The Wisdom They Kept: A Samhain Ceremony

The dead still have something for you. A Samhain evening of ceremonial cacao and a shamanic journey. Eight seats. No experience needed. Something was meant for you and never reached you. It was set down somewhere along the line. In a hard year. By someone who ran out of time. It is still being held. On Samhain we go down to the lower world, where the ancestors are waiting. Someone will meet you there. You may come back without words for what you received. What happens Most people have been near it by accident. The long drive where you can't remember the last few miles. The minute right before sleep. A shamanic journey goes there on purpose. A steady drumbeat carries your attention past that edge into what shamans call non-ordinary reality, a world alongside this one with its own landscapes. You stay awake the whole time, and you can come back whenever you want. The lower world is the one beneath ours. It's where your helpers are, and your ancestors. You don't need to know anything about your family history to meet them. At first it may feel like you're making it up. That's how it starts for almost everyone. We begin with ceremonial cacao. Then you lie back, and my voice and the drum take you down and bring you back. Details Sunday, November 1 Doors open at 4:15. We begin at 4:30 and close by 6:45. 707 Arnold Avenue, Suite J, Point Pleasant Beach Eight seats Wear comfortable clothes you can lie down in. Blankets and eye masks are provided. About the cacao Ceremonial cacao is pure, unsweetened cacao, much stronger than the chocolate you know. People call it a heart opener. It contains theobromine, a gentle cousin of caffeine that widens the blood vessels and warms the body. It comes on slowly over about half an hour and stays with you through the evening. Most people feel it as warmth in the chest and a quiet kind of alertness. Feelings sit a little closer to the surface. That's the opening. It isn't a psychedelic. You stay clear-headed and fully yourself. It's gentle, but it isn't right for everyone. Write to me before you book if you're pregnant or nursing, take antidepressants (including SSRIs and MAOIs), have a heart condition, or take blood pressure medication. Warm water is always an option.