After a magic mushroom session as a journey guide (or “facilitator”), my client commented that journey guides reminded her of Fu-dogs, leading me to explore what this mythical creature was all about.
Mythology is a traditional medium for preserving spiritual knowledge, and the Chinese Fu-dog teaches that we live in a universe of energy: negative and positive, gross and refined, material and celestial. It also teaches that the universe is infused with a higher intelligence, which nourishes, protects, and guides…
Fu-Dogs
Fu-dogs are those Chinese guardian lions (Chinese: Shi), typically seen as a pair of statutes on either side of an entrance, traditionally in front of temples and royal palaces. Today we see them at restaurants, hotels, homes, gardens, or anywhere people seek protection, blessings, wealth, or feng shui harmony. Ancient artists usually gave them dog-like features, thus the term “Fu-dog” in Western culture (“Fu” meaning variously “Buddha”, “blessing”, or “prosperity”). Perhaps the reason for the dog features is that the artists had not seen real lions, or perhaps they stylized the lions to fit the Fu-dog’s mythological nature as protectors.
When seen in pairs, one Fu-dog is female and the other male, representing yin and yang in a perfect balance of energy. The female has its left paw on top of a playful lion pup, symbolizing a nourishing and protective maternal energy, and domain over inner spiritual life. The male Fu-dog has its right paw on a globe (Earth), symbolizing a nourishing and protective worldly energy, and domain over outer material life. Together, they symbolize a nourishing and protective energy over the full spectrum of life. Sometimes they have pearls in their mouths, indicating wisdom and spiritual attainment.
Fu-Dog Mythology
According to Chinese mythology, Fu-dogs are celestial creatures. They are the guardians of “liminal space”, the space between the physical Earth realm and the “Heaven” realm (spiritual or divine realm). From that space, they protect us from negative energy and lower entities, allowing us to receive higher energy and wisdom from Heaven. This explains their connection to temples and palaces that sought such guidance. They are said to guard both the gates of Heaven and the gates of Earth. Fu-dogs are essentially “liminal deities” that help us connect with Heaven, our spiritual source. The animated giant panda, Po Ping, in Kung Fu Panda, is probably a modern mythical cousin of the Fu-dog.
Fu-dog Journey Guide
Spiritual medicines (psychedelics or entheogens) have been traditionally used to connect to our spiritual source for healing, divination, and spiritual growth, putting them within the mythical domain of Fu-dogs. During journeys, we become much more sensitive to the energy around us, including lower negative energy. For this reason, the ancients always gave these medicines within a protective ceremonial setting. The priestesses, hierophants, and shamans who presided over these ceremonies became the mythical Fu-dogs, creating a nourishing and protective energy field for the participants, thus optimizing the process of healing and spiritualizing.
Today’s journey guides are the modern version of that ancient tradition. And as in these ancient traditions, the training of modern guides begin with their own medicine journeys to become familiar with the vast spectrum of experiences, from the most challenging to the most mystical. With experienced-based knowledge, they become the mythical Fu-dogs, helping their clients navigate their journey in that liminal space between the gates of Earth and Heaven.
Power of Presence
The most important quality of a journey guide is the calming and protecting nature of the guide’s “presence” or “being-ness”. This is not easy to define, but it would include emotionally stability, centeredness, and compassion. The guide’s “presence” is their foundation. It creates a stable energy field that “holds the space” for the journeyer, helping them through the most challenging parts of their journey. Knowledge is important for being a journey guide, but it is not enough.
Projection of Compassion
In addition to “presence” is the guide’s ability to project compassionate energy. If the journeyer becomes caught up in fear and anxiety, or there is some other reason for intervention, the guide gives calm and compassionate reassurances to bring the journeyer back to a restful place. This projection of energy may be expressed by a simple gesture, a few words, holding the hand, giving a guided meditation, doing a soft chant or song, or whatever comes natural to the guide and the temperament of the person being guided. But in all cases, there is a projection of positive energy that nourishes and protects, just like the mythical Fu-dog.
The journey guide is like a mother, rocking her baby to create a sense of comfort and restore her baby’s natural heart and breath rhythms. The main role of the guide is to constantly bring the person back to that calm and restful place where the healing and transforming energy is most effective. The guide is also like a midwife who facilitates the natural process of spiritual birth.
The female Fu-dog embodies this nurturing aspect of the journey-guide and its protective role on the inner spiritual level. The male Fu-dog embodies the guide’s protective role on the physical level, such as providing the proper dose and frequency of medicine, organizing the setting for the journey, and caring for the physical needs of the journeyer.
The Shaman’s Way
Besides the guide’s calming presence and occasional intervention, many of today’s shamanic guides project energy throughout the whole journey (as the ancients did) to maintain a supportive and protective energy field. Essentially, three types of energies are projected: protecting energy, that protects the journeyer from negative influences; compassionate energy, that soothes and comforts the journeyer; and prayer energy, that invites a higher power for healing and spiritualizing.
There are numerous ways to do this. As noted, it is traditionally done though ceremony, as the Mexican healer, Maria Sabina, did in her veladas where she sang and danced. Although songs and dances have important roles by themselves, the shaman uses them as a medium to project energy. The projection of energy may also be done silently, for example using breath and hand movements to project supporting and protecting energy, as done with qigong exercises. And, of course, it can be done without any movement or sound.
Constantly projecting energy throughout long journeys can be difficult. However, it is easy to project energy periodically during long journeys with good results. And recorded music may be added to give continuity and positive structure to the journey, as long as it has the effect of relaxing the client deep into the journey. (Recorded music has an important role in psilocybin sessions at Johns Hopkins.) At all times, the guide must be mindful of their thoughts and feelings during the journey session to ensure their energy is positive and supportive. The mindset of the guide can influence the direction of the client’s journey.
Restoring a Lost Art
Journey guiding is a lost art that needs to be restored as a central service in society. And, as the ancients understood so well, it’s all about energy, not just about a clinical protocol to follow. The guide becomes the mythical Fu-dog to nourish, protect, and maintain a safe space for journeyers to connect with their spiritual source. And it’s so rewarding: When a person takes their entheogenic “hero’s journey” and returns with spiritual gifts in hand, they glow with profound gratitude.
Photo Credits: Dreamstime.com, in order of Fu-dog photos, 1) Aleksei Cherepenin, 2) Dominic Gentilcore, 3) Sheng Chief Chang, and 4) Tikhonova Vera.
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