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Foundation for Shamanic Studies E-Newsletter
www.shamanism.org
April/May 2009
Vol. 3, Issue 2
In This Issue
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Since the West overwhelmingly lost its shamanic knowledge centuries ago due to religious oppression, the Foundation's programs in core shamanism are particularly intended for Westerners to reacquire access to their rightful spiritual heritage through quality workshops and training courses. Training in core shamanism includes teaching students to alter their consciousness through classic shamanic non-drug techniques such as repetitive drumming so that they can discover their own hidden spiritual resources, transform their lives, and learn how to help others. Core shamanism does not focus on ceremonies, which are part of the work of medicine men and women, persons who do both shamanism and ceremonial work.
Michael Harner





Members of the Circle of the Foundation:
Please help us by
renewing your membership promptly and online, if possible. Paper mailings are not only costly, they hurt the trees – and we would like to spare as many as we can! Thank you.
Greetings
Tuvan Petroglyph

Birthdays are wonderful opportunities to let a person know what his life and work have meant to us. When I offered people whose lives have been touched by Michael Harner's work an opportunity to contribute to an 80th birthday book, the outpouring of responses was fantastic. You sent your letters, poetry, essays, stories, pictures, paintings, drawings, cards, donations, songs, and music - funny, profound, touching, and inspiring. Michael was deeply moved by your tributes and is profoundly grateful for your participation in this work.

"If I were to die tomorrow, I'd feel that I'd done more than I had ever hoped. I feel very lucky that way. I never envisioned this path, and I never envisioned so many students wanting to seek it. Now there are so many people who are well-trained and prepared to work with and learn from the spirits. My legacy is my students as much as anything, because they will carry on, and some will go farther than I have ever gone." &ndash Michael Harner
At a time of life when most people have long since retired, Michael continues his research to develop further the principles and practices of core shamanism, drawing on his deep knowledge of anthropology. While passionate and uncompromising about the authenticity and quality of this work, Michael personally is a humble man. His life's work is fundamentally about the return of spiritual autonomy to contemporary society - the shamanic trainings he has originated, researched, developed and offered have been all about helping individuals connect personally with infinite sources of compassion and wisdom. He has said on many occasions that there are no gurus in shamanism and he has steadfastly refused that role. While he is not our guru, he is a beloved and inspired teacher who has brought forward into contemporary society the ancient wisdom of the shaman. At a time when this wisdom is most desperately needed, he has pioneered for us the return of the shamanic journey and a way back into the realms of the compassionate spirits – and in so doing, he has transformed our world.

Happy 80th birthday, Michael!

Susan Mokelke
Executive Director

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

My Windhorse <br>by Joy
Markgraf My Windhorse by Joy Markgraf
Advanced Residential Workshops in 2009. Harner Method Shamanic Counseling Training with April Tuck, will take place August 10 - 14 in Boston, Massachusetts. The new 7th East Coast Three-Year Program in Advanced Initiations in Shamanism and Shamanic Healing will start October 11 - 16, 2009 in Madison, Virginia. It will be taught by Nan Moss & David Corbin. Two unique five-day residential workshops are planned for the West coast for the summer of 2009. Post-Graduate Healing Practices for FSS Three-Year Program Graduates with Alicia Gates will be held August 9 - 14, 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area. It will offer the opportunity for graduates of the Three-Year programs to experience new practices and further advance their shamanic training. The second, The Power of Rhythm: Drumming, Dancing, and Shamanic Empowerment with Gabe Harris, will be held July 10 - 15, 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area. It will include drumming and drum-making and ceremonial dance, and is for anyone who has taken the Basic Workshop, The Way of the Shaman. Note: A Basic Workshop will be held in San Francisco, June 27 - 28, with Michael Harner and Susan Mokelke. Five-Day Soul Retrieval Training with Sandra Ingerman will be held September 6 - 11 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A new East Coast Two-Week Shamanic Healing Intensive will be held November 8 - 19, 2009 in Madison, Virginia, taught by David Corbin and Nan Moss. Note: The Basic Workshop, which is a prerequisite for all advanced FSS workshops, will be held in various locations throughout the year.

Visit the Foundation's New ShamanicStudies Channel on YouTube. We are pleased to announce that the Foundation now has a YouTube channel.
Stan Grof & Michael Harner Stan Grof and Michael Harner
View clips of Foundation expeditions, interviews with Michael Harner, Stan Grof, and many others – coming soon! Take a look and learn more about core shamanism and the work of the Foundation in preserving shamanic knowledge. If you have a video to recommend or would like to create one for us to consider for the ShamanicStudies channel, please email Susan: [email protected]. We are especially interested in how core shamanism is being used for healing, what it has meant in people's lives, how you feel that you have benefited from Foundation training, and how you think the return of shamanic knowledge is helping our communities and our world.

Workshops & Trainings Revisited
We are often asked if it is possible to take a workshop or advanced program again. It is not only possible, but highly recommended. Those of you who have taken the Three-Year Program in Advanced Initiations in Shamanism & Shamanic Healing or the Two-Week Shamanic Healing Intensive, know how content-rich these trainings are. Taking these programs for a second time greatly increases the depth of the experience – and the initiatory and healing experiences continue to be refined and new discoveries added to the content, so it is always new. It is also wonderful to sit again in circle of healers. Those deeply interested in shamanism and shamanic healing often take the weekend workshops more than once to refine their grasp of the basics and to take their own knowledge further.

Michael Harner was honored with the "Pioneers in Integrative Medicine Award" at a dinner in San Francisco on Sunday, March 8. Several hundred people gathered, including many physicians and health care professionals, to witness the celebration.
Michael Harner Receiving Award
Visit the Foundation's ShamanicStudies channel on YouTube, for clips of the award and Michael's acceptance. Every year the Institute for Health & Healing honors an international expert whose work is furthering the field of integrative medicine. Michael was chosen as one of the world's foremost authorities on indigenous healing practices and their relevance in contemporary times. The Institute for Health & Healing is part of the Sutter Health community of medical centers. For more information, please visit the Institute's website.

2009 Membership Benefits
Now, all members can include a photo or graphic for their Shamanic Services listing. Members, add or update your Shamanic Services listing, including a photo or graphic, and let the public know you are available for shamanic healing or divination. Becoming a member is easy – just visit the Join the Circle pages. Members receive online access to the shamanic community discussion Forum, special articles, audio talks by Michael Harner, The Shamanism Annual journal, and more.

Certificates of Completion
Certificates of Completion are available to all graduates of FSS advanced programs in shamanism and shamanic healing. Certificates of Completion acknowledge the considerable time and effort involved in the successful completion of FSS advanced trainings in core shamanism, such as the Two-Week Intensive and the Three-Year program. Request your White, Bronze, Silver, and Gold certificates online.

The support of members of the FSS Circle of the Foundation
Petroglyph
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 by making a donation. Receive exciting benefits, 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 and shamanic healing worldwide. Thank you!

Members of 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:
1. Must be a member of the Circle of the Foundation;
2. Must be the creator of the work submitted and hold the copyright;
3. No photos of people, please, unless you have a written, signed release to publish the photo;
4. 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.

Newpaper Rock, Utah
Elders of Greenland Lighting Sacred Fire
On July 17, 2009, the Elders of Greenland are lighting the Sacred Fire in their homeland as a fulfillment of an ancient prophecy that one day, when the world needs it most, the Sacred Fire will once again return to Greenland. With the warming climate, not only is the ice melting in Greenland, but trees are again growing -- enough to support a sacred fire from the earth rather than from the oil of seals. Ashes from ceremonial fires around the globe will be placed in the Sacred Fire in Greenland as part of the Fire & Ice Ceremony - a global powwow that brings the indigenous voice into the debate on climate change, and merges spirit with leading science to find ways to adapt to a changing climate. Read about it. Submitted by Jane English, Calais, Vermont.

Siberian Shamanism on Video
To view some interesting videos showing Tuvan, Buryat, and other Siberian shamans drumming, healing, and performing rituals, visit mysticTV.org. The videos were produced by Costanzo Allione of Where the Eagles Fly, a film production and research company specializing in Siberian shamanic studies.

12,000-Year-Old Shaman Unearthed in Israel
A 12,000 year-old grave held the remains of a woman shaman, say scientists from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The tiny woman was buried with selected pieces of animal bone, a cowtail, an eagle wing, the foot of another human, and some fifty tortoise shells deliberately arranged around her body, indicating her status as a woman of power. Read the article from Time World online. Submitted by Timothy Flynn, Three-Year Program graduate, Royal Oaks, California.

Preserving Endangered Languages
Linguistics professor Daniel Everett explains the idea of "xibipiio," a way of life he encountered while studying the language of the Amazonian Piraha tribe. View a video clip of a recent talk Prof. Everett gave in San Francisco. View the full talk, sponsored by The Long Now Foundation (Rosetta Project). Prof. Everett is the Chair of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He discusses the importance of preserving dying languages and is the author of Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes.

Dolphins Protect Ships Dolphins block suspected pirate ships. From China View.
Dolphins Block Pirates
Thousands of dolphins blocked the suspected Somali pirate ships when they were trying to attack Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden, reported China Radio International. Read the article, from China View. Submitted by Lora Jansson, Three-Year Program graduate, Bainbridge Island, Washington.

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.

Nature Worship in Siberian Shamanism
Animism still represents a very important concept both in the world view and the shamanism of Northern Siberian peoples. In this article, Dr. Hopp�l discusses different concepts of the soul and animistic notions of Siberian shamanism, as well as types of shamanic spirit helpers. Read the article "Nature Worship in Siberian Shamanism" by Mih�li Hopp�l, Folklore, June 1997, Vol. 4. Publisher: Institute of the Estonian Language; Estonian Folklore Archives.

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 Shamanism Annual, the Foundation's scholarly journal -- one of the exclusive benefits for the Circle of the Foundation.
Handprint
Miracles of Healing
Several years ago I had an ultrasound, which showed very clearly that I had gallstones. I was able to see them for myself. I had been fortunate over the years that I had no serious problems from them – until last fall. While I was at a session of the Three Year Program I was quite ill and had severe pain. I received some amazing healing and purging during the session. At first the condition worsened, and then suddenly I was symptom free.

When I returned home after the workshop, I saw a physician and she denied that I could have passed any gallstones, informing me that "you don't get rid of them that way." I told her I knew I didn't have them anymore, but I would like a physical and a scan to see what was going on. Not satisfied with the attitude of that doctor, I found another doctor, a kind physician I really liked, and made an appointment for a physical.
Rainbow Photo by Susan Mokelke
She recommended a follow-up ultrasound to see what, if anything, was going on, since it had been several years since the initial ultrasound that revealed my gallstones.

Results of the latest ultrasound: There was no evidence of gallstones. Nothing. My gallbladder and the neighboring organs are completely healthy.

In my Three Year Program all of us have experienced that miracles happen as a result of our sincere and humble work with our healing spirits. Some of us have had profound healings ourselves and some have witnessed it firsthand for another. I am honored to be a part of the healing powers in our circle. I have felt very special, too, to have been guided to this path as part of my life's purpose.

Thank you all!
Sandy Chestnutt, Three-Year Program, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico

NOTE: "Healing Words" contains helpful practices, ideas and suggestions from shamanic healers, answers to questions of concern to those practicing shamanism, and inspiring stories. 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 and the shamanic journey 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-donor 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 [email protected] 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 � 2000-2009 Foundation for Shamanic Studies, a non-profit public charitable and educational organization.


Editor: Susan Mokelke
Foundation for Shamanic Studies

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