Rattling the Bones

This blog entry was written by WHEEL KEEPER (Mary Rose Lessoway, Alberta) Please check out her blog at www.wheelkeeper.blogspot.com Some people don’t seem to know how to approach the Shaman for help. In other societies, the student-master relationship is clearly defined. In India for example, the devotees or students come to the guru or master with humility on bended knee with offerings of food, money or flowers. I remember going to see Ammachi, a holy woman from India who came to North America. It was at a large hotel in the convention room where hundreds of people lined up to receive darshan (blessings) from here. Before she even entered the room, there was chanting that put you in a calm, joyous mood. When the Holy woman entered, the energy escalated and people crowded close to see or touch the embodiment of the Divine Mother. The line-ups were often an hour long and we prayed and chanted the whole time. It was understood that we were in the presence of greatness. S...

Who doesn’t think of money? Apparently without “it” we can’t participate, contribute or even be an active member of Western society. Whether we speak of survival, leisure, learning or healing – it always boils down to “money.” In Montreal (Quebec, Canada) this month, students have been aggressively fighting against the government who’s looking to increase University fees over the next 4 years. It’s amazing how many students are willing to fight their peers, the establishment and the police to get their message across. They’re asking for the government to look towards a better administration of educational funds. “The money is there,” the students say, “but it’s just not administered adequately.” There’s no doubt money and self-value are themes this month. Synchronic events, dreams or visions and the natural / cosmological realities point the finger (so to speak) to particular lessons of learning and healing twice a month during the Full Moon (cosmological influence) and t...

In the field of self-discovery, we often talk about how challenging it is to work through our psychological programs. There’s a great French book entitled “J’ai Mal à mes Ancêtres” by Patrice Van Eersen and Catherine Maillard. This book explores a fairly new concept called “psychogenealogy.” Basically, psychologists who study in this field believe we are affected by the “psychology of our ancestors”; hence their issues, their unresolved, their fears, their insecurities etc… Not unlike shamanic beliefs and the idea of “ancestral stories or past lives” psychogenealogy expresses that we are programmed through DNA. Obviously we are programmed by the people who are most directly connected to us; but this new psychological perspective seems to imply that DNA isn’t only about physiological inheritance. Recently I was speaking with a few parents who had children between the age of two and 12 years old. One of the fathers mentioned how his children (two daughters between the age of 5 and...

Twenty years ago I met this great lady who was a Jewish psychologist in the Montreal area. Her 50 year old career took her all over the World where she gave talks and workshops on the importance of self-discovery. She was definitely a pioneer in her field especially when it came to women psychologists; and talked about Freud, Jung and other psychoanalysts as if they were her peers. She was in her 80’s when I first met her and wasn’t even thinking about retirement. She told great stories about her spiritual journey the kind that would inspire. I remember being really nervous and shy the first time I met her. She asked to meet with me through a friend, after hearing me talk on the Medicine Wheel. She was extremely persistent. I was incredibly nervous and shy at the prospect of spending a few hours with the lady. I was told she was brutally honest and incredibly intimidating. I couldn’t possibly understand why she wanted to spend time with me. It took a while before I mustered ...