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Earth Medicine Alliance                                                                 May 2012

Greetings!

I hope you can join us in welcoming Xhosa Sangoma John Lockley from South Africa at the beginning of June. This will be John's first time to the West Coast, and he will be offering a weekend ancestors intensive, community teachings, and personal divinations in Campbell, Los Gatos, and Sebastopol. Registration is open, please see our event flyer for details.

Registration is also open for our third annual conference, Celebrating Ancestral Wisdom (see conference flyer here), this Oct 20-21st in San Francisco. We're excited to announce that Luisah Teish, author, storyteller and priestess of the Ifa/Orisha faith will be our keynote speaker, present a workshop, and co-lead an outdoor ceremony on day two of the conference. Online conference tickets are now discounted for early registration at Brown Paper Tickets.

The Alliance calendar is full of ceremonies on the land, the third annual conference, hosting a film screening of A Call of Life, our visioning retreat, as well as new Voices of the Earth interviews!

We're excited about all the activity and are looking to the community for support. If you have a passion for connecting with the living Earth and feel the gratitude and abundance of time or resources, we'd love to hear from you, so please be in touch. 

Warmly,

Artemis
Executive Director

(415) 748-9658 

www.earthmedicine.org 

 

The Earth Medicine Alliance is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit.Greetings!
 
 
Rituals, Training, and Divinations 
with John Lockley, Xhosa Sangoma/Shaman
Fri, June 1st - Wed, June 6th
 
Introduction to Traditional Xhosa Medicine. Fri, June 1st, 6:30-9pm, location: Los Gatos, requested donation: $31.

Ancestors Weekend Intensive. Learn traditional Xhosa prayers (in translation) to honor the ancestors, meditation, songs and Xhosa-style trance dance to help embody the spirits and enliven dreaming. Prior ceremonial experience and openness to strong emotional/transformative experience is helpful. Sat June 2nd and Sun June 3rd, 9:15am-5pm. At The Enlightened Mind, Campbell, CA, cost: $221.

Community Fire Ritual. Around a sacred fire, John will lead ritual to help us deepen in our connection to our ancestors/spirit guides and humanity. The ceremony will include African drumming and traditional Xhosa "Ingomas" or calling chants. People will have an opportunity to discuss what is on their hearts. Tues, June 5th, 7-10pm, Sebastopol, requested donation: $31.

Personal Divinations. Traditional African divination to help forge a path of reconnection to your ancestors and spirit guides. One hour sessions held in Los Gatos (Mon June 4th and Tues June 5th) and Sebastopol (Wed June 6th), cost: $151.

Please visit http://www.african-shaman.com/ for more information on John's work and background. For info on how to register for upcoming events, see the event flyer.  Thanks for helping to get the word out about these offerings! 

 

 
Honoring the Warrior Ancestors: June 23rd 
Warrior Ancestors 
11am-3pm, Presidio of San Francisco. In the last 250 years over a million Americans have died in war with many times this seriously injured in mind or body. When we fail to honor and elevate the souls of our warrior ancestors, our families, communities, and personal integrity suffers. When given proper care and respect, these ancestors can be a potent force for supporting the vision of a world free from war and injustice. This community ritual will be open to all, by donation.  For details please see our events calendar or our Facebook event page.  This event is also aligned with Radical Joy for Hard Times and is registered as part of the The Earth Exchange Network.
 

Ways to Get Involved

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The Earth Medicine Alliance is a volunteer-run non-profit focused on helping humans to heal and enliven our relations with the rest of the natural world. One of the best ways you can support our work is by making a donation to support our efforts (we are fully tax-exempt). To inquire about becoming part of our team, email Artemis at artemis@earthmedicine.org. 

  

Alliance Wish List and Current Needs: 
  • Events Coordinator.  If it brings you joy to support with fundraising, as well as working with elders and ceremonial leaders to help bring their wisdom to the community through our annual conference and rituals on the land, please get in contact to find out more about this position.
  • Voices of the Earth seeks volunteers to work on a nonprofit film project in a flexible team environment, and interface with some of the great elders and community leaders of our time. For more information, please contact Elaine Gast Fawcett at elaine@fourwindswriting.com.  
  • Board of Directors. We are a working Board of six, and we have space for others if it's a good fit. If you have experience serving on a board, and especially if you have fundraising, marketing, business, or other practical skills feel good about contacting us.