A journey to the Upper World is a shamanic practice in which you travel — in a light trance, carried by the drum — upward past the sky into the realm of teachers, guides and ancestors, to ask a question and bring back the answer. Where the Lower World holds your power animals and the instinctual, earthy wisdom of the body, the Upper World holds perspective: teachers in human or luminous form who speak to meaning, direction and the larger shape of your life.
If you have already journeyed downward and met an animal, this is the natural next doorway. And if you have never journeyed at all, you can still read on — the steps below are written so that a complete beginner can follow them tonight, with nothing but a drumbeat and twenty quiet minutes.
What is the Upper World in shamanism?
The Upper World is the realm of teachers and guides in the three-part shamanic cosmos — reached by travelling upward through or past the sky, and traditionally associated with wisdom, overview and spiritual instruction rather than with instinct or the everyday.
Almost every shamanic culture on earth describes the world in three layers, connected by a central axis — a World Tree, a mountain, a smoke hole, a rope of light. You can read the full picture in our guide to the Lower, Middle and Upper World. What matters for your journey is simply this: each realm has a different quality, and you choose the one that matches your question.
| Realm | Who you meet | Best for questions about | How you get there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower World | Power animals, animal spirits | Vitality, protection, instinct, healing | Downward — a hole in the earth, roots, water, a cave |
| Middle World | Nature spirits, land spirits, the here and now | Lost objects, places, the living world around you | Sideways — out your door, across the landscape |
| Upper World | Teachers, guides, ancestors in human or light form | Meaning, direction, ethics, purpose | Upward — a tree, smoke, a mountain, a beam of light |
One honest note before we go further: Upper World teachers tend to speak in a different register than power animals. An animal shows you something — it runs, it bites, it lies down in the sun and you understand. A teacher is more likely to hand you an object, say one sentence, or simply look at you until something in you rearranges. Both are real. The Upper World just asks a little more patience with subtlety.
How do you journey to the Upper World, step by step?
You journey to the Upper World by setting a clear question, lying down to a steady drumbeat of roughly 205–220 beats per minute, travelling upward from a place in nature you know, passing through a membrane or layer that marks the threshold, and meeting whoever comes toward you. The whole practice takes about twenty minutes.
- Prepare the space. Dim the light. Switch off notifications. Lie on your back with a blanket over you and a cloth or arm over your eyes. Cold and interruption are the two most common reasons a journey collapses.
- Set one clear question. Not three. One. Ask it out loud, then again silently — open questions work better than yes/no. “Show me what I am not seeing about this decision” travels much further than “Should I take the job?”
- Start the drum. Use a shamanic drumming track of 15–20 minutes with a callback at the end. The monotone beat is what carries you; without it you are meditating, not journeying.
- Go to your departure place. Choose a real place in nature you know well — a particular tree, a hilltop, a rock. Arrive there in your mind’s eye and take a moment to feel it: the ground, the air, the sound.
- Travel upward. Climb the tree. Rise on smoke from a fire. Take a bird’s back, a ladder, a beam of light. Whatever image comes, stay with it and keep going up. Don’t design the route — follow it.
- Pass through the membrane. This is the marker of the Upper World. Most people meet something they must move through: a layer of cloud, a skin, a fog, a sheet of water, a resistance. Ask permission, then pass. On the other side, the quality of the light usually changes.
- Meet your teacher — and ask three times. Someone or something will come. Ask directly: “Are you my teacher?” Ask three times. A true guide will answer clearly and will not be diminished by the question. Then ask what you came to ask.
- Thank them and come back the same way. When the callback sounds, thank your teacher, descend by the route you came, and return to your body. Wiggle your fingers. Feel the floor. Then write everything down before you speak to anyone.
Who are the teachers you meet in the Upper World?
Upper World teachers are helping spirits who appear most often in human or luminous form and whose role is instruction rather than protection — they teach, they clarify, and they hand you what you need to understand rather than what you asked for.
They arrive in many shapes: an old woman at a doorway, a figure of light without a face, someone who looks unnervingly like a grandparent you never met, occasionally a being who feels ancient and entirely un-human. Some people meet a figure from their own religious tradition. Some meet a person they cannot name at all and who nevertheless feels utterly familiar. All of this is within the range of ordinary practice.
The first time I journeyed upward, I climbed a birch behind my grandmother’s house and passed through what felt like wet linen. On the other side there was a woman sitting on a low wall, mending something with her hands. She did not look up. I asked my question — a big, urgent, tangled question about whether I was on the right path — and she said, without stopping her work: “You’re asking me to tell you what only walking will tell you.” That was the entire journey. I was disappointed for about a week. Then I understood that she had answered perfectly.
How do you know a genuine teacher from your own imagination? The tests are practical, not mystical.
- It surprises you. A true teacher says things you would not have written for them. Imagination flatters; guides rarely do.
- It has its own will. The figure does what it wants, not what you want. It may walk off, refuse, laugh, or stay silent.
- It survives the three questions. Ask “are you my teacher” three times. Anything that becomes evasive or grandiose under repetition is not to be trusted.
- It holds up in daylight. Real guidance still makes sense a week later, when you are tired and unromantic about it.
- It never demands obedience. A helping spirit does not flatter you, frighten you, or tell you to cut people out of your life. If that happens, end the journey and come back. This is rare — but it is worth knowing.
If the distinction between guide and imagination is what keeps you circling, our guide on how to meet your spirit guide goes deeper into exactly that question.
Why can’t I get to the Upper World?
Most people who cannot reach the Upper World are stopped by one of four things: trying too hard, an unclear question, no real threshold in their route, or the simple fact that the Lower World is easier and the body has to learn the upward movement.
Upward journeys are genuinely harder for most beginners. There is nothing wrong with you. The Lower World has gravity on its side — you fall into it. The Upper World asks you to rise, and rising requires a kind of relaxed effort that takes a few attempts to find.
| What happens | What is usually behind it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You get nowhere — just the dark | Trying to see instead of letting it come | Stop looking. Listen to the drum for two full minutes, then simply intend upward |
| You keep sliding downward | The Lower World is your default route | Change your departure place to something already high: a hilltop, a tall tree, a cliff |
| You arrive but meet no one | The question was vague, so nothing was called | Rewrite the question in one sentence, starting with “Show me…” |
| You keep narrating to yourself | The analytical mind is doing the journey for you | Give it a job: silently name what you see, nothing more |
| You fall asleep every time | Genuine tiredness, or lying too comfortably | Journey in the morning; sit up slightly against a wall |
If your journeys are blocked more generally — not just upward — we have written a full troubleshooting guide on why a shamanic journey isn’t working.
What should you do after the journey?
Write the journey down immediately, in the present tense, before you interpret anything — then do one small physical thing to ground, and let the meaning arrive over the following days rather than forcing it in the first ten minutes.
Upper World material fades faster than Lower World material. It is more abstract, less bodily, and the mind lets it go quickly — so the notebook matters more here than anywhere else. Record what you saw, what was said, what you felt, and what you did not understand. That last category is often where the real teaching is hiding.
Then eat something, put your hands on the ground or on a wall, and go back into your day. Ordinary life is not the opposite of this work. It is where the work lands.
Where do you go from here?
Practise the same route for a while before you go looking for new ones. Same tree, same beat, same threshold — three or four times a week for a month. Familiarity is what makes the road reliable, and a reliable road is worth more than a dozen spectacular one-off journeys.
If you would like to learn this properly — with drumming, guidance and other people walking beside you — the Elements of Shamanism training is where we teach journeying from the ground up: the Lower World, the Upper World, your power animal, and the ancestral work that follows. It is the foundation everything else at One Shamanism rests on.
And if you have not yet journeyed downward, start there — our step-by-step guide to the Lower World is the doorway most people find easiest.
Frequently asked questions about the Upper World journey
Is the Upper World the same as heaven?
No. The Upper World is not an afterlife destination and carries no moral judgement in shamanic cosmology. It is a realm of teaching that living practitioners visit and return from, often several times a week. The overlap with religious images of “above” is real, but the function is different.
Do I need a drum to journey to the Upper World?
You need a steady rhythm, not necessarily your own drum. A recorded shamanic drumming track of 205–220 beats per minute works well and is what most beginners use. A rattle also works. What does not reliably work is ambient or melodic music — melody gives the mind something to follow instead of the journey.
How long should an Upper World journey last?
Fifteen to twenty minutes is the standard length, with a callback rhythm at the end to bring you home. Beginners sometimes find ten minutes plenty. Longer journeys are not deeper journeys; a clear question in fifteen minutes beats a wandering hour.
Can I meet a deceased relative in the Upper World?
Ancestors are traditionally met in the Upper World, and many practitioners do encounter relatives there. Approach this gently, especially with recent loss — grief can shape what appears. If the loss is fresh, work with a practitioner rather than journeying alone for contact.
Is journeying to the Upper World dangerous?
For most people, no. Shamanic journeying is a light, voluntary trance you can leave at any moment by opening your eyes. It is not recommended as a solo practice for anyone currently experiencing psychosis, dissociation or acute mental health crisis, and it does not replace medical or psychological care.
What if my teacher says nothing at all?
Silence is an answer more often than beginners expect. Sit with it, write it down, and return with the same question a few days later. Teachers frequently wait until you have stopped needing a particular answer before they give it.
Have you journeyed upward yet? I would love to hear who came to meet you — tell me in the comments below.
