Traditional Shamans teach of the three levels of reality -

• Upper worlds are places of our over souls or higher selves. Spiritual teachers of all religions reside here. Sacred dimensions. God, Goddess and angelic levels are all on this plane.

• Lower worlds are of nature and earth energies. The spirits of animals, plants, and elementals are some the primary forces here. I also include the four directions - from the East is air, from the South is water, from the West is fire and from the North is earth (and the ancestors).

• To access the lower world some visualize an earth opening, a tunnel, or a tube. Another good image to use is the great tree of life, with the branches in Father Sky and the roots deep in the Mother Earth.

• The middle world is the ordinary reality in an expanded sense. To dream while we are awake, to be in an altered state, to soften the edges and see through our peripheral vision, allows us to gather more information from all these places. Our ancestors may live in these dimensions. Several of my teachers talked to their ancestors or their guides as if they were standing beside them – it can be quite comforting.

• One of these spirits may agree to come into a relationship with you as a spirit guide, allowing you to connect with the energy that infuses everything, everywhere with the vitality and life force.