 1959, p. 35). An example would be the archetypal energy of the Great Mother taking form as the Egyptian goddess, Isis. In relation to the topic of animal allies, the archetype of the Self could be taking on the form of a particular animal that most resonates with the soul of the individual.
Jung himself often received guidance and wisdom from wisdom figures including one named Philemon. Jung points to the autonomous nature of guide figures when he explains that Philemon and other figures offered him the insight that, “there are things in the psyche which I do not produce, but which produce themselves and have their own life. . .I observed clearly that it was he who spoke, not I” (Jung, 1963, p.
183). While Philemon was not an animal ally (he was a man with the wings of a kingfisher), the notion that allies operate autonomously and of their own volition is supported by Jung’s encounters with Philemon and other imaginal figures.
In his writings on entheogenic shamanism, DeKorne (1994) expresses a similar experience: “‘I’ was suddenly shunted aside, and an authoritative and calmly reasonable voice began speaking through me. My entire personality changed” (pp. 36- 49
37). The experience of the Self and archetypal energies overpowering the will of the ego is accepted in Jungian thought (Stein, 1998). DeKorne (1994) too offers a Jungian interpretation by explaining that the Self is capable of intervening during crises to protect an individual from harm.
Shamanism & Altered States of Consciousness
At the experiential center of shamanism lies the potent path of direct revelation, revealing that in this spiritual discipline, there are no intermediaries standing between helping spirits and ourselves. We all have access to the wisdom, guidance, and healing that the helping spirits and Nature have to share with us. (Ingerman & Wesselman, 2010, p. xii)
The term shaman originated in Siberia from the language of the Tungus people and has been widely applied by anthropologists to refer to individuals entering an altered state of consciousness at will in order to contact nonordinary reality (Harner,
1980). Eliade's classic definition of shamanism is that it involves techniques of ecstasy and that the distinguishing feature of the shaman is that he or she practices by means of ecstasy or trance (Eliade, 1964; Smith, 2014). Shamans serve as intermediaries between this world and the spirit realm (Hanna, Helmer, & LeMoine, 1995) where they not only see images, but also hear, feel, and experience communications and sensations beyond the usual senses (Harner, 1980).
Some definitions of shamanism also include a distinction between shamans and sorcerers by stating that shamans are healers who serve their communities rather than engaging in shamanistic practices solely for personal gain (Eliade, 1964). Shamanic practices have been discovered in cultures around the globe (Sandner, 1997). 50
Individuals who are not shamans can also engage in ecstatic and shamanistic (Lukoff,
1991) practices in order to experience altered states of consciousness and bring back insights and healing for themselves as well as their communities.
Central to the shamanic experience is the experience that we are part of Nature rather than presiding over it in a hierarchical worldview that contemporary Western culture inherited through church doctrine. Shamanism reveals the interconnectedness of all life and holds that everything is alive and has a spirit (Ingerman & Wesselman,
2010). Within this paradigm of animism and interconnection, it is possible to gain information from Nature about how to bring one’s life back into balance and harmony with all that is (Ingerman & Wesselman, 2010).
In shamanic cultures, the shamanic crisis refers to the dramatic involuntary visionary episode that calls an initiate into becoming a shaman or medicine person in the community. During this time, the individual was expected to have inner visionary experiences, journeys into the underworld, and even endure attacks by demons and symbolic death and dismemberment (Grof & Grof, 1989, p. 15). Following this ordeal, the initiate could experience symbolic rebirth and return to the community as a functioning and honored member (Grof & Grof, 1989, p. 15).
Shamanistic experiences of encounters with animal allies often occur through traditional methods used to induce altered states of consciousness or ecstatic trance
(Aldhouse-Green and Aldhouse-Green, 2005; Eliade, 1964). These methods include, but are not limited to ritual, ecstatic dancing (Keeney & Keeney, 2015), Nature connection 51
(Plotkin, 2003), entheogenic plant medicine ceremonies, vision quests, and journeying using repetitive rhythms made with either drums or rattles (Eliade, 1964; Harner 1990).
A steady, monotonous drumbeat enables the individual to enter an altered state of consciousness (Harner, 1990). This method is so well-established in transporting individuals on their journey to the spirit world that Siberian and other shamans refer to drums as their “horse” or “canoe” (Harner, 1990). Repetitive drum beats have been shown to produce changes in the central nervous system (Harner, 1980). Research on the shamanic spirit dances of the Salish Indians of the Northwest Coast supports the notion that rhythmic drumming has the capacity of induce altered states of consciousness (Harner, 1980). During initiation rites involving the Salish deer-skin drum, drum beats in the theta wave EEG frequency range (four to seven cycles per second) were most commonly used (Jilek, 1974).
Western and Indigenous Conceptions of Mind
This is why the boundary thinning that is experienced by those labeled schizophrenic and those on [entheogens] is considered to be pathological. It undermines the humancentric worldview. Through the lives of those whose boundaries have thinned, we catch glimpses of the shimmer of infinity in the face of the other, catch glimpses through the doors of perception of the metaphysical background of the world. (Buhner, 2014, p. 361)
The underlying ideology that supports the ally experience is one of interconnectedness (Abram, 1997; Kremer & Jackson-Paton, 2013), animism (Abram,
1997; Kremer & Jackson-Paton, 2013), and the permeability of the egoic self (Bernstein
2005; Hartmann, 1991). 52
Contemporary Western cultures privilege the individual ego which is viewed as boundaried and independent of forces beyond the individual will (Kremer & Jackson-
Paton, 2013). These Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic societies
(Henrich et. al 2010) view the individual as separate and boundaried. In contrast, in an indigenous ideology, it becomes apparent that the collective is an integral component of the self which is viewed as interdependent and having permeable boundaries (Kremer
& Jackson-Paton, 2013). In indigenous societies, the individual self was inextricably interconnected with place, myth, ancestors, and spirit.
The current psychiatric paradigm often pathologizes experiences of remembering our interconnectedness and encountering the numinous; this implicit ideological framework that perceives the ego as a boundaried, independent personality signals the rampant disconnection and dissociation in individualistic cultures from transpersonal as well as earth-based sources of connection. This disconnection has been referred to as normative dissociation (Kremer and Jackson-Paton, 2014). From this perspective, the dissociation that is accepted as the norm in contemporary Western culture may be seen as contributing to both personal and cultural dis-ease.
The innate potential for human beings to reconnect with Nature, the unseen, and the imaginal realm is an integral part of what it means to be human (Abrams, 1997;
Kremer & Jackson-Paton, 2014). Wilber reiterates the notion of our identity extending beyond the confines of our boundaried bodies and egoic mind when he writes, “We are not conscious of our identity with the all and yet neither is our identity confined to the boundaries of the individual organism” (Wilbur, in Welwood, 2002). It is possible to 53 remember our interconnection with all of life and also to bring conscious awareness to the ways in which our psyches are already permeable, accessing information and imagery from both the personal and collective unconscious. Experiences of thin boundaries (Hartmann, 1991) have always been part of what it means to be human.
Borderland Consciousness and Animal Allies
Although there are many portals into connection with the numinous and to induce altered states of consciousness, there are individuals for whom imaginal experiences and interactions with the realm of the archetypes have become ongoing.
These individuals live between worlds; they live in the borderland (Bernstein 2005).
Jungian analyst Jerome Bernstein (2005) explains that many individuals experience what he calls Borderland consciousness. People with Borderland consciousness are deeply connected with Nature and transrational reality, a term he gives to experiences that occur beyond logic and are too often dismissed as merely superstitious.
Bernstein (2005) uses the term transrational to describe the transpersonal, numinous experiences of individuals with borderland capacities. Many individuals who experience borderland consciousness (Bernstein, 2005) report visionary experience, bodily sensations, interconnection with Nature, living beings, and occasionally even animal guides. They may also experience collective grief as a result of human violence and the destruction of Nature (Bernstein, 2005; Weller, 2015). 54
Bernstein (2005) explicitly states that nature themes in general and animal themes in particular are prevalent experiences of those to whom he refers as Borderland personalities, individuals who have access to transrational consciousness.
Bernstein’s work (2005) adds to this discussion in that it challenges dominant psychological frameworks by distinguishing expanded states of consciousness and encounters with the numinous from pathology. It also offers individuals experiencing transrational consciousness a framework with which to understand and express their own experiences. Bernstein (2005) clearly states that Borderland consciousness is not a pathological state, but a connection to the sacred that helps many function in a
“wounded and wounding world” (p. xvi).
Bernstein (2005) adds that while many experience Borderland consciousness their entire lives, for some, it is through trauma that they are opened to this transrational reality. Similarly, Kalsched (2013) focuses on the role of trauma in activating what he refers to as the self-care system, the archetypal defenses in the psyche.
Both Bernstein and Kalsched acknowledge trauma as one possible portal to numinous experience; however, Bernstein’s work focuses primarily on the connection Borderland individuals have with Nature, whereas Kalsched’s focuses on the connection to the collective unconscious, the realm of the archetypes. Bernstein also refers to the
Borderland as “the place where the gods come and go.” Both authors are clear that these experiences do not signal pathology, but rather that the individuals are experiencing permeable states of consciousness that can either be innate, spontaneous, induced, or activated by trauma. 55
Trauma as a Portal to the Numinous
“Sometimes the spiritual world gives the trauma survivor privileged access to immaterial realities that remain mostly inaccessible to people who live mostly in one world.” (Kalsched, 2013, p. 9)
As we have seen, individuals can access the numinous energies of animal allies through various modalities to intentionally induce nonordinary states of consciousness, or they may spontaneously experience these numinous energies. Some individuals who are particularly permeable to the numinous dimensions of life have suffered major traumas during their formative childhood years.
Kalsched (2013) posits that when individuals experience trauma, it can open them to “the numinous dimension of the psyche and of life.” In Kalsched’s theory, an individual may dissociate so that the personality does not have to suffer unspeakable atrocities as a whole and shatter under the weight of it. The archetypal self-care system acts as a protective defense to trauma in which both positive and negative forces emerge from the collective unconscious to either protect or persecute the individual. He believes that the function of the self-care system is to protect the soul, the innocent core of the human being, from overwhelming trauma with which it would not yet be able to cope.
Many of Kalsched’s patients have special gifts, psychic powers, shamanic visions, mystical connections to animals or to nature, access to healing capacities, uncanny intuitive wisdom, artistic talent, or the ability to receive auditory messages from beyond the ego (2013). He makes the connection to Jung explicit by saying that
Jung was such a person. 56
He shares a poignant case study in which a little girl was asked by her mother to deliver a note to her father’s study. She returned in tears and said, “I’m sorry mother, the angel won’t let me go in” (Kalsched, 2013, p. 28). The mother sent her back a second time, feeling irritated. She returned once again without entering the room. The mother then walked into the father’s study with the little girl and was shocked to find that he had died suddenly of a heart attack.
Kalsched (2013) explains that there are three ways to perceive what happened.
The first is the reductionist interpretation that the little girl made up the angel. The second is the spiritual or “supernatural” interpretation that an actual guardian angel or
“genuine spiritual agency” (p. 29) intervened to protect the little girl. The third interpretation is most aligned with Kalsched’s model and posits a psycho-spiritual approach. He sees the angel as representing a universal self-protective agency from the collective layer of the unconscious that intervenes when the ego is confronted with too much trauma. He explains:
The angel would also be a defense against too much reality too soon, but the “goal” of the defense would be neither salvation nor hallucinatory protection. . .Its “goal” would be to restore a mytho-poetic matrix between reality and fantasy because this is where the little girl’s soul lives, and the angel appears to be a guardian of this soul. So conceived, the survival of the soul is the main “purpose” of the self-care system. (Kalsched, 2013, p. 29)
In the case study described above, the soul guardian is an angel. Kalsched (2013) also examines case studies in which the guardian appears as a magical animal or soul animal, his more Jungian term for animal allies. While his work emphasizes the role of trauma in this psychic opening, he explicitly cautions against pathologizing those who 57 experience the numinosum. Kalsched (2013) explains that this numinous second world offers “mytho-poetic nutriment for personality integration and wholeness.” This is necessary in the development and protection of the soul.
Kalsched’s work (2013) provides a much needed alternative psychological framework for describing these numinous encounters and acknowledging their transformative capacity without pathologizing them.
Benefits and Goals of (Re)connection with Archetypal Reality
Connection with archetypal reality was an integral part of our ancestors’ lives and is intimately related to our connection with the natural world (Bernstein, 2005).
Bernstein echoes the importance of connection with the earth when he explains that the psychic connection with Nature is inseparable from physical and spiritual health (2005).
Returning to states of interconnectedness and reciprocal relationships with the land, which is part of what Bernstein (2005) terms borderland consciousness, has the potential to improve one’s overall health and wellbeing. The psyche yearns for reconnection with
Nature and with archetypal reality.
It is possible for individuals to return to a state of consciousness in which they are part of an “ongoing conversation with all beings- animals, plants, humans, stars, ancestors, spirits” (Kremer & Jackson-Paton, 2014, p. 48). This conversation has been expressed in the Sami language as humalan eatnama which can be translated as, “I converse with the earth.” Peruvians use the Spanish phrase criar y dejarse criar, meaning,
“to nurture and let oneself be nurtured” (Kremer and Jackson-Paton, 2014, p. 48). 58
Interestingly, Raff (2006) believes that the ally also transforms and benefits from engaging in relationship with a human.
The goal of reclaiming our innate indigeneity and access to shamanic ways of knowing and relating with the earth is not to attain esoteric wisdom, but rather to grow as individuals, and, in doing so, to care better for oneself and to contribute in more meaningful ways to one another, our communities, and to the earth. According to some, the goal and outcome of this nurturing conversation is often the fulfillment of goals, a balanced life, and increased happiness (Kremer and Jackson-Paton, 2014). Dennis (2012) was amazed at how her imaginal experiences humbled her and deepened her connection with life. Many also develop a deeper sense of joy (Harris & Gurel, 2012). An additional effect of experiencing interconnectedness with the unseen and the natural world is that, when one feels connected with Nature, there is an increase in empathy and care for nature. This results in individuals becoming better stewards of the earth.
Entheogenic Plant Medicines as Portals to Ally Encounters
“We are not talking about passive agents of transformation, we are talking about an intelligence, a consciousness, an alive and other mind, a spirit. Nature is alive and is talking to us. This is not a metaphor” –Terrence McKenna
While there are many techniques of ecstasy (Eliade, 1964) used to enter the altered states of consciousness necessary to encounter animal allies, many encounter their allies through the ingestion of entheogenic plant medicines such as San Pedro,
Ayahuasca, and Peyote, as well as through the ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms. 59
Entheogenic plants contain psychoactive compounds and are often ingested in ceremonial or ritual practices for spiritual and physical healing. Entheogen, which means
“generating or becoming the divine within,” is a term (Ruck & Wasson, 1979) that evokes the spiritual significance of the substances still referred to by some as psychedelics, which means mind-manifesting. Entheogen is the preferred term especially when the plant or fungi is taken ritually, with the intention to access the sacred, and/or within its cultural context (Glass-Coffin, 2010). Entheogen can be used more broadly to include synthetic substances such as LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide), however, only experiences with entheogenic plants and fungi were explored in this study. Plant teacher (Doyle, 2012), plant-sacrament (Glass-Coffin, 2010), and plant Medicine are additional terms that can be used interchangeably when referring to entheogenic plants.
Entheogenic plant sacraments have been ingested ceremonially by indigenous peoples for millenia for psycho-spiritual healing (Harris, 2017), physical healing (Doyle,
2012), and divination (Griffiths, 2006). Recent research has established the effectiveness of entheogenic plants in treating depression, addiction, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Doyle, 2012), and leading to overall improvement in mood and quality of life (Griffiths et al., 2006).
Psilocybin, the active compound found in entheogenic mushrooms, in particular has been shown to improve mood, quality of life, and even occasion mystical experiences (Griffiths et al, 2006). 60
In 1962, psychiatrist and minister, Walter Pahnke, working on a doctorate at
Harvard University under Timothy Leary, conducted a double-blind study called the
Marsh Chapel Experiment (Pahnke, 1963). In this study, which is now more commonly known as the Good Friday Experiment, 20 divinity students were given a capsule of white powder during a Good Friday service on the Boston University campus. Ten were given capsules containing 30mg of psilocybin and ten were given a niacin placebo which induced a light tingling sensation. Eight of the ten participants who ingested psilocybin reported a powerful mystical experience during the church service. Some were reported to express profound awe, making statements including, “God is everywhere” and “Oh, the glory!” (Pahnke, 1963). Pahnke concluded that the experiences of those who ingested psilocybin were “indistinguishable from, if not identical with” classic mystical experiences.
In a follow-up to Pahnke’s historic Good Friday Experiment, Doblin (1991) found that in the years following a series of clinical psilocybin trials, participants (who were all white male Protestant divinity students) continued to experience increased appreciation of life and Nature, deepened sense of joy, deepened commitment to their vocations, and greater solidarity and identification with foreign peoples, nature, and women. The long-term follow-up was conducted a quarter century after the original experiment with individuals who participated in the original experiment.
In a more recent study, Griffiths et al. (2006) found that two months after administering psilocybin to thirty volunteers, the volunteers rated the experience as having substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance, comparable even to the 61 birth of their children. Two thirds rated their psilocybin session among the top five most significant spiritual experiences of their lives and a third ranked it as the single most significant (Griffiths et al., 2006).
Researchers at Imperial College London also found that patients with treatment- resistant depression showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms and that the patients’ depressive symptoms remained significantly reduced at the 7–12-months follow-up (Carthart-Harris & Lyons, 2018).
Participants also shared ally experiences that were induced by the San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi) which is native to the Andes and contains mescaline, the same entheogenic compound in Peyote. The San Pedro cactus, known also as
Huachuma, was named after Saint Peter, the saint who carries the keys to heaven in the
Christian cosmology. This, again, points to the potential of these plants to open individuals to numinous experience.
Another entheogenic plant medicine that is commonly ingested in ceremonial settings is Ayahuasca, a visionary tea that has been consulted by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon for millenia (Harris, 2017). The brew is usually comprised of two plants: the Ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the Chacruna leaves (Psychotria viridis), the latter of which contains the psychoactive compound dimethyltryptamine (DMT).
Ayahuasca shows promise in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, addiction, and anxiety (Harris, 2017).
62
Entheogenic Plant Medicines as Allies
Entheogenic plant medicines are not only a means through which individuals may encounter their animal ally; they are also allies in their own right. The guidance, love, and support that individuals experience from plant medicines as sacred teachers is profound and well-documented (Doyle, 2012; Harris & Gurel, 2012; Harris, 2017).
According to Doyle (2012), Ayahuasca and other plants are beings with agency and
“endowed with psyche.” Initially, this study was designed to examine individuals’ experiences with both animal and plant allies. While participants shared valuable insight into plant medicines as loving allies and wisdom carriers, this exceeds the scope of this project. It is worth noting however that six of the eight participants experienced these plants as teachers and allies, an experience that is echoed by scholars as well as those who engage intentionally with these plants (Doyle, 2012; Harris & Gurel, 2012;
Harris, 2017).
Doyle (2012) credits the Peruvian plant brew Ayahuasca with his physical healing from both asthma and dermatitis. His article also posits the intelligence of this plant ally by drawing upon both biosemiotics and the emerging discoveries in the field of molecular biology where plant signaling and behavior is proving to be complex.
Doyle also explores the notion of the Plant Teacher as archetype. Often, Ayahuasca and other entheogenic plants are referred to as plant teachers; in the upper Amazon, they are referred to as Doctores (Doyle, 2012). Doyle (2012) explicitly states, “I ascribed agency to ayahuasca, yet this feeling of plant agency was in practice inseparable from the healing and the telling of the healing. . . A sense of being instructed was crucial to 63 my healing” (p. 39). He further expresses that plants are beings “endowed with
‘psyche’” (Doyle, 2012, p. 49). The experience of these visionary plants as having intelligence, consciousness, and agency is common and has been noted briefly in several studies.
A study on sacramental Ayahuasca use in North America acquired data from both questionnaires and interviews given to ceremonial participants reflecting 2,267 ceremonies (Harris & Gurel, 2012). Astoundingly, 74% of the research participants said they received ongoing guidance and support from the spirit of Ayahuasca long after their ceremonial experience (Harris & Gurel, 2012). This evidence directly supports the notion that the essence and spirit of Ayahuasca often serves as a plant ally with autonomous intelligence and that She remains in ongoing relationships with individuals.
Many individuals experience plant consciousness and often carry with them profound insights although transpersonal experiences of plant allies are less common than experiences of animal allies (Grof, 1988).
Spontaneous Encounters with Allies
While it is established that individuals may encounter an animal ally through the aforementioned practices to induce ecstatic or altered states of consciousness, there are individuals for whom encounters with allies are spontaneous and for whom interaction and relationship persists without explicit invocation. Raff, a Jungian analyst who has 64 relationships with animal allies, first encountered an ally spontaneously in the shower
(1997).
Corbett (2000) affirms that numinous experiences are not only experienced by the mystics and saints of ancient texts, but “may erupt at any time in the lives of ordinary people, or they may be deliberately induced by careful preparation.”As Jungian analyst
Alan Ruskin notes in the praise for Dennis’ (2012) book on daimonic messengers and her experiences of spontaneous imaginal visitations, “much of this region is still unexplored” (iii).
Spontaneous ally encounters may occur as part of spontaneous transformational processes such as a Kundalini awakenings (Sannella, 1997), spiritual emergence (Grof,
1992), or spontaneous eruptions of unconscious material (Dennis, 2013)--similar to what
Jung experienced in his Red Book--where there is an expansion in consciousness.
Shapeshifting or Animal Identification
The term shapeshifting is used here to refer to the experience of feeling embodied by the essence of an animal ally (Jamal, 1995; Poncelet, 2014). In shapeshifting, the individual is given the experience of what it would feel like to be that animal on a somatic level (Grof,1988; Jamal, 1995; Poncelet; 2014). Transpersonal psychiatrist
Stanislav Grof (1988) refers to this phenomenon as animal identification. For Grof, transpersonal experiences often involve a complete and realistic identification with members of various animal species (Grof, 1988). This experience may include physiological sensations, instinctual drives, or a new perception of the environment. 65
Specifically, Grof affirms, “it is possible to gain experiential insight into what it feels like when a cat is curious. . .a cobra hungry. . .or when a shark is breathing” (1988, p. 53). In some cases the individual is also physically moved by the animal ally (Jamal, 1995;
Poncelet, 2014).
Keeney (2004) uses the term shapeshifting to refer to the belief held by the !Kung of the Kalahari Desert that they possess the ability to physically transform and enter the bush as lions and other powerful creatures. However, I am not using the term to denote physical transformation. In the experiences discussed in this paper, individuals do not literally shapeshift by means of altering their material form. Nevertheless, they experience transformation to the extent that they claim to have had a genuine experience of being another creature. The shapeshifting experience can move beyond the visionary to include somatic sensations, vocalization, physical movement, and a shift in perspective to the perspective of the ally. For example, Jamal (1995) refers to one shapeshifter as “infused with the soul of a buck.” In Jamal’s (1995) view, the experience is a metamorphosis in which the shaman enters “the body and mind of his or her ally”
(p. xx). Eliade clarifies, “this is less a possession than a magical transformation of the shaman into that animal”(Eliade, 1964, p. 99).
The ability of shamans to transform into their guardian animal spirit or power animal is widespread and ancient (Harner, 1980). Initiates of the Wiradjeri tribe in
Australia would experience feathers growing from their arms expanding into wings. In
Scandinavia, Sami shamans transformed into reindeer, wolves, bears, and fish. Among the Yuki Indians of California, shamans were believed to transform into bears and were 66 called “Bear doctors” because their animal allies were bears. The Yuki bear doctors would relate with actual bears, eat their food, and at times live among them (Harner,
1980).
Mesoamerican peoples also had shapeshifting witches and sorcerers who were able to experience their co-essences in this manner (González, 2010; Houston & Stuart,
1989). These shapeshifters were known as nahualli or nagual and were believed to sometimes invoke the power of their co-essence in order to to cause harm (Kaplan, 1956;
Houston & Stuart, 1989).
Just as there are multiple ways to enter an altered state of consciousness, there are many modalities through which shapeshifters enter into the experience. These include breathwork (Grof 1988; Jamal 1995), trance dancing, and drum rhythms (Jamal,
1995). Shapeshifting also occurs during entheogenic therapy sessions (Grof, 1988) and plant medicine ceremonies (Grof, 1988).
Anthropological Evidence for Shapeshifting
The shamanic experience of shapeshifting is depicted in cave paintings around the world depicting therianthropes, hybrid human and animal figures, from as early as
44,000 years ago (Jamal, 1995).
Aldhouse-Green and Aldhouse-Green (2005) posit that the therianthropic figures in Paleolithic cave art likely depict shamans in trance states rather than mythological deities or humans disguised for hunting purposes. For example, they explain, a figure appearing to be part-human and part-bear could represent either a human to bear 67 transformation or even a bear to human transformation if their cosmology included beliefs in the ability of other animals to shapeshift into humans. This fluidity between human and animal forms is characteristic of early hunter-gatherer societies (Aldhouse-
Green & Aldhouse-Green, 2005).
These images, including the famous image of The Sorcerer, a painting of a half- man, half-deer hybrid, discovered in the Cave of the Trois-Frères in France, suggest instances of shapeshifting during altered states of consciousness. The Sorcerer is dated around 13,000 B.C.E.
In his writing on San rock art, Jolly (2002) also shares the perspective that therianthropic images represent shamans in altered states of consciousness associated with trance who “were in the process of fusing with, or had already fused with, animals or birds” (p. 1). Jolly (2002) adds that the shamans wear masks or the hides of the animals in order to help them achieve this state of transformation and visit the spirit realm.
In a study on human-animal transformation in Dorset art (Hanna, Helmer, and
Lemoine, 1995), archeologists describe a small, carved, ivory figure depicting human- bear transformation. They assert that the carving may have belonged to a shaman and that it “represents the shaman’s personal ability to transform from human to bear” (p.
43). Inuit art depicting these “composite beings” is also said to represent either the shaman and his animal allies or shamans transforming into animal form (Blodgett, 1979 in Hanna, Helmer, & LeMoine, 1995). 68
Gutiérrez and Pye (2010) analyze human-animal transformation sculptures depicting Mesoamerican nahualism. Several of the sculptures, from the Dumbarton
Oaks collection, seem to depict human beings transforming into jaguars, an animal that was perceived as powerful in Mesoamerican cultures.
Differentiating Shapeshifting from Animal Autosymbolic Visions
Grof (1988) suggests that animal autosymbolic visions may at times be comparable to dream symbols that can be interpreted as conveying insights about the personal psyche, whereas other times identification with animal spirits is a genuine transpersonal phenomenon that cannot be interpreted symbolically. He explains that he has heard numerous accounts similar to the following:
No, you do not understand; there is nothing to analyze here, I really was an elephant. I knew what an elephant feels like when he is angry or sexually aroused, and what it is like when water enters his trunk. An elephant does not stand for anything; an elephant is an elephant. (p. 119)
The experience of shapeshifting is a transpersonal experience, not an experience of imagining oneself as an animal or willfully imitating the sounds and gestures of an animal. It is the transpersonal experience of a visitation from an animal ally.
Shapeshifting in Ritual Dance
Shamans who dance their guardian animal spirits not only make the movements of their animal allies, but also make the sounds (Harner, 1980). Shamans from Siberia as well as shamans from both North and South America are known to make the sounds 69 and calls of their allies during their transformations. While they may adorn themselves with furs, masks, and other items imbued with the energy of their animal allies, it is important to reiterate that shapeshifting is not merely costumed imitation. As one Coast
Salish said, “When I dance I don’t act, just follow your power, just follow the way of your power” (Harner, 1980, p. 80). At some point in the ritual, the shaman experiences transformation and becomes one with the animal (Harner, 1980).
Aldhouse-Green and Aldhouse-Green (2005) acknowledge the perspective that some of the therianthropic cave art depicting hybrid humans and stags could represent ritualists wearing antler headdresses. They assert that some of the imagery depicting deeper transformation in which the human and stag features become increasingly intertwined (Aldhouse-Green and Aldhouse-Green, 2005) represent shamans in various stages of shape-shifting while deepening in trance.
Shapeshifting as an Experience of the Self
As Poncelet (2014) explains, "In shapeshifting, the personal ego recedes and the divine presence is manifested. Becoming one's ally is experiencing the One." This is reminiscent of encounters with the Self in Jungian psychology in which the individual may be overcome by energies beyond the will of the ego (Stein, 1998). Though it may initially be frightening to surrender control to another energy or entity (Dennis, 2012;
Raff, 1997) while the ego remains in the background in a sort of witness position, the merging experience of shapeshifting has many positive effects including, “expanded awareness” and “affinity with all sentient beings” (Jamal, 1995). 70
When one feels what it is like to be another creature, a possible result is a deepened empathy and concern for the natural world and all of its inhabitants. Some feel a strong call to live in reciprocity with their animal allies, donating to an organization intent on protecting the species and their habitats or making offerings at their altars. Others honor them by creating art or song as an act of gratitude.
A Jungian Perspective: Shapeshifting and the Subtle body
Images carry with them energetic content. The sensations experienced in connection with an image are experienced through what depth psychologists refer to as the subtle body. According to Jung, the subtle body is the energy body present in matter
(Woodman, 1996). The subtle body is synonymous with the somatic or “physiological unconscious” (Jung, 1988, p. 441). It is often defined as a liminal place where mind meets body (Dennis, 2013; Kalsched, 2013).
The subtle body is the medium through which the body experiences the palpable and potent energy of numinous images from the imaginal or spiritual realm, including animal allies. Since the animal ally is not a physically tangible being, yet the essence or presence of the ally is often experienced somatically, I am suggesting that shapeshifting is experienced through the subtle body.
Hillman, the founder of archetypal psychology refers to the subtle body the
“imagination of the body” (in Dennis 2013, p. 23). He recognized the ways in which image and imagination is too narrowly equated with the visual and can evoke powerful somatic experiences as well (Hillman in Fitzpatrick, 2019). Schwartz-Salant (1989) 71 referenced the notion of the subtle body as a way of discussing the somatic nature of imaginal experience. When Dennis (2013) experienced spontaneous imaginal visitations, she explained that they were, “Not simple mental ‘fantasies,’ but more like hallucinations involving emotions and my senses” (p. 3). While I take issue with the term hallucination since it carries connotations of falsehood or pathology, Dennis’s detailed personal accounts further demonstrate that imaginal beings are not only experienced through imagery, but can also be felt in the body and experienced through the senses.
In the case of animal allies encountered during altered states of consciousness, this energy is experienced in such palpable and potent ways that some individuals feel as though the animal is touching their physical body or they feel that they temporarily become the animal as in instances of shapeshifting. Perhaps these experiences are happening through the medium of the subtle body or somatic unconscious. While
Hillman would not use the term shapeshifting, he echoes this idea when he says, “It is through daimons (guardian spirits) that the transcendent becomes immanent in the medium of the subtle body” (Hillman in Dennis, 2013).
Accounts of Shapeshifting in the Literature
Grof (1988) includes examples of animal identification from participants who experienced his holotropic breathwork practice and therapeutic LSD sessions. He also includes anecdotes compiled from other sources and those shared with him by individuals who had independent entheogenic sessions. The following excerpt is Peter 72
Stafford’s account of shapeshifting during an Ayahuasca (he uses the term yajé) experience:
The surface of the water shimmered and beckoned. Soon we went back down to the water’s edge, eager to stretch and swim, to dive, and swirl around. The only drag was keeping on a swimsuit. It seemed so unnecessary and unnatural! Especially since I had become a snake writhing about in the water. I maneuvered in and out of a swamp. Minutes later, I found myself a frog and started propelling myself with long kicks. In both cases, water seemed my natural habitat, and land was distant, alien, somewhat terrifying.
After a while, my mind decided that I would like to climb a small mountain that looked down on this idyllic setting, but by now I was a sea lion, so it was difficult to get myself up and onto dry land. As I waded out, I felt awkward, silly, completely out of my element.
When I say I felt as though I was first one water creature and then another, what I mean goes far beyond merely “feeling slithery and reptilian.” The experience had a different feel to it, different from anything I had previously felt, both physically and mentally. Under the [yaje’], I was conscious of having different types of memories, and I lost my normal self-awareness. Rather than empathy with what I might imagine a snake or frog might feel, I was sufficiently absorbed into snakeness and frogness as to wonder how the humans around me might feel.
What does it mean that while I was under the yaje’ I did not merely “feel like a snake,” but in some sense, I was a snake, that somehow I had reached a level of experience where I could contact a potential “snakeness” residing within? What does it mean that I felt my perceptions were being sorted in terms of new and different categories? [emphasis added] (Aaronson and Osmond, 1970 in Grof 1988)
It is evident through Stafford’s repetition of statements such as, “I had become a snake,” and “I was a sea lion,” that this experience was a temporary transformation in consciousness that included the emotions as well as the senses. 73
Another woman conveyed her experience of animal identification during both a holotropic breathwork session and a subsequent entheogenic therapy session:
Several years ago, in a session of breathwork with the Grofs, I experienced becoming a large cat--a tiger or jaguar--striking out, attacking with claws extended. The impression from that experience was very strong and I made a drawing of it.
A year or so later, during a therapeutic psychedelic session, I connected again with the feline energy. I experienced myself as being a young African woman, dancing a ritual dance--dancing an animal, a female lion. In letting my body move with the rhythm of this dance, the movement through, my shoulders, upper back, neck, and head became very specific. I had a strong sense that I was not just representing a lioness, but actually became one.
I felt that the lioness does not determine her need for food by feelings in her stomach, but rather that this rubbing of the head back into the area between raised shoulders is her means of finding out whether she needs more food to add to her storage of fat for fuel, which is located between her shoulder blades. I had no doubt as to the function of the large pad on the neck and shoulders of large cats, but did nothing to research or confirm the act empirically.
Two weeks ago, I was listening to an educational tape on body weight. The speaker, William Bennett, briefly contrasted human adipose fat storage with animal fat storage. He described a type of fat not found in humans, but common in animals, called “brown fat.” Brown fat is stored as a pad between the scapulae of some animals and must be maintained at a certain level to ensure sufficient energy and health for the survival of the animal. (Grof, 1988)
This woman’s story again affirms that shapeshifting goes beyond representation and into a genuine experience of what it is like to be a particular animal. As this account shows, some individuals also receive valuable and accurate information about the species about which they had no prior knowledge. 74
Another account, this time sent to Grof by a man who had experienced animal identification during an entheogenic session with LSD, said:
I had a very real experience of being an eagle. I was soaring by skillfully using the air currents and subtle changes of the position of my wings. I was scanning with my eyes the area far below me looking for prey. Everything on the ground seemed magnified as if seen through a binocular. I could recognize the most miniscule details of the terrain. It seemed that I was responding to changes in the visual field. When I spotted movement, it was as if my eyes froze and zoomed in. It was something like tunnel vision, looking through a long and narrow tube. The feeling that this experience accurately represented the mechanism of vision in raptor birds (something I had never thought about or had been interested in) was so convincing and compelling that I decided to go to the library to study the anatomy and physiology of their optical system.
In Amazonian shamanism, transformation into an animal and the experience of flying are often seen as indicators of shamanic competence (Shanon, 2010). This is not to equate participants with indigenous shamans, but to convey that shapeshifting is a well-documented experience among shamanic cultures. In Shanon’s (2010) study of
Ayahuasca experiences, he explains that metamorphosis experiences are involuntary and that they are not only experienced by indigenous people and shamans. Participants in his study most commonly reported transformation into felines or birds, although other animals were also reported.
Shanon himself also experienced transformation into an animal on several occasions. He details his own experience with Black Jaguar:
My other two feline transformations were part of a full-fledged vision. In both instances I found myself being a jaguar amongst jaguars. In both, the change was problematic for me. I was concerned that the other jaguars would discover that I was not a real member of their species, that I was an outsider, that I did not know how to act as they did. On the first of these two occasions I solved the problem by acting as a weak female jaguar that seemed to be ill and withdrew to the side so as to be separated from her community. The second time I remained with the pack 75
but was constantly on guard lest they discover my ignorance in matters of group activity such as playing and hunting. (Shanon, 2010, p. 213)
He also includes a narrative account of shapeshifting from a participant who experienced herself as a cheetah:
I felt myself being transformed into a cheetah. I was still me but at the same time a cheetah. I moved and ran energetically and with great agility, just like a big cat. It all felt very real and I enjoyed it tremendously. At one point, in front of me, I saw a deer. It was there for me to hunt. However, even as a feline, I felt I had to ask the deer for forgiveness. Eventually, I could not bring myself to kill it. (Shanon, 2010, p. 213).
These examples of being embodied by the essence of an animal ally in addition to two that will be shared in the Findings chapter of this study demonstrate that the experience of shapeshifting detailed in anthropological accounts and paleolithic theriomorphic cave paintings is an experience accessible to individuals residing in contemporary America. There are many who have experienced this phenomenon during altered states of consciousness, especially those induced by entheogenic plant sacraments.
Summary
Animal allies are numinous beings from the unseen realm who engage in relationships with human beings as benevolent guides and messengers. They are representatives of their species and, as such, carry the energy, essence, characteristics, and wisdom of their species as a whole.
From a shamanic perspective, animal allies are sacred teachers and guides, more often referred to as “power animals,” “helping spirits,” “companion spirits,” or “co- 76 essences.” From a depth psychological perspective, animal allies or “soul animals” and can be perceived as archetypal images or representatives of the Self carrying numinous energy that has the potential to catalyze personal transformation. In both frameworks, they are considered sacred and carry with them the potential to live a life more aligned with our souls. In both shamanic and Jungian ideologies, animal allies are autonomous and operate beyond the will of our individual psyches.
Depth psychological concepts of the imaginal realm and collective unconscious share many parallels with shamanic conceptions of the spirit world. In both frameworks, the experience of animal allies takes place in a realm beyond ordinary consciousness to which the psyche has access.
Individuals encounter animal allies through various means of accessing altered states of consciousness including entheogenic plant medicine ceremonies, shamanic drum journeys, ritual dance, and vision quests. Depth inquiry methods may also be used to engage with animal allies. Ally encounters can also be experienced spontaneously, especially during an experience of overwhelming trauma, a spiritual emergence, or kundalini awakening. Animal allies may be experienced through imagery, dreams, somatic sensations, shapeshifting, and synchronicity in the external world.
Beyond the shamanic framework, psychologists have also offered non- pathologizing frameworks such as Borderland consciousness (Bernstein, 2005) and the archetypal self-care system (Kalsched, 2013) through which to understand and express encounters with animal allies while still perceiving them as sacred. 77
In the next chapter, Chapter III, the researcher describes the methods used in her study.
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Chapter III: Methods
This qualitative study explores seven individuals’ encounters and relationships with animal allies in the imaginal realm. Animal allies are internal experiences of animals that occur during entheogenic plant medicine ceremonies or other shamanistic
(Lukoff, 1991) experiences. Through interviews and subsequent interpretive phenomenological analysis (Osborn & Smith, 2008), I was interested in learning about the characteristics of these ally experiences and the perceived effects they had on the personal transformation or individuation journey of the individuals interviewed. The methods used in the study include purposive sampling (Braud, 2011: p. 86), semi- structured qualitative interviews (Brinkman & Kvale, 2015), and interpretive phenomenological analysis (Osborn & Smith, 2008) to code and analyze interview data.
Qualitative Interviewing
Qualitative research interviews attempt to understand the world from the participants’ point of view (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). They seek to understand participants’ lived experience as related to a given topic (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). In alignment with this, the interview is semi-structured, allowing the interview to take on a more conversational style.
In semi-structured interviews (Osborn & Smith, 2008), the researcher prepares a series of open-ended questions, but the order is flexible and the researcher is able to probe interesting content areas as they arise in participants’ responses (Osborn & Smith,
2008). Since the aim is to explore the lived experience of participants, the direction of 79 the interview is partially guided by participants’ stories. The researcher’s role in a semi- structured interview is to facilitate and guide, rather than dictate exactly what will happen during the interview. While this can make analyzing interview transcripts more challenging, the content is often more rich and complex (Osborn & Smith, 2008).
Piloting
Prior to beginning interviews, the researcher held a pilot interview in order to refine questions. This also enabled the researcher to discover what aspects of the ally experience she found most interesting and enlivening. The participant in the pilot interview was a female acquaintance who had encountered animal allies through entheogenic plant medicine ceremonies as well as shamanistic drum journeys. The pilot interview was audio-recorded near Mount Shasta in 2016 and was helpful in determining questions for this study.
Institutional Review Board Approval
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Sonoma State
University. Participant rights were detailed in the Informed Consent form that each participant signed prior to participating in the study. These included that their identity would remain anonymous, a pseudonym would be assigned to them, any information that was obtained in connection with the study would remain confidential, and would be disclosed only with permission as required by law. Participants had the right to refuse to answer any question during the interview and could withdraw participation 80 in the study at any time. Participants were informed that they would have an opportunity to review excerpts from the researcher’s written content that were based on their interview in order to ensure that their story was represented accurately and that their intended meaning was conveyed. Content was sent to each participant prior to submission to Sonoma State University. The only feedback I received was that one participant requested a different pseudonym because she felt that the one originally assigned was a name common to her country of origin. Her request was honored and the pseudonym was changed.
Participants
Participants were recruited through word-of-mouth contact, social media such as
Facebook, and personal acquaintanceship with individuals involved in communities such as the Native American church, the Depth Psychology program at Sonoma State
University, women’s retreats, plant medicine ceremonies, and targeted academic conferences.
Selection Criteria
The researcher used purposive sampling (Braud, 2011: p. 86) in the selection of the seven interview participants. Purposive sampling means that the researcher intentionally seeks out individuals who have had a particular type of experience. It was necessary to begin this study with participants who claimed to have had growth- 81 enhancing ally experiences induced through shamanistic practices in order to explore the topic area in detail.
During the selection process, I was open to participants who had encountered their ally through shamanistic practices such as entheogenic plant medicine ceremonies, drum journeys, sweat lodges, vision quests, or ritual dancing, which can all induce altered states of consciousness. While these are all techniques of ecstasy (Eliade, 1964), none of the seven participants in my study described encounters with allies that occurred during sweat lodges, vision quests, or ritual dancing.
From the pool of individuals who expressed interest, brief 5 minute initial phone conversations were arranged in order for the researcher to determine whether the ally experiences conveyed by the prospective participants were relevant and met the search criteria. This initial phone consult also allowed individuals to learn more about the study and determine whether they were still interested in participating.
During the brief initial phone consult, prospective participants were told that I was studying individuals’ experiences of, and relationships with, animal and plant allies. I shared the following definition of animal and plant allies: “Animal and plant allies are internal experiences of animals and plants that occur during entheogenic or shamanistic experiences.” The study was originally designed to explore experiences with both animal and plant allies and the topic was narrowed in the process of analyzing the interviews. I told participants that the initial interview would be no longer than one hour and that interviews would be audio-recorded. They were informed that this research is for the culmination of my master’s degree in Psychology. I 82 let them know of their rights as a human subject: that they may choose not to answer any question in the interview and may choose to end the interview at any time. I also explained that their identity would remain confidential and that I would disguise any identifying information and use a pseudonym to refer to them in the study.
If the individual agreed to move forward in the study, he or she was sent an informed consent form, which contained the above information in written form, and an interview was scheduled. All volunteers with whom I spoke on the phone were selected for the study. One additional participant was interviewed and it was not until after her interview that I determined that her story did not fully align with the selection criteria.
Her data were omitted from the study.
For in-person interviews, I provided the informed consent form to sign in-person prior to the beginning of the interview. For video interview participants, I emailed them the informed consent form to either sign and return by mail or to sign, scan, and return via email. Once the signed informed consent form was returned, Zoom interviews were scheduled and held. In both cases, interviews were not held until the signed informed consent form was received.
While the informed consent form references Dr. Laurel McCabe as the chair of my thesis committee, she is not listed on the title page of this thesis because she retired prior to the researcher’s completion of this project. Since her retirement, another professor, Dr. Mary Gomes, has served as chair of my thesis committee.
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Participant Profile
Participants reflect a broad age range of 31-52. Six participants are female and only one participant is male. I was not seeking to limit my sample to a particular gender. However, of the individuals who expressed interest in participating in the study, only one man ended up being selected as a participant and completing the interview process.
The majority of participants reported being raised in Judeo-Christian families, while one participant was raised with atheist parents whom she says strongly valued connection with the natural world. More specifically, of the five participants with
Judeo-Christian upbringing, three were raised Christian, one was raised Jewish, and one was raised Catholic and born in Mexico. One participant did not specify her religious background although she expressed that she was not exposed to the notion of animal allies prior to her own direct experience. Five participants currently reside in
California, one lives in Oregon, and another lives in Colorado.
Participants’ education levels varied significantly. Four completed their high school diplomas and went on to earn certifications in fields as diverse as massage therapy, interior design, herbalism, meditation, and Reiki. Of these four who did not go on to earn undergraduate degrees, two did begin university-level studies: one in economics and the other in illustration. One of these four also studied traditional shamanic practices for over ten years with tribal elders in South America. 84
Another participant earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. Two participants pursued graduate level studies; one received an M.A. in early childhood mental health and the other earned her M.A. in Psychology.
Participants reflect a broad range of professions including an herbalist and cattle rancher, a nature-based school director and teacher, a visionary artist, an optometrist, a student, a mother, and a coach working with ceremony participants to integrate their experiences with entheogenic plant medicines.
All participants interviewed encountered their allies through the ceremonial ingestion of entheogenic plants such as Ayahuasca and San Pedro. Some participants also shared stories of encounters with animal allies during experiences with entheogenic psilocybin mushrooms. Even if entheogenic plant medicine ceremonies were not the only practice through which participants encountered their allies, it was one practice that was shared by all seven participants. The other common modality through which participants encountered their allies was through shamanistic drum journeys. This modality was used by three participants. There were two participants who also conveyed profound experiences with allies that occurred spontaneously. In both of these cases, the participants had already experienced allies through the aforementioned practices.
Procedures
The researcher conducted in-person interviews with three participants and live video interviews using Zoom video conferencing with four participants. The use of 85 video conferencing was necessary given that two of the participants currently reside outside of California.
For both in-person interviews as well as Zoom interviews, the duration was no longer than one hour. Each interview began by reminding participants of their rights as detailed in the Informed Consent form. Interviews were audio recorded for transcription. The researcher opted not to hold follow-up interviews for this study due to the richness of data obtained during the initial interviews.
In exploring individuals’ encounters and relationships with animal allies, it was necessary to inquire and establish the ways in which participants encountered their allies, how they experienced them, and how they perceived their experiences as catalyzing their personal transformation. The interviews included questions on both animal and plant allies since entheogenic plants are often seen as conscious, autonomous teachers and guides. The scope of this study has since been narrowed to focus solely on animal ally experiences. It is noteworthy that although questions centered around entheogenic plants, several participants also responded with stories of ally encounters that occurred through the ingestion of entheogenic fungi. Entheogenic plants and fungi are explored in this thesis as a sacrament through which individuals can encounter animal allies, though not as allies in their own right, as the topic was too broad for this particular project.
An interview guide containing questions was used by the researcher and can be viewed in Appendix B. Sample open-ended interview prompts included: “Please describe the most meaningful, growth-enhancing encounter that you have had with an 86 animal or plant ally,” “Describe any emotional experiences that you experienced during the encounter with your ally,” “What were you doing when the ally first came to you?”,
“Please describe in as much detail as possible a situation in which you experienced transformation or personal growth that you perceive as related to your relationship with your allies,” “How might you describe your relationship with this ally (or these allies)?”, and “Do you have practices to continue to deepen your relationship with your ally?”
Follow-up questions were asked in response to participants’ stories.
Coding and Analysis
The interviews were transcribed and interview data were then coded using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) (Osborn & Smith, 2008) in order to note themes that arose in participants’ stories.
This method focuses on the lived experiences of participants (Osborn & Smith,
2008). It does not attempt to assert objective claims about an experience, but rather aims to explore an experience through the personal accounts and perspectives conveyed by participants (Osborn & Smith, 2008).
In the first round of coding, the researcher read through each interview transcript several times and noted what was significant or interesting in the left-hand margin of the transcript. This was done with all seven transcripts. Next, the right-hand margin was used to note emerging theme titles. Once this annotation process was complete, the researcher compiled a list of potential themes. The researcher then sought 87 to find commonalities in themes in order to cluster them and identify superordinate themes, of which there were fewer. These superordinate themes that encompassed the other themes became the themes examined in the Findings section. Various themes and subthemes were identified through a thorough analysis of the interview transcripts.
In examining the lived experiences of participants (Brinkmann and Kvale, 2015), the researcher was able to gain valuable insights into how participants experience animal allies as well as how they perceive their experiences as meaningful and growth- enhancing.
Voice The text included in the thesis is primarily the voice of the researcher. Excerpts from participant interviews are included in italics and are written in 1st person voice.
The researcher’s narrative is written in the 1st person.
While the experience of imagery is common in altered states of consciousness, some continue to label such experiences as visual hallucinations, a term which I believe does not accurately reflect the growth-enhancing or numinous aspects of the experience. In alignment with that view, I refer to animal imagery experienced by participants throughout using the terms imagery and visions.
I have also chosen to capitalize the animal ally species throughout, such as Fox and Bear, because a visitation from an animal ally is a visitation from the essence or energy of the species as a whole. The same capitalization is used for plant Medicines 88 such as Ayahuasca and San Pedro. Further explanation of this is provided in the
Literature Review.
There are several textual cues throughout this thesis that are intended to improve readability. For example, in the Findings, parts of participant quotations that correspond to the theme being discussed are placed in bold font. This enables the reader to readily recognize the most relevant part of the excerpt. I also use italics to identify excerpts from participant interviews and personal journals.
Organization of the Findings and Discussion
In the next chapter, I discuss the themes that emerged in the analysis of the interview transcripts. The themes that emerged in the data are as follows: imagery, essence, shapeshifting, belonging, reconnection with Nature, individuation, the ability to call in the ally, and feeling love. Beliefs that participants shared about allies, notably that they perceive their ally experiences as sacred and that allies can be perceived as both spirit and archetype, are also explored.
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Chapter IV: Findings and Discussion
Overview
Seven individuals were interviewed, and the interviews were analyzed using
Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (Osborn & Smith, 2008). Various themes and subthemes were identified through a thorough analysis of the interview transcripts. The themes that emerged are as follows: imagery, perceiving visions and images of the animal ally; essence, feeling the energy and presence of a particular animal species; shapeshifting, feeling embodied by the essence of the animal ally; belonging, experiencing oneself as part of a larger community; reconnection with Nature, feeling an ongoing sense of connection with an interconnected world; individuation, experiencing personal transformation perceived as related to the ally encounter; the ability to call in the ally, continuing to intentionally deepen in relationship with the animal ally after the initial encounter; and feeling love, experiencing the ally as a loving presence. Participants also shared beliefs about allies, notably that they perceive their ally experiences as sacred and that allies could be perceived as both spirit and archetype. This chapter will also illuminate the findings with relevant discussion of the literature.
Each of the seven participants reported that they encountered animal allies through ingesting entheogenic plant medicines such as San Pedro and Ayahuasca. Some also encountered animal allies through the ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms. While other “techniques of ecstasy” (Eliade, 1964) such as shamanistic drum journeys were also engaged in by participants, entheogenic ceremonies were the most common 90 practice through which participants entered the altered states of consciousness necessary to experience animal allies.
Imagery
Six of the seven participants interviewed expressed that one of the ways they experienced their animal allies was through imagery, meaning that they had visions of the ally. Interestingly, the one exception was a former ceremonialist who offered
Ayahuasca ceremonies in Peru.
Because imagery was such a common aspect of participants’ ally encounters, many excerpts included to exemplify other themes also include descriptions of imagery.
Therefore, examples of participants experiencing their allies through imagery can be found interspersed throughout this chapter within various other theme sections.
Imagery is central to both depth psychology and shamanism. It is the language of the soul (Ryan, 2002). In both frameworks, individuals access the realm of myth, dream, symbol, ancestors, and spirits (Bright, 2009) where they encounter numinous images
“imbued with sacred power” (Bright, 2009, p. 7). In both frameworks, imaginal figures are considered autonomous (Jung, 1963; Stein, 1998) and as carriers of healing energies with the power to catalyze personal transformation (Bright, 2009).
Six of the seven participants in this study have experienced imagery related to their animal allies through the ingestion of entheogenic plants and fungi. Animal imagery is a common aspect of the Ayahuasca experience (Shanon, 2010). A review of the literature shows that animals are the most common category of visionary content 91 besides images of human beings (Harner, 1973; Shannon, 2010). The most frequent animal visions include snakes, jaguars, and other felines (Shanon, 2010).
Feline imagery, which was seen in four out of seven participants’ stories in this study, also occurs in urban contexts outside of the Amazon (Shanon, 2010). Images of jaguars, pumas, and black panthers were reported to Shanon (2010) by first-time ceremony participants ingesting Ayahuasca outside of South America. Shanon has come to associate the jungle cat imagery as a “manifestation of the energy of life” (p.
119). He adds that the prevalence of black jaguars is especially striking (Shanon, 2010).
Interestingly, in this study’s small sample population, three of the seven participants shared stories of encounters involving Black Jaguar.
The numinous images encountered in the imaginal or spirit realm are often experienced through senses beyond the visual. Hillman (1978) addressed the ways that the imaginal is too often equated with the visual and conveyed that images encountered here are full-bodied with the felt presence and the power to influence one’s thoughts, emotions, and behavior (in Routledge, p. 159).
Throughout participants’ narrative accounts, it is clear that their encounters with animal allies extended beyond the visual and had significant impacts on their thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
Feeling the Essence of the Ally
In addition to experiencing the ally through inner imagery or visions, six of the seven participants described feeling the essence of the animal as a way to recognize that 92 the ally was present. The researcher did not include the term essence during the interview process, yet it emerged prominently. One participant, Sophia, shared how her animal allies come to her during entheogenic ceremonies:
Every time I journey, especially with psychedelics, so many allies come to me and they almost come in a cycle like a movie playing before my eyes of seeing their faces and feeling their essence.
When asked what participants meant by “essence,” five of the seven participants explicitly stated that they perceive their animal allies as the essence or energy of the species as a whole. The other two participants said that they weren’t sure and that it could have been an individual animal that visited as a representative of the species.
According to the literature, the ally encounter is commonly experienced as an encounter with the species as a whole rather than an encounter with an individual member of that species (Ingerman & Wesselman 2010; Grof 1988; Poncelet 2014). Heather explained:
When I use the word essence, when talking about connecting to the spirit of different animals, I am describing connecting to a part of that animal that feels to me like a central or core aspect of the animal as a whole. There is something that each species shares, that feels like it holds true across individuals.
Heather’s experience is also reminiscent of Grof’s (1988) definition of the animal ally as the “animal soul of the species” (p. 120). He elaborates that the ally carries the learning, energy, and behaviors of the entire species (Grof, 1988). Similarly, Ingerman and
Wesselman (2010) describe the ally as containing the essence or group oversoul of the species. Sophia echoed this notion when she said:
I think for me it would mean. . . something about their soul. Everything has an essence. For the lions, it was about feeling their beingness. Their soul beyond their physical form and that deep being of who they are. I don’t need to see a 93
physical form, I don’t even need to see them in my vision to feel them because they have an essence. I can feel the essence of Lion and what Lion is. . .When I call in the essence of the lions, it’s like this pride of lions, it’s all of them.
It is this aspect of the ally experience that has led many individuals to refer to their allies simply as “Lion” (as in the example above) or “Fox,” omitting the articles “a” or
“an” and opting for a capital letter as I have done throughout this paper. This linguistic choice reflects the notion that the ally carries the energy or essence of the species as a whole rather than being an individual member of the species with a distinct personality.
Sophia’s experiences with Lion also demonstrate that it is not necessary to see imagery related to the animal ally in order to identify which species is present. Feeling the essence of the ally species is enough to identify it.
Heather described her experiences feeling the essences of various animal allies or, as she refers to them, animal medicines:
I’ve had some really beautiful experiences of just sitting with different skulls, paintings, or images of these different animal medicines and getting to feel the essence of the different animals like the deer and other really lovely animals that have come to me in a lot of different ways like in dreams, in having visuals of them, and sometimes feeling in ceremony like. . . actually feeling the energy while seeing the visuals of the animals that are. . . [thoughtful pause] inside of me.
For Heather, feeling the essence of the ally species is often accompanied by imagery, especially when the encounter occurs during plant medicine ceremonies with
Huachuma, the San Pedro cactus. Heather also shared a story of a ceremony in which she experienced feeling the essence of Hummingbird in her heart and was gifted with profound joy: 94
In that last ceremony when I was outside crying, I had this image and this feeling like there was a hummingbird in my heart and like [vocalization] and it was buzzing and flying and I could feel this like [vocalizations], these openings that were happening in my body through, really what felt like the spirit of the hummingbird just like [vocalization] so enthusiastically and that quality of joy and vibrancy that the hummingbird can bring has felt alive and so turned on the last couple weeks for me. I feel . . . happy. Ya know? I feel joy. I’m just really joyful to do whatever I’m doing right now. And that feels like an opening, like a gift that’s from that animal medicine that the Huachuma [San Pedro] opens me up enough to be able to receive and be in relationship with.
Here too, the experience with the animal ally moved beyond the visual to include feeling the essence of Hummingbird. Heather felt like “there was a hummingbird in
[her] heart.” Ally encounters involving somatic sensations are prevalent in the literature on shamanism and include, for instance, the ability to feel “the brush of [one’s] power animal against [one’s] leg” (Gagan, 1998, p. 53).
Feeling the essence of the ally species was a common phenomenon in this study’s sample population. It is noteworthy that co-essence is a term embraced by anthropologists to describe companion spirits (Houston & Stuart, 1989).
According to Houston and Stuart (1989), the term co-essence is the “most useful label” for describing companion spirits. They draw upon Monaghan’s definition of co- essence as, “an animal or celestial phenomenon (e.g ., rain, lightning, wind) that is believed to share in the consciousness of the person who 'owns' it" (p. 1-2). While I take issue with the implication of ownership here, the idea that the essence of the animal ally shares in one’s consciousness is fitting and in alignment with participants’ experiences.
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Shapeshifting
For two of the seven participants, feeling the essence of the ally is experienced more fully through the experience of shapeshifting. Shapeshifting is the experience of feeling embodied by the essence of an animal ally (Jamal, 1995; Poncelet, 2014). In these interviews, individuals do not report literally shapeshifting by means of altering their material form; nevertheless, they experience transformation to the extent that they claim to have been given a genuine experience of being another creature. In shapeshifting, the individual is given the experience of what it would feel like to be that animal on a somatic level (Grof,1988; Jamal, 1995; Poncelet; 2014).
The experience of shapeshifting may include physiological sensations, instinctual drives, or a new perception of the environment (Grof, 1988). While none of the participants expressed feeling the instinctual drives of their animal allies, two of them felt changes in their physiological sensations as well as in their perceptions of their environment.
Heather, a 31-year-old youth educator, experienced feeling embodied by the energy of an eagle during a Lakota-inspired San Pedro ceremony:
I was in a part of the ceremony that was really intense. I was having some big emotional releases and purging quite a bit. I had been leaning over and throwing up, for what felt like a long time. When I sat back in my seat, I felt a sensation in my back. It felt like a tingling, and subtle movement coming up my back, through my shoulders, and out my arms. I closed my eyes and saw visions of an eagle flying, and then a vision as if I was an eagle flying over a landscape. Like I was seeing out of an eagle’s eyes. I continued to feel this spaciousness in my neck, shoulders, back and arms. The experience only lasted for a short while. As the experience dissolved I felt much more at ease, and even though my body was still moving through some intensity, I felt more at ease about what was happening. 96
For Heather, her Eagle visions shifted to her having the perspective of an eagle. The
Eagle experience was a healing one, bringing more spaciousness into her body, reducing the discomfort she was feeling, and allowing her to feel more mentally at ease as well. In Shanon’s (2010) study on Ayahuasca experiences, experiences of flying were common. His study details experiences in which he and study participants reported flying as eagles or other birds including seagulls, doves, swallows, and vultures.
Perhaps the most exemplary account of shapeshifting that emerged in this study was Adrianne’s experience with Black Jaguar. Without the aid of any entheogenic plants or fungi she was suddenly thrust into an altered state of consciousness that she describes in the following excerpts:
It was thoughts, it was body experience, it was everything tied into one. I was looking around the room but not quite seeing the room. I felt like in my mind, in my consciousness, I was altered. I was somewhere else but I didn’t know where. I was disoriented. At a certain point the chaos cleared and solid visions started to form.
One of the main things that happened was I was suddenly both inside this black panther and also kind of face to face with it at the same time. It was like this interdimensional dreamland experience with it being in me, on me, over me, and talking to me. It was super dramatic. It was very powerful.
At a point with everything that panther was showing me, I was the panther. I had its claws, I had its teeth, I felt its fur, I felt its body. I was running through the forest. It was night.
During her spontaneous encounter with Black Jaguar, Adrianne felt embodied by the essence of the ally so fully that she felt as though she had its claws, teeth, and fur. This experience extended beyond the visionary to be felt somatically. 97
Hillman (1978, as cited in Fitzpatrick 2019) recognized that numinous images could be felt somatically as well and invoked the concept of the subtle body, which has connections to mystical traditions across the world, to describe experiences that extended beyond the visual. He explained that the experience of images being felt within the body could also be said to occur within the subtle body. The experience of shapeshifting could then be said to occur through the medium of the subtle body.
For Adrianne, her shapeshifting experience with the Black Jaguar offered insight not only into what it felt like to have the body of a Black Jaguar, but also provided insight into the relationship the large cat has with its environment. Adrianne recalls:
I felt the. . .relationship (emphatic) that the panther tribe has with the forest and with the moon. I felt that knowledge and that ancient wisdom in my body. It was so powerful. And it, I don’t even know actually how long it lasted. I know eventually it faded out and I was allowed to fall asleep finally.
Adrianne felt this knowing deeply and felt, for a moment, that she had been privy to wisdom understood solely by jaguars. Grof affirms, “it is possible to gain experiential insight into what it feels like when a cat is curious. . .a cobra hungry. . .or when a shark is breathing” (1988, p. 53).
The shapeshifting experience can move beyond the visionary to include somatic sensations, vocalization, physical movement, and a shift in perspective to the perspective of the ally. For example, Jamal (1995) refers to one shapeshifter as “infused with the soul of a buck.” In Jamal’s (1995) view, the experience is a metamorphosis in which the shaman enters “the body and mind of his or her ally” (p. xx). Jung expressed 98 his belief that shamans were often “possessed” by their guardian spirits (Jung in
Sandner, 1997).
In his oft-cited book on shamanism, Eliade (1964) explains that although it may appear that shamans in trance are possessed, that it is more accurate to express it as,
“the shaman who turns himself into an animal. . . who becomes an animal-spirit, and
‘speaks,’ sings, or flies like the animals and birds” (p. 93). He goes on to say that “the incarnation of such an animal spirit by the shaman (masks, actions, dances, etc.) is another way of showing that the shaman can forsake his human condition” (p. 93).
In a discussion of dancing while embodied by the animal ally, Harner (1980) addresses this, claiming:
The guardian animal spirit resident in the mind-body of a person wants to have the enjoyment of once again existing in material form. It is a trade-off, for the person gets the power of the whole genus or species of animals represented by that guardian spirit. . . a guardian spirit may wish to experience ordinary reality by entering the body of a living human (p. 87).
The complexity of whether the ally enters the individual’s body or the individual enters the ally’s body remains. Shapeshifting is described in some accounts as embodying the ally through soul flight and in others as being embodied by the ally species.
In Amazonian shamanism, transformation into an animal and the experience of flying are often seen as indicators of shamanic competence (Shanon, 2010). This is not to equate participants with indigenous shamans, but to convey that shapeshifting is a well-documented experience among shamanic cultures. In Shanon’s (2010) study of
Ayahuasca experiences, he explains that 99 metamorphosis experiences are involuntary. Participants in Shanon’s (2010) study most commonly reported transformation into felines or birds, although other animals were also reported.
Belonging
A prevalent theme that emerged in the transcripts was that participants felt a sense of belonging. Five of the seven participants conveyed that their encounters with animal allies evoked in them a feeling of belonging, which they described as akin to
“community” and “family.” It was interesting that the term “belonging” emerged in participant transcripts organically without being used by the researcher. When asked to describe any changes in perception she experienced during an ally encounter, Sophia shared the following:
When I was journeying with the mushrooms my change in perception was like a sense of. . . belonging. So all of a sudden I would sense the lions’ presence and feel like suddenly I wasn’t alone. I had almost like a tribal family and was part of their pride and I felt very held in love which is really beautiful during a psychedelic journey because sometimes you can feel. . .or at least my experience has been to feel alone and scared and feel like, “What am I doing? Where am I going?” And then to sense their presence felt. . .suddenly like I am not alone, just part of a greater energy or a. . .a family.
This feeling of belonging that Sophia felt in connection with the lions left an impression on her beyond the entheogenic experience. She carries the knowing that she is cared for by something beyond herself into her daily life Living in relationship with animal allies has offered her connection to a loving community of imaginal beings with whom she 100 continues to cultivate relationships. She went on to express the emotions accompanying this feeling of belonging and its impact on her:
When I feel that sense of family and that sense of belonging during these psychedelic encounters [with lions and other animal allies], it’s also a sense of joy. Like, I wanna just cry this deep. . . it’s not sorrow. . .it’s beneath the sorrow where there’s just this immense amount of joy that comes through. A shift to knowing that “Everything is ok. Everything is totally fine.” So. . . that’s beautiful.
When Sophia experiences herself as part of a “family” of imaginal beings and connected to the larger Web of Life, she feels joy and a profound trust that everything will be okay. This potent shift to a place of inner joy and trust could be due in part to the powerful feeling of love that often accompanies the ally experience (Raff, 2006).
This deep sense of belonging often extends beyond the initial ally encounter.
When Aspen was asked what she perceives has been the impact of ally experiences on her life, she responded quickly and emphatically:
I’m never alone. I have this whole community of beings that I draw on in different ways to relate with different people or approach different challenges in my life.
Aspen’s statement reiterates the feeling of community and belonging expressed in
Sophia’s experience, echoing the sentiment, “I’m never alone.”
Participants explained that their relationships with allies provided them with a feeling of belonging to a larger community including the community of imaginal beings with whom they were now developing relationships as well as the larger Web of Life.
Through the love and support of their allies, participants came to realize that they are never alone and that they are part of a larger, interconnected whole.
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Reconnection With Nature
For several participants, the feeling of belonging extended beyond the initial ally experience and into a sense of belonging within an interconnected and living world. Six out of seven participants described gaining a sustained and deepened connection with the natural world including increased awareness of synchronicity.
Through the ally experience, participants came to remember their innate connection with all of life. Psychologist Sandra Lee Dennis (2013) makes the connection between visitations from imaginal animals and increased connection with Nature explicit when she writes, “Imaginal animals herald our intimate involvement with nature” (Dennis, 2013, p. 146). Gia, the former ceremonialist explained:
When we talk about allies it’s interesting because now I feel like all of life is an ally and we’re talking about this shamanic perspective, it’s really about forging meaningful connection to life. Anytime I have a direct experience with a wild creature, it feels like a moment of piercing the veil. Like there’s a moment where the natural intelligence of life is reflecting to me and reminding me that it exists.
Gia’s experiences have deepened her connection with Nature to the extent that she has adopted an animistic worldview that informs her daily life.
Participants came to see themselves as belonging to Nature rather than presiding over it. This shift in perception reflects a profound ideological shift from the Western worldview in which the individual perceives human beings as separate from and dominant over Nature (Bernstein 2005; Kremer & Jackson-Paton, 2013) to a more indigenous worldview that recognizes human beings as inextricably interconnected with Nature. This feeling of interconnectedness with both imaginal beings and animate life in the external world led to participants’ deepening their connection with Nature. 102
When asked about changes in perception that he experienced during his ally encounter, Sylvan responded:
One of the most poignant things that changed was kind of a. . .breakdown in the boundaries of self in relationship to others be they human or other life, including maybe things that we wouldn’t conventionally categorize as life. A more overarching connection to. . . what we could call Gaia or the. . . the greater forces of life on this planet.
Participants felt themselves in relation to the natural world in ways they had not previously. Sylvan, in the excerpt above, experienced himself as connected with all of life and less boundaried.
Heather also expressed a deepened connection with Nature when she described one of the ways in which her ally experiences have been growth-enhancing:
I feel like my capacity to connect with nature is heightened like I feel more sensitive and attuned to what’s happening around me.
Heather became more aware of Nature and her surroundings both during and after her ally encounters, a theme that she repeated throughout her interview. It seems that individuals who have had ally experiences tend to become more attentive and more attuned to this natural reality long after their initial ally experience.
Participants were, in part, experiencing the interconnectedness with Nature that often accompanies the entheogenic experience. Griffiths et al. (2006) found that, when administered in supportive conditions, psilocybin can occasion “mystical-type experiences” (p. 1). Extrovertive mysticism, the experience of the unity of all things and the sense that all things are alive, has been found to be a recognizable aspect of both spontaneous and entheogenically induced mystical experiences (Pahnke, 1969; 103
Richards, 1975). The reconnection with Nature that participants experience through their ally encounters corresponds to this aspect of mystical experience.
The innate potential for human beings to reconnect with Nature, the unseen, and imaginal realities beyond the personal ego is an integral part of what it means to be human and, many of us, have forgotten (Abrams, 1997; Kremer & Jackson-Paton, 2014).
Wilber reiterates the notion of our identity extending beyond the confines of our boundaried bodies and egoic mind when he writes, “We are not conscious of our identity with the all and yet neither is our identity confined to the boundaries of the individual organism” (Wilbur, in Welwood, 2002). It is possible to remember our interconnection with all of life and also to bring conscious awareness to the ways in which our psyches are already permeable, accessing information and imagery from
Nature as well as from the imaginal realm.
One possible impact of experiencing interconnectedness with the unseen and the natural world is that, when one feels connected with Nature, there is often an increase in empathy and care for Nature. This results in individuals becoming better stewards of the earth and all sentient beings.
Reconnection with Nature: Awareness of Synchronicity
We are not talking about passive agents of transformation, we are talking about an intelligence, a consciousness, an alive and other mind, a spirit. Nature is alive and is talking to us. This is not a metaphor. (Terrence McKenna)
Five out of seven participants experienced increased awareness of animal-related synchronicity in Nature. Synchronicity refers to meaningful coincidences that can not be 104 linked by cause and effect (Jung 1960). Instead, they are connected by simultaneity and meaning (Jung, 1960). They also tend to convey a numinous quality (Jung 1960). In what is perhaps the most well-known example of synchronicity recounted by Jung, he listens to a patient describing a dream in which she is offered jewelry in the shape of a golden scarab. As the young woman details the scarab, Jung’s attention is drawn to a gentle tapping at the window and he turns to see a beetle with similar features. Of the incident he writes: “It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarbaeid beetle, the common rose-chafter. . . contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment” (Jung, 1960, pp.
22, 843). Jung opened the window and the insect flew in. He caught it in the air and handed it to the woman saying, “Here is your scarab.” Jung credits this experience with allowing his patient in moving beyond her rationality and enabling their sessions to continue with improved results. Synchronicity consists of two elements, both exemplified by the scarab experience: first, an unconscious image enters one’s consciousness either directly or indirectly (as a symbol) in the form of a dream, idea, or premonition and then a situation in external reality aligns with it (Jung, 1960).
Just as the scarab entered Jung’s client’s consciousness through a dream and also made its presence known in external reality, many individuals who encounter animal allies in the imaginal realm come to recognize that their allies offer signs and symbols of their presence in the external world as well. These experiences of synchronicity or acausal coincidences reinforce participants’ belief in an interconnected world infused with meaning. Adrianne explains: 105
It’s funny.. When I meet an animal ally on a spiritual level, I always think back in my life and realize that there were tons of symbols that animal was leaving me or ways in which that symbol was showing up a lot and I didn’t realize it until that animal was showing up very apparently. It was kind of like that with Spider.
Adrianne’s example differs from the scarab example in that she became more aware of her allies manifesting in the external realm in retrospect, after she had encountered the ally in the imaginal realm and reflected on the ways that her ally had been making its presence known in the external world.
Heather began finding meaning in encounters with animal allies in the physical plane as well. In the following excerpt, Heather describes a synchronicity that she interprets as Hawk Medicine offering support for her outdoor school:
It’s been really lovely to have more direct experiences with the real animals that are around me. Ya know it’s like the real hummingbirds that live in these trees, the jays that nest nearby, the crows, the hawks. I work at an outdoor school. I have an outdoor kids program and the Hawk Medicine got very loud and in my field. I chose this location for my program and it turns out there’s a hawk family that lives in that circle of trees and I didn’t know that when I chose that location, but then I chose it and was like “Oh my gosh!” and one day after I was like, “I’m doing this program, this is the location,” I got a feather. I came to the circle early to ground and prep for the kids to come and there was a hawk feather sitting right in the circle of where we gather. It was just beautiful, ya know like a really beautiful gift, like a blessing from the hawks that live there. I was like okay this is the deal: I can be here. The hawk medicine is something to follow with that clear navigation of what’s my path. I felt like I get that guidance from them often and that was a really sweet example of an opening that happened and there’s many more.
Heather perceives this experience as an affirmation of her chosen location as well as an affirmation that in creating this outdoor school, she is on her path and living a life aligned with her soul. Heather’s experience demonstrates an ongoing deepened connection with Nature in a way that moved beyond the imaginal and into her daily life 106 as an individual who is more attuned with the natural world and living her life in direct relationship with it.
When Heather chose the location for her educational children’s program and found a hawk feather in that location the following day, she felt that she had received affirmation from Spirit that she was making the right choice. Since she had already come to associate Hawk energy with “clear navigation” along her path, she felt deep validation. Stein (1998) defines synchronicity as a “meaningful coincidence of two events, one inner and psychic and the other outer and physical” (p. 234). He further explains that Jung viewed archetypal images as transgressive, meaning that they are not confined to the psychic realm and that “they can emerge into consciousness either from within the psychic matrix or from the world about us or both at once” (p. 201). In
Heather’s case, the symbolic message of the Hawk manifested in her physical reality in order to guide her along her path. As Aspen articulated when describing animal encounters in the natural world, “They are showing up with purpose. It’s not random.”
These examples reflect both an indigenous worldview that recognizes life as interconnected and interacting with human beings in meaningful ways and the Jungian notion of synchronicity.
Gia also shared a synchronistic experience in which she felt the natural world was communicating with her in order to convey a profound lesson:
It was 2013 and I had just come back from Costa Rica and it was the first time I had ever traveled to hold ceremonies. I’d done a bunch of ceremonies on my friend’s property which was so beautiful and, on the last day, a hummingbird flew into my room and stayed with me in there for a little bit. The whole time there was this really deep experience of communing 107
with the spirits of the land and I could feel them in a tangible way during my time there. So then I found myself in suburbia in Orlando, Florida where my parents live. So I was walking from my mom’s house to my step mom’s house, like a mile apart, and I’m walking through this generic cookie cutter neighborhood and I had this thought like, “Wow this is a completely different reality than the one I was living in in Costa Rica” and right as I had this thought, a hawk from across the street came out from between two houses, flew down in front of me at eye level about 5 feet in front of me, and flew off. To me the message in that was like “There’s no difference between that reality and this one. Spirit lives in all of it.”
Upon returning to a suburban environment, Gia initially felt disconnected from the natural world and the connection that she had felt so deeply while holding ceremony amidst the lush landscape of Costa Rica. She was reminded, in this moment with the hawk, of her ongoing connection with the natural world.
In another instance, Gia shared a story of an encounter with a bald eagle that carried meaning for her:
Around 2010, I was with a friend of mine who was having a hard time. I said “listen to your heart and it will tell you what to do.” Right as I said that, a bald eagle came right up to the screen of the porch, came right up and then turned around and flew off. In moments like that, the emotion is knowing that we are not alone. It’s like the face of God or the hand of God in a way piercing into 3 dimensional reality to give you a little hug and, in me, that inspires so much emotion. Because I’ve gone through this life feeling so alone and so disconnected in so many ways and confused as to what I’m doing here. So, I would say that the emotion that came from that was a very core emotion of that longing and a release of some of the grief of that isolation. Those experiences support me in having a greater trust in life and when that trust is present it’s easier to allow myself to feel safe to feel my humanity.
It is clear that these synchronicities in Nature have been profoundly growth-enhancing for Gia as she now feels connected to something beyond herself and, as a result, feels a 108 greater sense of trust in life. Gia philosophized as to whether a greater intelligence was orchestrating these experiences:
It’s hard to say for certain--and this is the age old question--if there is a consciousness within all of this that is orchestrating those moments of synchronicity or if it is just part of a natural dynamic but, either way, it was very meaningful for me.
In her previous excerpt, Gia likened these experiences with Nature to the “hand of God piercing into 3 dimensional reality.” She also considers that it could be part of the
“natural dynamic,” implying that Nature works in these interconnected ways. In either case, Gia considers her experiences of connection with Nature to be profoundly impactful and sacred.
Aspen also has come to perceive Nature as filled with synchronicity and wisdom for her life. Here, Aspen describes her experiences with animal allies in the natural world, beyond the containers of ceremony and ritual:
Right now we’re just sitting outside and a hawk flew over so for me that has significance. Even walking into the building, two pigeons were outside and I feel like that has significance. It doesn’t always have to be in the container of a ceremony or ritual to have spontaneous encounters. It’s just your perception and attention when they are there and how is it related to what you’re talking about and what you’re experiencing internally. When I’m outside where I could encounter animals and plants, I’m awake to the significance that they’re talking. They are showing up with purpose. It’s not just random.
Aspen echoes Gia’s belief in an interconnected and animistic world. Her deepened connection with Nature allows her to be aware of these experiences and attentive to the 109 meanings that they carry. Gia explained how her connection with Nature has deepened since working with allies in ceremonial settings.
The more that I fortify that relationship with nature, it really is Church. It’s the place I go to remember what is true, find what I need, and be fed and remember how to navigate when I get stuck in this human thing of trying to be and trying to do and participate in society. It’s like scripture. It’s sacred scripture just watching a plant grow, seeing how a tree creates fruit, having a hummingbird fly hover next to my head. That connects me to spirit, that connects me to Source, that connects me to a greater reality that most of us stay pretty disconnected from and I think that’s why we suffer so much. . .As we’ve become disconnected from that, we’ve gotten lost because, the very things that are here to teach us, we’re not listening to. I feel like these animal allies come in to help us remember. . .For millenia, all of these shamanic traditions came out of a living relationship with the land. They knew. They knew that all of these things can teach us, that all of these things have inherent wisdom in their very beings.
Her connection with Nature has deepened to the point that she views all aspects of
Nature as teachers and as intermediaries connecting her to Source, her term for the divine. While Gia believes that the wisdom of Nature is available all the time, she goes on to explain how altered states of consciousness and shamanistic practices open individuals to become more receptive and attuned to this “natural reality”:
I feel like all the wisdom that we need to know how to navigate this life in a harmonious and beautiful way is written into the natural reality, there’s a harmony that’s inherent in this world. For me, the plant and animal allies are an opportunity to study that. They’re teachers coming forth and it’s just a matter of opening to listen and I think that’s why people find so much meaning in these shamanic journeys, because when they’re in that space they’re internalized and receptive--so they’re in a space that they can listen. They’re not stuck in the cognitive capacity. They’re in the deeper part of their being that actually is attuned to this natural reality, that came from it, and so has an ability to communicate with that somehow.
Individuals who have had ally experiences in these shamanistic altered states of consciousness, tend to become more attentive and more “attuned to this natural reality” 110
(Gia) long after their initial ally experience. One shift in perception that accompanies the ally experience is that individuals come to recognize their interconnectedness with
Nature and carry that sense of interconnectedness into their daily lives. They may, as demonstrated in the excerpts above, feel more attuned with their environment and more aware of animal-related synchronicity in their lives. They may also come to view animals in particular and Nature in a broader sense as wise teachers.
Several participants, after becoming more attuned to the natural world, began to restructure their lives in ways that allowed their deepened relationship with Nature to become an integral part of their work in the world. Sylvan left his studies in economics to become an herbalist and cattle rancher. After years of training in the Amazon with indigenous peoples, Gia became an Ayahuasquera and now works as an Ayahuasca integration coach. Heather brought her profound connection with Nature into her role as the director of her own thriving outdoor children’s school where she now guides children in discovering their own connection with the natural world.
Individuation: Animal Allies and the Journey Toward Wholeness
Researcher: What do you think your life would be like today if you didn’t have animal allies?
Sophia: I feel like I would be a lot more lost. I would be feeling a lot more alone and feeling unsure. . . I just feel like they really help me with that connection to spirit and to myself. I am really grateful to have this relationship with them. It’s really helped me feel more whole so I feel like if I didn’t have them, gosh, yeah I’d be a mess.
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Individuation is a Jungian term used to describe one’s journey toward wholeness and inner transformation (Stein, 1998). Raff (1997) explicitly connects the ally experience with the individuation journey when he refers to the ally as a divine partner along the path of individuation. By embracing the wisdom of the ally, one is able to live a life more aligned with soul.
For each of these participants, their encounters with animal allies aided in their individuation journey. Each of the seven participants explained how their allies taught them something about themselves or their life path. This theme of individuation manifested in several different ways among participants. Allies served as guides and teachers, empowering individuals to move in new directions in their careers or relationships and to embrace aspects of themselves that had previously been unconscious or repressed.
Toward Wholeness: Embracing Life as an Artist
Adrianne, the Colorado-based painter and astrologer, shared that her relationship with Spider over the course of several years aided her in embracing and prioritizing her life as an artist. When she first encountered Spider during a shamanistic drum journey, her initial reaction was to reject the spider as an ally. Her hesitance to embrace Spider was due to her associations with it as a creature of darkness as well as the deeply ingrained instinctual fear that human beings evolved to have around potentially dangerous animals. Over the years, Adrianne’s connection with Spider 112 deepened to the extent that when energetic healing practitioners saw her, some would comment that they sensed the presence of a large spider.
A vivid drum journey in which Spider showed her unique web to her as well as the other spiders of the forest left a lasting impression on her:
I remember one really vivid one where she came. We were in this forest and she wove this really intricate web and the web was this really silvery thick thread and there [were] jewels on every part of this thread and the web was really unique and I remember even other spiders were all surrounding us in the forest and they were all looking at it. And it was . . . it was this sacred thing. It was this sacred woven. . . thing and she really wanted me to see it and it was really important. I remember that was really the main point that I got out of this journey.
As I’ve gone on in my relationship with Spider and thought about that, I think she’s always trying to teach me of the uniqueness and creativity that is inherent in my destiny and my offering. This is something that is also unique to her and to each spider in all the designs that they weave.
During this encounter, Spider acted as a sacred teacher that showed Adrianne the value of creating. Living in a world where art is undervalued, Adrianne had been inundated with messages that art was not enough and that being an artist was not a valid career path. She also struggled with embracing her calling because she felt it was not directly addressing the injustices in society and creating change. Through this vision, along with many other interactions with Spider, Adrianne came to more fully comprehend the value of offering her unique gifts to create beauty in the world.
Adrianne is now living as a visionary artist in Colorado and her paintings, many of which include mystical renderings of her encounters with animal allies, are attracting larger audiences. She has also been invited to do live painting at various festivals 113 alongside other well-known visionary artists. By integrating journeys like the one detailed above, she has centered her life around her gift as an artist and is more fulfilled as a result.
The actual observable behavior of one’s ally species is essential in beginning to understand the energy and lessons it is bringing to one’s life. Due to their creative and organizational skills in the weaving of their webs, Spider often emerges as allies and guides for artists and writers (Hazen-Hammond, 1999). Spider Woman or Grandmother
Spider is viewed in Hopi stories as the creator and mother of all life (Hazen-Hammond,
1999). While personal associations are often the most meaningful in exploring the messages and meanings inherent in an image, through this simple archetypal amplification (Johnson, 1986) it is apparent that one aspect of Spider is the gift of artistic creation.
Toward Wholeness: Embracing Sexuality
In some cases, the ally experience enabled participants to reclaim and integrate a previously repressed part of their personality. In addition to guiding Adrianne in embracing her role as an artist, she also shared extensively about Spider’s role in helping her reclaim her authentic sexual expression.
Growing up in a Christian household, Adrianne shared that she had come to associate various aspects of her sexuality as dark or sinful. In her youth, she had adopted a culturally prescribed model of sexuality and relationships and experienced shame when her desires did not align with this conditioning. As her relationship with 114
Spider continued, she came to see similarities in the unique designs woven by spiders and the myriad expressions of sexuality available to human beings. This allowed
Adrianne to find beauty in her unique expression of sexuality and embrace her own authentic desires. These shadow aspects of her psyche were repressed and forgotten for many years. Her Spider ally served as a sacred teacher. She explains:
I had been very sexually repressed before. I started to feel Spider asking me to consider the parts of my sexuality I had repressed, to consider that as part of my magic for manifestation and weaving in my life and that was a huge shift. My whole energy and persona and ability to feel confident changed after that and. . . that’s something I never would have been advised to look into in the church. And that was a whole fragmented part of myself that was told, “You just wait for that one man that God brings you and you get married and that’s the right way to do things,” but Spider has so many creative designs that she weaves and I felt like my relationship with Spider both through listening to her and through watching for her symbols in my life, I started to feel this relationship with her in a way where she was helping me shed my guilt and shame and showing me how to weave and manifest in all parts of my life, including my sexuality.
I felt like Spider was telling me there were some things that I had left behind in my shadow that I needed to reclaim and I needed to reclaim them through direct experience. And realizing that it wasn’t condemning or damning for me to take advantage of sexual experiences or to just allow them. That had been huge for me. I used to think “Is this the right person to be with?” And I used to just paralyze myself with that thought and I think she helped me realize it wasn’t really about good or bad, right or wrong; it was about operating out of wholeness and when you intimately know every part of your wholeness, you’re able to make a far wiser and immediate decision for yourself. And to be really explicit about this, at first, I just attracted a bunch of random one night stands because I . . . I needed to get my prudishness out of the way to be really honest and I did. And I would never say Spider wanted me to go and hook up with everyone. It was about something deeper than that. It was about whatever is in the way between you and this part of yourself, like dive into the experience. That was my way of taking that advice and putting that into action.
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Adrianne was able to accept the parts of herself that wanted to “take advantage of sexual experiences” and to move beyond her paralyzing shame and uncertainty. As her relationship with spider energy continued to deepen, she began to experience Spider’s energy in her body and become aware of its presence even without altering her consciousness through entheogenic substances or intentional shamanistic drum journeying.
She noticed in certain situations that Spider was present and that this correlated with times in which she was being encouraged to step into herself more fully as a sexual being. She came to recognize these spontaneous encounters with Spider as, in one sense, subtle promptings from the universe to open herself to further sexual experiences and to explore her life more fully as a sexual being. She explained how she recognized
Spider was present:
I felt her presence as a subtle tone all the time.. And I could feel at various times I would feel . . .almost like chills up my spine like I would know she was there and I would know that she was [communicating with me]. I feel like to me animals have always spoken in more primal feelings than words and so I would get this primal feeling from her like “Hey, it’s time to go do something.”
Through both the energetic felt presence of Spider and the deepening awareness of the unique and intricate webs that each species of Spider weaves, Adrianne was able to recognize that weaving her life in a way that was aligned with the deepest parts of herself was not only okay, but beautiful and sacred. She was able to reintegrate aspects of herself and reclaim her identity as a sexual woman while shedding layers of the shame and guilt that had been instilled during her upbringing. 116
In each of these examples, Spider guided Adrianne in her individuation journey.
In Adrianne’s own words:
Spider really wanted me to discover my wholeness in order to operate out of my full power in life. . . My allies always remind me of all that I have to learn and of where I figure into the big picture. And that is an immensely sacred gift to me because that changes how I’m gonna treat everything in my life every time I have that experience.
In Adrianne’s experience, her allies guide her in her individuation journey by reminding her who she is, helping her reclaim repressed aspects of herself, and showing her how to live a life more aligned with her soul.
From the perspective of depth psychology, a soul animal may be understood as a living symbol (Aizenstat, 2011), representing part of oneself that is unknown or residing in the personal unconscious that is ready to be brought forth and integrated into consciousness. Whether this shadow material is a positive aspect of oneself such as latent potential (bright shadow) or something more challenging such as repressed rage, the soul animal brings with it the potential for integration into the individual personality and, thus, for transformation.
Adrianne’s relationship with Spider catalyzed both the emergence of her inner
Artist and her reclamation of her authentic sexual expression. It can be said that
Adrianne’s artistic gifts as well as her authentic sexual expression were both shadow aspects that her Spider ally helped her to reclaim and integrate into her personality.
This allowed her to become a more whole and individuated woman.
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Toward Wholeness: Insight into Past Trauma
For Sylvan, a cattle rancher and herbalist, his relationship with Horse during a
Peyote ceremony gave him insights into a tragic incident that occurred just one month prior. As a rancher, he has tended and stewarded many animals on his land. On one occasion, Sylvan mounted his horse and was immediately thrown, causing severe injuries including a broken back. The horse died a week later due to preexisting conditions about which Sylvan had been unaware.
Seeing Horse in ceremony while sitting in the very spot his beloved horse had passed away helped him glean new insights into the tragedy. He was shown that he had not been as attentive as he could have been to the signals his horse was giving him that day. He was unaware that his horse had been suffering and was only days from death. Sylvan says he learned about “strength and gentleness” during the ceremony.
Already a man deeply connected to the natural world, this experience brought even deeper awareness and mindful stewardship into Sylvan’s life. Now, when he encounters Horse in vision and feels the accompanying energetic strength that he associates with horses, he stops to pay more attention to what is happening in his life and with his animals. Sylvan explains:
I was in the midst of having gone through this shared trauma with my horse that in reflection. . . like looking back on what happened, why he threw me, and how it unfolded that he was in so much pain and discomfort that he passed away and I was injured in the whole process. I had gotten on him though and been engaging with him and not . . .clear that. . . he had things to communicate about what was going on with him that I, for whatever reason, didn’t regard or take into account and I got myself into trouble right then and 118
there with him in that. Then I got an experience to be able to look at that and process it and reflect on it.
There was so much communication of how to show up and be gentle and be caring and also just get outside of myself when showing up. . . that’s where the trouble came for me was being so stuck in my own wheel of experience that I was not truly seeing what was going on and so much of that came through in sitting in ceremony.
When asked how these insights came through for him, Sylvan replied:
It comes through as a strong feeling with an image of a horse and there’s often so much. . . strength there but it’s still fluid. There’s a really strong feeling that I need to listen more and feel whenever that comes through.
In his experience also, the ally comes as a compassionate teacher. Sylvan was able to integrate the gentle strength of Horse into his life as a more mindful individual.
He is now more aware of the communication and needs of the creatures he stewards on his land.
Toward Wholeness: A New Direction in Life
Another participant, Aspen, was once invited to participate in a plant medicine ceremony from the Shuar people of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The ceremony involved inhaling Tsaank, a tobacco-like plant, through the nose. She shares her experience in vivid detail:
During the visions that I had I was in sort of a junglescape at night high above the canopy. It was beautiful and serene. At one point I came down onto the forest floor and met eye to eye, nose to nose, face to face with a jaguar--black cat. It was dark out. All I could see were the golden eyes like inches from my own. And, I had already had a strong connection with big cats but that was the first time I had a jungle cat and the jungle is 119
the place that this practice comes from. I’m more connected with the big cats of California but this cat came, I think, through the jungle, through the plant, and through the shaman that was guiding this.
The shaman facilitating the ceremony, called a uwishin in the Shuar tradition, offered
Aspen his interpretation of her Black Jaguar visions:
I perceived it as beautiful and amazing and I shared my story with the shaman and he said: ”Too much darkness. You must turn around right now. You will be consumed by whatever that darkness is in your life.” So he saw it as a huge warning and I trusted that his cultural wisdom had more influence, especially because it was with his cultural plant, than my response which was like (change in voice) “Oh I love big cats.” It kind of jolted me to have this dissonance inside and the Shuar being like “This cat is telling you you need to turn around right now.” And in my life there were ways that I was leaning into things that were hurting me without consciously knowing it and so as soon as that cat came and that message came, I took a harder look at what I was participating in. And immediately turned around. And it created opportunity, growth, abundance in my life instead of pain and frustration and feeling stuck.
The uwishin’s insight was dissonant with Aspen’s personal associations with Jaguar energy, but she chose to heed the warning. In the presence of the Black Jaguar, Aspen recalls feeling calm, humbled, grateful, and awestruck. I asked her whether it was immediately clear to her to which area of life the uwishin’s advice was pertaining. She replied that it wasn’t an immediate knowing, but that upon reflection, she did make life changes as a direct result of this journey and the accompanying guidance from the uwishin.
She had been trying to obtain a position in an organization. Her potential employers offered her a low-paying childcare position as a doorway into the organization despite her Master’s degree. Following her encounter with Black Jaguar and the accompanying guidance of the uwishin, Aspen reflected and realized she was 120
“pushing too hard to be seen.” She noticed this theme showing up in multiple ways in her life at the time. After reflecting on the journey with Black Jaguar, she let go of this job opportunity and ended up pursuing “a different path that was much more aligned.”
Since then, Aspen has encountered Black Jaguar on other occasions, sometimes invoking its energy as a fierce protector and sometimes encountering it in her consciousness in spontaneous visitations. When it appears on its own,
I feel like I have a clairsentience, like a felt sense of the presence more than a visual or an auditory dialogue which would be more clairvoyant or clairaudient. Ya know I could just sense that there’s a big cat with me or standing right in front of me or if I’m gonna do something that will ultimately harm my soul but it feels like a good idea I may feel [its] energy.
She feels deeply humbled when Black Jaguar makes its presence known in this way and considers the ways in which she may be going down the wrong path at that time in her life. I asked her what it is like when Black Jaguar humbles her and she replied using mythic allusions:
In the same way that Kundry will shame the one that’s not speaking from a true heart. The Percival, the one who has an inflated ego and needs to be set back on the path of humility. It serves a very important function but it can be really uncomfortable to feel shamed in that way. An inward journey of self reflection is how to show up responsibly.
Here, Aspen references the legend of the holy grail in which Kundry appears unexpectedly, at times as a beautiful maiden and at other times a wild crone, to bring news to Percival who is behaving foolishly. When Aspen senses the presence of Black
Jaguar, she takes it very seriously and reflects on her choices in order to live her most aligned life.
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Toward Wholeness: Courage to Leave Relationships
Another participant, Kayla, also had experiences with Black Jaguar that prompted her to make a drastic life change. Kayla credits Black Jaguar with providing her with the strength and courage to leave an unfulfilling relationship after 30 years.
Her first encounter with Black Jaguar was during a holotropic breathwork practice and her subsequent encounters occurred during a series of five Ayahuasca ceremonies with the Shipibo in the jungles of Perú. She had longed to see the Black Jaguar again after a challenging first experience that she shares here:
What’s powerful about that is that at the time I was married and I saw her and she was majestic, large, beautiful, silky black fur. . .I didn’t really feel she was there to harm me. My husband came in the dream and he slit her throat. I had the feeling in the dream like “Wait. No, no, don’t do that.” I had no sense of what the panther meant or anything until later. I learned that she’s very protective and also very rare and unique. It’s beautiful when she shows up. In a lot of ways it represented my marriage [or the way I was held back in my marriage]. It was in a place where I couldn’t really grow and be who I’m really meant to be--him slitting her throat is very representative of that. I was very sad for a long time when I read a little about what the panther means.
Kayla is grateful to have had two subsequent encounters with Black Jaguar during
Ayahuasca ceremonies with the Shipibo in the Peruvian Amazon. During the following encounter, Black Jaguar served as a protector and a guide:
It was a really intense ceremony, there was thunder and it was raining. I kept going between light places and dark places and the way she showed up was to help me through those dark moments, protecting me and guiding me. It was very beautiful to see her again because I had had this sadness about the way she had been hurt and I didn’t know if I would ever see her again so It was really good to see her and it was helpful to see her protecting me and guiding me.
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I was seeing her. Like I said it was a very intense experience because there was thunder and in my vision I was going through some intense dark places and her and my mom who had passed were both helping me. It was a beautiful experience to see her again.
Her final encounter with Black Jaguar is detailed in the Feeling Love theme section. When Kayla was asked what she felt like Black Jaguar came to show her, she explained how her encounters with Black Jaguar led to her ending her relationship:
Well definitely to help me and protect me in the second one. This was a space I was not familiar with and I definitely needed help. It was something I needed to go through so I could learn and grow. It was actually after coming back from that journey that I was able to finally separate from my ex-husband. I had not been able to do for a very long time. I tried a couple times. I was married for 23 years and we had been together for about 30. Numerous times I had tried to break away, but I never had the courage. This really gave me the courage to finally be able to do it.
I think definitely from her I had a strength and courage that I had lacked before. I had no idea that I would come back and make that decision. There’s a number of things that happened while I was there. I had a certain awareness of ways in which I was not being fulfilled which was not a new thing for me, but what was new was the courage to take the steps I needed to take to breakaway. So, what I feel she gave me was some courage and protection. She definitely protected me in some dark moments. . . It was when I returned that I took the steps to finally separate from him.
Kayla changed her life as a result of her experiences with Black Jaguar. Through the loving strength and the courage offered to her by this ally, Kayla left her husband and began a new life, a life more aligned with her soul.
Another participant, Sophia, felt empowered by her lion allies to leave an abusive marriage. She called upon them for the strength and courage to leave and protect herself and her two young sons.
I became a mother when I was 20 years old. I wanted family and connection and so I set out and created that for myself. But my husband was wrestling with some dark demons that I had not recognized until we were all living up on a mountaintop, me working and taking care of our children solo and him also working, but partying and sleeping around, 123
leading a double life that I was not a part of. This broke my heart because I am so loving, kind, and loyal. I felt used and trapped by him. He slowly became abusive and violent. I knew that I had to find my inner fire, my strength, and my courage to rise up and leave him, even if it cost me my life. And it almost did. When I was plotting my escape, I would remember my lions from ceremony, imagine my leonine nature, and try to imagine myself as mama lion, protecting her cubs, no matter the cost. I finally left and found my freedom, eventually, but it had been a long journey that, at times, I truly didn't know if I would survive.
When I feel powerless, I can literally imagine their noble stance, looking out over the bushveld, quietly contemplating their perfect next move. They move when they are clear and sure. They have clarity and focus, they have big hearts, and are very loving by nature.
Sophia remembered her experiences with her allies during entheogenic ceremonies and called upon their teachings and characteristics long after her initial encounters. In this way, her lion allies gave her the courage to leave her marriage and create a better life for herself and her children.
Since animal allies carry the qualities of the species as a whole (Ingerman &
Wesselman 2010; Grof 1988; Poncelet 2014), they aided participants in embodying these unique characteristics and integrating these characteristics into their lives. They served as teachers, bringing the qualities of their species into participants’ lives. In a psychological framework, this could be described as follows:
When therefore a distressing situation arises, the corresponding archetype will be constellated in the unconscious. Since this archetype is numinous, i.e., possesses a specific energy, it will attract to itself the contents of consciousness - the conscious ideas that render it perceptible and hence capable of conscious realization. (Jung 1911 in Jacobi, 1959, p. 66).
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For both Sophia and Kayla, the courage necessary to make these changes was constellated in their consciousness by the appearance of Lion and Black Jaguar and integrated when they finally took the steps to leave.
Concluding Remarks
For each of these participants, their encounters with animal allies aided in their individuation journey. Allies served as compassionate, loving, and sacred teachers, guiding and empowering individuals to move in new directions in their careers and relationships. They catalyzed insights and encouraged individuals to embrace aspects of themselves that had previously been unconscious or repressed. The unique characteristics of the ally species served participants in embodying these characteristics and integrating these characteristics into their lives. The creativity of Spider, the strength of Horse, and the courage and protection of the big cats became integrated parts of participants’ psyches, improving their lives and helping them embrace their wholeness.
Calling in the Ally
Six of the seven participants interviewed referred to the ability to call in their allies long after their first experience. Interestingly, despite having first encountered their allies through differing modalities, five participants used similar language, either call in or call on, to refer to this aspect of the ally experience. Given that allies serve as companions and guides helping individuals navigate their lives (Raff, 1997), it makes 125 sense that their relationships with human beings often continue beyond the initial encounter.
Participants referenced calling in their allies through various practices ranging from “getting quiet” and “visualizing their physical form” (Sophia) to engaging in shamanistic drum journeys with the intention to meet a particular ally. Other practices participants engage in to cultivate their relationships with allies include creating art, creating altars, dialoguing with allies, and surrounding themselves with visual representations of the ally’s likeness.
41-year-old Sophia expresses her ability to call in the presence of her lion allies when she says:
It feels like, with an ally, literally I have someone I can go to in my inner world if I’m scared, if I have a question, or I just don’t know what to do. Instead of calling up mom--because that hasn’t been working out too well [laughs]--I can literally just get quiet and call on these beings and ask, you know? And be with them, feel their presence. When I call on them, they’re there and I feel the way their presence and their strength and their medicine is also such a part of who I am so. . . it reminds me that though I’m seeking outside of myself for them they are also in me. . .So it’s given me strength and helped me realize my own power.
When asked to further explain what she meant by calling on the lions as though she was explaining to someone who does not yet engage in this practice, Sophia replied:
Well, for me it looks like getting quiet for a minute and literally visualizing their physical form which for me calls in their essence. So like, I can feel and I can sense them. Like as if I was going to pick up the phone and call you, but before I do that I think of you and then I can visualize you and I think of your essence and your personality and who you are. It’s like that, it’s the same thing. Like I’m just gonna call up my lions and talk to them about something [laughs]. I can feel them and that calls them in.
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Aspen, too, invokes the assistance of her allies when challenges arise in her life. She says, “I’m never alone. . .I have this whole community of beings that I draw on in different ways to relate with different people or approach different challenges in my life.” Aspen’s statement demonstrates that the relationship between individuals and their allies can extend beyond the initial encounter and implies that the individual can have an active role in re-engaging with the ally to ask for support. Grof (1988) echoes this notion that animal allies are teachers and friends offering help and guidance.
Beyond the shamanistic practices of entheogenic ceremonies and drum journeying, Bright (2009) explains that encounters with the imaginal can occur through various modalities including movement, art, active imagination, and other depth inquiry methods. It is often in the time following the initial ally encounter when one engages in integration practices and derives meaning from the experience that much of the transformation occurs. As Sophia explains:
I just really always sit with that experience after the journey is over to feel into what that particular animal might be trying to tell me and really look within myself for the answer and talk to that animal, talk to the spirit of that animal even outside of the journey when I’m integrating, weeks later, or anytime. To really talk to the essence of that animal that came through and ask what it’s wanting to tell me.
By calling in the ally and engaging with it in a dialogue, Sophia is able to gain additional insights into the experience and deepen in relationship with her guides.
From a Jungian perspective, this practice of dialoguing with an imaginal being can be called active imagination (Bright, 2009; Johnson, 1986). Examples of Jung’s dialogues with imaginal beings can be found in his Red Book. While the researcher also practiced 127 this method extensively during graduate school, she feels that the term falls short in conveying the sacred nature of the experience. While the method itself is effective, she has not adopted the term into her lexicon.
Aspen was asked whether she had any subsequent encounters with Black Jaguar ally after it came to her during an Ecuadorian ritual involving Tsaank, a plant which is ingested through the nose. She responded that Black Jaguar, “felt alive in me after that.
It’s not like it was a one time meeting.” She elaborated:
[The Tsaank ritual] was the one time I met it visually in a contained ritual but afterwards I relied on it to help guide me is how I would say it. Like, it was alive in my support system. For example, I would say “Please Jaguar protect me from my habit of relying on others to do things for me.” Like, in the same way you would call a friend even though they moved far away.
It is worth noting here that Aspen uses the same analogy as Sophia to describe the relationship as akin to calling a friend. She continued, adding that at times Jaguar emerges in her consciousness without invocation, an experience that she views as humbling because she interprets it as a sign that she is “off track.”
It’s like the relationship still exists even though you might not see them. It hasn’t ended. I don’t think it’s as present now. It’s not the friend that lives next door. I have other friends who live next door now, but I still call on the Jaguar from time to time. . .And all I really have to do is envision or remember those eyes in my face and I can feel the energy of the fierce protector, the one who will devour me if I go down the wrong road but is there to protect me also.
Sometimes it feels embarrassing when it shows up and I’m not calling it in. It shows up and I’m like, “Oh. I’m off track.” So, it can be a little humbling or embarrassing but when I call it in intentionally it would be because I feel like I’m needing that support and that allyship.
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While some allies enter individuals’ lives briefly to offer their specific medicine and guidance at a particular time, others remain throughout individuals’ lives as teachers and friends. These lifelong companions are those considered to be individuals’ spirit animals or totem animals. In Jungian terms, one could say that particular imaginal figures are more “alive” in individuals at different times in their lives. Aspen articulates this through the analogy of having “other friends who live next door now.” A living symbol (Aizenstat, 2001) could lose its potency for a time as another image constellates in the unconscious with the potential to catalyze further healing and personal transformation.
Gia also described her practice of “calling in” allies. Although, as in the example she provides below, she does this more frequently with plant allies.
Especially with the plants I feel like I can call on their spirits to help me and support me in ways. I haven’t really called upon the energy of animals as much. Occasionally I’ll consciously tune in to them to remember what they teach me.
I close my eyes and get quiet and kind of call on them. And it’s . . . I feel like that kind of invocation there’s a mental component to it but it’s mostly feeling, it’s more like the call of the heart . . . somehow. And calling for specific medicine from them. For example, Yarrow is really helpful for protection and for energetic purification so I’ll call on it for that.
It’s pretty much nonverbal. It’s very much through the felt-sense. . . it’s the feeling somehow. I ‘m not sure how to describe how I do it. There’s something that’s felt about it, it’s intuitive, there’s a mental component but I feel like the deeper, direct experiences of connection transcend the mind. You know the mind wants to be involved in everything but the most profound experiences of communion that I’ve had have had nothing to do with the mind and as soon as the mind starts to come in, it starts to dilute them.
I feel like that’s part of how these animals can be allies whether it’s through an image or even just through thinking of them or connecting with what they 129
represent it can help us to have inspiration and understanding of what we need in that moment to step more fully into who we are.
For Gia, like Sophia, calling in an ally also involves turning inward. In her account, calling in allies happens more through intuition or “the call of the heart” rather than cognition.
Sylvan, an herbalist and cattle rancher, echoed this ability to continue to connect with allies by merely thinking about them and calling them forth in the psyche. He recognizes that many encounter their allies with the aid of an entheogenic plant medicine or “physical sacrament,” but adds that it is not the only way:
I’ve found and--this isn’t just with mushrooms--this spans across my relationship with many allies. . .the more I walked with them and sat with them and just gone down through life’s paths with them that there’s a connection that can be invoked just by calling them in and asking for their presence. It’s as subtle as just thinking about them. It’s hard to say which way it goes . . . sometimes it’s not even through the mind. There’s just some other aspect of self that calls upon that connection. And I think that that deepening relationship. . .what else do I want to say about that? I think it opens myself up to more depth of connection and I think that we’re built and programmed to have deeper layers of connection and the ability to connect without necessarily taking in a physical sacrament.
Sylvan’s description of calling in allies here is similar to Gia’s in that it also asserts that it is a process that sometimes occurs outside of cognition. When I asked Sylvan what beliefs he holds about allies, he very clearly and directly articulated the following:
I believe that there’s communication and interaction going on there and that it’s dynamic and being engaged upon by all parties and that there’s intention there, from myself and from the other beings, even if that intention can’t be framed in conventionally prescribed ways. And, I also believe that we as humans are built for that. We evolved for that. We’re designed to have those connections and experience those experiences and that the more [we] engage in and open to that the more we grow those 130
aspects of ourselves and the ability to continue that coevolution in both the personal context and the greater and more spanning interconnected context.
Sylvan similarly expressed his perception that human beings have the innate capacity to connect with allies and that this is not only beneficial for humanity, but something for which we evolved.
Sophia enthusiastically reiterates the notion that the ability to call in animal allies is an ability that all human beings innately possess:
We can do that anytime. We can. To have the perception of that, to understand that we can do that for me came through the use of psychedelics and I just find that to be so exciting and so pivotal for humanity.
The ability to engage with and learn from animal allies both during and beyond entheogenic ceremonies is a profound gift to human beings as we seek to remember our connection with the sacred and find our places in a wider, interconnected world.
The following subsections will explore two of the practices participants engage in to call in their allies, including shamanistic drum journeys and keeping altars.
Shamanistic Drum Journeying to Re-encounter
Three of the seven participants expressed that they called in their allies through intentional shamanic journeying using either a drum or a rattle (Harner, 1990). While this type of shamanic journeying is typically done by entering the spirit realm and just
“seeing who is there,” as Aspen explained, two participants mentioned journeying with the specific intention to deepen in relationship and learn from a particular ally whom they had previously encountered. 131
Keeping Altars
Six of the seven participants also request the ongoing support and presence of particular allies by engaging in altar work. According to participants, this involves including the likeness of the animal on their home altar either in the form of a photo, a small statue, a feather, an art piece, or some other item serving to represent and honor the animal ally.
Sometimes an altar is created or a representative item is added to an existing altar following a profound ally experience as an act of reciprocity and gratitude. Some participants keep an item representing each animal ally they have encountered and some have more dynamic altars that change to invoke the energetic presence of different allies that may be beneficial to their current life situation.
Adrianne, the artist living in Colorado, explains her practice with altars:
I love altars. I’ve pretty much. . . since that first ceremony I had I’ve always kept an altar of some kind over the past 5 years or so. My altar has something for each of my animal allies that have come to me. Currently, I have something for Black Jaguar up there. It’s a reminder of the allies I have that have come through my journey in life. I love my altar. It’s a living. . . [pause] It’s really a designated place for the living wisdom of these relationships.
I feel like most of the stuff on my altar is something to represent the animals, to make sure that they have a space there that is theirs.
Altars are central to the spiritual practices of many traditions around the world. In some cultures, altars are conceived of as ritual technology and a microcosm through which to interact with and affect the animate universe. Some psychologists also create and maintain altars in order to set intentions and engage with numinous figures. Johnson 132
(1986) and Aizenstat (2011) recommend ritual as an honoring step in working with the figures that emerge in dreams. Johnson (1986) goes on to say that, beyond the psychological perspective, ancient cultures understood that ritual brought them into
“immediate contact with the gods” and “allowed them to show respect and reverence to the great Powers” (p. 103).
When asked whether she has practices to continue to deepen her relationship with allies, Aspen said:
Yeah, I like altars. I have altars. If I want to, like I mentioned, have Jaguar with me through a certain phase of my life I create art or I’ll have images of the animal.
Participants Aspen and Adrianne both use art as a portal to call in their allies. Bright
(2009) includes art as another modality through which individuals can engage with imaginal beings. By both creating art and placing art featuring allies prominently around their homes, especially on altars, they invoke the energy of various ally species.
In the age of social media, it is interesting also that two participants referenced changing their Facebook cover photo to a particular animal ally as a way to bring its presence into their lives. This becomes, in effect, a digital altar. Aspen said:
I will. . . put up images of animals If I’m wanting them to be with me more. Like I will change my Facebook cover photo or put up a photo of cat eyes in my room as a reminder or I’ll wear some symbol that represents that to me so I’m in constant relationship with the energy when I’m trying to do it intentionally.
Changing one’s Facebook cover photo to a particular animal ally as a way to bring its presence into their lives is merely one example of the blending of indigenous wisdom with contemporary culture. For individuals who lack knowledge of keeping altars, 133 social media serves as another space to prominently display that which is important to us and that which we would like to call more of into our lives. Most contemporary individuals do not have formal training in the creation of altars or indigenous ways of honoring allies. Given that social media has become a place for individuals to express their identity and engage in interpersonal relationships, it is not surprising that for individuals living in relationship with allies, their allies are prominently displayed there as well.
To our ancestors who did not have access to Facebook as a discourse community, it was not an option to honor an ally by displaying it on social media, but for contemporary Americans who reserve profile photos or cover photos for those closest to them, this could be viewed as an act of honoring. It could also be a way for contemporary individuals living in relationship with animal allies to convey aspects of their character, the parts of their souls that resonate with their animal allies.
Concluding Remarks
Participants’ experiences suggest that they can also have an active role in invoking the numinous energy of particular allies depending on their intentions at the time. This is likely most effective when the calling in is a call from one’s soul, an intuitive knowing of which ally would be helpful rather than an ego-generated desire to call in a particular ally.
It is not only possible to engage with an ally after the initial encounter; it is possible to cultivate a lasting and loving relationship in support of our soul’s evolution. 134
The ability for participants to “call in” their allies after the initial encounter is indicative of the profound love that allies have for human beings.
Feeling Love
Three of the seven participants described feeling love in the presence of their allies. Although “love” was only explicitly mentioned by three participants, it is an important aspect of the ally experience. Part of Raff’s (2006) definition of allies is that they are benevolent companions engaged in a loving relationship with the individual.
Surely, the feeling of profound love accompanying ally visions is one way that individuals come to recognize them as benevolent beings. Feeling love during ally encounters allows individuals to trust the insights and guidance they receive from their allies. This is particularly important in cases in which the ally is a species (such as a serpent or spider) that could otherwise evoke fear and, subsequently, doubt. .
Kayla’s story of her loving encounter with Black Jaguar is beautifully representative of the love that many individuals feel in relationship with their allies.
When asked to describe changes in emotion that accompanied her ally experiences,
Kayla detailed her third encounter with Black Jaguar, an encounter that occurred during her final Ayahuasca ceremony with the Shipibo in Perú:
When I saw her again in the last ceremony there was just so much love [emphatic]. So much love and I was so happy to finally see her. . .I was so happy that she was okay. And. . .yeah, just so much love.
Towards the end we were just cuddling and she was like licking me and giving me love and I was hugging her and holding her and it was just. . .beautiful. There was a 135
lot of love and . . .yeah. . . it’s almost like hard to put words to. To be able to see her and hug her and to have her licking me and giving me her love.
When asked whether there were any physical sensations accompanying that experience, she replied:
It felt very real, ya know. I definitely could feel like we were this close and she was licking me and giving me love like a cat. I could hold her like this.. She’s like right here. (Demonstrates physical proximity with her arm)
Her incredulous delight in the presence of her ally is palpable in the way she recounts:
I was sitting on the ground, my shaman was in front of me and I was caressing my panther and I was telling my shaman “Look, It’s my panther. My panther is here” and he said “Yes, I know. I know.” That was the last time I saw her.
Kayla’s experience is reminiscent of Raff’s statement that, “The ally greets us with such joy and love that it is hard to mistake it for anything else. No other imaginal being meets us in this way” (Raff, 2006, p. 11). The depth of connection with Black Jaguar prompted her to refer to the ally as “my panther.” It was not intended to convey ownership or power over, but rather as a recognition of connection and endearment.
Her statement, “that was the last time I saw her,” also conveys loving care and a longing to reconnect with her ally. Black Jaguar guided her through both a holotropic breathwork experience and several challenging Ayahuasca journeys. Having such an affectionate and loving encounter during her fifth and final ceremony in the jungle is a beautiful display of love.
When asked to describe any changes in perception she experienced during an ally encounter, Sophia described being “held in love” in the presence of her lion allies. 136
Even beyond her use of the word “love,” it was apparent that she was feeling love during her encounter with the lions when she said:
When I was journeying with the mushrooms my change in perception was like a sense of. . . belonging. So all of a sudden I would sense the lions’ presence and feel like suddenly I wasn’t alone. I had almost like a tribal family and was part of their pride and I felt very held in love which is really beautiful during a psychedelic journey because sometimes it can. . .you can feel. . .or at least my experience has been to feel alone and scared and feel like, “What am I doing? Where am I going?” And then to sense their presence felt. . .suddenly like I am not alone, just part of a greater energy or a. . .a family.
This feeling of love and belonging that Sophia felt in connection with the lions left an impression on her beyond the entheogenic experience. Sylvan also experienced the love described by Raff during his ally encounter. He explained:
There was a really clear energetic presence of. . . extreme strength and love but it was . . . a very tough love. . . a very like, not human. . .care and connection that was being communicated.
For these participants, the opportunity to feel the love of their allies was a profoundly moving experience that would be forever cherished in memory and continue to influence their lives.
Beliefs Participants Hold about Allies and the Ally Experience
The Ally Experience as Sacred
An overwhelming majority, six out of seven participants consider their ally experiences to be sacred. When asked “Are ally experiences sacred to you?” Sophia responded immediately, “Absolutely. The highest sacred.” Upon saying this, her affect changed; she looked down as though dwelling in memory and tears filled her eyes. 137
Through the tears, she smiled, looked up, and added, “Maybe that says it all.” This touching response conveys the reality of many individuals in contemporary America living in relationship with animal allies. She adds:
I feel like it’s tapping into something that is multidimensional. There’s something that goes beyond normal consciousness and that feels sacred to me. It feels like there is numinosity, magic, mystery, and depth inherent in the ally experience. It transforms you. . . and that feels sacred.
Sophia mentioned the “numinosity. . .in the ally experience” in the above description.
As aforementioned, theologian Rudolf Otto coined the term numinous in order to describe the sacred beyond a theological or dogmatic conception of the term (Stein,
1998). The ally experience transcends religion and is available to individuals from a diverse array of faith backgrounds. While the researcher opted for more colloquial diction in the interview process, asking whether participants perceived their ally experience as sacred, the direct experience of something numinous beyond the confines of a particular religion is precisely what participants were describing.
According to Jungian analyst Lionel Corbett (2000), numinous experiences are not reserved solely for the mystics and saints of ancient texts, but they “may erupt at any time in the lives of ordinary people, or they may be deliberately induced.” This is also reflected in Adrianne’s story in which Black Jaguar came to her unbidden in a spontaneous encounter (featured in the Shapeshifting theme section).
The former ceremonialist, Gia, shares her view that the numinous is accessible to everyone and, in her view, ever-present when she says:
I feel like sometimes in our Western interpretations of some of [indigenous] traditions, we see [sacred experience] as a unique experience, you know like sprinkles on top of 138
something or like the raisins in the bread instead of the bread itself. I’m trying to find a good metaphor to say that it’s viewed as an exceptional experience but it’s actually the opposite of that. It’s the fundamental experience. It’s always present, it’s always available, it’s fully alive all around us. It’s just that in modern Western society, we have become so completely disconnected from it that those moments of connection have become the exception.
For Gia, the sacred is inextricably intertwined with Nature. And through Nature, she remembers the sacredness of life:
And so I would say that the more that I have a meaningful relationship with nature, whether that’s through the plants or through the animals, the more that I know life to be sacred and the more that weaves in to my overall experience of life to allow me to be constantly remembering and perceiving the sacredness of it all.
Heather also explained how allies help her to remember the sacredness of life when she said, "[Allies] really help me feel connected to myself and to life, the sacredness of life is kind of amplified.” This is reminiscent of Dennis’ (2013) statement that her imaginal experiences deepened her connection with life.
For one participant, the term sacred was too embedded in the organized form of
Christianity in which he was raised. While Sylvan holds his ally experiences as profoundly meaningful, he also explained that his upbringing and the connotation the word “sacred” carries for him makes him hesitant to use that term in particular. He associates the term “sacred” with the dogma of religion rather than personal numinous experience. In his own words:
I have some trouble with the word sacred sometimes. I think it probably comes from what we were just talking about with the Christianity I was raised with. . . there was a lot of authority and we were discouraged from questioning and that requirement to kind of cow to authority was presented under the arch of sacred. Like, the authority was sacred so I think that’s all wrapped together for me.
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Rather than experiencing the sacred in the context of religion, participants describe a direct experience of the sacred that brings them into deeper connection with themselves, the unseen, and the interconnected web of life. Gia explained how her relationships with animal allies help her remember that “the sacred is an experience of the essential nature of existence which is holy in a way.” When asked her beliefs about allies and ally experiences, Adrianne echoed this conception of the sacred:
They are definitely sacred to me. Every experience I’ve had with an ally has been deeply intimate. Intimate with me spiritually, emotionally, on a soul level. I guess really what it comes down to is what do I consider sacred? And I consider things to be sacred when they speak to that pure soul of life, to that pure purpose of being alive and allies always, always always lead me back to that authentic life experience. As a being who’s in relationship with everything [emphasis] on the planet, not as a human who’s at the top of the food chain because that’s just not the case. My allies always remind me of all that I have to learn and of where I figure into the big picture. And that is an immensely sacred gift to me because that changes how I’m gonna treat everything in my life every time I have that experience.
The sense of sacredness then is not only due to the experience of the ally as a numinous being, but also related to the ways in which the ally experiences connects participants to their lives in a more authentic way. From these participants’ words, it is evident that they believe the ally experience is a sacred experience in that it brings them into connection with life, Nature, the unseen, and themselves.
Languaging the Ineffable
Whether [it’s] Medicine or some spirit or another part of my consciousness, I don’t really know but I’ll often just take it easy and call it Medicine either way because it feels like it’s helping me have a happier life. (Heather)
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In analyzing the data, I noticed participants using psychological and shamanic terms interchangeably. When asked “What beliefs do you hold about allies?” several participants explored these ideas without explicit prompting. The excerpt from
Heather’s transcript included under the subheading above conveys her own journey to express her ally experiences. She has settled on the term Medicine, which her community, the Native American Church, uses to refer to anything that heals human beings and wishes them well. The term Medicine, in this case, could refer to an entheogenic plant Medicine sacrament, a spirit such as an animal ally, or even a song or story that touches the soul and leaves us changed.
Three participants consistently used language that aligned with their perception of allies as autonomous external spirit beings. Sylvan, the herbalist and cattle rancher, said, “There was a very clear sense of a presence, a spirit for lack of a better word.” Later, in describing how his religious upbringing differed from his current worldview he explained, “I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian tradition that didn’t recognize any sort of connection to [pause] any spirit other than the God deity.” One can infer from this comment as well as his transcript in its entirety that this is signaling a contrast to his current ideology, in which he recognizes and engages in connections with many other spirits. His pause in this statement is indicative of the challenge many experience in languaging their ally experiences. Sylvan also used the Sanskrit term deva at several points throughout the interview and referred to allies as beings. All of the terms Sylvan employed clearly reflect his belief that allies are autonomous, external, spirit beings. 141
These three participants also consistently opted for language that reflected a belief in allies as spirit beings by employing terms such as “spirit realm,” “spirits,” and
“beings.” The 52-year-old optometrist said, “I’ve always felt like they’re outside [of yourself] to help you.” Heather, in her description of an encounter with Hummingbird, also described her ally in alignment with this shamanic worldview:
I really had this image and this feeling like there was a hummingbird in my heart and like [vocalization] buzzing and flying and I could feel these openings that were happening in my body through, really what felt like the spirit of the hummingbird just like [enthusiastic sound effect]. That quality of joy and vibrancy that the hummingbird can bring has felt alive and so turned on the last couple of weeks for me.
The other four participants held beliefs about allies that reflected a more complex and nuanced understanding. Their explanations carried traces of both shamanic and psychological frameworks. Interestingly, three of the seven participants used the phrase
“it’s a both and” while expressing their beliefs about allies, as in the case of Sophia, who shared:
I think that they have their autonomy and they are spirit beings, but I think that just like with anything my perception of it is that whenever we have a relationship with an animal ally, spirit ally, angels, it’s because it’s a part of us we’re relating to. It’s like, it’s the same. Yes, they have their own autonomy but they’re also reflecting to me a part of my being. I mean, I could expand on that more. . .Because I think it’s a both and. Yeah, It’s a both and.
For her, allies are both autonomous spirit beings and showing her a part of herself. She goes on to say:
The lions for me really symbolized calling to me to step into my power and to be courageous and step into leadership which has always been my passion. But there’s this fear that had been in my way. So it felt like they were there beckoning me to that and reflecting to me my inner lion, my inner lioness.
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Here, we also see in Sophia’s diction that she also perceives the lions psychologically as symbolizing or representing something meaningful for her that supports her growth.
Adrianne, the Colorado-based artist who encountered her allies through extensive ceremonial work with plant medicines as well shamanic drum journeys, echoed this belief in allies as both spirits and archetypes. She explained:
It’s not super black and white for me. I think through both my experience and my reflection of my own knowing and reflection of what other people experience and just kind of the whole. . .complexity of this entire matter of other spirits. . .I’ve done some deep thinking about whether it is simply an archetype that I’m interacting with inside of myself, like a part of myself that is rendering itself in a particular shape and that’s fine. It’s actually not even less valid that way. It’s actually just as important. It doesn’t make them any less real. Or is it a power that’s outside of me that I’m interacting with and you know, there’s a separation in some sense so it’s presenting a power that’s not inherent to my own inner world or body and I’m interacting with. In a weird way, I feel that it’s both. I‘m kind of nondual in how I look at this.
She explains that when she considers the possibility that her allies are manifestations of archetypes or parts of herself that it doesn’t make her experiences less real or less valid.
This aligns strongly with the Jungian framework in that archetypal images and symbols that arise in the psyche are carriers of numinous energy that can guide individuals toward healing and wholeness.
The perception that allies originate from the imaginal realm or the collective unconscious does not negate their power, autonomy, sacredness, or profound impact on the human beings whom they visit. When describing her first encounter with Spider during a shamanic drum journey, Adrianne said, “I knew it was real. I could feel the 143 authenticity of that symbol.” Her comment reiterates the notion that describing allies using psychological language does not make them any less real.
Adrianne continued to convey her understanding of animal allies as both spirits and archetypes when she said:
When I think of them coming into my life from outside of me which sometimes it feels like they do, sometimes I seem to receive symbols and signs from these. . .spirits that I don’t know that I could come up with myself. Sometimes I wonder, is that a power coming to me from outside of me that’s taking the shape of Spider or maybe it inherently is Spider and that’s really its identity, that’s really what it is. I try to non-dualistically remain in the question because I don’t really know entirely.
Here, Adrianne expresses a more shamanic conception of her allies as external presences, but also acknowledges that she is comfortable not knowing and exploring other possibilities. This exemplifies the Jungian ideal of holding the tension of the opposites. She is comfortable remaining in the question, recognizing that there is no way to discern with certainty beyond her own subjective experience. The above quotation also includes her belief that allies offer her “symbols and signs.” She continues:
I know that it’s a relationship, I know that I interact with it, I know that it has ongoing richness and meaning and symbol for my life. I know that in some cases I feel that there’s a sentient spirit that is outside of me that I’m interacting with for sure. And then other times, I don’t know. It feels so intimate and comfortable that it could be an archetype from within. But, to me these worlds are not as separate as we think they are. I kind of merge them together in my own way.
Jung (2009) himself grappled with similar questions. In a dialogue with Elijah and Salome in The Red Book, he tells them, “I can hardly reckon you as being part of my soul. . . therefore I must separate you and Salome from my soul and place you among 144 the daimons. You are connected to what is primordially old and always exists” (p. 547).
When Jung refers to them as symbols, Elijah responds, “We are real and not symbols”(p. 176). Later in the dialogue, Jung again attempts to refer to them as symbols and Elijah responds, “You may call us symbols for the same reason that you can also call your fellow men symbols, if you wish to. But we are just as real as your fellow men.
You invalidate nothing and solve nothing by calling us symbols” (p. 187).
Regardless of whether allies are spirits, archetypal images, or symbolic representations of parts of our souls, it is clear from these participants’ stories that their relationships with animal allies have been growth-enhancing and touched their lives and hearts in profound and lasting ways.
Future Studies
This study used purposive sampling to select participants who perceive their ally experiences as growth-enhancing. Facets of the ally experience that are beyond the scope of this particular study could be explored in the future. Qualitative studies such as this one could be conducted with a larger sample population. Similarly, since the sample population in this study was predominantly female, studies could be done with a more gender-diverse sample population.
Since this study was originally designed to include plant and animal allies, the interviews often included a discussion of both, which left less time for a thorough discussion of animal allies. A study with a narrow scope focusing solely on animal ally experiences would add to what is existing in the literature. 145
A qualitative interview-based study on the way members of various indigenous communities experience and understand their animal allies would be fascinating and aid in preserving the customs and belief systems of other cultures.
Personally, I am enthusiastic about future studies focusing on the phenomenon of shapeshifting and somatic experiences of allies that extend beyond imagery to involve felt-sense and the body.
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Chapter V: Conclusion
“By re-membering our roots in the sacred, by reestablishing right relations with nature and the imaginal, we renew our trust in the power of soul to help us find our way home.” (Bright, 2009, p. 16)
Summary
Six of the seven participants interviewed experienced their animal allies through imagery during experiences with entheogenic plants and fungi. Six of the seven participants also reported feeling the essence of the animal ally, which many described as akin to the energy of the species as a whole. Two of the seven participants shared accounts of shapeshifting, encounters in which they felt embodied by the animal ally.
Five of the seven participants experienced a profound sense of belonging, as though they were members of a broader community or “family.” Six of the seven participants reported a sustained deepened connection with Nature, which they came to see as interconnected and alive. Of these, five experienced increased synchronicities in which they felt animal allies communicated with them in the external environment, leaving signs and symbols to guide their lives. Each of the seven participants shared stories detailing the ways that their relationships with animal allies guided them in their individuation journey. Six of the seven participants referenced the ability to call in their ally after the initial encounter and continue to deepen in relationship with their allies through various means including calling forth the animal through internal imagery, drum journeys, art, and creating altars. Three of the seven participants explicitly spoke of the feeling of love accompanying the ally encounter. Six of the seven participants 147 hold their ally encounters as deeply sacred. Three of the participants consistently employed language that reflected their belief in animal allies as external, autonomous spirit beings, while the others drew upon psychological and shamanistic frameworks interchangeably.
Reflections on Composing the Thesis
My encounters with animal allies during sacred plant medicine ceremonies will always remain among my most cherished memories. The process of conducting this study and composing this thesis has been a long, beautiful, and challenging journey.
This work has truly taken residence in my heart. I am grateful that I was granted the freedom to write this thesis on such a personally meaningful topic.
Holding the qualitative interviews was one of the most enjoyable aspects of this process. Hearing the stories of others whose lives have been forever changed following their ceremonial encounters with animal allies was powerful and it felt nourishing to hold space for the stories of like-hearted individuals. I am grateful for their trust as well as their heart-felt sharing. I sincerely hope they feel that I have carried their stories forward in a good way. I also hope that my love and reverence for both my animal allies and for the Medicines that have guided my life are conveyed throughout these imperfect pages.
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A Return to Community
Since my experiences with animal allies were not received well or held as sacred within my family of origin, I perceive this project in some ways as my return to community. I felt this sense of return to community also while giving a talk at my graduate program’s article evening entitled “In Relationship with the Numinous:
Encounters with Animal and Plant Allies in the Imaginal Realm” with members of my family in the audience. It is essential that individuals are witnessed after numinous experiences and that they are welcomed back by their families and communities with love, compassion, and the acknowledgment that they have transformed. In alignment with this knowing, I created this study in part as an opportunity to hold space for the sacred stories of others and to offer the quality of listening that I had not received.
Fortunately, I found that many of my participants do have healthy communities in which to share their experiences. Some, however, still choose not to share with their family of origin for fear that they will be misunderstood.
It is my intention that the literature review coupled with participants’ stories of numinous encounters with animal allies will be affirming to those who have been wrongfully cast out of their families or communities or misdiagnosed with mental illness. May the content of this thesis reach those for whom it will be most affirming, healing, and thought-provoking.
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Affirmation and Bridging Worlds
As an avid reader, I set out to first gain an understanding of my own experiences and then to bridge the two ideologies that I hold most dear: shamanism and depth psychology. This thesis is the culmination of that very personal journey.
Composing the interdisciplinary literature review provided me with an opportunity to research and explore several of my interests including animal allies, shamanism, entheogenic plant medicines, transpersonal psychology, and depth psychology. I was particularly interested in shapeshifting and spontaneous encounters with allies. Reading texts by established authors on these subjects was a deeply affirming experience. Countless times, I would read a text and write, “YES!” in all capitals next to a resonant passage. It was empowering to gain language from various fields through which to convey experiences similar to my own. I have immense gratitude for the pioneering work of transpersonal psychiatrist Stanislav Grof. In my view, his contributions to the field of psychology are unparalleled. I am also in awe of
Sandra Lee Dennis’ (2013) book Embrace of the Daimon and the ways in which she thoughtfully examines her spontaneous encounters with daimonic presences through a
Jungian lens.
Integration: Spirit & Archetype
It was important in my personal journey to have conversations with participants about how they conceptualize and articulate their ally experiences. The “Both Spirit and
Archetype” section of this thesis reflects questions that have lived within me for several 150 years. In holding the tension of the opposites, I now carry both the psychological and shamanistic lexicons and can engage with individuals from both discourse communities. A few years ago, referring to allies as archetypal images or imaginal beings would have likely triggered me as I would have considered it irreverent. I still view allies as autonomous spiritual beings, but I have also come to recognize that referring to them using the aforementioned terms takes away neither their autonomy nor their numinosity. Over the course of my two years of study in Depth Psychology and through researching for this project, I became increasingly comfortable with languaging the ally experience through a psychological lexicon. I now see that whether one refers to allies as spirit guides or imaginal beings, the experience is meaningful and has the potential to catalyze profound transformation. In both frameworks, allies are perceived as sacred and guide us toward healing and wholeness.
Personal Journey
I took a year off between completing my coursework and devoting significant energy to writing this thesis. I traveled the world, lived fully, and was deeply in love with my then-fiance. In the months that followed his sudden departure, my attention shifted to a long and necessary grief process around losing such a significant relationship.
When I was finally ready to write again, I set out to write a scholarly article and felt confined by the limited number of pages. It would have required me to narrow the themes that emerged in the interviews to only two or three, which felt impossible. The 151 transcripts were rich and participants’ stories were too beautiful to keep to myself. The findings are personally significant to me and I felt compelled to share more content from participants’ sacred stories. I was paralyzed by my own indecision in narrowing down the themes. A professor from another institution recommended that I allow myself to say all that I need to say and perhaps write a shorter article out of the thesis later. This allowed me to move beyond my indecision and draft many theme sections, some of which are still not included here in the interest of brevity.
While composing sections of this thesis at a friend’s lavender farm in Sonoma
County, I received a clear message from Spirit that writing this was aligned with All of
Life and that All of Life supports me in this. In an accompanying vision, I saw myself transforming into a sunflower, and then into the sun. There were honeybees as well. In a channeled movement, my hands were moved to align with the sunflower/sun in prayer position. Prior to that experience, I had adopted the belief that writing about these sacred experiences was not as sacred or in alignment as living them. This experience served to reignite my dedication to this project and to remind me that it is an aligned part of my path.
Currently, I am in my third year of working full-time as an assistant teacher in a
Montessori preschool in San Francisco. Working with young children is enjoyable and deeply rewarding. I am grateful for the opportunity to guide children in their social- emotional development and serve as a consistently warm and loving adult in their lives.
However, I found that I rarely had the energy to write after work. I became concerned that, as much as I care about this topic, I would not be able to complete this project. I 152 was privileged to spend Winter Break 2018 in Costa Rica with a friend enjoying the nourishing lush vitality of the land and drafted much of my first draft there. Winter and
Summer breaks have allowed me to immerse myself in the writing process in a joyful and balanced way.
Personal Significance of Findings
The most moving finding for me as a researcher was probably that the majority of participants described feeling a sense of belonging during and following their ally experiences. This was particularly meaningful because I was not anticipating it, yet it emerged organically in the interviews. It was a beautiful truth, and I was so pleased that the idea of belonging came forth.
In analyzing participants’ transcripts, I found that the experience of shapeshifting was not as common, at least in my sample population, as anticipated. I had thought that, since it was common in my personal experience, that most individuals who experience animal allies would also experience this phenomenon. I delighted in reading the literature available on shapeshifting and animal-identification in Mesoamerican Nahualism, contemporary Ayahuasca studies, and psychological texts. Prior to conducting interviews for my study, I had even considered narrowing the scope of my scholarly article to focus solely on the experience of shapeshifting.
Unfortunately, only two participants shared experiences of this nature. I did meet another woman with shapeshifting experience, particularly involving her connection with whales, and was excited to interview her, but I realized that the deadline for 153 interview completion had already passed. Through this study, I have come to learn that experiencing my allies so fully and somatically is rare. Feeling embodied by the essence of various species in addition to being moved through and, at times, vocalized through have been such profoundly impactful parts of my own ally experiences. I carry these experiences as miraculous blessings in my life.
Writing the “Reconnection with Nature” section was meaningful for me given my desire to support an ideology of interconnectedness in the hopes that, when others recognize their interconnectedness with the Earth and all of her inhabitants, they may become better stewards of the land and more mindful of their impact upon the Earth.
This is essential during these times of ecological crisis, climate change, and disconnection from living in relationship with Nature.
Letting Go of Ceremony
I intended to write this thesis with the help of plant Medicines. Much in the way that Rachel Harris, author of Listening to Ayahuasca, conducts her research in partnership with the Grandmother Ayahuasca, I hoped that I would receive guidance from plant Medicines in order to write this in the most reverent and honoring way possible. I remember a particular moment in composing the “Feeling Love” section, after writing, “For these participants, the opportunity to feel the love of their allies was a profoundly moving experience that would be forever cherished in memory and continue to influence their lives.” It brought tears to my eyes. Due to intestinal health challenges, I have not been able to sit in ceremony for over a year. In my last ceremony, 154 the Medicine told me that I needed to step away from medicine ceremonies in order to focus on healing my physical body. I had entered the ceremony with an intention to pray for healing around a romantic relationship and instead I ended up at the altar, holding the chalice of Huachuma (San Pedro), saying tear-filled gratitudes and letting go of a relationship with this plant teacher (at least in physical form) that held me and guided me so clearly for so many years. In addition to letting go of the plant Medicines that I knew to turn to for clear guidance, I was also simultaneously letting go of the communities I held most dear, and an engagement to a man whom I loved dearly. The grief I have moved through since that time was formerly unimaginable to me.
While I still occasionally feel the presence of both Huachuma and Ayahuasca from time to time and receive reminders of their love, including that Ayahuasca is
“always with me” and “in my heart,” composing this section has reminded me of the distance I feel from the intensely vivid experience of communing with them in ceremonies. I also continue to grieve the full-bodied, clear, and immensely loving way that animal allies visited me during plant Medicine ceremonies. I am, however, grateful to continue to live in relationship with animal allies as someone for whom channeling and visionary experience is a common part of my life. I remember the time I was living my prayer: I was assisting in San Pedro ceremonies with a mentor who I am so grateful to call a teacher in this life. She is wise, authentic, connected, eloquent, fiercely loving, and deeply committed to living in alignment with her truth. In 2016, I was on a two- week Ayahuasca retreat in Perú giving an informative presentation to eight participants, some of whom were there to sit with the Medicine for the first time. I 155 wonder whether I am being asked to let go of that identity and find a new path or whether I will be called back to ceremony once again. It is still my hope that I will be able to serve as an advocate for entheogenic plant medicines in other ways. I was present on June 4th, 2019 when the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to decriminalize all entheogenic plants and fungi. I had also written letters to council members supporting the resolution.
As I devote more energy to healing my body, I look forward to a day when I am called to sit in ceremony once again. As I was writing this reflection, my guides came through to remind me that, with or without Medicine, I’m “always a healer.” Still, I miss experiencing my allies in such vivid ways and I miss the communities in which I experienced the feeling of true belonging for the first time.
A Reflection on Language
I recognize the role of language in both reflecting and shaping ideologies.
Individuals’ diction carries implications and communicates much about their worldview. In composing this thesis, I have been mindful of choices in language. This is apparent in many cases, but none perhaps more so than in opting for the term
“shamanistic” (Lukoff, 1991) over the more colloquial “shamanic” in discussion of shamanistic practices out of respect for indigenous shamans. I do not claim the title of shaman and neither do the participants in this study. Opting for “shamanistic” conveys this in a subtle, yet important way throughout. 156
I am also cognizant of the ways in which my own choices in diction reflect my own belief systems and preferences. Others could have written a thesis analyzing the stories of my participants and included discussions of animal “symbolism” or “drug- induced visual hallucinations.” Even in opting for the newer term “entheogenic” rather than “psychedelic” or “hallucinogenic,” I am asserting my view that these substances enable us to connect with the numinous. “Entheogenic” means “generating the divine within” whereas “psychedelic” means “mind manifesting,” and “hallucinogenic” means generating hallucinations which are defined as “an experience involving the apparent perception of something not present. [emphasis added]” This, for me, carries connotations of falsehood at best and pathology at worst. While the term hallucination may be appropriate in some cases, including medical discourse, the term would not be appropriate in the context of this thesis.
In the shamanistic worldview, the beings one encounters in vision are present and very real. This ideological framework is resonant in me and, thus, influences the message and content of this study. As aforementioned, even though I recognize that symbols can be numinous, I would personally not feel comfortable reducing my allies to symbols. Using the term “ally” aligns with my belief that the animal presences that visit during altered states of consciousness are autonomous beings who offer loving support. I am grateful that there is a precedent of both depth psychologists and shamanic practitioners publishing works with the term “ally.”
It is my hope that this thesis inspires others to seek their own encounters with the sacred. It is my hope that in connecting with Nature through encounters with 157 animal allies or through entheogenic plant and fungal Medicines that human beings can become more compassionate and responsible stewards of Nature. In cultivating intimacy with other species, it is possible to gain empathy for them as well.
The current psychiatric paradigm often pathologizes experiences of remembering our interconnectedness and encountering the numinous; this implicit ideological framework that perceives the ego as a boundaried, independent personality signals the rampant disconnection and dissociation in individualistic cultures from transpersonal as well as earth-based sources of connection. This disconnection has been referred to as normative dissociation (Kremer and Jackson-Paton, 2014). From this perspective, the dissociation that is accepted as the norm in contemporary Western culture may be seen as contributing to both personal and cultural dis-ease.
What is Next in My Personal Journey
The prayer for my life that I hold most dear is for partnership and motherhood, a prayer that working with children illuminates within me everyday. Another long-term aspiration includes pursuing licensure as a therapist. Since experiencing depth inquiry methods in this graduate program, I have felt inspired to pursue licensure as an M.F.T.
In my practice, I hope to integrate expressive arts, shamanistic healing, Jungian psychology, and transpersonal psychology. Modalities I am most interested in include
Sand Play and Authentic Movement. I would also like to work with individuals 158 experiencing spiritual emergence or spiritual emergencies in order to offer compassionate witnessing.
Eventually, I would also like to become licensed in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy through the Certificate of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research at the California
Institute of Integral Studies or another institution. I have experienced firsthand the healing, transformational potentials of entheogens. I have also been fortunate to have volunteered with the Zendo Project on several occasions. The Zendo Project is a psychedelic harm reduction team organized by The Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) that helps individuals through challenging experiences in festival settings. Serving as both a sitter and a shift lead with the Zendo Project have been among the most fulfilling and aligned experiences of my life. I hope to continue volunteering with the Zendo Project as well as other psychedelic harm reduction organizations. I was recently selected as a volunteer for a psychedelic peer support hotline with an organization called The Fireside Project. I am honored and grateful to serve as part of their inaugural cohort of volunteers.
Wherever my path may lead, I am devoting my life to bringing others into relationship with the numinous. I am devoted to serving as an advocate for entheogens and sacred plant medicines and I am committed to opening the hearts of others by guiding them toward remembering their innate connection with the sacred, the natural world, and the imaginal realm. May we all learn to listen; may we all learn to live our lives in alignment with the true calling of our souls.
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX A: INFORMED CONSENT FORM
Informed Consent: Research on Encounters and Relationships with Animal & Plant Allies
You are invited to participate in a study conducted by Mellissa Rohrer, an M.A. candidate at Sonoma State University. This research study is designed to explore individuals’ experiences and relationships with animal and plant allies encountered through shamanic or entheogenic practices. I am interested in learning about the characteristics of these ally experiences and the perceived effects they have had on personal transformation. I am particularly interested in changes in perception, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors viewed as growth-enhancing that are connected to ally experiences.
The information gathered in this study may be influential in understanding the phenomenology of ally experiences. Your participation will allow me to gain more knowledge of how allies are experienced and how ally experiences can be significant and growth-enhancing.
If you would like to participate in this study, you will be asked to engage in a one hour in- person or video interview depending on your location. In both cases, the interview will be audio-recorded and transcribed. You may also be asked to participate in one 30 minute follow- up interview to clarify your responses if questions arise regarding them. Interviews will take place in a private home that offers a quiet, tranquil setting, or through a video conferencing service called Zoom for individuals living out of state. You are encouraged to be as honest and authentic as possible as this study focuses on lived experiences. Your personal information, including any identifying details, will remain anonymous and a pseudonym will be assigned to you for use in the study. Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required by law. As a participant in this study, you may refuse to answer any question during the interview and you may withdraw your participation at any time.
Some of your responses may be cited in published research or conference presentations using data from this study. I will share excerpts from the article I am writing that involve your experiences with you prior to submission to Sonoma State University to ensure that I understood you as intended and represent your stories accurately.
By signing this form, you are giving your consent to participate in this study and to have your experiences described in published research, public presentations, or other educational settings. You will receive a copy of this form. You will not receive compensation for your time.
If you have any questions, please contact the researcher, Mellissa Rohrer, at (707)327-7150 or via email at [email protected]. This research has been reviewed by the Human Subjects Committee at Sonoma State University. If you have questions, you can contact them at [email protected]. You may also contact the chair of my research committee, Dr. Laurel McCabe, at [email protected].
Thank you for participating in this study.
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Signature: Printed name: Date:
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APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW GUIDE
Interview Guide: Semi-structured 60 min Interview Research on Encounters and Relationships with Animal and Plant Allies
The Encounter
1. Please describe the most meaningful, growth-enhancing encounter that you have had with an animal or plant ally. a. Describe any physical sensations you experienced during the encounter with your ally. b. Describe any emotional experiences that you experienced during the encounter with your ally. c. Describe any changes in perception that you experienced during the encounter with your ally.
2. Describe any significant subsequent encounters with this ally.
Context
3. What were you doing when the ally first came to you?
Background and Culture
4. Did you come into these experiences with prior knowledge or expectation? Were allies part of your cultural belief system/ideology while growing up? Religious background?
A Lasting Impact: How participants hold their experience as growth-enhancing
5. Please describe in as much detail as possible a situation in which you experienced transformation or personal growth that you perceive as related to your relationship with your allies.
6. What do you perceive has been the impact of this/these ally experience(s) on you?
7. What do you think your life would be like today without your allies or without having had this ally experience?
In Relationship with the Numinous
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8. How might you describe your relationship with this ally (or these allies)?
9. Do you have practices to continue to deepen your relationship with your ally or allies?
Beliefs and Ideology
10. What beliefs do you hold about your ally(ies)?
11. Are ally experiences sacred to you? Why or why not?
12. Do you view your ally as a particular / singular / individual member of the species (one of many foxes) or as something else? Explain.
Integration & Meaning Making
13. What, if anything, did you do to understand, work with, or integrate your ally experience(s) afterward?
14. How, if at all, has your ally experience(s) shaped your worldview?
15. Do you share the details of your ally experience with others and, if so, how is your story received?
Closing
15. I’d like to invite you to share anything else you feel called to share about your ally experience(s) to feel complete.
16. If you’d like to take a moment in gratitude to name your teachers or the lineages with whom you have had these experiences, feel free to do so now.