Shamanism Blog

This is a video of Mandaza (Augustine) Kandemwa, who is a nganga, a Bantu shaman, in the Shona and Nbebele tradition of healing and peacemaking. In this video Mandaza shares the importance of Dare´in family and community as a way of peacemaking. He also shares the importance of ‘dreams’.

We will be hosting Mandaza at Northern Edge Algonquin August 22-24, 2008. Embraced by nature we will engage in ceremony, ritual, and council inspired by Shona and Nbebele traditions of Zimbabwe with the intent of bringing healing and peace to ourselves, each other and the planet. Gathered together in Council including Dream Council, we will call on the spirits, listen deeply, explore and weave our dreams and spirits’ messages in community creating a beautiful tapestry inspiring hope.

Medicine for the Earth Shamanism Newsletter

Spring 2008

Changing the Dream

Hello Friends,

As spring melts the snows of winter layer by layer, we are invited to consider what needs to melt away and what new seeds wish to be planted? For a few months now, I have been through a process of clearing away what no longer fits making room for new life. I feel urgency in the air to clear anything that keeps me from engaging in the purpose that lies in my heart…anything that keeps me from dreaming new dreams for the myself, others and the Earth.

We had a very rare and exciting visitor to our home the other night. Just as we were preparing to sit down to our dinner, I saw the most beautiful owl sitting on a tree limb a few feet from our window. My son and I delighted in watching this beautiful creature, when it decided to come closer! It landed on our porch railing. It was there for about an hour, and returned again later to the exact location. My son turned to me and said, “what message does he have for us mom”?

The next day while on my walk I discovered a beautiful patch of mossy earth on which I laid down to journey around the message the owl had for me. The owl came and removed my eyes, replacing them with owl vision so that I will be able to navigate through darkness or uncertainties.

While on a trip to Montreal, I had more insight into the gifts the owl was presenting to me. I attended a symposium created by the Pachamama Alliance who’s mission in part is ‘To contribute to the creation of a new global vision of equity, and sustainability for all’.

At the same time, my husband Todd was undergoing training with Al Gore and The Climate Project. Following this experience we dined in a restaurant called “Onoir”. Our blind waiter greeted us in the foyer, inviting us to hold onto the shoulder of the person in front of us, as he led us to the dining room. We entered through a thick black velvet curtain, and I immediately felt some fear arise in me. Dining in the dark provides an opportunity to go within, just like being on a vision quest in a cave and I surrendered to the fear. I felt I was preparing for some times of ‘uncertainty’ ahead, and that I may be asked to lead other’s through their own fear of change…of letting go of the familiar as we dream a new dream together.

Many people feel overwhelmed around the serious issue of ‘Global Warming’ and climate change. It is very important for us to remember that together, using our imaginations we are very powerful. Remember the ‘ozone layer’ and the hole that humanity created? It has been repaired as a result of our global efforts. During the symposium we were shown part of a list of the millions of communities and organizations that are working towards creating a more sustainable global vision. We could not see the whole list as it would have a few weeks to view. Each day more and more people are joining these efforts. We need to engage our imaginations in a new dream and let go of the old dream that does not serve the world. What can we do in our own backyards? What can we do in our own communities, families and homes? What small changes can we make everyday that contribute to creating healthy vibrant communities and planet?

The Owl has inspired a deep desire within me to make alliances with wisdom keepers around the world, helping to preserve and share this wisdom. It is time to come together in circles and council, creating communities where our gifts are supported and celebrated and where we can work towards a new shared global vision.

As a part of this vision we have the incredible opportunity of hosting a special visitor to the Edge Friday August 22 through Sunday August 24, 2008, Mandaza (Augustine) Kandemwa, who is a nganga, a Bantu shaman, in the Shona and Nbebele tradition of healing and peacemaking. Mandaza will be facilitating a retreat at the Edge during which we will be exploring dreams, performing ceremony and coming together in council. The cost to participate in this experience with Mandaza and others is $497.00 CAD. For more information on this and other gatherings at the Edge visit Shamanism Canada or call Kate, in the office, 800 953 3343.

Individual sessions with Mandaza providing healings/readings will be available on donation basis throughout his visit.

Journeying Through the Threads of Time:

Find a rock the size of your palm and another rock that is large and flat. With the rock’s permission, begin grinding the smaller rock onto the larger rock in a circular pattern, creating a sound you can journey to. Travel through the threads of time to your ancestors and ask why have you chosen to be on the planet at this crucial time? What special gifts have you come into this world to manifest?

Journey to your great grandchildren or descendants and ask what you can do to ensure they have fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink and an Earth Mother who is able to nurture them?

Consider hosting a Medicine for the Earth, Inconvenient Truth, or Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream gathering in your community to help bring awareness to what we can do to change the dream.

Upcoming Gatherings at the Edge:

I also invite you to join us for one of our upcoming gatherings at Northern Edge Algonquin. Only for our newsletter subscribers we are offering a 10% discount when you register for Basic Shamanism, May 23-25 or Medicine for the Earth, June 13-15. Spaces are filling quickly so call Kate at 800 953 3343 to register.

We just finished hosting the 3rd 2 Year Advanced Shamanism Winter Gathering, where 15 participants gathered at the Edge. Our theme was exploring the Light and Shadow within. We had a perfect day for snowshoeing and skiing, and during our afternoon break we ventured out to explore the islands where Tom Thompson frequently visited. We performed a ceremony to honour the light within us which culminated by igniting several ice lanterns in the ‘Garden of Gratitude’, where we gave thanks to the helping spirits, spirits of the land, nature spirits, the directions and our ancestors for the support they continually offer us on our healing paths. On this beautiful evening, I gave special thanks to my father on the 10th anniversary of his passing. I feel so very blessed for the abundance and beauty in my life.
May you enjoy much deep peace through out the year. Blessings. Martha

Martha

“It’s not what we do, but who we become that changes the world.”
~ Sandra Ingerman, Medicine for the Earthch

Welcome to our new Shamanism Blog. I have added a new layout to Martha’s blog. We hope you like the new look. The new blog makes it super easy to enter into dialogue and share your thoughts on Shamanism practice.

Martha

“It’s not what we do, but who we become that changes the world.”
~ Sandra Ingerman, Medicine for the Earth

Martha has been very busy participating in 3 private blogs with current and past Advanced Two Year Shamanism students. Martha has also been writing her newsletter, Shamanism and Medicine for the Earth and teaching shamanism every month. Martha is also overseeing the Transition of the Blue Canoe in South River, formally our retail store, now a centre for transformation and healing arts.

Please drop her a note at edge@shamanismCanada.com if you have any questions about Shamanism. If you want to connect with her directly, try finding her or Northern Edge Algonquin on Facebook.

I step off the plane….up until this step I had fully anticipated having a pleasurable trip with my loved ones. As my foot hits the pavement I feel an ache in my heart. With each passing step I feel the pain in my heart deepen. Something has triggered me and the heaviness spreads with each pulse through my veins. I begin a spiral downward into the dark place of the void.

My perception shifts and I am no longer in the present but replaying wounds of my past… the wounds of my mother and grandmother. Judith Duerk in her book ‘The Circle of Stones’ shares that a woman must go down into the darkness to discover her own value and authentic voice. Yet we are not encouraged or supported in this place like women were long ago. It is essential for our healing to go to the depths, beyond ordinary space and time to the lower world and listen to the truths that lie there, as well as find the jewels. The void is feared because it is a place that necessitates change.

I really wish to be home in my place of comfort where I can close my bedroom door, or go to a cabin in the woods and do the work I must do… alone. But, I am not alone and not in my comfort zone. My spiraling affects the others. My darkness is ever present, and I feel out of control. Did I unconsciously choose this time and place to do this work? The perfect ingredients are present to propel me into the perfect downward spiral.

Those I am with take on the roles of the mother and father that I perceived abandoned and rejected me. My wounded child self grieves. I delve deeper to find the root of abandonment. Underneath I discover the feeling of rejection…of feeling de-valued. I go deeper to discover this wound is not just mine. Within my cells are the cells of my mother and grandmother. Within my wounds are the wounds of my mother and grandmother and their mothers and grandmothers.

It is my job now to birth new dreams and possibilities, shifting old patterns that limit our beliefs about who we are and what we are capable of. As I dream new dreams for myself, a ripple is created that affects the whole. The Chaos Theory of the Butterfly Effect states that with a flap of its wings, a butterfly can create change on the other side of the world: Perhaps even affecting change into the future and into the past.

This is not the first time I am in the void. It takes time to shift perceptions, shape new dreams and heal old wounds. Going to the void I peel another layer. The deeper I allow myself to go, the more layers I peel. I go deep and touch my own spirit…my own soul. Thankfully my companion supports me as I cradle myself in the void, connecting once again to my authentic self.

Sandra Ingerman author of “Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self” shares that many shamanic cultures around the world believe that illness is due to the loss of the soul. The cause of ‘soul loss’ is trauma, accident, and illness and the symptoms include dissociation, chronic depression, suicidal tendencies, grief that does not heal, apathy, walking through life as an observer rather than a participant, addictions to food, relationships, substances, alcohol, material objects and a lack of vital life energy.

Shamanic cultures understood the importance of retrieving the soul of a person shortly after the trauma, usually within 3 days and it was the role of the Shaman to do this work.
In our present culture without an understanding of the importance of Soul Retrieval, there are millions of people walking around with soul loss….generations of soul loss.

I cry the tears of my wounded child, and gradually my heart begins to lighten. I feel myself moving back up to the surface of ordinary reality, but my work is not yet done. I now find a Shaman to assist in retrieving the essence of my soul so that I may feel once again revitalized with a sense of purpose. I use the energy that has brought back my vitality to create a positive present and future.

Martha

“It’s not what we do, but who we become that changes the world.”
~ Sandra Ingerman, Medicine for the Earth

A few months ago a friend of a friend passed away. Over the years while visiting with my friend “Maria”, I would hear stories of how her magical community of friends shared their passions with one another. I heard stories of the “Dream Circle” where they shared their nighttime dreams with one another, very gently supporting the dreamer to discover what the dream meant to them. One of the women expressed an interest in singing, and so they created a “Singing Circle” they called the “Unchoir” providing a safe place for those who felt they could not sing.

When one of the members of this community found out she had breast cancer, some of the group created a healing circle. Maria shared “Over the years this circle evolved, into a place of refuge and tender hearted acceptance. In the glow of beeswax candles, we formed a circle and held vigil with each other in meditation, with the occasional prayer or song and quiet words exchanged. From early on we learned the value of placing our hands, first on our beloved friend, and then on any one of us in need.”

I remember a time when the friend who was sick had to go for treatment away from home. She received a message or gift each day from a member of the circle reminding her of her light.. her beauty, and her gifts. Reminding her that she is loved and supported.

I am in awe of the generous circle of support that this group of friends created. I am in awe of the community that came together to sing, rejoice and celebrate her life and each other. I feel the ripples of this circle, like sparkles of light emmanating out and touching the hearts of many.

This is what I believe we all ache for…. a loving circle of friends and family…. a safe container to expose our vulnerabilities, and share our talents…..a place we can truly call home.

Martha

“It’s not what we do, but who we become that changes the world.”
~ Sandra Ingerman, Medicine for the Earth

This past week has been a full week here at the Edge. As part of our Staff training week, one of our first guides “Chris Mortimer” introduced us to some nature awareness activities. Each day in the morning and evening we were invited to go to our “Sit Spot” with a journal in hand and observe using all of our senses, life around us. This morning at my sit spot I focused on listening to the birds. I questioned why birds sing, especially in the morning and early evening? I watched and listened as the sun rose up over the lake, and this is the story I heard…..

Living high up in the trees, birds are the first to see the sun rise in the morning. They are like nature’s alarm clocks, and their role is to awaken life. Their songs together create a chorus inviting the web to awaken from their slumber. They arrive with spring as once again their role is to sing and awaken life….. seeds that have been covered by the winter snow, and animals in their dens hear these beautiful songs and emerge. The songs of joy are spread through the land and over the water from bird to bird reminding all of us that we each have a song to sing.

Their songs are fullest as spring moves towards summer diminishing as the summer moves toward fall. The birds also tell us when it is time to retire, and fall back asleep. They sing us to sleep with their lullabies as the sun begins to set. As fall sets in they fly to where they can sing life awake again in a different place. This is the reason they have wings to fly, otherwise it might be a much longer time before spring arrives again!

Martha

“It’s not what we do, but who we become that changes the world.”
~ Sandra Ingerman, Medicine for the Earth