S H A M A N I S M H E A L I N G M Y T H S W I S D O M WAY S N E W C O M M U N I T Y

ISSUE 92 2016
www.sacredhoop.org

CELEBRATE THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

ARE WE PLAYING AT
BEING SHAMANS?
BEING AUTHENTIC
Urban Shamanism in Mongolia
A Real Shamanic Calling
STEALING THE SPIRITS?
Cultural Appropriation -
the rise of the S-word
Being Bogusly Indigenous
Are you a Fluffy Shaman?
WOMENS SACRED
EMPOWERMENT
Mother Wound Healing

Sacred Self Care

When ill or disabled
Birds and Spirit
Omens in Nature
Spines of Protection
Sacred Life of the Hedgehog
Spirit of the Tundra
Siberian Shamanism
meets Contemporary Dance
 SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES

Available as a paper and eBook from Amazon,

Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo Books, Google Play.
For a free preview, including the Table of Contents,
go to iUniverse or Barnes & Noble Nook
Dr. Kowalewski writes in a clear and compassionate way, showing how
sometimes, at death, it is necessary to perform healing work on a soul
to help it transcend.This is an important book.
SANDRA INGERMAN, MA: author of Soul Retrieval

Drawing on first-hand accounts and cross-cultural research, Dr. Kowalewski

offers us an engaging Western perspective on the art and methods of
the psychopomp. Anyone whos going to die will benefit from this highly
readable book.
BILL PLOTKIN, PhD: author of Soulcraft

This is the most in-depth treatment of the subject that I have ever read.
Using personal experiences to illustrate specific aspects of psychopomp
behavior and activity is not only interesting, but very helpful to those
learning about it. Good job!
SERGE KAHILI KING, PhD: author of Urban Shaman
Dr. Kowalewski has written a comprehensive book on one of the basic
tasks of the shaman.This is a highly readable, well-researched work,
detailing a number of his personal experiences as a conductor of the
spirits of the dead.This book is highly recommended.
DANA ROBINSON: co-author of Shamanism and the Spirit Mate
This important book is an informative, thorough, cross-cultural overview.
Dr. Kowalewski speaks with authority as a near-death experiencer and
practicing psychopomp.The text is enriched with fascinating examples,
concluding with a most important chapter on what psychopomp practice
means for our everyday living. A very welcome addition to the literature.
PENNY SARTORI, PhD, author of The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences

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 SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES
FAIT H N O LTO N SCANDINAVIAN CENTER FOR
SACRED & SH AMAN IC ART SHAMANIC STUDIES
o r igin a l p a in t in gs , WORKSHOPS WITH
shamanic a r t h e a lin g a n d c oa c h in g
JONATHAN HORWITZ
ONLINE GALLERY:
w w w. fa i t h n o l t o n . we e bly. c o m
L AT E S T B O O K
GARDENS OF THE SOUL:
m a k i n g s a c re d a n d s h a m a n i c a r t
( d e t a i l s s e e we b s i t e a n d A m a zo n )

INTO THE JOURNEY

15 - 18 SEPT, BELGIUM

LIVING GRATITUDE
22 - 25 SEPT, ITALY

THE SHAMAN'S JOURNEY

INTRODUCTION COURSE
4 - 6 NOV, DEVON, UK
25 years teaching courses centred
on the Circle and Shamanism
as a Healing Spiritual Path
fa i t h @faithnolton.co.uk
CONTACT: [email protected]
(U K)01239 682071
WWW.SHAMANISM.DK

HOOP ISSUE 92 2016 3

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 who is really a shaman? : page 15-17

Are we stealing and exploiting tribal culture? : pages 28-32

EDITOR, DESIGN AND PRODUCTION:
Nicholas Breeze Wood
DESIGN AND EDITORIAL CONSULTANT:
Faith Nolton
PROOF READING:
Linda Booth, Faith Nolton
CONTACT DETAILS:
Sacred Hoop Magazine
Anghorfa, Abercych, Boncath,
Pembrokeshire, SA37 0EZ, UK
Email: [email protected]
Tel: (01239) 682 029 Darkhad shamanism from Mongolia : pages 6-14
www.sacredhoop.org
PUBLISHING POLICY:
SACRED HOOP seeks to network those wanting to
learn the spiritual teachings of indigenous peoples as a
Contents
living path of knowledge. Our contents cover the integration of both
old and new ways, and insights that contribute to a balanced and TOUCHING THE PRIMORDIAL ROOTS . . . . 6-14
sustainable lifestyle in today's world. Urban shamanism is not just a Western thing, now that
We honour all paths and peoples and do not include material from, or mass migration from the steppes to the city has occurred in
give support to, any individual or group which seeks to oppress or Mongolia. Kevin Turner talks with shamans in Ulaanbaatar.
discriminate on grounds of race, lineage, age, sex, class or belief.
Nor do we knowingly publish any material that is inaccurate. ON BEING A SHAMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-17
Views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor. With the increase of popular are you a shaman? type
ISSN 1364 - 2219
websites online, Mary Mueller Shutan looks at the reality
of being a shaman and how the word has become devalued.
DISCLAIMER:
Whilst making every effort to be accurate, the SOUL BIRDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-22
editors will not be deemed responsible for any Birds have held a sacred fascination for humans as far
errors, omissions or inaccuracies appearing back as we can go. Brian Taylor looks at some of the
in Sacred Hoop Magazine.
ways birds featured in the mythic lives of our ancestors.
Sacred Hoop Magazine
and-or individual contributors. HEALING THE MOTHER WOUND . . . . . . 23-27
No part of this magazine,
either written text or visual art, may be reproduced There is, an often un-noticed patriarchal worldview which
in any way whatsoever effects both men and women across the world.
without the written Bethany Webster encourages us to look at this pattern
permission of
the Editor. and shows how it is tranmitted from mother to daughter.

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HOOP ISSUE 92 2016
4 www.sacredhoop.org
 Healing the mother wound : pages 23-27

From the Editor

We live in a dramatically changing world. I
chat to shamans in Mongolia on a daily
Birds and the soul : pages 18-22 basis via Facebook - something that was
unthinkable even ten years ago. Old ways
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION - THE S WORD . . . 28-32 are changing and being lost, new ways
are emerging - some of them wholesome,
Are we stealing sacred traditions from Native people?
but many of them seemingly facile.
Daniel Molar was accused of this, and explores if it is true.
In Mongolia, people are moving from the wild open steppes to
DURING DIFFICULT TIMES . . . . . . . . . . . 33-35 the cities, and shamanism has become a way to express cultural
When an illness or an injury interferers with your life how identity - with old traditional forms mixing with new-age forms
do we maintain our sacred connections and practices. imported from the West and Russia. Our first article meets
Michelle Easton shares some ways that have helped her. traditional shamans living in Ulaanbaatar, trying to balance the
modern with the ancient.
BOGUS INDIGENOUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Are we perpetuating the myth we are acting like real In the West, nowadays, it seems everything is shamanic, from
clothes to cornflakes, yoga to yogurt. Many people declare
shamans whenever we do our shamanic practice?.
themselves to be shamans with seemingly no real understanding of
Barry Goddard questions our way of thinking. what a shaman is and does. This theme is explored with our
ON BEING FLUFFY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 second article and is a recurring theme in this issue of Hoop.
Shamanism has become a sexy word, and is now used to Shamanism comes from an understanding of animism - a
sex-up lots of new-age products. Nicholas Breeze Wood knowledge that everything is alive and connected. Humans have
makes a plea for looking at old-time shamanism, so we know always observed nature, and birds have been a vitally important
what the real thing is, during these days of the sham-manic. aspect of this sacred observation. Our third article about birds and
the soul reflects this.
TUNDRA HUNTER AND SHAMAN . . . . 38-41 But humans have become increasingly removed from nature. With
When Arctic explorer Jon Turk met choreographer and that separation we have become increasingly removed from
dancer Jody Weber, little did he know that a dance meaningful initiations into adulthood - perpetuated by a patriarchal
exploring the role of shaman and the sacred within culture which suppresses women and infantilises men, resulting in
Siberian culture would emerge from the meeting. out-of-control giant toddlers like Donald Trump. So Bethany Webster
BALANCING THE SUN AND MOON . . . . . 42-44 looks at the mother wound, a major cause of this lack of maturity.
The sacred life of the hedgehog. Claudia Bonney shares Of course, such soul-searching pales into insignificance when we
some amazing world folk traditions about this little creature. are gripped with pain or illness, and our next article offers some
practical help to keep us connected to the sacred at such times.
BOOK AND MUSIC REVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . 45-47 All shamans are artists - but not all artists are shamans goes
PEOPLE ON THE PATH EVENTS DIARY . . . . 50-53 an old saying. Jon Turk and Jody Weber look at the meeting
between shamanism and art in the form of contemporary dance.
THE FOUNDING INSPIRATION FOR SACRED HOOP MAGAZINE IN 1993
Today, as I write this, the news is full of stories about disastrous
Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, caused by a
and around and about me was the whole hoop of the world... change to the natural environment. Closer to my home, I no longer
I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the see the hedgehog that lived in my garden a few years ago - it has
spirit and the shapes of all shapes as they must live together gone, as so many of their kind have. Our last article is about these
like one being. And I saw that the Sacred Hoop of my people wonderful little beings and the surprising role they have in many
sacred traditions from around the world and across time.
was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight
and as starlight and in the centre grew one almighty Things are changing - we need to hold on to our hats, and
maybe we need to roll up into a spiney ball from time to time too.
flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother
and one father, and I saw that it was holy. Blessings to all Beings
(From the vision of Nicholas Black Elk Lakota Holy Man: 1863 - 1950) Nicholas Breeze Wood

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 Im soaring over landscapes, then
shamanically journeying upward
through the levels of the Upper
World, my trusty iPod providing the
drumbeat power to propel me into
these transcendent realms.
I consult my spirit teachers on
many topics, and in the midst of this
I hear an interruption: Youll soon
be tested - accept the challenge. I
drop down through back into the
Middle World, to my hotel room in
Ulaanbaatar. Removing my
headphones and mask, I sat up to
make notes on my shamanic
journey. I did not yet understand
what was meant by tested.
My discovery of Darkhad
secrets was about to begin, not in
the terrain of their origin, but in
urban Ulaanbataar. Chimge, my
interpreter, and I squeezed into the
back of a loaded jeep and drove
over dirt alleys to an outer suburb
to meet the chief of the Darkhad
Shamans Association.
Previously, at a great meeting of
shamans on a summer solstice in
Khentii, we had been personally

Touching
invited to interview him and his wife
- who is his assistant and also a
shaman herself.
In contrast to the friendly

Primordial
rapport we had when we had met

The in Khentii, our reception this day

Roots
was to be one of the most hostile I
had ever encountered. We were
held in the outer kitchen, his wife
scowling and accusing us, Why
have you come? Are you here to
steal our shamanic secrets? We
have met many media people,
anthropologists, and so-called
researchers. We know what you
Meetings with Mongolian Darkhad shamans want - only to fill your own pockets
at our expense. You understand
Kevin Turner nothing about shamanism. How
dare you come here!
My ray-beings who transcend felt walls, Chimge, now cowering near the
door, ready to run, meekly protested,
My ray-beings who transcend the ger, But it was you who invited us!
My golden light of a mirror, I rolled my eyes and sighed,
thinking that our trip may have been
My reins-beings of silk scarves, wasted. I thought I would stand and
My Tenger who is watching us from above, politely bow out of this fiasco, but I
My Tenger who belongs to me and does not depart, found myself rooted to my seat by a
mysterious force. I felt indignant at
My Upper World spirit, who has been here and is watching, the harsh reception, yet an inner
My Upper World spirit, who has been guarding, keep on guarding, voice urged me: See how this plays
out. So I listened, remaining
My tornado-like air beings, outwardly calm and inwardly
My thunderbolt-like light-beings focused. With a turn, nod, and silent
low wave of my hand, I assured
Become my partners, on my side. Chimge we would be all right.
I took a different tack with our
Words of a Darkhad shaman invoking the spirits. hosts: I fully agree with you. Most
researchers know nothing of Helping spirits heard my outwardly nonchalant, as if to say, Opposite: a
shamanism. But I fully acknowledge desperate inner call, and a force Well, of course. Darhad shaman
that shamanism is a true spirituality, moved through my hand, shaking I looked back at Chimge with a drums during a
and that spirits and other realities my pencil next to my head as wink and smile; she looked pale. I ceremony in an
are real. Please, your wisdom may though it were a rattle. I inwardly do often misinterpret divinatory appartment in
help me to understand more. imagined hearing the rattling, just information from the spirits. Thankfully, Ulaanbaatar
The chief had now entered, and as I practice daily. I surrendered to they had apparently considered this
upon hearing these words via reliance on years of practice, on divination important enough to make it Below:
Chimges translation, mumbled the many healings and divinations I crystal-clear for me. a busy street
something to his wife in their had done before. Trust. The chief then asked for a in Mongolas
dialect. Her attitude slightly A medical diagnosis and general divination for his wife, and capital city
softened, and we were invited into divination emerged from my mouth she turned toward me, now Ulaanbaatar
the main room. A first step. as fast as the spirits could inwardly enthusiastic to hear what my spirits
The room was carpeted in deep- show me, complete with uncanny had to offer. I took up my shamanic
blue wool and had a shamanic altar details about the old shamans pencil close to my ear, and shook
against the north wall. The caustic past, present, and brief future. it. Plunging into the hidden worlds,
force these two emitted was so Chimge translated, looking I asked, What does she most need
strong that Chimge hid behind me. utterly bewildered, as if wondering, to know at this time? I immediately
I asked a number of questions, is he just crazy, or could this saw that she drove a vehicle, but
but the couple remained evasive. I Westerner actually be a shaman? that he did not.
pressed for more, but was greeted The chief and his wife just sat Yes, thats correct, they
with only vague or general replies there, their mouths ever so slowly confirmed when I told them this.
that could have been gleaned from gaping open as the divination and I then perceived a number of near-
even the briefest perusal of prescriptions continued. It would accidents, all in the past few weeks.
information about Darkhad not be ethical to divulge his medical
shamanism. I wanted to toss my condition, so I will not give details I saw that she drove a vehicle,
notebook in the air and walk away, here, but when the pencil stopped
but the mysterious force held me its metronomic movements next to which they confirmed when I told
fast: see this through
Finally I decided to change tack
my ear, I closed the session.
Silence... The couple looked at
them this. I then perceived a
again. Enough with humility! Power each other, faces slack. The number of near-accidents in the
entered my voice. I too am a shamans wife was the first to speak.
shamanic practitioner. Unlike those Kevin, your diagnosis and past few weeks. They both nodded.
researchers that only took from you divination are the same as that of I emphasised that my spirits were
and understood little, I believe I can both the master shaman we asked
understand your practices! last week and the medical doctor at saying she had to wear a seatbelt
Chimge looked at me in the hospital in the city. Enormous
disbelief, but translated anyway. smiles broke forth on their faces, for the next year, with no exceptions.
So you are a shaman? asked and they shouted in unison, You She admitted that she never wore
the chief. I boldly replied in the really are a shaman! I nearly
affirmative. collapsed with relief, but remained seatbelts, but that she now would
So prove it, his wife cawed, with
a pinched scowl. The chief turned to
me and said, Yes, prove it.
I nodded, and gulped.
Tell us my husbands health
condition, how it can be remedied,
and how long he will remain in this
world.
Uh-oh - I know nothing about
this man. To make matters worse, I
then realised that I didnt have my
rattles, my usual tool for entry into
a shamanic state of consciousness.
For a moment I was speechless,
and Chimge began to lean in her
seat, as if to make a run for it. I
considered declining the trial, but
then I recalled the message from
my journey: accept the challenge.

I asked that the lights be

lowered. A single low grunt from
the chief to their teenage son at
the far end of the room brought
down the lights.

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Below: Yes, thats also correct, they became her assistant at thirteen psychopomp work, and
a Darkhad both nodded. I emphasised that my years of age, and a full shaman at depossession - all part of an
shamans drum spirits were saying she had to wear twenty-three. Im now sixty-three. experienced shamans repertoire.
with a typical a seatbelt for the next full year, He grinned a toothless smile to I usually drum out possessing
internal bow and with no exceptions. She admitted his wife. Ive trained over 200 spirits, said the chief. But I dont
arrow design. that she never wore seatbelts, but shamans, and my wife has made personally guide deceased souls
The bow, which that she now would. over 200 costumes. She who are lost, or stuck here, to the
occurs in many Her family and social mimicked sewing and smiled. Upper World. I send my helping
types of shamans relationships were discussed, as The chief went on, My spirits to help them to the most
drums in well as some minor but detailed grandfather had long believed that I appropriate afterlife places.
Southern health concerns. They both would become a shaman, so he For soul-portion retrieval -
Siberia, is able confirmed the divinations as began to send me shamanic returning lost parts of a clients
to shoot both correct. Chimge, breathless now equipment from the age of seven. spirit that have dissociated due to
magical arrows from translating, looked dazed and He glanced at his son, and trauma - he said that he ties a blue
and also some introspective. continued, My first healing was done scarf around the client, and calls
say it helps Then the lights were raised, and intuitively with a drum, for someone the soul parts into the scarf.
shoot the the dark clouds metaphorically with head trauma from a car The client must then wear it for
shaman into the parted. The couple, now all smiles, accident. Ive never looked back. three days, until the parts are all
spirit world: called to their children to bring tea The Darkhad and Tuvan dialects completely reintegrated into them.
the shaman is and snacks, and the drawers below of Mongolian are closely related, I was asked to keep his other
the arrow and the altar were opened to reveal all and the Darkhads themselves may personal techniques private.
the drum is the manner of hidden shamanic have traveled southeast from Tuvan The afternoon drew to a close,
bow implements and tools. areas centuries ago. Both Darkhad and after I promised to send photos to
We have not shown these to and Tuvan shamanic traditions their son by email, the chief and his
others; this isnt for public share a drum-healing technique in wife looked at each other again.
knowledge, and I will honour their which a helping spirit is called into Perhaps, its now time for you to meet
request and describe only portions the drum, which is then beaten Munkhjargal b, a powerful Darkhad
of our conversation here. while circling around a client. This shaman living here in the city.
My mother was a very famous technique is surprisingly effective; I
shaman in the old days, explained practise it myself. After two hours of standing outside
the chief, now relaxed, with a cup We discussed soul-portion a Stalinist block of flat, faceless,
of tea and an easy manner. I retrieval [soul-retrieval], gray-beige concrete buildings
downtown, harsh judgments about
Mongolians began to bleat from the
herd of thoughts I call my mind.
I had been a spoiled, impatient
traveller all month, often feeling
inconvenienced and irritated, and
today had been a long, drudging
day of misleads, misinformation,
late drivers, rain, bad food - and
now this. I had not even had a ten-
second call to my phone to say hes
too busy - I was beginning to think
that Munkhjargal b was probably
having a good laugh on us.
I finally resigned myself to giving
up for the day, and left the street
corner with Chimge to find a meal.
We would have to wait to finally
experience Munkhjargal and his
Darkhad style of shamanism - but
we would discover it would be
worth the wait.

DARKHAD COSMOLOGY
It is believed that the Uhaa - Black
Darkhads - have lived on the eastern
short of Lake Khuvsgul for the past
six centuries or so. The Darkhads
are mentioned in The Secret
History of the Mongols 1 as being
some of the most trusted in
Chinggis Khans employ; but
because of the constant migration of
peoples in Inner Asia and its ever-

8
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changing landscape of epic songs,
poetry and legends, much about
After hours of standing outside a
them can only be conjectured. Stalinist block of flat, faceless, gray-
It has been said that Darkhad
shamanism is the most original and beige concrete buildings downtown,
least influenced by Buddhism and harsh judgments about Mongolians
Communism - but this is disputed by
some scholars, who point out that began to bleat from the herd of
Khuvsgul province was just as
inundated with Lamaism as the rest thoughts I call my mind
of Mongolia. However, during the
Communist era, shamans in the tripartite world however, insisting Left: the entry
remote areas of Khuvsgul were that the three worlds are not to a Communist
probably far enough from the separate but overlapping realities. era appartment
notorious persecutions to avoid These three worlds are further block in the city
being sent to the Soviet-style subdivided - the Upper World seen of Ulaanbaatar
gulags. Stalin ordered the murder of as comprised of nine Skies,
over 20,000 Buddhist monks, but Tengers, realms, or deities, which
many shamans survived. Nevertheless, was later divided into ninety-nine,
much was done to destroy ongons, This remarkably resembles with fifty-five White Tengers in the
ovoo, and other paraphernalia of modern scientific theories western realm and forty-four Black
shamanism at this time. postulating a Big Bang, and Tengers in the eastern realm.
Originally, there were three divisions into light and matter, and The Middle World consists of two
traditions of Darkhad shamans - the the interplay between starlight and realities - seen and unseen. The
Tengerleg B - Sky shamans; the cooled dust resulting in the life- Darkhads refer to these as the Light
Ongot shamans - those who work forms of today. Shamans would - ordinary, visible - and the Dark -
with ancestor spirits; and the Lu regard this similarity as only nonordinary, invisible - Worlds.
shamans - those who work with the natural, as they consider Light and Dark here, of course,
nagas and nature-spirits. These themselves able to directly perceive do not imply good and bad..
categories have blended together in cosmic origins while in a shamanic Though more than eighty years
recent centuries. Darkhad shamans state of consciousness. separate their fieldwork, Buryat
with whom I spoke reported that As in many shamanic scholar garma Sanjeev in 1935 and
they work with all three spirit cosmologies worldwide, the Swiss researcher Judith
sources - Tengers, Ongot, and Lu - Darkhads acknowledge a tripartite Hangartner in 2016 both failed to
as though that is the norm. world, the Upper World consisting find consistent belief systems
of powerful helping spirits, the among Darkhad shamans.
A family can have its own Middle World - our world - as a Shamanism is not a belief system,
shaman, called nuuts b [private mixed bag of pleasure and pain - taught and accepted, instead it
shaman]. These shamans work including helpful and nonhelpful consists of maps created from
only for their family members. spirits as well as our ordinary reality individual experiences of spiritual
Some use exclusively the hel khuur - and the Lower World, which is realities, and the practical methods
- jaw harp - but most use a drum. considered the source of all for working in them. Left: many
In Darkhad cosmology, matter manner of trouble. However, it was Because the shaman works in Mongolians
emerged from chaos, which not always seen this way, and it nonordinary reality, the maps and combine both
collapsed and divided into Father may have been only in later times methods naturally reflect a high shamanism and
Sky and Mother Earth. All life- that it was portrayed as such by degree of subjectivity. So Buddhism. Here
forms on earth developed from the Buddhists and Zoroastrians. Some researchers unfamiliar with the a Buddhist stupa
interaction between the two. Darkhads reject the concept of a ephemeral terrain of non-ordinary sits beside
reality are likely to see more an ovoo shrine
differences than commonalities. decked with blue
Becoming a shaman in the khadag offering
Darkhad tradition usually starts with scarves

It has been said that Darkhad

shamanism is the most original and
least influenced by Buddhism and
Communism - but this is disputed
by some scholars, who point out
that Khuvsgul province was just
as inundated with Lamaism as
the rest of Mongolia
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 Ongon refers to both the ethereal spirit itself, as
well as the material effigy or spirit house, which
is often, but not always, made in the form of a
doll. Shamans call upon their ongon spirits to
perform all manner of healings and divinations to
this day. Once a shaman is merged with an ongon
spirit, they can drink enormous amounts of vodka,
sit on fires, lick red-hot irons, and more

the onset of tatah unah - twitch and this day. Once a shaman is merged
fall - altered-consciousness seizures. with an ongon spirit, they can drink
These may progress to repetitive enormous amounts of vodka, sit on
fainting, known as unadag, which later fires, lick red-hot irons, and more.
develops into the mysterious bgiin In contrast to Siberia in the far
vchin, or shamans sickness. north; where the shamans ride the
Conventional medical treatment drum - or drumbeat- or spirits to other
produces no healing for this, and at this worlds, Darkhads report that drums
point, another shaman is usually called are generally considered vehicles on
in to determine whether it is a common which the ongon spirit travels from
illness or indeed bgiin vchin. their worlds to ours. This is quite a
If it is considered shaman change of perspective from the
sickness, a shamanic teacher or common concept of shamanic
initiator may be assigned, or chosen journeying.
by divination; or in some cases the According to most scholarly
spirits - ongon [ongot], or udam - reports, Darkhad shamanism would
lineage-initiating spirits known as appear to almost entirely consist of
udha in standard Mongolian - are invoking the ongon spirits, who are
already present and attempting to often considered to be the souls of
teach or initiate the novice. shamans of previous generations.
The illness is most often a result of Some ongons might be considered
resisting and not heeding the call of the all-compassionate, but in most cases
spirits. Once the initiate learns to enter they appear to be ethnocentric spirits
a shamanic trance state with intention, who have highly individual histories -
and develops some level of control over sometimes tragic - and who must be
perceptions in Haranhuui - the Dark appeased and cared for if they are to
World, the illness usually subsides, and work for the shaman.
the novice learns to work with the After death, shamans become
spirits and to heal others. ongon spirits, and are honoured and
The word udam - origin spirit - is called upon by living shamans. They
the Darkhad word for the standard differ from the Tenger spirits of the
Mongolian term udha, or shamanic- Upper World, who seem to be more
lineage spirit. These spirits are in like deities and belong to
charge of the process of transforming transcendent, almost mythic realms.
a person into a shaman. Ongon are
described as hii uzegdel mayagaar - Swiss shamanic researcher Judith
beings of air or gas - and the shaman Hangartner claims that most Darkhad
perceives them as if in a dream. shamans no longer journey to other
The concept of the ongon is worlds, as ascents to the sky are
essential to Mongolian shamanism, absent from most accounts by
which seems to be primarily one of shamans, but I have found this to be
invoking spirits from the other worlds simply an omission by the shamans - a
into ours - rather than journeying to trade secret that is not readily revealed
those spirits in their worlds. The term to outsiders. I believe many shamans
ongon refers to both the ethereal spirit assume that researchers and other
itself as well as the material effigy or noninitiates cannot possibly understand
spirit house, which is often, but not what ecstatic journeying truly entails,
always, made in the form of a doll. and therefore simply do not discuss it.
Shamans in Mongolia call upon Hangartner, on the other hand,
their ongon spirits to perform all reports that Darkhad shamans merge
manner of healings and divinations to journeying and embodying into a

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single inspirational practice, in interviewed acknowledged some conscious mind in self-defense. This Opposite - top:
which the shamans say they are form of multiple movement of souls appears to correspond to the modern carved wooden
uhaangui - unconscious in and out of incarnation. psychological notion of dissociation. ongon figure
I would say that they are not It may be that Darkhad shamans In the shamanic world, it results in a represents a
unconscious, but rather in a take the view - like most other need for soul-portion retrieval. spirit and acts
shamanic trance state. It is the shamans worldwide - that this life Cataleptic trance - loss of normal as a house for
meeting of two worlds, merging is more important for us to focus consciousness, with rigidity of the that spirit
shamanic journeying to other on now; that we must live fully in body - can be found in Darkhad Mongolian or
worlds, and inviting their helping the present rather than be overly shamanism, and can happen at any Evenki people,
spirits into this world - and often concerned about other lives. given moment. Assistants usually early C20th
embodying them. revive the shaman quickly, though
I understand this from my first Darkhad shamans, like other the shaman may remain uhaangui - Opposite -
hand experience, but it is not easy Mongolian shamans, experience that is, with no memory of the bottom: carved
to explain in ordinary terms. the concept of soul as a continuum merging or switching experience. wooden ongon
Shamanic practice is not always an of consciousness. They speak of Some Darkhad shamans figure, complete
either-or situation - journeying out three souls, or soul aspects. I movements start with three upward with hair and
to other worlds versus inviting gathered from researchers and jumps, followed by drumbeats iron jingle cones
spirits from elsewhere into ours - from the shamans I interviewed accompanied by swaying or sometimes representing
but often a meeting of both. that there is, first, an eternal pawing about like an animal. a shamans spirit
There are home ongons and oversoul aspect; then a second The tamlaga - invocation songs - Mongolian
field ongons, each with their own aspect, a vital soul, akin to an of a shaman may be partly liturgical, early C20th
outdoor spirit house of fetish doll. astral personality complex, which and partly spontaneous - the spirits
Sky, land, and water also each incarnates time and again as a teach these songs directly to the
have their own tutelary spirits, but process of development; and a shaman. Darkhad ongon sometimes
many old field ongon fetishes were third soul aspect related to a near- speak Tuvan, the language of their
burned by the Communists. physical energy associated with the Siberian cousins to the northwest.
It has been reported that very temporary physical body.
Darkhad shamans reject The Darkhad see the vital soul as MEETING MUNKHJARGAL B Below:a
reincarnation, believing that souls migrating from life to life, and say Days of waiting eventually became Darkhad shaman
remain in the dark realms of the that portions of this soul can a week, which provided me with an in trance during
dead forever, but there does not sometimes leave the body due to opportunity to relearn patience. We a ceremony in
seem to be universal agreement in fright, shock, or trauma, in which the arrived at Munkhjargal bs flat in the his ger out on
this area, as all of the shamans I attention moves away from the early evening to discover that part of the steppes

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Below: the audience were already there, A family who had arrived early, This assistant is called the
Munkhjargal seeking personal divinations in carrying juniper branches, were helmerch - and is usually a relative,
bows before his advance of the evenings ceremony. busily tying white paper khadags or an apprentice in training to
ongon altar in an We brought tahil - offerings of money, [offering scarfs] to them. Blessings become a shaman themselves.
appartment in and idee - offerings of white food would enter these flag-like More persons now entered,
Ulaanbaatar such as yoghurt and milk. receptacles when the spirits arrived. some murmuring in the Darkhad
Chimge and I introduced The shamans tushee - assistant dialect and placing tahil here and
ourselves, although the recognition - prepared Munkhjargals costume there. More assistants gathered
in Munkhjargals watery eyes was and the altar arrangements, and and arranged them. The majority
clear enough, as we had met before warmed the shamans drum over a were onlookers, but all would
in the altar room of the Shaman large candle to let the heat enliven it participate - all would be part of the
Partys political headquarters. and pull the skin taut for a richer sound. spirit visitation and blessing,
The evening commenced, Another assistant was there to creating a living spirituality.
despite Chimge struggling admirably interpret the message of the spirits The hoimor, or altar, rested
with the Darkhad accent and dialect. which emerges from the shaman. against the north wall, as is usual
in Mongolia. The west side was for
guests, and the east side for
clients and family members.
Today there was more room on
the east side, so we were asked
to sit with the clients. The door
area - called the d - was left
open and unoccupied in case
spiritual expulsions occurred
during the ceremony.

Evening fell, lights were darkened,

and the room was lit by only a small
fire and by flickering candlelight; it
was too dark for cameras.
Munkhjargal mumbled invocations
to the spirits to come and enjoy the
food offerings on the altar. He was
now starting to shift from normal
into shamanic consciousness, but
still coming and going between the
two - the state of oron garan.
Songs of praise - called matgaal,
daatgal - prayer, and ddalga -
invocation continued, as the entire
room began to fill with a panoply of
invisible presences. Libations of milk
and vodka were poured on both the
altar and the fire.
Munkhjargal staggered toward
his ceremonial reindeer boots, which
his assistants had at the ready. They
purified the boots with juniper smoke
while Munkhjargal mumbled more
prayers and invocation songs. Then
came his shamans jacket, which
was smudged and purified by even
more juniper smoke.
Munkhjargals assistant and
interpreter dressed him as he
turned in the shadowy firelight.
Merging with his helping spirits was
now imminent.
Finally, the shaman donned his
headgear and suddenly he took a
huge leap backward as he fully
merged with his helping spirit,
crashing to the floor with an
enormous thump!
The audience held its breath.
The enspirited-shaman now - not

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Munkhjargal alone, but a merged
being - rose and imbibed a small
all takers. The ceremony had been
a success - the spirits were
Munkhjargal and his spirits leapt
cup of vodka offered by his invoked, arrived, and imparted their about in the small space, beating the
assistants. He took up the drum, wisdom, healings, and blessings.
and began to beat it powerfully. drum wildly - truly a master of two
Munkhjargal and his spirits leapt A SHAMAN SHARES HIS TALE realities, the shaman remarkably
about in the small space, beating I didnt want to become a
the drum wildly - truly a master of shaman, said Munkhjargal in a neither stepped on the fire, or on
two realities, the shaman thin, raspy voice as he took a long
remarkably neither stepped on the drag from his Altan Navchis bystanders, nor crashed into anything
fire or on bystanders, nor crashed cigarette - a popular brand in in the crowded room, missing them
into anything in the crowded room, Mongolia. My paternal grandfather
missing them on all sides by mere insisted that I take his hereditary on all sides by mere inches. He
inches. He chanted prayers for a shamanic implements, or else they
spell, and then broke forth in would be given away to others.
chanted prayers for a spell, and then
hysterical laughter. His watery eyes rolled back in broke into hysterical laughter
Finally, the spirit itself started to his head briefly, and he smiled. I
sing through Munkhjargal, and the went into the army at age eighteen, above and Earth below, and
shamans interpreter stepped in. One but I already knew that a spirit was collapsed them, breathing the power
by one, each ongon spirit spoke to following me. As soon as I left the first into the mans right nostril, then
family members about their army, my first teacher appeared - a his left, then both. The client lived.
successes and misfortunes, and Darkhad lama who taught me all Accolades rose from the crowd
advised them on these, and the manner of shamanistic Lamaism upon hearing this, as they nodded
shaman beat his drum furiously each [Buddhism]. Then, when I was to each other, toasting and tipping
time one ongon spirit left and another ready, my shaman teachers came - cups of vodka to their lips. The
arrived. The family was astonished by first a female, then a male. shaman remained impassive.
the accuracy of the divinations. Sometimes I hlgleh - to ride
Some spirits were humorous; The audience leaned closer to an animal spirit - and I cut the cords
others were fierce. Illness, hear the foreign guests questions of hel-am - malicious gossip - free
marriage, studies, business - and, more importantly, from my clients, though I rarely
matters, family strife - nearly every Munkhjargals answers - all the remember much of anything that
topic was covered. while with no break in the flow of happens during the ceremonies.
While in Munkhjargal - who vodka, food, and tobacco. The spirits and I change places,
moved according to their control - Chimge, tightly pressed and Im completely uhaangui -
some ongon spirits leapt forth to between us, performed admirably lacking memory or conscious
extract negativities from a client, by under the gaze of so many, and awareness. I exit from about here.
wildly brushing a tree-branch whisk with so much power lingering in the He indicated a space about four
over and around them. room after the ceremony. fingers above his head. This got my
Another spirit made strange My first healing was memorable. attention, as I had experienced the
animal sounds, and at times I had no idea what I was doing, but I very same thing above my head
Munkhjargal appeared to be felt I was in touch with the spirits during some Central American Below:
choking or vomiting. and their power. A man had shamanic initiations, and I smiled. small copper
This continued for hours, and collapsed and fallen unconscious - He nodded at me and grinned, and cloth ongon
Chimge finally stopped attempting he had no breath, no heartbeat. I as though he had read my figures as part of
to translate as we both slumped gathered the power of Heaven thoughts. I often get a message a shamans altar
against the wall, dazed by the
spectacle.
Then, without warning, the
shaman dramatically threw his
drumstick into a corner of the
room, signalling a close to the
session. His assistants rushed to
undress him in reverse order -
headdress, jacket, then boots. He
was disengaging from his ongon
spirit now, and we began to have a
sense once again of the man we
met before the ceremony started.
Munkhjargal soon appeared as a
mere mortal once again. He offered
closing prayers, offerings, and
libations to the altar and to the fire.
overhead lights returned, and the
blessed idee offerings were passed
out to the audience; more vodka
was poured, and cigarettes given to

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Evening fell, lights were darkened, Depossession work is
considered a routine activity for
have less protection. Among the
Darkhad, the shamans costume is
and the room was lit by only a small many shamans - one that has been both his doorway and his protection.
lost to the modern world of
fire and by flickering candlelight; psychology and psychotherapy, The weeks wait had been more
it was too dark for cameras. with some notable exceptions. than worth it. I found my body subtly
Attachment of entities to an vibrating with the evenings power.
Munkhjargal mumbled invocations alcoholic individual could be one of Chimge and I left late that night to
the reasons so many alcoholics and find the wet streets of Ulaanbaatar
to the spirits to come and enjoy other addicts find it so difficult to sparkling in the city lights.
the food offerings on the altar become - and stay - sober. This We walked to find a main road
may not be a popularly accepted with taxis, and collapsed in the
just as I return, though, that I can concept, but this shamanic view back seat when ours arrived. A
remember afterward. may reflect a spiritual reality - or at tired and satisfied silence, perhaps
I asked about alcohol and least provide an alternative a blessing of the spirits,
shamanism. Munkhjargal replied, approach to treatment. accompanied our ride back
The shaman consumes alcohol not
for himself, but for his helping Over 300 different shamanic
spirits. In moderation, alcohol can be healing and divination techniques NOTES:
1: The Secret History of the Mongols is
beneficial for the average person, exist, continued Munkhjargal, but the oldest surviving Mongolian-language
but in excess, one risks agsan - no single shaman uses them all. literary work. It was written for the Mongol
alcohol-induced spirit possession - one that I do use is mouth-harp royal family some time soon after Chinggis
which often leads to violence. healing: First I blow a helping spirit (Genghis) Khan's death in 1227CE, by an
anonymous author.
into the hel khuur - mouth harp.
Researchers of Darkhad culture With a second breath, I inhale Kevin Turner is the Director for Asia for
point out that alcohol abuse is negativities from the client into the The Foundation for Shamanic Studies
more likely caused by economic harp, and then I quickly exhale and (FSS), a teaching faculty member, and a
downturns than by spirit possession expel them into fire, or outside. field research associate. After years of
study with yogis, monks and lamas in
- a theory to be expected from We discussed psychopomp work India, Nepal, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and
economists, anthropologists, and briefly, and he warned about Japan, Kevin met Michael Harner in 1997
sociologists. Indeed, detoxifying afterward. and began his shamanic path. He has
overconsumption of alcohol can be The ukheeriin buzar - unclean worked with shamans in Mongolia,
Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, and Mexico. Born
triggered or exacerbated by fragments - of the dead surround in Arizona, USA, Kevin has lived in Asia
economic ebbs and flows. graveyards and hospitals, so you for over 25 years and currently teaches in
From the shamans viewpoint, must be careful to cleanse before nine countries in Asia.
alcohol as a depressant weakens and after this work. www.shamanism-asia.com
the average persons spiritual I explained that I usually did my
defense system. Drinking to the shamanic work without a costume, This article is an abridged and edited
extract from Kevins new book Sky
point of blacking out is almost and he replied, Some shamans have Shamans of Mongolia; Meetings with
universally acknowledged by no costumes at all, and only work with Remarkable Healers. Read a review of
shamans as one of the worst mouth harps - but these shamans the book in this issue of Sacred Hoop.
spiritual blunders one
can perform,
weakening a person
and making them
susceptible to
intrusions from
entities here in the
Middle World who
may be suffering a
state of confusion,
anger, or depression,
or not even realising
that they are dead.
These souls may be
so attached to the
sensation of alcohol
intoxication that they
may even wait for
drinkers to weaken
themselves with
Right: alcohol, so that they
butter lamps and can enter their
small offerings bodies and once
of food on a again experience that
shamans altar sensation.

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 On Being a Shaman
Mary Mueller Shutan

Recently a top-ten list of

how to know if you are a shaman
has been making the rounds of social media,
such as Facebook. This is a rather typical new-age list of
things which make the reader feel special if they have experienced
them. The list includes such things as a history of childhood trauma,
feeling you are an introvert, having numerous vivid dreams and having
a sense of being at home in nature. All of these apparently mean that
if you have them, you have a calling to be a shaman in modern society

O ne of my own shamanic teachers

once said to me: Any white
person who has had trauma, thinks
that they are a shaman these days,
This is important, because
becoming a shaman or spiritual
worker of any sort - while being at its
core a calling - is also actual work.
they fit criteria on a list they read
on a website.
Being a shaman is something
that relatively few people have the
and this sentiment certanly seems to Being a spiritual worker, means that capabilities of doing. I say this not to
be true: feel out of place, sensitive, you are of service to your community perpetuate any idea of specialness -
have a horrible childhood? Then you - however you define that. which as I said many disaffected
must indeed be a shaman. Being a shaman is not a self-help people, drawn to spiritual work seem
We really seem to want our path, or a personal health path of to desperately need - but simply to
experiences - especially our pain - becoming whole again; instead, it is point out that a true shaman has
to mean something, and top-ten a path of service, similar to becoming traits that most people do not.
lists, such as the one I mentioned, a plumber, or school teacher, or A shaman must be able to work
posted out to the Western new-age caretaker, or doctor, or priest. with the spirits and beings of
shamanic movement reinforce this And it is not a superficial thing varying sorts. These spirits are not
- you are special because you have either, to be of effective service self-created energies, or
suffered, and being a shaman is means that you have put in years psychological archetypes, or
the reason for your suffering. No (or often decades) of direct disassociated aspects of the self -
wonder these kind of messages experience, endured the difficulties they are spirits.
are so appealing to many people. of your spiritual path, and learned A shaman needs to have the
to traverse the spirit realms in ways ability to see, and directly
What is interesting about the that are of benefit to others in your experience other spirit beings
Western be your own shaman community. It means being an beyond themselves and they
phenomenon, is that it often seems intermediary between the spirits need to be able to communicate
to be perpetuated by authors and and the people. with these spirit beings, who are as
shamanic teachers, but in my And its a path that takes a long complex as any human, and who
experience, it seems extraordinarily time to develop - its not something are not singularly dark or light,
rare to see many of these authors learned in a weekend, and certainly or compassionate or
and teachers do much actual not something a person is uncompassionate - just as none
shamanic work themselves. automatically ready for because of us are purely those things either.

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 know only too well that exploring their own ancestry - their
Shamanism is not a path of love and they can tell their students own spiritual culture - digging down
that they are special in deep into their own backyard.
light - as it is often made out to be - some way, sometimes In online spiritual communities
nor is it safe; instead it is work that even making up initiations
or giving certificates
there are many discussions (and
often arguments) about the very
continually opens you in both joyful announcing that their term shaman too, about what the
graduates are now a term means, and who can use it,
and distressing ways shaman or have passed a and so forth.
shamanic course - These can occasionally be
whether or not the student interesting discussions, but in
has any actual ability, or reality most of them are steeped in
have enough experience illusions about the reality of
to effectively work for their shamanism - such as those ideas
community. perpetuated by new-age authors
Such students may and psychologists, who may have
never get beyond the little real idea of what actual
romantic illusions traditional shamanism entails.
perpetuated by the While the term shaman
modern Western shamanic certainly did, of course, come from
movement. They may a specific culture, it has now taken
never generate a deeper on a life of its own.
level of understanding of I seem to see what appears to
the cultures they have be a form of arrogance within
been taught about, and workshop shamans - those
initiations that they may people who has appropriated the
have undergone. They term for their own use - and anger
may never realise that and animosity amongst many of the
these initiations, and any worlds indigenous people, who
resulting certificates, may have had so much taken from them
not be worth the paper already, only to have spiritual
they are written on. tourists romanticise their culture,
and try to usurp their spirituality.
Another common factor
currently, seems to be a With the word shaman now
lack of knowledge which often just another term for a mix of
people have about their self-help psychology and creative
own ancestral culture. visualisation techniques in the West,
Above: Siberian Anyone without the ability to work Workshops often advertise I think it is quite possible that many
shamans drum with these spirit beings is not really exotic spirituality, and many people of the participants of new-age
and leather doing shamanic work. Without this rush to the popular spiritual culture shamanic workshops are, in reality,
drum bag. ability one is simply doing mental or of the day. This used to be Native self-creating a whole host of spirit
Probably Tofalar psychological work, which can be American medicine wheel helpers, guides, power animals, and
people. Early helpful, but is something very teachings, but in recent years this energies of varying sorts.
C20th different to shamanism in the real appears to have shifted on to These creations may indeed
sense of the word. Peruvian shamanism. This allows help them with their self-healing,
The mental and the spiritual for the modern spiritual aspirant to but there is, I think, a danger that
realms are two distinct things, and romanticise a culture without they also continue that sense of
due to the misunderstandings of understanding that cultures actual feeling special, and, if they are
pop psychology - which has often history, mythology, or the present- not truly independent spirits, these
taken on aspects of shamanism as day reality of that culture. self-created beings can end up
another form of self-help - there is, The spiritual aspirant can then saying things to their creator which
i believe, a basic and distinct feel as if they are standing and their creator wants to hear. These
misunderstanding of the nature of associated with the proverbial other self-created spirits' are typically
spiritual work as a whole. - a culture outside of their own - and one-dimensional, without much if
announce that they are now part of any personality, and often seemed
In modern Western society, we something bigger, which they can to be singularly focused on helping
seem to have a spiritual vacuum - a view as mystical and romantic. They the practitioner, without any needs
void within ourselves - and because don't have to deal with the messy or wants of their own and without a
of this people often rush out to every-day reality of that culture, and helping involvement within the
attend shamanic workshops - often by removing themselves from their wider community.
at spiritual vacation spots - looking own Western culture they can neatly
for initiations and experiences in sidestep the responsibility of being in While doing a degree of
order to fill this void. that one too. personal psychotherapeutic work is
Shamanism is being sold as a I think this is one of the biggest essential for anyone pursuing a
commodity, and many who sell it reasons so few people avoid spiritual path, there is a distinct

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difference between this self-help We might realise that we can Mary Mueller Shutan was fascinated by Below: Mongolian
type of work and true spiritual work. come into our own strength, our own mythology, spirits, the occult, magic, and shaman wearing a
different religions and spiritual paths since
The biggest difference of course ancestry, our own cultures, without she was a child. It wasnt until she was in fringed, vulture
being the actually interaction with having to romanticise, fetishise, or her early twenties that she stopped feathered face
spirit beings outside of the self. appropriate anothers ways. Perhaps denying her own experiences and started mask, They are in
It seems to me that it is a rarity then we can learn that the spirit looking for answers, initially studying trance - taken
acupuncture and Chinese medicine. She
for people to actually traverse the world is all around us - and to reach over by their
then developed and interest in shamanism
spirit worlds and meet real spirits - it we do not need to participate in and folk, chaos, and ceremonial magic, helper spirit - and
as they are instead only meeting any form of spiritual tourism. studying with curanderos and several other the spirit is giving
self-created parts of themselves Perhaps then we will know spiritual healers who taught her to see a blessing
which masquerade as spirits. If this enough to realise that many of the beyond the illusions and experiences
shed had. Mary is the author of The
is indeed the case, is it any wonder initiations, and the words of Spiritual Awakening Guide (2016).
that many teachers and authors teachers and gurus and authors - www.maryshutan.com
then look for an ever wider who tell us we are special and [email protected]
audience, so as to perpetuate the can be shamans - are false or at
myth that anyone can be a best misrepresentative. Perhaps NOTES:
1: The Post Ten signs that youre
shaman. This romanticises the we will then be able to begin to a shaman and dont know it:
idea that shamanic work is safe really question things. www.bit.ly/Ten-Signs
and all about love and light, and
is something which can be done As the modern Being a shaman is not a self-help path, or
on the occasional weekend here shamanic movement,
and there. and its merging with a personal health path of becoming whole
If it was otherwise, the popular
movement - which often seeks to
the psychology and
self-help schools,
again; instead, it is a path of service, similar
say how exciting it is to do seemingly not going to becoming a plumber, or school teacher,
shamanic work - would, I think, out of fashion any
certainly lessen; as becoming a time soon, we can, or caretaker, or doctor, or priest. It means
competent spiritual worker takes as individuals, move that you are of service to your community
an incredible amount of time, beyond being
effort, and fortitude, as well as a placated by those
natural aptitude. who seek to tell us
Shamanism is not a path of how special we
love and light - as it is often made are, and come into
out to be - nor is it safe; instead it our own direct
is work that continually opens you experience of
in both joyful and distressing ways. spirituality.
We can realise
Certainly wanting to heal perhaps that
oneself - to be as solid and modern psycho-
grounded in ones life as much as spiritual methods
possible - is a wonderful and may be helpful,
important thing. But bringing real but unless we
self-realisation to this work is also have the ability -
essential, as by developing that we and feel the
begin to become more aware of necessity to put in
those who seek to commercialise decades of work
the shamanic path. We need to be in order to be a
able to determine who are the good spirit
people who are only using workers - we are
psychological self-help methods, not shamans.
and who are the people who We might all
actually have a shamanic calling, have a spiritual
and a natural aptitude towards path, but not
serving their community; and ability everyone is called
to be one of those age-old to be of service to
intermediaries between the spirit their community,
realms and ordinary reality. to be an
intermediary
When we look beyond the between the
surface - when we go beyond the spirits and ordinary
current new-age model and its reality.
romanticised versions of what a And that, at the
shaman is - we might find that end of the day is
what we were told to be true, by okay - not
our teachers and favourite authors, everyone is meant
is simply incorrect. to be a plumber.

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 Soul
Birds
Liminality and
Transformation
Brian Taylor

Birds were - and in many

traditions still are - strongly
associated with beliefs
about the survival of death,
with shamanistic practice,
and with divination. This
article attempts a brief
overview of the widespread
pre-modern conviction that
birds act as intermediaries
between humans and
a divine realm

Right: painting cave of Lascaux shown with a

of an ithyphallic bird mask or head, and a similarly
man with a drawn bird either perched on, or
birds head and forming the carved head of, a pole
a possible bird- beside him. This image has
headed staff acquired almost iconic status in
from the recent years, not least because it
Lascaux caves, may represent a proto-shamanic
SW France scene, although this possibility -
popularised by Mircea Eliade,
author of the book Shamanism:
Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy -
has been contested by others.
But whatever
its meaning,
amongst the two
thousand some
images found in the
Lascaux cave system,
he is one of the only
The human interest in birds goes found at the Peche Merle cave site human figures; and his
back a long way. A carving of a in the Midi-Pyrnes region of location, within a deep terminal
water bird in flight, created in France, and the Lithuanian- chamber of the cave, suggests a
mammoth ivory and found in a cave American archaeologist Marija culturally sensitive function. Siting
in the Swabian Jura - a low Gimbutas - known for her research such emphatic bird imagery at the
mountain range in Germany - has into European Palaeolithic and very depths of an important cave
Inset: stylised, been dated to about 30,000 years Neolithic cultures - has interpreted would certainly have been a powerful
Late Palaeolithic old; and there is a finger drawn owl the various Palaeolithic bird-women way of evoking flight, whether
ornithomorphic in a cave at Chauvet, in southern that have been discovered as during a shamanic rite or at the point
female figurine France, from the same era. possible early evocations of a of death.
carved from The earliest known universal Bird Goddess.
mammoth ivory, ornithomporphic [bird-human] figure There is also a ithyphallic 1 Like Eliades work, Marija
Ukraine seems to be a bird-headed woman image of a bird-man in the French Gimbutas work has also been

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 Left:
models of
flying swans
carved from
mammoth ivory.
Malta, Siberia.
Paleolithic
C20,000 BCE

cranes were perceived as especially

important in the Northern European
Despite this, there is Neolithic, and that birds may have
however, still copious been regarded as bearers between
archaeological evidence for the human and spirit worlds?
cultural importance of birds during
the neolithic period.
Left: a painting
Lynn Meskell and British
of the ba bird
archaeologist Ian Hodder point out
soul from a
widespread symbolic association
papyrus. Egypt
between birds and death across
C500300 BCE
neolithic Turkey and the Middle
East. Drawing on ethnographic
parallels, archaeologists have
discussed the possibility of crane
and vulture dances being Animals, perhaps especially
performed at Catalhyk, an birds, preoccupied the ancient
critisised by subsequent researchers, important neolithic settlement Egyptian imagination, and their art
and her concept of a universal Bird discovered in Southern Turkey. This abounds with birds. Many of their
and Snake Goddess has been was a culture where engagement deities were represented in bird or Far Left: carved
rejected by subsequent generations with death was intimate and bird-headed form, and some were neolithic vulture
of feminist archaeologists. Stanford pervasive the dead were buried believed to manifest as birds. One stone at
University anthropologist Lynn beneath the floors of houses and creation myth describes a goose - Catalhyk,
Meskell has argued that a meta- with distinctive vulture iconography. the great cackler - breaking the Turkey
narrative of the fall of natural At two large neolithic burial sites primordial silence and laying her
humanity from a mythic matriarchal in Northern Europe - Ajvide in cosmic egg upon the watery abyss.
origin has given rise to: an Swedish Gotland, and Zvejnieki in In his commentary on the Egyptian
archaeology of desire. Latvia - a striking preponderance Book of the Dead, John Taylor, of
of the wingbones of water birds - the Ancient Egypt Department in the Below: carved
including ducks, the common British Museum, writes that: more bone bird,
crane, great cormorants, whooper than perhaps any other society they found at the
swans and guillemots - have been directed a vast amount of their material foot of a grave at
found during excavations. At some culture to counteracting death. Zvejnieki, Latvia.
sites a particular species
predominates, suggesting a
totemic mutual affiliation between
humans and that bird in question.
The use of birds wings in child
burials is particularly poignant, as at
Bgebakken, a site in Denmark,
where a young woman was buried
with a child. The childs body lay on
a swans wing. In a further neolithic
site excavated in Estonia, another
child was buried holding part of a
cranes wing in each hand.
Although there is no way of
ascertaining the local meaning of
cultural detail, ethnographic
evidence suggests that swans and

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Right: a ba soul
bird on the
footpiece from
a coffin. Egypt
C900700 BCE
Painted wood and
plaster
28 x 32.1 x 14.3 cm

Far right top:

mummified ibis
offering. Egypt
C500300 BCE

Below: Anubis The Egyptian Book of the Dead objects of veneration on an The underworld depicted here is
weighs the heart contains several chapters devoted industrial scale. a fearful place whose residents see
(in its canopic jar) to helping the souls of the no light, eat clay and dust, have no
on the Scales of deceased transmigrate into bird According to feminist accounts hope of escape, and are dressed
Truth, against form in order to go forth by day the prototypical Sumerian hero- like birds in coats of feathers.
the goddess into the sunlit world. myth the Epic of Gilgamesh was Migrating to Siberia, we find
Maats ostrich The winged Goddess Maat written during an increasingly bronze age rock art that appears to
feather. The weighed the hearts of the dead violent patriarchal era. prefigure the cosmology of
crocodile headed against an ostrich feather, and the In one scene Gilgameshs historical shamanism, and even the
devourer, Ba - or personal soul - was said second self - the hairy wild man ornithomorphic detail characteristic
Ammit, waits to hover over the body in the form Enkidu - has a prophetic dream of the traditional costumes.
behind the scribe of a bird before being re-united about his death. In the dream a Eliade interpreted ecstatic soul
god Thoth, ready with the universal Ka soul. man with the expression of a flight as evidence that shamanism
to eat the souls Sadly for birds such as the thunderbird and the talons of an was an early precursor to
of all those who sacred ibis, the ancient Egyptians Eagle, abducts him and takes him transcendental religion - including the
fail the test sacrificed and mummified their down to the house of darkness. winged souls of Christianity. although

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Eliade's perspective has been in Ireland. Not surprisingly, Left: the Burney
challenged by advocates of earth- folklorists have concluded that Relief, a terracotta
based spirituality, recent beliefs about birds mediating plaque showing an
commentators still argue that bird between humans and a divine unknown winged
symbolism played a crucial role in realm, and human souls goddess (generally
shamanic practice. assuming the form of a bird, are thought to be
both ancient and widespread. either Lilith,
Birdwatchers called dagil There is, of course, a tradition in Inanna-Ishtar, or
issuri in Babylon, and Britain and elsewhere, that sea Ereshkigal).
oinoskopoi in ancient Greece birds such as gulls and storm Mesopotamian
were once interpreters of bird petrels can embody the souls of 1800-1750 BCE
omens. The Greek word for bird - drowned sailors. Throughout the
ornis - came to mean portent, Hellenistic Greek world, and
and in modern English, across the Roman world, birds Below: the Raven
auspicious is derived from the eggs were placed in graves. Crown, an early
Latin words avis - a bird - and I became interested in this version of the
specere, to watch. material after a series of startling royal crown of
Detailed manuals for corvid encounters with birds illuminated Bhutan. Silk
divination were published in ninth a difficult and complex brocade and
century Tibet, and not much later bereavement. silver. C19th

Detailed manuals for corvid

divination were published
in ninth century Tibet, and
not much later in Ireland.
Not surprisingly, folklorists
have concluded that beliefs
about birds mediating
between humans and
a divine realm, and
human souls assuming
the form of a bird,
are both ancient
and widespread

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 time of a death. All of which opens
up some very interesting questions.
As an animist I am concerned
that we learn to work with birds in
ways that acknowledge the depth
of relationship and reciprocity that is
possible across species boundaries.
This, of course, necessarily entails
learning about and respecting the
needs of particular birds, and doing
what we can to protect local wild
habitats in a time of anthropogenic
mass extinctions.
Brian Taylor worked as a community
development worker, mainly for users and
survivors of psychiatric services, and
completed a PhD in applied social
sciences. He has written on 'mental
health', astrology, and animism, and has
had a close affinity with kingfishers since
they helped him survive a protracted
human and other-than-human bereavement some twenty-five years ago.
deaths. Peter Fenwick, a British
A referenced version of this article,
psychiatrist who has studied End of and contact form can be found at:
Life experiences, has found that www.animistjottings.wordpress.com
personally significant birds
often appear in the flesh, or NOTES:
1: An ithyphallic Image is one which
in dreams, around the is a representation of a male with
an erect penis.

Above: iron It soon became clear to

water birds me that the rational scientific
(probably loons) discourses of ecology and
and other metal ornithology bracketed out a
spirit objects on whole domain of experience
a shamans coat. - an entire range of
Yakut people. phenomena which had
Siberia Late become fundamental to my
C19th understanding of the
natural world.
Top right: ritual I also realised that I was
wooden ducks far from alone, both in
on poles acknowledging such
representing a experiences, and in reaching this
shamans helper conclusion about the scientific
spirits. Koyak paradigm. Many of our finest
people. Siberia naturalists describe moments of
Late C19th inter-species communion, and convey
a sense of what might be called the
Right: a magic of nature.
shamans drum Furthermore, intimate, numinous, or
with iron loon spiritual encounters with birds often seem to
bird handle. occur around moments of biographical crisis,
Evenk People, and especially - if the reports I have been able
Siberia. C19th to document are anything to go by - around

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T he mother wound is the pain of
being a woman, passed down
through generations of women in
patriarchal cultures; and it includes Healing
Mother
the dysfunctional coping mechanisms
that are used to process that pain.
The mother wound includes the
pain of: comparison - not feeling
the
Wound
good enough - shame - a
consistent background sense that
there is something wrong with you
- attenuation - feeling you must
remain small in order to be loved -
guilt - for wanting more than you
currently have.
The mother wound can manifest
as: not being your full self because
you dont want to threaten others -
having a high tolerance for poor
treatment from others - emotional
care-taking - feeling competitive
with other women - self-sabotage -
being overly rigid and dominating -
conditions such as eating disorders, Bethany Webster
depression and addictions.
What many people do not realise
In our patriarchal, male-
dominated culture, women are
is that the core issue at the centre
conditioned to think of themselves of womens empowerment is
as less-than and not deserving or the mother wound. Difficulty
worthy. This feeling of less-than
has been internalised and passed
and challenges between
down through countless mothers and daughters
generations of women. are rampant and
The cultural atmosphere of
female oppression puts daughters
widespread but
in a double bind. Simply put, if a not openly spoken
daughter internalises her mothers about. The taboo
unconscious beliefs (which is
generally some subtle form of Im about speaking
not good enough), then she has of the pain of the
her mothers approval, but has in mother wound is what
some way betrayed herself and her
own potential. keeps it in place, and
However, if she doesnt keeps it hidden in
internalise her mothers shadow, festering
unconscious beliefs, and her own
limitations - but rather affirms her and out of view
own power and potential - she is
aware that her mother may
unconsciously see this as a
personal rejection. The daughter rage at having had to give up parts If we avoid dealing with the pain
doesnt want to risk losing her of herself in her own life. associated with one of the most
mothers love and approval, so Her compassion for her mother, primary and foundational relationships
internalising these limiting, a desire to please her, and a fear in our lives - that with our mothers -
unconscious beliefs is a form of of conflict may cause her to we are missing a pivotal opportunity
loyalty and emotional survival for convince herself that its safer to to discover the truth of who we are
the daughter. shrink and remain small. and to authentically and joyfully live
It may feel dangerous for a that truth.
woman to actualise her full A common objection to facing
potential, because it may mean and healing the mother wound is to PERPETUATING STEREOTYPES
risking some form of rejection by let the past be in the past. There are several stereotypes
her mother. This is because the However, we never truly escape which perpetuate the mother
daughter may unconsciously sense from or bury the past, it lives in the wound including: look at
that her full empowerment may present as the obstacles and everything your mother did for you!
trigger the mothers sadness or challenges which we face every day. (said by other people) - my mother

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 sacrificed so much for me, I would by being a woman and mother in culture, is very hard on mothers,
be so selfish to do what she could this culture. offering little support and many are
not do. - I dont want to make her And yet, this is what many raising children alone. Our society
feel bad. - I owe loyalty to my women do for their mothers very has several unspoken messages to
mother no matter what - If I upset early on in childhood: they mothers, which include: if
her, she will think I dont value her. unconsciously make a decision to motherhood is difficult then its your
The daughter may experience not abandon or betray their own fault. - shame on you if youre
fears about fulfilling her potential, mothers by becoming too not super-human. - there are
because she may fear leaving her successful, too smart or too 'natural mothers' for whom
mother behind. She may fear her adventurous. This decision is motherhood is easy. if you are not
mother feeling threatened by her made out of love, loyalty and a true one of these, there is something
dreams or ambitions. She may fear need for approval and emotional deeply wrong with you. - youre
uncomfortable feelings from her support from the mother. supposed to be capable of handling
mother, such as envy or anger. All Many of us confuse being loyal it all with ease: having well-behaved
of this is usually very unconscious to our mothers with being loyal to children, being sexually attractive,
and not openly acknowledged or their wounds, and thus, complicit in having a successful career, and a
talked about. our own oppression. solid marriage.
We all have sensed the pain These dynamics are very
that our mothers carry. And all of unconscious and they operate on a For mothers who have indeed
us are suspicious to some degree continuum. Even the most healthy, sacrificed so much to have children
that we are partly to blame for her supportive mother/daughter in our culture, it can truly feel like a
pain - therein lies the guilt. This relationships may have this rejection when your child surpasses
makes sense when considering the dynamic to some degree, by virtue or exceeds the dreams you thought
limited cognitive development of a of simply being women in this possible for yourself.
child, which sees itself as the society. And for daughters who There may be a sense of feeling
cause of all things. If we dont have mothers with serious issues owed, entitled to, or needing to be
address this unconscious belief as (addictions, mental illness, etc.) the validated by your children, which can
an adult, we may still be walking impact can be very damaging and be a very subtle but powerful
around with it and greatly limiting insidious indeed. manipulation. This dynamic can
ourselves as a result. Being a mother in our society is cause the next generation of
unspeakably difficult. Ive heard daughters to keep themselves small,
YOU CANT SAVE YOUR MOTHER many women say: No one ever so that their mothers can continue to
No sacrifice a daughter makes will tells you how hard it is, and feel validated and affirmed in their
ever be enough to compensate for Nothing prepares you for when identity as a mother, an identity that
the high price her mother may have you get home with the baby and many have sacrificed so much for,
had to pay or for the losses she realise what is being asked of you. but received so little support and
has accrued over the years, simply Western culture, especially American recognition for in return.
Mothers may unconsciously
project deep rage towards their
Daughters growing up in a children in subtle ways. However,
the rage really isnt towards the
patriarchal culture have to choose children. The rage is towards the
between being empowered patriarchal society that requires
women to sacrifice and utterly
and being loved. Most daughters deplete themselves in order to
choose to be loved, because mother a child.
And for a child who needs her
there is an ominous sense that mother, sacrificing herself in an
effort to somehow ease her
being empowered may cause mothers pain is often a
a grave loss of love from the subconscious decision, made very
early in life, and not discovered as
important people in their lives - the cause of underlying issues until
much later when she is an adult.
especifically their mothers.
The mother wound exists
So women stay small and because there is not a safe place
unfulfilled, unconsciously for mothers to process their rage
about the sacrifices that society
passing the mother has demanded of them. And
because daughters still
wound to the next unconsciously fear rejection for
generation choosing not to make those same
sacrifices as previous generations.
In our society, there is no safe place
for a mother to vent her rage. And so

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 Our first enounter with the Goddess was with
our mothers. Until we have the courage
to break the taboo and face the pain
we have experienced in relation to our
mothers, the divine feminine is another
form of a fairy tale, a fantasy of rescue
by a mother who is not coming. This
keeps us in spiritual immaturity

often it comes out unconsciously, The way for a mother to prevent When mothers unwittingly cause
directed to ones children. directing her rage to her daughter - their daughters to feel responsible for
A daughter is a very potent and so passing down the mother their losses, and so unconsciously
target for a mothers rage because wound - is for the mother to fully manipulate them to share in their
the daughter has not yet had to grieve and mourn her own losses. pain, it creates a dysfunctional
give up her personhood for And to make sure that she is not enmeshment, reinforcing the
motherhood. The young daughter relying on her daughter as her main daughters view that she is not worthy
may remind the mother of her un- source of emotional support. of her dreams. This then supports the
lived potential. And if the daughter Mothers must mourn what they daughters view that her mothers
feels worthy enough to reject some had to give up, what they wanted pain must somehow be her fault,
of the patriarchal mandates that but will never have, what their which can cripple the daughter in so
the mother has had to swallow, children can never give them and many ways.
then she can easily trigger that the injustice of their situation.
underground rage for the mother. However, as unjust and unfair as it For daughters growing up in a
Of course, most mothers want is, it is not the responsibility of the patriarchal culture, there is a sense
what is best for their daughters. daughter to make amends for the of having to choose between being
However, if a mother has not dealt mothers losses or to feel obligated empowered and being loved.
with her own pain or come to terms to sacrifice herself in the same Most daughters choose to be
with the sacrifices she has had to ways. For mothers, It takes loved instead of empowered,
make, then her support for her tremendous strength and integrity because there is an ominous sense
daughter may be laced with traces to do this. And mothers need that being fully actualised and
of the messages that subtly instill support in this process. empowered may cause a grave
shame, guilt or obligation. loss of love from the important
These messages can seep out in LIBERATING THE CHILD people in their lives - specifically
the most benign situations, usually Mothers liberate their daughters their mothers. So women stay
in some form of criticism, or some when they consciously process their small and unfulfilled, unconsciously
form of bringing praise back to the own pain without making it their passing the mother wound to the
mother. Its not usually the content daughters problem. In this way, next generation.
of the statement, but rather the mothers free their daughters to As a woman, there is a vague
energy with which it is conveyed, pursue their dreams without guilt, but powerful sense that your
which can carry hidden resentment. shame or a sense of obligation. empowerment will injure your

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 relationships. And women are some mothers who are un-loving sabotaging yourself when you get
taught to value relationships over most of the time, whether because close to a breakthrough -
everything else. We cling to the of addiction, mental illness or other unconsciously waiting for mothers
crumbs of our relationships, while struggles. permission or approval before
our souls may be deeply longing for Until we are willing to face these claiming your own life.
the fulfillment of our potential. But uncomfortable realities the mother
the truth is that our relationships wound will be in shadow and continue RELATING WITH THE SACRED
alone can never adequately to be passed through the generations. Theres a lot of talk these days about
substitute for the hunger to live our We all have patriarchy in us to embodying the divine feminine and
lives fully. some degree. Weve had to ingest being an awakened woman. But
it to survive in this culture. When the reality is that we cannot be a
The power dynamic at the centre were ready to confront it fully in strong container of the power of the
of the mother/daughter relationship ourselves, we also confront it in divine feminine if we have not yet
is a taboo subject and the core issue others, including our mothers. This addressed the places within us
at the centre of the mother wound. can be one of the most heart- where we have felt banished and in
Much of this goes underground wrenching of all situations we must exile from the Feminine.
because of the many taboos and face. But unless we are willing to Lets face it: Our first enounter
stereotypes about motherhood in go there, to address the mother with the Goddess was with our
this culture, such as: mothers are wound, we are paying a very high mothers. Until we have the courage
always nurturing and loving - price for the illusion of peace and to break the taboo and face the
mothers should never feel angry or empowerment. pain we have experienced in
resentful towards their daughters - The cost of not healing the relation to our mothers, the divine
mothers and daughters are Mother Wound is living your life feminine is another form of a fairy
supposed to be best friends. indefinitely with: a vague, tale, a fantasy of rescue by a
The stereotype which says: all persistent sense that theres mother who is not coming.
mothers should be loving, all of the something wrong with you - never This keeps us in spiritual
time strips women of their full having actualised your potential out immaturity. We have to separate
humanity. Because women are not of fear of failure or disapproval - the human mother from the
given permission to be full human having weak boundaries and an archetype in order to be true
beings, society feels justified in not unclear sense of who you are - carriers of this energy. We have to
providing full respect, support and not feeling worthy or capable of de-construct the faulty structures
resources to mothers. creating what you truly desire - within us before we can truly build
The truth is that mothers are not feeling safe enough to take up new structures to hold it.
human beings, and all mothers space and voice your truth - Until we do this we remain stuck
have un-loving moments - although arranging your life around so you in a kind of limbo where our
it is of course true that there are dont rock the boat - self- empowerment is short-lived and
the only explanation for our
predicament that seems to make
A daughter is a very sense is to blame ourselves.
If we avoid acknowledging the
potent target for a full impact of our mothers pain on
our lives, we still remain to some
mothers rage because degree, children.
the daughter has not
Coming into full empowerment
yet had to give up her requires looking at our relationship
with our mothers and having the
personhood for motherhood. courage to separate out our own
The young daughter may individual beliefs, values, thoughts
from hers. It requires feeling the
remind the mother of her grief of having to witness the pain
our mothers endured and
un-lived potential. processing our own legitimate pain
And if the daughter feels that we endured as a result. This is
so challenging, but it is the
worthy enough to reject beginning of real freedom.
some of the patriarchal Once we feel the pain it can be
transformed and it will cease
mandates that the mother creating obstacles in our lives.

has had to swallow, then AFTER THE WOUND IS HEALED

she can easily trigger that As we heal the mother wound, the
power dynamic is increasingly
underground rage for the mother resolved because women are no
longer asking one another to stay
small to ease their own pain.

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 The pain of living in patriarchy having healthy boundaries which For every human being, the very
ceases to be taboo. We dont have support the actualisation of our first wound of the heart was at the
to pretend and hide behind false highest and best self - developing site of the mother, the feminine.
masks that hide our pain under a a solid inner mother who provides And through the process of healing
facade of effortlessly holding it unconditional love, support and that wound, our hearts graduate
together. The pain can then be seen comfort to our younger parts - from a compromised state of
as legitimate, embraced, processed knowing ourselves as competent - defensiveness and fear to a whole
and integrated and ultimately feeling that anything is possible, new level of love and power, which
transformed into wisdom and power. open to miracles and all good things connects us to the divine heart of
Once women increasingly - being in constant contact with our Life itself.
process the pain of the mother inner goodness and our ability to We are from then on connected
wound, we can create safe places bring it into everything we do - to the archetypal, collective heart
for women to express the truth of deep compassion for ourselves and that lives in all beings, and are
their pain and receive much needed other people - not taking ourselves carriers and transmitters of true
support. Mothers and daughters too seriously - no longer needing compassion and love that the world
can communicate with one another external validation to feel OK - not needs right now.
without fear that the truth of their needing to prove ourselves to In this way, the mother wound is
feelings will break their relationship. others - trusting life to bring us actually an opportunity and an
The pain no longer needs to go what we need - feeling safe in our initiation into the divine feminine.
underground and into shadow, own skin with a freedom to be This is why its so crucial for women
where it manifests as manipulation, ourselves - and so much more to heal the mother wound: Your
competition and self-hatred. Our personal healing and re-connection
pain can be grieved fully, so that it As we engage in this healing to the heart of life, by way of the
can then turn into love, a love that process, we slowly remove the feminine, affects the whole and
manifests as fierce support of one thick fog of projection which keeps supports our collective evolution.
another and deep self-acceptance, us stuck, and we can more clearly
freeing us to be boldly authentic, see, appreciate and love ourselves.
creative and truly fulfilled. We no longer carry the burden of
Bethany Webster is a writer,
our mothers pain and keep transformational coach, international
When we heal the mother ourselves small as a result. speaker and what you could call a
wound, we begin to grasp the We can confidently emerge into midwife of the heart. Her work is
stunning degree of impact a our own lives, with the energy and focused on helping women heal the
mother wound so that they can step into
mothers well-being has on the life vitality to create what we desire their divine feminine power and potential.
of her child, especially in early without shame or guilt, but with She is the author of the forthcoming
childhood when the child and passion, power, joy, confidence, book Healing the Mother Wound.
mother are still a single unit. Our and love. www.womboflight.com
mothers form the very basis of who
we become: our beliefs start out as
her beliefs, our habits start out as When we heal the
her habits. Some of this is so mother wound, we begin to
unconscious and fundamental, it is
barely perceptible. grasp the stunning degree
The mother wound is ultimately
not about your mother. Its about of impact a mothers
embracing yourself and your gifts well-being has on the
without shame.
life of her child
We address the mother wound
because it is a critical part of self-
actualisation and saying yes to
being the powerful and potent
women that we are being called to
become. Healing the mother wound
is ultimately about acknowledging
and honouring the foundation our
mothers provided for our lives so
that we can then fully focus on
creating the unique lives that we
authentically desire and know we
are capable of creating.

The benefits of healing the

mother wound include: being more
fluent and skilled in handling our
emotions, and seeing them as a
source of wisdom and information -

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 solve that problem, I tell them,

Cultural Not be a part of it.

But, my privileged lot in life is a

problem for me too, because of

Appropriation this: I am a very spiritual man. So

where can I go find a relationship
with God (or whatever you want to
call the Big Cheese) which means

and the S- word something to me?

Im pretty much American. My
family, on both sides, dont really
have much connection with their
Daniel Moler ancestry, so I have nothing to tie
me back to whatever homeland my
great-great-great grandfathers
came from.
At the same time, I was raised
your average Protestant Christian,
but I have always felt something
empty within that system of
organised religion.
And unfortunately for me - as a
colleague of mine likes to remind
me from time to time - I read the
works of the influential American
philosopher, historian and political
activist Avram Chomksy way-too-
early for my own good. So now, I
have gone down the rabbit hole of
awareness and understanding, and
know I am a citizen of the colonial
problem, living comfortably on top
of that graveyard of genocide,
which is called the Americas.
I dont want to be a part of the
white, colonial system. I dont want
to be a part of the problem. So,
where can I go? What can I do?
Just as some of my black
friends are stuck with always being
identified as black, so I am stuck
being identified as the generic
standard, the colonial output of
Above: Daniels Yep, I probably shouldnt, but Im Everything about my profile mediocrity.
flier for the Sun going to do it. I am going to talk suggests I am destined to be stuck in
Lodge Gathering about cultural appropriation. And, the middle, between the two FINDING A SPIRITUAL HOME
more specifically, Im going to extremes of society. Therefore, I have I have always been drawn to
address the S word, shaman, never had to deal with racial profiling, indigenous ways of life, because for
and its use. disenfranchisement, or being labelled every culture on the planet those ways
First of all, Im a white man. I with any stereotype - other than are the root. They are humanitys
really cant help that. Believe me, being middling of course. original ways to have a relationship
Ive tried. I make all that sound like a with the world - where the world is
Im very aware I come from a problem (and I will get into that), seen as something sacred. When one
long lineage of assholes, who have but really its a privilege, one that I feels lost, the natural human instinct is
run entire civilisations into the do not take advantage of. However to go back to the source.
ground, massacre innocents by the I appreciate having it, and I teach I used to flit from thing to thing,
millions and millions, as well as my kids that appreciation everyday being a seeker and trying to find
continually disenfranchising the too, pointing out to them how they something with which to identify.
less fortunate even to this day. will never know what its like to be After many years of wanderlust, I
Worse yet, Im a middle class pulled over by a police officer finally found my hearts content,
white man from a middle class because of the colour of their skin and have settled into two spiritual
background. Also, Im the middle and all the other related injustices. I communities - which are distinct in
child in my family. I even grew up teach them it is their responsibility and of themselves, but which overlap
and currently live in the Midwest of to use their privilege to help those consistently. These are the Heartland
the USA as well. less fortunate: We need to help Ayllu, and the KC Pipe Circle.

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 intent of being a give-away, a 2012. Both groups are made up of Left: the late
prayer of thanksgiving for the world. good people, trying to do right by medicine man
the Earth and all of humankind. Sun Bear
Both of these communities
Below: photo
operate within the Kansas City TROLLING MEDICINE
created as an
area, and both (despite each So, heres the kicker; I - as well as
advert for a
having an origin in traditional North my fellow community members -
Wild-West
or South American native cultures) get a lot of flak for doing what we
show, depicting
has its own values, traditions, and do. And, surprisingly enough, not
a re-enactment
belief systems. I am heavily from the conservative Christians in
of a Native
involved in them both, and was Kansas - who, you would think,
American man
initiated by Don Oscar to be a would be appalled by our fire-pits,
stabbing General
sanctioned teacher in the PMT in tobacco smoke, and drumming.
Custer. C1905

I come from a long lineage of assholes, who

run entire civilisations into the ground, massacre
innocents by the millions and millions, as well as
Here is a breakdown of each of disenfranchising the less fortunate, even to this day.
them: The Heartland Ayllu
(pronounced Eye-you) is a Im a middle class white man from a middle class
spiritual community local to me,
made up of mesa (an altar in
background, the middle child in my family. I even
Peruvian shamanic tradition) grew up in the Midwest. I am destined to be stuck
carriers, all of whom are affiliates
of a global shamanic lineage called in the middle, between the two extremes of society
the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition (PMT
for short).
The PMT was founded by Don
Oscar Miro-Quesada, a curandero
(folk healer) from Peru, who was
tasked by his teachers to bring the
work of the mesa to the gringos
in the North. He was to do this in
order that it may bring some
understanding between cultures,
and turn the tide of Western
domination for the better.
Oscar has always said that the
PMT was founded and inspired by
his life in Peru, but it is most
definitely a cross-cultural lineage.

The KC Pipe Circle was inspired

by the late Ojibwa medicine man
Sun Bear, who was intent on
opening up the sacred teachings of
his people to the modern world,
including the white man.
The KC Pipe Circle meet
monthly, and share the chanupa -
the sacred pipe - which was given
to the people in various ways,
depending on each tribal groups
account - such as in the Lakota
legend of it being brought by White
Buffalo Calf Woman.
Currently the circle is led by a
medicine man called Lee Stumbling
Deer, and it is a humble group,
centred on family values and the
open acceptance of ones own
spiritual heritage.
We meet once a year for a sacred
dance, which was founded on the

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They began trolling the invite
with more comments, such as:
Its not enough they stripped
ancestors homes.. tryn to steal
them ways too... people try to
steal indigenous ceremonies
Spiritual candy bars sure
taste good... read
a book by Black
Elk and become experts...

Recently, I sent out an on-line trendy words, sounds amazing...

invitation on Facebook, for a meet- Spiritual candy bars sure taste
up, which I was coordinating, and good... Read a couple of books by
this invitation was bombarded with Black Elk and become experts...
criticism by a group of individuals
who - for lack of a better reference Now, I know the person who
point, might consider themselves started this trolling conversation,
true natives. and ironically he used to be
The meetup - for a mens group involved in both of my
- which was open to all faiths - was communities, until he got
called a Sun Lodge. It was called connected with some authentic
that because the Sun, in the PMT natives. Now he seems to sit atop
is a symbol for the masculine, and his soapbox, declaiming others for
a lodge generally denotes a their spiritual hucksterism. He
sacred gathering space. even travels around the area
This seemed pretty harmless, teaching drum workshops, claiming
well, at least I thought so. That to be a real Native American -
was, until people began posting even though hes actually a
comments on the events Facebook small-town farmboy. People love
page, inquiring what we were his stuff, they think they are
doing, and what a Sun Lodge was? getting that authentic Native
Someone asked: What shaman experience, because of his darker
will be there? And then this initial skin and his long, braided hair -
critic gathered - or perhaps invited - and he talks the medicine man
other friends to comment too. talk really well too.
Together, they began trolling the
invite with more comments, such There was a lot for me to digest
as: Always tryin to exploit them from this whole interaction. The
ways. Its not enough they stripped people trolling claimed not to be
ancestors homes. Tryn to steal judging, but said they were just
them ways too. People try to steal trying to warn the world. But they
indigenous ceremonies, use key didnt know those of us who

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facilitating the event, and they
didnt even take a minute to listen
Shaman, or amn may Left: elaborate Tungus
(Evenki) shamans
to what we had to say - instead we have started out as a costume, including a
were clearly being accused of
cultural exploitation.
Tungus word, but now it is fringed jacket hung with
ongon spirit charms and the
They - the trollers - continued to essentially a white mans shamans smoking pipe,
post on Facebook, by finding boots, a dudig ritual
websites belonging to white word we use to describe apron and a
people - who they said were a specific type facemask
pretending to be shamans-for-hire C1900
- and posting the links on the page of holy man we
with added heckling comments. might encounter
The whole online conversation
certainly triggered me, but instead in indigenous
of engaging into a full-fledged
debate - as I normally do - I simply
settings
deleted the events invitation. within those particular
traditions, and I think I
Over time, though, the should be able to do that
interactions sat with me, curdling in without fear of any
my stomach like bad bourbon. What retaliation.
exactly was the issue here? What -
if anything - was I exploiting? So, the question I ask is;
The event I had advertised was how is shaman an
a free gathering - no money indigenous word?
involved, except thirty dollars I had Well, the short answer is, of
spent out of my own pocket for course, it isnt. Well, it is - but it isnt...
donuts to share. Its not like I was Let me try to explain with a little
taking anything away from anyone history lesson. The word shaman -
in the name of spiritual as many of you will of course know
enlightenment. The gathering was - comes from the Evenki people of
truly just a group of men, coming Siberia. These people were formally
together to pray, to talk, to share known as the Tungus, and the word
their hearts, and that was all. shaman [amn] was first
So, why the controversy? And originally mentioned in the journals
why am I and others like me being of a C15th Russian priest called
followed by authentics who are Avvakum Petrov. Petrov described a
accusing us of spiritual thievery? witch doctor figure of the Tungus
people, and from that account the
CONFRONTING THE S WORD word entered into Russian.
One of the trolling comments The word was then later
posted on the event page read: adopted by the C17th Dutch peoples from Peru - but you will
You had me running the other way statesman, Fellow of the Royal find both in an English dictionary.
at the word shaman. And I began Society and expert on matters
to wonder about that too; why was Russian, Nicolaes Witsen, who Shaman, or amn may have
there such a fret over the word brought it to the West. started out as a Tungus word, but
shaman, what was the big deal Overtime amn evolved into a now it is essentially a white mans
about the word - such a big ol generic term to denote a priest, word we use to describe a specific
scary word that one... medium, medicine man or woman, type of holy man we might encounter
As I said above , I was accused or witch doctor, within any sort of in certain indigenous settings.
of using this trendy word as a way tribal community whom the West In fact, the definition of
of stealing indigenous practices, came into contact with. shaman has become something
but is that really the case here? As the science of anthropology very precise, and not attributed to Opposite: part
grew over the centuries - becoming any one tradition or religious of the cultural
In the two groups I am involved a more viable area of study due to institution at all; and my favourite appropriation
in, our practices were inherited the growth of colonial expansion in definition is by Dr. Roger Walsh - Native Americans
from spiritual teachers drawn from that time - the word became a professor of psychiatry and have suffered,
two particular traditions. common trope within the field. anthropology at the University of a tacky new-age
As Ive said, Im active within As with all languages - even California - who says this of it: dreamcatcher,
those traditions, but Im not indigenous ones - words evolve, Shamanism can be defined as a perporting to
claiming to be a medicine man, and their definitions change, family of traditions whose be a Native
even though I am a sanctioned morphing and melding into one practitioners focus on voluntarily American sacred
PMT teacher. I certainly have the another. For example, the words entering altered states of object, and a
right, and the experience, to hold condor and puma are not consciousness, in which they carved wooden
sacred spaces for fellow humans, English words - they are from the experience themselves or their Cigar-Store
in order for them to gather to pray runasimi language of the Quechua spirit(s) interacting with other Indian figure

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We honour the land, we honour That seemed a good term, and I there because that is where your
use it sometimes, with a major heart and spirit have guided you.
the ancestors, and we honour emphasis on the student of part.
all our relations. If we throw We are all students of life, and we She affirmed that I seemed to
are all learning how to be on the have been taught appropriately by
around the term shaman Earth - some of us being more my own teachers, though there will
every once in a while it needs passionate about it than others. always be those who are on guard
about their traditions.
to be remembered that we GRANDMOTHER WISDOM Because where we stand in
But, being who I am, I still needed protecting our traditional ways,
know where it comes a final resolution on all this, and I she continued, Some are more
from and what that sought out more opinions. open to it than others.
So, I was fortunate enough My personal point of view is that
term means; and recently to be able to have a we all gather in one circle, because
we dont use conversation with Thana Redhawk, we are all one humanity, one race;
a poet, activist, and singer- the human race. And when we
it lightly songwriter of Azteca, Apache, understand what inspires us, and
Cherokee and Osage lineages. where our hearts and spirits are,
Thana is a board member of the and create dialogue from that,
Native American Entertainment thats where the healing begins.
Coalition of California, as well as
being the youngest Grandmother I dont know about others. I
on the Grandmothers Circle - the dont know about New Agers who
Earth Council. use unicorn energy to sell chakra
entities, often by traveling to other She caught my eye through her crystals, because Im not one of
realms, in order to serve their work with Native American author, them, and Ive criticised them
community.1 poet, actor, musician, and political many, many times.
activist John Trudell - one of my I know my communities. I know
So, if we go with that definition, heroes. John is a chairman of the the Heartland Ayllu and the KC Pipe
a shaman does not necessarily American Indian Movement (AIM), as Circle. I know the local elders who
even have to be a member of a well as being one of the facilitators humbly lead those communities -
tribal or religious group; they could for the Native American occupation although they would grimace at the
be a Christian, or Jewish, or a of Alcatraz Island in 1969 2. use of that term lead.
Muslim, or Hindu, Wiccan, or We honour the land, we honour
Buddhist, and be of any nationality, Generously, Ms. Redhawk lent the ancestors, and we honour all
as it is a type of spiritual practice - me her ear, and listened to my our relations. If we throw around
involving direct interaction with woes over my colonial heritage, as the term shaman every once in a
world of spirit. Nobody owns the a white man, living on land tainted while it needs to be remembered
word, and it is a rather nebulous by genocide and exploitation. that we know where it comes from
term at best, which has only found People are so quick to judge and what that term means; and we
its definition through centuries of each other, she told me. That was dont use it lightly.
linguistic evolution. not the original tribes way. In essence my dear critics, we
Furthermore, I would argue, that She spoke of her own have put down our tobacco - so get
calling something shamanic doesnt experiences encountering those to know us, and maybe you might
actually have to mean a shaman will that take advantage of what they just find that you agree with what
be present. One does not beget the learn from traditional wisdom we are saying and doing.
other. I think it could be argued that teachings, saying to me: I do
shamanism is a school of thought; understand all that is occurring with
after all, does the ancient Greek whats being called the New Age Daniel Moler is a writer, artist, educator,
alchemist, shamanist, and all-round
philosopher Plato need to be movement. We should talk about student of life. He has taught college
present, in order for a group of what is culturally appropriate and courses in many areas of study, including
people to engage in a discussion what is not. art, literature, and philosophy.
about Platonic philosophy? The only thing you can do, Daniel is the author of two books: Red
when you are in a territory - and Mass and Machine Elves 101. He also
provided a contribution in Ross Heavens
A friend of mine and I have this goes for anyone - is to talk book: Cactus of Mystery, and has
discussed the use of the S word with the elders of that territory, and published fiction and nonfiction works
many times. Should I use the word the ancestors of that territory. By around the world in magazines, journals,
shaman, or the term putting your tobacco down and gaming modules and online.
He lives near Kansas City in the USA
shamanism, or shamanic, when asking them for permission to be www.danielmoler.com
describing my own spiritual there. Then, talk with the elders
practice. He says he couldnt about what your heart is seeking. NOTES:
personally care less, but suggested Because when someone 1: The World of Shamanism: New
if it bothered me so much, then I comes to them in that way, then Views of an Ancient Tradition, p. 15-16.
2: For information of the Occupation
could use the term shamanist, they know that Creator sent you, of Alcatraz, see the article at
which denotes being a student of that you are not there to www.en.wikipedia.orgwiki/
the shamanic arts. misappropriate anything. Youre Occupation_of_Alcatraz

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 During the
Difficult
Times
Maintaining a sense of the sacred
during times of illness or disability
Michelle Easton

Periods of ill health, or adjusting to over the years, in order to find ways can do nothing else, you can at
physical limitations are hugely in which I can stay connected. least simply say thank you to the
challenging; this is often the What follows are some of the land, and all of those beings you
moment when people first question ways I have found support from the name and remember - and the
the nature of the world around land and Spirit through this time. many you are not consciously
them, and begin to develop their aware of - to honour them.
spiritual practices. YOUR HOME IS THE LAND
Those times of trouble are, of Even a building in the centre of the If you can, do a little more and
course, often the moment when biggest city in the world is built make a house altar. This could be
we need our spiritual practices and upon the land. Forging a as simple as a stone or stick
that deeper relationship to Spirit relationship to the land you live brought in from your garden or
the most. But, perversely, it is at upon is central to all of the Earth brought from near by. Lay it on a
these times that Earth based based traditions, so get to know beautiful piece of cloth, perhaps
spiritual traditions and practices the land under your home - be it in give an offering in a bowl or
can seem the most out of reach. a city or the country.
For those who are bedridden, The building you live in is also a
suffering chronic pain, disabled or, gift from the earth, think of all the After injuring my back,
for some other reason, are unable trees which make up the floors and many of the everyday practices
to spend time hiking in the hills or doors, the stone in the walls or the
sitting by a fire, connection to the sand in the bricks; think of the which connected me to the
land and nature can seem a distant fabrics of cotton and wool, or the
dream; something to long for once plastics from the black oil - which land and fed my spirit have
health improves. came from deep within the mother been unavailable to me. And
This is the situation in which I - in all of the furnishing and
found myself, after injuring my back decorations around you. When you so I have had to dig deeper
a year ago. Since then many of the get going, I am sure you will find
everyday practices which connected that the list you can create is huge.
into my self and the wisdom
me to the land and fed my spirit The land is holding your home teachings I have learned over
have been unavailable to me. and all of these other relatives -
Because of this, I have had to dig be they trees, plants or stones - the years, in order to find ways
deeper in to my self and the
wisdom teachings I have learned
have given away so that you can
have this place to live. So, if you
in which I can stay connected

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 sprinkled upon the stone - cornmeal The first thing we pick up on is been a problem for me, I have
is often a good offering for the land the human energy, because that is turned to my relationship with water.
- and sit with the altar and have a the most familiar to us, but if we Here is one simple ceremonial way
chat with the natural things on it, or keep working to develop our to smudge with water.
sing a song to them as a gift. relationship with the land, her Find the most beautiful glass or
voice slowly becomes more and cup you own, and fill it with water -
If you work with trance or more familiar to us, and we begin from a spring is lovely, but if the
undertake shamanic journeys, ask to truly hear her, even in the bathroom sink is as far as you can
to be taken to meet the spirit of busiest of places. get that will do just fine. Water is
the land your home is built on. our Grandmother, without her there
Remember to approach with SACRED CLEANLINESS is no life of any kind, anywhere.
respect, and introduce yourself. Keeping yourself and your home
Again, open a dialogue, talk to the clear when you're sick or suffering Now the important part: lay
land spirit and ask it if it will be can be as difficult as it is back, relax and talk to the water -
willing to help you, and remember necessary. One good way to work and I do mean speak out loud,
to say thank you and ask what you is to burn smudge. Try using white because your physical voice has
can do for it in return. If you are in sage smoke to clear the energy of power. You can start by introducing
a big city, there may be many your room, followed perhaps by yourself, tell her about the sweet
layers of human activity close to sweetgrass, in order to bring in the things in your life. She has had a
the surface, so you may need to sweetness of life. hand in the creation of everything
go deep down, in order to find the These two have been my you have ever loved or enjoyed, so
land that is beneath. favourites recently, and thoroughly express your gratitude. Take your
I was once told that learning to smudging my bed and blankets time with this as gratitude builds
hear the land in a place full of has been a bit of a revelation! upon itself and simply giving voice
human activity, is like trying to hear But for me, at times, lifting to it can be a powerful healing.
someone speaking a foreign blankets, or wafting smoke about Once you have given your
language across a crowded room has been physically impossible, and thanks tell her what's going on for
full of people talking in your for some people smoke is simply a you, just as if speaking to a dear
mother tongue. no-go area anyway. When this has friend, and then ask her to help
you by clearing your home for you.
Next, dip the tip of a feather - or
your finger tips if you don't have a
One night I woke up in feather - into the water and gently
flick it around your room or your
pain and didn't know what whole home. As you do this, see
to do. I was struck by a Grandmother water washing away
all the stuck energy, the suffering
weird glowing white shape and the pain that has built up there
in the darkness. I saw it during your illness.
Bless yourself with the water
was a large white too, especially the areas of your
body which are causing you
flower, my beautiful problems. At the end, if you have
little cactus had put used one, bless your feather with a
few drops too.
out a huge flower. Any water that is left is full of
your prayers, and it can carry them
The harshness of out into the world, so treat it with
desert life teaches respect, drink it, pour it on the
garden, or in a house plant pot,
cacti all there is but I would never tip it down the
drain as that's not very honouring.
to know about This simple practice is a great
endurance, so now way to develop a direct relationship
with Grandmother water, and you
in the worse of times, can continue the practice by
speaking to her every time you
as I lay in the pain, turn on a tap, get in the shower, or
I knew I was in are caught out in the rain.

the understanding THE BEAUTY OF THE MOMENT

company of my cacti Before I wrote this article I spent
some time talking with a close
friend, Shoshana Dennis, who has
suffered chronic pain herself for
the last 10 years.

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 She expressed that the isolation world, and that it would be a less
she has felt due to her condition beautiful place without you.
has been one of the hardest things One of the ways Shoshana
to deal with, and we both works is by making an altar right
recognised that its easy to become next to her favourite chair in her
bitter or envious of the world when living room. Upon it, she includes a
we feel segregated from it. glass of water, a candle, a house
Shoshana told me that when plant and some incense - which for
those kinds of feelings come up, her all come together to represent
she makes a concious choice to the four elements, water, fire,
express gratitude. So instead of earth and air.
being annoyed or depressed that Importantly she also takes a
she's had to cancel that outing she little time to sit watching the candle
was looking forward to, she gives flame every day, quietly listening to
thanks that she is able to cosy up herself and spirit.
on her sofa, or in her bed. My version of this is the dozen
She told me help can be found or so cacti that live in my bedroom,
in anything that brings you into the who of course, I talk to all the time.
moment, reminding you of the Some of them are medicine
beauty of the world and that she plants, and some are normal
uses her still, resting times to house plants - one of whom I
deepen her ability to observe. rescued from the reduced section
of a garden centre several years
Paying attention to what's ago, and it was this rescued cactus
outside your window, or in your who came to my aid, in the darkest
garden is important. Getting to of my moments.
know the gang of sparrows who From May until mid September
live on your street, watching the last year, the pain in my back was
trees change with the flow of the constant, the pain killers didn't
seasons, or following the cycles of touch it and I hadn't slept properly
the moon. All of this will remind for months. One night in July I fell
you of that you are part of the asleep for a couple of hours, but
woke up around 3am in so much
pain that I didn't know what to do. Michelle Easton is a ceremonialist
I felt totally desperate, and panic following a medicine path and has been
started to set in. As the panic rose, taught by both First Nation and European
teachers. She also has a degree in
I glanced towards the window, and Ecology and works to promote
was struck by a weird glowing sustainable agriculture and wildlife
white shape in the darkness. For a protection across southwest England.
moment I thought I was [email protected]
hallucinating, but then I slowly saw
it was a large, white flower. My
beautiful little rescued cactus had
Keeping yourself and your
put out a huge, sweet smelling home clear when you're sick can
white flower, something it had
never done before. be as difficult as it is necessary.
As I looked with amazement, it
came to me that the harshness of Try using white sage smoke,
desert life teaches cacti all there
is to know about endurance, and
followed by sweetgrass, in order
this little one - who had needed to bring in the sweetness of life.
rescuing - knew endurance all
the more. But at times wafting smoke about
So now in the worse of times,
as I lay in bed and endured the
has been physically impossible, so
pain, I was in the understanding I have turned to my relationship
company of my cacti.
with water. Water is our Grand-
All of these ways of relating to mother, without her there is
the world are based on the
teachings I received from Ron no life of any kind, anywhere.
Evans and Jose Brown, I am more
grateful than ever for the times we Lay back, relax and talk to
shared. I also give my thanks to the water - because your
Annie Spencer for her ongoing
teachings and support. physical voice has power
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 bogus
the
So it is this hard-earned
inner quality that is real, not
any connection to indigenous

indigenous
people. I think by seeking the
indigenous we can actually
disempower our own gifts,
because we seek validation by
trying to concoct a connection
to indigenous people. What we
Barry Goddard do needs to stand alone, we
moderns have our own spirit
connections - our shamanism is
Ive been trying to in my view he couldnt say they what we do, not what indigenous
write some advertising were Lakota, because he received people do - even if our
copy for the shamanic them from his spirits. shamanism is inspired by them.
healing work I do, and its Its also not enough to visit
not proving easy. I would someone in the jungle for a few Ive been an astrologer for
like to write about traditional days valuable as that might be many years, and something Ive
shamans and what they do - and then add it to our CV to gain noticed about the astrological world
suggesting that I am, in indigenous cred. The real stuff is that it is very accepting of all
someway, part of that timeless gets transmitted through getting to sorts of different types of astrology.
lineage; that what I do echoes know people, and that takes time. Apart from the odd traditionalist,
back to the dawn of time etc. But I you dont get fundamental
cant bring myself to do it, because What I think all this comes down astrologers suggesting that
I don't have a living knowledge of to, is a search for authenticity, and somethings are not real astrology.
these traditions, and therefore what we think authenticity is. It is In general the shamanic world
wouldn't actually know what I was not essentially a quality to be found similarly seems welcoming of all
talking about. It's an integrity issue. in outward forms, in eg the latest sorts of different types of
teacher, just because he is from shamanism - but it also sometimes
Ive spent a fair bit of time with the Peruvian jungle, or because he seems to be a bit fundamental
a Chippewa Cree man, who used personally knew Don Juan. and overly-concerned with what
to come and stay with me. He gave Authenticity is an inner experience, is real shamanism and what
teachings, told stories and ran and it is a quality we hopefully learn isnt. Saying our shamanism is
sweatlodges, and we used to have over time to sense and to trust in more real if it has an observable
great metaphysical conversations others - often through betrayal, link to an indigenous tradition
over breakfasts. During one of when teachers turn out to be far seems to me to be like Christians
them he told me that what I do more human than we might have quoting from the Bible all the time.
would be described as a personal wished them to be. Of course, on the other hand,
medicine by his people, but that is This distinction is well- we dont want too many people
the extent of my connection to a expressed in the Buddhist tradition, claiming to be shamanic healers,
living tradition, and I want to be real where there are stories of people when they havent gone through
about things, and not sex them up looking up to the great Lama, just the years of personal training
into something they are not. because he is the great Lama, and necessary for true integrity -
I think that the worlds living not recognising that the guy who although I suspect that those sorts
indigenous traditions are both an really has the goods is working of healers have always been part of
inspiration and a burden for amongst them as a pig-herder. the shamanic landscape.
Westerners. We can be too eager to This is why the novice shaman
make the indigenous link to what we goes through their well-known What I suppose Im seeking for, Barry Goddard spent
do, even if its just by implication; 'illness' - their initiation, their trial. is a way to describe what we do the 1980s and early
90s involved with
and, not to put too fine a point on it, They are being re-shaped - by the here, without validating references organised Buddhism,
I think it is often a bit bogus. We spirits, if you like - to be a suitable to the traditions of indigenous but eventually ground
may not realise this bogus nature, vessel for their work. peoples - valuable and profound as to a complete halt.
because our shamanic teachers may In the West we tend to express their example can be. Shamanism appeared,
have talked in those terms too - this process in more psychological One of humanitys weaknesses seemingly out of
nowhere, giving him
mine certainly did, although they terms: dealing with our wounds seems to be an attachment to the a direct experienc of
hadnt had much to do with etc, but usually there is some past, as though that was somehow Spirit that gradually
indigenous people themselves. I larger dimension also trying to more real, and in some way turned everything
think there can be an element of emerge, it is about much more validates what we do now. We live in around. After a
couple of shamanic
wishful thinking, which gets passed than just trying to sort out the past. a unique time, where it is possible to courses he found,
on from teacher to student. I see this process a lot in my work drop all that and start afresh. Now is through, trance-dance,
Our spirit helpers might tell us as an astrologer, where the outer a melting pot, where there is room his own way of doing
things too. I knew a man whose planets - the spirits - can seem to for original inspiration. Our spirit healing work. Barry is
spirit helper was giving him Lakota helpers know what to do, they're on also an astrologer.
take people's lives apart. It can be
He lives in Exeter in
teachings - and they were good protracted and painful, but there is the case, and I think they can do South West England.
teachings too - but whether they usually some new way of being, wonderous things - if we don't get in www.shamanicfreestate
were real Lakota teachings or not, something very real, trying to emerge. the way too much. .blogspot.co.uk

36 HOOP ISSUE 92 2016

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I have practised fluffy shamanism
- some say I still do. When I
started out on this path several
decades ago there was little
accurate information available and
no internet. Many of the teachings
shared with me were a sort of
pick-n-mix of Native American
traditions, pop psychology,
ecological awareness, new-age
spirituality and other sweeties, all
blended into a kind of cosmic
On
rainbow candy bar.
All of this was generally
delivered as traditional Native
American wisdoms, although
Being
luckily, back then, we were also
able to work with notable people,
such as Grandfather Wallace Black
Elk, Sun Bear and others - so we
Fluffy...
pretty quickly got to know some of
the differences between the real Nicholas Breeze Wood
and the faux.
But these days, what Im going
to term fluffy shamanism seems to and someone (not me) pointed out and see the dire straits which
be around even stronger, and I that surely it was obvious - it is not humanity and our planet is in, and
seem to come across it on a regular adult shamanism - not shamanism we may see the often petulant child-
basis - such as a conversation I had practiced by initiated adult people. like actions of our leaders, but do
recently, with someone online who Instead, it's often a sort of we see our own child-like actions?
was being taught shamanism by children's fantasy shamanism - kind For shamanism to be a powerful,
her dead 'Red Indian' guide (their of 'all bunny rabbits and rainbows' effective thing in the West, it needs
words). They told me this Red (not that I have anything against powerful effective people practising
Indian had informed them there rabbits and rainbows). This lack of it - people who look at the traditions
was no such thing as a harmful initiation is of course not about of old-school shamanism and see
spirit - who might be hostile and being an initiated shaman - its its raw power and beauty, and aim
dangerous - because everyone in about being an initiated adult. to get as close to that as they can
the Spirit World was all full of love, Being an adult means we take in their own authentic practice. If
and only there to help the living. responsibility for our actions - the we turn shamanism into babyfood,
current global environmental and ideal for easy consumption, it is
Does this type of thing matter? Is social problems are caused by going to lose its taste and its
it a worry that some people choose uninitiated adults not taking nutritional properties. I fear fluffy
to call anything they like responsibility for their actions. Look shamanism is very much part of
shamanism? Does it matter that at America right now - Donald that babyfood world.
there is reiki-shamanism, yoga- Trump is a larger than life little boy
shamanism, crystal-shamanism, - an uninitiated child, pretending to Nobody can police shamanism
ascension-shamanism and all the be an adult - and he is popular and establish a new-age fraud
rest? Does it matter that because he appeals to other squad, but we can be on our own
shamanism is so ill-used as a naughty little boys - rather like a case. Are we living on the wild
word, that it is applied to things class comedian who all the other edge as much as we can? Are we
which have nothing to do with actual naughty children like to see in the comfort zone in our
shamanism? That everything, from showing off. Of course, I'm not just practices? Do we aim to weed the
pop records to business skills, acting singling out America, its just that, fluffiness out of our lives by being
to cornflakes, gets the sex-up that Trump is a perfect - in our face - ever vigilant, knowing what real
adding the S word can give it? example at the moment, the rest of shamanism is, and seeking to
the West is just the same. initiate ourselves as adults?
Recently I was talking with some Surely we need to live life - and
people I know about the lack of As I see it, much of the new age practice our spirituality - with as
initiation into grown-up-ness movement is not very grown up. It much adult awareness as we can
people in the West seem to suffer often does not seem to wish to deal muster. Awareness is like a
from - and the roots of this lack of with the difficult stuff - focusing muscle, we need to develop it and
initiation stemming from a concept instead on love and light, and we all love our comfort zone - even
called the mother wound - see negating the uncomfortable bits. when its time to get out of it.
the article by Bethany Webster in This is not said from a 'one-up' The world will survive - the earth
this issue of Sacred Hoop. position, we all need to raise our does not need saving - but humans
During this conversation we level of adulthood (I know I do). We do - and it seems to me the only
talked about fluffy shamanism too, can all look around us at this time way to do that is as adults.

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TUNDRA, HUNTER AND SHAMAN
Jon Turk and Jody Weber

river as Oleg, my friend and travelling

companion, adroitly steered the
speedboat around sand bars and
snags that were invisible to me.
The ice made a sing-song
tinkling sound as the aluminum hull
blasted its way through, in the early
morning light of this remote and
roadless landscape.
We had a full load of half-frozen
fish on board, and Oleg was
smiling contentedly because we
Top: moonrise One evening, after I had spent an peoples message. She told me that had been successful enough to
over mountains evening in a small bookstore in she felt she had nothing to lose by feed his family, with excess to give
in Kamchatka Massachusetts, giving a reading asking me, and as it turned out, I away to those too old or sick to
from my book about travels with had nothing to lose by saying yes. fend for themselves.
the Koryak people of the It seemed we were destined to Suddenly he killed the engine
Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern create together, and so we and the silence of the tundra
Siberia 1, a woman came up to me constructed a dance called engulfed us again. The boat drifted
and introduced herself as Jody. Synchronicity and the Sacred aimlessly, bumping gently into the
Above: Dancers
She told me that she was the Space, where the magic of the ice, and spinning slowly in the
perform in the
artistic director for a dance Koryak worldview was expressed current. I looked up, expecting that
Weber Dance
company called Weber Dance and as the joyous movement of swirling there was a mechanical
company malfunction, but I hadnt heard
that she had liked my reading, bodies. Our artistic collaboration
adding that she was interested in continues to generate an ongoing anything amiss.
knowing if I might consider working dialogue about the message of He held my gaze. Jon.. he
with them to integrate the Koryak Tundra, Hunter and Shaman. said, and then he paused.
message into the ecstasy of dance. I looked into his broad weather-
Jody told me that she had been JONS SIBERIAN STORY beaten face, short cropped
making dances for over twenty My story starts back in the frozen moustache and four-day stubble
years, and had immediately landcape of Kamchatka... The first beard, half indigenous Koryak and
recognised the power of my story blast of a Siberian winter formed a half Russian Cossack; two of the
and the importance of the Koryak thin film of sparkling ice across the toughest races on Earth.

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Oleg asked me: Do you know why you Left: Oleg,
Jons half-Koryak
failed your journey to the Other World? and half-Cossack
travel companion
I recalled the day Moolynaut, a 97-year-old Bottom Left:
shaman had attempted to lead me to the Moolynaut, a 97-
year-old Koryak
Other World, to talk with the Raven spirit. shaman
No I said. Oleg looked at me a moment
and said: Youre a lousy traveller in the Other
World. So you must journey on the Tundra
His eyes were hidden behind Oleg looked at me a moment hospital, and I felt suddenly certain
dark goggles that bulged outward and said: Jon. You are simply a that medical science was not going
like fish-bowls, and his head was lousy traveller into the Other World. to heal me. I drove home in the
covered by a dog-fur beaded hat, But you are an excellent traveller in deep wet chill of late winter with a
with protruding lobes that the Real World. So you must make sense of exhaustion that seemed
resembled the ears of a friendly, your journeys on the Tundra. to have seeped from my physical
inquisitive wolf. With that, Oleg turned and body into my spiritual self - or
Oleg continued in Russian: Do grabbed the pull cord of the perhaps, I wondered, if it was the
you know why you failed to complete outboard motor, but before he jolted other way around.
your journey to the Other World? the engine back to noisy, smoky life
What? he said: You will be cold, hungry, I have always meditated, but I
I was taken aback, in all the tired, frostbitten, and perhaps you had never considered myself
time I had known him, through all will die out there. But that is where dedicated to the task. I picked it
our adventures together, Oleg had you must make your journey. up and then dropped it again when
never talked about spiritual
matters; it was always about
motors, route-finding, ice and
snow, hunting and fishing.
I recalled the day - a week ago,
in the village - when Moolynaut, a
97 year old shaman, born during
the reign of Czar Nicholas II, had
attempted to lead me to the Other
World; to talk with Kutcha, the
Raven spirit, who had healed me.
I remembered the fear as I
trudged through the hallucinogenic
labyrinth, then the sudden retreat and
the blind flight away from the portal
to the Other World, the certainty that JODYS AMERICAN STORY life started to whirl and thrash with
I was absolutely incapable of making I sat on the physician's table the relentless activity that is the
the shamanic journey. waiting for the infectious disease nature of our modern world. But
I looked up at Olegs calm, specialist to arrive again. I had an that night I was too tired to be
almost beneficent smile. awful sheen of sweat covering my caught up in anything, and I
Nyet. No I said, I dont know skin and an exhaustion that defied retreated home to meditate.
why I failed to follow Moolynaut on a any amount of sleep. I sat quietly and acknowledged
journey she had trod so many times. My body seemed strangely not that I had been ignoring Spirit. I
my own, as if I was lodged in some asked what it wanted of me and then
dingy rental house in an unknown I waited. I don't mean that I sat on
city. I had been ill for almost three the couch waiting for a voice to
months, run down by endless respond to my demands, I mean that
rounds of antibiotics which I opened my heart to the river of
continued to fail. energetic information that is
The doctor arrived and reported constantly available to each and
my results - I had surfaced everyone one of us - if we just listen.
momentarily. "What do I do now?" I And then there was a reply
had asked him. stranger than anything I could have
"Cross your fingers and your imagined.
toes" he replied.
I was struck deeply by this It is difficult to describe how
absurd response from a highly startling it is to come into full
trained professional at a prestigious consciousness out of sleep and to

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If you spend enough time hand. It was an invitation to travel
inwards to the Other World - to
moment, and becoming that
glorious, perhaps unattainable,
in nature, the tundra will begin the journey of the shaman. bundle of pure awareness and
action. Of course there are other
initiate your spiritual journey, JONS SENSE OF THE TUNDRA ways to do it, but in my experience,
So, the following year, together the journey into mindfulness is a
because in its silence and fury with a Russian friend called Misha, walking meditation, not a sitting one.
it will somehow - eventually, I returned to northeast Siberia to
do a walk-about on the tundra As the hunter you move
irrevocably, in a guaranteed Over the years, I have visited through the tundra, aware of your
northeast Siberia on eight different muscles, bones, and body position,
way - seep into your occasions, often for months at a often tired, frostbitten, hungry and
time; and during all these strung out. In Siberia, a hunter
think-too-much-know-it-all brain, expeditions, and throughout all the travels through blizzards, across the
soaking up all those extraneous, conversations Id had with the barren tundra, and this is not as
traditional people there - whether in metaphor, it is reality. When I say
chaotic thoughts that distract deteriorating Soviet-style row hunter, I dont mean necessarily in
houses, around campfires, or in the sense of the final thrust of a
you from living in the moment skin tents on the tundra - no one spear, or crack of a rifle, I mean the
has ever outlined the Koryak word more as someone having the
find oneself seated on the edge of worldview as a single qualities of an athlete, whose
one's bed in the moonlight. There comprehensive manifesto. I came survival is dependent on an intimate
was nothing dream-like about my to realise that it didnt work that synergy between body and spirit.
state and I thought, "What is way out there, but, despite that, I To stay alive - and come home
happening?" have taken the liberty of stating with dinner - a hunter must control
As I slid my hand across the that the Koryak people perceive the wild chaos of spurious thoughts,
cool sheets I was startled to hear that our personal power, and concentrate on a simple action,
the sound of water sloshing on a mindfulness, tribal survival, and such as tracking an animal in the
metal surface - as if I were journeys to the Other World and snow, or finding some shelter in a
submerged in a great tank of the Real World all arise from an storm. These activities involve that
water. While it was clear that I was integration of the tundra, the magical mindset of focus, action,
not dreaming, it was also apparent hunter, and the shaman. and awareness, and when your life
that something quite extraordinary has become a coiled bundle of pure,
was happening and I slowly turned If you spend enough time in uncomplicated action and
my gaze to the left. nature, the tundra will initiate your awareness, you enter a state of
There, kneeling on the floor, spiritual journey, because - in its being, sometimes called flow,
was an enormous being of light. It silence and fury it will somehow - which is the same as mindfulness.
was so large it could not have eventually, irrevocably, in a Once the tundra and hunter
stood upright in my bedroom, and I guaranteed way - seep into your have cleared the decks, theres
Below: the could see currents of light flowing think-too-much-know-it-all brain. the shaman.
rugged isolated through its human form. It will soak up all those This does not necessarily - but
landscape of Very slowly it lifted its right arm extraneous, chaotic thoughts that does not exclude - being the
Kamchatka and took my left forearm in its distract you from living in the woman with the drum, or the man

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in an eagle headdress. Wonder.
ecstasy, journeys to the Other
World - if it is your inclination and
within your ability to go there - and
magic, if you want to use that word.
Being the shaman is not only
being a spiritual leader, it is about
being the dancer, the artist, the
musician, the person who leads the
rest of their people on a path into
ecstasy; because without ecstasy,
we can never realise our full potential
as whole, complete human beings.
It all sounds easy doesnt it, but
of course it isnt; but its out there,
I am certain of it.

JODYS SENSE OF THE DANCE

My life-long work as a choreographer
and dancer has taught me about the
nuanced language of the human
body, and informs my work as a
shamanic practitioner.
My inward journey healed me,
and continues to heal me, at deep
levels which echo into my ancestral
lines and sweep clear the path of Western, mainstream imperative nature of the invitation. Above: Dancers
my future selves. perspectives deny the very core of The time is now. perform in the
As Jon has so eloquently what it means to human, and We have the tools for change. Weber Dance
articulated, nature and a focused create a disassociation from the The wisdom of the tundra, the company
mind and body are two essential natural world which is profound. hunter and the shaman can show
starting points of the human Instead, we must begin to us the path, and with that
journey towards integration. recognise the body as an awareness, it is time to dance a
Spirituality completes the triad, and extraordinary system which houses new world into being together.
draws both balance and ecstasy consciousness, and allows us
into our experience of the world. simultaneous access to the Jon Turk received his Ph.D. in chemistry
physical and spiritual planes. in 1971 but altered course to engage in
So what does this mean in The hunter has always extreme outdoor expeditions. Jons
2016? How might we apply this recognised this integration, with circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island was
nominated by National Geographic as one
deep wisdom to our present their powerfully present mind - of the Top Ten Adventures of 2011.
chaotic condition, and begin to gathering information from the His most recent book is: The Ravens
dance a new world into being? physical world, the weather, animal Gift: A Scientist, a Shaman, and their
My shamanic practice indicates migration patterns and geography - Remarkable Journey through the Siberian
Tundra. His next book: Crocodiles and
that we must first re-acquaint the hunter intergrates physical Ice: A Journey into Deep Wild, will be
ourselves with our energy bodies, and information with information about released in September 2016.
then deeply integrate our energetic the spirit of the herd. www.jonturk.net
state with our physical bodies. As we begin to recognise this [email protected]
The energy body speaks to the connection and practice, the deep Dr. Jody Weber was awarded a Ph.D. in
physical body through the chakra mindfulness and exquisite physicality dance history in 2005 and is currently an
Associate Professor of Dance at
system. of the hunter, we can begin to Bridgewater State University. She is the
The chakras align with the recognise the energetic web that Artistic Director of Weber Dance, and has
endocrine system. connects all life here on earth. presented her choreography in Boston,
The endocrine system speaks We are then no longer separate New York City, San Francisco, and many
the chemical language of the body from the tundra, from our fellow other locales. After experiencing spiritual
awakenings and journeys, she began
and regulates balance. tribesman, or from the nature of studying shamanic practice under Alberto
the shaman, who facilitates our Villoldo and is currently finishing her
Through this extraordinary and expeditions to the Spirit World. studies under that master.
dynamic network, each of us has It is from this place of unity that www.weberdance.com
[email protected]
the capacity to balance our physical we may begin to heal the great
and energetic selves. We cannot wounds we have inflicted on this NOTES:
continue to ignore the body as magnificent conscious world we 1: For articles about Jons travels in
many academics and spiritual call earth. Kamchatka and about Koryak shamanism,
leaders do - nor can we accept the see Sacred Hoop Issue 69.
insistence of pop culture that our As I reflect on that visitation with Sacred Hoop wishes to thank Chris
bodies are commodities for the the being of light who came when I Engles for providing the two photos
corporate Western world. was gravely ill, I sense the of the dancers.

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 Balancing
the Sun
and
Moon
The Spirit Power of the Hedgehog

Claudia Bonney

Above: Daurian Having found hedgehogs in my mystical punch: from protecting us A Romanian folk-tale tells of
hedgehog garden, some years ago in the from malign spirits and mishaps, to how God sent a bee to ask the
(mesechinus middle of a British city, I soon helping us cheat death and acting hedgehog how he should create
dauuricus) on found myself beguiled by them; as a totem for rebirth. Hedgehog is the world. Humble Hedgehog
the steppes of and so with, observation and important in fire making, saved replied: Who am I to tell God what
Mongolia research, I learnt all about them. humanity and featured as the main to do, and went on his way again.
Their recent dramatic decline in advisor to God in several creation But bee knew that Hedgehog
numbers led me to campaign in my myths, stretching from here all the had a habit of talking to himself,
local neighbourhood to raise way back to ancient Egypt and and so followed him and overheard
awareness of their plight and get beyond... who knew! him muttering: Well of course God
everyone involved to help. One must know he needs to create
garden doth not a hedgehog haven BRINGER OF BALANCE room for the water and the fish,
make! They need lots of inter- Hedgehog, it seems, is seen as a and so He should certainly make
connecting space to feed and meet keeper of order and knowledge, a mountains and valleys.
a mate. symbol of night and day, a balance Bee went back and told God
But as I am a shamanista of of both yin and yang, masculine what hedgehog had said, and so
sorts, I have always been and feminine. Its physical form is a the earth was created accordingly.
interested in looking deeper at sunburst of spines - like the rays of
things when an aspect of nature the masculine sun - but as a Another tale from Bulgaria tells
crosses my path, and so I was nocturnal animal too, it is a being how the hedgehog saved humanity
curious about what hedgehog of the dream times other world, of from disaster, when Sun and Moon
might mean shamanically - both rebirth, and therefore the yin, planned to marry.
now and historically - and perhaps feminine, aspect of Creation. Hedgehog was noticeably
uncover what their medicine might absent at the wedding celebrations,
be for us now. There are many tales of the and so Sun went looking and found
wise old hedgehog, found across him alone eating rocks.
As I explored the subject, I was the globe, where it is the bringer of Sun asked: Why are you eating
amazed to discover this little brown fire to humanity as well as helping rocks Hedgehog? To which
creature really does pack a mighty God create and give birth to earth. Hedgehog replied: Well, when you

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marry Moon you will have many
children together and they will light
up the sky with their fiery
brightness and burn all the plants
and trees. After this there will be
no food to eat., so I am practising
eating rocks, as it will be all there
is left!
At his words Sun realised the
error of the marriage and called it
off, and so humanity saved.

The Buryat people of Siberia the rising sun, so the Creator made the death of hundreds of Above: Egyptian
have a story about how Goddess of its spines look like the suns rays. thousands of the harmless hedgehog amulet
earth Etgen Eke once visited animals. Ironically hedgehogs are made of steatite
Khormusta Tengri - Khan of the BLESSINGS AND CURSES actualy lactose intolerant, therefore suspended on a
celestial tribes of the Western Sky. In Ancient Egypt representations of cows milk really isnt their cup of length of linen
When Etgen Eke asked for the the hedgehog were used as a tea at all! Middle Kingdom
sun and the moon as a gift, protective amulet - both against They were also feared in Britain, C17501700 BCE
Khormusta Tengri could not refuse, both real and spiritual mishap - because they were often believed Amulet length 9mm
and so Etgen Eke took the lights rather like the scarab beetle. This to be a witch in disguise, or a
out of the sky, and put them in a was because hedgehog witches familiar spirit, rather like
box, causing the whole universe to represented rebirth - probably due the poor old hare and cat were,
become dark. to its hibernation cycle - and also which also perhaps again points us
Khormusta Tengri was because it had a defence against to their underlying power and
distressed, and so he turned to his predators because of its spines - otherworldliness.
wise old friend Hedgehog for help. and apparent immunity against Finally the American tradition of
Using his profound wisdom, as snake bites. Goundhog Day - as the herald of
he was the wisest of creatures, spring new life and rebirth -
Hedgehog was able to return the Closer to home however, originated in ancient Rome as
sun and the moon to their heavenly hedgehogs have historically had a hedgehog day, but as early settlers
orbits, and so saved the day. rougher time. found no hedgehogs in the US,
Other Buryat versions of the tale In Elizabethan England it was they substituted a groundhog as
tell it was the goddess of the believed they stole milk from cows the closest thing. Below: Egyptian
ocean causing problems, but by sucking the cows udders at faience hedgehog
Hedgehog always plays the same night, and therefore in 1566, a Today we write and live the magical fetish
heroic role. bounty was placed on each myths and legends of tomorrow, C1900 BCE
hedgehog killed, which resulted in and therefore if you were to ask Length 71mm
THE BRINGER OF FIRE
The Buryat people also say the skill
of fire making came from
In Ancient Egypt the hedgehog a protective being -
Hedgehog, as they say that in the both against both real and spiritual mishap - this
beginning, neither the Tengri sky
powers, nor humans, could make was because the hedgehog represented rebirth and
fire only Hedgehog could, with his
sunburst of spines.
also because it had a defence against predators
According to the Udmurts and because of its spines
the Mari - both minority peoples
from Russia - it is the hedgehog
who showed humans and animals
how to make fire using stone,
steel, and tinder. They also say that
the hedgehog taught the people
how to farm the land, plough and
till the soil.
In Lithuanian legend the fire
making theme continues, as in
their traditional stories, they also
associate hedgehogs spines with
the suns rays. One creation tale
from these people tells us that all
the animals receiving their fur, or
hair, according to the place they
slept on their first night on Earth.
Hedgehog slept on a mountain
top and marveled at the radiance of

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 garden and your life, if you are very
lucky that is!
Make a couple of small holes in,
or under your garden fence, to
allow them to roam in and out of
your garden freely - the biggest
barrier to their survival is literally
barriers! Impenetrable fences and
walls stop them meeting, mating
and having enough food to survive.
It only needs to be small gap the
size of the end of a house brick.
Create or buy a hedgehog
feeding station, and place dried cat
food and a bowl of water in it
(never give them bread or milk, it
makes them ill). There are lots of
ready made designs to buy on line.
If you have a garden pond, put a
ramp in it, if it has steep sides.
Hedgehogs can swim, but they
need a gentle slope to help them
get out of the water. Ponds are
great for biodiversity, and for the
hedgehog a good supply of water
for them to drink on a hot summer
night.
Create a hedgehog hotel. This is
above: the me what hedgehog medicine And finally a powerful reminder of a hibernation station where they
author with a means for u,s now I would say it the old maxim that we should are safe to spend the winter.
hedgehog in would be all of the above, plus the never ever judge a book by its Again, there are lots of ready made
her garden addition of what their tragic decline cover; as sometimes the smallest, designs available to buy online, as
is pointing at. What is good for the drabbest, pricklest littlest thing can well as suggestions on how to
hedgehog is good for us. hold the key to help us all - make your own.
Also, for me their medicine is a because in truth what is good for Always check for hedgehogs
Below: the call to realign ourselves with nature, the hedgehog is good for us too. before you strim, cut back grass or
common or a call for us to work together and light bonfires etc. Hedgehogs often
European collaborate, review our internal and HEDGEHOG CARE TIPS make rather clumsy day nests in
hedgehog external barriers. Hedgehog is a The myystical aspects of the places that are not very safe for
(erinaceus reminder to ask ourselves which hedgehogs aside, the following tips them, so do check.
europaeus) fences and walls help or hinder us. may bring the real animal into your Only use nature friendly slug
pellets, or the very effective living
nematodes - available at good
garden centres or online - to get rid
of your slug problem. But of
course, hedgehogs are wonderful
slug control agents, and once you
have they living happily in your
patch, they will keep the pests
down for you: they truly are the
gardeners friend.

Claudia Bonney, BA Hons, has been a

healer since she was a child. When she
was 20 years old, she suffered a
mysterious illness, after which she started
explored healing in a focused way, which
finally culminating in a formal
apprenticship with a Tuvan trained
shaman. She was one of the first healers
to work for the British NHS on a
haematology and oncology ward, and she
has also worked extensively in the field of
addiction. Claudia is a NFSH healer, a
traditional USUI and Karuna Reiki Master,
and Interfaith Minister.
She lives near Bristol, England.
[email protected]

44
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 . . . . . . . . . . . REVIEWS
LEYENDA QUICK SPARROWS
Ana Alcaide OVER THE BLACK EARTH
CD or Download: 55.56 mins. Laura Cannell
ArcMusic EUCD 2647 CD or Download: 64.39 mins.
Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood Brawl Records BRAWL008
Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood
This is the latest powerful album from
Spanish world-musician singer This is an album of darkly brooding and
songwriter Ana Alcaide. Ive been following her career over the very atmospheric ancestral music from British folk musician and
past few years and her albums have gone from strength to medieval music enthusiast Laura, who plays violin as if it was a
strength. She has a love of the medieval music of her homeland, medieval fiddle - lots of strings bowed together at the same
especially the medieval music of the Sephardic Jews. But dont time to make rich chordal drones, and other instruments such
get the impression her music is set back in the past - its far as recorders and some percussion.
from that, imagine a sort of Loreena McKennitt, meets Mari The album is a controlled improvisation, sometimes a piece is
Boine, meets Carolyn Hillyer - all infused with Spanish heat and free standing, existing only in the moment, and with others the
passion and left to marinate in a mix of spices and hot sunshine improvisation is based on fragments of medieval music - some
and you will be thinking along the right lines. of it dating back to the C5th.
Amazingly gutsy music, rich and delicate in places and dark What she does is quite extraordinary - I would venture to say
and earthy in others, with wonderful musicianship from her it is almost as if the spirits from the past speak through her.
backing band who accompany her on a wide range of instruments She loves drones and works them to great effect, producing an
- ancient and modern. The albums textures draw influences from album that truly haunts and entrances the listener as the notes
her native Spain and the wider Mediterranean sound world and her weave around you. its music to dream too, to fly your soul too,
work deserves to be know far beyond those lands. to contemplate your insubstantial existence too before you too
Available from Amazon and iTunes etc. become an ancestor. Music drawn from a deep well, totally from
On Spotify the belly - and to the belly.
www.anaalcaide.com This is her debut 2014 recording, there is a newer one -
YouTube: www.bit.ly/YouTube-Ana Beneath Swooping Talons - which is also available on Spotify.
Available from: www.bit.ly/BandCamp-LauraCannell
ELEMENTAL TANGENTS On Spotify
Tracy Swain and Stephen Paine www.lauracannell.co.uk
CD and Book: 54.36 mins. YouTube: www.bit.ly/YouTube-LauraCannell
Also available as a Download
TnT-Photoart TSSP01 CAN DE DONA I HOME
Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood L'Ham de Foc Album
CD or Download: 53.27 mins. of the
Galileo Records GMC055 Issue
This is a five track CD of upbeat
newage music, each track being devoted to one of the five Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood
elements - which in this case are determined as earth, air, fire,
water, and spirit. The CD is packaged within a small, hard cover This is a recent re-release of a 2002
book which contains photos of nature, all of which have been album which slipped through the nets
chosen to represent the five elements. The book also contains upon its original release. L'Ham de Foc were a Spanish group
poems which start each elemental section. who explored the fiery folk music traditions of thier home land
All in all, the whole set is designed to bring about a as well as North Africa and Greece and combined them all
meditation on the elements. Its a very nicely put together, and together with great skill and powerful artistry.
it is clearly evident that great care and attention to detail has A mix of swirling bagpipes, a mixed variety of folk lutes of many
gone into the production of it. kinds, thick chordal vocal harmonies, and a wide range of
Musically the five pieces are a mix of keyboards, drums, bass, percussion, fiddles, zithers, flutes and shawms make for a dramatic
acoustic and electric guitars, flute and other instruments fusion album that is possiblly the best of its kind I have ever heard.
scattered here and there throughout the mix. The music does not The music is varied and shows immense talent on the part of all
move me greatly, it seems a little soul-less, perhaps a bit from those on the album. It is a very rich banquet indeed, traditional folk
the head, a bit slick, and I also found it a bit the same throughout songs from several cultures - all played impeccably.
the album; but it is beautifully played and very well recorded; and Sadly the group disbanded in 2006, although this album
I am very confident that many people will enjoy it greatly. reached the Top 10 of the World Music Charts for Europe in 2004.
www.elementaltangents.uk Available from Amazon and iTunes etc.
Available from their website and selected shops, On Spotify
Dowloads available from Amazon etc. YouTube: www.bit.ly/YouTube-Tangents
YouTube: www.bit.ly/YouTube-Tangents www.bit.ly/YouTube-DeFoc

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REVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . .
VOICE OF THE WIND
Trevor Green
CD or download: 47.20 mins.
Self Released Album
Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood

I generally find spiritual singer-

songwriters deeply pretentious, and so I
try to avoid most of them, most of the time. So it was a very
nice surprise to find this new album by American singer Trevor
Green. The press release on his website says he was adopted
into a Din (Navajo) family, but gives no further details, and
certainly a lot of Native American influences can be heard in
both his lyrics and his music. ONCE UPON A TIME IN TIBET
Musically its far more in the rock Americana camp than Director: Wei Dai
anything new age, and its got quite a kick-arse feel to it at Beijing Purple Clove Film Co : 97mins
times as Trevor plays a variety of acoustic and electric guitars Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood
and didgeridoo.... I wonder if Angus Young has ever fancied
doing a live didge solo? Beautifully recorded and produced, the This is a film available for free on YouTube. It is a romantic story
sound on the album is loverly and its very creative musically. about an American pilot, whose cargo plane crashes somewhere
I confess I find a few of the lyrics a tiny bit cringe-inducing, in the wilds of Tibet during the second world war. Near dead, he
but not that many, and not that much on the whole. He deserves is rescued and reluctantly nursed back to life by a Tibetan
to become an established voice - bridging as he does a fairly woman who has been outcast from her nomadic camp because
mainstream rock feel, new-age thought, Native American they think she is a witch descendant of a people conquered by
spirituality and damn fine guitar playing. I think he would go the Tibetan shamanic hero Gesar centuries before.
down an absolute storm at lots of summer music festivals, and I The film is their story, and the twists and turns of fate and
hear he has a troupe of Native American Hoop dancers on stage karma they endure. It is set against the turbulent times of the
with him on many of his shows which would add to the appeal. second world war, when China was fighting itself in a civil war,
Give him a listen - I am pretty certain you will really like him. as well as fighting the Japanese, who had invaded the North of
www.trevorgreenmusic.com the country. At this time Tibet was being leaned on by China,
On Spotify (www.spotify.com) who was to invade the country just a few years in the future.
Downloads available from Amazon and iTunes etc.
TouTube: www.bit.ly/YouTube-TrevorGreen

LIGHT
Midival Punditz
CD and Download: 54.47 mins.
Six Degrees Records 6570367197
Reviewer: Andy Ashchurch

A beautiful and uplifting album which

mixes Western rock, ambient chill-out
and classical Indian and folk music . It is by a New Delhi-based
duo, Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj who are pioneers in the
growing Indian electronica scene.
It is pulsing, ecstatic music, which is beautiful to listen to and With the American airman speaking English, and the Tibetans
beautiful to dance to. Its very positive music, and dare I say, speaking Tibetan, the film is multilingual, and to help the viewer
even cheerful - although it never crosses into the sort of there are English subtilties. It was filmed in Tibet, mostly on the
cheeriness I want to torture and then bury in the garden. It shores of Namtsco, a sacred lake, and the countrys wild, wide
certainly brings a bit of Indian sunshine to the often grey skies of open expanse are the backdrop to the film. Although there is
West Wales, and I think it would, undoubtedly bring the sun to little actual shamanic or Buddhist content to the film, the rural
your skies too, with a smile to your lips and a tap to your toes. Tibetan animistic dharma-inspired mindset comes across fairly
well, and the film has a rather overall mystical quality to it, as the
Available from Amazon and iTunes etc. wheel of rebirth rolls on in its inevitable way.
On Spotify On BandCamp Despite being a Chinese film, filmed in an occupied country, it
www.punditz.com feels a tender and sympathetic film, and is an enjoyable watch.
YouTube: www.bit.ly/YouTube-Punditz
Available online free: www.bit.ly/YouTube-OnceUponATime

46
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 . . . . . . . . . . . REVIEWS
JOURNEY TO My own slight criticism of the book would be small parts of
THE DARK GODDESS the concluding chapter, where I feel the author might be over-
Jane Meredith egging the importance of core shamanism - but this is a very
Moon Books minor quibble, and could just be a matter of our own personal
PB: 241 pages. 12.99: $18.95 tastes, as I am not a fan of core shamanism per se, whereas
ISBN: 978 1 84694 677 6 the author teaches it - as Asian Director of Michael Harners
Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
All in all, I found the book very well informed, extremely
interesting to read - it helped me understand various
technicalities on several points of Mongolian shamanic practice
As a Tibetan Buddhist-shamanista, I - and one for the bookshelf of everyone who professes an
work with a lot of Tibets wrathful interest in shamanism.
beings, beings who encapsulate the Available from Amazon etc.
dark side of the psyche and the spirit world. The Dark
Goddess, whether she be Kali, Persephone, Hecate, Morgana,
Black Isis, Lilith or Ereshkigal - all of whom the book is SHAMANISM
dedicated to - fulfills the same role. They are all spirit powers, Christa MacKinnon
especially useful for women to look at and work with, as without Hay House Books
the dark places we can not come into our true power and PB: 216 pages. 8.99: $9.95
wholeness of being. Clearly and engagingly written, although ISBN: 978 1 78180 587 9
this is primarily a book for women, men would get a lot from it Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood
too. I am very aware of the article we have in this issue about
the mother wound, and this seems to be a natural book for the A very good introduction to pan-cultural
book-list connected with that article. shamanism, covering all of the basics
Embrace the darkness - you know it makes sense, for in the about cosmology and practice. I feel not to
darkness there are both dragons to transmute and personal do a big review here as I suspect many of
golden power to be discovered and claimed, and we all owe that our readers are seeking more meat in
to the collective at this time of trouble and strife - if you want to their shamanic sandwich and I get inundated with Introduction to
be powerful and effective you need to be whole, and to be Shamanism books, most of which I don't review. This however is
whole you need to seek, come to terms with, appreciate and well worth hunting down if you are in need of a 101.
integrate the Dark Goddess - and the Dark God. Available from Amazon etc.
Available from Amazon etc.
THE HARE BOOK
SKY SHAMANS: Meetings The Hare Preservation Trust
with Remarkable Healers Graffeg Books
Kevin Turner HB: 158 pages. 9.99: $16.95
North Atlantic Books ISBN: 978 1 909 82368 6
PB: 209 pages. 18.99: $24.95 Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood
ISBN: 978 1 58394 634 3
Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood Having made a visit to the remote shrine
of the dark age Welsh saint, Saint Melangell - the so called patron
To get a feel of this book, read the lead saint of hares, these magical animals have been much more in my
article in this issue. A very enjoyable conciousness and of course have cropped up in my spirituality.
and informative read, part travelogue, part book of interviews This is a very loverly book, profusely illustrated with a wide range
with the shamans he meets and part book about Mongolian of images depicting the natural history, mythology and spiritual
shamanism I think this is possibly the book I will recommend to significance of this quintessential magical animal - and of course
people as a must-read, along with the late Mongolian-American Saint Melangell gets a mention. A delightful book for all those with
shaman Sarangerels book Chosen by the Spirits. a love of the spiritual world and the natural world.
If you are familiar with Sarangerels book, you will find much Available from Amazon etc.
here to expand her teachings, as the book describes the
aspects of the three souls, the use of the drum, shamans WOULD YOU LIKE TO WRITE REVIEWS FOR HOOP?
mirrors, and many other ritual objects, the shamanic cosmology Have you found some music, a film, or a book recently,
and the role of the spirits. It makes for a fascinating read and I which you feel would fit well here in our review pages?
If so, wed love to get a review from you about it.
could not put it down when it arrived. It is written in an easy,
email: [email protected]
engaging style and is illustrated with many excellent black and
We cant promise to publish it until weve seen it,
white and colour photos of shamans in action, and the ritual so why dont you send it in so we can see it!.
objects they use in thier ceremonies.

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 SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES

48
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HOOP ISSUE 92 2016
 SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES
The Shamans Mirror
Teaching Weekends on Shamanism
and the use of Ritual Objects
With Nicholas Breeze Wood
in West Wales

Including:
working with the
toli or shamans
mirror; ongons
and spirit figures;
using phurbas;
making offerings;
working with
ceremony and
altars; the voice
and the drum;
ritual costume;
intent arrows;
blessing wands
and whips and Photo:
shamans
other objects costume,
and aspects Amur
people,
of shamanism. Siberia

www.bit.ly/ShamanMirror

HOOP ISSUE 92 2016 49

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 Paul Francis (01492) 873 739 [email protected]
www.therapeutic-shamanism.co.uk
JUL 16-17: FOR ALL OUR RELATIONS (DORSET) A
ceremonial gathering. Learn about and create powerful
and beneficial ceremony for our beautiful planet, clearing
ourselves and calling our finest allies to sing and dance
our love into the ground. With Brooke Medicine Eagle.
Contact Seersha OSullivan [email protected]
JUN 17-19: BALANCING THE FLAME - SUMMER
SOLSTICE WEEKEND (GLOUCESTERSHIRE)
Community and EVENTs Weekend connecting us to the energies of the
June - Sept 2016 seasons and land on 60 acres of sustainable farmland.
We will work with the energies of fullness, warmth and
J UNE light. With Mandy Pullen and Jane Embleton. Contact
(01594) 541 850 or (01823) 672 689
C ommunity and E VENTS
June - Sept 2016

JUN 4-5: INTRODUCTION TO SHAMANISM www.mandypullen.co.uk [email protected]

(CARDIFF) Two day course exploring shamanism, the JUN 18-24: WILD SOUL (SNOWDONIA) Reclaiming
shamanic journey and how it can help you in everyday ones wild soul and authentic self. A shamanism,
life. With Maxine Smillie. shamaniclife.co.uk (01873) ecstatic movement and expressive arts retreat near
858 391 Mount Snowdon: With Natasha Saltzer (07825) 368
JUN 9-15: VISION QUEST (NORTH DEVON) A four- 846 [email protected], www.shamanisnretreats.com
day vision quest in idyllic spot. Ideal for life-questions JUN 18-19: THE MIDDLE WORLD (NORTH WALES)
like what is my purpose? and transitions. With highly Exploring middle world work in shamanism. Contact
experienced practitioner Carlos Glover Paul Francis (01492) 873 739 [email protected]
[email protected] www.therapeutic-shamanism.co.uk
JUN 11: A WOMANS FIRE (SW WALES) The JUN 19: PIPE CIRCLE (NORTH PEMBROKESHIRE)
intention of the day is to hold a traditional womans A chance to sit with the sacred pipe, a traditional
ceremonial fire transforming the stuck and making Native American prayer ceremony. With Nick Breeze
space for the new. With Maxine Smillie. Wood. [email protected]
shamaniclife.co.uk (01873) 858 391 JUN 24-30: THE PATHS OF MARY MAGDALENE
JUN 11-12: DEATH, DYING AND THE HEREAFTER WOMEN'S RETREAT (FRENCH PYRENEES) Explore
(GLASTONBURY) We cannot fully embrace life until the aliveness in your body, voice and soul with healing
we embrace death as an ally. A shamanic perspective sounds and movement, shamanic journeys,
on living in the body and beyond, how to dance toward meditations and create your own personal water
your death in a state of grace and beauty. Looking at ceremony. With Val Stagg. Contact (01736) 361 146
ways of preparing ourselves and others for the [email protected] www.spiritvoice.co.uk
transition to the afterlife. With Howard and Elsa JUN 25: JOURNEYS OF DISCOVERY (NORTH
Malpas www.warriorintheheart.com Contact: Jo Read CORNWALL) Drumming, healing and journey circle.
(01458) 833 933 [email protected] All welcome, novice and experienced who would like
www.isleofavalonfoundation.com to explore the world of the shaman. Warm, friendly
JUN 11-12: THE PLANT PEOPLE (NORTH WALES) and open circle. Contact Derek (07788) 432 380
Working with plant spirits in shamanic work. Contact www.healingtree.org.uk

Right: Buddhist
tantric ngagpa
(a sort of tantric
shaman who
specialises in the
use of mantras),
wearing his red
and white zen
shawl, playing a
chd and bell
while performing a
chd ceremony at
the Lukhang
temple -
a temple sacred to
the naga spirits
close to the Potala
palce in Lhasa
Tibet

50
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JUN 25-26: THE SHAMANS MIRROR (NORTH No experience necessary all welcome. With Howard
PEMBROKESHIRE) An informal teaching weekend and Elsa Malpas www.warriorintheheart.com (020)
about the use of the bronze shamans mirror or toli. 8758 9950 or (07977) 935 633
With Nick Breeze Wood. [email protected] [email protected]
JUN 25-26: AN INTRODUCTION TO SPACE JUL 6: DRUMMING CIRCLE (SURREY) An evening
CLEARING (STAFFORDSHIRE) How to clear your of drumming, rattling and using your voice. Then
home, workplace or therapy room of unwanted, relaxing Vipassana meditation and shamanic
stagnant or negative energies for personal well-being. journeying. With Michelle Corrigan. (07833) 558 253
With Roo Reygan www.holisticwellbeingmidlands.co.uk www.purplebuddha.co.uk
[email protected] (01785) 713 721 JUL 7-10: THE ART OF THE HEALING VOICES IN
JUN 25-26: THE SHAMANIC JOURNEY (WEST CELTIC SHAMANISM (STROUD) Residential course
LONDON) Introduction to shamanism, journey to teaches the applications of the three musical strains or
shamanic non-ordinary realities, connect with power modes of ancient Ireland. Using toning and keening to
animals, space clearing, create sacred space, divine access our inner worlds, and explore how chant heals

C ommunity and E VENTS

June - Sept 2016
using tools from nature, empowerment journey, canoe and unblocks the energetic body. With Cit Branigan
journey. With Howard and Elsa Malpas (01458) 833 and Caitln Matthews. [email protected]
933 www.warriorintheheart.com www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk (01453) 759 034
[email protected] JUL 9-10: THE ROLE OF DREAMS

J ULY (STAFFORDSHIRE) Shamanic development workshop

exploring the role of dreams in shamanic work, and
dream building. With Roo Reygan (01785) 713 721
JUL 2: INTRODUCTION TO SHAMANISM www.holisticwellbeingmidlands.co.uk
(CHELTENHAM) Learn the shaman's journey [email protected]
technique and more with Mandy Pullen. Contact JUL 9-11: SHAMANS BODY - MAGICAL BODY
(01594) 541 850 or (01242) 254 321 (GLASTONBURY) Transformation through the
www.mandypullen.co.uk [email protected] physical. Shamans and cutting edge research offer
JUL 2: LEARNING TO CONNECT WITH MOTHER empowering information about using the magic of our
EARTH (KENT) First steps in learning to earth robe in transformation - physical, emotional and
communicate with the plant and animal kingdoms. spiritual, whether seeking excellence or recovering
With Kurikindi-traditional Amazonian shaman. Contact from trauma and challenges. With Brooke Medicine
Seersha (07809) 722 097 [email protected] Eagle. Contact: [email protected]
www.shamanicplanet.com (01458) 833 933
JUL 3 : SHAMANIC SUNDAYS (GLOUCESTERSHIRE JUL 14: VILLAGE ENCAMPMENT AND
) Monthly journeying group on the first Sunday of each INDIGENOUS AFRICAN GRIEF RITUAL
month in Forest of Dean 10.30-1pm and Stroud 3- (CUMBRIA) Contact Mairead: [email protected]
5pm with Mandy Pullen. Suitable for beginners and (07910) 689 626
those more experienced. Contact (01594) 541 850 www.facebook.com/events/263995620606959
www.mandypullen.co.uk [email protected] JUL 23: GUIDING SPIRITS (KENT) Meet your
JUL 3: SHAMANIC JOURNEYING CIRCLE personal guiding spirits using shamanic journeying,
(GLASTONBURY) An evening of journeying together drumming and trance dance. with Seersha OSullivan
using the drum, getting guidance and healing for Contact (07809) 722 097 [email protected]
ourselves and each other. Times 7.30pm 9.30pm www.shamanicplanet.com

Hwww.sacredhoop.org
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 JUL 23-25: WALKING THE PATH OF HEART AND www.facebook.com/events/581337918682000
HOLINESS (STRATHPEFFER, SCOTLAND) Help to AUG 5: SHAMANIC JOURNEYING CIRCLE
walk into this new time of peace, abundance and (GLASTONBURY) An evening of journeying together
loving light in a powerful and transformed way - with using the drum, getting guidance and healing for
love and oneness. With Brooke Medicine Eagle. ourselves and each other. 7.30pm - 9.30pm No
Contact: [email protected] Sarina and experience necessary, all welcome. With Howard and
Phil Armshaw (01997) 421 300 or (07890) 002 453 Elsa Malpas www.warriorintheheart.com (020) 8758
www.crystalhouseretreat.co.uk 9950 or (07977) 935 633
JUL 24: PIPE CIRCLE (NORTH PEMBROKESHIRE) [email protected]
A chance to sit with the sacred pipe, a traditional AUG 6-7: INTRODUCTION TO SHAMANISM PART
Native American prayer ceremony. With Nick Breeze 1 BASICS (STAFFORDSHIRE) Exploring the
Wood. [email protected] Shamanic worlds, sacred space, journey techniques,
JUL 29-31: EARTH MY BODY, WATER MY BLOOD meeting spirit allies and developing relationships with
(Shetland Isles) Disturbed by the current earth spirit. With Roo Reygan (01785) 713 721
changes, experiencing a strong call to help, but feel www.holisticwellbeingmidlands.co.uk
powerless and don't know how? The weekend will [email protected]
involve ceremony and working with the land, to cleanse AUG 10-14: SHAMANIC IMMERSION RETREAT
and restore balance in the world, and deep connection (NORTHERN NEW MEXICO, USA) Rejuvenate your
to the elements and the wild life of this place. All body, refresh your mind and open new skills in just
profits going to local a wildlife sanctuary. With Sarah days at this immersion experience. Weve assembled
Howcroft and friends www.shamanism-wales.co.uk outstanding teachers and artists to guide us. Youll
(07968) 010 103 www.shetlandwildlifesanctuary.com leave with fresh expertise, big ideas, deeper power
JUL 29-31: SHAMANIC PRACTITIONERS COURSE and new friends. With The Society for Shamanic
(CO. MEATH, IRELAND) www.shamanismireland.com Practice. Contact: [email protected]
[email protected] www.shamanicpractice.org

A UGUST AUG 13-14: THE SHAMANS PATH (BRECON

BEACONS) Introductory level weekend exploring the
AUG 3: DRUMMING CIRCLE (SURREY) An evening worlds of shamanism, journeying, guides and power
of drumming, rattling and using your voice. Then animals, nature spirits, the elements, altars and
relaxing Vipassana meditation and shamanic ceremonies, and healing. Good to attend if youre
journeying. With Michelle Corrigan. (07833) 558 253 thinking of applying for the Healing Practitioner
www.purplebuddha.co.uk Course. With Sarah Howcroft www.shamanism-
wales.co.uk (07968) 010 103
AUG 4-7: FOR THE LOVE OF LADY GAIA
(GWYNEDD) Womens leadership healing circle and AUG 18-21: UNITE THE SELF, IGNITE THE WORLD
earth ceremony. Nurturing and renewing each other (SOUTH DEVON) A ceremony synthesising Earth
and the world - offering profound teaching on natural Wisdom and process work for personal and planetary
spiritual and social leadership of women. With Brooke transformation. With WindEagle, Carlos DiamondLight and
Medicine Eagle. [email protected] Maria Sue Jade Dreamer. [email protected]
(07497) 001 542 or Claire on (07970) 409 724 AUG 20-21: AWAKENING THE SHUVANI

Right: a Chinese
Buddhist shaman
playing a double
sided damaru
drum and a shang
bell. He wears a
ritual crown with
represents the
five elements, the
four directions
and the centre
and the five
Buddha families

52
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(HEREFORDSHIRE) Advanced course on Romany www.schumachercollege.org.uk/becoming-indigenous
wisdom. [email protected] www.shuvani.co.uk SEP 16-18: BALANCING THE FLAME - AUTUMN
AUG 20-26: SUMMER VISION QUEST (WALES) A EQUINOX WEEKEND (GLOUCESTERSHIRE)
powerful quest in an extraordinary landscape, held by Weekend connecting us to the energies of the seasons
an experienced and trained leader, in the wild cauldron and land on 60 acres of sustainable farmland. We will
of the Brecon Beacons, with three days and nights work with the energies of the harvest and the Full Moon
spent out in the mountains. With Sarah Howcroft and eclipse on Friday 16th. With Mandy Pullen and Jane
friends www.shamanism-wales.co.uk (07968) 010 103 Embleton. Contact (01594) 541 850 or (01823) 672
AUG 21: PIPE CIRCLE (NORTH PEMBROKESHIRE) 689 www.mandypullen.co.uk [email protected]
A chance to sit with the sacred pipe, a traditional SEP 18: PIPE CIRCLE (NORTH PEMBROKESHIRE)
Native American prayer ceremony. With Nick Breeze A chance to sit with the sacred pipe, a traditional
Wood. [email protected] Native American prayer ceremony. With Nick Breeze
AUG 25-27: BLOSSOMING INTO HARMONY Wood [email protected]
(KENT) Brooke Medicine Eagle Workshop. Contact: SEP 19: SEPT BONES OF RITUAL (DEVON) A

C ommunity and E VENTS

June - Sept 2016
[email protected] (07809) 722 097 week of deep self-exploration as you investigate life
AUG 26-28: SHAMANIC PRACTITIONERS questions such as who am I, what is my purpose in the
COURSE (CO. MEATH, IRELAND) world, who are my allies and how can I best serve my
www.shamanismireland.com community, using traditional techniques and ritual
[email protected] practices from the indigenous South African traditions.
With Colin Campbell and Lucy Hinton.
AUG 27: BLOSSOMING (KENT) To release old
www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/short-
traumas and limitations, and move forward in sweet
courses/bones-of-ritual
loveliness - the flower of who you are. with Brooke
Medicine Eagle. Contact Seersha )07809) 722 097 SEP 24-25: SACRED OBJECTS (NORTH
[email protected] www.shamanicplanet.com PEMBROKESHIRE) An informal teaching weekend
about the use of ritual objects. With Nick Breeze Wood
AUG 26-28: THE NATIVITY OF THE GODDESS
[email protected]
ISIS (STROUD) This anniversary retreat for all
members of the worldwide Fellowship of Isis, honours SEP 24-25: SHAMANIC AWARENESS,
the coming of the Goddess Isis, with ritual, meditation CONNECTION AND COMMUNICATION
and dance. Caitln Matthews, Cit Branigan and (STAFFORDSHIRE) Working with trees and plants,
Cressida Pryor. [email protected] animals and the earth to develop and deepen our
www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk (01453) 759 034 understanding of the world around us. With Roo
Reygan www.holisticwellbeingmidlands.co.uk (01785)
S EPTEMBER 713 721 [email protected]
SEPT 25-28: MIDWIFING THE SOUL (SOMERSET)
SEP 2: SHAMANIC JOURNEYING CIRCLE Residential course teaches soul-retrieval, extraction of
(GLASTONBURY) An evening of journeying together spiritual intrusions and practical ways to guard the
using the drum, getting guidance and healing for ourselves three souls. Explore the Celtic concept of the soul
and each other. 7.30 - 9.30pm No experience necessary, through the profound medium of soul-singing. Caitln
all welcome. With Howard and Elsa Malpas (020) 8758 Matthews and Angela Cotter. Contact Jane May,
9950 or (07977) 935 633 www.warriorintheheart.com (01865) 407 680 [email protected]
[email protected] SEP 26: CO-CREATION: THE FUTURE OF THE
SEP 7: DRUMMING CIRCLE (SURREY) An evening MASCULINE AND THE FEMININE (DEVON) Explore
of drumming, rattling and using your voice. Then how to be a man and how to be a woman at this point
relaxing Vipassana meditation and shamanic in history when we face the breakdown of our
journeying. With Michelle Corrigan. (07833) 558 253 historical narratives and archetypes. With Pat McCabe
www.purplebuddha.co.uk and Charles Eisenstein
SEP 8-11: 10TH RESIDENTIAL UK SHAMANIC www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/short-
GATHERING (GLASTONBURY) A fine feast of courses/masculine-and-the-feminine
ceremony, workshops, discussion groups, dance and Please send:
teachings from many traditions with: Annie Spencer 3 no more than 5 ENTRIES per issue
Christiana Harle Trisha Mulholland Leo Rutherford 3 dates for the next issue only

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POP is open to all subscribers
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 SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES

t h e 1 0 th U K
Shamanic
Gathering
2016
3 Shamanism EarthSpirit Centre
3 Drumming
3 Workshops Glastonbury, England
3 Ceremonies
3 Community
Thurs 8th - Sun 11th Sept 2016
3 Chanting
3 Shamans Market Residential or
3 Sacred Connection and much more.... Non Residential
(07977) 935 633 [email protected]
www.shamanconference.co.uk
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SACRED OBJECTS FOR
YOUR RITUAL LIFE

UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL

BUDDHIST AND SHAMANIC
RITUAL ITEMS FROM TIBET,
MONGOLIA AND NEPAL

Sacred Objects lovingly

gathered and offered
to practitioners
and collectors by
Nicholas Breeze Wood

www.3Worlds.co.uk

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 SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES SHAMANIC RESOURCES -----

FOUNDATION FOR INSPIRATIONAL Making, Empowering and

AND ORACULAR STUDIES
FOS - Vision Knowledge Dream
Shamanic, Oracular and Ancestral Courses
Using Shamanic Drums
with By Nicholas Breeze Wood
CAITLN & JOHN MATTHEWS
Shamanic Practitioner Training (26th Year)
Healing Voice in Celtic Shamanism with
bean feasa, Cit Branigan
Voyages of the Soul: Death & Beyond
for full details send medium SAE to
Caitln Matthews
BCM Hallowquest,
London WC1N 3XX, U.K.
www.hallowquest.org.uk
Full colour,
richly illustrated
paperback with
many photos of
original shamans
drums, many never
published in the West before!
Available World Wide - $18.95US (plus p&p) from:
www.bit.Ly/soul-of-the-shaman
OR DIRECT FROM NICK An important
(UK only) from the
Hoop address on page 4 contribution to
UK Price from Nick: the study of
14 (incl P&P) shamanism!
Cheques made Michael Harner
to Nick Breeze Wood

Altre Beautiful Album of Animal Magic

Ancestral Music
by Nicholas 5 Day Animal Spirit Retreat
Vida Breeze Wood
An improvised wander
through melodies from
12th to 14th Century
England, France,
Occitania and Spain
Played on a (including breathwork, dance, art/crafts,
Medieval Gittern,
Pandiero (square frame shape-shifting, sweat lodges and cacao circle)
drum) and Sinfonye Somerset - October 21st - 24th - 350
[email protected] 07786 291967
FREE download - www.bit.ly/Altre-Vida Sue Holmes - www.thehomehealer.co.uk

56
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GET YOURSELF
NOTICED
advertise in
Sacred Hoop
this size is
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(thats about $50us)
Contact us about
being in our next issue!

HEALING THROUG A RETURN

TO THE LAND : HARTWELL
Rites of passage, vision quest, movement into
eldership, soul and nature Since the 80s,
Annie Spencer has been creating ceremony
for healing, or celebration, and to bring
us back into right alignment with
our mother, the earth

To learn about her work visit

www.Hartwell.eu.com

2017 Nepal-Tibet-Mt Kailash Sacred Pilgrimage

Accompanied by Bhola Banstola - a Traditional Nepalese Shaman

who has been accompanying groups to the Sacred Places of the Himalayas for many years
Join us on this once in a lifetime pilgrimage to the compassionate heart of the Himalayan region,
the realms of Shiva and Parvati, Bon Masters and Buddhists, Jains, and the Shamans of Nepal and Tibet.
We will visit the venerable and sacred Mount Kailash, Chui Gompa Buddhist Monastery,
Milarepa Caves and Lake Manasarovar, on the full moon to bathe in the sacred waters,
The Kathmandu Valley, Lhasa, Shigatse, Gyantse.
Sacred and power places are for all to experience - join us on a journey to the Heart of Mother Earth
Space is limited so please send your registration to :
[email protected] www.nepal-shaman.com

HOOP ISSUE 92 2016 57

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58
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Tibetan Handloom
An exclusive online store of Buddhist
Ritual Handicrafts. Kathmandu, Nepal

An International Alliance
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Trained to teach by Sandra Ingerman, teacher and author
of many well-known books on shamanic healing including:
Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self
and Medicine for the Earth
who offer a variety of workshops on shamanic
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in the spirit of love and integrity.
www.tibetanhandloom.com
MD: Neha Goyal Advisor: Bipul Goyal www.shamanicteachers.com
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The ritual clothes of a male great shaman of the
Selkup people of Eastern Siberia. Late C19th.
Only the most powerful shamans had a complete set of
ritual clothes, as in this example. The set comprises of
a jacket, made from male reindeer skin, to which are
tied iron ongon amulets, many in the form of frogs -
who saved humans during the time of a great flood.
Other spirit figures include several two headed
loon birds - who are the shamans pathfinder.
The fringes on the coat represent bird feathers.
On top of the coat at the front is a
reindeer skin apron, with bear fur
edging. It has iron ribs and jingle
cones fixed to it. The
bottom fringe has
several large
brass bells

attached.

On his head the shaman has an iron crown

with antlers, which represent the celestial
reindeer. The shaman becomes this animal
when he puts the crown on. The red cloth
streamers hanging from the crown are spirit paths
which lower world spirits use to climb up to the shaman.
On his lower legs he wears iron spirit shin bones and
knee caps, with red cloth tassles which represent blood vessels.
On his feet he wears leather boots, to which iron bear claws are fixed.