FSS E-News

VOLUME 9 ISSUE 3

WWW.SHAMANISM.ORG

December 2015

CONTENTS

FSS News

Articles and Information

Healing Words

My Windhorse by Joy Markgraf

The Foundation for Shamanic Studies is dedicated to the preservation, study, and teaching of shamanic knowledge for the benefit of the Planet and its inhabitants.

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"The methods of core shamanism give us the freedom to go to both the Upper and Lower Worlds and learn for ourselves what is there. In doing so, individuals discover for themselves that there are heavens beyond this Middle World. Heavens are real, but they are real in another reality, the reality accessed by shamans to help and heal others."

Michael Harner

Cave and Cosmos

Chapter 12

Sandra Harner
EMA'S ODYSSEY:
Shamanism for
Healing and Spiritual Knowledge

Warm holiday greetings to you. We hope that you have a beautiful holiday season and that 2016 brings you meaningful relationships and work, health, and much happiness. From our hearts, we thank you for your participation and support.

View our holiday greeting to you.

In gratitude,
Susan Mokelke Michael Harner Sandra Harner Noelle Burch

and the FSS Board of Trustees

HOLIDAY HOURS:

The administrative office will be closed starting Thursday, December 24, 2015 and will reopen Monday, January 4, 2016, so that we may enjoy the holidays with our families. For information during that time, visit shamanism.org. Email will be checked on a limited basis. We look forward to meeting again in 2016!

FSS News

2016 RESIDENTIAL AND ADVANCED WORKSHOPS

Now is a great time to begin your advanced residential training in shamanism and shamanic healing. For a complete listing of FSS weekend workshops and trainings in shamanic healing and divination, as well as advanced shamanic initiations in residential programs such as the Two Week Intensives and Three Year programs, visit the FSS website workshops index.

♦ The 10th East Coast Three Year program of Advanced Initiations in Shamanism and Shamanic Healing with Nan Moss Begins May 15 - 20, 2016, in Madison, Virginia. Download the Information-Application.

♦ The West Coast Two Week Shamanic Healing Intensive, taught by Amanda Foulger will be held June 4 - 15, 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Download the Information-Application.

♦ Harner Shamanic Counseling Training, taught by April Tuck, CSC, will be offered August 1-5, 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Download the Information-Application.
♦ The 15th West Coast Three Year program of Advanced Initiations in Shamanism and Shamanic Healing with Amanda Foulger begins October 23 - 28, 2016, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Download the Information-Application.

♦ The East Coast Two Week Shamanic Healing Intensive, taught by Nan Moss, will be held October 23 - November 3, 2016 in Madison, Virginia. Request information-application, when available.

Please check the website for prerequisites for these advanced shamanic training programs. For details and to obtain registration material for the above programs, click the link for the specific training above.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2015

The 18th annual gathering of the Council in January, the first by video conference, was a great success. Council members from the USA, Canada, Europe, Argentina, and Thailand tuned in for the full video conference. Being able to see each other and interact was very satisfying:

"I was amazed at how effective the meeting was. Being able to watch everyone was really a fine way of staying engaged .... We have been getting messages here (with some really neat synchronicities) about the need for shamans to make connections with each other. This looks like one more excellent tool towards strengthening those connections."

After welcoming participants on behalf of Michael and Sandra Harner and the FSS, and greeting each other, host Susan Mokelke drummed while participants across the globe rattled and sang to welcome the spirits. During the four-hour conference, there was an opportunity after each presentation for discussion and questions. Presenters included: Michael Harner, Susan Mokelke (FSS President), Roland Urban (Director of FSS Europe), and Kevin Turner (FSS Director for Asia). Some topics addressed: Shamanic miracles, shamanism as a daily practice, shamans in Bali and Nepal, and exciting progress cataloguing Shamanic Knowledge Conservatory publications and archives. More details in the March 2015 E-news.

The First Asia Three Year Program was held in November 2015 in Bali, Indonesia. It was taught by Kevin Turner, FSS Director for Asia. An enthusiastic group of students underwent the profound shamanic initiations in this first of three annual sessions. (Three Year meeting room in Bali, below.) For workshops in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan visit shamanism-asia.com.

First Asia Three Year Program meeting room in Bali.

FSS Latin America and Spain. Alicia Luengas Gates, Director of the FSS Faculty for Spain and Latin America, has been busy teaching in Argentina and Spain. A second Three Year Program is underway in Argentina and another in Spain. A third program will begin in Argentina in 2016, taught by Alicia and by Gerardo Roemer, long time faculty member for Argentina and Chile. Visit shamanism.org for information on FSS workshops offered in Latin America. For Spain, visit formacionchamanica.com/.

Nancy Glaze Friedrich, In Memoriam 2015

We are deeply saddened to announce that Nancy Friedrich, our friend and FSS faculty member for Hawaii, passed peacefully in the presence of family in the early morning of October 16 after a struggle with cancer. Nancy was such a fine person: gentle, wise, kind, ethical, and giving. It was a privilege working with her. She carried a quiet peace within that touched us all. More information...

FSS Faculty Intern Training Program for training new FSS faculty members. The first class of interns underwent training throughout 2015 and several have advanced to FSS Guest Faculty status and have scheduled their first workshops.We expect that there will be another faculty intern application period early in 2016. Details will be announced on shamanism.org and by email. More about FSS Faculty...

Several live video conferences-webinars were offered last year, some exclusively for FSS members and others for the general public. Next year all members of the Circle of the Foundation will have access to these live video gatherings, hosted by Susan Mokelke and with FSS faculty members and special guests. There will also be a special live video conference with Michael Harner or Sandra Harner for Sponsoring and Council members. We are finding these meetings a great way to bridge the distances and to offer helpful information about shamanic practice and FSS trainings. (See video of Susan Mokelke talking about FSS programs.)

Live video Q & A session for FSS membership, with Michael Harner, hosted by Susan Mokelke.

LIVING TREASURE GRANDMOTHER NADIA DUVAN

Assistance Requested
The FSS has appointed a new Living Treasure of Shamanism, Grandmother Nadia Duvan. She was born in October 1950 in the village of Bulava, Ulchi territory, Russian Far East (southeastern Siberia) and is the last shaman and wisdom keeper of the Ulchi people. In the summer of 1996, the late Grandfather Misha and Grandmother Nadia Duvan taught a program for FSS Three Year Program graduates. The FSS recently received an urgent request from her friends and family for assistance. Nadia has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and needs assistance for medical treatment. The Board of Trustees of the FSS appointed her as a Living Treasure and has contributed toward her hospital costs. She is currently undergoing care in a hospital in Seoul, Korea and is making good progress -- as of this writing she is expected to be home for the holidays. Her family has set up a gofundme site managed by Nadia's daughter, where you may contribute toward Ms. Duvan's treatment. The site also has information and photos about this remarkable shaman, as well as updates on her health progress. More information will be available periodically on the FSS website and FSS News blog (FSS home page, News column, left).

FSS Living Treasure Nadia Duvan

MEMBERSHIP IN THE CIRCLE OF THE FOUNDATION
Your membership in the Circle of the Foundation helps to support the return of shamanism to our communities and the preservation of indigenous shamanism, as well as providing you with special benefits. Benefits include a Shamanic Services online listing, live video conferences, the annual FSS scholarly journal Shamanism, articles, and more. Go green: Join online and receive a free MP3 download of Tuvan Shamanic Healing, throat singing and drumming by Tuvan shaman Ai-Churek Oiun.

CAVE AND COSMOS IN KIRKUS REVIEWS

Kirkus has been an authoritative voice in book discovery since 1933. According to the Kirkus review of Cave and Cosmos: "Harner's rich compendium gives many ways to consider and explore a powerful and inspiring view of the cosmos." And, ..."this work offers a welcome message of universal healing. Resonant testimonies and practical techniques on gaining profound spiritual insight." Kirkus Reviews Cave and Cosmos.

CAVE AND COSMOS UPDATE
A Russian version is now underway. The Spanish version of Cave and Cosmos (La cueva y el cosmos: Encuentros cham�nicos con otra realidad) was released in January 2015, joining other translations, which include the Italian, Norwegian, Romanian, Slovenian, Turkish, French, and German editions. A Chinese version is also in process. Cave and Cosmos is available in paperback directly through the Foundation, as well as online and in local bookstores. Paperback and e-book editions may be obtained online from Random House and Amazon.com. At Michael Harner's request, all royalties from Cave and Cosmos go to the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in support of its work.

CERTIFICATES OF COMPLETION

Certificates of Completion are available to graduates of many of the FSS advanced residential training programs in shamanism and shamanic healing, including Harner Shamanic Counseling. Certificates of Completion acknowledge the considerable time and effort involved in the completion of FSS advanced trainings in core shamanism, such as the Two-Week Intensive and the Three-Year program. (Please note that these do not certify a person as a shaman.) Find out more and request your HSC, White, Bronze, Silver, and Gold certificates online.

Articles and Information

Sketch of a drum hoop fragment found at Qeqertasussuk viewed from three sides. The fragment is carved from spruce, which is frequently found as driftwood carried from Siberia to the coasts of Greenland by ocean currents. Illustration by Bjarne Gr�nnow.

HISTORY OF THE INUIT DRUM EXTENDED

Two deep-frozen settlements, Qeqertasussuk and Qajaa, were among the traces that some of the very first immigrants to western Greenland, 4,500 years ago, left behind in Disko Bay. The deep-frozen climate has preserved perishable materials not found elsewhere, such as wood and bones, hair, feathers and skins. Two pieces of frozen wood found among many other wooden items from the two settlements (now kept at museums in Nuuk and Qasigiannguit) have been recognized as parts of drums, a necessary tool of the angakoq, the Inuit shaman. The discovery has added a couple of thousand years to the history of the Inuit drum. It suggests that the Inuit culture centering on drum songs and dances -- and, perhaps, shamanism -- was brought to Greenland by the very first settlers, who came from Canada. See the article in ScienceNordic.com. Submitted by Kevin Turner, Kyoto, Japan.

SHAMANIC STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS

BRAIN STUDY

Shamanic rituals involving altered consciousness are among the oldest and most widespread forms of healing, found worldwide on all inhabited continents. This universality suggests a biological basis for achieving a trance state, but little has been known about the neural basis. Investigators with the MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, led by Michael Hove, in collaboration with researchers from the Max Planck Institute and elsewhere, for the first time explored this phenomenon with fifteen experienced shamanic practitioners in Germany and Austria. MRI imaging was performed with the shamans either entering into or remaining out of trance while listening to drumming. (The study used the FSS CD No. 1: Michael Harner's Shamanic Journey Solo and Double Drumming.™) The analyses revealed a great deal about connectivity in the shamans' brains -- that is, the functional links between regions of their brains -- during trance. Co-activation of certain regions of the brain "points to the control network playing a role in maintaining an extended internally directed state during trance." The investigators also noted decreased connectivity in the auditory pathway of the brain, suggesting that the sound of repetitive drumming is so predictable that it requires little additional processing and can be largely gated out. This might explain, paradoxically, why drumming is so commonly used to induce trance. Hove noted that deliberate application of such a "predictable external stimulus" helps the shaman disengage from the external environment, and it might also extend the shaman's internally directed state, thus facilitating the clarity and insight associated with shamanic trance. From the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. Findings published by Hove in Cerebral Cortex: Abstract of the full article. Editor's note: More of this kind of brain research is occurring as growing numbers of people become aware of the effectiveness of contemporary (core) shamanic healing practices.

NOTE: Each issue we plan to post on the website or provide a link to an article or other media with useful information about shamanism or shamanic healing. Check the Articles section for several varied perspectives on shamanism and shamanic healing, many from past issues of Shamanism and the Shamanism Annual, the Foundation's scholarly journal - one of the exclusive benefits of the Circle of the Foundation.

Healing Words

"The sound of the drum can again carry us back and forth through the barriers to the heavens. Today in core shamanism, we have the tools to seek help from another reality. Awaiting us in those heavens are the teachers, wise and caring spirits forever ready to heal and share their knowledge, wisdom, and compassion to help us solve the problems of our lives and the world, and to prepare for a better destiny.

"To solve these problems may seem to many an impossible enterprise. Yet there now is immeasurable help available to address difficulties that 'could only be solved by a miracle.' The time is coming for shamanism to enter the human center stage, for miracles are needed, and miracles are the work of shamans."

Michael Harner, Cave and Cosmos, Chapter 12

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

Internationally renowned anthropologist Michael Harner pioneered the return of shamanism and the shamanic journey to contemporary life. In 1979, Michael and Sandra Harner established the Center for Shamanic Studies, the precursor to the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, which took over the function of the Center in the mid-eighties. FSS is dedicated to the preservation, study, and teaching of shamanic knowledge for the benefit of the Planet and its inhabitants. Join the thousands of people each year who take the Foundation's rigorous training in Core Shamanism, which consists of the universal, near-universal, and common features of shamanism, together with journeys to other worlds, a distinguishing feature of shamanism. Originated, researched, and developed by Michael Harner, the principles of core shamanism are not bound to any specific cultural group or perspective. The workshops and training programs have been carefully developed by Dr. Harner and thoroughly tested to provide an authentic shamanic experience and practical results.

FSS E-News

www.shamanism.org

Susan Mokelke, Editor

Katherine Keith, Contributing Editor

ABOUT THE FSS E-NEWS

The Foundation for Shamanic Studies E-News is issued several times a year 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.

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