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Help needed...cosmic turtles

 
 
solid~liquid onwards
12:38 / 04.11.02
At uni ive joined the newly formed MERP (Magic, Earth Religion & Pagan society) and we went out for a drink last night, and a few of us went back to a members flat to watch a vid, which was crap. After much tallking someone suggested that as a group we should do some kinda path working thing...and heres what happened.

my path was initially in old, well established wood-land, it was slightly cloudy, but still bright. along this path i found a little black box, i got the idea something was rustleing inside, so i made the box disapear. Inside was a little turtle, which flew up and followed me along my path, which began to get brighter and wider, untill i reached a clearing with a small hill in the centre, on the opposite end of this clearing was a person, humanoid in shape, but he was just glowing white, with no definable features. i got the feeling that my turtle had gone. As far as emotions go, this person/thing was neutral, i knew he wouldnt harm me, but i didnt want to go near him, so i ploughed a path through the hill with my mind and conrtinued on my journey. I could see a castle in the distance, and then i found an old big brass/goldy key, then suddenly i was at the castle walls, where there was a big wooden door, which i opened. iside was pitch dark, then re-appeared my turtle, but he was standing o his back fins and was 15 feet high and mechanichal and silver, apart from his big black eyes. At this point the place i was in became a tunnel of light, and my perception changed. All that was before was more like a daydream, but now it seemed more real, like lucid dreaming. the tunnel was wide, and po9inting up the way. I flew up it, stoping to touch the wall, which became like a plasma globe and electricity or energy or something ran through my hand...i continued to assend untill i was pass3d the tunnel of light and was in the clouds, going up and up, till i was in space, flying backwards, watching the earth get smaller. I landed on the moon, and breifly looked around, before finding a person, it was the same white glowy guy from earlier, but he'd changed. Now he had a pair of big black eyes and some almost definable features. he floated over to me, and began to morph into a 6 foot high turtle, he came closer and closer, staring into my eyes, untill he was a few feet away. At this point i was very wary, and projected purple spikes from my neck, pointing at his face, to give me a moment to think about what to do, i could feel that he wouldnt harm me, but its emotions were neutral, it was like it was knowledge, or power, or both.

it advanced on my spikes, making them shrink, or i made them shrink, im not sure, untill he (the giant turtle) was milimeteres from my face, staring me in the eyes, then he continued to move towardsme, then into me. We joied together, into one being. his shell covered my chest, like armour, his face was on the back of my head, and his front flippers/fins stuck out of my shoulder blades into the air, like a giant pair of wings. i just stood on the moon for a bit being turtle guy, then it ended and i was back on the couch.

i'd really like peoples opinions on whats going on. A friend was talking about totem animals or spirit guides... im not too keen on the idea, cos ive always tried to stay spiritually independent, but if im stuck with my turtle, how can i use speak to him, or use him, any ideas on mediation or rituals?
 
 
gravitybitch
14:18 / 04.11.02
That sounds like a very cool experience. I wouldn't worry about being "stuck with" your turtles yet - one pathworking encounter is just one encounter. If you start dreaming of turtles, finding them showing up in synchronicities in your waking hours, or in your next pathworking, then I'd guess that the turtles have chosen to try to tell you something. (And, if this was me and I really didn't want a link to turtles, I wouldn't research turtles in mythology or as totems until/if they started showing up en masse, as the active interest might be taken as an invitation.)

Is it really a loss of independance to learn what they have to teach?
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
15:05 / 04.11.02
A friend was talking about totem animals or spirit guides... im not too keen on the idea, cos ive always tried to stay spiritually independent, but if im stuck with my turtle, how can i use speak to him, or use him, any ideas on mediation or rituals?

'Spiritually independent' is a strange turn of phrase to use in the context of shamanic spirit animals, and I'd be interested to hear more about your misgivings on this subject. If you're working within or adopting elements of a trad shamanic paradigm then the concept of your 'totem animal' is something which has always been with you (and by extension your 'clan') and already is an intrinsic part of your nature. Animal 'spirit guides' or 'power animals' are slightly different, in that a person can have several power animals at one time or over the course of a lifetime, they can be considered animal 'teachers' - the equivalent of the morphogenic field of a particular animal, which can provide specific teaching, guidance and power to the shaman who has quested to make a connection and develop a relationship with them. Sometimes they seem to come and go over the course of a persons lifetime as that person changes and develops - as with any other aspect of magic, it should be a living process.

Be careful not to make the mistake of underestimating the power of a spirit animal just because they may not seem 'cool' enough, one of the pitfalls of trad shamanism is ignoring the teachings of 'Squirrel' cos you reckon at an intellectual level that 'Wolf' or 'Tiger' would be more appropriate for your personality/ego and would make a more ego-gratifying spirit guide. If 'Turtle' is emerging in your shamanic work, then it's possible that you have to learn something at this point in time that only Turtle can teach you. The spirits choose you, rather than you choosing the spirits - and shamanism, almost by definition, works at a level that your conscious ego and intellectual mind may not immediately be able to make sense of and in some cases might actively want to resist. It may be the case that your fear of 'getting stuck with Turtle' and wanting to remain 'spiritually independent' could be seen as an example of the psychic censor coming into play and preventing you from engaging with an area that needs shamanic work. If the ego is strongly rejecting something, chances are it's sign posting an area that is worth examining.

If you want to experiment further with this, I'd recommend you read something like Michael Harner's book 'Way of the Shaman' which takes you through the basic principles of shamanic journeying in a practical no nonsense manner.
 
 
Tamayyurt
16:19 / 04.11.02
Or you can go the Chaos magick route and visualize him as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and work with him in that more humanoid pop culture form.
 
 
solid~liquid onwards
21:06 / 04.11.02
^_^ im actually becoming acostomed with the whole turtle idea. My turtle was much cooler than a teenage mutant ninja one...it gave me armour and wings.
 
 
solid~liquid onwards
21:10 / 04.11.02
erm, spiritual independence, im not too keen on using gods, spirits etc...the pathworking didnt have the intention of finding totem animals or the like, it just kind of popped up
 
 
Papess
14:15 / 05.11.02
All I can think of is...

Terry Pratchett's Discworld



That was beautiful sttab.
 
 
solid~liquid onwards
09:55 / 06.11.02
nice. 'fraid there were no elephants in sight
 
 
solid~liquid onwards
13:08 / 07.11.02
ive read almost all i can find on turtles as totem animals. and it was teachig me things when i was stoned two nights ago... must pay more homage to my green friends
 
 
gingerbop
15:22 / 26.04.03
Hows Mr turtle doing now? Does he have a name? xx
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
17:34 / 26.04.03
That's cool, sttab-- thanx.

(Thinks: How come everyone else gets cool, or at least comprehensible, power animals?)
 
 
gingerbop
20:03 / 26.04.03
I have a goldfish...
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
04:52 / 27.04.03
Hey, at least you people know how to find out about your totems or power animals. I've no clue. And more to the point, I bet I get a fucking vole or something when I eventually do figure it out.
 
 
Vadrice
23:10 / 04.05.03
Maybe you should go toDetroit.
Mechanical and silver turtles make me think of cars. Cars make me think of Detroit. There are a rash of turtle sightings there.

Makes no sense.

Sounds like a good plan.
 
  
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