The medicine wheel has many meanings in shamanistic traditions and one of them is being a signpost in the dreaming reality. Together with your power animals, it leads you towards totality.

To clarify: in dreaming you learn to travel with your dream- or energy body from this reality to the boundless second reality to discover that you are the creator of your own reality. Shaman Vidar taught me about this medicine wheel ritual and you read more about this in the next excerpt from my book The Sorcerer’s Dream.

Excerpt
Tonight we will set up my medicine wheel. The medicine wheel towards the totality to be exact. I await in expectation.
With slow movements Vidar takes five pebbles from somewhere between the junk and the papers. He places four in an imaginary circle and puts the fifth one right in the middle. “The medicine wheel is a guide in the dream reality,” he starts to explain. “Every stone signifies one of the four wind directions, the stone in the middle is the centre from where you travel. Accompanied by the drum you will momentarily travel to the four wind directions and in each one of them you will identify the dwelling places of knowledge.” I worry because I know my sense of direction has it’s short comings for such a trip. “With wind directions I mean the spiritual wind directions,” he exemplifies. “By identifying these wind directions and the dwelling places, they will prevent you from having a spontaneous experience and being unaware of your whereabouts.” He adds that the medicine wheel is the fastest way to reach the totality. “Look at it this way, the spiritual wind directions are represented by entities and together with your animal totems, whom you will meet at a later stage, they are the roadmap leading you into totality.” I ask what significance is attached to these wind directions, in the sense that it might represent a certain development or phase in ones life for example. He would rather wave away any possible meaning. “Originally there is no significance to it,” he says, “it prevents you from fixating it. The medicine wheel is an individual process and its significance depends on the specific information you obtain elsewhere.” Finally he says, “wherever you travel you retrieve your history and accumulate enormous reserves of spiritual energy.” Vidar gets up and gathers five big pebbles from the floor in front of the cabinet and places them in a circle in front of the deerskin. “We commence in the north,” he says and invites me to take place on the deerskin, facing the street. Then he picks up his drum next to the deerskin and explains: “The repetitive rhythm and fast beat of the drum will guide you during your journey. The overtones of the drum influence the wave patterns of the brain, meaning it sets off an increased state of perception, perceiving with your spiritual senses, your inner eye if you will.” He gives further instructions. “Look intensively in every wind direction to determine what you see and absorb every little detail.”

I try to place myself in a comfortable crossed-legged position and tell him I am ready. As the rhythm intensifies I fly away on the deerskin towards the northern wind direction, high above green mountains, interrupted by rough rock formations. From the highest point there is a crystal clear stream which flows down the sloping hills. “Search for your dwelling place,” I hear Vidar say. My feeling tells me I have no time to lose. Far beneath me I discover a sandy path effortlessly making its way among the hills. I descend as soon as possible and quickly take a sharp turn to the right, into another path which leads towards a splendid bare piece of sandy soil with a little lake. Here and there long strong blades of grass arise from the ground. To my left, at the foot of the lake, steep rock formations rise up to the blue sky. A frail looking woman with long black hair comes towards me. It looks like she is floating. Her cream colored skin and grey eyes are in beautiful contrast with her long black hair all the way to her waist. She signals for me to follow her as she runs in the direction of the rocks. Then she climbs up the cliff and I climb after her, pulling myself up into the opening of the cave, just as she does.

Once we’re in the cave she invites me to sit opposite her, I take a good look around, I hear Vidar telling me to return to the centre of the wheel to travel to the next wind direction. I say good-bye to the woman and return to the slowing of the rhythm of the drum.

About The Dream Artist
The Dream Artist, A true story of initiation into the Native American sorcerer’s tradition by Elizabeth August, Dreamshield. The author gives us a glimpse into the very real world of lucid dreaming and astral projection. Her direct experiences with a modern day mystic, Running Deer, takes the work of Castaneda one step further. In The Dream Artist, she reveals unique steps to mastering lucid dreaming and traveling to the unknown.

Latest review
"Dreamshield has an engaging narrative style and tells stories that are engrossing. There is a lack of literature on female sorcerers and this book makes an admirable effort to fill this lacuna. When, at the end, she attains “totality,” the reader will share her exaltation." ~ Stanley Krippner, Ph.D. Alan Watts Profess of Psychology, Saybrook University.

The Sorcerer's Dream is available at Booklocker, Amazon, and everywhere they sell books.

About Elizabeth August aka Dreamshield
Elizabeth August, Dreamshield, lives in the Netherlands (Europe), she is mother. She studied social legal studies and the passed ten years she is a (freelance) journalist and publisher. Besides that she has a healing practice and gives workshops about the Art of Dreaming.

Lucid dreaming gives you a great feeling. When you dream consciously, you can have control over events, or at least the realization that you can control a situation. Here are six steps to lucid dreaming and six of the top Law of Attraction tactics that will enable you to get the best out of your dreams. 

Step 1  Write down your dreams as soon as you wake up (even if it’s in the middle of the night). No matter how meaningless they may seem, appreciate what you receive.
Step 2  If you wake up while you are dreaming, review the events of your dream as often as you can. This trains you to remember your dream the next morning and give it your attention.
Step 3  Develop your dream body and aim to find for example an object such as your favorite stone in dreaming. 
Step 4  Be aware of your surroundings and your actions in daily life. Make a habit of observing your surroundings in detail and try to do those things that are usually done on automatic pilot as consciously as possible, and imagine you are dreaming.
Step 5  Develop your dream body by bringing experiences, objects or specific acts or movements from dreaming into the reality and vice versa (that is the bridge between reality and dreaming).
Step 6  Before going to sleep, review the events of your day from the evening back to the morning; this helps to become lucid in your dreams.
(Source: The Sorcerer’s Dream by Alysa Braceau, Dreamshield)

Here are five of the top Law of Attraction tactics that will enable you to get the best out of your dreams.

Tip 1    Positive Attitude
 One of the simplest methods that you can improve the quality of your using the Law of Attraction is to always maintain a positive outlook.

Tip 2     Visualization
Another essential technique is to make a mental picture. It is vital that you actually picture where you want to be in your dreams (and in your life).

Tip 3    Affirmations
You have to begin putting down in writing what you want, and then keep saying them to yourself repeatedly. The more often you say them aloud and confirm your dreams, the likelier it is that they will come true.

Tip 4    Gratitude
Being grateful of what you already have achieved is vital when you’re looking to attract and manifest exactly what you really want.

Tip 5    Always keep the eyes on life goals.
The more focused you are in your ambitions, the more likely you will achieve them eventually.

Tip 6     Taking action
As soon as you begin to have positive thoughts, picture where you would like to be, use affirmations, and keep focused on your ambitions, then you are ready to begin progressing towards your goal.

Good luck! May your dreams come true.
Dreamshield

The Dream Artist, A true story of initiation into the sorcerer’s tradition by Elizabeth August, Dreamshield. The author gives us a glimpse into the very real world of lucid dreaming and astral projection. Her direct experiences with a modern day mystic, Running Deer, takes the work of Castaneda one step further. In The Dream Artist, she reveals unique steps to mastering lucid dreaming and traveling to the unknown.
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Latest review
"Dreamshield has an engaging narrative style and tells stories that are engrossing. There is a lack of literature on female sorcerers and this book makes an admirable effort to fill this lacuna. When, at the end, she attains “totality,” the reader will share her exaltation." ~ Stanley Krippner, Ph.D. Alan Watts Profess of Psychology, Saybrook University.

Mushroom Dream Ceremony

 Encounters with the past in the boundless unknown

The Sorcerer’s Dream is a true story of my initiation into the Native American tradition of sorcery. During my initiation one of the steps was to take magic mushrooms in a dreaming ceremony. The mushroom is the outward appearance of the entity and I was fortuned to meet the entity Mateeë. Mateeë is a cosmic relative and he guided me into the unknown being a signpost into the second reality of dreaming and creativity. During the first dreaming ceremony I was pleasantly surprised to be invited by my ancestors, who were speaking to me, to be initiated as a medium. My dreaming teacher, the shaman Vidar, explained more about the skill of the medium. 

The shaman Vidar told me somewhere in the beginning of my apprenticeship that Mateeë would guide me to the unknown; he teaches how to shift your assemblage point. His characteristic is cosmic love, humor and beauty. He teaches you that this reality is not the only one.

However, you have to be ready to meet the entity in the dreaming ceremony, to be guided into the unknown. It can be very dangerous if you don’t have someone to teach and to guide you because you are challenged and confronted with your fears.

During the first dreaming ceremony I was invited by my ancestors, who in cosmic waves of information were speaking to me, to be initiated as a medium. This event I describe in my book. In this post I would like to explain more about the Art of the Medium with the next excerpt from chapter 10. It starts with a dream a few days after the dreaming ceremony and next my dreaming teacher explains more about the skill of the medium. 

Excerpt

“A circle of people are urging to introduce themselves to me. “It’s an entire family,”

I declare my amazement out loud.

But it is not an ordinary family, I know, it is my spiritual family consisting of at least two men, two women and a couple of children. The family gives me the warm-heartedness which you could expect from a family. Their love delights me. One particular guy seems to like me very much. When we say goodbye he keeps asking me for a last kiss. “All right, one more kiss, only one more.”

“That’s me,” Vidar teases.

“Are they really related to me?” I ask.

He agrees. “They are immediate family. Soon you will get better acquainted because the coming period I will educate you in the skill of the medium according to the North-American tradition of my family.”

Without a shred of irony he adds: “You must realize we are talking about a far advanced training.”

I want to jump for joy. My biggest wish is about to come true! I am not sure how to measure my talents, but I feel very honored and once more I tell him this is all I ever wanted even though I never really knew why. Vidar says there is a simple explanation for it: “Your wish derives from your gifts.” He draws a circle on paper and says: “For your initiation as a medium, you set up a new medicine circle. That means you no longer work exclusively with the medicine wheel of totality, but also with that of the medium. There are wheels within wheels.” On the four wind directions he sketches figures and he draws one figure on the centre spot: “You grandmother is the coordinator of it all. She brings your ancestors in touch with you. Your family members introduce themselves to you and tell you what their knowledge is. After a while, every individual is placed on a fixed spot on the medicine wheel. As a medium, you get your information from the source of knowledge itself. For instance, your ancestors have eternal knowledge on healing, art, architecture, philosophy, to list only a few.”

I wonder how it is possible to pick up information which is a hundred or even a thousand years old.

“Look at it this way. The past is like a fingerprint on reality: layer on layer. As a medium, you retrieve the stored memories of your ancestors, interpreted by many as past lives.”

“You don’t believe in past lives?” I interrupt him.

“Not in passed and not in future lives. Man has created two lines from the source of totality: the hereditary line of the eternal cosmic family and the earthly ancestors. You are an eternal entity and you cannot suddenly jump onto someone else’s totality. 

To get back to your question, a medium has the gift to tune in on the past and pick up information. You could compare it to a radio mast,” and he puts his arms wide up in the air. “Your gifts work like a tuner, you tune in until you reach the frequency which leads you to your grandmother. You convert to other channels through her and tune in on another frequency to get in touch with one of your ancestors. But that’s what your grandmother taught you during the encounter. Very quickly you were able to switch to other frequencies. You practiced a nice skill,” he grins, “you made use of cosmic energy to pick up information. When you address your physical energy, you’ll exhaust yourself.”

About the Sorcerer’s Dream 
The Sorcerer's Dream, A true story of initiation into the Native American sorcerer’s tradition by Alysa Braceau, Dreamshield. The author gives us a glimpse into the very real world of lucid dreaming and astral projection. Her direct experiences with a modern day mystic, Running Deer, takes the work of Castaneda one step further. In The Sorcerer’s Dream, she reveals unique steps to mastering lucid dreaming and traveling to the unknown.

The Sorcerer's Dream is available at Booklocker, Amazon, and everywhere they sell books.

About Alysa Braceau
Alysa Braceau, Dreamshield, lives in the Netherlands (Europe), she is mother of a 7-year old daughter. She studied social legal studies and the passed ten years she is a (freelance) journalist and publisher. Besides that she has a healing practice and gives workshops about the Art of Dreaming.

• Related Topics:
• Dreams
• Healing
• Plant Medicine

Humans and animals have several assemblage points. However, the cosmic assemblage point and the assemblage point of the totality are the most important. The cosmic assemblage point belongs to the knowledge of the shamans and the one of the totality belongs to the people of knowledge.

The cosmic assemblage point has two features: the first one is the preservation of energy and the second is manipulation. Shamans are constantly working on expanding their assemblage point and strengthening it by continuously exchanging earth and cosmic energy. They bring it up to full capacity for healing and traveling. The cosmic assemblage point originates somewhere in your upper body where cosmic and earth energy come together.

Learn more about the The cosmic assemblage point in the next excerpt from my book "The Sorcerer’s Dream". 
 

Excerpt
Vidar presses an imaginary ball of energy in between his hands and says, “You receive cosmic energy through your crown and earth energy ascends through meridians up through your feet and your legs. When you sit, earth energy enters through the first and second chakra. When the energies meet in your upper body, a third energy emerges which is three times stronger than the sun since it has inexhaustible powers. Whereas regular healers address their own body energy, shamans use cosmic energy for traveling and to receive information for healing, and to heal like a fireman using a hose. But shamans also need to learn how to maintain the energy to spiritually enlighten their fellow human beings. To make the light in the spirit tangible and recognizable and to experience the full capacity of spiritual light. You cannot even compare the sun to the light of the spirit. The sun’s energy is less pure than spiritual light which consists exclusively of pure energy. An experience with spiritual light takes you on a spiritual path which feels like a revelation. You feel like you are captured by your own spiritual light. It is beautiful to express this to someone else. The second feature of the cosmic assemblage point is manipulation, through which you will meet your own consciousness, reflecting the totality. By increasing the pressure of the two joining energies and by stepping into the conscious ball of energy – the cosmic assemblage point is within that ball – you meet your own consciousness.”

He explains, “When you enter, fine energy threads of light pass through, even beyond reality, giving you an experience of intent,” he stretches his arms out. “You feel dispersed in lines of intent, call it an experience with the boundless part of the Self. The lines of intent reflect the totality. Lines of intent are pure lines of creation. Through these lines you feel connected to all that exists. Every minor particle is connected to the lines of intent.” His conclusion is short but to the point: “The reflection of the totality is a consolation prize to people unable to reach the totality,” and he watches me challenging. Undoubtedly he can read my mind. I will not settle for a consolation prize.

The Dream Artist
The Dream Artist, A true story of initiation into the sorcerer’s tradition by Elizabeth August, Dreamshield. The author gives us a glimpse into the very real world of lucid dreaming and astral projection. Her direct experiences with a modern day mystic, Running Deer, takes the work of Castaneda one step further. In The Dream Artist, she reveals unique steps to mastering lucid dreaming and traveling to the unknown.

Latest review
"Dreamshield has an engaging narrative style and tells stories that are engrossing. There is a lack of literature on female sorcerers and this book makes an admirable effort to fill this lacuna. When, at the end, she attains “totality,” the reader will share her exaltation." ~ Stanley Krippner, Ph.D. Alan Watts Profess of Psychology, Saybrook University.

The Sorcerer's Dream is available at Booklocker, Amazon, and everywhere they sell books.

About Alysa Braceau
Alysa Braceau, Dreamshield, lives in the Netherlands (Europe), she is mother of a 7-year old daughter. She studied social legal studies and the passed ten years she is a (freelance) journalist and publisher. Besides that she has a healing practice and gives workshops about the Art of Dreaming.