Rattling the Bones

It seems like lots of people are interested on the topic of Guides. Have you come across the American television show called the Gifted Man? It’s about a successful, competitive neuro surgeon whose life drastically changes after his ex-wife dies and appears in his life as a Spirit Guide. Suddenly she’s triggering important life lessons; which help her arrogant, self-indulged ex-husband to look at himself with a more humbled perspective. I’m assuming the writers picked medical doctors as main characters to give some credibility to the alleged New Age concept of Spirit Guides. You get the idea that healing occurs with the help of science and skilled practitioners; but also assisted by mystery and spirit. God and medical doctors still go hand-in-hand in this show. Despite the attempt to be open to phenomenal occurrences Western judgments and programs are still palpable in the background. Still the writers thought of including a young, urban Shaman to the story. Unfortunately I’m...

We gather twice a month in Montreal to discuss the Medicine Wheel. Last week our topic was “the winds or the eight roles of the Wheel.” When I started this group almost a year ago I explained to everyone how I wanted our circle to explore the wheel empirically. So it wasn’t only about intellectually understanding the Wheel; but also about applying the teachings of the Medicine Wheel to our daily living. Personally, I get a lot from our discussions because the stories, which we share are always incredibly descriptive and do more than just define the 36 different stones of the Medicine Wheel. These personal stories show the meaning of processing and mastering the different facets of the Sacred Circle. Last week, IL talked about the Fire Keeper as someone who gets a project started. She explained how the Visionary is the person who comes up with the idea; but the Fire Keeper is the one who gives direction to a concept by organizing ways to make it manifest. IL has been climbing ...

The longest nights are definitely from late October to late December. Some years offer a more challenging experience with darkness than other years. What is darkness? To most people darkness is just another word for horror, tragedy and fear; but for others it’s excitement, comfort, silence or peace. This year Fall seems eternal despite the few flurries this weekend. On Saturday ET and I went to Bromont. ET went to get his ski pass. It was a nice ride: A mix of clear sky, sunshine and snow-promising-clouds (cold, dark and menacing). I remember imagining the Gods of Winter when I was a child (at least that’s how I called them). They had gray silver skin, puffy cheeks with white, long beards and always appeared in early December hiding through these types of dark clouds. I hadn’t seen these Gods for a while and then, yesterday they were there a top the mountains predicting a good snow season. As if ET could see them too, he started to explain to me how important it was to h...

Eight years ago I had a dream; which lead us to move from the suburb to a rural home. In this dream a First Nation ancestor showed me an old trail and told me: “You too need to follow the way of the Caribou.” When we finally signed for the house we were told by the notary that our home had been built on the oldest, indigenous trail in the Province. This legal expert was totally impressed with the fact that such information was still available. I was excited towards the confirmation. According to the notary these old indigenous trails were made by hunters who followed animal migration routes. Later on, and especially after building one of the local forts the trails were used mainly by traders. It certainly explained the dreams I had after buying the house. In these dreams I often met up with individuals who wanted to exchange coins for food, clothing or blankets. The most amazing synchronic event occurred during the first week in our new home. We arrived at the end of May, ...