spiritual support

The Word Shaman and the Work : Use and Mis-use, a prologue...

The Word Shaman and the Work : Use and Mis-use, a prologue...

The Word Shaman and the Work: Use and mis-use... a prologue

This is a contentious topic in some circles and I tread here with some hesitation. But I am asked about this a lot and so I like to approach it with respect for all of us and our many different perspectives, backgrounds and understandings as well as respect for both the benefits and failings of language and the varied cultures from which this all arises.

There have always been medicine people in every culture we know of. The names given to these people befitted the culture and conveyed among their people what was needed. In present time, all over the world we still have medicine people who are now often called by the singular term shaman, especially by those outside the specific culture.

(Art: “White Hummingbird” in memory of great southwestern artist Frank Howell who featured beautiful images of original peoples and their great dignity. www.frankhowell.art)

Liminal Spaces

Liminal Spaces

In the now seemingly never-ending wake of violence and tragedy we currently witness and experience, I find my body moving spontaneously out of the pounding glare of description, fact, comment and opinion and into a repose of stillness and merging with the heart of the Earth. After petition signing, phone-calls, protests and protections, sending aid, tending hurts, there comes a subtle, oceanic movement guided by my body intelligence to turn from the polarized world of event histories --for awhile-- and enter the subjective, timeless mystery of the Dreamtime.