November-December Workshop
Reindeer Goddess traing.
So cool it has its own page!
Workshops Already completed in 2014
Standing on Sacred Ground: The Great Wheel of the Above and the Below
February 2014
Core skills learned: The shamanic journey, trust of the sacred imagination, the Celtic way of seeing, poetry and prayer making, protection, permission.
We begin at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, on the days associated with the Celtic Goddess Bridget in the Celtic shamanic tradition. This weekend offers the foundation upon which we will stand for the entire year of study, a beautiful and practical mysticism that can deepen your daily spiritual life and bring a sense of solidity and personal power as you move through the world. Many cultures recognized the spiritual qualities in the four (or five, six or seven) directions. For the ancient Irish, there were five directions: east, south, west, north and center, or what they called the place of sovereignty (personal power). In this weekend, we’ll go deeply into the shamanic and spiritual qualities of each direction. We will learn which direction we align with most naturally and which we most avoid, and how that affects our lives in every way: economic, spiritual, sensual, relational. You will come away with a couple of beautiful prayers that you can use all the time, and with a system of Celtic prayer-making that will help you improvise prayers any time you need them.
Suggested Reading: The Celtic Way of Seeing by Frank MacEowen
Dreaming with Open Eyes: Divination and Seeing Through Sacred Eyes
March 2014
Core skills learned: divination, shamanic journey, ancestors, spirit guides, protection, and permission.
Divination takes uncountable forms across cultures. This weekend you will learn three different types of Celtic-themed divination, from very simple to elaborate (and amazingly beautiful). Divination is the practice of using tools and sacred objects to ask for guidance and healing from the Spirit world, and help us (and those we serve) materialize our dreams and hopes in this world. The weekend begins with a purification ceremony and moves into using the map of the cosmos that we learned about last month. You will leave the weekend with your own divination bundle (a cloth and sacred objects used in divination practice) and a practice that you can continue to hone for a lifetime. Divination is challenging and powerful on many levels, and we will work our way through challenges. We will undo the limits of pop psychology and marketplace shamanism, which analyze and interpret the dream for us, and we will remember the far more profound (and truthfully, frightening) knowledge of what it means to trust, what it means to open the Eye of Spirit in us.
The Portable House of the Holy: Rattle Making
April 2014
Core skills learned: rattle making, “shrine” making, prayer, shamanic journey, working with ancestors.
The rattle is a primary shamanic ally and ceremonial tool throughout time and across cultures. It is a tool for journeying to the other world, gathering power, cleansing and protection. The rattle has immense and nuanced powers for your practice. We will build rattles of animal skin, and you will fill them with objects powerful and meaningful to you. You will add in personal prayers, songs and secrets. We will explore your ancestral lineages, shrine making and building a sacred space in which we make art.
The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun:
A north woods weekend retreat
May 2014
Location: Crow Wing Crest Resort, 3 ½ hours north of the Twin Cities
Core skills learned: storytelling, making offerings, initiation, prayer making and singing, and communal construction of sacred space.
In the lovely, comfortable north woods setting of Crow Wing Crest Resort, with the help of the lake, land, trees, lodge, fire and sauna, we will dive deep into this indescribably powerful Mayan initiation story, each of us merging with the story in our own way, as we need to. We will, as a community, construct a temporary sacred house from the branches of the willow. Those who are called to it may live in the house for the weekend (or you may sleep in the super-comfy cabins we have rented). The willow is a powerful healing spirit and building a house for her is an act of communal beauty that unleashes surprising powers in the participants. In the building of the Spirit House we will remember how to make physical and spiritual homes in which our wild indigenous soul can live and flower for the world. How do we trust and stay open to life, even through betrayal and heartbreak? How can we remember what is sacred as we are mangled by the demands of life? How do we serve our dreams, our wisdom, our families, our loved ones, our communities? How do we let go of that which challenges us? That which scares us? That which blocks us from living our true nature?
Required reading in advance: The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun, by Martin Prechtel
Feeding the Mouths of the Sun: Drum Making
Friday, June 20 (7–10pm) / Saturday June 21 (10am–4pm)
Location: TBA
Core skills learned: Drum Making, ceremony, prayer, fire.
As we approach the summer solstice, we learn what it means to make a drum in a sacred manner, which is more than merely making an object that we play. We fill it with prayers and powers, with humility and honor. We make it as an act of beauty for this world and the other world. It becomes a living member of the family, and not just an object. If you already have a spirit drum, this weekend can also be used to “remake” it spiritually, or make another drum to gift to someone (a very powerful act). This weekend we connect to our powers as healers, and we focus on what it means to develop a strong, clear heart, “wholeheartedness,” a “heart ready for anything.” We learn what it means to feed the Sacred Grandfathers and Grandmothers of the Sun who shine endlessly feeding the life of Mother Earth and all her creatures. (Extra materials charge for apprentices: $50)
Cost for this workshop only: $175 (Includes guest teacher)
Working with Plants as Medicine and Teachers
Friday July 18 (7–10pm) / Saturday July 19 (10am–4pm)
Core Skill Learned: practices for connecting to a plant ally, connecting with trees.
In this weekend you will learn the shamanic practice of building a relationship with a plant ally. We will enjoy an overview of Tobacco, Sage, Sweetgrass, Willow and Pine, but you will work more deeply with one that calls to you. We will explore stories, practices and ways of connecting to the soul life of trees, plants, wind and water. We will reconnect the lines of communication and trust with the world of Nature. You will learn to make prayers with medicine plants.
Suggested Reading: Plant Spirit Shamanism: Traditional Techniques for Healing the Soul by Ross Heaven (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism-Traditional-Techniques/dp/1594771189/ref=pd_sim_b_2
Seven Herbs: Plants as Teachers by Matthew Wood (Paperback)
Cost: $90.
Please bring:
Friday
- A basket or bag for gathering plants. We will smudge them as part of our process. I have extra if someone needs one.
- Scissors or knife for gathering, if they wish. Also will be smudged.
- A salad spinner, if they have one. If not, a clean dishtowel.
Saturday
- A ceramic, wooden, or glass bowl for the ceremonial decoction -- no metal. It can be cereal-bowl size or larger -- something they find beautiful, or one they may already use for ceremony.
The Song of Power
Friday, August 8 (7–10pm) / Saturday August 9 (10am–3pm)
Core Skill learned: Shamanic Journey, Spirit helpers, opening the voice, acquiring a power song. Connecitng with the elements.
In this time of the harvest of the first fruits, we will move out into nature and practice silence, openness and asking for the powers of nature to rise up through us in the form of a power song. This is a simple sounding action that carries enormous power and impact, and the power song becomes a constant companion to soothe, protect, and beautify you in your daily life and for those you work with. Like the drum, rattle and divination bundle, the power song is a foundational shamanic tool in your skill-kit.
Cost for this workshop only: $100
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Meeting the Inner Shaman, Awakening the Indigenous Soul
Friday September 12 (7–10pm) / Saturday September 13 (10am-4pm)
This weekend will be a series of powerful meditations, prayers and practices that will help you learn how to tear down the wall that has been erected between you and your inner sacred power, between you and your essential human beauty, between you and your indigenous soul, "inner shaman," or otherworldly teacher. You'll drum, chant and conduct several shamanic journeys to come into intimate contact with that teacher that is your essential shamanic guide, the one who connects you to the powers of nature, to the ancestors, to the Big Love, to the Quantum Flux, to the song of life inside the DNA.
Cost: $125. The best way to reserve your spot is to pay in advacne at www.paypal.com ("send money" to drummingthesoulawake@gmail.com). Or email me for other payment options.
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Feeding and Healing the Ancestral World
Mask making, dance, and fire ceremony
Friday, October 17 (7–10pm) / Saturday October 18 (10am–4pm)
Be ready: working with the ancestors is powerful, and, often, life-altering. We begin the weekend with protection rituals, and then we move into an overview of how healing the ancestors will shift and heal patterns in your life here and now, and change relationships in this world. Along the way you will study dozens of spirit masks from around the world and create your own ancestral spirit mask as an act of feeding and healing your ancestral line. You'll also use the "shamanic journey" technique to see into the ancestral world. Yes, it's a big weekend with a lot of deep and fascinating work! All materials are provided, but you'll also be able to bring your own if you want to.
The weekend will culminate in a spectacular ceremony of dance and fire. This work is so non-rational, so purely shamanic and so beautiful it is difficult to describe in ordinary words. The group is limited to12.
Cost: $125.
