The Power of the Rattle

The rattle is a power antenna. You use it to call in the Spirits; it is like a lightning rod. You should feel the power flowing through you. Many people have had this experience while standing in the circle calling to their Spirit guides for help.  You do not control the rattle; rather you receive the power (help) the rattle is giving you. The true power of the rattle is in its Spirit. Learning to work with the rattle is learning to listen to its Spirit. The rattle is not a tool – it is an ally.  We use the rattle to send our voices to the Spirits. The shaman’s work is to go to, or call to, the world of the Spirits to ask for help, be it as power, healing, knowledge, or wisdom.. The rattle is one of the easiest, quickest, and most powerful helpers we have for doing this. Because the work of the shaman is centered on working with Spirits: No Spirits, no Shaman.

Calling the Spirits is the most basic of the shaman’s work.  There is a basic rattling ritual for calling to the Spirits.  It is very simple. All you do is face in one of the four (cardinal) directions and shaking the rattle four times, calling to the Spirits of that direction, asking them to come and help you. After calling out to the first direction with your rattle, turn 90 degrees and rattle to the Spirits of the second direction, again asking them to please come. Continue around the circle, until you have called out to all the Spirits of the Four Directions, asking for help. Then go to the Earth. You rattle four times to the Earth, asking the Spirits of the Earth to help. You call to the Heavens, asking the Spirits to come and help you. Finally, remembering the Thirteenth Fairy in the story of the Sleeping Beauty, you should rattle all around the Circle, asking any Spirits whom you might have forgotten to invite, and who want to help you, to please come. You should do this at the beginning of all my shamanic work.

Listening to the Spirit of the Rattle
In the beginning, working with the rattle is an exercise in losing self-importance. The first time you stand alone in your home with a rattle and think “How do I call in the Spirits”?  You may feel a little foolish, embarrassed maybe. These feelings will disappear after the second or third shake of the rattle. After a while you will find rattling not only empowering, but also exhilarating. However, Shamanic healing is not just about the “high” from contacting the Spirits. Shamans must step through the door of Spirit World to find the wisdom, the power, the help needed to heal. To open the Spirit Door one must learn to listen to the voice of the rattle. The rattle, like everything else, is alive, and it is trying to tell you something. Listen! But don’t only listen with your ears. Listen with your entire being. When you listen to the rattle you must recombine all of your senses. Ask your rattle to help you, and then open yourself to the help that comes. Opening yourself to that help is perhaps the most difficult task of all.  Most of us want to control our lives and we believe that as long as we are in control everything will be all right. However, the way of the shaman surrenders to the Spirits. When you surrender to the Spirits, you fill yourself with their power. You may or may not be able to control the situation, but you will be able to face it in a power-filled way. During your shamanic training you will come to rely more and more heavily on the rattle.  You will Iearn from the rattle that it is excellent for doing diagnostic work, for opening up areas where energy is blocked, for re-establishing energy flow, and for helping to remove inappropriate energy.

Remember The Spirit Power of a rattle, drum, or any other power object, has nothing to do with its physical size; it has to do with the power of its Spirit. The real power objects in shamanic practice do not exist in the physical world. The most important part of the rattle is its Spirit. You can call it to you, even if you’ve left the rattle at home. However, it is not unusual for people to think that a big drum (rattle, crystal, etc.) is more powerful than a little one. On that same note, some people become dependent on their power objects. They believe they can’t do a soul-retrieval without their eagle-feather.   The core teachings of shamanism enable one to directly contact - and work together with - the Spirit Power of the Universe. The point of the shaman's work is to bring the power of the Spirit World to the material world, and to let that power flow through him/her. The more the power of the Spirits flows through the shaman, the more powerful she becomes, as long as the power is handled in a proper way.