I’ve listened to the first two episodes of The Unnamed Path and, despite being outside its target demographic, I’m getting a bit more out of it than I thought I would. Also, each episode is half an hour long, so it’s less of an epic than Why Shamanism Now? or Standing Stone and Garden Gate.
Summary of Episode 1 and Episode 2:
The Unnamed Path is a new spiritual path aimed at Men Who Love Men (MWLM). It comprises four paths:
- Shamanism
- Magic/prophecy
- Energy Healing
- Deathwalking
As expected, The Unnamed Path defines shamanism as a shifting of consciousness to communicate and create relationships with spirits and the divine and retrieve knowledge from the SSC to use in the OSC. As a non-linear process, it is opposed to Magic and Prophecy/Divination (excluding scrying, which is more shamanic), which are logical, cerebral and linear. They use relationships between the seeker, their spirits and the divine in order to make the seeker’s will manifest.
Deathwalking seems like standard psychopomp work – counselling the dying, assisting the dead with moving on, mediumship and the like.
Energy healing on the Unnamed Path is practised through the use of sigils implanted into the body by the Ancestors of MWLM after an initiation. These are unique to MWLM, and enable the bearer to channel energy from the spirit world to the patient, who intuitively uses it to find balance within themself. Hyperion (the show’s presenter) has found that they will not work for any outside the MWLM tribe, due to the unique fashion that MWLM are able to love.
There is a similarity here between the implantation of the sigils and the Greater Initiation described at the end of Conway’s By Oak Ash and Thorn, but in the latter case, the sigils were replaced by stones.
The seeker will eventually become drawn to one particular path over time, and the Ancestral tribe of MWLM has told Hyperion that the traditional roles of MWLM in ancient times (approx. Stone/Bronze Age) were as healers, counsellors, mediators and sacred sex workers (bringing people closer to the divine through sacred sex). I have heard previously that shamanic practice requires the practitioner to ‘walk between two worlds’, even in the material realm, and homosexuality is certainly an accepted definition of this.
The main spiritual practices of the Unnamed Path are journeywork, inspiration, meditation and spirit communication.
Suggested reading: Two Flutes Playing: Spiritual Journey for Gay Men
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The ancestors are defined as anyone who has ever been a human in the past, present or future, and may be considered a vast tome of information on human experience. This definition depends on an understanding that our perception of time is an illusion, founded on our linear perspective of reality. The only thing that can be said to exist is the present, and all other times are actually the same time.
Ancestors have a vested interest in our wellbeing, as reincarnation is the journey of all souls, and the humans that exist now comprise their present experience of humanity. TBH, I didn’t really follow this line of thought, but I gather that the Ancestors are concerned about the state of the world they will live in when they are reincarnated. I should probably ask my Ancestors about this issue.
There are the three standard realms:
- Upper world: Residence of the Shining Ones and spirit guides
- Middle World: Physical realm
- Lower World: Place of rest and repose for spirits who are recently deceased.
After prolonged residence in the Lower World, spirits are amalgamated into a great blend of Humanity. On occasion, spirits retain their individuality; these spirits are known as the Mighty Dead, and distinguish themselves as great heroes or leaders, with artistic or spiritual distinction or if they experienced true love in their lifetimes.
The Mighty Dead guide and assist the living on their journey through life via spirit contact and divination. They have a greater perspective of events and can advise without bias. Asking the Ancestors is much like asking a trusted parent or elder for advice; they can answer with the benefit of their own life’s wisdom and at a distance from the issue.
Making alliances on the spirit plane can open doorways to facilitate events on the physical one. The Ancestors are happy to do this, as this elevates them to the realm of Spirit Guides. This contact and alliance is forged through shamanic journeys , divination or scrying and “tapping the bone” – using a bone or skull (animal is acceptable) to reach out to the Ancestors.
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