Note: If you are taping this session to work with by yourself there is no need to record or read these directions as part of the journey. They are merely preparatory suggestions. This trip may be more effective with a few accessories, though they are not required. All you really need is to be in a comfortable safe space. But if you’d like to enhance your experience you might try some of these tips.

Before you start your travels you may want to set up the room just right. If you can do this journey at twilight so much the better, but anytime is fine as long as you darken the room. If you are comfortable with this you may smudge the space and yourself with your favorite incense. Also bring in a bunch of pillows so you can lie comfortably on the floor or bed or couch, stretched out or however you are most comfortable. Sitting up is fine too, as long as you can really relax all your muscles. You may also bring in candles if you wish. Set 4 of them around the 4 earthly directions, and 2 more for what is above and what is below. Light a final candle to represent your own spirit self. Then lie down and get comfy. If you are comfortable with this you may ask your personal allies and guardians to join and observe your experience. This can also be seen as simply asking yourself to be as aware as you can be.

You may also want to do the “Preparing for Lift-off” and “Letting it Go” exercises as further relaxation readiness if you feel the need to, though it is not required either. It will help you become more comfortable if you are nervous now.

As with the other exercises I’ve put in spaces and noted places where you should give it a little extra time. Take all this Very slowly. This is a “deep” exercise and you don’t want to rush it. OK? So, take a few deep breaths and you are ready to begin.

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You know it’s time…… You’ve been neglecting those parts of yourself that aren’t so much fun. You’ve been out doing things in the world and ignoring the call from deep in your soul……….. the one so quiet you can easily ignore it….. But some part of you knows it’s time to listen..

You know you can’t let this situation continue…… You’ve learned the painful way that ignoring this particular voice only leads to heartache and confusion……. You know you must listen, and this time you decide to allow yourself to go where your spirit would take you. And so you decide to go on a journey into the underworld.

 You wait until the twilight time….. The in-between time when  the veils between the waking world and the UnderWorld are most permeable and the dark will only help you……

You know there will be risks you must take to accomplish this journey inward. That may be scary…. It usually is…. It’s reasonable. But you know you can face it…. You know that risks are always necessary if one is to step out of the old patterns of life and move beyond the old ways of being and doing…… And so you prepare yourself to let go… to travel deep deep within….

You settle in and make yourself as comfortable as you can….. You don’t want anything to deflect your spirit from its mission tonight….

As you become comfortable you shut your eyes and begin to focus on your breath…. You may have had a difficult day or be filled with tension….

But you know that you have the power of relaxing into your breath and you slowly find yourself calming your breathing…. letting go of the days stress… Breathing in and breathing out… again…. and again….. continuing until your breath is coming in the natural way it does when you go into trance… Breathing in, and breathing out….

You continue to breathe deeply, gently… into your stomach, your chest, your whole body… continuing to allow the breath to relax you…. As you continue you slowly allow your breath to find its natural rhythm…. You allow your breath to be easy and comfortable, moving at the rate you find most natural. 

And in your mind’s eye you begin to see patterns….. They are chaotic at first…. but in time they begin to coalesce into form…. You continue to breath deeply and comfortably as your breath adjusts to its natural rhythm…. You are ready….

And now you see a path before you…. It is a simple path, made of some dark soft material and it winds downward, at a gentle rate…. downward….

It is dark ahead of you but you knew this would be the way it would be… and you face your fears of what may lie there and move further onward…..

Down and Down some more……. Gently downward… and as you walk, the path stays smooth and soft but continues to go down deeper and deeper….into the bowels of the earth… 

You continue to allow your breath to come in and out naturally as your mind moves further into this particular altered state…. If at any time you become aware of discomfort in your body you move to alleviate it… and you continue to relax…

Your breath is moving down through your whole body now and you are continuing to move deeper into trance…….. Deeper with each breath…. Deeper down onto the path into the Dark….

As you become more accustomed to your surroundings you glimpse movement to your left and to your right…. All around you are chitterings and sliding noises… You look but whatever it is is too quick for you and disappears before you can see what is there…. There, at the edges of your sight….

You may be frightened by this… You are traveling into the Underworld after all, and you do not know what you will face as you travel within… But you do not let this stop you…

As you face this darkness you call to your spirit allies for assistance and reassurance…. After you have called to them you sense a presence approaching, so familiar to you, you know it has been with you your entire life…. It is your dearest friend and ally and you welcome it as it moves up alongside you.

The Ally walks with you and tells you in gentle ways that it is here only to observe… so that you will remember later what has happened to you on this journey into the dark side of your being…. You see the wisdom of this and thank your ally for the gift of memory, knowing that your memories are safe and you will be able to recall what has happened on this journey.

Up ahead, even through the gloom, you can see that the trail gets darker and there is a place ahead that is pitch black…. You know you must take the risk to enter this darkness, but your caution causes you to slow down….

As you do this you hear the movement on your sides, and now you hear something behind you as well. You look back but can see nothing…. But you hear them and you get a sense of shifting powers and unfulfilled desires… You feel the pain of those around you…. But still you move onward…