Shamanism is a 100,000 year old tradition of knowledge. The Shaman is the keeper of an ancient tradition and body of healing knowledge. They were the first healers, responsible for the health and well-being of their community. A Shaman is a medicine man or woman, a healer who works with spirit and mediates between spirit and our ordinary world. The Shaman enters the non-ordinary reality through meditation and connects to his or her own power source and power animals.

Using the American Indian Medicine Wheel as a living tool, the Shaman initiates a self healing process that leads him or her on a journey into the spiritual world. We will use the Medicine Wheel as a learning tool, just as the Shamans have done for ages. We are going to be calling on the spirits of the Four Winds to guide us through our journey. We will travel to each direction of the Medicine Wheel and call upon the spirit of that direction. We will call upon the Serpent in the South, the Jaguar in the West, the Eagle in the East, and the Horse in the North. These are the archetypes of the nature world, the original energy forms from which all else in nature has been modeled. Calling upon these spirits allows us to tap into an ancient historical image of the major forces of nature. It's very important to bring the archetype into the moment and connect with it deeply, and the way to do this is by giving it form.

The wheel begins in the south and initiates a cleansing process. We will go through the rituals and meditation that will help us to cleanse and shed our past. We will call upon the Serpent to help disconnect us from our past life karma and to set us free on our path. One cannot build without sweeping away the clutter of what existed before.

Then we will travel to the West and call upon the Jaguar to help us die. We will go through a spiritual death and a spiritual rebirth as a warrior facing our fears along the journey. The Rainbow Jaguar has its hind legs in the physical and his forelegs in the spiritual realm. We will go through the rituals which will help us prepare to die and leap into spirit, awakening to the understanding that there is no death since we are already one with spirit.

Then we will travel to the North, and call upon the Horse to take us to the Crystal Cave where the Masters sit and we will sit among them and ask them to teach us of the higher knowledge.

And, finally, we will travel to the East and we will call upon the Eagle to help us create a vision for ourselves. We will look ahead to the future and create our destiny for ourselves and for our planet.

We will all follow the path that Shaman have followed for centuries in the initiation process. But only those who are fully prepared to accept the responsibilities that go with becoming a Shaman, a caretaker of the Earth will be initiated.

A Shaman will heal on many levels; the mind, the body, and the spirit. Unlike Western doctors, who identify a problem and treat a symptom, the Shaman works with the whole person on many levels at once, integrating the mind, body, and spirit in the healing process. The act of diagnosis and healing are one and the same for the Shaman. The Shaman believes that we in the West live in a cultural trance. If we are symptom-free we think that everything is well and fine, but in truth we are really stagnating. It order to change and grow, we must experience dis-ease. So what we label as illness, the Shaman views as an opportunity for growth. We try not to rock the boat. The Shaman wants to rock it. We must break through our cultural trance.

The Shaman doesn't just deal with physical ailments, but extends his or her powers and influence to include problems in the community and dysfunction in emotional and interpersonal relationships. The role of the Shaman in the tribe, closely correlates to the position of a Social Worker in modern society. In school, we are taught that the social worker deals with every system that effects the client in an effort to facilitate growth and improve the quality of life. This includes the intrapsychic and interpersonal, as well as taking into account the community, family and both the physical and emotional system of the individual. So why not the spiritual? To explore the roots of Social Work, it may mean exploring the role of the original Shaman.

The earth is dying. We have little time to waste. The new Shamans, the new caretakers of the earth, will come from the West. We must take a quantum leap in consciousness in order to heal the earth. In the past, a generation had to die in order for a more advanced form of the species to develop. We don't have that kind of time anymore. With science advancing as quickly as it has been, each generation is living longer. Now a new species of man must develop within a generation. Within our lifetime.

The focus of the group is learning the ancient healing practices of the Native American Indian. These practices are being used in our society today. Drumming, breathing and meditation will open the doorways to this ancient body of knowledge. Come join us on this incredible path of personal power.