Rattling the Bones

Last Friday GP and I were at McGill where we lectured and shared our work with a group of university students. We were invited by a psychology graduate student, CS, who heard of the presentations we gave at Concordia University. AS, a professor at the Loyola campus invites us every year to his class room and thus, for the last decade. Every year we face a new generation of students and introduce them to Sacred Circle tradition and Indigenous Dreaming. No matter how many groups we visit we always have one or two students who are uncomfortable with Shamanism because they are committed to Religion and/or God. At the end of a three hour presentation last week a young woman and psychology student approached us introducing herself as a devout Catholic. “I don’t want to insult or persecute anyone,” she started with poise and confidence, “but I have a difficult time being open minded to Shamanism because I’m a devout Catholic.” I couldn’t help but nod; but there wasn’t

**** My blog entry on the Moon of Drama will come in two instalments. I’ve set it up where you can read part 1 and part 2, one after the other. Good reading. After re-reading this month’s blog entries I noticed that there seemed to be a repetitive theme. I certainly didn’t do it on purpose to frequently discuss how challenging it is or was for children to live with paranormal gifts. Yesterday, a student of mine who’s 61 years old approached me with some tough questions about her past and her challenges in letting go of old programming. I noticed again after we talked for over an hour that the topic that surfaced was that of “children dealing with emerging talents and abilities, and searching for caregivers or teachers to help them meet these challenges.” Somewhere during the discussion RP mentioned that she had picked up a book on Shamans and Shamanism. She cited a few general definitions of the words shaman and shamanism and asked if I could clear up a few of h

RP’s story is not unlike many others. We often believe that we are the only ones who were battered, abused, abandoned, humiliated etc… but the fact of the matter is, this is unfortunately a common ground amongst most human beings. When we are hurting we often say to those who want to help us: “… but you don’t understand.” A part of us has been programmed despite the obvious to believe that darkness can be owned. Sacred Circle tradition which is a shamanic tool or philosophy teaches us that nothing can be owned. Our First Nation ancestors lost claim to their ancestral land because of this shamanic belief system. They kept telling the European conquerors that “nobody can own mother earth.” 500 years later we begin to understand the depth of that wisdom but it still doesn’t changed the fact that the majority of people on this planet either own or rent their dwelling and their small piece of home. Where the ancestors thought their wisdom was practical and obvious

I often talk about Shamanism as if it was a conscious choice for me but the truth of the matter is – it wasn’t. When I met EC in 1998, she told me that she had a dream about a White Wolf who had saved her from being crushed by an18 wheeler van, on the highway. She spoke of a dream but for her it was a lucid experience. It was as real as if it had happened to her during waking time. One of the things that I’ve learnt and admired through speaking to Aboriginal People is that they don’t make a difference between sleeping and waking dreams. Life as a whole is a dream to them, the way it has always been for me. I keep hearing that Aboriginal culture in America is lost to emancipation and Christianity. It’s as if people want to believe that the first Europeans destroyed these people and there’s no way of getting it back. We live in a society that feels empowered by sufferance. Whenever I have the time to talk to people in my neighbourhood or community I

I never liked the word “ ghost ” as far as I was concerned they were “ friends .” I remember when I was 2 years old I would stay up during my afternoon naps to dance with these two ghosts . They were two young women: Ballet dancers. I knew my mother couldn’t see them because on the few occasions that she caught me dancing rather than sleeping she said: “Time for a nap and enough with the fooling around.” If I would tell her about my friends she would give me a stern look and add: “OK. Enough with the games. No lying. I expect you to go down for a nap.” I knew really early on in life that I understood these presences differently than others. There was no use in arguing because people who couldn’t see saw my experiences as lies; attention getting; or emotional manipulation. There was a certain ambiguity in my life because I was brought Catholic and when it came to Religion believing in Spirit wasn’t such a long stretch. When I was old enough to challenge people with

I received an e-mail from DLL before Christmas and she was asking me to consider writing a blog entry on “how to bring up children in Shamanism.” Her message spoke about her challenges as a mom. DLL suggested that I consider sharing on this topic and I thought it was a great idea. When I approached my children who are now adults with the question: “What do you think is the difference between a Shamanic family and a Western family?” -- they both looked at me as if it was a trick question. After I reassured them that I was serious about exploring the topic with them and even write a blog entry on the subject, they were both very forthcoming with their perspectives. My daughter explained that what she noticed the most was how Western parents often approach child rearing as if they have to program their children to believe in what they believe; see things the way they see things; and make appropriate choices which means choices with permission . My son agreed with his