Rattling the Bones

Just before the holidays, SO and I were sitting at the kitchen table discussing judgments and expectations regarding Shamans. SO mentioned how after listening to the women speak about me when she went to her first Moonlodge, she expected me to be much older than I was. People spoke of me having the kind of wisdom she only encountered when dealing with people with old age. “No even,” she corrected. SO talked about how the ladies seemed in awe of me. She explained that before I even walked into the room she had extremely high expectations. I definitely didn’t fit the image she had created for herself. I remember telling my husband during the course of the last two decades that my line of work would get easier once I’d reached old age. The more wrinkles and white hair the better for me. Ironically, people have huge expectations concerning the looks and behaviors of shamanic, traditional medicine people. In many cases anthropologists and their research fuel these expectations. Be...

I’m a people watcher. My husband and I will go to the mall sometimes just to sit and watch shoppers. 20 years from now, we’ll be the only older couple in the park who doesn’t keep an eye on the pigeons. All kidding aside, my husband and I have found that lots of our major discoveries and attitude changes came from watching people behave and interact. It’s amazing how much you can learn just by listening. Remember as I often say: “Listening isn’t only about what moves through the ears.” It’s about being present to your environment with all 6 of your senses. Recently G and I went out for a walk with Bella and JC (our trainer). On our journey around our neighbourhood we met up with a woman and her 2 year old son. On asphalt, this lady was literally dragging the boy on a plastic sleigh. The screeching sounds showed it wasn’t a smooth ride. The pebbles and mud were splashing over the child’s winter attire (he kept his eyes closed the whole way) and the woman’s red cheeks were mor...

I recently received these two message from DALL and MR. From DALL: I watched the Nativity story this Christmas and it really opened my eyes to persecution and how it is something that we have live with forever. I saw how persecution is part of life. I am not a Religious person and I have noticed how I react strongly about anything that has to do with Religion. Watching the nativity story felt really healing. I wanted to know about Jesus. I have heard that he is the greatest Shaman: The shaman of all shamans. In the Muslim religion they say Jesus is the son of Mary and Joseph and that he is a prophet. I find that I am always wondering what is the true story about Jesus. Could you write a blog entry about Jesus and his connection with Shamanism? DALL ******* From MR: I would love to know the true story of Jesus as a Shaman. Another theme that has come up for me is around death and 
unresolved. It seems that when we face death, our unresolved is the 
most important thing there is... I re...

Have you ever noticed how people struggle with the idea of saying “goodbye.” People have a tendency of finding me abrupt when it comes to phone conversations or at the end of social events. The way I see it: “When it’s time to go, it’s time to go!” I don’t like the hesitation, the resistance, the fear and unease that people go through when it gets close to say “good bye, goodnight, or see you later.” From my point of view if people played around with the idea of “death” whenever it manifests in some shape or form in their life, they would eventually move beyond their limitations and gain so much from the teachings. People define death at something negative, something tragic and something they would love to refuse rather than surrender to. The fact of the matter is death is inevitable and as far as anyone knows “it opens up to an unknown”. Statistically speaking the divorce rate has never been so high. I’ve never met so many people who are not in relationships or who complain...

I wanted to start the New Year with an inspiring topic. Nothing came to mind until I offered my daughter an impromptu trip to Chicago just before the holidays. Her new boyfriend, KEV and his family were permanently leaving Canada for the U.S. A week before Christmas their house was packed up and the moving truck ready to go. Each member of KEV’s family was divided all over the Montreal area staying with family and friends; waiting for the 22nd so they could all drive down to Chicago together. KEV stayed at our house for a little over a week. A few days before his departure both KT and KEV were overly emotional and obviously upset with the idea of saying goodbye. They were undeniably ready and committed to a long distance relationship but they weren’t ready to be apart yet. It was clear to everyone that this was love at first sight; but what was sad was that as soon as they found each other they had to also say goodbye. It was interesting to watch both KEV and KT try to pack in...