Category Archives: shamanism

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 →

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee… and Shamanism.

This delicious email came to me through friends yesterday. They didn’t know where it came from, but that they too had received it by email. I searched the web and have found this posted many places, and some clear back from 2005, but no references or sources. But the Mom that originally coined this wisdom is extremely wise indeed. So, I pass this along to you as food for thought.

“A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee… 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 →

A Coyote’s Tail

Back at the beginning of the month, I required a “mental health weekend”. I was nearing a point of completion with a shamanic death and restructuring process that began with the full moon and lunar eclipse in July and was due for the final integration at the full moon and lunar eclipse in August. This was a intensely deep process that completely picked my bones clean, disintegrated me down to my DNA and slowly began the process of recreating me. Needless to say, this certainly rattled my cage and shifted many things in and around me, much to the dismay of some people and situations that no longer fit into the new me. But, that’s another story. Verging on the point of explosion, I called for a “mental health weekend”.

Often I’ll tell Gary “I need a vacation” and we both agree and that’s where it gets left. Not this time. Immediately after I made my declaration, I returned and asked just where we were going camping. I needed to spend time with Mother Earth and the Elementals. So, we packed up the Taj Mahal (our roomy tent), air mattress and the rest of our camping gear and headed toward north eastern Arizona.

We found a lovely primitive place to camp, amidst the noise of several families with little ones. And, in spite of the screaming babies, we reveled in the cooler weather, journeyed to the moon and stars, danced with the fire spirits and played with the Elementals and ravens that happened by, and just sat and did NOTHING! 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 →

Moving from the bottom of “The List”

Over the years, working at a deeply personal level with clients, we have become acutely aware of how much people undervalue themselves. During our debriefing after a soul retrieval, we discuss the soul pieces that have returned to be integrated and how they may shift and change a person’s life. One of the toughest changes for most people to embrace is when they are challenged to take time or do something for themselves on a routine basis. 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 →

When Children Won’t Sleep – The Monster Under the Bed

It’s bedtime, Mom and Dad are exhausted, and little Billy refuses to go to sleep. He throws this huge tantrum each and every night, giving you all sorts of excuses as to why he can’t go to sleep. “There’s a monster under my bed”, “I’m scared”, “There’s something in my room”… Every parent has been through this at least a few times in their parenting career. Sometimes it is simply an excuse for Billy to stay up and play longer, but what about when this goes on night after night after night?

From the shamanic perspective, there may truly be an interloper in Billy’s room or in his dreams. Children are more open to experiencing the energies that surround them and have clear connections to their spiritual guides. As parents we see them talking to their “imaginary friends” and tease about the Boogey Man, but to the children, they are very real. The younger the child, the more closely they are still connected to the spiritual realm. Continue reading →