How to perform a chaga healing ceremony
This ceremony has been with me for some time now, and the time has come to share it with you.
Nivvsat Olmai / Báhkkololmmai (Both names are used, but báhkkololmmai is the better known. Nivvsat is used both for the birch polypore and by some for chaga) = The Sami name for the spirit or deva of the Chaga.
You must be two people to perform this ceremony. Most of the work will be done before people arrive. The chaga is to boil for two hours, but preferably four. Unlike chaga for medicinal purposes, it is important here that it actually boils. Before you light the ceremonial fire, you call in the four directions. I like to use juniper to consecrate the fire. While it boils, you ask Nivvsat Olmai, the spirit of the chaga, to come to the fire. It takes hard spiritual work to achieve this; I use song and prayer together with the drum during the boiling. You must do this over and over again while you offer herbs or tobacco to the ceremonial fire. Have the doorkeeper help you with this if you can.
Nivvsat Olmai came to me in the form of a bird. You must focus on him later in the ceremony. The other person in the ceremony is the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper has several important tasks, one of them being when the ceremony participants arrive. He or she gives each participant a blessing while they are cleansed in chaga smoke. This blessing can be a single word or a sentence. It is also the doorkeeper's responsibility to hand out chaga; when there are many people, I usually get several others to help. I use this time to tell the participants about chaga. During the ceremony, it is important that the doorkeeper burns chaga on both sides for protection. When you are ready to begin the ceremony, you tell the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper's task is to keep out what should not come in, that is, negative energies. But he/she should also let out what the participants set down. At the same time, other spirits/energies will come that are to be let in, for example the little folk. Before you begin the healing, it is important that the participants together ask Nivvsat Olmai for healing before they drink the chaga. I ask them to spend a little time on this, to feel the energy in the chaga and what is happening to them. It is also possible for participants to ask for healing for others besides themselves. A bit more concretely about the doorkeeper's task. Your mission is to keep the chaga burning at all times during the ceremony. I use coals for water pipes to get an even, good glow. You may well mix finely chopped chaga with other herbs such as sage, juniper and the like. It is important that the doorkeeper constantly keeps focus on their task and does not let themselves be distracted by whatever else is going on during the ceremony.
A bit more concretely about the ceremony leader's task. I prefer to use the drum to maintain focus while you ask Nivvsat Olmai for healing. Focus on the Chaga bird (Nivvsat Olmai) while you draw an energy spiral up from Mother Earth to the Upper World, or heaven if you will. While you drum, you maintain the spiral. It is Nivvsat Olmai who does the healing, and your job is to make it possible for this to happen. During the ceremony, Nivvsat Olmai will work with each individual, including yourself.
After the ceremony, it is nice if people have the chance to spend a little time together. Many will surely have questions about Chaga. If there is still chaga left, I usually ask whether people would like a little more. It is not unusual for this to develop into a festive mood, since you have shared a powerful moment. People will normally feel energetic and happy; share this moment with them. You have taken part in a celebration of life. If possible, the chaga should come from the area where you hold the ceremony. In that way you honour the spirits and the ancestors of that place.
This is a sacred ceremony. You are welcome to perform it, but do not charge money for it.
Origin: Kyrre Franck / The Ancestors
