To go on a shamanic journey, practitioners use a natural opening to journey to the Lower and Upper worlds. This shamanic portal is the focal point that helps them begin to shift their consciousness.

Shamanic journeying is the art of entering an altered state of consciousness to connect with the spirit world and dimensions of non-ordinary reality. 

Read more about shamanic journeying here.

But in today’s world, many modern shamans don’t live out in the wild in caves, on mountaintops, or remote areas of forest.

They’re in towns, cities, and densely populated areas.

Being a city girl myself, I often get creative and use what’s in my area. 

Portals for shamanic journeying are all around you if you know where to look.

Here’s a quick exercise to help you find some for yourself. 

Shamanic portal walking meditation

Close your eyes. Focus on your breath until your heart rate steadies and slows.

State your intention out loud to find at least one portal you can use in to journey in the future.  

When you feel calm and centered, open your eyes, get up, and go outside.

Bring a camera or paper and pen, depending on how you like to document things.  

Walk slowly, observing the environment around you. Notice all the details, as if you are looking at your surroundings for the first time.

Look for openings and formations that could be considered doorways. 

These can be literal doors in buildings or holes in the ground. But, expand your awareness to go beyond literal doorways.

Consider any shape or structure that you could visualize moving through in some way. 

(For example, imagine that you’re on one side of a wrought iron gate. Then imagine yourself shrinking down very small and flying through the space between the bars to the other side. See what I mean?)

Look for gates, or anything really, that makes you register “portal” when you look at it. 

Stay open and trust your gut. You’ll know when you see something that will work for you.

Take pictures of the places you notice, or write and draw the details so you remember them.

When you go home, sit quietly and consider the places you found. Does one in particular call to you? Commit it to memory. Write or draw a picture of it, embellishing it as much as you like.

What did you find?

What kind of portals did you discover? Drop me a comment below, I’d love to hear about your experience!

Stay tuned for a simple shamanic journey meditation soon, where we’ll visit your portal and see what’s on the other side.