Issue 39 £2.50 Indie SSN 2050-568X (Online) Shaman for independent spirits

“The fold behind the knee” ’s Stephen Corry reflects on the words of Yanomami shaman, Davi Kopenawa Xhosa Mysticism

The Desecration of Natural Power Sites Shamanism: Inviting a move towards an Earth Centred Consciousness?

www.indieshaman.co.uk Indie Shaman Environmental and Accessibility WEBSITE https://indieshaman.co.uk/

POSTAL ADDRESS 18 Bradwell Grove Danesmoor Chesterfield Derbyshire S45 9TA

EDITOR Indie Shaman is committed to minimize the effects of its June Kent activities on the environment. Indie Shaman Magazine is printed by Minuteman Press, Bristol, whose products are CONTACT Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) www.fsc.org certificated [email protected] and meet the requirements of the Programme for the 01246 251768 Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) Chain of Custody wwwpefc.org. All articles and images are © Indie Shaman 2009-2018 or to the artist, Indie Shaman is committed to aiming towards equality of photographer, writer where named accessibility. For this reason this magazine uses a book unless otherwise stated. All rights rather than traditional magazine layout, with clear print size reserved. and spacing.

The views expressed in the articles We carried out research with the help of our subscribers to and advertisements in the Indie make sure we are providing the service you want and we Shaman Magazine are those of the value your feedback. If you have any comments or questions authors and are not necessarily those on any of the above please contact us: of the editor/Indie Shaman. by email to: [email protected] The editor/Indie Shaman takes no responsibility for errors, omissions or by post to: or the consequences thereof and or June Kent, Indie Shaman, for any actions taken in relation to 18 Bradwell Grove, Danesmoor any article herein or for any contract Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S45 9TA entered into with any third party. Indie Shaman is a member of the Pagan and Heathen Cover Features: Symposium http://pagansymposium.org/ 5 9 17

Xhosa Mysticism

13 “The fold behind Shamanism: Inviting a the knee” The Desecration move towards an Earth of Centred Consciousness?

2 Natural Power Sites Contents Contributors Features Articles Brenda El-Leithy 5 “The fold behind the knee” Brian Anderson Charles Shahar 9 Xhosa Mysticism Eileen Mullard Eoghan Odinsson 13 The Desecration of Natural Power John Lockley Sites Laura Perry Stephen Corry 17 Shamanism: Inviting a move towards an Earth Centred Columnists Consciousness? Elen Sentier, Yvonne Ryves

21 Deathwalking Front Cover Photography Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa 23 Prairie Plant Medicine & the Seven © Survival https://www. Sacred Rites of the Lakota survivalinternational.org/

25 Dolphins, Kinship and Kindred Poet and Back Cover Photography Spirits Sue Latchford

29 Northern Plantlore: Horsetail Reviewers Badrunnisa Patel, Joe Caudwell, Karon Regulars & Snippets Lyne

4 Editor’s Letter/Community News ‘Shay Mann’ Simon Harding 16 The Pebble Tribe - Lucky Draw Storyteller 33 Story Teller’s Corner: The Black Martin Pallot Stone (part two) Editorial and Production 35 Columnist: Ellen Sentier on ‘Ancient Editor, Design & Production - June Kent Ancestors & Modern Ideals’ Sub-editor & Proofreading - Martin Pallot Printing - Minuteman Press, Bristol 38 Shay Mann Distribution - indieshaman.co.uk Indie Shaman logo courtesy of Cat 39 Columnist: Shaman Moon by Hawkins Yvonne Ryves Not yet a subscriber? 41 Book Reviews Magazine subscriptions are available at www. 44 Events Calendar indieshaman.co.uk. Only £10.00 a year for pdf subscriptions via email and from £21.00 a WEBSITE: https://indieshaman.co.uk/ year (UK subscription price) for print editions. DISCUSSION GROUP: https://www.face- Subscription includes other benefits and offers plus 50p from all subscriptions go to support book.com/groups/indieshaman/ wildlife charities! SOCIAL MEDIA:https://www.facebook. com/IndieShaman/ https://twitter.com/JuneKent 3 https://www.instagram.com/indieshaman/ Community News

Editor’s Letter Welcome to Issue 39 of Indie Shaman magazine!

Indie Shaman readers who also browse our website or have been involved in the online community for some time may already be aware of one of our aims and ethics: “To respect the rights of indigenous people especially those under threat from globalisation, industrialisation or any other cause that adversely affects their right to define their own way of life.” And our first article about the book written by eminent shaman , relating intimate stories of the life of the Yanomami tribe living deep in the heart of the Amazon, gives excellent examples of why this is important.

Survival International’s Director, Stephen Corry, a personal friend and long-time collaborator of Davi’s, wrote the article and I had the pleasure of working with Jessica Franklin from Survival for this edition of Indie Shaman; learning a little more along the way about the fantastic work this organisation does for tribal peoples throughout the world.

Survival fights for tribal peoples’ survival: aiming to stop loggers, miners and oil companies from destroying tribal lands, lives and livelihoods across the globe; lobbying governments to recognise ; documenting and exposing the atrocities committed against tribal people and taking direct action to stop them; and giving tribal peoples a platform to speak to the world. Survival’s vision is “a world where tribal peoples are respected as contemporary societies and their human rights protected”.

If you would like to find out more about Survival then do visit their website https://www. survivalinternational.org/. Survival take no money from governments or big business and rely entirely on donations so if you can also support them in any way financially, however small, please do. If you can’t donate, showing your support in other ways is also important e.g. you can sign up to their newsletter, ‘like’ their page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/survival/) and share stories of their work on social media and blogs - it all helps demonstrate to those in power that people do care about the rights of tribal peoples.

I hope you will excuse me using my editorial to tell you a little about this fantastic organisation (I should also point out that they didn’t ask me to)!

With many blessings for wherever your explorations may lead you and for whatever you may support in 2019.

June

In Memory of Elsa Malpas, who passed into spirit on 17th November 2018. A wise elder who, together with her husband Howard, shared their wisdom with many; her legacy lives on in all the lives she changed and through all those who continue to honour her teachings.

4 “The fold behind the knee”

Reflections by Stephen Corry on ‘The Falling Sky: words of a Yanomami shaman’ by Davi Kopenawa & Bruce Albert

Shaman Davi Kopenawa is a leading Yanomami spokesman and President of Hutukara Yanomami Association. © Survival

The Falling Sky, the first book by a Yanomami, is without doubt the most authentic account of Amazonian shamanism ever recorded. It’s the nearest thing to sitting around a fire in a communal Yanomami dwelling (round, thatched and open to the centre, a bit like the Elizabethan Globe theatre viewed from above) and just listening, uninterruptedly, to a shaman’s words. That’s best done around dawn or dusk, those edgy times when the world really does mutate.

It uncovers a worldview as complex as any major religion; this is no primitive nature worship, nor is it for the squeamish. “We shamans simply say that we are It’s is a multi-coloured vision of beauty and love but also of protecting ‘nature’ as a whole thing. dismemberment, ‘cannibalism’, death and destruction. The universe is multifaceted and multi-layered, an ever changing We defend the forest’s trees, hills, place full of hidden forces; helpful, mischievous or murderous, mountains and rivers; its fish, game, all shifting and mutating depending on how they’re treated and even on what mood they happen to be in. The skilful and spirits and human inhabitants. We highly trained shaman ‘drinking’ yakoana snuff (it’s actually even defend the land of the white blown up his nostrils), takes on the strength to enter this people beyond it and all those who live hidden cosmos. He becomes not only aware of its forces, good and ill, but can - indeed must - enlist them to try and defend there.” his community.

The hidden universe of the xapiri and many other spirits requires constant intervention to maintain balance. The shaman has no option but to work ceaselessly to keep life bearable, not only for his own people but - astonishingly - for everyone, everywhere. Davi says, “We shamans simply say that we are protecting ‘nature’ as a whole thing. We defend the forest’s trees, hills, mountains and rivers; its fish, game, spirits and human inhabitants. We even defend the land of the white people beyond it and all those who live there.”

5 Davi Kopenawa doing shamanism in his community Watoriki in 2002. © Clémence René-Bazin/Survival When road building arrived in Yanomami territory in the 1970s, Davi quickly saw that this was going to destroy the tribe. The Yanomami Park Commission was started in 1978 and the campaign was pushed onto the world stage by Survival International. The focus was on pressing the government to abandon reserving the Yanomami only small pieces of land around a few communities and to campaign for a single Yanomami territory. Stopping the road was essential. In the 1980s, a new and even more acute threat arrived; an invasion of illegal gold miners. About twenty per cent of Brazilian Yanomami died as epidemics of measles, cerebral malaria and flu swept the region and as mercury waste poisoned their food. The shamans saw these illnesses as ‘epidemic smoke’ against which they lacked real power. They were a repeat of the diseases which carried off Davi’s mother when he was a child. Her body had been hastily buried by missionaries and could not be found.

Davi’s descriptions are the most detailed ever recorded by a witness from the victims’ side: they provide a harrowing “Maybe the white people will be able indictment of the real price of the resources stolen from to confuse the minds of our children tribal lands, one which is never paid by those who profit. The Yanomami still face threats to their survival: “Maybe the white and grandchildren to the point that people will be able to confuse the minds of our children and they will stop seeing the spirits and grandchildren to the point that they will stop seeing the spirits hearing their songs? Then, without and hearing their songs? Then, without shamans, they will live helpless and their thought will get lost. They will spend shamans, they will live helpless and their time wandering on the roads and in the cities. They will their thought will get lost. be contaminated there by sicknesses that they will pass on to their wives and children. They will not even think about defending their land anymore.”

The Yanomami worldview is in diametric opposition to our total dependence on money and goods. For example, Yanomami hunters never eat their own catch: they don’t even bring it home but give it away before it reaches their wives’ cooking hearths. In turn, they have to rely entirely on what others give to them. Little could make less commercial sense: the best hunters derive no benefit. Davi has his own quite different explanation. The animals, it turns out, recognize a “hunter who generously gives away all the prey he arrows, they fall in love with him. These (hunters) do not need to see the game from a distance. It comes toward them… It feels nostalgia for the hunters the way a man misses a woman he is in love with. This is why it lets itself be arrowed without effort and is happy about it.” In other words,

6 Yanomami boys are taught that they will never become good hunters unless they are generous and give away their game.

It turns out that what a Yanomami really desires is not more stuff but to know that his or her funeral will attract genuine mourners. Generosity in life will bring guests to the party but when the funerary rites are over (and they can go on for months), that’s the end. Not only is there no notion of recompense in any afterlife, a Yanomami’s loved ones are so stricken at his or her passing that they simply strive to forget: they keep no memento, all the possessions of the dead are destroyed and the Indians won’t even say their names again - it would be too painful. The ashes of the dead are either buried near the hearth or portions are ingested in banana soup at grand funeral feasts. Everything is destroyed.

Amazon Indian leader and shaman Davi Kopenawa spoke about the Yanomami tribe’s unique way of life, their ongoing struggle to protect their lands, their concern for uncontacted tribes and the importance of protecting the Amazon rainforest, during an event hosted by Survival International in London, September 2014. © Eleanor Russell/Survival

Although The Falling Sky leaves no doubt that the Yanomami ‘way of being’ is very different to ours, our shared humanity is “even though we [Yanomami] are also reflected: “even though we [Yanomami] are other people other people than they are, we have than they are, we have a mouth and eyes, blood and bones, just like white people. We all see the same single light. We are a mouth and eyes, blood and bones, all hungry and thirsty. We all have the same fold behind our just like white people. We all see the knees so we can walk!” Perhaps it’s even the case that Davi’s same single light. We are all hungry overall vision isn’t as different to ours as it might appear, perhaps we are all a little bit of shaman, striving constantly to and thirsty. We all have the same fold maintain health and balance both in our own lives and in what behind our knees so we can walk!” we see and feel around us. Aren’t we too trying to figure out where our boundaries lie and what effect we have on our own worlds?

Although the campaign for Yanomami land was finally won in 1992, other external threats remain: the miners are still there and still violently taking the gold in spite of being evicted, repeatedly but half- heartedly, by the authorities. There is also a nationwide threat to all indigenous people in Brazil now that the escalating price of raw materials increases the incentive to steal indigenous land: rights are now threatened in the same way they were a generation ago.

The battle is engaged. It’s between those who exploit the idea of ‘development’ to increase their own

7 short-term wealth at others’ long-term cost and those who yearn for ideas about human rights to mutate into living facts and believe that really would be progress. Davi’s book is an invaluable tool in this everlasting struggle; but primarily, it’s a searing testament to the immense variety of human genius which has blossomed over thousands of generations.

Our planetary garden (of Eden?) still grows many flowers, many different ways of looking at the world. Are we really intending to mow down every one except our own, are we really going to allow none other ever to seed again - and all this, just so the vultures can grow fleetingly fatter from the spoils? As well as an unconscionable tragedy, wouldn’t that be a dereliction of duty to our descendants? Davi Kopenawa thinks that if we destroy the Yanomami, we destroy ourselves. He might have a point.

More Information Survival International is the global movement for tribal peoples, working in partnership with tribes worldwide to fight racism, land theft, forced development and genocidal violence. From the Amazon to the Kalahari, from the jungles of to the Congo rainforest, Survival has been defending the lives and lands of indigenous peoples since 1969. To find out more and join the movement, please visit https://www.survivalinternational.org/.

The Book Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert. The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman. Translated by Nicholas Elliott and Alison Dundy. Harvard University Press (8 Nov. 2013)

8 Xhosa Mysticism

John Lockley

Xhosa mysticism is based on several powerful and cherished principles. I relate them to you here as I encountered them during my apprenticeship, learning to bridge the everyday and the dreamtime, Western culture and African traditions. My challenge was learning to move like the leopard between worlds.

The Concepts of Ubuntu and Izinyanya

The essence of Xhosa spirituality and mysticism revolves around Ubuntu. The medicine teachings I learned are called ubunzulu bobuntu, the depth of humanity. The traditional Xhosa sangoma apprenticeship I underwent involved an education of experience and doing, not the Western approach of questions and answers. We learn through mixing the herbs, attending to our teacher and clients, and listening to our dreams. I learned that the heart is the engine and spiritual center of life and when the drum is played it becomes the uniting voice and heart of the community. Xhosa rhythms and ceremonies mirror the steady pulse and beat of the African landscape, awakening the memory and essence of life.

Ubuntu, like life, is seen as a circle of which we are all a part, including the dead. The ancestors are an important part of the circle because without our memory of them and our connection to our blood lineage, we lose our sense of immortality and then we fear death.

A human being exists through other people, not as an isolated entity. A well-known proverb among the is ‘Umntu, ngumtu, ngabantu’. (A person becomes a person through other people.) The core idea behind Ubuntu is ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. Each person is responsible for the circle of community, no matter what their status. Ubuntu is an ever-evolving state of being in which people realize their humanity through acts of kindness and compassion and through remembering their ancestors.

I was blessed to receive these ancient teachings via transmission and word of mouth from my sangoma elders in the . Within them lie the seeds of greater human emancipation and spiritual

9 Leopard. Swaroopmanerikar [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons freedom.

We often use the term umsebenzi, ‘spiritual work’, when we refer to sangoma ceremonies to honor our ancestors. When we honor our ancestors, we khanya, ‘shine’. The ceremonies are also called ukukhanya komsebenzi, ‘the shining work’, because as we connect to our ancestors and the spirit inside us, we start to shine. And this shining helps reconnect us to our spirits, all people and the world around us.

Interestingly enough, in South Korean Buddhism they say, “The Buddha is not clever — he is shining.” All of life is seen to possess Buddha-nature, consciousness or godliness. And all we have to do to connect with the oneness of life around us is to connect with our own Buddha-nature, or shining inside. I see many similarities between my Buddhist background and my sangoma background with its subtle focus on Ubuntu.

Xhosa culture, over hundreds if not thousands of years, has developed an intricate and beautiful practice of remembering the ancestors through prayer, ceremony involving singing and dancing and animal sacrifice. The isiXhosa language is rich and expressive and it has many words to denote blood ancestor, from amathambo (bones) and abantu abadala (old people) to something more mystical, izinyanya (silent hidden ones, or nature spirits). People connect to izinyanya through their blood ancestors, thereby acknowledging their roots in the human family. Like an oak tree, the deeper its roots, the taller and more powerful its branches. For people to access the more refined states of dreaming and spirituality, they need to first connect to their blood ancestors.

Izinyanya is a sacred word. In traditional South African culture over two hundred years ago, it was considered very rude — almost blasphemous — to approach God directly in prayer, so people first called on family members who had passed over into the spirit world, asking them for help when facing calamities such as illness, famine or war. The word izinyanya speaks about the subtle spiritual forces around us and inside us that maintain our life and our human spirit. Our isidima (dignity) is contingent on the strength of our connection to our izinyanya, which can include umoya wezilo (animal spirits) as well as nature spirits. The Xhosa sangoma system is deeply mystical and animistic, seeing the spirit of nature in everything.

When I first met MaMngwevu, she told me she would only teach me 20 percent of sangoma knowledge and wisdom; the other 80 percent would come from my own relationship with my izinyanya. Her job was to show me how to pray, listen to my dreams and interpret the signs from my spirits.

Anyone inquiring into African mysticism will hear about ancestors. This serves as a clue to those with a sincere quest in their hearts and minds to discover their destiny and their reason for being. The greatest pilgrimage of all is the journey toward understanding our soul. The stronger the question “Who am I?” the deeper the quest. Often our soul speaks to us through pain and suffering. Our hidden gifts and life’s calling are mysteriously linked to what touches us deeply. The sharper the pain, the greater the opportunity to live and shine.

Our flesh rests on our bones. To connect with our soul, we need to connect deeply with our bones. As a tree connects with its roots and reaches deep into the earth, so human beings have a responsibility to connect with their bones, and our bones are a living embodiment of our ancestry and ancestors. Hence, in the isiXhosa and isiZulu languages the word for bones (amathambo) is also used in reference to ancestors. It is often said that if people want to understand their life path, it is a good idea for them to remember their childhood and their natural tendencies and gifts. Understanding where we come from and developing a relationship with our ancestors is the next level to greater spiritual emancipation.

Our ancestors gave us the gift of life. Through honoring them, we pay homage to the wisdom of our race going back to time before time. In our modern times we face a crisis of forgetting. As we forget our ancestors and where we come from, we also forget our gifts and the incredible beauty and grace that being human offers us. For we are all born to dream and make magic with our hands, voices and feet. We are the creators of this world and to tap into our remarkable birthright we need to remember what it means to be human. This journey is an intricate process that begins with the simple action of listening to our own heart and allowing that energy to spread into the world.

Cultures around the world have practiced ancestral veneration since prehistory (over five thousand

10 years ago). Ancestral veneration is connected to our natural inclination to procreate. The silent whisperings in our blood speak about the voices that make us, our mothers and fathers. Ancestors are remembered in the same way a new mother dreams of her future children.

European missionaries and colonizers misunderstood early African spirituality because they were so focused on converting the people to Christianity. Traditional healers and spiritualists were seen in a negative light because they supposedly ‘didn’t know God’ or didn’t encourage prayers to God. But in traditional Southern African spirituality, people revered and respected God to such an extent that they felt it prudent to use their ancestors as intermediaries. As Christianity took root in Africa, these ways changed to adapt to the status quo. Nowadays people feel comfortable connecting with the Great Spirit, uThixo, directly, but they still include their ancestors in their prayers to show gratitude for the sanctity of life. During sangoma rituals, I have always noted a sense of grace and humility overcome people who pray to their ancestors with an open heart. As we remember our fathers and mothers, we seem to remember our own place in the circle of life, resulting in a profound sense of belonging and openness.

Prayer from the heart using the voice is a physical act of love. The words never die; they gather and move into the next world. After we have prayed and observed nature, we sleep and track our prayers in the dreamtime. We may dream of our izinyanya in the form of animal spirits — this is a sign that our prayers have been heard. Often roads are opened or new ones forged from our dreams into our physical world. Our dreams are a sacred pond reflecting our lives and take us into new spaces where we rediscover our humanity.

Honoring our bones and our ancestors is about honoring the sacredness of life. When we do this from a heartfelt, dignified place, we are blessed with dreams that direct us on our life path. eW all come from the dreamtime, or cosmic plasma of universal consciousness — heady words that point to an empty space of nothingness, like the stillness in a pond. Approaching this stillness with openness, surrender and humility helps us connect with our own soul — the part of us that is always alive, constantly connected to the source of life, the dreamtime. When we dream, we plug into the source of life. When we pray in an active, natural way as I’ve described, we activate our inner dreamer, our soul. Life and death merge, becoming a circle; hence, the kraal space, or ubuhlanti, is realized. As we pray in this way, we connect with more than just our human family. We connect with the plant and animal worlds, the primordial soup of life, and ultimately with the dreamtime, or universal consciousness, too.

Excerpted from LEOPARD WARRIOR: A Journey into the African Teachings of Ancestry, Instinct, and Dreams by John Lockley. Sounds True, November 2017. Reprinted with permission.

Biography John Lockley is one of the first white men in recent history to become a fully initiated sangoma (shaman) in the Xhosa lineage of . He trained under Zen master Su Bong from South Korea, and spent ten years in apprenticeship with Mum Ngwevu, a medicine woman from the Xhosa tribe. John now splits his time teaching in South Africa, Ireland, Europe, and the U.S.

Editor’s Note: Read our review of Leopard Warrior on page 41.

11 PLANT CONSCIOUSNESS apothecary

Essences for personal transformation & self-mastery

plantconsciousness.com/apothecary

PLANT SPIRIT HEALINGS creating the conditions for health & spiritual vitality

Working with the conscious intelligence of plants and trees, geomancy and indigenous British & Kichwa shamanism we remove and re-pattern blockages within the energy system, ancestral and soul lineages to assist healing and spiritual development to naturally take place.

Remote and One to One Healings Spiritual Counselling

with Emma & Davyd Farrell, founders of PLANT CONSCIOUSNESS & SHAMANIC LANDS www.plantconsciousness.com/healings

12 The Desecration of Natural Power Sites

Charles Shahar

Natural power sites are places where energy is especially concentrated, usually because of the way it is directed or funneled by the surrounding environment. Such currents of energy often arise because of specific geophysical characteristics, including the composition and contours of the landscape. These factors interact with fluctuations in the earth’s magnetic and electrical fields, weather patterns, the solar wind and the moon’s gravity to create high-energy environments.

These energies are not so subtle, because sometimes even people who do not pay attention to such phenomena will notice that they feel different when they walk through such places. Some of the more obvious symptoms may include tingling skin, strange sensations or pressure in the head or face, lightheadedness and even a sensation of being detached from one’s body.

The energies that flow through these sites can have more than just physical effects. They can have an impact on the consciousness of a person as well. When visiting these sites, a person can feel quite meditative, experience profound revelations or become deeply introspective. They may cry for no apparent reason or have deep feelings bubble to the surface. In some cases, these experiences can be life-altering.

Many of these power sites are also considered sacred by indigenous populations and their spiritual and communal lives are intimately linked to them. Some native mythologies speak about how such settings were created by divine beings, still thought to dwell in these places. These native peoples also believe that the spirits of their ancestors are found in the forms and figures of the natural environment and that these spirits can be summoned through scared ceremonies that invoke help or protection. Many native tribes consider themselves protectors and custodians of these sites and their interests are often at odds with those who seek to exploit such places.

Power sites are under threat. There are numerous reasons behind this state of affairs but one factor relates to their popularity. Because they have a certain atmosphere and intensity and are often beautiful and striking in their appearance, not only are genuine seekers and pilgrims attracted to these special places but also tourists, land developers and general entrepreneurs. Each of these latter groups represents a different level of exploitation.

Industrial development and tourism often obscure or diminish the natural power of such sites. A highway, restaurant, souvenir shop, hotel or resort will corrupt what was once a pristine environment. There is no faster way to erode the energy of a site than to mix it with commercial or industrial activities. The energies that naturally flowed through the countryside become blocked or diverted, corrupted by human insensitivity to the subtle aspects of the landscape. On another level, human transaction and general interaction make for busy and scattered emotional and mental atmospheres.

For instance, tourists bring with them their busy minds, their loud chatter and their frenetic emotions. But the energy at a true power site will sometimes override such vibrations and sometimes even tourists have what seem like out of the ordinary or memorable experiences at the site. On the other hand, for the spiritual person their presence may be annoying or distracting. So it is better to frequent such places when there are fewer tourists around, in the early morning perhaps.

Tourists can cause significant damage to a natural power site: trample over sacred grounds, deface a place by uprooting objects, moving them around, carving into them, or carrying them away. They can also leave litter behind or even urinate on the grounds. All of this can impact the energetic signature of a site. Some tourists are quite respectful but others have much less refined sensibilities and are 13 oblivious to the consequences of their actions.

Aside from damaging physical property, the behaviours of some tourists may be offensive on a different scale. These sacred sites have special vibrations and one should approach them with respect. Loud, boisterous, spiritually unconscious people walking through such sites pollute the environment on numerous levels. The pristine energies get mixed with these coarser vibrations, creating disturbances that are resented not only by aware people but by ethereal beings as well.

Most natural power sites, particularly those in remote corners of the world, are attractive for nature spirits. These ethereal creatures live in a parallel world to humanity but often shun the company of people whose vibrations seem heavy or coarse. Genuine pilgrims to sacred sites may be considered with less caution (or revulsion) as are the indigenous peoples of these areas who are often connected to these subtle beings through the ceremonies and visions of shamanic elders. These nature spirits are part of the energetic fabric of a place and their presence can be felt in a subliminal way if a person has a particularly refined disposition.

A good example of the desecration of power sites involves Uluru (Ayres Rock) in Australia. Indigenous Australians have fought a long battle to restrict access to Uluru by tourists. This rock is extremely sacred for Indigenous tribes, particularly the Anangu. They believe that ancestral spirits formed this site during the creation of the world and that they are descendants of these beings and are therefore responsible for its protection1. The Anangu have constructed numerous paths that connect the sacred spaces around the site. They use these trails and never otherwise climb on Uluru itself because they consider such an act to be highly disrespectful2. They also believe that photographing or filming the rock is like taking away a part of its soul3.

The indigenous people manage Uluru jointly with the government of Australia. Although the Aboriginal peoples have asked people not to climb the rock, many tourists still attempt to do so; some camp out on the top overnight. Many think nothing about taking pictures of it. In 2010, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were outraged when a controversial Australian football personality was photographed hitting a golf ball off the rock and another man was pictured naked on top4. These are only a few examples of the rampant desecration that continuously takes place there.

Attitudes regarding the site are quite polarized. An Anangu who works as a ranger in the park surrounding Uluru notes, “If Anangu people came to your church and walked all over the seats and the altar, how would you feel?”5 On the other hand, one Australian visitor, who reflected the attitude among many non-Aboriginal Australians, remarked: “I think it’s a crock of shit that they ask you not to climb. It’s our country too.”6 As these comments suggest, it is a tricky balance between the desires of tourists to visit and appreciate the majesty of this site and the deep reverence Australia’s First Peoples have for Uluru.

Unconscious people will never understand the Indigenous populations’ ties to the site. Each encroachment by tourists who trample through its sacred grounds is an intrusion, not just on a physical level but on an energetic one as well. It erodes the power of the site and it demeans the people who look after it. For Aboriginal peoples, every violation feels like an assault on their own body.

One of the most difficult sentiments for outsiders to understand is the Anangu’s wish that individuals not take pictures of Uluru. An Anangu elder pointedly remarks:

“The tourist comes here with their camera taking pictures all over. What has he got? Another photo to take home, keep part of Uluru. He should get another lens - see straight inside. Wouldn’t see big rock then. He would see Kuniya [carpet snake] living right inside there as from the beginning. He might

1 The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) website. Retrieved from http://aiatsis. gov.au/exhibitions/tjukurpa. 2 Retrieved from www.sacredland.org/uluru. 3 Gaines, Patrice. Uluru: Sacred Ground. Essence (Time Inc.). September 2002, Vol. 33, Issue 5, p. 208. 4 Donnan, Shawn. Summit of an Aborigine Battle for Respect. Christian Science Monitor. February 18, 2000. Retrieved from www.csmonitor.com/2000/0218/p1s4.html. 5 James, Sarah. Constructing the Climb: Visitor Decision-making at Uluru. Geographical Research. December 2007; 45(4): p. 401. 6 Abitbol, Chantal. Uluru: The Debate Over Climbing Australia’s Sacred Monolith. CNNGo, August 17, 2011. Retrieved from http://travel.cnn.com/sydney/visit/uluru-should-you-climb-world-heritage-sacred-monolith-486495. 14 7 throw his camera away then.” “The tourist comes here with their camera These comments are a plea for people to see the situation taking pictures all over. What has he from the Anangu perspective, using a lens that reveals a got? Another photo to take home, keep much more subtle reality than a mundane perception can appreciate. This perspective requires an appreciation of part of Uluru. He should get another reality that sees behind the world of obvious forms and lens - see straight inside. Wouldn’t see phenomena. Getting in touch with the soul of a place is not something that comes easily to the typical mindset of non- big rock then. He would see Kuniya indigenous people. [carpet snake] living right inside there as from the beginning. He might throw his I have thought carefully about the Anangus’ pleas not to take pictures of Uluru. I enjoy photography and considered camera away then.” becoming a professional photographer at one point. From a personal perspective, I know that sometimes I try to capture the special ambience of places through my photography. When I view the pictures at home, in a slight way I rekindle the special feelings I had there. However, if I am focused only on my photography I won’t get the full experience of a place and its more subtle aspects will largely escape my detection. By not practicing reverence and attention while I am there, such an attitude demeans the special significance and power of a site, as does relying on an indirect and much-diluted experience at home.

In an article entitled Making Places Sacred, Thomas Bender reflects sentiments similar to the Anangu elder and reaches conclusions in line with my own. He describes the reactions of a friend regarding how tourism was destroying the sacred qualities of the great cathedrals of Europe, powerful energetic sites in their own right. The friend remarked, “Each person came and took away a little of the cathedrals — in their cameras, in their minds or in their conversation — and now nothing remains.”8 Bender concludes that we lessen the soul of places when we take without giving, or enter them without reverence.9

Perhaps the most heart-wrenching destruction I have noted of a natural power site is the forest fire that was set by a negligent hiker in 2011, which destroyed thousands of hectares in Chile’s Torres de Paine National Park in Patagonia. This park is among the most vibrationally pristine of all locations on earth. The myriad nature spirits that populate this part of the world are truly wondrous and the fire did untold harm to their domain, particularly on the ethereal level.

Industrial development, commercial exploitation and general human encroachment are lamentable issues. Administrators and leaders of modern societies generally have a ‘flat-level’ consciousness: they often see things in starkly political or economic terms and respond to the natural environment in callous and insensitive ways. Every time a natural power site is damaged or destroyed because of human ignorance, the vitality of the earth is negatively affected. Areas that previously had wonderfully pristine energies will now become energetically anemic.

Imagine a pristine environment, one with a sacred power, abused and destroyed by human ignorance; perhaps replaced with factories, strip mines, petroleum refineries, clear-cut forests or ski resorts. It is a tragic scenario. Those who inflict this type of damage on the body of the earth and its energy system must likewise be disconnected from the life force within themselves. The fact is that if we deny our innate spirituality, we will also ignore or discount the spirit within nature; hence the adage “as within, so without.” That is why I believe that although political (legislative) reforms and educational campaigns related to environmental conservation are important, respect for sacred sites must also be part of an overall spiritual awakening in humanity.

Biography Charles Shahar is a clinical psychologist by training, and social researcher by vocation. He has lived and studied Vedanta philosophy in India, and has been teaching yoga and meditation to diverse populations for over 17 years.

7 James, op. cit., pp. 398-399. 8 Bender, Thomas. Making Places Sacred. In James A. Swan (Ed.), The Power of Place and Human Environments. 15 Gateway Books, Bath, United Kingdom, 1993, p. 321. 9 Bender, op. cit., p. 322. Pebble Tribe Joe Caudwell

I’m a creative soul and I express this through either playing music or making things. Living by the sea, I feel a deep connection with my local coastline. It’s here that I find the raw materials for my art; whether it’s driftwood that I’ll use for making didgeridoos and flutes or stones and pebbles that I’ll carve into pendants.

I love the way that each pebble that I find on the shoreline is so unique, shaped by the tides and the surf. The ocean has created the different shapes and when I find one that I’m drawn to, I can usually see what I want to carve into it, there and then, at the point of first contact. My first carvings were primarily faces inspired by Maori and African art but as time has passed I have felt inclined to carve more spiral and labyrinth based designs. Spirals and labyrinths are such ancient and natural symbols that hold powerful significance in shamanic traditions and beliefs.

I like to carve outdoors, on the beach. Usually I play the didgeridoo for a while to relax myself and to connect with the place I am visiting; playing helps to call in that creative energy and inspiration. The only tool I use is a very sharp scalpel. Locally found red ochre is then painted onto the finished piece, any excess pigment is wiped off, helping to define all of the recessed areas of the carving and accentuating its form and details. Shaped by natural forces, I let the individual stone and the moment guide me in what I carve. I could call this a ‘tuning in’ and a ‘letting it flow’ process which feels at the time like a state of deep meditation. Hours can pass and I am totally absorbed in that creative moment, all the while listening and feeling the sounds and energy of my surroundings. That connection comes through visually in every pebble I carve.

Indie Shaman Lucky Draw!

Win one of Joe Caudwell’s Pebble Tribe Carvings

Joe would like to offer one of his carvings as a gift through an Indie Shaman lucky draw

To enter simply email [email protected] with the email title ‘Pebble Tribe’. Deadline for entries is 9 a.m. Friday 1st March 2019 (UK GMT).

Winner chosen by random draw and notified by email by Indie Shaman. Prize sent directly from Joe Caudwell. Entries also accepted via our Lucky Draw email mailouts, Facebook page and Facebook group. For full competition terms and conditions visit http://shamanismbooks.co.uk/competition-terms- and-conditions/.

For more information on Joe Caudwell’s Pebble Tribe please visit https://www.facebook.com/ PebbleTribe1/ or email [email protected].

16 Shamanism: Inviting a move towards an Earth Centred Consciousness?

Brian Anderson

We live in a time when our world needs compassionate healing and wise support. The way we are treating each other and the natural world is just not sustainable, so what can we in the spiritual community do to help?

Why Shamanism … Why Now?

This is a question I sometimes ask the people who contact me for shamanic healing. Recently, I have been exploring this question in a wider context. It was sparked by a conversation with someone who works at an established shamanic retreat who pointed out that “10 years ago, our courses were for 5 or 6 people. Today, we’re fully booked with waiting lists”.

Since the mid-1950s, shamanism has been re-emerging into the awareness of Western culture and growing strongly. So why is this?

Is this because anthropologists began to take part in shamanic ceremony, so rather than being documented from a Western perspective it started to become personal experience and was reported in that way and this in turn spoke to a yearning in our culture’s heart?

Or, as shamanism is driven by the spirits, are the spirits themselves seeing our impact on the Earth and what is happening to humanity and are therefore pushing through to make contact so that disaster for our species – and maybe all life here – can be avoided?

I came to shamanism in 2004 and we fitted like a glove. I now live a very different life to the one I did previously and the best way to accurately describe it is that by practising shamanism as a daily way of life, the outcome is leading me back to the life I am here to live. My own nature is coming through more and this healing process is enabling me to express it out into our world.

This, I feel, is the key to one possible answer to the above question. I was leading a workshop in 2014 on ‘the healing power of community’ and the spirits with this group gave a clear answer to the question ‘what is a functioning community?’

“One that holds and honours the expression of each individual’s gifts as key”, came the answer.

If one of the benefits of practising shamanism is personal empowerment – where each of us is able to express our own unique talents – and if this is key to a functioning community, then maybe this is what is being called for at this time in our history. Could the spirits and shamanic methods be one way of accessing this?

Why Would Spirits Help Us?

Why would the spirits want to help us? Why indeed? Well, shamanism is thought of as the 17 oldest practice of spirituality and some say it has been a method of healing for as long as humanity has walked the earth. So we have been working with the spirits for a long time.

It is a very recent phenomenon that people have even questioned whether there are spirits to work with, as not so long ago this would have been seen as a given and part of everyday life, even in our European culture.

I recently spoke with a woman from Siberia and as I listened to her it was so clear how spirit flowed in all she said and all she did. She was not a practitioner; she ‘merely’ grew up in a culture that lived shamanism.

Here in Europe, we too have our own indigenous healing practice which we may call shamanic and is certainly an animistic world view. My own training felt more like a remembering rather than the learning of something for the first time and as a person with Celtic ancestry ym own ancestors would have practised a form of shamanism. Maybe this is why it made so much sense to me.

Rather than thinking of Shamanism as something that is ‘out there’ or a little weird, our history shows it to be a natural process and practice for humanity. And in listening recently to this Siberian woman, fascinated for well over 2 hours, I was so struck by how alive and pragmatic it was for her.

From the worldview of the culture I grew up in I was shown a world that was brutally harsh and one we needed to struggle to get by in. Shamanism offers a different world view; one of a supportive, compassionate and intelligent universe and the more we engage with the spirits the more they will engage with us. So maybe this is the natural way of things and is why when we are prepared to meet the spirits they will willingly meet us.

Why Now?

So why is shamanism emerging at this time in our history? If you watch, listen to and feel what is happening in the world, the way we are treating each other and all life that we share this Earth with – and indeed the Earth itself – how can this be sustainable? How can we carry on in this way?

Shamanism invites us to respect all life and gives us experience of the connections between us all. Through this, we can come to understand how we influence each other and also how much we need each other to survive; for what we do to others we do to ourselves. Our health and wellbeing may well be dependent on our relationship with all that exists in the natural world.

My deep connection to the earth has been with me from my earliest memories. I was traumatised and deeply distressed when I learnt what we were – and still are today – doing to the trees of our rainforests. Yet when I asked “what are we to do about this”, the answer I got back was, “there is nothing we can do!”

I never believed that and this concern has never left me. Through the ways of shamanism, I feel and am seeing there is a way I can do something, both locally and globally. I have been developing ceremonies that I have come to call Sacred Activism events, in which we are looking to manifest ways to ethically and compassionately bring through spiritual solutions to our everyday problems in a co- creative relationship with spirit.

Many of us come to a healing or spiritual path because something is ‘just not right’ with us or with how we are living our lives and we need some help. As our own healing unfolds, we may move to a deeper concern for life around us and want to find a way to make a difference … but how? In my lifetime, the spiritual and healing practices available have expanded immensely. This may seem overwhelming at times, but as we say in Scotland “what’s for yee while na pass you by” (what’s for you will come to you) and if we use our discernment well, our own path will unfold for us both personally and collectively.

Healing is a process and as we deepen into our own journey with our individual process a growing concern for life around us may grow. We each will have our own passions and skills we can bring to this to make a difference and impact in the world.

I believe that the speed at which humans are impacting life in a negative way is accelerating. So how

18 do we take action that is both ethical and conscious as a counter to this? For some, this may be in political or other more widely thought of ways; however, we in the spiritual community are also able to respond and use our skills to offer support and compassion.

I see that working with shamanism can give us answers that we as humans are not able to find; our own task is to ask the right questions in order to seek these answers. Maybe it is due to the acceleration of destruction that shamanism is here now so strongly; so we can bring to the spirits our questions and concerns and act from a spirit-guided and co-creative place?

Earth-centred Consciousness

This way of Earth-centred consciousness is closer to my own natural way of being and has been both a blessing and also a deep challenge, as with this sensitivity I feel deeply the impact of what we are doing to each other and the earth.

Having this awareness and feeling disempowered to act brought me real challenges and in this my own life story led me close to death as it all became too overwhelming. With dedication and a commitment to my own healing, my life before 1999 with all its pain, confusion and trauma has now become the source of my strength. Living with a spiritual life and shamanism in particular, I found an antidote to this both in my own healing process as well as in becoming empowered to act and trusting it to make a difference even if this is not always tangible.

Often, solutions to the issues we are facing are presented from a human perspective and addressed as finding human solutions. This way negates the interconnected truth of how life is, even if well- intentioned; if you do one thing here it will have an impact there. We see examples of this when one species is introduced to an area; it effects the ecosystem in that area and if it’s not thought through, this will be in a negative way.

Recently my wife and I converted a garage on our property into a space for ceremonies and healing. This was done in consultation with the local spirits of the house, land and place as well as with my own healing spirits that will work with the healing work and ceremonies that will take place in the space. The whole process was undertaken in a ceremonial and co-creative way with spirit, as well as of course the practicalities of dealing with the builders, solicitors and our local council. Did it all go according to plan and smoothly? Well, no, not to my plan anyway but it was an incredible experience and now, with hindsight, the challenges we faced were perfect and so much was learnt. As the garage expanded, so too did my own growth and learning about working with spirit in a ceremonial way on a practical project. Now that it’s finished, it’s quite beautiful and feels a part of the land. When people come for sessions the space leaves a positive impression and many people comment how beautiful it is and it is a mirror for the work we are here to do and bring through.

This way of approaching a practical project is what I call an ‘Earth centred consciousness’; the way in which we approach finding ways to work with the land and spirits and which can be applied to all aspects of life, from where we live and shop to how we relate to our family and communities.

A few years ago I worked, guided by spirit, over a number of months in a ceremony of healing over an area of land where a battle had taken place in the 13th century and which was holding the memory of trauma. To my amazement and delight, once completed, almost immediately animals and birds I had never seen soon returned. Then, a number of opportunities arose in the village for the community to grow; businesses even started opening which were just perfect for the village and the park received a grant for development. Maybe it was coincidence, or perhaps this was an effect of the work I had been a part of.

Maybe shamanism is inviting us towards this way of being; towards a ‘returning to’ or an ‘evolution’ and it may well be what is needed for our continuation here on Earth. And if so, how realistic is this for the modern world?

Well, it may well require a change of heart and mind and for us to stay clearly in our own truth and centre and in partnership with spirit and ourselves. It may also require us to hold a vision of a radical change for our society. We first have to see it and once we do then it can exist in our physical world.

I am doing some work at present with spirit to see and honour the wolf and bear here on the land in

19 Scotland. The reintroduction of wolves is a controversial issue for humans but not for the land which is precisely what I am hearing it asking for. In doing this work it’s become clear over time that we are not ready to share the land with wolves and a deep change in consciousness is needed in us before this happens. I have been shown that this work is like building Stonehenge; you play your part but may well not see the outcomes, yet you carry on anyhow.

It may well be that this is how it is for us all with our own passions and concerns. Working with spirit brings a wider perspective power and creativity that is needed for effective and ethical solutions that support all life.

The wolf and bear ceremonies I work with as part of the sacred activism events are evolving into a re-wilding of humans, something that I feel is needed to open up to the natural world and our own natures in a more integrated way. This work came to me while sitting with a waterfall watching salmon jump when I became aware of both the presence and absence of the bear. I did some shamanic journey work with this soon afterwards; this calling of the land spoke to my own nature and then the ceremonies began.

As we and spirit are always evolving, while we draw on ancient wisdom it needs to be practical for our time. The ceremonies with the spirit of Bear and Wolf have brought through a move towards a re- wilding; as we re-wild ourselves a more natural way of life becomes possible. And from this who knows what can happen?

This is my hope for humanity; that we move to a more integrated and Earth-centred view in all we do as we come to think and feel with and for the planet. With the spirits and our own courage to work with, I feel that much can and is already being done towards this by practitioners around the world. As a part of the spiritual community we are part of the whole of humanity and with the methods available we can bring about a compassionate and ethical change. This, I feel, is mine – and our – responsibility and contribution to our society.

So, this is something of my understanding of the question, “Why shamanism, why now?” and why we are able to contact and communicate with the spirits once more. This growing power here in our Western society must be here for a reason and globally we can help both in our own lives and also by coming to work together in healing circles. My way is with shamanism but maybe this could be for the growing spiritual movement also.

I recently asked myself “Do I really care what’s happening?” Then, “Do I really care enough to act?” Beyond the cynical mind that has grown from 51 years living in this society, that heartfelt wisdom I held as a child was still there, the one that cared about the rain forests, powerfully innocent and more than willing to take risks and act. Shamanism has enabled this to come through and respond.

Here in rural Scotland, with the absence of any apex predators, the solution to managing the population of deer is with the gun, the rationale being that too many of them cause too much damage. Can you think of another being on earth we could apply this rationality too? Can you imagine the response if this was offered as a solution for human overpopulation (which, let me be clear, I am not suggesting)? However, there are other ways in which we can find spiritual solutions to critical problems by working with spirit; our task is to find the questions to unlock the wisdom of spirit and be willing to act on the guidance even if we do not live to see the outcome. We gift our own healing to the service of all and the ancestors to come.

So “why shamanism … why now”? Maybe because it is needed and has the ability to heal and bring an ethical, compassionate and new vision to manifest here on the earth. Our own healing is fundamental to this vision and as we heal, new possibilities emerge from within that feed the whole in turn, as all change starts with us.

Biography Brian sees shamanism offering a new hope and vision for individuals as well as our society as a whole. He offers shamanic healing for individuals and regular workshops as well as free sacred activism events. Brian has over 30 years’ experience in the helping professions and since 2004 has been working with individuals and groups with shamanic methods. He trained with the Sacred Trust, Foundation for Shamanic Studies and Sandra Ingermann as well as indigenous shamans from the Americas and his heart’s home Ireland. He lives and practices in Perth, Scotland and is currently researching and learning about traditional healing practices of this land. Website: www.oakenleaf.co.uk. 20 Deathwalking

Laura Perry

Out of all the projects I expected to undertake over the past year, editing an anthology about psychopomp work wasn’t even on the list. I rarely get to talk about this aspect of shamanism, even among my friends in the shamanic community, because it’s not a widespread practice (yet). I think that’s partly due to the fact that there still aren’t a lot of teachers out there who can help people learn safe and effective methods of deathwalking. But our cultural attitude toward death probably plays a part as well.

Death is not usually a subject people are comfortable discussing in modern western society. Even today, I find friends and relatives literally whispering when they talk about how someone has died recently, as if speaking out loud might somehow anger the person’s ghost (at least, that’s why my grandmother said they whispered like that). Then they skip past the actual death-and-dying part as fast as they can and change the subject to happy memories of the time when the person was still alive. There are multiple reasons for this discomfort, many of them rooted in the religious institutions that have held sway in the West for so many centuries. But it’s there, unavoidable, pervasive in mainstream culture even among those who don’t consider themselves to be religious or spiritual in any way.

It’s a little different for those of us who do shamanic work. We connect with the dead just as readily as with spirit allies and other non-corporeal beings. We understand that death is a doorway, a transition, as much a beginning as an ending. I think this view is slowly beginning to spread out into the broader community, with the advent of death midwives and similar practices, though there’s still a great deal of resistance to it.

But psychopomp work takes the whole ‘contact with the dead’ aspect of shamanism a step further. We recognize that not only are we surrounded by the spirits of the dead but that some of them need our help to get where they ought to be. Not everyone finds that blissful tunnel of light, that bridge, that gate on their own. Since most modern religions don’t include crossing-over rituals, there’s a real need for shamanic practitioners who do this sort of thing.

So when the subject of psychopomping came up in a conversation with my publisher, I felt compelled to take on the production of an anthology about the practice. Honestly, I was afraid I wouldn’t get any takers. Deathwalking still isn’t a terribly common practice among modern shamans in the West and not everyone who does it feels comfortable talking about it in a public space. I was gratified and relieved when nine of my colleagues stepped up and agreed to participate. They come from disparate backgrounds and have differing methods of personal practice but they have all done psychopomp work in one form or another.

For my part in the anthology, I did something I had never expected to do: I wrote the ‘How Not to Do It’ chapter. Many authors joke about putting their friends (or enemies) in a book in that sort of chapter – I’ve made that joke myself on occasion. But to have myself as the subject? It might sound a little crazy but it felt like the right thing to do. I shared my experiences because I think I’m not alone and I want to draw attention to the situation so perhaps more people will take training in psychopomp work and then train others. The world needs us to heal not just the living but also the dead.

What happened to me that compelled me to write that chapter? Like many people who end up working formally as shamans once they’re adults, I had relationships with spirit allies as a small child and I talked with dead people. I began working informally as a psychopomp when I was quite young because I saw the need, first in the case of the little girl who lived right behind us in our neighbourhood. She was lost and scared and I knew the way; so I did what I would have done for any other child in my neighbourhood, I showed her which way to go.

21 But I had no idea how dangerous it was to do the things I was doing. I just wanted to help the spirits as much as I wanted to help embodied people. None of the adults I knew were willing to talk to me about seeing dead people, much less talking to them or helping them transition. My parents, adult relatives and teachers consistently thought I was either imagining it all, lying to try to impress them or demon-possessed (I’m not kidding). So I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut. My spirit allies had shown me the necessary basics for helping the spirits of the dead cross over, so I thought I knew what I was doing. It never occurred to me that I might be doing myself harm while I was helping others.

I’ve heard people talk about how, in traditional societies, being shown how to do things directly by the spirits is the highest compliment for a shaman, the proof that they’re the ‘real thing’. Sure, being taught by the spirits is great but they don’t always have the shaman’s best interests in mind. They’re not human; they have their own agendas. Often, they just want you to get the job done … and if you don’t know how to properly protect yourself and others while you’re doing it, that’s not their problem.

This is why it’s so very important to have training from living human beings as well as from spirit allies. By the time I was an adult, I had taken on quite a lot of ethereal baggage and flotsam from all the psychopomping I had done as a child and teenager. I learned from several different teachers and of course much of it was hard work; most things worth doing are. But what really shocked me was that I ended up having to put just as much effort into ridding myself of all that spiritual debris as I did into learning how to function safely as a shaman. Years’ worth of etheric junk doesn’t just come loose in a single evening, after all.

As I was writing my ‘How Not to Do It’ chapter for the deathwalking anthology, I began thinking about the repercussions of having the book ‘out there’ for the public to access. Of course, I wanted more people to understand what psychopomp work is and how it can be an important, helpful and healing facet of modern shamanism. But I was concerned that offering a bunch of essays about the practice would lead people to do just what I had done - try it out for themselves without any training.

So when I was figuring out what kind of focus to ask for from the contributors, I made one firm decision: I wanted them to share resources for shamanic training, either their own classes or ones from teachers they trusted. That way, readers could go straight from the book to people who could train them in safe and effective methods.

I’m looking forward to the conversations this anthology sparks and to seeing other people write more about psychopomp work: books, articles, blog posts. It’s an important aspect of shamanism that deserves more of our attention.

Biography Laura Perry is a Pagan artist and author whose spiritual life includes shamanic work, trance work and ecstatic body postures. She uses these methods in her practice of Modern Minoan Paganism and for spirit work with her ancestors, the local land spirits, and the gods. She is the editor of the anthology Deathwalking: Helping Them Cross the Bridge. You can find her online at LauraPerryAuthor.com.

Editor’s Note: Read my review of Deathwalking on page 42.

22 Prairie Plant Medicine & the Seven Sacred Rites of the Lakota with Linda & Luke Black Elk Eileen Mullard

I had the pleasure of attending a one off, exclusive workshop where Linda Black Elk (Catawba Nation), ethno-botanist, traditional healer and Director of Standing Rock Medical Centre discussed and demonstrated the uses of plant medicine of the Great Plains and their role in grounding indigenous people to land and culture. Her husband Luke Black Elk (Lakota Nation) discussed the plants within the context of the Seven Sacred Rites of the Lakota and the ways that reconnecting with your own personal and indigenous ceremonies can bring health and healing to an unhealthy world. The introduction was made by Emma and Davyd Farrell, Plant Consciousness co-founders.

We all sat in a circle with an altar at the centre with flowers, fresh herbs and tree bark from the Prairie lands where Linda and Luke Black Elk live. This opening ceremony included calling in the Directions of the Medicine Wheel to hold sacred space for the day’s teachings. The altar held aspects of four areas of our lives: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. There were also four concentric circles as Creator or Mother Earth at the centre. Next came family, community and then the other dimensions of parallel worlds; the little people, the whole universe or other universe in other dimensions and the connection between Earth and the Star Worlds.

Linda spoke about how a big part of the healing of the Lakota is ‘Intention’. You should be careful with your intention as you can hurt someone with your thoughts. When making medicine or doing healing, you are only to use love. We can pass negativity through our intention. So we pray with love for the plants with our loving intention. Always remember that we have a choice in how we feel. Linda also suggested using intention in relation to our food preparation as we put emotions in while making food.

“Walk through your day with Intention”. Linda stated that we “need to practice with our intention. We are so busy in this world that we often forget!”

One Lakota ritual Linda spoke about is smudging. Most people use white sage to smudge; this is very traditional. You can also use sweet grass, tobacco or other plants to smudge with. The tradition of smudging or smoking is important to many of the First Nations people. It takes our prayers and our intentions to the Spirit World. When you smoke the pipe in circle, miracles can happen. This ritual of smoking the pipe also promotes healing on many levels. One carries a pipe on a vision quest or to use at an important meeting. Smudging also reaches places that cleaners cannot!

Many First Nations people would use sage to protect themselves with sage placement around their tepees. Sage is known to dispel spirits, whilst sweet grass brings in the sweetness. You can smudge using sage to rest your mind and your heart. A specimen of sage, artemisia ludoviciana, is wonderful 23 as a disinfectant and does not leave any residue. When their loved ones are in the hospital, they will often smudge with this sage to avoid hospital induced infections. However, you need to be mindful that artesmias are powerful and can make the uterus contract. Frigida sage tea is good for the menopause symptom of hot flushes. A pregnant woman can use liquorice plant root to wear vero her belly to protect her unborn child. The use of dandelion root and artemisia frigida can reduce swelling. You must remember to drink increased water as it can dehydrate you quickly. It is important to consult a herbalist when considering using any of these herbs and plants.

When Linda works with her clients, she begins with clear, loving intention - infusing it in the final remedy for the client for their healing.

Luke spoke of the Seven Sacred Rites and how they were given to the Lakota many years ago. For 19 Generations the Sacred Rites have been given. Always encoded within these Rites is intention and balance.

The story goes that the woman who brought the rites told the people “I will be there in four days time. I will teach you the sacred rites with use of the sacred peace pipe”. This pipe was made of calamite and wood which is the joining of the male and female aspects. As the woman walked away, she rolled into a buffalo … a white buffalo signifying resurgence of the Lakota people.

The Seven Sacred Rites

The Sundance Ceremony is about feeling the suffering of self or a loved one as you perform the Sun Dance looking up into the Sun. It is only carried out by men and includes a tethering of the physical body to a tree with a full fast of four days and nights, then breaking away.

Womanhood is when woman with her menses is brought to a tepee where she is taken care of, fed and bathed during this time. All her needs are taken care of.

Sweat Lodge is for use by both men and women and includes fasting. The visualisation is of going into Mother’s womb, letting go of worldly goods. There is much ritual. Stones are made red hot and then brought into the Lodge. This is cleansing for one’s physical, mental and spiritual being.

Vision Quest is about the element of ‘to dream, to cry for a dream’. A stone circle is made with yourself in the centre; stones representing all spirits and Life. The person undertaking the vision quest makes prayer ties, intending and praying with them as they make them. The intent is to look for some vision - a dream. If you try too hard and too fast you can get lost. It is important to have people around to buffer your experience while on a vision quest.

Throwing the Ball of Knowledge ceremony is when an individual is placed in the centre of a camp. On the perimeter of the circle are the people of knowledge: the Elders, Warriors and Women. Men are given knowledge from the best Elders on how to be a man. The same also occurs for a woman – she is told what is expected of her, how pregnancy happens and about what good sex is and is not.

Adoption ceremony is a very sacred rite done by a Tribe member. It is a ceremony for an outsider to become part of the Tribe.

Keeping of the Spirit ceremony is for those who have passed away or who have passed away before their time. It is about honouring and feeding the spirit.

Linda & Luke Black Elk are two wonderful spiritual teachers. They are very much connected to Mother Earth, concerned with of all her people and are making a great difference by weaving their own culture and traditions with Western medicine. Further Information Eileen Mullard https://www.myenergyspace.co.uk/ email [email protected] 24 To watch Linda and Luke Black Elk’s full teachings on How to Be a Good Relative to the Plant Nation and The Way of the Lakota visit https://www.wisdomhub.tv/teachings. Dolphins, Kinship and Kindred Spirits

Photo courtesy of and © DCP

Brenda El-Leithy There’s something about dolphins that stirs sentiments within us that it’s difficult to define or deny! And I do believe that the human-dolphin connection lies as deep in our spiritual heritage as do our roots in Shamanism. Our evolutionary timelines show that dolphins have been around far longer than we have as humans.

The International Dolphin Watch website tells us: “Dolphins have brains as large as humans and have had them for millions of years longer than us. Humans have used their brains to change their lifestyle and in doing so have changed the planet. In contrast, dolphins are in total harmony with their environment and probably use their brains to appreciate and enjoy their surroundings. This, some animal behaviourists argue, could make them more intelligent than us - but in a completely different way.”

I have to confess to being a ‘dolphin addict’, one of those that can’t stay away from their energy and their influence on my energy without suffering withdrawal symptoms. And so, this year I once again set out for Bimini – a favourite place for spiritual renewal – to connect with the wild dolphins that inhabit the waters around this island. This was my ninth visit to Bimini - I did say I was an addict! A bit of a longer trek this time around as I had to start my journey in Turkey, where I now live, but when dolphins call, needs must!

The group of small islands comprising Bimini lies less than 50 miles off the east coast of Florida and is just a 20 minute plane ride from the U.S. In some areas it is only a few hundred yards wide; from the balcony of my hotel I could see the Marina at one side and the beach at the other, each about three minutes’ walk away. It is known for scuba diving, snorkelling, fishing and of course, dolphins. However, it also hosts other mysteries such as: the ‘Bimini Road’, an underwater paved road believed

25 to be a remnant of Atlantis; the ‘Healing Hole’, a freshwater spring with healing minerals deep within the saltwater mangroves; as well as a small well discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513 and believed by him to be the ‘Fountain of Youth’.

My host this time was the Dolphin Communication Project (DCP), a charitable organisation that conducts observational research on dolphin behaviour and dolphin-to-dolphin communication, catalogues the dolphins in this area, participates in conservation and education programmes and occasionally organises Ecotours in which ‘lay people’ like myself can participate and benefit from the experience and knowledge of the scientists on site. On this occasion we were blessed with the undivided attention of the DCP Research Associate and Bimini Research Manager, Kelly Melillo-Sweeting and Nicole Danaher-Garcia, a DCP research intern currently working on her Master’s degree.

Bimini is the only place where DCP studies dolphins in the open and not in pens, although they’ve previously studied wild dolphins elsewhere in the Bahamas and in Japan. Bimini is unique for studying dolphins actually underwater where their interactions can be observed both as a group and as individuals over an extended period of time. 128 bottlenose and 114 Atlantic spotted dolphins have so far been identified by their nicks, scars and unique spot patterns and catalogued by DCP so that they can follow their progress from calf to adult to parent.

Science rules in the work of DCP – dolphins are first identified and catalogued as numbers (to maintain objectivity) and strict rules of engagement underwater ensure that the filming focuses on the first random dolphin that comes into view. Nevertheless, their unique effect on our energy field (“Sometimes they send out a buzz to scan us” - Kelly) manages to sneak under the scientific defences mounted by the researchers and, dare I say, touches them emotionally and perhaps spiritually, too.

As Kelly put it, “Human-ness still comes into play despite our scientific approach. I have no problem with being a scientist and liking my study animals! We use numbers for scientific purposes but names are nice for fun and it is easier for people to get excited about named dolphins. I must confess to having favourites and can’t stop myself saying ‘Hi’ to the other dolphins that swim around us when we’re filming underwater!”

What is it about dolphins that makes us respond to them in this way – unlike any other creature underwater or even on land? In close encounters with dolphins there is a feeling of kinship, a feeling of renewing past connections, finding comfort and joy in their presence. Think about it - they are bigger, stronger and faster than us in the water; they are wild and free and sometimes boisterous. Yet we do not hesitate to don mask and fins and jump in the ocean to join them in their play! We are neither prey nor predator at that moment and they seem to know the difference.

Photo courtesy of and © DCP

26 Nicole describes the distinction as one of awareness. “Their awareness of us is what makes our contact with them different. They do not see us in the same way as other creatures in the water. Also their eyes have expression – you can tell if they just want to chill, play or are just busy with what they’re doing.”

On one particular day we engaged with 22 dolphins over the course of the afternoon. Lying on the prow of the boat we watched them riding the bow wave, turning and twisting, looking up at us as they swam upside down. One group of three were playing with a strand of weed, passing it from fin to fin. Other young ones were entertaining us with their leaps (and occasional belly-flops). Later the adults came and a group of juveniles were rolling together, tangling and twisting around each other in a boisterous display of youth, oblivious to anything but their play! As we entered the water and they swam among us, the view from above was a tangle of dolphin fins and snorkels.

Dolphin-human interaction features in many legends and through many cultures and folk tales, so our special relationship with them is not a modern phenomenon. Perhaps in the mists of time we were more closely related biologically and that ancestral and genetic memory lingers and draws us back into their company. Speculation of course - and an attempt to explain the feeling of kinship we share with them?

I have found, over my nine visits, that as the members of the group ‘step into dolphin energy’ we harmonise into a ‘pod’ of kindred spirits, uplifted by the influence of dolphin vitality, each finding something profound in the experience. And in many cases synchronicity has matched people who have provided, or been given, much-needed support at a cross-roads in their lives. Dolphins, kinship and kindred spirits – is there a special kind of energy or power at work that we have not yet been able to identify or harness?

I have also found that close encounters with the dolphins has the potential to release inspiration and creative energy, a burst of light breaking down the barriers of inhibition. My own little book, Dancing with Dolphins, was pure dolphin inspiration, as was the creation of the Dolphin House on Bimini, a work of art celebrating dolphins and created from recycled materials, beach finds, builder’s debris and plain old trash! Retired teacher, author and historian, Ashley Saunders, told me that he began the project in 1993 after swimming with dolphins and feeling the release of a wave of creativity that he had to ride and continues to surf upon “using dolphin energy, dolphin magic and dolphin love”.

The work of the Dolphin Communication Project reminds me of the web of connectivity of which we are all a part and Ashley Saunders the ripple effect caused by just one drop of water, one small act of conscious care. And also of our individual responsibility to honour

27 and respect all that is and the environment in which all exists.

The goal of the DCP is to conserve the dolphins but in order to do that they also have to protect the ocean in which the dolphins and their underwater companions live as well as the wider environment. Their activities have a broader impact than their mission statement, “To promote the scientific study of dolphins and inspire their conservation” and perhaps the future of their research will help us understand the wisdom of the dolphins and teach us how to live “in total harmony with our environment and appreciate and enjoy our surroundings”.

Biography Brenda El-Leithy has trained and practiced as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Spiritual Healer, Reiki Practitioner and Personal Development Coach, finally finding the Shamanic path and incorporating it into her work and life as a Shamanic Practitioner. She spent many years living abroad in Sweden, Libya, India, Swaziland, Egypt and Jamaica and is now retired and living in Southern Turkey where she holds a regular women’s spiritual development group in Köyceğiz and runs Shamanic workshops and gatherings. For more information visit www.mind2mind.co.uk. Her book Dancing with Dolphins can be found at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mind2mind.

Photo courtesy of and © DCP

More Information and References

With many thanks to:

The Dolphin Communication Project (DCP), a U.S. non-profit dedicated to the study of dolphins. You can learn more about their research and education efforts, including their eco-tour programmes on Bimini, The Bahamas, at www.dolphincommunicationproject.org and on Facebook, Twitter (@ dolphincommu) and Instagram.

The International Dolphin Watch website - www.idw.org

Ashley B. Saunders. History of Bimini Vols. I and II - https://www.amazon.com/Ashley-B.- Saunders/e/B00MCHN8OE/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

The Dolphin House - www.bahamas.com/vendor/dolphin-house

28 northern plantlore: HOrsetail E o g h a n

o d i n s s o n

29 Quick Facts

Latin/Linnaen: Equisetum arvense

Family: Equisetaceae

Old English: æquiseia

Synonyms: Field Horsetail or Common Horsetail

Action: Anti-oxidant, mild diuretic

Part Used: Herb

Indicated For: Internal: Post traumatic and static edema. Irrigation therapy for bacterial and inflammatory diseases of the lower urinary tract and renal gravel. External: Supportive treatment for poorly healing wounds.

Dosage: Unless otherwise prescribed: Internal: Average daily dosage: 6g of herbs; equivalent preparations. External use in compresses: 10g of herbs in 1litre of water.

Preparation: Internal: Comminuted herb for infusions and other galenical preparations for oral administration. For irrigation therapy, ensure an abundant fluid intake. External: Comminuted herb for decoctions and other galenical preparations.

Cautions: No irrigation therapy in case of edema due to impaired heart and kidney function.

Other Uses: None of note.

Description

Equisetum arvense, the Field Horsetail or Common Horsetail, is a herbaceous perennial plant, native throughout the arctic and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. It has separate sterile non- reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems, growing from a perennial underground rhizomatous stem system. The fertile stems are produced in early spring and are non-photosynthetic, while the green sterile stems start to grow after the fertile stems have wilted and persist through the summer until the first autumn frosts.

The sterile stems are 10–90 cm tall and 3–5 mm diameter, with jointed segments around 2–5 cm long with whorls of side shoots at the segment joints; the side shoots have a diameter of about 1 mm. Some stems can have as many as 20 segments. The fertile stems are succulent-textured, off-white, 10–25 cm tall and 3–5 mm diameter, with 4–8 whorls of brown scale leaves and an apical brown spore cone 10–40 mm long and 4–9 mm broad.

It has a very high diploid number of 216 (108 pairs of chromosomes).

The plant contains several substances which can be used medicinally. It is rich in the minerals silicon (10%), potassium and calcium. The buds are eaten as a vegetable in Japan and Korea in spring time. 30 All other Equisetum species are toxic. In polluted conditions, it may synthesize nicotine. Externally it was traditionally used for chilblains and wounds. It was also once used to polish pewter and wood (gaining the name pewterwort) and to strengthen fingernails. It is also an abrasive. It was used by Hurdy-Gurdy players to dress the wheels of their instruments by removing resin build up.

Cultivation

Hardiness Zone: 2-10

Soil pH: 4.5-6.5

Soil type: All types, moist

Cultivation: Horsetail is a spore bearing plant whose rhizomes grow to a depth of up to 6 feet.

Sunlight: Part sun-part shade

Habitat: Native to Europe and north Africa

Horsetail can be hard to control so care should be taken before deciding on planting it. Could be planted in a sunken pot that will contain its rhizomes.

Historical Notes

None of note!

Biography

Canadian born Eoghan Odinsson is an award winning journalist and author with a lifelong passion for the knowledge of our Northern forefathers – or “folk lore”. Literally, the knowledge of our people. Graduating from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland with his Masters of Science degree, he subsequently taught for the University and was a dissertation advisor for graduate students. In addition to his academic background, Eoghan also holds a Black Belt in Chito-Ryu Karate, and has taught Martial Arts in Canada and the USA. Eoghan is now back in his native Ottawa Valley where he lives with his wife, son and three dogs. Eoghan is a professional member of the Canadian Authors Association.

31 32 The Black Stone (part two) Martin Pallot

It is the boy’s time of testing. The diggers have taken him to their sacred ground; he has gone down into the bones of the earth where the Black Stone is found and has made the offering and sacrifice of his blood to Mother Earth and the spirits of that place whom he has sensed around him, watching him. Now, entering the diggers’ working tunnel and with only his rush light to see by, he is crawling towards where the Black Stone is waiting.

As he made his way along the tunnel, his lamp lit marks and figures the men had drawn on the rock, most he did not know or recognise but there was one that was repeated over and over again; it was the diggers’ mark; the mark all the men had worked into the skin of their faces; the mark that he hoped would be pierced into his face when he returned to the surface. It looked like an antler with two tines but was actually a picture of the tunnels, curving through the earth.

So he followed the tunnel, as it curved through the earth and came to the working place; it was a narrow place and in the dim light of his lamp he could make out the marks of the picks in the walls and the soot on the tunnel roof from the men’s lamps; but now he must find his piece of black stone to take to the surface. He thought back to when he had been down here before but that had been in a different, bigger tunnel and the black stone had seemed more evident in the walls than here and there had been more light and more sound and less awareness of the ground closing him in and pressing on him from all directions and the breathing of the spirits was louder here than in the altar space and the growing heat seemed to surround him and enter him with every breath and he was sure the air was getting less so he couldn’t breathe at all and his lamp was guttering and then the scrape of rock against his head as the tunnel tried to crush him down and his heart beating beating against the earth in the gasping grasping darkness.

No! No.

His father had warned him of the dark spirit that dwelt within the Mother’s skin, a spirit that could dig its antler tine into a man’s courage and send him running from the tunnels in fear or make him too scared to move at all.

“Open your hands flat to the earth, look at your lamp, stare at it; remember it is the Mother’s light, trust Her and breathe; long and deep, long and deep; it is the only way to banish the dark one’s terror”. He trusted his father’s words and experience to guide him, prayed to the Mother, forced his breathing to deepen, quieten; and slowly, slowly, like an insect crawling, the fear crept away.

But it was something he would never forget.

Still looking at the Mother’s light he rolled onto his side to wipe the sweat from his hands and saw in the wall, almost glowing in the light of his lamp, a large piece of the black stone. His fumbling fingers struggled to open his sack and remove the strike stone and antler tine; as he moved and focused on his purpose and as, once more, his father’s voice sounded in his mind, his fear receded further.

“You must place the antler point just above the black stone and strike down clean but softly on the antler beam, work around the stone to loosen it until you can drive the point in behind the stone and prise it from its resting place; but take care! The stone can break if you go too hard.” 33 But what was too hard?

Wiping his hands on his tunic once more and offering another prayer to the Mother for Her forgiveness and help, he took the stone and antler and began to work his father’s words.

The antler point went in easily behind the black stone and white chippings flew waya from the point of impact, he blinked as some hit his face and moved the point around a little to dig again. Back and forth around the stone the antler tip did its work until finally he noticed a slight movement, gently working the tip behind the stone he pushed the antler and with a soft crumbling sound the black stone came free of the Mother’s bone and fell to the floor. He dropped antler and striker and grabbed up his prize; brushing and working clinging pieces of white away with his fingers. It amazed him that such a rounded thing, in places so smooth almost soft to the touch, could be made into arrows, cutters and scrapers of such killing and cleansing sharpness. His moment of elation at his success was short lived however, since now he knew he must return to the surface and face the judgement of the men who waited.

Placing the stone carefully in his sack with his tools, he crawled back down the tunnel until he came to the central area. In the increased sunlight coming from above he saw, waiting on the floor, one of the woven baskets that the men used to remove the dug stone; looking up there was, silhouetted, the same solitary masked face still watching; he removed the stone from his sack and placed it in the basket.

It suddenly looked very small and insignificant in the large container.

The basket was hauled to the surface and now he had to wait; wait for the men to examine his work and determine its worth, then he would be hauled up to face their judgement. If the masks stayed on, he would know he had failed and would have to work as a knapper or trader; good and useful work but not what he wanted! He blew out his now unneeded lamp and waited in the half light, looking at his white hands, flexing them, watching the second skin fissure and crack; and still waited; and still, waited. The thump of the rope hitting the floor made him jump. He looked up but this time no one watched; he tied the end around himself, tugged the rope to let them know he was ready and was slowly pulled up into the world above once more.

The Sun was now well up and the light took his sight completely as he came to the surface; climbing over the edge he busied himself untying the rope, keeping his eyes on the ground; suddenly too frightened to look as the men once again formed a loose circle around him. He took a breath and lifted his head; the masks were still on; he turned and looked at each silent faceless face, his heart falling back into the darkness with every moment. He felt a touch on his shoulder and turning again was confronted by a faceless face with eyes staring; and then one of the eyes winked and, grinning, his father removed his mask; he stared, then span round again, dizzy as he took in the rest of the circle, all of the masks where gone.

He was accepted.

Tears took his sight completely as the emotion of his experience caught up with him; his father stepped forward with a wordless and understanding hug. Then he released his son and took his hand to look at the wound upon it, seeing the drying blood against the white bone dust, he nodded; there came a laugh and a cold liquid was poured over the boy’s head and shoulders; this was what the men called ‘The Mother’s Milk’ a mixture of Her bone dust and water that would be left to dry on his hair and skin adding to what he had acquired in the tunnels, he was also given his piece of black stone to carry, so all would know of his acceptance when he returned to the village.

Tonight there would be a feast; tomorrow the men would take him to their hut to pierce his face with the diggers’ mark and he would be given the first tools of his new trade; and two days later he would return to the world below and truly become one of those who with love, respect and sacrifice, dug in the Mother’s body for the Black Stone. Biography Martin lives on the drifting edge of Epping Forest in north east London. He describes what he does as ‘writing pictures’ and uses inspiration from nature, myth, folklore and his animist beliefs to create poetry, short fiction and ‘dream tales’. He’s been published both online and in print, here and in America and was recently featured in the anthology, Moon Poets 34 (published by Moon Books). You can read more of his work at martinpallot.wordpress.com and contact him at [email protected]. Ancient Ancestors & Modern Ideals

Elen Sentier

This may seem a somewhat ‘rambly’ piece but stay with me; I do have a point and a purpose! I was watching a YouTube Time Team on the Tottiford Reservoir excavations on Dartmoor1, a favourite place for me as it’s so near where I was born. It’s back to being a reservoir again now so you can’t actually see what they found but this YouTube is well worth a watch.

It’s a bowl-like valley in the top of a hill on east Dartmoor. A valley on top of a hill? My immediate thoughts say cauldron and the archaeologists on Time Team intimate something similar. Add in that the whole site is about streams flowing around islands and it follows the pattern of our old ays.w

They discovered that the site had been in continuous use for 5,000 years, from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age – that’s 2.5 times as long as what we now call history, i.e. since the Romans came to Britain; everything before that academics call pre-history. When you think about it in those terms and with those parameters it tends to shake up your ideas about what we call civilisation!

I also watched this YouTube on the Chauvet Caves in the Ardèche, in France2. They were used by the 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InsNg_WV2n4&feature=youtu.be 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OLaNtKoJFk&feature=youtu.be 35 Aurignacian people from the Upper Palaeolithic who lived between 43,000 and 37,000 years ago. Their ‘place’ stretched from half way round the Caspian Sea to the west coast of Spain, down to the Mediterranean and up into southern Britain. Looking at the size of it reminds me of Alexander the Great’s empire and that of the Romans. But the Aurignacian people were not conquerors; they were the people, their own people with their own ways. As hunter- gatherers the whole notion of conquest was a non-sequitur for them. They had nothing like our concepts of ownership nor of hierarchy; they lived- Chauvet horses with the land, were her people as the animals and plants are. Their attitudes show in their incredible, beautiful and extremely skilful rock art, they even achieved animation and movement in their drawings! For me, that makes a complete nonsense of the out-of- date idea that our primitive ancestors were ‘ignorant savages’.

As I thought about my own ancestors at Tottiford, of them being ‘the people’ for 5000 years and the Aurignacian people keeping their ways for 6000 years, my mind boggled at the arrogance of modern folk in thinking our cruel and destructive ways are the best thing since sliced cat food. As hunter gatherers they were not conquerors, they were the people, owning nothing, being guardian to everything, with a good and easy lifestyle most folk would envy nowadays. They were healthy too. All that manure you hear about ‘surviving’ is precisely that - manure. They worked maybe 15 hrs a week to have superb fresh food; diseases like arthritis, diabetes and cancer were unknown; their lifespan was far longer than most people who lived in Victorian times; they made incredible art as shown in the Chauvet caves, and obviously had an intricate and all-encompassing spirituality. What’s not to like?

Then I thought of that wretched American axiom ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. We all know that maxim has never had any reality; ‘the people’ means the rich and powerful, those in charge who intend to stay that way. I doubt the Tottiford or Aurignacian concepts of living-with the land, as her people, would make any sense at all and would likely be put down as an ‘ignorant savage’ idea. The First Nations in America had this concept but they’ve been so brutalised it’s changed. The immigrants who stole the land from the First People hadn’t the slightest intention of learning it. Systematic European Christian colonization of America began in 1492, with the Spanish expedition, headed by the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. That’s 526 years ago. The conquering of people has been going on ever since farming began, sometimes very brutally, at others much more of an integration.

It happened here in Britain too although most people don’t realise it. Us of the old ways began to be badly and oppressively Christianised in 597AD. There’d been a bit with the coming of the Romans but that wasn’t too bad; the Christian stories appeared with the influx of traders and artisans from the Roman Empire but it was seen as just one more cult. The Emperor Constantine cottoned onto the fact that, unlike other cults, Christianity demanded exclusive allegiance from its followers and he quickly saw what a brilliant political and military tool this could be to unite his Empire. But Christianity still wasn’t too oppressive to those who didn’t want it.

Things really began to fall apart for us of the old ways 200 years after the Romans had left, with Augustine’s mission in 597AD to King Aethelbert of Kent. Aethelbert, like Constantine before him, saw Christianity as a seriously useful tool of Kingship and made sure his country – he soon got around to subjugating the rest of us outside of Kent – became Christian. It’s always worth pointing out that Christianity was taken up by rulers and forced on their countries because it is such a good political

Chauvet horses. 13 - Claude Valette [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from 36 Wikimedia Commons tool. Not because of divine inspiration, it was – and indeed still is – all hard-nosed business. It was even with the Victorian evangelists who messed up so many indigenous people all over the world but consolidated the British Empire!

So, we of the old ways do indeed understand what happened with the American First People – been there, done that, got the tee-shirt, licked the stamp. We understand how horrible it’s been for the South Americans too and the people of the Indian Continent, of Africa, the Far East and Australia. All of them have suffered horribly under Christianisation. It may surprise you to hear that we all still do suffer, although in different ways – trying talking against Christianity in your local pub! We are a minority who is not even considered to exist.

We old ones have been under the heel of the Christian conquerors for over 1400 years. In that time, we’ve got accustomed to it and learned how to find our own ways round it, keeping our heads down and managing, still holding onto our old ways in secret, often hidden in plain sight. It’s not good. A large part of us is stuffed as they say in psychology and most people nowadays have some understanding of what stuffing a part of yourself does. In the old ways of many traditions we call it soul-loss, something that may well need soul-retrieval in order for the person to become whole again. That’s how it is for all the old peoples all around the world. But 1400+ years of oppression, torture, small-time ethnic cleansing and ridicule do teach you how to survive!

Christianity has caused so, so many problems for the Earth. It gave us the idea that we are ‘God’s chosen ones’ who ‘have dominion over’ the rest of creation. We are not, do not!

To return again to the beginning and Tottiford Reservoir, what Time Team found was 5000 years of continuous use of this place as a sacred site. What does that say about those people, our ancestors? How coherent must they have been, how knowing, how integrated with their land? All things we are not nowadays. What can we learn from them?

The most important thing, for me, is to learn to listen to and hear the land, the spirits of place and the over lighting Spirit of Earth. Listening and hearing are not the same thing. Listening is about attending, paying attention; hearing adds the element of understanding. Doing both includes us realising our true place within the whole … we are the children of Earth, the youngest species on the planet; everything else even down to the smallest microbe is older than us humans. And all of them, these rocks, plants, animals, microbes, have so much to teach us if only we will learn to listen and hear.

Our ancestors at Tottiford were guardians for over 5000 years. Our Aurignacian ancestors were guardians for over 6000 years.

In a mere 2000 years we modern humans have damn nearly screwed the Earth to death. And we don’t, as a whole, look like changing any time soon. And all the horrors we perpetrate on animals, plants, the land, the environment and ecosystem (let alone each other!) in the name of business, security, economy, tradition, human rights, and Uncle Tom Cobley and All.

We could change. Some of us are, have. But out of 7.7 billion humans infesting Planet Earth at the moment what percentage are we? Just maybe, on a good day, with a following wind, we might get to being 1% of that. My maths is hopeless but I seem to get that to be 77 million people … not a lot! Only just over the current population of Britain. Maybe we can help but we need to learn to change very, very fast if it’s to make a difference – like within 10 years. We no longer have lifetimes in which to learn.

Biography

Elen Sentier is the author of magical-realism mystery novels. She has also published numerous bestselling books on British native shamanism. Originally from the wilds of Exmoor, she’s a wilderness woman, born into a family of British cunning folk. She worked as a systems analyst for the Ministry of Defence, is a transpersonal psychotherapist, danced for Arlene Philips, and was once kissed by Mick Jagger! She now lives, with husband, cats and a host of wildlife, in the wild Welsh Marches. Website: http://elensentier.co.uk/

Elen’s latest book Numerology is due to be published by Moon Books in February 2019. 37 Shay Mann

38 Shaman Moon

Yvonne Ryves

Some time ago, June Kent posed a series of questions in the Indie Shaman Facebook group1 relating to definitions of Shamanism, Shaman, Shamanic Practitioner and the terms used within shamanism. Asking questions like these is a bit like asking ‘How long is a piece of string?’ By the same token if you ask 100 shaman a question such as ‘What is shamanism?’ you are just as likely to get 1,001 different answers or even more. June didn’t get quite this many answers but there were many differences of opinion and fortunately some concurrences.

Another brave soul, by the name of Trevor Greenfield of Moon Books, also decided to ask eleven shamanic practitioners the question ‘What is shamanism?’ and the resulting book of the same name, published as part of the Shaman Pathways series is their attempt at answering the seemingly unanswerable question. The book, as should be expected, contains eleven very personal perspectives on shamanism which is exactly as it should be, with each author writing from their own experience and beliefs.

So why is it so difficult to definitively say what shamanism is?

I think there are actually some basic underlying concepts or beliefs that everyone working or living shamanically agrees upon. The problems are that we all come to it from different backgrounds and perspectives, having had different types of training and initiations into shamanism. There are also the ongoing discussions as to whether contemporary shamanism is as valid as tribal shamanism and whether core shamanism is valid as a form of shamanism i.e. whether you can become a shaman by doing a weekend course.

When June posed the original questions I let them mull around in my mind for a few days. I’m not at all sure that doing so helped any as I kept ending up at the same place, which is that I’m not big on

1 https://www.facebook.com/groups/indieshaman/ 39 definitions. It seems to me that as soon as we start trying to define terms and put labels on things, we create boxes into which to fit what we do, or not as the case may be. Having said that, I understand completely why we need to try and define what it is that we do or what it is that we are. After all, one of the things that even after all these years I still find difficult, is to explain to someone what it is that I do when I say I work shamanically or that I am a shamanic healer.

You will probably have noticed that, like many others, I do not call myself a Shaman. However I do feel that it is time we moved away from the old tired arguments of whether or not we can use the term Shaman when we speak about ourselves and our work. The origins of the term Shaman is well documented and most people, if they are being honest, understand that the way it is used now is not the same as then. Everything needs to grow, change and adapt to meet the times that we live in and this is no different. Most of us, including myself, did not grow up in a shamanic culture. This means that all of us are likely to have been trained either by humans through courses; by our guides, ancestors or not, in spirit; or by a mix of these. This in itself does not make us any more or less a Shaman than any other way does.

So this is my brief take on trying to answer the questions of what a shaman and shamanism are.

One of my core beliefs, one which I hold deeply, is that in shamanism there is an understanding and belief that everything that exists has a spirit and that communication between all that exists is happening all the time. For me a Shaman knows how to tap into this, how to connect to the right frequency as it were, in order to learn from, cooperate and work with all that exists.

I believe that a Shaman is someone who walks between worlds; who works, often in some form of trance, in both non ordinary reality and ordinary reality with their guides and allies for the benefit of their community and sometimes themselves. They have a strong relationship with their guides and allies, one that has been built up over time in the same way that all relationships are. If this relationship is not present and work doesn’t take place in both realities it is not shamanism.

I also believe that the shamanic journey is only one aspect of a Shaman’s work and therefore of shamanism and that shamanism involves working in the dark as well as in the light, often more so in fact. I don’t believe that it is possible to work or live shamanically and exclusively work with or in the light; after all not all the spirits we meet are benevolent ones and if we are seeking to retrieve soul parts we are highly unlikely to find them hidden in the light.

There is much, much more that I could add here of course but then this would become an article rather than my Shaman Moon column.

What is Shamanism? is not necessarily any more conclusive than my attempt here. However, it is an important book in that it is a genuine attempt to shed light on this complicated question.

Featured book Trevor Greenfield, editor.Shaman Pathways - What is Shamanism? Moon Books (28 Sept. 2018). ISBN: 978-1785358029.

Biography Yvonne Ryves is a Shamanic Healer, Reiki Master, Chios Energy Healing Master Teacher and Past Life Regression Therapist as well as being the author of Web of Life published by Moon Books as part of their Shaman Pathways Series. She offers healing sessions as well as running workshops and courses from her home in West Cork, Ireland. Yvonne is currently training as an Ovate with OBOD. You can find out more about Yvonne at www. yvonneryves.com

40 Reviews Leopard Warrior The Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo

Cleansing Rites Of Curanderismo is a wonderfully detailed book which provides a wealth of knowledge about the Mesoamerican shamanic Leopard Warrior is the journey of an Army cleansing practices known as limpias. The way medic from South Africa to Korean in which the book is balanced with historical Zen temples and Sangoma ceremonies. It is a and cultural information along with exceptional powerful tale of how a white South African found attention paid to providing reasons for the uses meaning and a spiritual homecoming as a priest of a variety of essentials such as herbs, eggs, and healer in the Xhosa lineage – the tribe of feathers, flowers, fire and water within each Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu – and of how limpia ritual adds to the rich authenticity of the the ancient peoples of his land are now actively book. seeking representatives from outside to bring their wisdom to our troubled societies. Erika Buenaflor is descended from a long line of grandmother curanderas and has studied John Lockley’s account travels from long with other curanderas/os in Mexico, and term illness and loneliness in youth, through Los Angeles. The author’s personal story of her apprenticeship and initiation via Buddhism, own devastating injury and her healing through African spirituality and Irish inspiration to the limpias, plus her 20 years of experience as a Xhosa wisdom of dreams, ceremony, spirits and practicing curandera and her graduate studies ancestors and introduces us to the Way of the engaged in Mesoamerican shamanism are all Leopard, a joyful and life full journey into the distinctly felt as the reader is taken on a journey ages old heart of Africa; while also showing us the in which modern curanderismo practices are importance of understanding and listening to our traced back to their native origins, sacred stories own blood and bones on the journey we take now. behind these ancient practices are shared and the extensive description of the purposes and benefits It shows how the Shaman, by walking the liminal of each type of limpia is clearly explained. spaces, disperses the shadows between ignorance Supporting practices such as the medicinal chants and wisdom; the wisdom of the heart, the dream, used by the curanderos and the practice of the creativity of nature and, to use an African platicas, heart-straightening talks, which are all expression the author teaches us, our shared fundamental aspects of various limpias are also ‘ubunzulu bobuntu’ our depth of humanity. explained.

This is a remarkable first book telling a unique The depth in which these ancient Yucatec Maya story, the story of one mans search for the and Mexica practices are explored, explained ancestral spirituality of his country; a search step-by-step and demonstrated via case studies many might think difficult, if not impossible, due will provide the reader with a thirst to further to cultural, racial and political differences. That he their learning or, in fact, enable them to carry out succeeds is proof that these differences are not so their own limpias. deep, proof that belief and true guidance can build Reviewed by Badrunnisa Patel bridges between people and proof of the wisdom of those deceptively simple words – ‘we all have Erika Buenaflor.The Cleansing Rites of red blood’. Curanderismo. Bear & Company (9 Aug. 2018). Reviewed by Martin Pallot. ISBN: 978-1591433118 http://martinpallot.wordpress.com/ John Lockley. Leopard Warrior. Sounds True (1 41 Dec. 2017). ISBN-13: 978-1622039036 Reviews Shaman Pathways Deathwalking What is Shamanism

Deathwalking, also known as psychopomping, is ‘What is Shamanism?’ - A question that causes the shamanic practice of supporting the spirits many a lively debate or even outright arguments of the dying or deceased to move smoothly on social media. And What is Shamanism?, the from this world to the next; a practice that goes book, wisely doesn’t seek to give one definitive back throughout time in traditional societies. In answer but instead explores the question by the modern Western world we tend to avoid all sharing eleven authentic, insightful essays by mention of death, viewing it with fear rather than established authors and practitioners in the field as a natural part of life. Even with the current which discuss a variety of the questions and resurgence in shamanism, psychopomp work issues that are frequently raised about shamanism remains a practice rarely written about; which and animism. is where this anthology comes in as a valuable resource. As each essay is written from the author’s own experience and beliefs, a variety of viewpoints As part of the Shamanic Pathways series from are presented for the reader to delve into and Moon Books, aimed to provide an introduction discover which resonate with them personally, to shamanic topics, Deathwalking provides enabling exploration not just of their own a rich variety of original experiences and thoughts on the question itself but also of many of knowledge from individual authors, including the issues surrounding the practice of shamanism traditional rituals and mythology as well as a today in contemporary society. generous sharing of personal moving stories of bereavement and spirit work. These ten essays Another useful, compact yet packed and delightful alongside a very informative forward by Ross book from Moon Books Shaman Pathways series, Heaven provide a wide diversity of ideas and What is Shamanism? is a compact treasure trove information for the reader to consider. of material providing an excellent source of information and much food for thought for further An interesting read in itself, Deathwalking is also research for both practitioners and readers new to an essential anthology for anyone looking for the shamanism. opportunity to learn more about this compelling aspect of shamanic work. Reviewed by June Kent (editor) Reviewed by June Kent (editor)

Trevor Greenfield (Editor).Shaman Pathways - What is Shamanism. Moon Books (28 Sept. Laura Perry (editor). Shaman Pathways - 2018). ISBN: 978-1785358029 Deathwalking. Moon Books (2018). ISBN: 978- 1785358180

42 Reviews Winds of Spirit Encounters with Power

Winds of Spirit describes how author Renee Baribeau found Wind and how the reader can use Encounters with Power is a collection of stories the wind in their own life. of the travels and real life experiences of Jose Luis Stevens. A well-travelled shamanic teacher, This well-written book is an informative insight Stevens takes us on a journey to meet indigenous into wind and all that is associated with it. I shamans and teachers in some fascinating and never realised that there was so much interesting remote places, including Mexico, the Andes and information about the wind! The book is also a Australia. personal account of how the author overcame her addictions with help from the wind. There are moments in our lives when we experience power and Spirit so clearly. In times of The first of the book’s four parts describes the crisis, desperation and uncertainty we can either foundations of wind-work and sets out the react negatively through the perception that we argument for welcoming the wind into your life. are victims of circumstance or we can embrace The second part describes the four directions of the situations with an open heart and mind and the wind comprehensively and how to work with use them as opportunities to grow and develop. these directions. The third describes methods of These stories highlight how we can harness our using wind in a practical way and the final part own personal power to deal successfully with is a collection of deities associated with the wind life’s teachings. We can all encounter moments from around the world. in life that show us a clear message and have synchronicity and deep meaning. Stevens guides The variety of sources the author has drawn on is us with exercises that can help us in being impressive; it seems to me that the research for receptive and intuitive in our own journeys. the book must have taken her many years! I was particularly struck by these words on page 46: A well written book with stories that are “You cannot reach a destination if you plot your entertaining, humorous and insightful ... and you course from the bridge of someone else’s ship; can’t beat a good story! you must determine your own location if you want to navigate through life successfully”.

Winds of Spirit gives the reader ‘tools’ to work with the wind to support them through life; a Reviewed by Joe Caudwell great book for anyone with an interest in the http://jcaudwell.wixsite.com/joecaudwell wind or with a curiosity to discover new ideas and practical tools for living.

Reviewed by Karon Lyne Jose Luis Stevens, PhD. Encounters with Power. Sounds True Inc (1 Feb. 2017). ISBN: 978- Renee Baribeau. Winds of Spirit. Hay House UK (6 1622037933 Feb. 2018). ISBN: 978-1781808146

43 Events and Workshops

EVENTS DIARY 2019 The Connected and Empowered Self – Shamanic Journeying & Soul Retrieval with Christa Mackinnon, 8th – 10th February, DEVON, UK. Shamanic journeying and the ancient tool of Soul Retrieval. https://christamackinnon.com/ Opening Inner Doorways – Deepening into Shamanic Journeying. February 9-10, CINCINNATI, OH 45211, USA, with Kenn Day. The first in a series of shamanic training weekends. Weekends $350. Email [email protected]. http://www.shamanstouch.com/ Pachakuti Mesa Tradition Apprenticeship Programme, 18th - 22nd February. Ancient Peruvian Shamanic Apprenticeship Series in LONDON with Cynthia Greer. Email Christian Thurow at c.thurow@ thurow.co.uk or Cynthia at [email protected]. http://shamanshealingheart.com/ Medicine for the Earth with Fotoula Adrimi, 23-24 February, GLASGOW, SCOTLAND. Shamanic workshop with the 4 elements, space clearing and Earth healing through connection with the fairy realm. Fee £185. Email: [email protected]. https://www.theisisschoolofholistichealth.com/ medicine-for-the-earth Silver Wheel: Path of the Deer, with Elen Tomkins. Awakening as an Elder Soul & Star of the Dawn. A Year’s Journey in Avalon, March 2019 – March 2020, GLASTONBURY, UK. Investment £2,440. Email [email protected]. https://elentompkins.com/path-of-the-deer/ Plant Eco Shamanism Course, with Mandy Pullen & Freya Davies starts 16/17 March, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOS, UK. 4 weekends of learning plant perception and resonance using Eco Shamanic and Plant Sensory techniques. Contact Mandy Pullen tel: 01594 541850, email: [email protected]. http://www.mandypullen.co.uk/shamanism-training/plant-eco-shamanism.html Energetic Recycling 6th/17th March, cost £120/£90 for weekend, near PERTH, SCOTLAND with Brian Anderson. In this 2 day workshop we are able to recycle the energy of our lives into a more positive flow. Email [email protected]. http://www.oakenleaf.co.uk/ Shamanic Retreat: The Four Shields – walking the Medicine Wheel with Fotoula Adrimi, 22- 24 March, KILMARTIN, SCOTLAND. Includes shamanic journeying, walking in nature, drumming and ceremony in ancient stone circles. Fee: from £235. Email [email protected]. https://www. theisisschoolofholistichealth.com/shamanic-retreat-2019 Introduction of Shamanic Ways. A life affirming practice for the modern world. March 23rd/24th 2019 10am/5pm with Brian Anderson. Cost £120/£90 for the weekend, held near PERTH, SCOTLAND. Email [email protected]. http://www.oakenleaf.co.uk/ Shamanic Magic of Egypt, 25 March – 1 April 2019 with Joanna Flowering Whirlwind, Egyptian Guide Neturu and guide Michael Farah. An experiential, shamanistic vision quest to ignite your soul to expansion and illumination. Email [email protected]. http://www.floweringwhirlwind. com/ Eco Shamanism Training/Course – Becoming one with our Earth, with Mandy Pullen starts 11- 14 April 2019, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOS, UK. 6 long weekends with an emphasis on eco reciprocity, also learning all the major shamanic healing techniques. Contact Mandy Pullen Tel: 01594 541850, email: [email protected]. http://www.mandypullen.co.uk/shamanism-training/eco-shamanism- training-2019.html La Limpia – The sacred Andes energy clearing ceremony, with Itzhak Beery, FLORENCE, ITALY, April 26 – 28. http://www.itzhakbeery.com/ La Limpia – The sacred Andes energy clearing ceremony, with Itzhak Beery, LONDON, UK, May 4-6. http://www.itzhakbeery.com/ Deepening Our Shamanic Path. May 10th – 12th, near PERTH, SCOTLAND with Brian Anderson. Cost £180/£160. Learn ways to go further into the potential of shamanism for our everyday life as well as a way to serve our communities.Email [email protected]. http://www.oakenleaf.co.uk/ Advanced Shamanic Training in Past Life Soul Retrieval and Past Life Regression with Fotoula Adrimi, 29 May to 02 June 2019, GLASGOW, SCOTLAND (non residential). Fee £450. Email Fotoula Adrimi:[email protected]. https://www.theisisschoolofholistichealth.com/shamanism The 2nd Annual Andes Summit, with Itzhak Beery. IBARRA, , June 15 – 23. A unique chance for 9 days of healings and teachings by 10 renowned elder Shamans. Participate in the sacred Inti Raimi winter solstice, the ancient Incan Festival of the Sun. https://www.theandessummit.com/ Starlight Listening Retreat, with Elen Tomkins, 16th – 22nd June, 2019. A 7 day camping retreat at the magical waterfall of PISTYLL RHAEADR, WALES, where the glyphs of the Silver Wheel were first gifted. Cost £700. [email protected]. https://elentompkins.com/starlight-listening-retreat/ Dawn Quest, with Elen Tomkins at PISTYLL RHAEADR, WALES, 24th – 30th June, supported 44 by Gian Paolo Cottino and assisting in quests with Hilary Kneale & Rick Lockwood. Cost: £700. Email Elen at [email protected]. https://elentompkins.com/dawn-quest/ Events and Workshops

Paint Your Power Animal, GLASTONBURY, 6th & 7th July 2019. Be gently guided through a process where you will journey and connect with your spirit animal, also creating a painting of your power animal. £160. E-mail [email protected]. http://www.sharynturner.com/ The Path of the Eagle-The Journey of the Shaman with Fotoula Adrimi, on 13-14 July 2019, in GLASGOW, Scotland. Beginner’s workshop into the art of shamanic journeying, shamanic healing and power retrieval. Fee £185, contact Fotoula Adrimi: [email protected]. https://www. theisisschoolofholistichealth.com/the-journey-of-the-shaman ONGOING EVENTS Introduction to Shamanism days, with Paul Francis, Therapeutic Shamanism. Experiential and covers the basics of shamanic practice. Email [email protected]. http://www.therapeutic- shamanism.co.uk Sacred Circle Dance and Drumming with Michael Meredith, Keith Barrett & Barbara Moorby in CAMBRIDGESHIRE. Tantric Circle Dance every 3rd Saturday afternoon in the month plus “Wheel of the Year” Drumming Days every 3 months. http://www.sunflower-health.com/shamanicworkshops. htm#Workshops Shamanic Sundays, with Mandy Pullen. FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. Monthly journeying circle. Regular Introduction to Shamanism workshops. Contact details: Mandy Pullen Tel:01594 541850 or Email: info@mandypullen. co.uk. http://www.mandypullen.co.uk/Workshops_Groups.html Monthly Cacao Ceremony. Held every month on the new moon, INVERNESS, SCOTLAND. Using plant medicine teachings, ceremony, meditation, sacred space and guided invocation, music and more. For more information please email [email protected]. http://www.spanglefish.com/ SacredVisionsSanctuaryServices/index.asp Drum Birthing Days with Nicola & Jason Smalley, The Way of the Buzzard, near Chorley, LANCASHIRE. Cost from £190. Contact Nicola or Jason on 01257 233909, contact@ thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk. http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/drum-birthing-day/ Birth your Healing Drum with Melonie Syrett. You will create a full frame drum and beater and we will journey to find its guardian and perhaps its reasons for coming to ou.y Cost £180. Workshops held in LONDON or if a group of 4 can be gathered I will come to you. Contact [email protected] 07462615299. https://www.meloniesyrett.org/drum-birthing Shamanic day workshops & weekend retreats in the PEAK DISTRICT, YORKSHIRE DALES, LAKE DISTRICT, FOREST OF BOWLAND and the WEST PENNINE MOORS with Nicola & Jason Smalley, The Way of the Buzzard. [email protected], 01257 233909. http://thewayofthebuzzard. co.uk/workshops/ Crystal Space Events. Meet up at ‘Our Space’. Plus events including drum making. SILSDEN, WEST YORKSHIRE. http://www.crystalspace.co.uk/ Munay Ki Network. YORKSHIRE http://crystalspaceally.wix.com/munay-ki-network Walking the Sacred Way. Near PERTH, SCOTLAND, with Brian Anderson. This 3 hour workshop offers an opening and deepening of this sacred experience and offers a practical and effective method of healing that you can use in your life as and when needed. Email [email protected]. http://www. oakenleaf.co.uk/?page_id=42 Sacred Activism Events Monthly. Near PERTH, SCOTLAND, with Brian Anderson. http://www. oakenleaf.co.uk/?page_id=44 DRUM CIRCLES Shamanic Quest Drum Circle BEDFORDSHIRE. Monthly on Mondays. Email melanie@shamanicquest. co.uk. http://www.shamanicquest.co.uk/. Shamanic Drummers MK, MILTON KEYNES, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. Every Friday 12-3pm, location varies. Also monthly sessions on the second Friday of each month 7.30-9.30pm. Cost £6. https://www. facebook.com/shamanicdrummersmk/. Email [email protected]. Cambridgeshire Wellbeing Drumming Circle. CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 2nd Saturday afternoon each Month. www.sunflower-health.com/shamanicworkshops.htm#Workshops ‘The Shamans Drum’ Monthly Drumming circle The Arkwright Hall, Moorside Lane, HOLBROOK, Nr Belper, DERBYSHIRE, DE56 0TW, UK. E-mail: [email protected]: 01332880984. http:// dunnwooddrums.com/#/drumming-groups/4533077917 Monthly Shamanic Drumming Circle. TOTNES NATURAL HEALTH CENTRE, TOTNES, DEVON. http:// www.southdevonshamanism.co.uk/workshops/

45 Events and Workshops

‘The Buzzard Circles’, Stockport Clan 2nd Thursday of the month at The Friends Meeting House, Cooper Street, STOCKPORT, GREATER MANCHESTER SK1 3QL. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley [email protected]. http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/ The Way of the Drum Shamanic Circle, Monday nights, 19:00-21:00, GLASGOW, Scotland. Fee £13 or £10 concession. Contact Fotoula Adrimi, [email protected]. https://www. theisisschoolofholistichealth.com/glasgow-shamanic-circle Kki Sounds - Inspiring Inner Stillness. 1st Friday monthly, The Kingsley Centre GU35 9DN (HANTS, UK) from 7.15 - 9pm. £15, £12 concessions. Contact: Nikki Marianna Hope, E [email protected], T 0791 871 5011. http://kkinaturally.net/sounds.html/ Shamanic Drum Circle Gathering, INVERNESS. We meet at full moon / dark moon around Inverness. Outdoors £3.00 indoor £5.99. Email – [email protected]. http://www.spanglefish.com/ SacredVisionsSanctuaryServices/index.asp. WhiteBuffalo Sacred Drum/Dance/ Circle . Monthly Near MAIDSTONE, KENT. Contact: [email protected] for full information. ‘Call of the Drums’ Addington Village Hall, Park Road, Addington, nr West Malling, KENT. 4th Thursday of every month.7.30pm - 10.30pm, £6 per person. http://www.woodspirit.org.uk/. Email [email protected]. ‘The Buzzard Circles’, Chorley Clan 2nd Tuesday of the month in the stable block behind The Bay Horse pub, Heath Charnock, CHORLEY, LANCASHIRE, PR6 9ER, 7.30pm. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley [email protected], 01257 233909. http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/ buzzardcircles/ ‘The Buzzard Circles’, Lancaster Clan 1st Thursday of the month in Halton Mill, Mill Lane, Halton, LANCASTER, LANCASHIRE, LA2 6ND, 7.30pm. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley contact@ thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk, 01257 233909 http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/buzzardcircles/ Open Shamanic Journeying Circle with Tom Henfrey. The Well-Being Hub, Harper’s Mill, White Cross Business Park, LANCASTER LA1 4XF. Saturday afternoons arrival from 2.15 for 2.30 start, 5pm finish. £7-10. Contact [email protected]. http://www.caldershamanics.net/ ‘The Buzzard Circles’, Cuerdan Clan 2nd Monday of the month at The Barn, Berkeley Drive, Bamber Bridge, PRESTON, LANCASHIRE, PR5 6BY. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley contact@ thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk. http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/about-our-circles/ Healing Women’s Drum Circle, 3rd Thursday of the month at Balham Spiritualist Church, 211 Balham High Road, LONDON SW17, 7:30-9pm. Sliding scale payment system £7/£10/£15/£20 just pay what you can. Contact Melonie Syrett, email [email protected], phone 07462615299. https://www. meloniesyrett.org/women-s-drum-circle Closed Women’s Drum Circle. Currently BALHAM, SW17 and RICHMOND, LONDON. We meet every 2 weeks. Cost: £67.50 for 6 (£11.25 per session) at the end of the 6 weeks we decide whether to continue or open up to more members. New groups can begin. Contact Melonie Syrett, email msyrett@ aol.com, phone 07462615299. https://www.meloniesyrett.org/ Walks with Horses Drumming Group meets monthly at Core Music, HEXHAM, NORTHUMBERLAND, NE46 3NT on Saturday afternoons 2-4pm. Cost £5. For dates contact Gwen at gwen.a.brown@ btinternet.com Hummingbird Gatherings Drumming and Journey Circle at The Sound Lodge, HEXHAM, NORTHUMBERLAND, Saturday afternoons 2 – 4.30, starting 9th September. Cost £15. Enquiries: [email protected] Tel:01434 606159 or visit soundtouchforlife.com Kki Sounds - Inspiring Inner Stillness. MIDHURST, WEST SUSSEX, UK, 1st Monday in month from 8 – 9.30pm at The Old Town Hall, Market Square GU29 9DN. £15 or £12 concessions. Contact: Nikki Marianna Hope, E [email protected], T 0791 871 5011. http://kkinaturally.net/sounds.html/ Evening Shamanic Drumming Circle 1st Wed in month. £15, 7.30 - 9pm Baby Moon Camp, DUNSDALE, NORTH YORKSHIRE, TS14 6RH. Contact Elaine McKeown phone 07933 718368 or via http://www.innerpeacehealing.org/ Open Shamanic Journeying Circle, Hebden Bridge. Weekly, Thursday evenings, arrival from 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. The Energy Centre, Burlees House, Hangingroyd Lane, HEBDEN BRIDGE, WEST YORKSHIRE, HX7 7DD. £5. Contact: [email protected]. http://www.caldershamanics.net/ Open Shamanic Journeying Circle. Carlton Hill Friends Meeting House, Woodhouse Lane, LEEDS, WEST YORKSHIRE LS2 9DX. Wednesday evenings, 7.30-9.30pm. £5-£10. For current dates see Shamanic Leeds Facebook Page or mail [email protected]. http://www.caldershamanics.net/ 46 For full details plus more events please visit https://indieshaman.co.uk/community-resources/ 47 Bloodsong

Awaken! Blood of my blood. Knowledge of Ancestors, Of Mothers and Fathers Flow through me: May I carry your wisdom in my bones, Your love in my heart, Your song on my lips. Awaken! Blood of my blood. Knowledge of Ancestors, Of Brothers and Sisters Flow to me: I tread in your steps on the Earth, and bathe in the light of your stars. Awaken! Blood of my blood, Knowledge of Ancestors, of Land, Sea and Sky, Flow from me: May I bring love and compassion, insight and healing, and service to all my relations.

Poetry and Photography: Sue Latchford. https://suelatchfordmosaic.weebly.com/