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Foundation for Shamanic Studies E-Newsletter
www.shamanism.org
June 2008
Vol. 2, Issue 3
In This Issue
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Greetings
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Summer – a time of abundance, ease, rejuvenation.

Here, near San Francisco, the smoke from several major fires in Central and Northern California produces an eerie red glow in the western sky as the bright summer sun sets. The smell of smoke lingers in the air. I fear for the people, animals, and land in the path of the fires. Yet, from where I sit, the birds build their nests and feed the nestlings chirping loudly for their dinners. I see a bobcat saunter out through the trees and sit quietly near a gopher hole, awaiting his own repast. I am reminded of the immediacy of life, the importance of doing in each moment what needs to be done – and how fear of what might be can rob us of what is – and diminish our power to be of service.

May you be held in the embrace of the spirits through adversity and may the abundance and peace that is the gift of summer find you and fill your heart with peace.

Susan Mokelke
Executive Director

Submit your ideas and news for the Articles and Healing Words sections to the Editor.

drum
Advanced Residential Workshops in 2008: A new Three-Year Program in Advanced Initiations in Shamanism & Shamanic Healing will start October 26-31, 2008 in the San Francisco Bay Area, taught by Alicia L. Gates, including weekly discussion sessions with guest Michael Harner. The five-day Soul Retrieval Training will be held August 10-15, 2008 in Portland, Oregon, taught by Sandra Ingerman. The East Coast Two-Week Intensive in Advanced Shamanic Healing will be held November 2-13, 2008 in Madison, Virginia, taught by Nan Moss & David Corbin.

FSS Circle The enhanced FSS Circle, for all participants in the Circle of the Foundation, is live on the Foundation's website.
Drum Circle
Participants in the Circle can now login to access exclusive benefits, including the FSS Forum and archival audio talks by Michael Harner. Once logged in you can also access the "My FSS" section where you can edit your contact information, create or edit your online Shamanic Services Listing or Donor Bio (for qualifying participants), and update your listing for the voluntary Circle of the Foundation Directory in the FSS journal The Shamanism Annual.
In the public online Shamanic Services listings, people seeking shamanic healing and other services can search by location for a shamanic healer or diviner, Certified Shamanic Counselor™, or drumming circle in their local area. Circle participants can post their shamanic healing service - and, for qualifying Circle donors, even add a description and photo. If you are part of the Circle of the Foundation, you can login now to activate your listing. To become part of the Circle of the Foundation, click here. Receive valuable personal benefits and see how you can support shamanism worldwide by becoming part of the Foundation's shamanic community.

We are saddened to report that FSS Living Treasure Taita Fernando Mendúa Queta, one of the most respected of the Kofán taitas (shamans) of Colombia and the spiritual leader of the Kofán people recently died.
Fernando Mendúa Queta
He was said to be 107 years old. Though Taita Fernando only just came to the Foundation's attention through Board of Trustee member Melinda Maxfield, we are happy that we were able to assist him with a stipend for even a short time. Your support as part of the Circle of the Foundation helps us to locate and support these amazing Living Treasures of Shamanism.

Musical Bow cover
The new musical bow CD is now available in Michael Harner's Shamanic Journeywork® series of recordings. The musical bow is the percussive sound of a single plucked string stretched tautly between the ends of a bowed stick, an instrument once utilized by many tribal shamans in different parts of the world. In CD No. 4: Shamanic Journey Musical Bow, the Brazilian berimbau is played by Susan Mokelke, alone and with a rattle, providing a unique, effective sound for journeying.

The support of FSS donors helps preserve the knowledge and practice of shamanism among indigenous peoples, and the renewal of shamanism in a contemporary context. We invite you to join the Circle of the Foundation by making a contribution. Receive exciting benefits when you join as a Shamanic Partner, including the online Shamanic Services Listings and FSS Forum, access to archival talks by Michael Harner, and gifts of DVDs, books, and CDs - and support shamanism worldwide. Thank you!

An Invitation to the Circle of the Foundation
We invite you to submit a photo of one of your creative works related to shamanism. Periodically, we will select a few of these photos to post on the FSS website. Photos of works might include paintings, sculpture, drums/rattles, weavings, and photos of shamanic places, etc. (Submissions must follow the guidelines below.) Click here to view the video of some of the submissions. Share your work with us!

Guidelines for submission of photos of shamanic artwork: a. Must be part of the Circle of the Foundation;
b. Must be the creator of the work submitted and hold the copyright; c. No photos of people, please, unless you have a written, signed release to publish the photo; d. One photo only per person. Please include your name and a one-sentence description or title of the work. Send the photo as an email attachment to the Editor, Susan Mokelke.
Restoring and Dreaming
Apology to Students of Native Residential Schools
On June 11, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an historic apology to former students of native residential schools. "The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history. Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country." Read the article and watch videos from cbcnews.ca.

A sanctuary was created in the Colombian rain forest after an initiative was launched by indigenous shamans, including the late FSS Living Treasure, Taita Fernando Mendúa Queta. The Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Flora Sanctuary encompasses 10,626 hectares of biologically-rich tropical rain forest ranging in altitude from 700 to 3300 meters above sea level. The sanctuary will conserve biodiversity, health, and culture in South American rain forests. Read the article from mongabay.com.

Russian Villagers Practice Ancient Rituals
A group of Russians have set up a village where they live on their home-grown food and practice pre-Christian Slavic traditions. Their lifestyle is just a short train ride away from Moscow. The video contains interesting images of offerings to deities and divination. Watch the video from Russia Today. Submitted by Timothy Flynn, FSS Three-Year program graduate, Santa Cruz, California.

Indigenous Grandmothers Speak
Thirteen indigenous grandmothers – elders, shamans, medicine women – gather in response to prophesy, called together to share their sacred wisdom and practices. View the inspiring video introduction to a film in progress. Watch the video from The Laughing Willow Co., Inc. Submitted by Susan Smith, FSS Three-Year program graduate, Fremont, California.

SUBMIT NEWS: We invite you to submit news about shamanism for our readers. Please submit no more than a few brief paragraphs, including the source of the news item to the Editor.

Note: Each issue we plan to post on the website or provide a link to an article of interest. Check the Articles section for several varied perspectives on shamanism and shamanic healing, many from past issues of Shamanism, the Foundation's scholarly journal -- one of the exclusive benefits for the Circle of the Foundation.
Healing
Messages from the Stones
According to some traditions, the mineral world is the holder of stories, the repository of memory. These stories remind us of our profound immersion in a web of relationship. My co-creative collaboration with the mineral world begins at the stone yard, where I allow a stone to attract me. Once home, I sit with it and talk sweetly to it, inviting the spirit in the stone to reveal to me what wants to be brought forth.

River Stones
Eventually, I must put hammer to chisel and commence chipping away at the surface of the stone, each blow an irreversible commitment – something lost, something gained. That is the medicine of the carving process for me, the relentless hammering away at that which obscures, the letting go of that which is superfluous and irrelevant in order to arrive at the truest express of the spirit within the stone.

At this time, perhaps our whole society is being called upon to discern what is essential to life in harmony with nature, the elements, each other – what is truly life-sustaining. Our collective task then may be to carve away our excesses, our toxic by-products, our life-threatening indulgences, so that we can co-create with a nature a new way of life that is well-formed and impeccably in balance. Christina Bertea, excerpted from Shamanism, Spring/Summer 2003, Vol. 16, No. 1. Christina is a sculptor, Three-Year program graduate, and Certified Shamanic Counselor™ (Harner Method).

NOTE: "Healing Words" contains helpful ideas and suggestions from shamanic healers, and answers to questions of concern to those practicing shamanism. FSS presents them as a service to the shamanic community without endorsement; as always, each shamanic healer is responsible for using these ideas in a responsible and ethical manner. If you would like to SUBMIT A HELPFUL TIP, email the Editor. (No more than two succinct paragraphs, please.)

About FSS
Internationally renowned anthropologist Michael Harner pioneered the return of shamanism to contemporary life. In 1985, he founded the Foundation for Shamanic Studies to preserve, study, and transmit shamanic knowledge worldwide. Join the thousands each year who take the Foundation's rigorous training in Core Shamanism, the universal and near universal principles and practices of shamanism not bound to any specific cultural group or perspective.

About the E-Newsletter
The Foundation for Shamanic Studies E-newsletter is issued bimonthly and contains information and articles about shamanism, shamanic healing, and the Foundation's activities. It is designed to offer interesting and practical information for shamanic healers, students, and those interested in shamanism. We welcome your feedback and ideas. Please contact the Editor, Susan Mokelke.

NOTE: You are receiving this email from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies because you are a member or have taken a Foundation course or otherwise indicated your interest. For environmental and economic reasons, FSS will send out less paper communications. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, including course schedules and information relevant to the practice of shamanism, add info@shamanism.org to your address book today. You may also update your email address by clicking on the Update Profile/Email Address link below.

Thank you!

Copyright © 2000-2008 Foundation for Shamanic Studies, a non-profit incorporated educational organization.
Editor: Susan Mokelke
Foundation for Shamanic Studies

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