The Nagual Space

Photo by Alexander Sinn

In many shamanic traditions, the term Nagual simply meant being awake. In others, nagual refers to the non-material parallel of something in the material world. This is often in the form of an animal who will guide, protect, and lead. It refers to the Oversoul or overarching energy of that animal and our connection to it. It has also been used to describe that which a shapeshifter connects to when merging with that animal or plant energy.

In the Mayan 20 count medicine wheel, which I teach in my women’s circles, there are counts that represent the nagual qualities of nature to which we connect.

Certain degrees of awareness or being awake preclude the capacity to discriminate in these unseen dimensions and connect with the nagual. When speaking of nagual spaces, awareness, our material world, and the non-material world, there are many distinctions we can make.

We can walk this earth oblivious to all of this. We can carry on rather sophisticated lives, making big decisions, making plenty of money, and having lots of success, popularity, etc. in complete sleep. In our own conditioned states, we are unaware of how asleep we are and how little choice we have. We move along compensating for feelings of separation, fear, and unconnectedness, perhaps not even wondering where that comes from or that we are even suffering from that. 

We also may wonder why our world is so upside down and why our suffering is so prevalent and blame it on others.

In sleep, we are blind to our own part in the matter. We do not realize we are creating the mess. Like frogs in the pot, we are unaware of our own destruction. We may sense something is wrong, but we cannot put two and two together because we are utterly disconnected from the Nagual.

Our coming awake takes practice, discipline, and vulnerability.

Shamans are known as “those who are awake.” This term does not only mean the ability to see in unseen worlds. Many people have gifts of telepathy, psychic abilities, and more but they may not be “awake.” There is a very specific space where one who is awake can empower or heal aspects of everyday life with the energy of the spirit.

They do not operate from ego, but from the ability to stay in Presence for Spirit (pure energy from the nagual realms) to enter and act. It is like having a foot in both worlds and on purpose. To understand things in other dimensions is the result of coming awake via annihilation of identification with egoic form. In this space, action is unfettered from attachment and so the reality of powerful forces can enter into ourselves and our environment.

It is like becoming a hollow reed or a vessel.

The more empty the vessel; the more it can hold. The Nagual can come through this empty vessel and assist in healing and guiding. We must be open to this and always work to become this kind of vessel. 

How do we empty the vessel? 

We get closer every time we become aware of our awareness. That awareness is the only way we realize how asleep we are. We become more skilled at non-attachment when we wake up and see our attachment. We shed our conditioning and self-imposed filters when we are awake and see them in action. This takes us closer to our essence and connection with spirit.

We can also have access to this nagual world if our mind can become still enough and if we can resist the parts of us that say “this isn’t real.” Doubt and fear are prominent players in keeping us from the nagual realms. That is why trust and vulnerability are key factors in opening to something so transformational. There has to be a part of us that wants access and is willing to let go. Moving through quantum fields requires trust and the release of control. To believe this is possible requires something more from us.

Power comes from the oversoul energy of the Nagual being able to enter into us, not from us grasping for power or seeking to control outcomes in our regular life.

With the ability to remain a vessel, shamans become empowered by these nagual influences. They call upon guidance from the Nagual space to work through them. This is how they are both a part of the tonal (material)  world and the nagual (spirit) spaces.  

We all must learn to have a foothold in multiple worlds.

We have lost our connection to the Nagual. Each one of us can re-create the world in which we live by remembering ourselves and our relationship to nature and each other. This can be said on a literal level, but won’t happen unless the unseen energetic connection to nature and each other is developed. It is what is lost in us. In our waking sleep, we think we are choosing this while quite dysfunctionally experiencing our own destruction.

When we wake up from the dream, we will make choices and determine our destiny.