The God Shot

In my podcasts, and in person, I often talk about the “God Shot”. We all want them and some of us have them. But what is a God Shot? I think it is when you have a spiritual experience so profound it affects, or can affect, the very underpinnings of our present lives.  God Shots certainly help to catapult us to a deeper and more profound relationship to Spirit, or at least it can.

Some of us have had the luxury to travel for spiritual workshops. Some of us are fortunate enough to have great workshops in the places we live. The workshops, ceremonies, etc. often bring us closer to the divine. The question then is; what do we do after? Integration of our experiences is important, but how do we do that? Another aspect of the God Shot is to work with it. We are invited to be in the presence of the Divine but how do we stay with the Divine?

It can be impossible to be in a “touched by Grace/Divine Place” all the time.  It is possible, however, to not waste the experience, rather learn from it, and move forward. The same, but nothing can ever quite be the same. If the work was particularly strong, there is a good chance that you experienced firsthand the unity and connectedness of our universe. But this unity is not immediately obvious to everyone in your life, nor is it easy to stay connected to as distractions and obligations pile up and time passes.

You may feel disconnected from your body. Quite often, glimpses of spiritual enlightenment can leave you feeling physically shaky, un-grounded, and a bit ethereal. The heaviness of our everyday world can feel totally dissonant with the peaceful, beautiful, artistic, synchronistic, spirit-drenched version of reality that you left behind.

Reality is not as it seems; the further along our path we travel, it becomes abundantly clear that everything in our world/universe is not what it appears to be. Time, energy, light, and matter all take on new properties that are illuminating, expansive, exciting, and beautiful. Spirit and Soul are more immediately accessible. It can be sad, frustrating, and even scary to “lose” the vision we have experienced; only to have it replaced with the oh-so-mundane world of cars, television, computers, and headlines.

You may be tempted to relapse into old patterns and habits. You might find yourself going back into ways of being that you thought you “cured” in your Spirit work. Even if you don’t intend to go down that path, you aren’t sure what else to do with yourself. This can create further havoc if you judge yourself harshly for these “slip-ups”.

The information and insight from your spiritual work may indeed leave you feeling pretty clear about who and what do/don’t belong in your life. It can be unwise to act on that information immediately following a God Shot, or series of ceremonies because all of the above may also be happening for you.

I encourage you to take time for personal reflection/meditation. I like to Journal, go on deeper shamanic journeys, or meditate. I find these excellent tools to help you understand and put words to what is initially a wordless state of knowing/seeing/feeling/being. Putting language/imagery/metaphor to it can help you make sense of what you saw/felt/knew and help you retain that understanding going forward. Meditation and journeys can help you continue to practice being a Witness to your thoughts and yourself. Learning to Witness (and not label or judge) your thoughts, behaviours, and yourself is a lifelong practice that will serve you in every. Being a “witness”, means you notice your thoughts without attaching to or identifying with them. You simply observe yourself. This observation practice keeps you from getting tangled up in your emotions, stories, and patterns. As an objective observer, you allow yourself to watch them as if you’re watching the sky change with the weather. With practice, you can notice and release judgements, allowing yourself to return to a state of compassionate open-heartedness toward yourself and all beings.

Other resources you may enjoy:

• Free shamanic music and drumming.
• Or if you’re new to journey work and wish to develop your own relationship with spirit, get started with journey work here.
• Our Meditations home page.

If you enjoyed this article, who may, please share it so others may benefit from it as well!