Rattling the Bones

I spent the afternoon in Montreal.   G was looking for shoes and I was the reluctant tag-along.   Anyone who has been to Montreal knows how busy it can get especially during the week.   Traffic is a constant in the city and if you’re trying to find parking, you better be prepared for a few annoying spins around a maze of one ways.   Some of us who believe in Spirit usually do a few prayers before leaving home.   Quick parking is usually a confirmation that Spirit is on our side… J G and I usually park near the Cathedral Marie Reine du Monde when we want to go walking in centre town.   It’s a bit of a stroll to reach Ste-Catherine Street, the main shopping strip; but the “Sacred Site vibe” I’ve always gotten from the Cathedral and its surrounding areas is well worth it.   In Shamanism, a Sacred Site is often another word for a cemetery.   For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been able to pin point a burial ground just by the impressions I can pick up from the land.   O

In the last month I’ve come across a few people who voiced out a concern toward bringing together Shamanism and Western living.   In two of the cases, the individuals believed that Shamanism was not something you could incorporate at work; or successfully bring home to the family.   Of course I disagree!! What was most surprising was to hear the statement from a student of Shamanism who has walked the path in her Western World, for close to a decade.    When G and I started teaching the Medicine Wheel and Indigenous Dreaming 15+ years ago, we used to tell our students to “leave their Western thinking at the door.”   We had understood through our personal experience and initiations that it was difficult to receive the most out of these old traditions if we approached them with our Western programs and expectations.   Noted: Everyone filters what they learn and what they heal through their cultural, religious and social indoctrination.   Yet, leaving what “we know” at the do