My Shamanic Journey

I am drawn to shamanism and the wisdom of the indigenous peoples because their spiritual orientation instinctually makes sense to me. It centers me to do rituals at the equinoxes and solstices and to honor our connectedness to all living things. For many decades now, my deepest prayer has been that I may help heal our relationships with ourselves, each other, and with Mother Earth.

My journey has involved apprenticing and doing ceremony with indigenous teachers and healers in California and Hawai’i. In an apprenticeship with White Deer (my daughter’s grandfather) starting in 1976, I studied the language of herbs and hands-on healing. I studied the use of crystals and the use – and mis-use – of power with Oh Shinnah Fastwolf.

From Abraham Kawai’i, I studied Huna (an ancient form of wisdom and healing connected with the forces of nature). For many years, I did sweat lodges and other ceremonies with Charlie Toms and Fred Wahpehpah.

Since 1981 until present time, I have been involved in a neo-shamanic community in Northern California called Wakan (meaning “sacred” in the Lakota language, and “the heart of the sky” in the Mayan language) led by Dr. Tom Pinkson, an initiated shaman, or mara’kame, of the Huichol tradition (drtompinkson.com, nierica.com). Wakan is a non-profit, spiritual organization that offers services for healing and creative expression based on indigenous wisdom teachings. We actively support efforts to restore and maintain indigenous ceremonies and ways of life of our indigenous relatives in Mexico and South America.

In this community, I have participated in quarterly retreats, monthly drum ceremonies and year-long apprenticeship groups dedicated to incorporating indigenous teachings into the way we live our lives. I have served on the board of Wakan for the last ten years.

Learn about my workshops and programs.