Rattling the Bones

I received an interesting question a few weeks ago from someone who’s been walking a Shamanic path but is not Aboriginal. The man’s question was: “Why have I been chosen to do this work when I have no knowledge whatsoever of the Aboriginal way?” After some digging into the man’s story, I uncovered that he started doing healing work almost two decades ago when his life wasn’t moving anywhere. He lived in the city, had no love relationships, worked with the elderly and was hoping for a change. He said that a trip to Costa Rica and a meeting with a therapist who did ritualistic, adventure trips got him questioning some of his beliefs. It seems that from that point on one synchronic event over another brought him to people and to experiences which helped him learn about healing and introduced him to his present shamanic path. CS explained that he often feels guilty that he’s working on Aboriginal people but he’s not Aboriginal. He’s found some guidance towards answeri...

A good 15% of the images we find in our dreams are related to our environment. A change of season, a change of employment, the start of a new relationship, a death in the family or simply a trip to a different region away from home can cause a shift in your dreams. I’ve only touched a fraction of the things you can do on a daily basis that can create a new detail or image in your dream space. Think of it this way – every time you add something new in your life or take away something old your dreams will identify it. When I took this picture (blog photo) of these yellow birds in my garden -- I wasn't prepared for what the dreaming would later communicate to me. It literally introduced 3 months worth of living that was totally unexpected. Not only that but I noticed that synchronicities started appearing more and more in relationship to this image and I was guided to experiences beyond my imagination. Why do dreams connect to life changes? Because we dream for seve...

My grand-father was an incredible story teller. He was able to tell the same story over and over again and get people laughing every time. Sometimes he would even change the ending or add new characters. If people would argue and say “so and so wasn’t even there that day,” he’d reply: “I’m the one telling the story. Sit down and listen.” No matter how he told the story the lesson or the message would remain the same. When I got a little older I wondered about which story was the true one? How had it really happened and who had really been there to witness it all? I often asked my parents and grand-parents questions and each time they would answer: “It doesn’t matter what the truth is as long as you get the point.” For years I tried to understand why reality wasn’t crucial in my grand-father’s stories but was absolutely important when it came to mine. I could never get away with a fib. Then, one afternoon six months before my grand-father passed away my g...

When I was about 4 years old I started to play with an imaginary friend. My parents sat me down one day and explained to me that “this friend wasn’t real. He was a figment of my own imagination.” There was talk and questions between adults in the family concerning the roots of this “problem.” Indeed, everyone thought there was something wrong with me having an imaginary friend. I even remember talking to my “invisible” friend about the troublesome conversations people were having about us. I didn’t understand why the next door neighbour was more appropriate to play with than this friend who was there with me most of the time. “Are you anxious or afraid?” people would ask and each time I’d answer, “no!” After a while, people started questioning me on my imaginary friend. “Is he a boy or a girl?” my dad asked. “A boy,” I answered. For weeks my mom tried to get me to play with my brother more and to understand that if I needed a boy in my life there w...

I recently went to a fund raiser for the Centaur Theater in Montreal and the key not lecturer was Marc Garneau a famous Canadian Astronaut. During the evening Mr. Garneau shared how it felt to prepare for a trip into space. I noticed that lots of what he shared wasn’t foreign to me even though I’ve never traveled to the moon (yet that may be debatable). Ironically lots of what he said resembled my story with chronic illness. I think there is more than one way to reflect on life and one’s mortality. Whenever we’re asked to face the unknown and surpass our fears we touch a part of our self that is God like. Whether we wait impatiently to be called to board a rocket ship or we wait impatiently to be called to take a 2 hour nuclear scan I think that for some of us the experience moves us to see more than the ego, the fears, the panic and to touch the mystery of life. I often tell people that what I find is lacking in our society is the knowledge and wisdom to prepare ...

Westerners look at dreaming as a mental ability which occurs during REM sleep. They approach their dreams with the help of symbolism and although they have access to science and the possibility to explore this topic much deeper than any of their predecessors there’s less known on dreaming today than there were over 2000 years ago. Now – how sad is that? Indigenous people understand dreaming as a phenomenon which occurs when the body is in a calm state or when the lungs and heart are synchronized. This is why drumming and breathing are important tools (so to speak) in the art of shamanic dreaming. Dreaming has long been a mystery and yet, dreamers from all walks of this earth have explored this realm and arrived to the understanding of some common wisdom. I tend to refer to dreaming communities more so than scientists when it comes to the study of dreaming. Alleged primitive cultures have more experience when it comes to living with dreams than today’s modern socie...

I got a call today from “one of you” and the question was: “If I’m good at manifestation what does that mean?” Well my first instinct was to answer – “give me 6 numbers and be sure there’s a whole lot of money in the draw this week,” but obviously what came out was a more wise and educated reply. Lots of people confuse manifestation with creation. I’ve heard countless individuals assume that because they were good at manifesting things in their life they were dabbling with creative energy. In truth, I’ve found that most people who excel in manifestation don’t possess creative natures. They are more practical, rational and strategic with their time, energy and intentions. These attributes certainly fit the person I was talking to. To manifest you don’t necessarily have to be someone who is enlighten and big on positive energy. I’ve met people who are drowning in the negative and have more manifesting power than those who are seeking spiritual growth. The power be...