The Wand of Healing
Goat’s Hole Cave, Paviland, on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales, is the name of the now famous burial of the ‘Red Lady’, who actually turned out to be a man! It is one of the best-known prehistoric burials in Britain – discovered back in 1823.
The most suggestive shamanic object is the ivory wand present within the burial. This particular ivory object may have been used as a staff or rod, a characteristic shamanic object. Shamans are known to work with powerful objects such as staffs, and through these objects it is possible to amplify the available spiritual power.
For many cultures, the shaman’s staff is a representation of the connection between the realms of upper, middle and lower worlds and functions as a model of the World Tree. As with all true power objects, the staff becomes a living presence. As such, it is a catalyst for change and transformation – even capable of working on it’s own on behalf of the shaman.
The staff or power object may also be decorated with special symbols, talismans and carvings which are connected to the shaman’s own power, (see also the engraved Palaeolithic Kendrick’s cave horse jaw from north Wales). Through this the staff functions as an energy conduit between the up above and down below worlds. It is a stand-in for the Axis Mundi, which is at the centre of a shamanic tiered world (similar to the Christian tiered world of Heaven, Earth and Hell).
The most suggestive shamanic object is the ivory wand present within the burial. This particular ivory object may have been used as a staff or rod, a characteristic shamanic object. Shamans are known to work with powerful objects such as staffs, and through these objects it is possible to amplify the available spiritual power.
For many cultures, the shaman’s staff is a representation of the connection between the realms of upper, middle and lower worlds and functions as a model of the World Tree. As with all true power objects, the staff becomes a living presence. As such, it is a catalyst for change and transformation – even capable of working on it’s own on behalf of the shaman.
The staff or power object may also be decorated with special symbols, talismans and carvings which are connected to the shaman’s own power, (see also the engraved Palaeolithic Kendrick’s cave horse jaw from north Wales). Through this the staff functions as an energy conduit between the up above and down below worlds. It is a stand-in for the Axis Mundi, which is at the centre of a shamanic tiered world (similar to the Christian tiered world of Heaven, Earth and Hell).