When you first begin shamanic journeying, it’s easy to focus on Animals, Plants or Stones that show up. But what about the landscapes that hold them? The land beneath your feet, the sea’s vast pulse, the wide sky above, the crackle of fire around you – these aren’t just backdrops. They are alive. Aware. And rich with meaning. If you know how to listen.
Before we dive in, let’s take a quick look at unpacking shamanic journeys, as this is key to understanding just how much the environment matters.
UNPACKING SHAMANIC JOURNEYS
Shamanic reality operates in the realm of mythos. It isn’t literally or factually true in the way everyday reality is: it’s mythologically true. That distinction matters because it means we need to interpret our experiences. The meaning isn’t handed to us. We have to engage with it.
Unpacking shamanic journeys and power dynamics
We live in a culture shaped by distorted ideas of power, dynamics based on control, passivity, dominance and deference. These patterns easily creep into how we learn and relate. I’m not interested in teaching in ways that reinforce them.
When I used to work one-to-one with students, they would often ask what a particular image or experience in a journey meant. My first response was always the same: What does it mean to you?
I want to support people in reclaiming their own sense of power, including their ability to find meaning in their own experiences. So I don’t interpret journeys for people. I help them unpack them for themselves.
THE TWO APPROACHES TO UNPACKING JOURNEYS
There are, broadly speaking, two approaches to unpacking a journey: one based in the right hemisphere of the brain, and one in the left.
The right hemisphere is the one that journeys.
It works symbolically. It communicates through feeling, resonance, intuition. This is the part that asks questions like: What is my sense of this? What did it feel like when it happened? What was my emotional or physical response?
This kind of reflection draws on body awareness, gut instinct, emotional tone: the subtle, often non-verbal ways we register meaning.
The left hemisphere brings in analysis, information and research.
In some contemporary Western approaches to shamanism, there’s a belief that this kind of knowledge is somehow “less spiritual” or not part of real shamanic work. That’s a misconception.
In traditional shamanic cultures, there would be a strong emphasis on direct experience, but also on learning. Apprentices would be taught the properties of particular plants, the teachings associated with specific animals, the ritual uses of tools or symbols. There would be a body of shared knowledge that needed to be studied, remembered and respected.
Both ways of knowing are important.
The right brain asks: What does this feel like?
The left brain asks: What do I know about this? What have others said? What does the tradition offer?
NOT JUST SYMBOLS!
On one level, something might carry symbolic meaning. But if you reduce everything to symbols, you’re humanising everything. You’re making it all about you, treating every being you meet as a projection or a metaphor for your personal growth. That’s a very limited, and deeply anthropocentric, way of seeing things.
The beings we encounter in shamanic reality are not just symbols. They are real. Sentient. Independent. They have their own lives, their own wisdom, their own agency. That distinction matters.
It’s a common trap, especially for those trained in psychotherapy, to collapse everything into imagination or unconscious material. And if that’s how you treat it, then that’s all it will ever be. There may be insight there, but the immense, living reality of animism will remain out of reach.
To truly engage in this work, you have to be willing to step beyond the human bubble and actually look. These are real relationships, not metaphors. Shamanic worlds are not your personal development playground. They are real place, full of real beings.
Every journey offers a bundle of symbolic gifts, but not just that. It also offers encounters with the other-than-human. Our task is to sit with both: to unpack what speaks to our own story, and to listen with respect to what exists beyond us.
ENVIRONMENTS IN SHAMANIC JOURNEYS
In shamanic journeys we encounter different Animals, Plants and Stones. Just as important, though, is the environment in which they appear. Stone showing up in a forest, underwater, or perched on a mountaintop carries a different meaning depending on the setting.
Where something happens tells you as much as what happens.
When I first began journeying, I instinctively started to look up the meanings of animals, trees, stones – anything that showed up. That was useful, up to a point. But it wasn’t until I began doing a lot of journeying for other people that the significance of the environment really hit home.
I have a strong preference for certain landscapes. I’m not a hot-weather person. I feel at home in pine forests, hills, and cold, fresh mountain air. Unsurprisingly, many of my own journeys tended to unfold in those kinds of places. There was a certain comfort and familiarity to them, the feeling of this is where I belong.
But when I started journeying for other people, something changed. I’d find myself suddenly plunged into a dense, humid rainforest, which in ordinary reality is my idea of hell. Or I’d drop into an arid desert, the heat dry and relentless, or into deep, sticky swamplands. These weren’t just backdrops. They had a visceral, emotional impact. And I began to ask myself: Why this environment? Why now? What is this place trying to communicate?
It became clear that the setting of a journey isn’t random. It’s meaningful, sometimes just as meaningful as the beings who appear in it. Where something happens tells you as much as what happens.
So I began to work with that more deliberately. I journeyed intentionally to different environments: deserts, mountains, grasslands, oceans. I wanted to get a sense of their feel, their tone, their teaching. I also started to research them. Not just symbolically, but ecologically, mythologically, and culturally. What roles have these places played in different traditions? What qualities are associated with them? What do they evoke?
Approaching it through both right and left brain – direct experience and intellectual inquiry – opened up a whole new layer of understanding.
REALMS OF SEA, LAND, SKY AND UNDERGROUND
One pattern that emerged is that most environments can be broadly grouped into three primary domains: sea, land, and sky. In shamanic traditions, these are often linked to the five elements: Water, Earth, and Air. The fourth element, fire, interestingly, shows up most often in the subterranean or underworld realms – in lava flows, volcanic caves, or inner-forge spaces.
These elemental correspondences are not rigid categories, but they are useful lenses. A journey that unfolds in the depths of the ocean will carry very different lessons to one that takes place on a windswept plateau or in a volcanic ravine.
It is also worth noting how these landscapes make you feel. Some will bring up fear, resistance, or disorientation. Others will feel deeply familiar or strangely nostalgic. Pay attention to that. Your emotional and bodily responses are clues. They tell you something about your relationship to that particular domain, what it asks of you, and what it might be inviting you to explore or integrate.
Environments in journeys are not just symbolic. Like the beings you meet, they have their own presence, their own spirit. They are places of encounter, not just scenery.
TRANSITIONS BETWEEN REALMS
What if you move from sea to sky? Or fire to land? Or descend from sky to underground? These are some of the most meaningful moments in a journey. They catch my attention more than almost anything else.
transitions suggest movement. Change. Growth. A turning point.
Take sea to sky. That’s a massive leap.
You’re not just shifting elementally, from water to air. You’re moving from deep emotional and unconscious territory into the domain of perspective, spaciousness, and thought. That can symbolise a sudden insight. Or it might suggest a need to rise above something, to get distance from being in it emotionally. Maybe you’ve been submerged for too long and something in you says: enough, we need air.
Sometimes this kind of transition isn’t graceful. You might find yourself pulled upwards or thrust out. Or perhaps it’s a slow, curious ascent. Do you float up from the sea? Do you sprout wings and fly? That ‘how’ is crucial. It can say more than the actual change of scenery.
Or the descent from Sky to Land.
That’s often about embodiment. About coming down. Being in your body, being grounded, being in the now. We talk about coming back to Earth for a reason. It’s not just a nice phrase, it’s a spiritual teaching. If you’ve been in the sky, looking at things from above, the land might be inviting you to actually do something with that insight. To act. To walk the path. To plant something and grow it.
And then there’s the underworld, the descent underground or into fire.
Now that’s a transition that demands something of you. It might be about facing the shadow. Surrendering to a process that will break you apart and forge you anew. It’s uncomfortable, yes. But often necessary. There’s no resurrection without descent. No new self without the death of the old.
thresholds, doorways, crossings
When I hear people share their journeys, I’ll often ask: where did you begin? Where did you go? What changed along the way? But I’m even more curious about how you moved. Were you guided? Were you hesitant? Did you resist the transition? Or rush into it? What was the feeling?
These transitions are liminal moments, those in-between spaces that are neither one thing nor another. And that’s where the real magic happens.
Because we’re always in some kind of transition. Life isn’t a series of static scenes, it’s a flow. And journeys mirror that. They’re full of thresholds, doorways, crossings. Pay attention to those. They matter.
THE ENVIRONMENTS IN REALMS
Each environment within the broader realms of Sky, Land, Water, and Underground – like Forests, Grasslands, Coral reefs, Deserts, or Mountain peaks – has its own meaning.
Once you’ve got a feel for the larger realms of Land, Sea, Sky, and Underground, you start to notice the textures within them. The nuances. Grassland is not the same as Forest. Mountaintop is not the same as Deep valley. Each has its own quality, its own energy, its own teaching.
LAND
A dense forest can feel protective, ancient, and mysterious. It might invite you deeper into your own inner wilderness, into the unknown. A grassland, by contrast, is wide open. There’s nowhere to hide. That might be asking something different of you – vulnerability, exposure, trust.
A mountain often speaks of effort, perspective, solitude. What are you willing to climb for? What are you leaving behind? And as the air thins at the top, what still sustains you?
Deserts bring something else again. They can feel barren and harsh, but also vast and beautiful. They often call for silence, simplicity, and stripping things back. There’s a fierce kind of purity in desert journeys.
WATER
It’s the same with the sea. There’s the gentle lapping of a quiet cove, and then there’s the pull of a riptide. Coral reefs can be vibrant, colourful, full of life – maybe a time of creativity or connection. The deep ocean, on the other hand, is another world. Pressure, darkness, mystery, the subconscious.
SKY
Even sky is not just one thing. There’s the steady flight of a bird of prey, circling with purpose. And then there’s the upper atmosphere, the edge of space, where things grow thin and cosmic, and everything shifts in scale.
feel your way into the environment
Don’t decide what it means too quickly. Instead, ask how it feels to be there. What’s the mood? The energy? What are you being shown? What’s being asked of you?
You might be drawn to a place because it holds something you need. Or you might find yourself in a place that feels strange or uncomfortable. That’s worth sitting with too. Some of the deepest teachings come from places I didn’t like at first.
And remember, the beings you meet don’t appear in isolation. They show up in a setting. A snow leopard in the mountains carries a very different feel to a jaguar in the rainforest. The place matters. It shapes the message.
So pay attention to the setting. It’s never just background. It’s part of the teaching. The land is speaking.
WHERE TO START
There’s a lifetime of environments waiting to be explored, and probably a lifetime’s work in just one of them. That’s part of the beauty of this work: it’s endlessly fascinating, and you can keep going deeper without ever running out of mystery.
ENVIRONMENT OF YOUR POWER ANIMAL
If you’re wondering where to begin, start with what calls to you. What draws your attention? For me, I’ve never been a fan of heat or humidity. Tropical forests, damp and heavy, are not places I’d want to set foot in. But my power animal is a panther, and that’s exactly where it lives.
So, to bond with panther, I didn’t just journey as panther. I spent time exploring how panther experiences its environment. What does it eat? Capybaras, caimans, turtles – each a world of its own.
Then I deliberately shifted perspectives. What’s it like to be a capybara? A caiman? A turtle? I became all these creatures in journeys, felt their place in the ecosystem, their strengths and vulnerabilities.
I also looked at the relationships between the animals – predators, prey, and those that coexist. This weaving of connections deepened my relationship with my power animal in ways I couldn’t have predicted.
local environment
Another thing I highly recommend is exploring your local environment. This is the heart of shamanism -reconnecting with the land you live on and the beings you share it with.
I live in the UK, and most people don’t think about journeying with a mole or a hedgehog. But I did. I spent time with local animals, foxes, owls, and the plants around me. It brought me closer to the land and to myself.
STRETCH YOURSELF
Beyond your Power Animal and local land, don’t shy away from stretching yourself. Explore environments unfamiliar to you – tropical forests, deserts, tundras. Push your shamanic experience beyond your comfort zone.
That’s how you grow. That’s how you expand your knowledge.
The world is vast, and every environment is alive with medicine waiting for you.
HEALING OUR SENSE OF SEPARATEDNESS
When you start shamanic journeying, it’s exciting – hanging around with Panther, being Oak tree. It’s fun and vivid, and that’s exactly how it should be. But the more you do it, the more you see that the deeper purpose is about reconnecting.
EXITING THE HUMAN BOX
As modern humans, we’re incredibly disconnected, not just from each other, but from the environment too. Social bonds are fraying, loneliness is rising, and much of the natural world we see is tamed, domesticated, boxed in.
I spent a lot of my 20s and 30s mountain walking. It was a huge part of my life. But I approached it very much as a human going mountain walking – checking off peaks, planning routes, ticking boxes.
I’ve noticed the same with people journeying. They often go around being a human experiencing things. “Now I’m experiencing Waterfall.” “Now I’m a human being Oak tree.” But not truly being Waterfall or Oak tree.
It shows how trapped we are in our human bubble, wrapped up in our own disconnection.
Everything else, though, experiences itself as part of something bigger – a web of relationships, an ecosystem. Hunter-gatherers knew this instinctively. They didn’t see themselves as separate; they saw themselves as twigs on branches of a vast tree of life. That was their lived reality.
This was one of the most powerful, unexpected things I found from exploring environments – this feeling, from the inside out, of interconnection. How things fit together, existing in respectful, reciprocal relationship. That was profound.
ENVIRONMENTS ARE ALIVE, SENTIENT BEINGS
The environment itself is alive. It has its own Soul. The desert is a consciousness. The grassland is a consciousness.
Sure, it is made up of individual beings – animals and plants and stones – but they are like cells in a larger body, branches on a vast tree. A mountain has a consciousness you can talk to. The sea is a living being.
Once you really understand that, it is beyond immense.
This was one of the greatest gifts of working with environments – to re-experience the sentience of the world around me and the immensity of the beings walking this Earth with us.
That is to become animist again. To know the world as a living, breathing being, full of others who are alive, and to know deeply that you are part of it. Not separate from it, not a distant observer, but woven in, connected and alive with it.
AN INVITATION: THE SHAMANIC WORLDS COURSE
We will dive into the realms – Sea, Land, Sky and Fire – and unpack what each of these realms means, how they live and breathe as conscious beings. You will stretch beyond your usual comfort zones, discovering environments and beings you might never have met before, learning how they all weave together to form an ecosystem.
Even if you are already well-versed in working with Animals, Plants and Stones, this course opens a completely new dimension, a deeper layer of understanding. The result is a stronger connection with the world around you, and a profound shift in how you experience yourself as an interconnected part of it. It is the kind of change that does not just stay in your journeys – it changes how you are.
NEXT-STEPS COURSE:
THE SHAMANIC WORLDS: The Teaching and Healing Power of the Realms of Sea, Land, Sky and Fire
This course is a chance to learn:
- pay attention to the environments that turn up in your journeys, not just the Animals, Plants and Stones
- work with the Realms of Sea, Land, Sky and Fire, and explore how they connect with the four elements – Water, Earth, Air and Fire
- meet and experience environments as conscious beings, not just backdrops
- connect with the Oversouls of places like Mountain, Forest, Grassland, Wind and the Waves in the Sea
- deepen your shapeshifting skill – from experiencing something as human to being it
- explore how the beings within an environment relate to one another – predator, prey, coexisting
- stretch beyond the familiar and meet creatures and places you might never have thought to journey with
- deepen your relationship with your Power Animal by getting to know their world, not just them
- explore your local environment and reconnect with the land you live on
- experience the sentience of the world around you – and your place within it
