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ISSN 2050-568X (Online) Indie Shaman is committed to minimize the effects of its activities on the environment. Indie Shaman Magazine is EDITOR printed by Minuteman Press, Bristol, whose products are June Kent Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) www.fsc.org certificated and meet the requirements of the Programme for the CONTACT Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) Chain of [email protected] Custody wwwpefc.org. 01246 251768 Indie Shaman is committed to aiming towards equality of All articles and images are © Indie accessibility. For this reason this magazine uses a book Shaman 2009-2019 or to the artist, rather than traditional magazine layout, with clear print size photographer, writer where named and spacing. unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved. We carried out research with the help of our subscribers to make sure we are providing the service you want and we The views expressed in the articles value your feedback. If you have any comments or questions and advertisements in the Indie on any of the above please contact us: Shaman Magazine are those of the authors and are not necessarily those by email to: [email protected] of the editor/Indie Shaman. or by post to: The editor/Indie Shaman takes no June Kent, Indie Shaman, responsibility for errors, omissions 18 Bradwell Grove, Danesmoor or the consequences thereof and or Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S45 9TA for any actions taken in relation to any article herein or for any contract Indie Shaman is a member of the Pagan and Heathen entered into with any third party. Symposium http://pagansymposium.org/ and registered as Cover Features Made in Derbyshire http://www.madeinderbyshire.org/ 5 9 17

The Land of the Fae: Wisdom Hub: Geomancy Merlin’s Quest 13

Latino Esotericism: The Supernatural in 2 Remembering Our Way Everyday Life Home Contents Contributors Features Articles Antonio N. Zavaleta, Ph.D. 5 The Land of the Fae: Merlin’s Quest Davyd Farrell Eoghan Odinsson 9 Wisdom Hub: Teachings from Gina Martin the Life of a Travelling Land Mitchell A. Kaplan Ph.D. Shaman. Geomancy - Davyd Farrell Dr Patrick MacManaway talks to Dr Patrick MacManaway Rob Wildwood Steve Andrews 13 Remembering Our Way Home Steven Ash

17 Latino Esotericism: The Columnists Supernatural in Everyday Life David Sparenberg Yvonne Ryves 21 Sacred Drumming: Trance Journeys into the Sacred Directions of the Photography Medicine Wheel Front Cover: Merlin’s Cave © Rob Wildwood from his book Magical Places 25 Herbs of the Southern Shaman of Britain https://www.themagicalplaces. com/ 27 Northern Plantlore: Lady’s Mantle Back Cover: Rochelle Kent-Ellis

Regulars & Snippets Poet Sue Latchford 4 Editor’s Letter/Community News Reviewers 31 Shay Mann Karon Lyne, Joe Caudwell, Thea Prothero

31 Lucky Draw - ‘Herbs of the ‘Shay Mann’ Southern Shaman’ Simon Harding

33 Story Teller’s Corner: The Tale of Storyteller’s Corner Tarolan (Part 2) Storyteller, Martin Pallot; Artist Cathy Leigh Tsoukalas 37 Columnist: Shaman Moon by Yvonne Ryves Editorial and Production Editor, Design & Production - June Kent 39 Columnist: Dedication by David Sub-editor & Proofreading - Martin Pallot Sparenberg Printing - Minuteman Press, Bristol Distribution - indieshaman.co.uk 40 Review and Lucky Draw - ‘Earth Indie Shaman logo courtesy of Cat Pathways Calendar and Diary’ Hawkins

41 Book Reviews WEBSITE: https://indieshaman.co.uk/ DISCUSSION GROUP: https://www.face- book.com/groups/indieshaman/ 44 Events Calendar SOCIAL MEDIA:https://www.facebook. Not yet a subscriber? com/IndieShaman/ Magazine subscriptions are available at www. https://twitter.com/JuneKent https://www.instagram.com/indieshaman/ 3 indieshaman.co.uk. Only £10.00 a year for pdf subscriptions via email and from £21.24 a year (UK subscription price) for print editions. Editor’s Letter

Welcome to Issue 42 of Indie Shaman magazine.

It’s always great to be able to give an update on a previous article in Indie Shaman so it was wonderful to hear from Survival International that renowned Yanomami shaman, Davi Kopenawa, has won this year’s Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” Davi featured in an article about his book, The Falling Sky in Issue 39 of Indie Shaman earlier this year. He lives in his community, Watoriki (the Windy Mountain), practising shamanism and led his people’s 20-year campaign to protect their Amazonian territory. The award ceremony takes place on 4 December in Stockholm; the other winners of this year’s award are: Greta Thunberg, Aminatou Haidar and Guo Jianmei. There’s more information about this story on Indie Shaman’s blog at https://indieshaman.co.uk/features/ and you can learn more about the fantastic work of Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples at https://www.survivalinternational.org/.

At this time of year, with the changing of the season, thoughts do tend to turn to the land so I was happy to lead this edition with an article from Rob Wildwood in which Rob journeys through the British Isles not just physically but also spiritually in his book The Land of the Fae. This is followed by an extract from Davyd Farrell’s fascinating Wisdom Hub interview with travelling land shaman, Dr Patrick MacManaway. And with the festivals of Samhain and Winter Solstice/Christmas at this time of year thoughts turn to family, home and ancestors which is reflected in Gina Martin’s articleRemembering Our Way Home.

This issue also brings not just one but two lucky draw competitions! Many thanks to Steve Andrews and Trevor Greenfield from Moon Books for the copy ofHerbs of a Southern Shaman. And it is an absolute pleasure to work with the Earth Pathways Co-operative again who have offered prizes of a 2020 Earth Pathways Diary and two Earth Pathways Calendars!

I like to think that we at Indie Shaman share a common ethos with Earth Pathways and would like to end my ‘community letter’ with a couple of quotes, one from the ‘Welcome’ in their 2020 diary and the first from Davi Kopenawa; both of which resonated particularly with me as I hope they will with you also.

“We, the peoples of the planet, need to protect our cultural heritage as Omame [the Creator] taught us – to live well, caring for our land so that future generations can continue to use it.” Davi Kopenawa

“By creating a heart-led connection to each other and the Earth we become the Earth Restorers and Earth Protectors the Earth needs us to be, at this critical time in her history.” (Earth Pathways Diary)

Many blessings on whatever you personally are doing, however small it may seem at this moment in time, to celebrate your heritage and protect the land where you live and the Earth as a whole.

June

4 The Land of the Fae Merlin’s Quest

Rob Wildwood

Let me take you on a journey to the Otherworld! A magical journey that will take us deep into the sacred landscape of Britain.

As we journey into this mysterious Otherworld we will encounter the magical beings that dwell there; the elves and the fairies, hobs and goblins, water nymphs and tree spirits.

The events I am about to relate to you actually happened. Some of them occurred in our physical reality, while others occurred only in the world of spirit. These came to me as visions and direct experiences as I journeyed into the sacred landscape of Britain and tuned into the magical places that lie hidden within the landscape. The visions were revealed to me as the veil that separates our world from the Otherworld of the Fae was parted, allowing me to peer, for a brief moment, into their magical world.

To achieve these altered states I employed shamanic techniques including drumming and deep breathing but there were no drugs involved, only a clearing of the mind, a deep state of meditation and an openness to the spirits of each place.

So join the journey and follow me now, into The Land of the Fae!

5 It was while sitting on the rocks by Merlin’s cave in Tintagel Haven, Cornwall, waiting for the tide to go out, that I was initiated into Merlin’s magic circle.

My new friends Alphedia and Auraengus were there, chatting away with some of the other folks who had followed us down to the shore. I had met them only a few days before, at 3 Wishes Faery Festival on Bodmin Moor where Alphedia had been giving a talk about the fairies and had been channelling the nature god Pan. They had come here to Tintagel to perform a ritual in Merlin’s cave, but right now the tide was in and so the cave was made inaccessible by the waves.

As I listened to the crashing of the waves on the shore I closed my eyes and felt myself being transported to an Otherworldly realm…

I could see myself walking through a dark forest of twisted trees and gnarled roots that seemed to go on forever; but soon I saw a golden light ahead that seemed to be coming from a huge clearing like an arena. I stepped forward into the forest clearing and could see a golden yellow band of light ahead of me, encircling the entire arena like a shimmering golden ring. I stepped into the band of golden light and saw my world turn yellow and hazy before my eyes, and as I stepped out of the other side I was greeted by the most astonishing sight that I had ever seen!

A huge baying crowd of the most fantastical magical creatures were gathered there in a mighty host, forming a deep crowd around a clear central area as if awaiting the start of some great performance. All the demons in hell and all the mythical beings of faerie could not have rivalled this crowd. I saw goats’ heads, dragon wings and tiger bodies; horns, hooves, fangs and feelers; creatures tall and spindly like giant birds or small and red-faced like angry leprechauns. Tooth, claw, colour and chaos. It was more than I could possibly take in but as I drew nearer and stepped through the crowd my eyes alighted upon a lone figure standing in the centre of the field.

He was dressed in deep blue robes and a skull cap, and kept raising his arms to the cloudy skies as if performing some heathen ritual. I knew in my heart that this was the wizard Merlin. As I broke through to the front of the crowd I noticed he was carrying a wand in his left hand which he suddenly pointed in my direction. He turned to face me and gently beckoned me forward.

Hesitantly I stepped into the arena. The crowd were roaring now, shaking their fists, stamping up and down, and flapping their grotesque wings. Merlin stood there with his arms outstretched and greeted me like an old friend. I knelt before him and he asked me if I accepted this initiation into his magic circle.

A hundred thoughts tried to enter my head all at the same time, doubts, fears and more, but I knew why I was here, my path was clear. I simply shut all the thoughts out and said, “I do.”

I had no idea what path lay ahead of me, I just knew that it was one which my soul was called to follow and I was open to experiencing whatever came my way, for good or ill.

As I spoke my affirmation he tapped me on the head three times with his wand and the crowd gave a huge cheer. As simple as it was, my initiation was now complete.

This was to be the start of a magical journey that would lead me to many of the most wild, remote and fantastical places in the British Isles and beyond. A mission that would only be revealed to me slowly and which would at times seem senseless and without direction, while at other times would make me feel like the very mysteries of the universe were being revealed to me.

I opened my eyes and found myself back on the shoreline in Tintagel. Alphedia had facilitated my initiation with Merlin by tapping me on the forehead with her crystal wand and sending me off into a deep trance.

After this Otherworldly experience, I stripped off and went for a dip in the cold seawater by the cave entrance. My new friends thought I was a bit crazy but I was enjoying the icy bite of the water on my skin. I disappeared behind a large boulder but the lapping waves were now coming up to my head so I decided to turn back for the shore to dry off and warm up in the sun.

Over tea and cakes in the beach-side café we shared some stories before heading back to our

6 accommodation to freshen up and await the evening’s low tide.

We returned later in the day and the tide was now far out. The sandy cave entrance looked invitingly mysterious. The cave was broad and tall, about 20-30ft high, and it passed right under the headland that carried Tintagel Castle high above, the supposed birthplace of King Arthur. The cave continued all the way out to the other side of the headland where daylight could just be seen filtering through and the crashing of the waves on the far side could faintly be heard.

We entered and the sandy entrance soon gave way to an uneven rocky surface containing several large rock-pools.

As I gazed around, exploring the cave’s hidden wonders, Alphedia stepped up to one of the rock-pools and after a while, eyes closed and arms by her sides, started to sing a gentle and enchanting tune of a kind that I’d never heard before. It was as if, in a trance, the fairies were singing through her and enchanting the whole cave. I left Alphedia and Auraengus behind and travelled as far as I could through the cave until the rocks became too jagged and slippery for me to safely continue but I could see the ocean ahead on the far side of the cave. I was quite new to all this spiritual stuff and still fairly embarrassed by it, so I chose to find my own quiet corner of the cave in which to meditate. Standing there I closed my eyes and altered my breathing and was soon carried away by the melodious sound of Alphedia’s enchanted singing, distantly echoing from the far end of the cave.

Suddenly the water ahead of me erupted and I saw the sea god Neptune rise up out of the waves! Bare-chested, bearded and wearing a golden crown he smelled of seaweed and the ocean’s depths. The water cascaded from his trident and torso as he rose up to fill the entire entrance of the cave, like a mighty god of old.

“Fetch me my undines!” he bellowed, his voice booming and echoing around the whole chamber. In my vision, I could see his mermaid helpers, fishy-tailed and seaweed haired, swimming towards him under the waves. Not beautiful maidens like they are in fairy tales but half fish, half human creatures of the salty depths.

Then as soon as he had appeared he was gone, crashing back down under the waves the same way that he had arisen.

“What was the significance of this?” I wondered. Why had the god of the sea presented himself to me

7 and commanded me like that? I guessed that would have to remain a mystery for now.

Alphedia stopped singing but she was still standing by the pool with her eyes closed, deep in meditation. After a while she opened her eyes and I had to ask her where she had learnt such beautiful music.

“The fairies taught it to me!” she replied.

How could I deny it?

Alphedia closed her eyes again while Auraengus busied himself in the sandy entrance, carving strange sigils into the sand.

Wondering what to do I sat down on a rock and closed my eyes again.

Almost instantly another titanic figure rose up out of the pool ahead of me, filling the cave so that he had to crook his neck up against the ceiling! From the goat’s legs and horned head that peered down at me from the roof of the cave I instantly recognised him as the god Pan, lord of nature. His great smelly goat’s legs seemed to fill the cave, his huge cloven feet planted firmly on the rocks before me. He didn’t speak; he just looked down at me, smiling.

“Could this day get any stranger?” I thought. What an extraordinary day it had turned out to be! I had never done anything like this before but somehow it all seemed natural, I just accepted it and went along with it, wondering what would happen next!

I knew one thing though, after this day my life would never be the same again.

Excerpted from THE LAND OF THE FAE: MERLIN’S QUEST by Rob Wildwood. Wyldwood Publishing (26 Jun. 2019). Reprinted with permission.

Biography

Rob Wildwood was born in a seaside town in Yorkshire and spent his childhood exploring the local countryside and the myths and folklore of the North York Moors. He was introduced to Norse shamanism in his early twenties and had a keen interest in history, particularly the history of Britain’s pagan past. He spent many years taking part in Viking festivals all over Europe and spent some years living in Scandinavia where he expanded his online business called The Jelling Dragon which sells hand-crafted reproductions of Viking artefacts.

Rob was fascinated by the animist beliefs of cultures which see everything in nature as being imbued with spirit. This led him to travel the world experiencing indigenous cultures, including spending time with the Kalahari Bushmen, the nomadic Penan of Borneo and the forest Naikas of India. These travels, reviving his interest in shamanism, he eventually returned to England; beginning another long adventure where he sought out and photographed magical places all over Britain, tuning in to the energies of these places using shamanic journeying techniques.

This led directly to the publication of his first bookMagical Places of Britain which is a richly illustrated photographic guide to the folklore of these sites, while as his spiritual adventures and visionary experiences were collated into The Land of the Fae. Rob is also the author of Primal Awareness which seeks to answer the question: “Why did mankind become so separated from nature and world of spirit?”

Rob eventually settled down in Glastonbury, Somerset where he still lives and is self-employed as an author, photographer and tour guide. For more information visit his website and Facebook page: www.themagicalplaces.com and www.facebook.com/ themagicalplaces. 8 Wisdom Hub Teachings from the Life of aTravelling Land Shaman: Geomancy

Davyd Farrell talks to Dr Patrick MacManaway The study and art of the relationship between people and place is called geomancy, an almost forgotten aspect of human consciousness in the West, which works with the intelligence in the landscape. In this fascinating interview, Patrick discusses how we can be in communication and co- creation with the spirits of place, of the land and of nature for our own wellbeing and that of our environment.

Davyd I’d like to introduce to you Dr Patrick MacManaway; one of our own teachers, international jet setter, world renowned geomancer and land healer and all round top fella.

Patrick Hello. Always a pleasure to work with you guys.

Davyd Likewise. We’ve (Davyd and Emma Farrell) been very fortunate to have trained under you a few years ago and learned a lot about the world of geomancy and land healing. I’m going to be asking you to explain a little bit more about your work and perhaps get under the skin of some of these terms. Like geomancy, maybe that’s a great place to start. So what does it mean?

Patrick Geomancy is now a rather old fashioned word and it breaks down really simply. Anything ‘mantic’ is a divinatory process and so, technically, when we read Tarot cards that would be ‘Taromancy’, when we read palms it would be ‘Palmomancy’. Although the term has rather fallen out of use, it simply means ‘the divination of the place’. We use the old fashioned term because the practice has sort of fallen out of cultural awareness, so we can use terms from other cultures such as the Chinese feng shui or else we use terms such as geomancy that may feel very old fashioned and slightly wrapped in medieval mystery.

9 Davyd *laughs* Which we kind of like – medieval mystery …

Patrick So really we’re looking at the divination of place; the perception, awareness and subsequent actions or choices made based on not only the physicality of the landscape but the invisible, perceptual energetics. There are different layers and levels that we look at in terms of the earth meridians - the dragon lines which bring geomagnetism, life force, through the landscape underground in pathways of water, over ground in pathways of solar resonance. So that’s one layer we look at, the underlying energetic matrix of place and then health and quality and tonality of that; just as an acupuncturist would look at those pathways on a person.

Davyd We could say this is a form of land healing perhaps?

Patrick Sometimes the agenda is land healing. I think more generically and universally I would frame geomancy as the study of the art of right relationship between people and place. Traditional agriculture is called husbandry and in that context we have a very real sense of a marriage, a committed relationship between the farm community and their landscape. In a similar way to the relationship between ourselves and our home, ourselves and our office or commercial space, industrial space or our farm or our civic space or community spaces. So in a way, as so many shamanic roles and tasks are, geomancy is a mediator between the landscape intelligence - the landscape spirit, genius loci - and the spirit of the individual and collective enterprise that it’s been asked to host.

Davyd So many cultures around the world still understand these things intuitively; many indigenous cultures still live in accordance and harmony with their environment. In the Amazon, for example, they have an intricate understanding of the complexity of nature. Why do you think that this tradition seems to have fallen out of usage largely in Britain? And what are the consequences of that?

Patrick Very pertinent question, Davyd. And I think probably a question that needs to remain open. We see different strands of separation from an awareness and association with spirit of land - elemental intelligence, nature spirit intelligence - and I think historically much of our landscape was communicated with in what our culture would now call Pagan terms. ‘Pagan’ meaning peasant; people who were growing produce from the land and having to manage, sustain and bring forth plant and animal life from the soil I think are inevitably, simply by association, very attentive and aware of the co-operative potential with the nature and elemental spirits and the significance and benefits of doing that. And certainly pre-chemistry that was all we had and so we were very based on that way of doing things. Post agricultural chemistry we’re seeing a lot of people returning to it because the benefits and advantages of chemical additives seems to be expiring; more and more additives being put on for either maintaining similar or slightly reducing yields and diminished soil health consequently. So there is, I think, a grass roots movement now where people are simply as an expedient having to look at what else is possible; what else will enhance our capacity to grow food and survive, basically.

Davyd So maybe another way to look at it would be that as we in the West have evolved and we’ve moved away from a more subsistence survival, living where we had to be this way, communicating with the natural environment to maximise crop yields in a balanced way because that’s what we needed to get through the winter – as that’s become less of a necessity and we’ve moved away from the land into the factories and the mills and the modern era – we’ve lost that ability, that knowledge, that understanding or even that necessity and it’s become a more mechanised process.

Patrick I think that’s very much descriptive of our cultural mind set which has moved increasingly into industry, mechanisation, technology and electrification. But even within that there are people paying attention to finding out that actually your computer is interactive, it responds to your state of mind. So there’s an intelligence in our technology – I think everybody will have had bonded intelligent experiences with their cars. So the spirit of the thing is always there whether it’s apparently inanimate and man-made or whether it’s organic and naturally occurring. I think we can extend our awareness as per the standard shamanic or physic view, that spirit precedes matter and matter is a clothing of that so all things have some level of spirit and intelligence that people can communicate and interact with.

Davyd Which leads us nicely into the next thing I wanted to talk to you about which is the idea of animism and seeing that everything is ‘animated’ or has consciousness to some degree or other. Maybe for some people that’s difficult to comprehend because certain things like this sofa (*touches the sofa he is sitting on*) just look like an object that doesn’t have any intelligence to it at all and yet if we look closely we can see this is made from some kind of animal product which was alive, so we can begin to 10 understand. Even our laptops are made of minerals and stuff from the earth. All of these have been part of dynamic processes at some point and have had intelligence behind them. But this is what is considered to be a very Pagan idea and perhaps something from the antiquated past of our ancestors isn’t worthy of consideration anymore? Is that something you come up against in your line of work? And would you consider yourself to be an animist?

Patrick It’s always very dangerous using labels because they mean different things to different people and one doesn’t want to be associated with something that’s a misconception of the term. However, I think that in as much as animism describes an awareness and an experience of the world as being sentient and interactive, then I think it is an appropriate descriptive term.

The thing is Davyd, once one applies these principles and sees the consequence of them, then the question is no longer a philosophical one but more an extremely pragmatic one. One place that I see an unexpected response from landscape is in the presence of water in wells and rivers. The first time I saw water responding like this was during a drought season in Vermont which extended into a second year. Many of the shallow springs were getting dry and people were dowsing for deeper sources – and drilling – so it was good business for dowsers and drillers! But not all properties were able to access the equipment required to do this. I was asked by one of my best friends to look at her three feet deep shallow spring in the woods behind her house. So we went and sure enough there was a dry hole in the woods; there wasn’t any sign of water anywhere and hadn’t been for some weeks. But tuning in with an energetic perceptual awareness it was apparent that the spirit of the spring - the personality or diva or sprite; the spirit of the spring’s intelligence – was still present and it felt like a spring even though it was dry. So it felt like a dry spring rather than a dry hole in the ground, as it were – just a touch of catching that ‘edge’ in one’s awareness. And so we communicated with this telepathically, meditatively, with a little bit of dowsing to test that we were communicating with it, and explained the circumstance, that people needed the water. It didn’t have another source point or access. Our questions, once we’d established loving rapport, were “Are you able to help us?” And we got a clear communication “Yes”. The second question was then “Would you be willing to help us to get us the water back?” And the answer was “yes”. The third question was “What would you like us to do to facilitate that circumstance?” And so we were all clearly impressed that the answer was “sing”! We checked left and right and there was nobody around, we were in the woods, nobody could hear us and so we had a good old sing until it felt like the gift had been received and then we went, withdrew and had a cup of tea. Within 48 hours and in the absence of rain, that spring was overflowing with water. And we were all, frankly, a bit surprised! I’d learned and watched dowsing practices and moving water in and out of wells - either moving veins that were carrying contaminated minerals or contaminated biological sources out of wells and moving fresh water in - so I’d seen other dowsers working in this way. But that was sort of at a horizontal level, redefining underground pathways. I’d never seen a surface response like this.

Davyd It’s a very strong validation, from a dry spring to suddenly being overflowing with water. I think it speaks of the possibilities ….

Patrick The possibilities are suddenly very extraordinary in that regard. Within a week I had a second job that went the same way. And a week later I had a client who told me she had done the same thing, sung to her dry spring and it had come back to life.

One very salutary experience on a farm in Queensland – a deep bore hole there that had overflowed during the current farmer’s childhood (I think he’s third generation on that property) and then they’d taken the infrastructure off, they hadn’t used it for 30 years and the water had gone away. The farmer said that even with a flashlight looking down he couldn’t see the water level but he was keen to get this well back in use. So a colleague and I worked on it, blessed it, loved it up, talked to it, asked it to come back and it came back to within 2 feet of surface - filled itself back up. Everybody was thrilled. Then - I think farm finances in Australia, they have good years and bad years and so sometimes projects don’t move at the speed they expect - so in fact this bore hole was not re-equipped with pumping equipment and continued in disuse, nobody spoke to it again and after a couple of years it had dropped back down and now it’s sitting about 8 or 10 feet. I haven’t caught up with the farmer in about 2 years – I’d be curious to do so – but it looked very much as though the water was literally responding to the human communication.

Then we see that in fact we have traditions in this country of well-dressing, well-blessing on an annual basis; renewing the relationship with gratitude, with love, with flowers, with singing, with dancing and we see from that, this will change the quality of water. Then we see from these other experiences that 11 actually beyond the crystalline structure there’s an intelligence animus, an animated spirit that seems capable of governing the presence of water in the landscape in response to our loving communication. If your water comes out of a tap you don’t think to bless the well but if the well in the garden only gives you water if you bless it annually then that’s …

Davyd … what you have to do.

Patrick It’s as ordinary as doing the dishes, preparing food and feeding the kids.

Davyd So I guess at the core of all of this work of geomancy is being in the right relationship with all aspects of the environment - the water, the plants, the trees, the soil - in the same way as if we want to have a positive relationship with another human being then nature itself is not so different and the same kind of principles apply; show love, honour, respect and then you’ll get the same back. Is that a fair analysis?

Patrick I think that’s spot on …

To watch this interview in full please visit Wisdom Hub TV. See details of special offer below and visit https://www.wisdomhub.tv/offer/indieshaman?ref=12

Biography and Additional Information

Dr. Patrick MacManaway is a third-generation practitioner of the psychic and healing arts with an international practice working with landscape from domestic and commercial to agricultural sites. Patrick also engages in traditional and shamanic healing practices, was Past-President of the British Society of Dowsers, holds a degree in Medicine from the University of Edinburgh and is the author of several books and CDs including The Practical Guide to Dowsing: How to Harness the Earth’s Energies for Health and Healing and Keys To Grace. For more information please visit http:// patrickmacmanaway.com/.

WisdomHub.tv is a unique platform that broadcasts the knowledge of Earth Wisdom, Plant Intelligence and Indigenous Knowledge to a global audience to both preserve the precious teachings of Mother Earth and to assist in the awakening of fellow humans. Its purpose is to help teach us how to live in harmony and co-creation with nature, which benefits the wellbeing of both the individual and the planet. WisdomHub.tv channels include Workshops, Teachings and Interviews with the spokes of its hub reaching into the directions of: Plant Intelligence; Herbalism; Indigenous Wisdom; Eco- Psychology; Deep Ecology; Shamanism; Healing. https://www.wisdomhub.tv/

Special Offer Our friends at Wisdom Hub, Davyd and Emma Farrell, would like to offer Indie Shaman readers a free video, Bird Spirit Medicine with the wonderful Karen Stead- Dexter and a special offer on their membership so you can enjoy many more hours of shamanic and earth based wisdom. To find out more visit https://www.wisdomhub.tv/ offer/indieshaman?ref=12 (Link or type the website address in your browser. You can only access this special offer through this link not from the Wisdom Hub main website page).

12 Remembering Our Way Home

Gina Martin

I was in Yoff, a fishing village that is being swallowed up by urban Dakar in Senegal. I had been invited to participate in an Ndeup ceremony. This was a great privilege, for this ceremony is one of healing for both the individual involved and for the entire community. There were multiple aspects that took place over two days that included deep journeying to the Spirits, drumming, sacred songs, cleansing and purification.

We went to receive divination before starting. Then the lineage of Priestesses stood before us singing while the young men drummed the specific rhythms designed to ‘shake the Spirits loose’. I call it brain surgery by djembe. It was powerful, visceral and totally not cerebral. We danced a lot, slept very little, washed a beautiful white cow in the ocean and then went into the mysteries. I will not go into the specifics of those rites; they are not mine to share. But I was told that I would see the Spirits and I was eager to meet the otherworld folk of that land.

My preconception was - I was in Africa- I would meet African spirits. I was so wrong. I journeyed into the dún of the Sidhe and was welcomed by those otherworld folk, the familiar energies of my ancestors of Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England. There I was, in a small clay structure within sound of the waves of the ocean, with the drums of West Africa reverberating along my bones and the next second all was misty and liminal green. I kept pushing that away. “No, it’s supposed to be African!” But the Celts and the peoples pre-dating the Celts were very insistent. “This!” they said. “This is the source. This is where your spirit work needs to start. Come home.” So I let go in all senses and gave way to my ancestors, to my lineage, to what they had to teach me. In spite of what my brain thought, my DNA knew the best way to instruct me, to help me remember.

Several Native American teachers of mine have gently let me know that while they appreciate my interest, I have to know my own stories and people and histories before I can ever fully understand any one else’s. Well that makes things infinitely more interesting and more difficult, yes? I have seen this so many times in the years of my spiritual seeking. I, as a person of Eurocentric background and education look for something authentic, something not ‘of the Book’. I am sincere and perhaps totally misguided. My own more recent traditions of Christianity may feel cut off from some Source, so I want 13 to ‘go native’ and seek wisdom from traditions with a more complete line of continuity. But the Spirits told me very clearly to come home. Where is that?

Home - is it a place, a time, a people? If it is, so that we are a braided rope of our DNA, our past lives and our present incarnation’s soul contracts, what about those traditions to which we cannot claim heritage but feel deep and powerful alignment? If I am to follow the instructions given to me in the sacred shrine in Yoff I need to follow the DNA first. Thanks to the deus ex machina of Ancestry DNA.com I can trace those ancestors back to the early 1600’s. How and where to begin? Are these ancestors my home place?

On my mother’s side I can locate ancestors from Normandy and Burgundy who traveled to the New World as fille du roi, daughters of the king. Depending on who you read, these were either young women of respectable families or a more rough and tumble class of girls who signed up to come to New France and choose husbands to settle and populate the new world. They received a dowry from the king (modest and practical) and the right to make their own marital choices, so perhaps this looked like a really good deal at that time. But, by the goddess, when they arrived and survived a Canadian winter they had to be reconsidering their choice! Plucky women, yes. Marrying rough soldiers and fur trappers, yes. Stalwart and hardy and willing to step beyond, most definitely. Catholic, yes. Probably for a thousand years. But there they were in an endless forest surrounded by new spirits and grinding winters and mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds. What of them is in me? Is it an accident or an ancestral longing that has led me to live in the woods where the mountains greet me every morning? And the in-the-bone need to move beyond what has been? That feels of them as well.

Speaking of mountains, my daddy’s people started arriving in the 1630’s along the eastern colonial seaboard and just kept moving till they hit the mountains of Appalachia. They came from Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Kent in England and settled in the hills of what is now Tennessee before there was a Tennessee. So again, endless forests, mountains, rough living conditions and the spirits of the land enveloping them and folding into some kind of Christian sensibility. Herb wisdom, second sight, mistrust of flatlanders- I come by all of that honestly.

Sharon Blackie speaks about how the land and the spirits of that land can instruct us as we create/ recreate our own mythology1. For 400 years this has been my people’s landscape. I see the threads of my own spiritual search. I see the absolute need for the woods and the hills. I feel the ability to hear the trees and see the others. I own the innate distrust of powerful people trying to tell me what to do. In my twenties I met several Native teachers. They gave me permission to explore their wisdoms. I could feel alignment with their certainty that the earth is alive. And I always felt the guilt of those of us who have descended from the colonisers. I probably have an ancestor or two who were Native but that isn’t the lineage I can claim via DNA. In order to find my way with the spirits of the Land of my ancestors I need to go deeper.

“Take it into ritual.2” Those are the words of a powerful priestess, Marie Summerwood. And into ritual I have gone. In Lakota Inipi lodges, in the Ndeup of Senegal, into the temples and monasteries of Tibet. And when I least expected it: in the woods of the Pyrenees; the west coast of the Dingle peninsula; the standing stones of Calanais and the Great Pyramid of Giza. I seem to stumble across shamans of all persuasions and embrace them all. I have helped to create and remember a practice of earth-based spirituality and have served as High Priestess for our congregation for the last twenty years. More and more I hear the ancestors. There are those places on the planet that just feel like home; the city where I was born is not one of those for me. My first conscious thought was “How soon can I get out of this town?” The flat open cornfields of northern Indiana did nothing for the animistic soul within me. But the first time I arrived in Ireland it smelled like ‘home’. Is it a place where my ancestors had been? Does it matter?

More and more I feel the honest tug of those beings of divine light that are not attached to my DNA but call me so powerfully. I am seeing more and more how I am that braided rope of all the threads, genetic, incarnational and more. Each of them lives in me. I need to incorporate them consciously and see what emerges.

So, in reverence we strive to remember. But this cannot be a Disneyfied version of what was. We

1 Sharon Blackie. If Women Rose Rooted. 2nd Revised edition. September Publishing (3 Nov. 2016) 2 Marie Summerwood, Dianic Witch and founding mother of Sacred Daughters of Her Circle in Syracuse, New York, at the Where Womyn Gather Festival. http://www.wherewomyngather.com/ 14 are obligated to remember and see clearly. We are asked to bring forward what has been forgotten. However, with that task comes the need to amplify the life-affirming qualities of the Old Ways and to shine a bright light on what had limited the fullness of human experience. We cannot glorify the ancients Celts for their gender parity and ignore their practice of slavery. We cannot extoll only the virtues of the African pantheon and turn away from the cruelty and tribalism that fueled the slave trade to the Europeans. If we intend to reignite the flames of the Old aysW we must set ourselves to the task of discarding that which is bigoted and restrictive.

And then, after a rigorous examination of our ancestral wisdoms so as to avoid thoughtless cultural appropriations, we get to the next hurdle. What about those incarnational resonances? I assert that we can dive into that kind of remembering too. We are greater than the sum of our parts. There is a wholeness possible, a joining of past and present with prayers for the future. Dianne M. Connolly said, “All sickness is homesickness”3. What if Home is the integration of all we have been with all we might be? What if the path of the Old Ways is a potent tool for our blessed reunion with ourselves?

The richness of human knowledge from whatever sources must be protected and remembered and reborn. If we are to survive as a species on this planet we dare not let any wisdom be forgotten. Let us heal this Homesickness. And as we heal ourselves may we heal the planet.

Biography

Gina Martin is a founding mother and High Priestess of Triple Spiral of Dún na Sidhe, a pagan spiritual congregation in the Hudson Valley. She is a ritualist, teacher, healer, mother, and writer of sacred songs.

Gina is a practitioner of Classical Chinese medicine and a Board certified licensed acupuncturist.

She lives as a steward of the land that previously held a village of the Ramapough Lenape where people can come together now to remember the Old Ways. She is kept company by her husband and dogs, as well as the Sidhe who live in the hills. Website www. ginamartinauthor.com.

3 Dianne M. Connelly. All Sickness is Home Sickness. Centre for Traditional Acupuncture, Incorporated (Dec. 1987) 15 16 Latino Esotericism: The Supernatural in Everyday Life

Antonio N. Zavaleta, Ph.D. and Mitchell A. Kaplan Ph.D.

For five hundred years, Indigenous-American and Afro-Caribbean religious beliefs have mixed with highly superstitious sixteenth-century Spanish Roman Catholic beliefs and practices. The emergent ‘combined’ religions are most notably Mexican Brujería, Santeria in Cuba and Puerto Rico, Voodoo in Haiti, and Candomble and Macumba in Brazil. The early 21st century has seen a dramatic resurgence in the animistic beliefs and practices of the world’s native religions. Similarly, many formal religions have declined in membership and participation, in many cases losing members who have returned to the practice of native religions.

Latino cultures include all of the Spanish and Portuguese speaking peoples of the New World. In Latin America and the Caribbean native beliefs generally form the basis of Latino folk religion. In recent years many Latinos have left Catholicism in favor of evangelical religions and interestingly, most Latinos claim membership in formal religions while simultaneously practicing their folk religions.

Throughout the Spanish-speaking world, folk beliefs and practices are all popularly categorized as magia or brujería. These are based in the practice of magic and are a part of everyday life in Latino culture. For example, the popular spiritual cleansing or limpia is universally practiced. The practice of sorcery or magic called hechicería or brujería in Spanish are accepted occult practices in Latino cultures. The hechicera, or female practitioner of Latino magic, is known as a bruja or a brujo if male.

Subtle characteristics of Latino esoteric belief may easily be recognised both within and between diverse Latino subcultures. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Americas where diverse Latino subcultures live side by side. For example, all Latino subcultures revere the Santo Niño de Atocha; the Christ Child portrayed as a pilgrim. In the Afro- Caribbean cultures of Cuba and Puerto Rico he is portrayed as the African Orisha, Elegua, while in Mexico he is simply the Santo Niño de Atocha. In Guatemala, the unique Mayan folk-saint, San Simon, is represented in the folk aspect as Masimon, dressed in black sitting on a throne. He is a Mayan shaman known for drinking, smoking and womanizing, similar

17 to the Mexican representation of the hard-living outlaws Pancho Villa and Jesus Malverde.

In Latino cultures, the practice of brujería does not always require a professional practitioner bruja or witch to cast a spell. Latinos have learned to perform ritual spell making and spell removing themselves. For example, a person may burn a votive candle called a tapa boca (‘do not speak’ candle) to keep a gossipy neighbour from deriding the family. More importantly, with the advent of social media, magical services have become widely available throughout a worldwide network of online Latino witches and psychics called videntes.

Generally, Latino magical arts are grouped into seven categories: common household spells; spells for romance and love; good luck; fortune telling; black magic; folk saint cults and the cults of other supernatural entities such as holy death, La Santa Muerte.

Household Spells The household spell or hechizo is the most common form of magic practiced by Latinos and is a ritual carried out in the home of the person seeking protection. To invoke a spell, a ritual is performed by creating a blessed object or apotropaic for the petitioner to carry in his or her pocket or bag for protection, or the creation of a protective talisman for the petitioner to wear around the neck. Frequently, a protective incantation is recited before leaving home. The familiar Sign of the Cross serves a similar purpose. For example, a young Latina mother may pin an amulet known as a ojo del venado (deer’s eye) on the undergarment of her infant to protect the child from the evil eye outside of the home. In another example of sympathetic magic, Latinos may stop to admire a baby and touch the baby’s head. The ritual head touching is performed to magically protect the child from the possibility of unintentional contamination by the evil eye. There is also always danger that an admirer who possesses a ojo fuerte (strong eye) may unintentionally transmit the mal de ojo (evil eye) to the child who then falls ill, requiring the assistance of a curandera (folk healer) to resolve the problem.

Fright sickness or susto is another common Latino folk illness that requires a magical resolution. Magical assistance is required to coax the frightened portion of the person’s spirit back into their body and may require the assistance of a bruja. Brujería (witchcraft) refers to a conjuring intended to favourably influence the outcome of a natural act for the benefit of the petitioner. Spells may include the simplest action performed in the home or a very complicated act, which requires the knowledge and unique ability of a professional. For example, a very common act is to place a clear glass of water under the bed to capture evil spirits and bad vibrations entering the bedroom. There are many everyday household rituals used including the burning of votive candles and the protection and cleansing of the home of negative vibrations, with specially prepared waters to keep evil away.

Latinos also regularly maintain home altars as a part of their spiritual life. Altars are adorned with religious statues and other paraphernalia honouring both Catholic and folk saints. Depictions of the most revered Catholic saints usually sit side by side with those of the more popular folk saints, to whom offerings are made in exchange for specific types of spiritual blessings. The home altars also contain specially prepared items such as amuletos (amulets), talismans and other related objects having magical powers capable of healing the sick, providing protection of individuals from harm and enhancing one’s lot in life. For example, typically every New Year’s Day, a newly adorned sabila (aloe vera) wreath is placed above the primary entrance designed to prevent evil forces from attempting to gain entry.

Romantic Love Magic spells to facilitate or end romance are widespread and usually require the services of a gifted bruja who conducts the rites and or produces handmade male and female dolls for this purpose. Additionally, special romantic services are advertised by professional spell casters on the Internet and are widely available. Magic is utilized to help singles find life partners; to bring people together

18 and to resolve relationship problems, atraer; to bind them in their relationships, amarrar; or to separate them when relationships are not working, alejar.

Practitioners offer magical services to the Latino community utilising several types of commercially produced candles shaped like human figures with gender specific genitalia in their spell casting rituals. Latinos seeking magical services will also find a wide variety of promotional advertisements on social media and in magazines using terms like dominar (dominate), atraer (attract), ligar (bind), seducer (seduce) and doblegar (submit) to describe the available menu of rituals that are in constant demand.

Good Luck The process usually begins when the hechicera petitions the spiritual powers of a folk-saint to attract an abundancia (abundance) of good fortune and prosperity to the petitioner. One of the most frequently summoned folk-saints in modern-day Latino culture is the La Santa Muerte, the saint of holy death. The petitioner commonly invokes spiritual favours from a folk-saint such as the saint of death to improve or sweeten their life, endulzar.

Fortune telling More than any other culture in the Americas, Latino’s frequent fortunetellers and access to local fortunetellers is commonplace. Fortunetellers make predictions for petitioners who seek their advice and guidance through the reading and interpretation of Spanish tarot cards called la baraja. A similar type of interaction between fortunetellers and petitioners takes place in communities which have more African-based spiritual traditions. In these communities, local fortunetellers may utilise the casting of cowry shells, tirar caracoles, as a means of making contact with the spiritual world. For example, the fortuneteller is often asked to open the road removing barriers to good luck, abrir camino.

Additionally, most Latinos consult a professional fortuneteller before making any significant decision affecting the family, such as changing jobs or taking a trip. However, many common spells are performed by the individual at home without the need of a storefront bruja.

Black Magic Practices that are more sinister, crossing the boundary between good or white magic and evil black magic, magia negra, are common in Latino communities. Frequently magic is utilised to seek vengeance for wrongdoing, to inflict harm or retribution upon enemies or to seek to neutralise rivals. Latinos approach brujas negras (black witches) to perform sinister spells designed to cause harm or death to those that have committed wrongful or evil actions against them.

Saints and Folk-saints Many Latinos are devotees of folk saints, such as La Virgin de Guadalupe and El Niño Fidencio. Saints are most commonly utilised for petitioning milagros (miracles). The saint is propitiated with offerings of prayers and promesas (promises) intended to intercede on behalf of the petitioner for special intentions and blessings.

Mexican revolutionary heroes such as Pancho Villa are commonly used in the context of protection and the successful outcome of court cases, as in contra la ley (‘law stay away’) candles. Experts are frequently asked to prepare velas preparadas (magical candles) which, prepared with prayers and petitions, are then placed on home altars and burned for special intentions. A handwritten note containing a spell or incantation along with a photograph of the intended benefactor is often placed under the candle.

Today, spiritual aromas are prepared commercially and are available in aerosol cans at neighborhood botánicas. Special florid water,agua florida, is used to expunge bad vibes in the form of a despojo, a ritual floor cleansing of the home or business.

19 Supernatural Entities Latino culture is steeped in folklore and belief in supernatural entities. The six folk entities examined here are all well known in the tales that are told to children passed down over many generations, warning them of the consequences of disobedience.

First, the ever-popular wailing woman or La Llorona who has an ancient history in Mexico and elsewhere since her story has its origin in both Pre-Columbian culture and in Europe. La Llorona is believed to have drowned her children and is cursed to spend eternity searching for them near rivers and streams while snatching up unsuspecting errant children and drowning them as well.

More common in modern urban Latino subcultures is Cucuy, the Latino bogeyman. Known regionally by many names, the Cucuy is the stereotypical old man who roams the streets and alleyways of Latino neighborhoods abducting children to be sold to witches.

In Latino cultures, a withered old woman is generally thought to be a bruja (witch) and children are warned not to go near the home of old women for fear of being abducted. Many folktales portray the bruja as a shapeshifting transformative creature with the power to change physical shape at will. They are often described as beings who can change themselves into a wandering stranger, lechusa (owl) and sometimes a lobo (wolf) or a prankster elf called a duende.

By far the most feared supernatural entity in the Latino pantheon of folk-monsters is the diablo (devil). The devil is viewed as a folk creature and the primary enemy of God, who continuously tempts people and especially children to transgress. In one very popular folktale, Bilando con el Diablo (Dancing with the Devil), a young girl sneaks out of her home and goes to a dance she is forbidden to attend. At the dance, a handsome young man whirls her around the dance floor and carries the girl into hell.

Latino supernatural and spiritual practices are a combination of Judeo, Islamic and Christian beliefs introduced to the new world by Spaniards through their interpretation of medieval religions. The two systems, Indigenous and European, were mixed, producing a syncretic belief system in which the supernatural and mystical function, side by side in everyday life.

Biographies

Antonio N. ‘Tony’ Zavaleta, Ph.D. Dr. Tony Zavaleta is a member of a pioneer family of South Texas and Northern Mexico. He received a doctoral degree in Anthropology from the University of Texas in 1976 and has spent the last 50 years studying the U.S.-Mexico border. Dr. Zavaleta has studied curanderos and shaman throughout Mexico, publishing several books and articles on the subject. He serves as co-editor of Studies in Rio Grande Valley History. He was selected by the Mexican Foreign Ministry to receive their prestigious “Ohtli” or pathfinder award for his lifelong support of Mexican citizens living abroad. He was recently appointed Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Sociology by the University of Texas Board Of Regents. Dr. Zavaleta can be contacted via his webpage at http://drtonyzavaleta.com/ or at [email protected].

Mitchell A. Kaplan, Ph.D. Dr. Mitchell A. Kaplan is a clinical sociologist with 32 years of programme evaluation experience. He received his doctorate in Sociology from the City University of New York Graduate Center and was the recipient of a postdoctoral research fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Kaplan has worked as a research scientist and professional consultant for several non-profit and local government organizations in New York. His most recent articles appear in the Journal of Social Work in the Global Community, Journal of Hate Studies and the Rio Grande Valley Regional History series. You can contact Dr. Kaplan at his email address [email protected]

Further Reading • Kiev, Ari, Curanderismo: Mexican American Folk Psychiatry, 1968, The Free Press, New York. • Buenaflor, Erika, 2018,Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo: Limpias Espirituales of Ancient Mesoamerican Shamans, Bear & Company, Rochester, Vermont. • Delgadillo, Theresa, 2011; Spiritual Mestizaje, Duke University Press. • Devine, Mary, 2000, Magic from Mexico, Llewellyn, St. Paul, Minnesota. • Zavaleta, Antonio and Alberto Salinas, 2009, Curandero Conversations, Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana.

20 Sacred Drumming: Trance Journeys into the Sacred Directions of the Medicine Wheel

Steven Ash

The Medicine Wheel is an ancient way of sensing and experiencing life. It is composed of seven sacred directions that surround you. You exist within its vortex of change as if in an egg and you are looking out, that’s the first direction. The next two directions are easy to get too know, Grandfather Sky above and Grandmother Earth below. The remaining four are the cardinal directions of South, West, North and East that surround you on the horizontal plane. As medicine people the allies in these directions are archetypes that will support our forward growth. In this article we are going to explore how you can trance journey using your drum and rattle into the powers of the Medicine Wheel, obtaining and retaining allies that will support your life and healing work.

One definition of a Shaman is someone who can travel between the worlds. You are on the shaman’s path because you have realised that there is more beyond the limited world view we are fed from childhood, you are an explorer of myth and energy, a healer and a person who sees beyond the veils. Being an inner space traveller means that you can travel between the worlds, you can go within the inner space of other life forms and realms of consciousness including ancestral memories and past lives. This is strong work and is usually only learnt within the safety of an apprenticeship and supportive community.

The first rule in journey work is that you must be safe. There are energy forms that may latch on to you when you go into a trance state beyond the security of your life in normal consciousness. So start off by making your energy field clean and awaking your attention to the presence of spirit guides, for example by smudging yourself with the sweet smoke of Artemisia (i.e. wormwood, mugwort) or white sage. Pick up your drum, begin gently tapping out your heart beat, make a vocal prayer to the powers of the sacred directions and open the medicine wheel. Start in the South then turn and pray around to the West, North, and East, down to Mother Earth, up to Grandfather Sky and finally to the source of life within your breath. This is a simple and easy unlocking, a focused, humble and concentrated call to all that is around you. Then focus within, this represents you being at the centre of your universe, you

21 being totally responsible for your life and choices; knowing this is a huge piece of truth.

The author Jane Meredith in her book Journey to the Dark Goddess1 describes the three stages she believes necessary for having a successful medicine ceremony or journey. The first stage is purely physical: smudging and cleansing; setting up sacred space with a medicine wheel; having the people present who need to be there; turning off the phones and keeping the outside world at bay. The second stage is deeper; within the safety of the zone you have marked out you begin your request, to call - not necessarily to call out loud - but call from your authentic self into the ether that surrounds your life. Setting up the intention with your prayers; in your mind’s eye you are focusing on what you wish for, feeling into your humility, into your breath and your humanity, asking your self “What am I doing this for. What understanding do I need?” The third stage cannot be manipulated; this is where something happens which is beyond your capacity to demand. In this stage the magic happens, if it happens; it’s not that you can conjure answers, allies and guides up like a magician, which is not the medicine path we are walking. You are in a strange mix - experimenting and exploring your outer universe as mirror for your inner universe, seeking for the components that resonate with a deep inner knowing and a deep inner need. For as you continue on this path you need to be clear and strong, able to listen and to wait.

- - -

Make yourself comfortable, sitting with a straight back is good, you won’t go to sleep will you? Hold a small stone in your left hand; this will keep you grounded, awake and safe, a little piece of Mother Earth to come home too. Inhale a new gentle breath; let yourself be breathed. Each breath as it circulates in your being is breathing you. You are breathed by life here on Mother Earth, no doubt about it. The standing people, herbs and all green things give out oxygen as waste and breathe in carbon dioxide to photosynthesise, live and grow. Animals breathe in the oxygen that is the plants waste and breathe out carbon dioxide that is a gift to the plants; perfect symbiosis, you and I are exchanging air with all the green things. Give and take. Relax every part of yourself as you count thirteen exhalations. Unite your inner world with your outer world, make peace and exchange with life as if you are part of the whole. Mitakuye oyasin, to all my relations. Set your intention; invite your thoughts and your heart beat to unite and come together. “Please my allies and guides, help me to be strong Help me to call, look and listen, to that which will allow me to walk a clear path. Help me, to be supported so I can do good work.”

We are now going to make a journey into one of the sacred directions and ask for insight, ask to be shown helpers and allies that will support us on this path we have chosen.

Aim your attention towards the South direction, and feel what South means to you in colours, sounds and feelings. Draw on your knowledge of the attributes, plants, animals and archetypes. Allow memories to rise to the surface, warm summer experiences, first loves and relationships that awoke your emotional self and your growing up. What colours, smells and shapes arise? Yellow, red or green? Is it late spring, summer or early autumn? Are you a child, youth or elder? As you tap your drum, take a mid-day imaginary walk under a hot summer solstice sun. Come back from your memories and go into the neutral space as the person you are now and see yourself walking down a yellow, golden path heading south. You choose the scene; you make the picture of what works well for you, which qualities in the South you relate to in theory but need some sort of deeper contact. Invite these pictures into your life, of what they can offer to you so that your world contains the passion in relationships, warmth and motivation to gain abundance and remain in balance.

Increase the rapidity of your drumming; imagine you are moving from a walking trot to a canter and

1 Jane Meredith. Journey to the Dark Goddess. Moon Books; Reprint edition (25 May 2012). 22 into a gallop on your fine tough pony. Envision a warm wind in your hair and on your face as you race forward. Your path is leading you to a living wooden door besides which is a golden warrior, who is the otherworld guardian. She or he will allow you to journey in the realms beyond the doorway. This guardian is a safe person to call on when you are in need, you can ask this being to accompany you, to help you voice your experience. You may pass through when you humbly ask permission for your soul to enter. Before you stretches out the golden path bending southwards beyond your horizon; over sun soaked desserts, sunlight filled seas and emerald forests all the way down to the southern oceans, whirling over the frigid Antarctic and out into the universe beyond, curving with and crossing over space into infinity. This path will lead you into a lace web of available spirit helpers and guides associated with the South direction. Allow your imagination to play, look and feel with your mind’s eye for impressions like a film unfolding before you. Look down - do you see any yellow, orange and red flowers or herbs by and beyond your path? In this dream state become awake, quickened. Are there any particular trees that you notice are calling you? Are the trees in groups or single, what are they saying? Look out for animals, familiars, four-legged ones that give of themselves so that others can be strong - do any come to you? If one species comes to you four or more times on your journey invite them to be with you and receive their nature into your heart.

- - -

By letting your imagination open out, the aspect of your soul which is the subconscious memories or unhipili as the inner child can feel safe to explore and gain all the potential assistance from the journey. The great gift we have as human beings is our power of co-creation. Co-creation begins with imagining, constructing something as a creative form. It then can begin to manifest into physical substance.

Two students from the 2019 UK Sacred Drumming Practitioners Training are allowing me to use their South journeys as examples for gaining allies. For privacy sake I will not mention the name of the first student:

“We welcomed the day and smudged. Steven opened the circle. First we all sang the song of the sacred directions together and it was time to journey to the South, we were asked to take 13 breaths to prepare ourselves whilst holding our Wotai stone in our left hand. Steven began to drum and talked us into the South: the colour of yellow and the element of fire; the season of the summer and the time of our adolescence where passion was beginning to build within us - a passion for learning or not, a passion for romance or not, a time of mixed emotions as we develop this as a time for beginnings, creation and expression.

I journeyed to a fire on a beach. I sat a while by the fire mesmerised by the flames before entering into the sea where first I met with a seahorse. Oh beautiful seahorse how gently you move, your exquisite movement as you glide through the water. Next I saw a platypus who offered me a symbol of an ant; platypus said this is for healing on your eyes, so you may see more clearly. Then a cloudy jellyfish brushed over my eyes and I could feel my energy lift. The jellyfish showed me an eye and I felt this was a deeper connection with the third eye. At 12 year’s old my mother died. I was not sad; how could I be when she was not well and was terribly unhappy, so I prayed to God for her release with no thought about my needs. I would walk the land with my uncle’s dog and felt a deep connection with Mother Earth and a sense of my third eye (although I did not know what that was). I could feel the fire within and a passion for sport at school. I was a very fast runner and was always picked for the relay race and also the netball team. I was always aware of someone following me up the stairs at night (my guess is it was my mum making sure I went to bed at a decent time). Then I became aware of my dreams, my awakening was getting stronger.”

Then the journey of John:

“As I passed through the gate, I found myself walking up an inclined narrow road (reminded me of those in Devon) it was sandy coloured with steep earth banks either side and in the same colour. It seemed like late afternoon and I could see the sky beyond the road brow. As I went over the brow I then saw lots of green fields and what looked like Glastonbury Tor area a few miles in the distance. I was then walking down the grassy slope along fields with scattered trees and knew I had to get to the highest of hilltop area in the distance, the Tor area.

Then there were more trees, bigger and darker and as I walked near them I heard noises not heard

23 before. It made my heart beat faster but I knew I wasn’t to allow myself to be scared. I saw shapes moving behind the trees, demons of some sort that were trying to frighten me and make me turn back. I felt fearful but told myself these were ‘illusory’ fears and to just keep going.

I climbed over large grey slippery rocks with water running in-between. I saw the main hilltop now much closer and the next thing I knew I was walking up its grassy slopes. The sky was light grey. There was a figure stood at the top and as I got closer I could see she was a woman. A wise woman, she was holding a silver cross about a foot in length, like an Egyptian Ankh but its circular part was heart shaped. She gave it to me and I knew I was to then make my way back the way I came. This was quicker and I didn’t hear the same noises. I got back to the grassy top near the road where I started and then saw myself from outside of myself – like a bird’s-view going round in a circle looking at me holding the Ankh above my head like holding a sword or chalice.

The animal guardian messages I was given were: woodlouse told me about resilience and that living simply is best way and easy; spider, of preparation (web) and patience, flexibility (ability to get anywhere, no obstacles).”

These are both beautifully descriptive trance journeys.

I find it much easier to travel into the direction when I imagine working from the start with the associated element of that direction. For example fire in the south; I set the picture of a warm yellow path. When going into the west I am paddling a canoe down a fresh, fast flowing river. Going into a north journey, I put on a winter coat and climb a mountain covered in white snow and travelling to the east I gather myself into the wings of a great flying bird. These are seed pictures that will allow your imagination to flourish within the elements that make up the substance of our lives - fire, water, earth and air.

Coming home safely is vital and I go through a set routine. I tell the travellers that after about fifteen minutes they will be called back with four solid beats on the drum 1-2-3-4. I return to the rapid beat and say, “Come back up the path and give thanks to the door keeper. On the next four beats be back in the room 1-2-3-4. Be back in the room, keep your eyes closed and recollect your experience. Bring into your consciousness the pictures from beginning to end. Now open your eyes. Draw or write down your journey experience.” I ensure that everyone is back safe and sound. We then break out into groups of four or five and participants are able to share their journey using a talking stick.

The gathering of allies is essential, Grandfather John Fire Lame Deer in Lame Deer Sioux Medicine Man2 describes how the 405 stones in a rattle correspond to the available spirit helpers that we people on the medicine path have at hand. We are not alone. We are related to each other as living teachers. We have the generations following us as a fresh resource. Our ancestors are itching to be invited into the healing of us the earth’s children. And the advanced ascended beings and spirit guides pour through when invited. Animal, plant and stone people who share our middle world experience are empowered by our invitation as we are empowered by their friendship and guidance. All we need to do is to make quality time available, be awake, gather together and simply drum.

Biography

Steven Ash is an experienced healer, master of Chinese Medicine and gifted musician, whose roots lie in the shamanic traditions of Europe, North and South America. His name Tatanka Wanagi Wichasta - Buffalo Spirit Man - was given to him by the late Ed McGaa Eagle Man; and Wallace Black Elk, medicine man of the Lakota people, adopted him and his wife Renata as his spiritual grandchildren. Steven spent part of his childhood in Wikwemikong and Oshwegan, First Nation reservations in Canada, where his father was the medical doctor for the tribe. He studied Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, Tai Chi and Qi Kung and holds a doctorate in radiaesthesia. Steven’s work with the Sacred Drum as a tool of self- exploration and transformation has made him a worldwide authority in the area of the healing drum. His book Sacred Drumming is regarded as a classic reference book on the subject of drum healing. Steven originated the work with Sacred Drumming as a framework for personal growth through ancient wisdom and ceremony rooted in the power of the Seven Sacred Directions of the Medicine Wheel. Together with his wife Renata he is holding a vision for the renewal of spirituality and a way of living in harmony with Mother Earth and all our relations for the past, present and future generations. Ho Mitakuye Oyasin - to all relations. For more information please visit his website: https://www. sacreddrumming.co.uk/ 2 Richard Erdoes and John Fire Lame Deer. Lame Deer: Sioux Medicine Man. HarperCollins (24 April 1973). 24 Herbs of the Southern Shaman

Steve Andrews

Herbs that produce mystical visionary experiences as well as having healing powers are found worldwide but for some reason, Mexico, in particular and Central America appear to have more species of psychoactive herbs that can be used shamanically than anywhere else on the planet. This has meant that many American Indian cultures have been very strongly influenced by these plants and the use of such herbs has been widespread among the shamans of the many tribes for thousands of years. The remaining architecture and cultural artefacts of great civilisations like the Incas, the Aztecs and the Mayan Indians often depict sacred ‘power plants’ like morning glory, datura and the ‘magic mushroom’ amongst their iconography and symbolism. In fact, the Aztecs had a semi-divine figure known as Xochipilli (Prince of Flowers) whose statue is adorned with many stylized glyphs depicting sacred shamanic herbs. It is easy to conjecture that these people believed that this prince ruled over the hallucinogenic plants he is shown with, or maybe that he derived his magical powers from them. We can tell from many such sources that these herbs were used in religious rituals and ceremonies. The use of entheogenic herbs has been carried on and practised still by the shamans and neo-shamans of today. Some of these shamans, such as Maria Sabina of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico, have become famous for their knowledge and skills in practising shamanism and herbal medicine.

Of course, Mother Nature is not to be bounded by our unnatural divisions and boundaries between countries and territories. So many herbs grow wherever they can take root and flourish. The knowledge of such plants and their cultivation and use has also often spread far from the original source, as is happening now with the worldwide interest being shown in ethnobotanical plants and shamanism. Salvia divinorum1, the diviner’s mint, for example, as far as we know originated in Mexico but it has since been propagated on the other side of the globe. Many other species like morning glory have proved so popular with gardeners that the plants are grown worldwide wherever it is warm enough. Others have territories that extend and overlap within countries in the northern and southern hemispheres.

I take a look at the very many psychoactive herbs, cacti and fungi that grow in the southern hemisphere of the world in my new book, Herbs of the Southern Shaman. In this volume, as the title suggests, the species included are all plants or mushrooms that have traditionally been used by shamans as entheogens or are known to be hallucinogens, narcotics or stimulants. There are herbs and fungi from Africa, South America and Australia included. Because there are States in North America that are considered in the South and because Mexico and Central America are areas well-known for the use of shamanic herbs, I have included species from these parts too.

Even though I have included personal descriptions of hallucinogenic experiences by users of some of the plants detailed in this work, I am in no way advocating the ingestion or use of any of these herbs, many of which are very poisonous when consumed. The shamans of the cultures that use these plants often obey very strict dieting and other rules and regulations when they partake of sacred herbal preparations. Often, these rules have been formulated after countless years of hard-won experience for particular tribes and there is a very good reason for them. For example, the herbal mixtures that make up the brew known as ayahuasca are only safely consumed when dietary restrictions are followed. Many of the peoples that used these herbs treated them as religious sacraments, as ‘teachers’, to help

1 Background image: ‘Salvia divinorum’ by Eric Hunt [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salvia_divinorum_-1.jpg

25 divine something or maybe to treat an illness. The idea of taking such plants for fun and recreational purposes would have had no place in their understanding of the world. We are also reminded that many of the sacred herbs are under threat of extinction in the wild and that conservation should be a far greater priority than some attempt to get high.

Morning Glory Ipomoea tricolor, Convolvulaceae

Other common names: Badoh Negro, Badungas, Blue Star, Flying Saucers, Glory Seeds, Heavenly Blue, Pearly Gates, Pearly Whites, Piule, Seeds, Summer Skies, Tlililtzen, Wedding Bells, Yaxce’lil.

The morning glory is such an attractive climbing plant that it is well known to gardeners all over the world. Although it is native to Mexico and Guatemala, it grows wild in other tropical and semitropical parts of America and in summer is cultivated as an annual in parks and gardens in many temperate climes where it may be started under glass or indoors. The morning glory comes in a wide range of colours from blue or violet-blue to purple and also in white, and in the case of the variety known as Flying Saucers, with a mixture of blue or purplish and white in the same flowers. The flowers are funnel or trumpet shaped and are like large versions of common bindweed flowers. The morning glory also bears attractive, fairly large heart- shaped leaves, which complement the flowers really well. A full-grown morning glory in full bloom, rambling its way over a fence or trellis is a real picture!

Morning glories have been widely used shamanically by several Indian tribes, including the Chinantec and Mazatecs, who call the plant ‘piule’, the Zapotecs who refer to this climbing herb as ‘badoh negro’ and the ancient Aztecs knew the morning glory as ‘tlililtzen’. The Zapotecs call the seeds of the morning glory ‘la aja shnash’, which translates as ‘seed of the virgin’ and a brew of the herb was traditionally prepared for the shaman by a young girl. The plant has become associated with the Virgin Mary and looking at the pristine beauty of a newly opened Heavenly Blue, or a pure white pearly gates flower, bedecked in dew on a summer morning, it is easy to think how apt this association is.

Biography

Steve Andrews was born in Cardiff, Wales but is now based in Portugal, after living in Tenerife for nine years. He is known as the Bard of Ely, a name dubbed by Big Issue Cymru back in the late ‘90s when he was a columnist for the publication. The name refers not only to where he had been living but also to his work as a singer-songwriter, performer and poet; he has played at Glastonbury Festival and the Green Man Festival. In 2017 he was featured on Britain’s Got Talent. In the late ‘90s Steve worked as a TV presenter on the BBC Choice magazine series In Full View in which he was out and about in the countryside looking at the plants and animals. He has also appeared on many other TV programmes including Weird Wales on HTV Wales, Roll Over Beethoven on BBC2 and The Slate on BBC1. He is the author of three books published by Moon Books: Herbs Of The Northern Shaman, Herbs Of The Sun, Moon And Planets and Herbs Of The Southern Shaman. For more information visit https://www. bardofely.org/.

Editor’s Note: You can enter our lucky draw to win a copy of Herbs of the Southern Shaman! Please see page 31 for details. For more information about 26 the book please read the review on page 43. northern plantlore: Lily of the valley E o g h a n

o d i n s s o n

27 WARNING - THIS PLANT IS POISONOUS. THE INFORMATION IN THIS Quick Facts ARTICLE IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

Latin/Linnaen: Convallaria majalis

Family: Asparagaceae

Old English: Glovewort, glofwyrt

Synonyms: Dog’s tongue, May Lily, Convallaria, Our Lady’s Tears, Convall-lily, Lily Constancy, Ladder-to-Heaven, Jacob’s Ladder, Male Lily.

Action: Positive inotropic on the myocardium, economizes heart performance, lowers the elevated left-ventricular diastolic pressure, as well as pathologically elevated venous pressure, tonic for the veins, natriuretic, kaliuretic.

Part Used: Above ground parts of plant

Indicated For: Mild cardiac insufficiency, heart insufficiency due to old age, chronic cor pulmonale.

Dosage: Unless otherwise prescribed: Average daily dosage; 0.6g standardized lily-of-the- valley powder; equivalent preparations.

Preparation: Comminuted herb, as well as galenical preparations thereof for internal use.

Cautions: ALL PARTS OF THE PLANT ARE POISONOUS WHEN EATEN Contraindications: Therapy with digitalis glycosides, potassium deficiency. Side Effects: Nausea, vomiting, cardiac arrhythmias. Interactions with other drugs: Increased effectiveness and also side effects of simultaneously administered quinidine, calcium, saleretics, laxatives and extended therapy with glucocorticoids.

Other Uses: Dye: The leaves yield a green dye, with lime water.

Description

Convallaria majalis, commonly known as the lily-of-the-valley, is a poisonous woodland flowering plant native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe. A limited native population occurs in Eastern USA (Convallaria majalis var. montana). There is, however, some debate as to the native status of the American variety.

C. majalis is a herbaceous perennial plant that forms extensive colonies by spreading underground stems called rhizomes. New upright shoots are formed at the ends of stolons in summer, these upright dormant stems are often called pips. These grow in the spring into new leafy shoots that still remain connected to the other shoots underground, often forming extensive colonies. The stems grow to 15–30 cm tall; with one or two leaves 10–25 cm long, flowering stems have two leaves and a raceme of 5–15 flowers on the stem apex. The flowers are white tepals (rarely pink), bell-shaped, 5–10 mm diameter and sweetly scented; flowering is in late spring, in mild winters in the Northern Hemisphere it is in early March. The fruit is a small orange-red berry 5–7 mm diameter that contains a few large whitish to brownish coloured seeds that dry to a clear translucent round bead 1–3 mm wide. Plants are self-sterile and colonies consisting of a single clone do not set seed. 28 Cultivation

Hardiness Zone: 2-9

Soil pH: 5.5-7

Soil type: Rich moist soil.

Cultivation: Can be grown from pips or divisions.

Sunlight: Prefers dappled shade, but can tolerate full shade and sun.

Habitat: Native to Europe, now common in North America and Asia. Can be invasive in good conditions.

Lily of the Valley does well in a moist woodland setting. It can spread invasively if given good conditions. Very fragrant flower, but not very showy.

Plant towards the end of September. The ground for Lily-of-the-Valley should be thoroughly stirred to a depth of 15 inches, early in September, laying it up rough for a few weeks, then breaking it down and adding some rotten manure or if that cannot be obtained, some kind of artificial manure must be used, but this is better applied later on, hoeing it in just as growth appears. Plant the crowns about 6 inches apart and work fine, rich soil, with some leaf mould if possible, in between. Leave at least 9 inches between the rows. Keep the crowns well below the surface and above all plant firmly.

In some soils the plants will last longer in the best form than in others but should be transplanted about every fourth year and in light, porous soils it may be necessary to do so every third year.

Periodic transplanting, deep culture and liberal feeding produce fine blooms. Autumn is the best time for remaking beds, which are best done in entirely fresh soil. Cut the roots from the old bed out into tufts 6 inches or 9 inches square, and divide into pieces 3 inches square. Replant the tufts the original 6 inches apart. It is best to prepare the entire beds before replanting. Replanted by October, the crowns will be well settled in by winter rains and the quality of the spikes will show a marked difference in early spring.

Historical Notes

Lily of the Valley’s specific name,Majalis or Maialis, signifies ‘that which belongs to May’ and the old astrological books place the plant under the dominion of Mercury since Maia, the daughter of Atlas, was the mother of Mercury or Hermes.

There is an old Sussex legend that St. Leonard fought against a great dragon in the woods near Horsham, only vanquishing it after a mortal combat lasting many hours, during which he received grievous wounds. Wherever his blood fell, Lilies-of-the-Valley sprang up to commemorate the desperate fight and these woods, which bear the name of St. Leonard’s Forest to this day, are still thickly carpeted with them.

Legend says that the fragrance of the Lily-of-the-Valley draws the nightingale from hedge and bush and leads him to choose his mate in the recesses of the glade.

The Lily-of-the-Valley is one of the British-grown plants included in the Pharmacopoeia and its medicinal virtues have been tested by very long experience. Although not in such general use as the Foxglove it is still prescribed by physicians with success. Its use dates back to ancient times, for 29 Apuleius in his Herbal written in the fourth century, declares it was found by Apollo and given by him to Æsculapius, the leech.

In recent years it has been largely employed in experiments relating to the forcing of plants by means of anaesthetics such as chloroform and ether. It has been found that the winter buds, placed in the vapour of chloroform for a few hours and then planted, break into leaf and flower considerably before others not tested in this manner, the resulting plants being, moreover, exceptionally fine.

Historical Medicinal Uses - For Entertainment ONLY

Constituents: The chief constituents of Lily-of-the-Valley are two glucosides: Convallamarin, the active principle, a white crystalline powder readily soluble in water and in alcohol but only slightly in ether, which acts upon the heart like Digitalin and has also diuretic action; and Convallarin, which is crystalline in prisms, soluble in alcohol, slightly soluble in water and has a purgative action. There are also present a trace of volatile oil, tannin, salts, etc.

Medicinal Action and Uses: Lily-of-the-Valley is valued as a cardiac tonic and diuretic. The action of the drug closely resembles that of Digitalis, though it is less powerful; it is used as a substitute in valvular heart disease, also in cases of cardiac debility and dropsy. It slows the disturbed action of a weak, irritable heart, whilst at the same time increasing its power.

It proved most useful in cases of poisonous gassing of our men at the Front.

It is generally administered in the form of a tincture. The infusion of 1/2 oz. of herb to 1 pint of boiling water is also taken in tablespoonful doses. Fluid extracts are likewise prepared from the rhizome, whole plant and flowers and the flowers have been used in powdered form.

A decoction of the flowers is said to be useful in removing obstructions in the urinary canal and it has been also recommended as a substitute for aloes, on account of its purgative quality.

Russian peasants have long employed the Lily-of-the-Valley for certain forms of dropsy proceeding from a faulty heart.

Special virtues were once thought to be possessed by water distilled from the flowers, which was known as Aqua Aurea (Golden Water) and was deemed worthy to be preserved in vessels of gold and silver. Coles (1657) gives directions for its preparation:

“Take the flowers and steep them in New Wine for the space of a month; which being finished, take them out again and distil the wine three times over in a Limbeck. The wine is more precious than gold, for if any one that is troubled with apoplexy drink thereof with six grains of Pepper and a little Lavender water they shall not need to fear it that moneth.’”

Dodoens (1560) pointed out how this water “doth strengthen the Memorie and comforteth the Harte”.

This spirit was also considered excellent as an embrocation for sprains, as well as for rheumatism. We are told by old writers that a decoction of the bruised root, boiled in wine, is good for pestilential fevers and that bread made of barley meal mixed with the juice is an excellent cure for dropsy, also that an ointment of the root and lard is good for ulcers and heals burns and scalds without leaving a scar.

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. 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.

30 Shay Mann

Indie Shaman Lucky Draw!

Win a copy of ‘Herbs of the Southern Shaman’ by Steve Andrews

To enter simply email [email protected] with the email title ‘Herbs of the Southern Shaman. Deadline for entries is 9 a.m. Sunday 1st December 2019 (UK GMT).

Winner chosen by random draw and notified by email by Indie Shaman. Entries also accepted via http://shamanismbooks.co.uk, 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 Herbs of the Southern Shaman please read the review on page 42.

31 32 The Tale of Tarolan (Part 2) Martin Pallot

Tarolan the talesman has woken to find his mind empty of tales; going to the woods he meets with his imagination who takes him on a journey to recover his ‘Aisling’ or dream vision. He has been taken to the place of his birth and reminded of how he was and what he has lost of the gifts of Earth and the Dragon’s dreams.

33 Artist: Cathy Leigh Tsoukalas As Tarolan listened to his imagination speak these things, he heard their truth; his shoulders slumped and his hand found the shape of the word in the stone once more; and knowing the way of stories, as he did, he realised he had come to a time of testing. “What would you have me do?”

His imagination regarded him for a moment, looking he thought, more at his mind than his face; it held out its hand once more. “Let me take you on another journey; let me take you to the mind of the Dragon”.

He hesitated for a fraction then took the hand. Once more the world shifted but he was ready this time and was kneeling anyway so simply climbed to his feet when the movement stopped.

But only just. They were near the top of a large rocky outcrop in the middle of a storm struck moor and the wind was howling like Hornets around the granite ground they stood on; black clouds were broaching the cauldron of the sky their edges bloody with the setting sun and rain was a grey curtain flapping in the distance but drawing closer. He leant against the rock for shelter and support, noticing as he did that his imagination needed no such help, in fact was looking stronger still in this place; wherever this place was.

“Where are we; is this the mind of the Dragon?” “No, the Dragon sleeps below the earth, which is where we must go. This place is the Otherworld. You brought me here often when we were younger, to listen and dream”. “Was the weather always this bad?” The rain had now arrived and was pulvering down upon them. “This world has its storms and calms just like the otherworld”. “The otherworld? You said this was the Otherworld!”

His imagination leaned close and grinned again; Tarolan noticed that had improved too. “This world has much in common with your world; and much that is uncommon too but to the beings that live here your world is the Otherworld and is just as much a place of myth and wonder as this world is to you”. Leaning closer still, right in his ear; “Did you think because they are not human, that the Fae do not dream or that they lack imagination?” Then, walking past him; “Now come; this is the way in to the Dragons head”.

Tarolan turned and saw his imagination standing by the entrance to a cave; once again, it held out its hand. “Through that cave?” “This is no cave”, said his imagination, “This is the Dragons ear, can’t you see!?” Part scared, part intrigued and part wet and wind blown he reached out; this time the ground stayed still and they moved; walking together into the cave; into the mind of the Dragon.

It was calm and dry with a cool breeze that came from further inwards. As his eyes adjusted, Tarolan thought for a moment that he saw yellow marks covering part of the cave walls and the words came unbidden to his mind that perhaps the Dragon’s ears needed cleaning; for the first time since he woke, a smile came to his lips; as the thought left him his imagination turned its head and in the dim light he could see a smile on its face too. “Remember where we are, speak and think quietly!”

It turned and led him on. As the light grew less and the ground sloped down, Tarolan held his free hand out before him wary of falling; his imagination just walked on without concern as though it knew the way; but then a memory came from his days of traveling, that his imagination could see equally well in the light or the dark.

Slowly they wound their way down through the passage, the ground was soft beneath his boots and the walls smooth to his hand but the air grew cooler still and the roof grew lower as they descended.

Without warning they emerged into a cold, still cavern and Tarolan found himself standing on a narrow shelf above a large pool of water. The cavern was lit by countless small soft shining shapes that surrounded the water and even crossed the roof in a shimmering path that suddenly made him think

34 of the tale of the hawthorn blossoms sky scattered by the white lady in the days before days to make the stars. By their light Tarolan could see the pool was calm and deep and he could even see himself reflected in it; he had seen rocks that sparkled with reflected firelight before but thereas w no light here.

Keeping his voice low; “Where does their light come from?” “From within”, whispered his imagination, “ What you see are the gifts of poets and dreamers; a small part of their spirit left here by those seeking inspiration or who have lost their own aisling; left here in return for the Dragon’s help in finding those things. Through the gifts they leave, the Dragon shares their dreams and shares some of its dreams too, for it loves the tales of the earth and grieves to hear them die and be forgotten; so it calls folk here to help them find their ayw or remember it if they wander. It has always done this for those who dream, whether by night or day”.

His imagination took hold of his shoulders and Tarolan saw that it was changed again; no longer the thin and wasted thing of his first meeting, its eyes were now full of vigour and it was more a reflection of himself. Now too he recognized the cloak, apart from food and drink, it was the first gift he had received for his tale telling.

And his imagination looked him in the eye and said, “Come with me”. Together they leapt in to the pool; into the mind of the Dragon. Cold; so cold. “The Dragon’s heart is hot, the Dragon’s mind is cold”, said a voice he knew, “For it found its home here when the ice cracked as fire mountains yawned with the waking of the world”.

Then the voice he knew was silent; and as his fine clothes took the water and the water drew him deeper, so Tarolan heard…

He heard a drumming from within that called to a drumming without and a voice in his ears. A voice as old as the chalk cliffs; as ancient as the reflections in the Raven’s eye or the howl in the throat of the Wolf. A voice that changed like the wind in the valley yet was as unchanging as the mountain crags; a voice that hummed in the hives of Bees and cried in the eyries of Eagles, that laughed in gentle waters, raged in a Stags autumn challenge, sang in distant thunder and whispered in the soul quiet, dream filled night.

And as he drifted ever downwards, Tarolan saw too. He saw a cave, lit by the glow of rush lights, with figures drawn upon its walls; figures drawn in shades of earth; drawn in haunting, hunting magic; shifting shapes upon the stone. In the centre of the soft sand floor sat one who drummed and who added their own voice to the voice in his ears; and as this tale teller spoke, the shapes stepped down from the wall to dance in the dream of words.

And as he watched, Tarolan saw a soft light leave the tale teller and float slowly up to the roof of the cave where other lights were already gathered; watching, listening.

Then Tarolan drifted to the bottom of the pool and his shoulders brushed the soft sand lying there and he saw a bubble leave his mouth and rise to the surface; a bubble that glittered and shone in the no light of the water.

And the voice in his ears was replaced by a voice he knew.

“Tarolan, often you have let me dance in the cave of your mouth and I have feasted on your words; but I am also fed by the wider, wilder world and if you honour the Dragon’s gift and value your gift to it, then you must walk within the woods again; listen to the words of wind and rain, the tales of Fox and Badger and the whispering of leaves along the hollow ways. You must go out and get some mud on those fine boots of yours!”

Tarolan sank down into the soft sand and so came at last to a place where he could not see or hear or even move; and so he came to panic for the first time in his journey; and so he came to waking and found himself wound within the soft furs that were his bed clothes. As he unraveled himself and his heart and mind grew calm, he found he was not sure if his journey had been a dream or something more. But he knew what tale he would tell in the hall that night.

And so he did; to great acclaim.

35 The next day, Tarolan begged leave of his Lord to let him wander the world awhile, that he might hear what tales he may; promising to return when the Hawthorn blossomed. His Lord, who was wise as well as powerful, saw the need in the man and was tempted, reluctantly to agree. After all, though he loved the tales of Tarolan, he loved a new tale as much as anyone.

So Tarolan left his Lord’s hearth; and the folk who gathered in the hall by night thought the smoke hung heavy for lack of a voice they knew; and the guards on the gate watched the trees by day for a sight of a cloak they recognised.

Meanwhile, Tarolan took his drum and a stout stick and walked out beyond the hills they knew and further still in company with his imagination; and when at last he returned, his cloak was stained and his boots were worn and muddy; but he was full of life and vigour, for he had feasted well.

Note: ‘Aisling’ is an Irish poetic form of the late 17th and 18th Centuries and means ‘dream’ or ‘vision’. It is most often met with today in the given name Aislinn and its variants.

Biographies

Martin Pallot 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, was featured in the anthology, Moon Poets (published by Moon Books) and recently had his own small book of poetry, Whispers in the Wood, published by Veneficia Publishing UK. You can read more of his work at martinpallot.wordpress.com and contact him at [email protected]. Whispers in the Wood can be purchased at https://www.veneficiapublishing.

Cathy Leigh Tsoukalas is an international artist specialising in traditional portraiture and spirit art. She lives with her family in Greece. Artwork available on commission. Her online gallery can be viewed at https://cathyleightsoukalas.smugmug.com/.

36 Shaman Moon

Yvonne Ryves

I am not at all disciplined when it comes to writing. I really need inspiration to get me going otherwise nothing happens …

When I was writing my one and only published book Web of Life I was lucky in that for the whole time I was writing I was supported by my guides. One of the first things they told me was to make the space for writing otherwise it could not happen. This made sense to me as I understood completely that for something new to take place something has to change - to be released so that space is made for whatever needs to come in. It is why I periodically have a clear out: of clothes; belongings; my contact list; my phone contacts etc. So each day I made time and cleared a couple of hours or so where writing could take place. This time became sacrosanct and nothing was allowed to get in the way. I found that some days very little writing happened during this time and that it could just as easily have turned into a thinking or journeying space, which over time I came to recognise was just as important as the writing itself. I discovered that when working with my guides to produce something it was as much about listening, journeying for insight, being patient and waiting for ideas to pop into my head or for pieces of the jigsaw to slot into place as it was the actual writing. This also all needs space to happen.

Having been through this process in order to produce a book I understand it all. Yet now I still forget to create the space that is needed and all too often expect inspiration to drop into my lap without me doing anything to assist it in doing so. I then struggle to find the impetus to get started, no matter whether it is an article, another book or even this column.

There are, of course, many ways to create the space in which to write. Daily pages are one way suggested. The idea here is to begin each day by filling an A4 sheet of paper with anything that comes into your head, by getting all the ‘rubbish’ out of the way then it allows creativity to flow more easily. There is always the bonus that amongst the dross there will be a gem of an idea that can spark

37 something wonderful. This doesn’t work for me. I resist the use of an A4 sheet by finding the smallest notebook I can find. I allow myself to be distracted and so the time goes and the page remains empty. I then stop bothering.

A few months ago I was asked by Andrew Anderson, to endorse his book The Ritual of Writing which looks at writing as a spiritual activity, one that can help deepen our connection to the universe through the rituals involved in it.

Now, one of the things I love about shamanism is the lack of ritual, so the thought of involving ritual in my writing should have put me straight off and had me running for the hills but instead I found myself being inspired. This inspiration came not with any big idea about what to write but about simply working with the exercises that Anderson suggests in his book. These exercises are neither prescriptive nor onerous but link with the author’s premise that there needs to be a ritual in the process of writing and that the ritual can become a spiritual practice. The more I read the more I found myself becoming excited by the idea of reconnecting with writing in a more spiritual way.

Will this new found inspiration lead anywhere? Only time will tell. I am not dusting off a languishing draft manuscript … but will quite possibly allow myself the time to develop a new way of approaching my writing and see what may come out of it.

Featured books

Andrew Anderson. The Ritual Of Writing. Moon Books (31 May 2019). ISBN: 978-1789041538

Biography

Yvonne Ryves is ‘proactively transitioning’ from working full time as a shamanic and energy healer and is the author of Web of Life, published by Moon Books as part of their Shaman Pathways series. Yvonne still offers distance work such as Shamanic Counselling, Spirit Guide Readings, Auragraphs and Chios Training. She lives in Ireland and otherwise divides her time between her travels, art and training as an Ovate with OBOD. Yvonne can be contacted via her Facebook page @YvonneRyvesHealing.

38 Dedication David Sparenberg

To each and all of my kindred, where we meet heart to heart and soul to soul: I, in the sear of life, greet you in dialogue and the promise of renewal:

To all who align yourselves with Great Spirit, Creator of Heaven and Earth, dedicated to the maintenance of life;

To all who are Rainbow Warriors of Love, who love tenderly where tenderness is welcomed, who love fiercely where fierce love is needed;

To all Warriors of Spirit, who maintain honesty, integrity, and who fight for the prevalence of truth over lies and corruption and violence. Those of you who dedicate your lives to planting seeds in the sub-culture fertility of soul and the accepting hearts of children, convinced that a time is coming when forests of light will flourish globally and there will be peace, and with peace awareness and justice.

To you, sisters (ascending into power), brothers (steadfast in support), children of goodness and good friends, this dedication to healing the abused Earth, to a human return to dialogic belonging and to sanity, and to the openness and welcoming back maturely among us, after misdirection, misdeeds and exile, the Spirit of Beauty, of Light and Balance, and of Life:

I, in the sear of my time, dedicate this invitation to you.

b b b

When completing Dedication, I recognized it could as readily be titled Invitation. This is both a dedication and an invitation. It is dedicated in appreciation of those engaged in what others have called the Great Work of connectivity and an invitation to join into the inward-outward dialectic of furthering human evolution.

The process is already seeded in some among us, uniting shamanic origins of human culture with an experimental culture of ecosophic-responsibility. These seedings yet need to be democratised: such is our global challenge. So much is at risk; so much is in play.

Approaching my 72nd year, as an elder speaking, I recognise that the furthering democratisation of identity-evolution belongs to younger generations; even generations yet to come. The plea is an invitation to these generations to carry on beyond myself; to grow for the sake of community and cultivate community for the sake of The Beauty Way. Biography

David Sparenberg is an ecosophic author, eco-poet and teacher who walks in the way of his Cherokee great grandmother. David currently has four print books published, including Earth Crisis, Warnings & Meditations on a Trauma Planet and Shaman: Discovering Vision, Path & Story. He also has four ebooks available, most recently The Fate of Poets. David Sparenberg lives in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. 39 Reviews

Earth Pathways Diary and Calendar

Very practical, stunningly beautiful and packed full of inspirational poetry, prose, artwork and photography, the Earth Pathways Diary and Wall Calendar feature the work of environmentally-conscious artists and writers and are produced by a not-for-profit co-operative based at Cromford Station in the Peak District.

Both the 2020 Diary and Wall Calendar covers feature the beautiful artwork Spiral of Life by Anne Thomas. I also love the fantastic Tree of Life Celebration by artist Marie Roberts when you open the diary which is “Dedicated to all those who care for our beautiful Earth …”. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) it is impossible to choose any particular favourite feature to mention here from within the diary and calendar, as too many of them are too good to select just one or two!

The diary is in a week to view format; each date containing useful information which includes Moon phases, moonrise and moonset times and festival dates. At the back of the diary is a 2021 year planner and some pages with space for your own notes. The calendar is A4 size, month-at-a-view and also includes moon phases, Earth seasonal festival dates and UK bank holiday dates.

I highly recommend both the calendar and diary. You may find you ‘need’ both and they would also make a wonderful gift! Buy direct from www.earthpathwaysdiary.uk - a percentage of profits goes to ‘seed-fund’ projects that benefit the Earth. Reviewed by Earth Pathways Diary and Calendar 2020. Earth Pathways Co-operative Limited June Kent (2019). ISBN: 978-0-9957686-1-1 (Diary); 978-0-9957686-7-3 (Calendar). (editor).

Indie Shaman Lucky Draw!

Earth Pathways have kindly donated one Earth Pathways Diary and two Earth Pathways Calendars for us to give away!

To enter simply email [email protected] with the email title ‘Earth Pathways’. Deadline for entries is 9 a.m. Sunday 1st December 2019 (UK GMT).

Winners chosen by random draw and notified by email by Indie Shaman. First winner drawn offered 1st choice of prize, second winner drawn 2nd choice. Entries also accepted via http:// shamanismbooks.co.uk, Lucky Draw email mailouts, Facebook page and Facebook group. For full competition terms and conditions visit http://shamanismbooks.co.uk/competition-terms-and-conditions/.

40 Reviews

Transcendent The Land of the Fae Wisdom of the Maya

Transcendent Wisdom of the Maya is an incredibly interesting book on many levels; it is factual, academic, personal and insightful.

Written by anthropologist Gabriela Jurosz-Landa, the book is divided into three parts, each clearly defined and well recorded. The first of these The Land of the Fae is Rob Wildwood’s third book describes aspects of Mayan history, culture, and is a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening beliefs and the effects of Western society. I found journey into the sacred landscape of Scotland, the chapters on the Mayan concepts of time and England and Wales. The Land of the Fae calendars really fascinating as these are quite compliments and strengthens his past writings, different from what we are used to in the West. delving ever more deeply into the Otherworld by exploring those places where the Fae can be The second part of the book is called Diary of Life found and connected with. Rob embarks on a with the Maya and gives a personal account of quest that takes him all the way from Cornwall up Gabriela’s return to the Mayan people after living to the Scottish Isles, visiting fairy mounds, caves, away from Guatemala for a number of years. This natural springs and holy wells. He relates his account also provides an understanding of the experiences and impressions of each place with Mayan peoples’ contact with the West over the humour, historical research and a genuine spiritual past few decades and why there may be a distrust sensitivity and reverence. of Westerners within this very private culture. Rob is a seeker and a visionary who writes with The final part of the book is calledThe Spiritual an engaging style. Through using shamanic Journey and describes Gabriela’s initiation as a journeying and dowsing at the sites he visits, shaman-priestess, including rituals, prayers, the Rob tunes into the energies to be found at these presence of spiritual forces and the transmission places. His encounters with elves, hobs, tree of ancient knowledge. spirits and animals make for an entertaining read that is genuine and heartfelt in its approach and Transcendent Wisdom of the Maya also includes intent. The result for the reader is a book that a Foreword by José Luis Tigüilá NABÉ kaxbaltzij, encourages us to explore and connect with our spokesperson of the Maya municipality. beautiful land and heritage.

With its compelling detailed personal story by the The greatest evolution is by example and Rob’s author and its inclusion of some wonderful full book is a call for us to discover and honour our colour photography; Transcendent Wisdom of the local springs and to show Nature respect by Maya is an authentic and fascinating read bringing leaving offerings at the places we visit, to clear the Mayan culture to life - recommended for them up if necessary and to care for them. By anyone who would like to learn more about this raising our collective consciousness through being ancient wisdom and worldview. custodians of the land of the Fae, we come one step closer to helping and supporting the web of Reviewed by Karon Lyne all life around us. Highly recommended. Reviewed by Joe Caudwell http://jcaudwell.wixsite.com/joecaudwell

Gabriela Jurosz-Landa. Transcendent Wisdom Rob Wildwood. The Land of the Fae. Wyldwood of the Maya. Bear & Company (2 May 2019). Publishing (26 Jun. 2019). ISBN: 978- ISBN: 978-1591433347. 0957543317. 41 Reviews Walking with Trees Herbs of the Southern Shaman

This is the 12th book authored by renowned environmental campaigner, teacher of Earth wisdom and co-creator of the Earth Pathways Diary, Glennie Kindred. Walking with Trees takes the reader on a deeply connective and powerful journey with 13 of the most common native trees from Britain and Europe. This is no simple or ordinary tree guide but is instead a wonderful glimpse into the world of the tree and how we, as people, can learn to relate to Herbs of the Southern Shaman is an informative these majestic beings. Every chapter describes and at times, very entertaining, A-Z of each tree’s individual qualities, history, healing psychoactive herbs that grow in the southern properties, the enchanting myths and legends hemisphere. Following on from the author, surrounding them and ideas of how to make Steve Andrew’s popular Herbs of the Northern remedies, such as tinctures and elixirs. Glennie Shaman, the book is very well-researched and relates each tree to a point on the eight wheel with an excellent index, together with a glossary year and shares many heart-warming, insightful of medical and botanical terms, bibliography and personal stories. I was completely captivated recommended further reading makes an excellent by her ancient yew pilgrimage and the poem reference book. inspired by the mysterious blackthorn. Included are many recipes and craft ideas, such as creating Andrews makes it clear in his introduction that a ceremonial holly arrow and Ogham staves. I “… the purpose of this work is for educational was even motivated to make some beech leaf reasons and to provide horticultural and gin after reading Glennie’s recipe which I am botanical information... Even though I have looking forward to sampling later this year. No included personal descriptions of hallucinogenic doubt more experiments will follow as the year experiences… I am in no way advocating the continues. As a bonus, Glennie’s delightful and ingestion or use of any of these herbs, many of detailed illustrations add further depth to the which are very poisonous when consumed and profoundly intrinsic richness of this work. can present a very real danger” and in this he has succeeded admirably. If the reader is seeking a book to both enjoy and to strengthen their understanding of trees, Herbs of the Southern Shaman should appeal then this is it. Glennie’s ability to inspire joy and to a far wider audience than I first thought wonder for the earth makes this book almost before reading the book; the chapters on the shine with the love and the creative enthusiasm plants are very well-detailed, including botanical that she poured into it, motivating anyone information as well as information about their use who picks it up to go out and hug a tree! An in indigenous shamanic practice, making Herbs imperative in this day and age with humanities’ of the Southern Shaman potentially of interest continued disconnection from nature and the to anyone interested in shamanism, botany or destructive effect this has on our environment. gardening as well as those wanting to learn more Now is the time to reconnect with the earth and about indigenous sacred teacher plants. this is the book to begin with.

One of the most important books on trees, Reviewed by June Kent (editor) inspiring us to embrace nature and intensify our relationship. I love this book and know that the reader will probably fall in love with every tree they encounter after reading it! Steve Andrews. Herbs of the Southern Shaman. Reviewed by Thea Prothero Moon Books; Reprint edition (26 April 2019). ISBN: 1789040999. Glennie Kindred. Walking With Trees. Permanent Publications (19 Feb. 42 2019). Permanent Publications. ISBN: 9781856233262 Reviews

Shor Shamanic Epic Folktales Sisters of the Solstice Moon

Shor storytellers were the caretakers of their peoples culture, history and lore and would In the time that history forgot lies the lands and ‘unleash’ a tale that, to their listeners, was peoples of herstory and in Sisters of the Solstice “something tangible, corporeal, animate,” they Moon author Gina Martin weaves a captivating were magical and protective, told to bring joy to journey into the mythology of an ancient time both people and spirits; and even on the printed before the rise of planetary patriarchy. page and in translation you can still catch a sense of this. On the Winter Solstice, thirteen women across the world are gifted with the same vision – their world Many westerners might regard a book like this is about to experience a shattering destruction. as a record of a disappearing culture and while Each answers the call to journey to Egypt and unfortunately it is that, it is also much more than save the wisdom of the Goddess. that; for many cultures are still known by wisdom different from modern ways; they hold a more Sisters of the Solstice Moon follows the story of direct knowledge of human foibles and fate. these women; richly descriptive, the author writes a vibrant portrayal of the cultures, rituals, lands This slim volume contains but two of this store of and people bringing them to life for the reader to stories and leaves you wanting more. Enthralling become deeply immersed in their world. adventures of mythic and heroic ancestors told in the voice of the people, passed down from voice Womancraft Publishing broke their own rules to to voice through the generations; you may find publish this book – they didn’t previously publish these tales difficult to begin with, for they are fiction but thankfully had to make an exception. unlike the style of storytelling we are used to in Intended to be the first in a series,Sisters of the the west and involve characters and a culture Solstice Moon, can also be read as a ‘stand-alone’ unknown. These are ‘wild’ tales of the hero or tale (no cliff hangers although you do rather look heroine defending hearth and home or journeying forward to reading the next). to find true love and while the themes are familiar, the manner of their telling is not – but persevere, A remarkably accomplished novel from a new for they are told in the authentic oral tradition and author, Sisters of the Solstice Moon is highly they will take hold of you. recommended to anyone interested in Goddess folklore and culture or indeed to anyone who We sometimes find the tales of others hard to would simply enjoy an engrossing read that leaves interpret but if we stop listening because we you with the hopeful thought ‘what if …’? don’t understand or find them difficult, we belittle Reviewed by June Kent (editor). both them and ourselves; but be assured, even though the familiar ‘Once upon a time’ may be missing – the hoped for ‘happily ever after’ is not! Gina Martin. Sisters of the Solstice Moon. Recommended. Womancraft Publishing (26 Jun. 2019). ISBN: Reviewed by Martin Pallot. 978-1910559444. http://martinpallot.wordpress.com/ Alexander and Luba Arbachakov. Shor Shamanic Epic Folktales. Moon Books (31 43 May 2019). ISBN: 978-1789040067. Events and Workshops

EVENTS DIARY 2019 Foundation Training Weekend: Way Of The Warrior Healer, with Davyd and Emma Farrell. £192 – 226 per weekend. The Goddess Of Earth Magic, 9-10 November – MID-WALES. Email [email protected]. https://www.plantconsciousness.com/training Remembering Our Shamanic Way, An Introduction to Shamanism as practical support for life. Saturday 23rd November Sunday 24th 2019 10am/5pm, near PERTH, SCOTLAND with Brian Anderson. Email [email protected] or phone/text 07976 264432. http://www.oakenleaf.co.uk/ Create your Energetic Double. A workshop with Sergio Magaña, 29 November to 1 December 2019, Stephens House and Gardens, LONDON. Unique to Toltec/Mexicayotl wisdom path. Contact email [email protected]. http://www.floweringwhirlwind.com/ Yaku Raymi -Sacred Water New Year Celebration,Casa Gaia, Esmeralda, ECUADOR, with Itzhak Beery. Dec. 27 – Jan. 2, 2020 – Casa Gaia – Mompiche – Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Experience seven days and six night of deep shamanic mindfulness and joy. http://www.itzhakbeery.com/ EVENTS DIARY 2020 Healing Expedition to the Amazon and Andes of Ecuador, with Itzhak Beery, Juan Carlos Calvachi & Josep Rosas, Jan 3-17. Meet the Yachaks/Shamans of the High Andes Mountains and the Sieko’pai’s (Secoya) elders Email [email protected]. http://www.itzhakbeery.com/ecuador-trip.html Foundation Training Weekend: Way Of The Warrior Healer, with Davyd and Emma Farrell (Plant Consciousness). Sacred Basil, 10 – 12 January – MID-WALES. email Emma@ plantconsciousness.com https://www.plantconsciousness.com/training La Limpia: The Energy Cleansing Andes Ceremony, with Itzhak Beery,NEW YORK. Free Intro on Thursday, January 23 at 8:00 pm. 5 class series Jan 30 -March 5. http://www.itzhakbeery.com/ Bridging the Worlds: Psycho-spiritual Shamanism for Therapeutic and Coaching Professionals, with Christa Mackinnon, 25 Jan – May, DEVON. Email [email protected]. https://christamackinnon.com/ Dreams & Tracking Retreat in the Kalahari Desert, with John Lockley and Alwyn Myburgh, KALAHARI DESERT, BOTSWANA, joined by !!Xo Bushman/San elders. 1st retreat: 9th to 18th Feb. 2nd retreat: 23rd Feb to 2nd March. Email [email protected]. https://www.johnlockley.com/ Elemental Journeys. Near PERTH, SCOTLAND with Brian Anderson, Sun 22 March, Air; Sat 13 June, Fire; Sun 27 Sept, Water; Sat 28 Nov, Earth; Sun 14 Feb 2021, Spirit. All workshops 10am-5pm. Email [email protected] or phone/text 07976 264432. http://www.oakenleaf.co.uk/ Meeting the Land as Spirit. Fri 27, Sat 28, Sun 29 March, 10am/5pm. Near PERTH, SCOTLAND with Brian Anderson.email [email protected] or phone/text 07976 264432. http://www.oakenleaf.co.uk/ The Healing Path School of Nahualism with Sergio Magaña. LONDON AND NEW YORK. March 27-30; June 15-18; Sept 14-17. For more information and to reserve your place email joanna@ floweringwhirlwind.com. http://www.floweringwhirlwind.com/ Way Of The Warrior Healer, with Davyd and Emma Farrell. Indigenous Plant Medicine and Otherworld Magic. A 9 module graduated path to becoming a contemporary healer with the wisdom, plant medicine and magic of the ancients. Starting April 2020, MID-WALES. Email Emma@ plantconsciousness.com. https://www.plantconsciousness.com/training The Arising Feminine with Brooke Medicine-Eagle. A Women’s Retreat exploring Resurrection, Rejuvenation and Renewal, Friday 10 - Monday 13th April at Trigonos, Nantlle, Gwynedd, LL54 6BW, NORTH WALES. Contact Claire on +44 (0) 7970 409 724 or [email protected]. https:// www.northwalesretreats.com/product/brooke-arising-feminine/ Women’s Self Renewal Retreat, 24-26th April 2020, Cober Hill nr SCARBOROUGH, UK. Cober Hill nr Scarborough. Do you crave space for reflection, rest and renewal? Join Eileen Mullard for a deeply restorative retreat. Email [email protected]. https://www.myenergyspace.co.uk/retreats/ Oak Spirit Residential Retreat 2020. We invite you to join us for our Oak Spirit Gathering 2020 – Sacred Waters in the heart of DERBYSHIRE at Unstone Grange, Thursday 16th – Sunday 19th July 2020. Let us merge with the spiritual energies of water through ceremony, journeying, ritual and sacred crafting. Email [email protected]. https://oakspiritgatherings.wordpress.com/ 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

44 Events and Workshops

ONGOING EVENTS (continued) 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/ Shamanic Ceremonies & Women’s Circles with Maria Fotiou (Maia) in LONDON on/ around the New/ Full Moon and the Holy Days marking the change of the Earth seasons attuning to the higher cosmic frequencies and grounding them for the greatest good of all. For next dates, email Maia at [email protected]. https://www.thefeminineway.online/ 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/ Monthly Open ‘Warrior’ Soul Rescue Circle with Shirley Flint and Kieron Morgan. St Michael’s Church, The Sanctuary, Ewell Village, SURREY. 7.00 pm for a 7.30 pm start. An evening rescuing the lost souls of those who have fought in battle and war. Enquiries Shirley Flint on 07889 018713 or [email protected]. http://www.ravens-wing.uk/events-warriors-soul-rescue-circle.html 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 - England 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. 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 Holbrook, Nr Belper, DERBYSHIRE, 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/ 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/ WhiteBuffalo Sacred Drum/Dance/ Circle . Monthly Near Maidstone, KENT. Contact: 45 [email protected] for full information. Events and Workshops

‘The Buzzard Circles’, Chorley Clan 2nd Tuesday of the month. The Bay Horse pub, Heath Charnock, Chorley, LANCASHIRE, PR6 9ER, 7.30pm. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley contact@ thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk, 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, LANCASHIRE, 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. 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. Contact Melonie Syrett, email [email protected], phone 07462615299. https://www. meloniesyrett.org/ ‘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/ 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. 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/ White Bear Drum Circle. 2nd Sunday of the month at 11am-1pm, £8 at Heart Song, 1 New Cottage, Stock Lane, Aldbourne, WILTSHIRE, SN8 2NU. Contact Evelyn Whitebear 07464861129, email [email protected]. DRUM CIRCLES - Scotland Shamanic Circle: Celtic Ways One Sunday per Month, 6:30-8.30 Dates: Jan 27, Feb 17, Mar 24, Apr 21, May 19. Location: Beetroot Sauvage, 21 Ratcliffe Terrace EDINBURGH, Scotland, EH9 1SX. Contact email [email protected]. https://www.nadurra.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 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. DRUM CIRCLES - Wales Sacred Drum Community Circle in Talgarth and Cwmbran, TORFAEN, SOUTH WALES. Twice a month, dates vary, contact us for details. Suggested donation £5 or just come and join us, we would love to see you! Contact details: [email protected] 46 For full details plus more events please visit https://indieshaman.co.uk/community-resources/ 47 The Pathway

Moon above me Path before me Absolute shadow and light. Neither scare me Both encase me In order to win deny the fight. Footsteps crunching Heart is pounding Fingers tingle I’m so aware, of Spirit within me Spirit around me This joy of life In which I share. No destination No culmination Just the pathway, that’s the point, Journey onwards Ever onwards Into Great Mystery Into The Void.

Poetry: Sue Latchford https://thewoodp3cker.wordpress.com/ Photography: Rochelle Kent-Ellis https://www.flickr.com/photos/tesauphotography/