Elder — A Guided Shamanic Journey with Gongs
There's a tree in my garden I've come to think of as family. When I began preparing for this ceremony, I asked her — the way you'd ask any elder — whether she'd mind donating a few of her branches and flowers. That's part of Elder's folklore: it's considered bad luck to cut her without asking first, so I left an offering, a small three-leafed kinu, a technique the Q'ero of the Peruvian Andes taught me, and asked for a little of her medicine in return. She said yes.
Elder — Sambucus nigra — is one of the most quietly powerful plants I work with. Her flowers and berries are richly medicinal, and just as richly steeped in myth: she's known across folklore as the Elder Mother, the Wise Crone, the Queen of Witches, a guardian standing at the threshold between the worlds of the living and the dead. In this guided journey, I'll share some of that history and medicine with you, but more importantly, I'll guide you into your own shamanic journey to meet her directly — to build your own relationship with her, in your own way.
Elder's Medicine — Body and Folklore, Together
On a physical level, Elder works on the immune system, and she's particularly good at clearing the sinuses. I tend to reach for the berry through winter — she carries a warming quality that suits colds and flu — and for the flower through spring and summer, when her coolness is what's needed.
Her folklore runs just as deep as her physical medicine, and the two aren't really separate. Elder is known for removing black magic and clearing karmic blockages, including the ones we inherit rather than create ourselves. She's a diaphoretic too — she helps the body sweat out what it no longer needs — and five hundred years ago, before anyone understood viruses or bacteria, illness was widely believed to come from bad spirits. That's very likely why she became so tied to banishing them: the physical and the spiritual explanation were, for our ancestors, one and the same story. Elder wood has long been carved into wands for extraction ceremonies, drawing negative energy out and releasing it. Approach her, as with any elder, with real respect — ask before you take. It's the same as you'd ask before hugging any being whose boundaries deserve honouring.
How the Shamanic Journey Works
In shamanism we speak of three realms. The middle realm is the one we're standing in right now, in ordinary reality. The lower realm — where today's journey takes us — is where we connect most easily with the spirits of the land: tree spirits, mountain spirits, animal spirits, water spirits. There's an upper realm too, one that holds our past, our future and the wider soul, but our purpose today is simply to meet the spirit of Elder in the lower realm.
Before we travel anywhere, we clear our energy through the body — hands cupped at the heart, gathering love and light and pouring it out through the aura, down through the body and into the earth — and we call in sacred space, welcoming the seven directions as protective witnesses so that only our allies can join us. From there, I'll guide you through a full body relaxation, into an awakening of the third eye, and out into a journey — usually down through a tunnel, a cave, or a doorway in a tree — into the lower realm itself, where a spirit guide, often in animal form, comes forward to lead you onward to Elder.
Once there, you're free to ask her whatever you need to ask. She's especially good at helping with karmic and ancestral blockages, but you can also ask for help on a physical level — sinusitis, hay fever, whatever your body is carrying. There's no wrong way for this to unfold. Whoever or whatever comes through for you is exactly what was meant to.
Coming Back: Integration and Reflection
When the journey closes, we release the directions one by one, in gratitude, and I'll guide you gently back through your body and into ordinary reality. Give yourself a moment before you open your eyes. Let whatever came through settle rather than rushing to explain it.
I'd thoroughly recommend journaling straight afterwards, even a few lines. These journeys bring so much through, and half of the medicine is in what we do with it afterwards — was there an image that stayed with you? A message? A feeling in the body when Elder was near? If you were guided towards an action, take it. The plants notice when we keep our word.
How to Prepare
Optional: sip organic elderflower tea, sit beside an Elder tree if you have access to one, or take a little elderflower essence beforehand — no cacao is used in this particular journey
Find somewhere to lie down or sit fully supported
Good headphones or speakers make a real difference — the gongs deserve proper sound
Keep tissues nearby, and a journal for afterwards
Set aside 20–30 minutes, uninterrupted
Continue Your Journey with Plant Spirit Medicine
If this ceremony resonated with you, here are some ways to go deeper:
