Entering The Rattlesnake's Den

Photo by Mantasmagorical

According to a text called "A Study in Shamanism," which can be found at Sacred-magick.com, in order to enter the Lowerworld you are to first think of a hole in the ground you have seen in the natural world. This hole can be an animal burrow, a spring or swamp, even a hollow tree stump, just about any hole that leads into the ground will suffice.

Begin by being neither full nor hungry, be sure you haven't had any alcohol or other drugs recently, arrange yourself in a dark quiet room, relax and contemplate your mission for a time.

When you are ready, you will either need a partner to begin drumming for you, or use some sort of shamanic drumming recording. You need a strong, monotonous, steady beat, with a very quick tempo. Here is a Free Shamanic Drum Recording - if you need one.

Next visualize the hole you have chosen, enter the opening and dive through the tunnel. The tunnel will likely be quite dark. It may wind around, and make sharp turns, you may find obstacles that you have to go over, around, or through. Continue until you reach an obvious destination, normally someplace out of doors.

When you arrive, take in all the details of the place. The subconscious and superconscious tend to communicate in symbols and metaphors so keep this in mind. Commit as much of what you see as you can to memory. When you are finished, return by following your path backwards to where you entered. Personally I then write what I recall down so I can analyze it later.

"Don't bring anything back with you" - the text admonishes quite strongly.

This is just the first piece of a larger text. It also talks about journeying to the Upperworld, acquiring, keeping and consulting power animals, and so forth. It is far from an all-inclusive work, in my personal opinion, but worth reading and experimenting with the ideas.

I had a pretty interesting experience with it. I selected a rattlesnake den hole I had recently encoutered, perhaps not the best choice. As I entered I faced a snake, and then two, they both struck. It felt like a warning, as if to say, be respectful.

As I traveled down the tunnel I seemed to be gathering more and more snakes, following me, but not attacking. Finally the tunnel opened up into a large room with a bright column of white light in the center. As I approached the light it either turned to, or I realized it was actually a column of polished crystal.

There was a door to my left leading outside, and I was still surrounded by snakes. Dozens of these snakes began slithering up my legs, over my torso, down my arms, and over my head. They soon covered my entire body.

The form they took was reminiscent of a sarcophagus, with a Pharaoh's face, including the snake at the top of the head that's so commonly seen. They then turned me towards the door. It was very interesting.

I placed both hands on the crystal, trying to understand its purpose better and a lot of hard to parse information streamed into my mind, fast and furious, yet oddly vague. I decided to leave this thread aside for some other time.

I stepped out the door and was faced with a cliff. The cliff symbol is one of my normal methods for entering the otherworld. So, as per usual, I jumped off. I fell far down through blackness and landed in a river. This is the river where my mind goes when I have questions, it was all very normal.

I stood up to find a man throwing water onto me with a wooden bucket. He seemed to be trying to get something through my thick skull. I'm afraid he may have failed. I crossed the shore and was back in my chair, so I didn't have the opportunity to return the way I came in.