Shamanism & Shamanic Healing in the 21st Century

In this newsletter...

 * "How To Heal Toxic Thoughts" [ARTICLE]
 *  FREE online meditation to find your current "power animal"
 * September Unease Syndrome! [ARTICLE]
 * The Unforgiving Minute of the Changing Season [News]
 * "The Shaman's Challenge" [ARTICLE]
 * "Ceremony and the Seasonal Rhythms" [ARTICLE]
 * Intermediate Level Shamanism Course [November]
 *  "Trance Dancing" [ARTICLE]
 * Could You electrocute a total stranger? [VIDEO]
 * The search for dark energy and dark matter  [VIDEO]
 * Cambridge Healing & Holistic Lifestyle Group
 *  The "World Drum"  [NEWS REPORT]
 *  Shamanism: online FREE resources

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Shamanism & Positive Living - Autumn Newsletter
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please feel free to pass this newsletter to others, to join the mailing list, email us via: www.sunflower-health.com/forms/enquiry.htm

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"How To Heal Toxic Thoughts"
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When we observe how people behave, there may not seem to be any hostility. We may see a smile on the face of someone listening to us. But what is happening on an invisible level? What feelings are we triggering in him or her through our conversation or our presence?

We have an invisible dimension that we call spirit-an aspect I call "who we are beyond our skin." We can't see this part of ourselves, but together with body and mind it makes up our whole being. Whenever we interact with others in the physical world an invisible exchange of energy is taking place too.

Here are some common [abuser/victim] phrases we use to describe the behavior of others [actually the behaviour of ourself as well!].

 * He's being pushy.
 * She's invading my space.
 * I felt beaten down.
 * He was kicked when he was down.
 * She stabbed me in the back.
 * I felt like there were daggers coming out of his eyes.
 * I made a suggestion but I was shot down.

The energy of violence acts on an invisible, psychic level, but it impacts both our physical health and our psychological well-being. The energy is palpable. We simply do not feel well on any level when we live and work in an environment that is filled with negative energy....
For "10 Ways to Transform Toxic Thoughts" - READ THE FULL ARTICLE: www.shamansociety.org/essay.sandy.html]
"Positive Thinking" Workshops in Cambridgeshire UK:
www.sunflower-health.com/workshops.htm

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FREE online Guided Meditation to find your power animal:
www.sunflower-health.com/popups/speak.htm
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Autumn Unease Syndrome!
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Equinox is all about the Throat Chakra!
Read the online article: www.cheal.org/message/382

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The Unforgiving Minute of the Changing Season
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The unveiling of the futuristic, £1M "Corpus Clock" in Cambridge recently,[see www.cheal.org/message/751] with its demonic insect relentlessly devouring the seconds, reminded me of the words of Rudyard Kipling:

"If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it!"

On the hour, a chain drops into a wooden coffin hidden behind the clock "to remind us of our mortality!"
Scary stuff?   Yes, but as Buddhists say, "Until you have confronted the reality of your own mortality, you don't really know how to live!"

So some key questions we might ask at this time of seasonal change are...

"What are we putting off/avoiding today, in order to stay safe and comfortable, but unfulfilled?"

How often are we saying... "One day...", "Some day..."

Are you living fully today, or will your life begin...

"When I get the right relationship..."
"When I have the right job..."
"When I have enough money..."
"When I become successful..."
"When people start to really appreciate me..."

The "Corpus Clock" also plays tricks on the observer, seeming occasionally to pause, run unevenly, and even go backwards. - Just like our own experience of time!

What holds YOU back from ful-filling the unforgiving minutes of your life?

Looking back over my own life, it has often been "fear", "lack of faith", "lack of confidence", and frittering away precious time in unfulfilling, couch-potato activities like "TV" or "Down the pub with my mates" - pleasantly distracting at the time, but not exactly soul-nourishing fulfillment of my potential, or a memorable lifetime contribution to the world!

Autumn reminds us that summer is over and days are growing shorter, and that we need to grow, and be supported by, deeper roots in a constantly-changing world that will not last forever.

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THE SHAMAN'S CHALLENGE
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One of my favorite quotes from an indigenous shaman is this one from the Huichol shaman Matsuwa: "The shaman's path is unending. I am an old, old man and still a baby, standing before the mystery of the world, filled with  awe." I think we could meditate on these simple sentences for the rest of our lives. We could probably meditate on any one phrase in this statement
for the rest of our lives.

But it's the word "awe" that intrigues me at the moment. Maybe because as I get older, I sometimes worry that my natural response to the world around me will grow less awe-filled. The world will begin to feel more familiar, less awesome.  It's part of our folk wisdom that age and experience can produce a jaded, even cynical individual who's seen it all and is no longer impressed. Trying to maintain that "beginner's mind" that sees the world fresh and new and glorious can be a challenge especially when all the hopes and dreams that we had as young people are clearly not going to be fulfilled in our lifetimes. Perhaps this is a normal condition with aging.

But we are not aging like just anyone. Because we practice shamanism, we look at the world differently, we ask different questions, we see behind and beyond the surface of things. We can take the long view held by our ancestors and even that of our descendents yet to be born. To capitalize on this different way of being in the world, I would like to suggest that we adopt Matsuwa's observation...
CONTINUED AT: www.shamansociety.org/essay.tom.html

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"Ceremony and the Seasonal Rhythms"
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Why do ceremonies persist for thousands and thousands of years? What is their role in the life of peoples that prompted humans everywhere to mark them in stone, acknowledge them with song, and draw pictures of ceremonial dances?
We know that the shaman's role is to assist in maintaining harmony and the psychic integrity of the village - whether 'village' is defined in local or global terms. The shaman locates this integrity in the relationship between the humans and the rest of creation. There is a profound understanding in the practice of ceremony that no matter how hard we might try, we are prone to behaving in ways that perturb the harmony between peoples, between peoples and other beings with whom we share this Planet Home, and with Earth herself.
Ceremonies are ways to bring ourselves into realignment and to restore harmony when we are out of balance with the Whole.
To bring ourselves into alignment means recognizing our relationship to the Whole. To restore harmony means undertaking activities of releasing what prevents harmony and to do activities that further good relationship.
There are two important aspects to ceremony: First, they are a way for humans to give back to creation some of the energy that they are always receiving. Earth gives us a surface on which to place our feet while Sun warms with Light. Moon brings dreams while Air gives us the necessary breath for life. Everything connected with Earth provides us with something we use as two-legged beings.
In ceremony we give back through our dancing, singing, drumming, and making prayers. In these activities of 'giving back' we move from being primarily takers of energy to being givers of energy. This helps restore balance in the whole creation.
Second, ceremonies are the most profound way to acknowledge the intersection of the Temporal and the Eternal. We participate in both yet much of our daily consciousness is focused on our temporal selves. Ceremonies return our awareness to the fullness of who we are and the possibilities of even greater fullness. This is why so many ceremonies involve the recurring seasonal shifts e.g. the Solstices and the Equinoxes. Here we acknowledge our gratitude for a continuity much greater than our individual lives..a continuity upon which every living being is dependent. Enacting our gratitude for this is often expressed in a combination of profound thanksgiving and joy.expressed in prayer and festivity.
...CONTINUED AT: www.shamansociety.org/essay.carol.html

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Intermediate Level Shamanism Course [November 2008]
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Planning for this course is in progress, if you would like to join and have
particular dates you would prefer/not prefer in November/Early December please contact Mike via www.sunflower-health.com/forms/enquiry.htm
 The course will run over 4 Sundays. Please also let me know your time preferences (current beginners course is 2.30-9.30 pm). The course will include some outdoors work/fun as well as indoors. The location: Dry Drayton Village Hall is well-blessed with adjacent woodland/meadowland/nature reserve.
What People Say about our Post-modern Shamanism Workshops:
www.sunflower-health.com/feedback/shamans.htm
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Trance Dancing
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from "Circle of Shaman: Healing Through Ecstasy, Rhythm and Myth"
www.Amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0892816228/sunflowerheal-21
"The purpose of a trance dance is essentially to bring you to a place in the
sacred zone where the spirits can reach you. Your body becomes the
instrument, a direct link to spirit within and without, and responds back as
gateways to the numinous begin to open. Trance dance is a form of active
meditation through authentic movement. It is a journey to the essential
self.
In trance dance, the rhythms and movements combine with the music to create an altered state of consciousness that allows entry into the sacred realm.
Invite ecstasy in a conscious way to join you as healer and teacher along
your path with trance dance: Allowing the body, and parts of the body, to move to and express rhythms it finds engaging in the moment leads to this meditative state of mind and allows entry into a deeper mythic reality. In trance dance you encourage the inner wisdom of the body and your essential self to come forth and to flow with rhythms it finds appropriate and natural to itself. A review of ecstatic experiences reported by mystics and sages and ordinary folks reveals that ecstasy can sometimes arrive unbidden, out of nowhere it seems, as if slipping through a secret crack in the cosmic egg suddenly soaking you in its golden ambrosia. Inviting ecstasy is what trance dance is about and it requires an intentional approach."
Trance Dance & Health (from  Wikipedia): "Trance has been shown to be very psychologically beneficial, by helping to relieve built up stress, allowing one to reflect on life issues without censorship or guilt, and generally giving the psyche respite from operating at alpha or delta states."
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRY A LITTLE TRANCE DANCE, COME TO OUR Basic Shamanism/Shamanic Healing course:
www.sunflower-health.com/courses/swavesey.htm

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Could You electrocute a total stranger?
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Well, you just might! - Social Psychologist Philip Zimbardo reviews
research evidence on how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In
this talk, he shares insights and graphic previously unseen photos from
the Abu Ghraib military prison (Iraq) torture trials and then speaks of
the alternative social circumstances that can create heroes:
www.brothermichael.org.uk

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The search for dark energy and dark matter
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Physicist Patricia Burchat sheds light on two basic ingredients of our
universe: dark matter and dark energy. Comprising 96% of the universe
between them, they can't be directly measured, but their influence is
immense: www.stress-counselling.co.uk/sunflower/sounds/linksounds.htm

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Cambridge Healing & Holistic Lifestyle Group
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[You do not have to live in Cambridge to join]
Well-being, fulfilling work and a healthy lifestyle are at the top of many
people's agenda these days. With this in mind, a group of healthcare
workers, healers and holistic lifestyle enthusiasts share an online news and
discussion group for sharing healthy living news, tips and experiences.
Joining the "CHEAL" (short for Cambridge Healing) group is FREE.
It can be found at: www.CHEAL.org
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THE WORLD DRUM
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A few years ago, a Norwegian healer called "White cougar" had a vision from Mother Earth speaking of the damage being done to her and her children by the carelessness and greed of humanity. She asked him to send a Drum out to circulate in the World, as her heartbeat, carrying her call for humanity to change, for the benefit of all. He contacted a Sami Medicine Man and Drum Maker, Birger Mikkelsen, who resonated to this vision and created a special drum which became known as "The World Drum" and has been circulating the world for 2 years now. The vision of the World Drum is to bind people together across borders, distance, race, and religion in common struggle for the Earth. The World Drum was created from a spiritual viewpoint of life. It is made in the traditional style of the Sami (indigenous natives of Norway, formerly called Lapps or Laplanders), which is very similar to Native American Indian frame-drum style, and is 18 inches in diameter, hand held and covered with an unusually beautiful reindeer hide and also displayed on a very beautiful reindeer skin.

The World Drum was consecrated in a ceremony in front of the Norwegian Parliament in October of 2006. The World Drum was part of the official celebration of the Sami National Day in Gratangen, Norway. In July, 2008, the World Drum was presented in the halls of Canadian Parliament in Ottawa by the indigenous Metis First Nation. See the initial travel route at www.theworlddrum.com

You can hear the drum played here: www.druidry.co.uk/theworlddrum.html

And see pictures of it here: www.manataka.org/page1427.html

The drum was brought to the UK by British druids in Spring 2008 and used for ceremonies at Dragon Hill and Avebury. Read more here: www.druidry.co.uk/forum/post250.html
Recent and future travel of the drum: www.shamanconference.co.uk/AdminArt/WORLD-DRUM.pdf
In Autumn 2008 the drum came (from Canada) to our UK Shamanic Practitioners Conference at Gaunts House in Dorset. It certainly has a very special feel to it, and is such a wonderful gesture from the initiators.
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Shamanism Online Resources
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Soul Loss - Soul Retrieval: www.sunflower-health.com/popups/shamanic.htm

Psychic Protection - Energy Stealing - Evil Forces: www.brothermichael.org.uk/skills/protection.htm

Principle of Universal Oneness - All Things are Connected: www.stress-counselling.co.uk/sunflower/VISIONS/connection.htm

Directory of Animal Totems and Power Animals: www.sunflower-health.com/popups/speak.htm

Shamanism & Shamanic Healing: www.lovehealth.org/tools/shamanic.htm

Shamanic Journeying & Drumming- Beginners Guide: www.sunflower-health.com/popups/journeying.htm

Shamanic Nature Art Therapy - Totems - Medicine Shields: www.sunflower-health.com/courses/art.htm

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                         ~ Sunflower Health ~
   Stress Management - Meditation Training - Healing
                             - WEBSITES -
   Stress Management : www.stress-counselling.co.uk
           Path of Healing : www.lovehealth.org
   Holistic Health & Well-being: www.sunflower-health.com
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