Category Archives: shamanic journeys

Lions and Tigers and Bears – Oh My … Animal Guides

Okay, so I’m behind AGAIN… Can I say I’ve been busy harvesting and preserving the fruits of the summer’s labor? Someone at the farmer’s market yesterday was buying zucchini… I’ve been trying to GIVE them away! (Hey… maybe zucchini should be our Fall Harvest Give Away!) I have also been working on developing and acquiring some new product for our website at www.shamansmarketplace.com.

And, besides, you don’t want to just hear me ramble. I’m sure you all have someone in your life who can fill that role if you need it. I’m not a rambler. Gary and I can ride in the car together for hours and hardley say a word. Just knowing we’re together and sharing the time together is heavenly.

Those of you who have worked with Gary and I over the years have heard us constantly referring to “we” when talking about your journeys. It sounds like we’re pregnant or have a mouse in our pocket, right? Well, we’re definitely NOT pregnant, but could possibly have that mouse in our pocket. An animal guide mouse that is. Continue reading →

Everything is Sacred

Well everyone, I know I’m way behind on updating the blog, but life is such a whirlwind right now that it’s hard to keep upright.
We are busy preparing for our big move to Oregon the end of next month, so we are working diligently preparing our house to be rented, including the final piece of remodeling and lots of small repairs that we seem to not notice except when the rental agent is pointing them out.


I will be leaving my part-time job the end of this month and have started training my replacement. Can you imagine trying to pass along 4 ½ years of job experience in two weeks?? I see many margarita nights coming….

And we haven’t even started thinking about packing yet….


So, I hope we have your sympathy and that you’ll bear with us until we are settled and can start writing on a regular routine.

So, on to our story….

Sometimes we tend to get caught up in the trappings of the world and forget that everything is sacred, especially when it comes to spiritual endeavors including ceremony. We have to have the right stone or candle or incense or the ceremony won’t be right. Or we have to craft an item to perfection. “The right tool for the right job.”


I touched on this quite a few blogs back with the Popcorn and M&M ceremony, that even the most mundane item can hold a spiritual purpose. We often employ the “Sacred Bic” that Gary carries in his pocket and the “sacred hair dryer” for tightening up a drum head when the weather is too damp. Like a dear friend use to tell us, “If the Indians would have had a Bic or a glue gun, they’d have used them.” Indigenous people are VERY practical! Continue reading →

Stories from the Time of Magic

Imagine stepping back into the rhythm of the past… into the days of vast forests, sacred groves and fires at twilight… of circles of three… women, priestesses, druids, healers… drumming and drawing stories of wisdom from the Otherworld to bless and heal the community. See yourself gathered around the sacred flame, see the faces of Maiden, Mother and Crone, and hearing their stories of wisdom and healing for the earth, the community and you…

As some of you know, my explorations of shamanism have brought me to a deep connection with Celtic shamanism, which is my heritage and spiritual connection through many, many lifetimes. It is through this connection that I have had the honor and opportunity to be a part of this circle of healing this past year. It has been a phenomenal healing and growth experience. Continue reading →

A Coyote’s Tale

My deepest apologies to those who follow our blog. Hopefully some of our readers have not quit checking in thinking we’d abandon everyone. Like each of you, sometimes life gets really crazy. Shamans are not exempt for the worldly chaos. We reside physically in this plane and experience it to it’s fullest – ups and downs.

Over a year ago, we decided we would be returning to Oregon soon. Well, soon is rapidly arriving and there is a lot to be done here to make that transition. We are finishing some much needed upgrades in our house to prepare it for renting, and that always takes a lot longer than we plan. So, if ever we’re away for a long period, you will likely find us under a pile of sawdust or covered in paint 🙂

A couple of blogs ago, I told you the story of the coyote’s tail and promised to fill you in on the coyote’s “tale”. It wasn’t a very big or exciting story, but here is the Coyote’s Tale. Continue reading →

Stepping into the Medicine Wheel – The South Gate

I just got our summer newsletter published and am finally getting the info into this blog as well… only 3 weeks into summer! I’m beginning to think that being behind is my normal state of affairs as I move through this mid portion of my life. One of these days I’ll move into those elder years and being behind won’t matter 🙂

Here is Phoenix, we are entering the “belly of the monssons” as of weather guesser put it last night. So, we are fully in the throws of summer here. It’s time for indoor activities or slow roasting outdoors. So, maybe I’m not so behind as I thought to discuss the south gate of the medicine wheel. (Hey, we can rationalize anything… right?)

In the winter we began our journey around the medicine wheel. You can read this information in the introduction to the medicine wheel in our spring newseltter. Although we usually enter the medicine wheel from the east gate you can enter anywhere that feels appropriate. So I invite you to begin your explorations here in the south gate.

The South Gate – Transformation and Passion Continue reading →

Sedona and a Hopi Blessing

After over eleven years of living in Arizona and many trips to Sedona, Gary and I decided it was high time to take one of the vortex tours in Sedona. I have started work on a new set of guided journey CDs and am collecting medicine wheel photos to use for cover art. So we decided that a medicine wheel and vortex tour would be fun.

A good friend recommended Earth Wisdom Tours (www.earthwisdomtours.com) to us, so I called and arranged the tour. Gary and I made an overnight trip and spent Friday evening enjoying some quiet time together and window shopping in Sedona (town closes down between 5 and 6 pm). Continue reading →

Computers, Hypnosis and Shamanism

Sorry it’s been so long since the last post. Sometimes the shaman gets redirected to the real world of work. I have been revamping our website and expect to have our new shopping cart active by the end of this coming week. The shopping cart had a major trauma and lost several soul pieces that the programmers could not retrieve. Even the shaman we called in threw up her hands and said “No way!” So, we had to start from scratch with a new program and it has been taking a very large amount of my time over the last month or so. You know programs never work the way they tell you they will. (Now that’s a perfect segway into today’s topic.)

Since we’re talking about computers… let’s talk about yours. Continue reading →

Celebrate Mother Earth

I know it’s been a while since I posted. Sometimes life happens and sometimes I run out of ideas of something relevant to post. Believe me, you don’t want to hear my mind’s ramblings 🙂 If you have something you would like to hear about, please feel free to drop me any email at mailto:debbie@shamanicconnection.com.

It’s been a busy few weeks here in Phoenix, and life is good. The weather is warming up and we hit 98 Monday. We should be cooling back to the 80’s tomorrow. I know, many of you are just beginning to see the snow melt. But, summer in Phoenix, is like winter in the colder climates. We are not as active outdoors during the heat, and spend more time indoors during the intense days of monsoon season when we hit over 110. So, it’s not much different than the winter cold, except we don’t have any white stuff to shovel and the intense heat only lasts about 4 weeks!!

Today I want to chat about Earth Day coming up on Tuesday, April 22. Continue reading →

Shaman as Deathwalkers – Part II

As promised, we’ll continue where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted by Life. We were discussing the role of the shaman as a “Deathwalker” assisting those who are preparing to make their transition to Spirit or those who have already transitioned.

Sometimes when a death occurs, the Soul is caught unprepared. Sometimes the Soul may not understand what happened or that they are dead. This Soul’s natural journey back to its spiritual home, is then interrupted. The Soul needs help, it cannot continue the journey on its own. This is where a shaman can assist the Soul to continue it’s journey home. Continue reading →