Facilitation is the Modern Shamanism

I was once in a facilitated space with a large group — 60 of us — engaged in some intense practices in the Neo-Tantra genre. Having come from a more classical, Eastern spiritual influence, I had had my nose up for some time at the “Neo-Tantra” genre (read: Sexy Tantra) — didn't consider it as real Tantra. But I had become interested in what others were doing to address what I judged to be modern society's toxic and fractured relationship with our sexuality.

Much more on that another time, but let's just say the very pulse that generates all life and creativity has become the source of violence, relational disharmony, internal hang-ups, and external toxic messaging to all ages. Desire is dangerous. Sex sells. Shame on you for looking.

So I was attending this powerful week-long experience with a curious mind, if not entirely yet open. But what would unfold there would open my mind to something far deeper than just whether "Neo-Tantra is real Tantra".

At one point in one of the group ritualised processes, I realised that I was in a very altered state of consciousness: heightened senses, passionate activation of energy...I could feel the thickness of whatever magic was suddenly in the air. I swear, you could cut it with a knife!

And it was electric, vibrant, alive. An energy field had opened up. The place was swirling with living spirits, living energy...I search in vain for the words to describe it better.

It occurred in a flash — a vision of the Jain Temples — and a realisation that this was the feeling that they had touched. This is why they had invested great time and artistic energy into honouring the sexual. This was the Living Tantra.

But in a spiritual-poetic language: the source of true spirituality in any moment is not whether one can verify the lineage, or that the transmission goes back to an indigenous tribe. Only one thing matters. Is this where the Great Serpent has risen right now? Is this where the Goddess has come to reside for the time being? This felt presence of spiritual power —this is the only thing that determines whether a space is sacred.

I began thinking a lot about this notion of The Field — this palpable sense that something in the space, subtly, but very noticeably, has opened up. Something that connects us all. A kind of living energy grid that fills the air and animates our inner being. After you name it once, it becomes very obvious when it is open and when it is not.

Along with The Field comes an increase in coincidences, strange serendipities, synchronistic and seemingly choreographed experiences that result in profound meetings, deep insight and transformation. The capacity for vision in the mind's eye increases. Understanding beyond rationality clarifies. Deep self-awareness arises.

It is this experience of The Field we are seeking when we take up spiritual practices in earnest. It is this that keeps us banging on in an Eastern spiritual genre even long after it's stopped giving us the vitality.

But The Serpent, The Goddess, The Field — whatever we call it — does not give a toss about so-called ancient teachings. It arises where it wants, where circumstances are ripe. Spirituality, Truth-Seeking, Deeper Reality Experiencing is not a paint-by-numbers strategy. It is guided by some technical knowledge but more so by intuition. The Field is sensed — guiding it is a felt, embodied experience.

The word "shamanic", in its essence, it is not about indigenous Wisdom Keepers in South America (the term actually originates with researchers describing indigenous Russian tribes - source). It is about the ability to feel and work at the level of The Field.

Understanding this, another realisation occurred to me: When we peel back the exotic veneer of foreign spiritual practices, we see there are essentially the same as what we now call Facilitation in the modern Western world: workshops, personal development retreats, healing modalities — everything from Authentic Relating, to Ecstatic Dance, from Neo-Tantra to Neo-Stoicism, Butoh, Clown, Fooling, Physical Theatre....and so much more. When they are well-held, within all of these spaces lies the potential to directly experience and work within The Field.

Thus, we can stop hunting for the exotic. Instead we search keenly for the essential and the potent, whether it's at a Wisdom Keeper's Drum Dance, or your local Circling group.

Facilitation is the modern Shamanism.