ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates three essential themes drawn from typical reports of the shaman’s magical flight between worlds: (1) images of the center as the zone of the sacred, including the axis mundi and the cosmic or world tree; (2) a vertical dimension of experience oriented by the idea of ‘the North’ or the North Star; and (3) the motif of ascension as it relates to images of birds, wings, and flight. The social/psychological meaning of the vertical dimension is approached from Mircea Eliade’s differentiation between sacred and profane space and Jung’s idea of the self archetype. Henri Corbin’s discussion of ‘the North’ as providing cosmic orientation is discussed and a personal dream used for illustration. Finally, the mythological and psychological significance of birds as spiritual messengers is explored in relation to shamanism and the author’s personal psychology and dream experience.
