S. Kelley Harrell's Blog: Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism, page 95

Teen Spirit Wise Voice – Shauna Aura Knight Reminds Us ‘It Gets Better’

I’m thrilled to have Pagan leader and author, Shauna Aura Knight, sharing insight into her teen years 

 Also, don’t miss her awesome giveaway. Comment to enter!

How did this work call you? At what life stage?

My parents were both into hippy woo-woo mysticism, so I was sort of raised with a lot of this type of work. My parents had friends who read auras, aligned chakras, did past life regressions and channeling, and other psychic phenomena. However, I found myself called to spiritual work, and particularly toward spiritual service, about the time I was 12 or 13.

In the following years a lot happened. I had been reading a lot of epic fantasy novels that planted the idea in my head of priestesses serving the gods and their community—in other words, the idea that there could be clergy that wasn’t male-only. I had also begun reading old Celtic myths and those resonated with me. Artistically, I became obsessed with Celtic knotwork. I had some intense dreams of being a priestess serving a community or a temple, and those dreams began to shape both my own spiritual seeking as well as my calling to spiritual leadership.

Keep in mind, this was before there was much in the way of Internet. So even though there were big Pagan festivals out there, I didn’t know about any of them.

When I was 15 I had a specific vision of the divine that was more specific and potent than the dreams and visions I’d had before. This was also the age when I really put a name to what I was—Pagan. I kept reading, kept learning. I bought some books on Celtic Paganism, and at that time the best name I had for what I wanted to be was a Druid.

I got to college, I found my first Pagan shop, and I found some other Pagans. I went to my first public ritual, though it sort of sucked. It wasn’t until I was in my early/mid 20’s that I tried to actually attend another public ritual in Chicago. It wasn’t until I started attending Reclaiming Tradition rituals that I found a ritual style that really worked for me.

In the past, I had found more spiritual connection from trance-dancing to Goth or Techno music in a club or at a rave, or even at a drum jam. The ecstatic style of the Reclaiming rituals worked for me. It was in my late 20’s when I discovered Diana’s Grove, the retreat center and mystery school where I did my ritual facilitation and leadership training. I can’t even express how relieved I was that there were other people out there called to this work, and that they could teach me some of what I wanted to learn in order to step into spiritual service. I had felt alone for so many years.

How would you describe your work/path/art to a beginner?

There are two facets to my work and my path. One is my own personal spiritual path, and one is my work as a Pagan leader. Neither is a straight path, and neither is easy to describe—but, that’s kind of the way it goes for the deeper mysteries. By mystery I mean, those experiences that ultimately you have to live and experience to really understand.

My own personal path could probably be best articulated as Celtic Shamanic, but I don’t practice that work with a group, largely as I don’t know anyone local to me who does work like I do. But a lot of that internal spiritual work anyways. It’s dreamwork—writing down my dreams and exploring the dream symbols to better understand myself and explore my own shadows. It’s also creativity work—writing poetry, painting, and other creative work that I do with a spiritual intention. It’s trancework—which, for me, rarely means a stillness meditation, and instead usually involves some kind of singing or dancing work or other work to get into a trance state and commune with the divine, with the deep. It’s also a just a lot of how I live my life, trying to live my spiritual values in how I treat people.

My leadership work comes out of that–out of trying to live my spiritual values—particularly in the area of service. I teach workshops on leadership and on how to facilitate rituals for spiritual groups, and I lead public rituals at some events, as well as for the broader Chicagoland Pagan community. There are different types of spiritual leaders, different skillsets we are good at, and part of leadership is figuring out what you’re good at and what you aren’t. Some people are really good at being administrators, others are good at being the visionary. Some are good pastoral counselors. Others are good teachers or good ritualists. Some are good public speakers, others aren’t. Some people are naturally talented in the ways of working with the spirit world or doing trance possession, others aren’t.

For instance, I’m good at organizing events, and I’m good at teaching workshops on leadership and ritual facilitation. I’m a good public speaker, a good ritualist. I’m really good at facilitating rituals that get the entire group into a deep trance state, though I myself have a hard time getting into that type of a trance state. In other words, I’m not really the person who gets ridden by a spirit in ritual, but I can help support someone else in doing that. I worked over time to build up those skills—I didn’t start out being able to lead workshops, but I was called to do it and I learned over time.

Describe your experience of spirituality as a teen/young adult. Discuss your blessings and challenges of that era.

As I mentioned, I was brought up with a lot of woo-woo. So when I had various experiences of psychic phenomena I considered that fairly normal. I occasionally dreamed the future. I experienced empathy and the occasional telepathy. I didn’t really see auras—despite Aura being my middle name—but I could sense energy. I don’t know that I’d have called it that at the time.

The challenges I had as a kid and as a teenager were in the area of bullying. I was the fat kid with bad skin, I was the nerd, so I was pretty easy pickings. As a kid I was oversensitive and cried at the drop of a hat, but I learned to go cold and to not give away my emotions. And there are benefits to that, but there’s also a pretty big downside.

All that being said, it was sometimes my experiences of connecting to the larger divine, and to sensing the psychic energies that my classmates couldn’t, that helped me to keep it together when the bullying got bad. I had to believe that I was having these experiences, these divine connections, for a reason. That I was meant to do something with it. The more I felt called to spiritual service, the more it seemed to make sense.

I began paying attention to my dreams, and I began having stronger visions of the divine. I felt a connection especially with a goddess/angel/being connected to moonlight and to water. I felt so strongly that she loved me, that she wanted me to succeed despite all the bullying and abuse, that she had a job for me. And so I survived even though there are days when I didn’t know how I was going to take another day of bullying, another day of abuse.

How does that experience speak through your work, today?

There’s a phrase that’s been used in the GLBTQ community, and I think it’s really appropriate for anyone who’s been bullied and abused. “It gets better.” Somehow, I held on to the dream—to the hope—to the idea—that it would get better. That it wouldn’t always be like this. That there would be a day when I wouldn’t have to be abused like that. Where my work would matter.

Through dreamwork, trancework, rituals, and self reflection, I’ve healed a lot of the wounds of my past. And, having done that work—and having been through what I went through as a teenager—I’ve helped others to heal from their own wounds of the past.

Ultimately I think that’s one of the jobs of the shaman, the witch, the druid—whatever you call your path, if you are in the role of spiritual leader, spiritual servant, your job is to help people. There are different ways that this is done. Soul retrieval, therapy, ritual, dreamwork, energy healing, massage…and in fact, there’s no reason why you only have to do one of them. Just because therapy comes from psychology and is modern doesn’t mean it doesn’t have benefit to the modern spiritual seeker. In fact, Carl Jung, one of the fathers of modern psychology, was a shaman and an alchemist if ever there was one.

A lot of my work as a spiritual leader and teacher is to help people become their best selves. To heal the wounds that keep us from being as effective as we could be. Because, if each of us can break the curse that holds us back…and that curse is all our wounds of the past, it’s our negative self-talk, our poor self esteem…if we can break that spell and step into our limitless potential, we can not only heal ourselves but we can heal our communities, we can begin to heal the world around us. Only if we ourselves heal can we build the type of world that we might actually want to live in.

I think a lot of spiritual seekers who step into leadership think they are somehow exempt or above doing personal growth work, and it’s the opposite. Those of us who lead, who serve others through spiritual work—we’re the foundation. If we don’t do our work, the foundation is rotten.

And my work is certainly not done. Healing the wounds of my past doesn’t mean they are gone. It means they don’t rule my life. I’m always working to become a better, stronger, healthier person, and to help others do the same.

Because of what I’ve been through in my life, I know what kind of pain is out there. I know the horrific things people can do to one another. I still don’t understand why…I don’t understand how one person can hurt another like that. But I know it happens, and I know there are a lot of people out there who need healing. That is the source of a lot of my work in one way or another, even though it often comes via me writing and teaching about leadership.

Shauna Aura Knight

An artist, author, community leader, presenter, and spiritual seeker, Shauna travels nationally speaking on the transformative arts of ritual, community leadership, and personal growth. She is the author of the The Leader Within, Ritual Facilitation, Dreamwork for the Initiate’s Path, and Spiritual Scents. She’s a columnist on ritual techniques for Circle Magazine, and her writing also appears in several anthologies on spirituality and leadership.

She’s also a fantasy artist and author of several Urban Fantasies and Paranormal Romances. Her mythic artwork and designs are used for magazine covers, book covers, and illustrations, as well as decorating many walls, shrines, and other spaces. She lives in the Chicagoland area.

Find her on:

Web Site: http://www.shaunaauraknight.com
Leadership Blog: https://shaunaaura.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShaunaAuraKn...
Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/shaunaa...

Shauna has graciously offered to a random commenter on this post an eBook copy of either Ritual Facilitation or Awakening the Leader Within (winner’s choice) , to readers 13 and over. Don’t forget to include your email!

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Available worldwide, Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism.

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The Weekly Rune – Jera

Jera – Harvest -This stave indicates a time of accountability. Harvest for many is a celebratory time when basic needs are met, possibly with enough to save and share with others. To put into perspective the significance of this Rune and the power it holds, it hasn’t blessed The Weekly Rune since October of 2012. With that timeframe in mind, consider what we’ve planted and harvested, since. What was put into motion then, that has come to fruition, now?

Where Dagaz, in the third aett, is the small day-long cycle of the sun, Jera is the bigger cycle of the sun cycle–dreaming, planting, cultivating, reaping, benefiting, giving, dreaming again. It’s generally regarded as the annual harvest, the recognition of a year’s work, and how far we’ve come.

Jera has no reversed position, which means it is what it is, under all circumstances: payoff! That’s a fabulous thing to hear; however, it isn’t all about celebration. Jera is the internal process of culling what works and what doesn’t, what should be repeated and what should be tossed, what new approaches to try. It’s considering how much we need to live now, and what we can afford to put away for later. It’s realizing how much we have, and what we can give away without jeopardizing future plans.

Whether we’re looking at the period since Jera last appeared, the last year, or the last week, Jera is ‘walk, don’t run’ energy. We’ve just come through a major transformation and finally allowed ourselves to enjoy the good things it gifted us. This isn’t the time to sink into frivolity or drop the momentum. It’s also not the time to penny pinch and stuff the mattress out of fear. One of the hardest things to do after success is to sustain the pace–neither speed up nor slow down. Hold steady.

Be realistic. Jera isn’t about pie-in-the-sky expenditures or fist-clenching conservation. It indicates the time to truly, deeply assess where we are on every level of being. Jera encourages us to celebrate our accomplishments, then ground into the plans of what we most want to grow next. In that way, we’re not just reacting to a cycle; rather, we become an active participant in its process.

Jera is the time for gentle movement and radical self-honesty. Reward yourself, preserve yourself, and keep dreaming.

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Teen Spirit Wise Voice – James Stovall – The Power of Imagination

I met James last year, and he’s become a great ally. Do check out the giveaway he’s offering to those who comment!

 

How would you describe your work/path/art to a beginner?

Often when I am asked this by a layperson, the best analogy I can use is the medicine-man they might be familiar with from popular media. But to someone who might be seeking, who might be sensitive, the answer is more nuanced. Have you ever been in an old house or building, and it almost felt like the building was alive? Looking in old windows were like looking into eyes? Or maybe you are standing next to a very old tree, and it felt like the tree was wise, and it wanted you to climb it and share the view? Or to sit under it and take a nap?

From my perspective these thing and ALL things do have a life and a spirit. It is my job to help these spirits interact with people, and people with these spirits, for the purposes of healing and growth. My path is to help facilitate these interactions, and to help change the interactions when they are unhealthy and causing things like illness or depression.

How did this work call you? At what life stage?

It is hard to say in some ways, I feel like I have the “wiring” if that makes sense. The point I often turn to is when I was young. My grandfather had passed away not long before, so I was about 6, and there was a very large and powerful storm that rolled in. It had tornado strength wind and actually blew in a wall at my grandmother’s house, a brick wall I may add. I was home alone just across the farmland but I could do nothing but ask the storm not to hurt me. It “skipped” my smaller and much less durable house. After I felt connected to storms. I began to collect items that had been broken by lightning or storm winds. Years later I was standing in my yard, watching as a large storm passed overhead. I asked the storm to “show me you can hear me. Show me the magic” and lightning arched from cloud to cloud in a perfect triangle far over my head. There have always been other instances but this is the one I point to in my mind.

Describe your experience of spirituality as a teen/young adult. Discuss your blessings and challenges of that era.

My experiences varied. In those days I had very limited information, being out in the farmlands. There was no Internet. I read what I could find, and actually found a place where I could mail in a money order and have occult books sent to me. I experimented with the Kabbalah. I attended a Catholic church classes. I think actually I count the Catholic classes as a large blessing. Those classes, though they intended to foster a relationship in Jeses, taught me how to have a relationship with ANY spirit. How to pray, how to talk, how to look for signs within and without. I was also blessed with a vivid imagination.

I think the thing what most young people have now that I lacked, that I wished I had, was a mentor. I was in my early twenty’s before I found mine. Your first mentor might not be your mentor for life, and you will have to be careful to choose one who is actually doing their own work, and is not a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But they are out there. I as an adult talk about “spiritual accounting”. Verify everything with multiple methods, and that would include someone who would be your mentor.

How does that experience speak through your work, today?

As I said I had a vivid imagination. I loved fiction and comic books. Yes this is a related thing! Dreams and imagination are how Spirit speaks to me, or at least it did at first. Now after years of work I can separate what is in my mind as imagination, and what really is something speaking to me, but don’t be quick to dismiss your imagination. That is important for a young person to learn, that the place where as a little kid you might have gone to imagine a grand adventure with the lizard people might now be the place where you go to commune with the spirit of a lizard, and learn the lessons and wisdom it might have. The very special stone that you imagined made you a charming princess is more powerful than any great and expensive crystal you can find in an occult store.

Learn more about James Stovall, AKA Shaman Jim, or TwoSnakes:

@JamesAtTheOwl

His store, where teaches and advises: The Wandering Owl

Email: Jim@thewanderingowl.com

His Internet show about shamanism, The Jaguar and the Owl, where he discusses poignant topics and answers questions about shamanism. Archives can be found on the show’s site, and at  iTunes.

Comment here for a chance to win your choice of:

A Rune Reading or
A spiritual bath mix that I have made. Winners choice.

Be sure to include an email address!

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Available worldwide, Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism.

The post Teen Spirit Wise Voice – James Stovall – The Power of Imagination appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Teen Spirit Wise Voice – Sherrie Dillard – Intuiting Solo

I’ve known Sherrie Dillard for years. Not only is she an ace intuitive, she’s a prolific writer, and ever on my Dream Team!

Intuiting Solo

Have you had moments of crystal clear intuitive awareness? Do you sometimes feel that there is an inner presence that is leading and guiding you and acting in your best interest? Have you ever felt a shiver of excitement move through you when a spontaneous intuitive insight is proven true and correct? These are a just a few of the natural intuitive occurrences that motivate many to further develop their intuitive awareness.

One of the great gifts of intuition is that it enables us to feel closer to others.  When you feel what another’s feels, tune into another’s thoughts or experience their aches and pains in your body, you become aware of our interconnectedness. In a similar way feeling the presence of a loved one on the other side or experiencing the intervention of an angel or spirit guide, assures you that there is life beyond the physical and it is loving wise and comforting.

The paradox of developing intuition is that although it provides us with a unique connection to others, we often develop it in isolation.  If you are not fortunate enough to have supportive and interested family and friends or live in an area where you have access to intuitive development classes and group psi activities you likely are developing your intuition on your own. Although intuitive awareness opens new doors of possibilities and connectedness to all of life, it is initially a process of looking deeper within self.  One of the reasons that I write books about intuitive and medium development is to give others the tools that I have learned and to help bridge the gap of loneliness that can accompany intuitive development.  Still even though books serve an important role, practicing, developing and interpreting intuitive insights requires direct experience. Having another or a group to discuss and practice with is helpful. Yet, there can be hidden benefits to developing intuition, psychic and medium abilities on your own.

Spiritual Calling

Without the benefit of a class and teacher to lead you through intuitive exercises and help you to interpret what you receive, you may feel alone in a sea of chaotic intuitive phenomenon. But, you are not as alone as you may believe. You are being guided and supported by loving and wise spiritual guides and angels. When spirit comes knocking on your door with intuitive gifts, know that you are being called into a closer connection with the spirit realm.

Here are some suggestions for solo intuitive development.

Trust yourself and release your fear of the unknown. The unseen is safe, reliable and is inherently positive and life giving. Trust that you can communicate and receive its direction and blessing. The universe will respond to your intent to develop your intuition. Notice the magic all around you. The intangible is not as elusive as what it may seem. It will guide you, respond and support your efforts.  There are many ways that the unseen communicates with you. Trust it when it does.
Ask your angels and spirit guides for signs and synchronicities that will confirm when you are on the right track. Then trust what happens. The spirit realm communicates in unlimited ways.

For instance: Has a bird ever seemed to perch on your window sill soon after questioning an intuitive insight and it seemed to be more than a coincidence? Have you ever found coins or feathers, noticed repeating numbers or heard a meaningful verse of a song that seemed to give you a message. These and other similar synchronicities are common signs that you are in the flow of a greater knowing and awareness.

Take time every day to listen. Relish the quiet and practice sitting silently in meditation. Take time to be in nature, live in the now and listen to the quiet inner voice.
Find creative ways in your everyday life to take advantage of simple intuitive opportunities. For example: hold mail in your hands or intuitively focus on an email before you open it. Pay attention to any thoughts, emotions, words, numbers or awareness and knowing that surface.
Notice the energy glow around others or surrounding events. Pay attention to whom or what feels energetically stronger or more compelling. In time you will find that those that seem to glow are often lucky, win, and have good health and generally experience events and situations that work to their benefit.
Write down your dreams. Even if it seems that they are silly and make no sense, in time patterns and intuitive insights will emerge from them.
Look at the circumstances of your life symbolically. Use your intuition to see the deeper message within the events, people, circumstances, relationships and conditions of your life. Approach all that you experience as an interactive dialogue between yourself and the universe. What is life attempting to teach you? Where are you experiencing discomfort, frustration or lack? Notice how changes in your thoughts, emotions and actions affect your outer and external experiences. Listen within for insight into the meaning and significance behind your day to day experiences.

Developing your intuitive abilities on your own can accelerate your spiritual-intuitive growth and strengthen your connection with the unseen. If you feel you have no support or that your friends and family do not understand your interest in psychic and intuitive awareness, know that you are strong enough to go it alone. There is an invisible presence that assists and guides you. As the Buddha said, Be a light unto yourself.

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Sherrie Dillard is a medium, psychic and medical intuitive. She is the author of the best-selling Discover Your Psychic Type, Love and Intuition, The Miracle Workers Handbook, and You are a Medium. www.sherriedillard.com sgd7777@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

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Available worldwide, Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism.

The post Teen Spirit Wise Voice – Sherrie Dillard – Intuiting Solo appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

Teen Spirit Wise Voice – Heather Long – Summer Solstice

I’ve worked with author, Heather Long, quite a lot, and I respect her tremendously. Today, she shares her thoughts on Summer Solstice, and 

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice, Midsummer, High Summer, Solstice Day—the longest day of the year is typically celebrated June 20-22 in the Northern Hemisphere (conversely this is also the same time as Winter Solstice in the southern, but that’s for another sabbat post here).  The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and derives its name from the Latin sol sistere, which literally means: sun stand still.

The farther north you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the longer today will be. For example, where I live in North Texas, the sun will rise around 6:20 in the morning and set around 8:38 in the evening, meaning the sun will be in the sky for 14h 18m 47s. Farther north in countries like England or in states like Alaska the day will begin around 4:30 in the morning and the sun will set around 9:20 in the evening for a whopping 16 hour+ day of daylight (London) and rise at 2:48 in the morning and set sometime around 12:48 a.m. the next day in Alaska for an amazing twenty-two hours of sunshine.

In every way, Summer Solstice is the polar opposite of Winter when night reigns and families huddled together to stay safe in the dark, Summer Solstice is about life bursting under the light, sharing, playing, celebrating and observing a day of light and laughter.

While the modern vernacular holds that Midsummer day is the beginning of summer, most pagans and more Wiccans observe it as exactly that – MID-summer. This is the high point of the year, because the days will grow shorter and shorter following this stretch of the wheel.  In some ways, Summer Solstice actually marks the “end” of summer, and the turning of the wheel toward Lughnassad or Lammas Night in August. But more on that later.

Most of the holidays on the wheel of the year observe the seasons of the harvest whether it’s planting season, tending season, harvest season or the time for the crops to lay fallow. Summer Solstice actually marks the day of the very first harvests of those crops planted as far back as Imbolc and Spring Equinox. Farmers may gather their first bundles of hay and leave them to dry in the sun, or they’ll keep an eye on crops depending on how turbulent the storm season is…

…and as we all know this year it’s been very turbulent. Summer Solstice is a good time for picking herbs and fresh flowers. For example, today will be the day I cut back my rose bushes—they’ve been growing like weeds since spring, but they need to be pruned and shaped and many of those beautiful blossoms will come inside to fill the house with the fragrance of fresh blooms.

How I Would Celebrate

In many years past, I would head to one of the local lakes with a whole group—usually from different covens and traditions and we’d rent a huge campsite for the Summer Solstice weekend. We’d pitch tents and spend our days in the woods hiking, or in the lake cooling off. The real party starts at sundown, because it’s time to honor the sun with bonfires. While the Goddess is found in all of our rituals and holidays, Summer Solstice is unmistakably a day to honor the God aspect, to celebrate his service and blessings upon us. We could not have the green without the sun, we could not have life without the sun, we could not have our world without the sun.

It is also a day to celebrate the service of the Oak King, because it’s time for him to pass his torch to the duality of his aspect: the Holly King. The Horned One, most often perceived in Western culture as Herne the hunter, though of course he has many other names, also is represented by two aspects: the Oak and Holly Kings. In some traditions, a man would be crowned the Oak king and he rules from Yule to Summer Solstice, at the Solstice, the Holly King returns and he and the Oak King battle for the Goddess’ affections, and it is the Holly King who will rise and rule until Yule. (Yes I apologize for that rhyme).  In some modern traditions, this is seen as more of a passing of the “torch,” an honor to all the hard work to get to the summer, a well-deserved respite for work done and the giving over of responsibility to see to the rest of the harvest and the falling of night to another.

Dancing around the bonfire, singing, canoodling (yes, I said canoodling), and the passing of the meade made at Beltane are all very typical ways to celebrate. But so are:

Sitting outside and reading a book
Taking a long walk in the sun
Spending a day with your children splashing and playing
Reviewing your goals and taking a personal inventory, what can you be doing better? What can you start now?
Simply being

Seriously, the last is one I observe for some of the day—it is a day to celebrate that we exist at all. But if you spend your day outdoors in the sun, be sure to wear sunscreen. In Texas, it will be sweltering outside, the sidewalk will be hot, the air torpid, and the pool water warm like the bath—and we’re all alive because of this beautiful delicious heat from the sun.

In some traditions, this day is also the day when the heavens marry the earth, their long courtship and handfasting is done, now they will be blessed in a union. It’s also the month considered the most popular for weddings both because of the Solstice and the goddess for whom the month is named: Juno (Latin for Hera) – wife of Jupiter (Zeus) and goddess of marriage.

However you celebrate today, embrace the bounty in your life, dance, sing, and be merry. Because the days will grow shorter, the long nights will return and we need to carry as much of this sunshine forward in our souls as we can stand to carry.

Summer is one of those times when I don’t perform a ritual, but instead embrace the whole day. I’ll wake to the sun and spend a few hours outside that day, going for long walks and usually by afternoon, hit the swimming pool or the lake because it’s too hot for anything else. In years past, I’ve also used today as the day to weave a wreath with flowers and hang it out in the sun, then I’ll sleep with it. It’s a little way of bringing the sunshine indoors, but allergies aren’t always friendly to it.

Blessed be and may your summer solstice be filled with the creative passion of the light.

 

 

 

Find Heather’s Chance Monroe series, below:

Earth Witches Aren’t Easy
Plan Witch from Out of Town
Bad Witch Rising

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Available worldwide, Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism.

The post Teen Spirit Wise Voice – Heather Long – Summer Solstice appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

The New Era of Spiritual Ecstasy

This article was originally published at the O-Books Blog.

When I first read that Alice had an open call for earth-based manuscripts in Soul Rocks Books’ Teen Spirit series, I thought, “How cool,” and moved on. It’s been a long time since I was a teen, and since there are loads of great intro books on shamanism, I thought nothing more of it.

Except that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

At the same time, I was implementing the first year of  Tribe of the Modern Mystic , a community I created as part of my Masters work, to provide a real-time web of support for those who want to live their intuitive selves more deeply in everyday experiences. As I put the finishing touches on the Tribe, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I first came into the awareness that I had to live my intuitive self when I was seventeen, the same year that shamanism began chasing me. It was a gritty race, and I spent years gnashing my teeth at the lack of resources, enduring crisis after crisis trying to go it on my own, until I finally just gave in and let life guide. As I recalled that baptism by fire, I knew I would write this book for one simple reason:  nobody has to do it that way anymore.

I’m not a world authority on shamanism, modern or traditional. I’m not a hardboiled scholar, though I pretend I am in my spare time. I’m also not interested in pushing my ideas or methodologies onto others. The one thing I stumbled into being very good at is sharing my story, in a way that inspires others to find, honor, and share their own. In the spirit of that timeless approach to the healing story, I wrote  Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism .

When I announced the book to the shamanistic community, it got mixed reactions. Most were very interested in a tool to help guide youths who are already interested in shamanism. While there are resources for those seeking guidance and support in other aspects of earth-based spirituality, there are no others specifically focused on addressing the interests and concerns of young adult shamanists. In the west, shamanism is entering a unique phase. We’re not pioneering its homecoming into our culture anymore. It’s here. We’re doing this, and we’re taking it down some amazing and unique paths that can only occur in the modern context. Given that fact, and the rooting of animistic perspective in our greener, more sustainable worldview, it’s no surprise at all the those becoming interested in shamanism are young, and those who want to mentor them need unique support in doing so.

Likewise, detractors in the community insisted that young people have no business engaging in shamanic endeavors, that they can’t possibly have the maturity or depth to cope with the experiences that result from embarking on this path. Well, guess what? They’re already on this path, and they can tread it with compassionate direction, or they can bounce from spiritual emergency to healing crisis, which in the end, affects us all. As a culture, maybe even as a human collective, we’ve done that long enough. We don’t have to stumble towards ecstasy anymore, at any age.

In the interviews I did to support this book, for most of us the wheels of intuitive ingenuity start rolling offroad early in life. In fact, I’d even say we’re born that way. It’s life that shoves us back on the main thoroughfares. For some it’s about more than just intuition, but a delicate art drawing Nature, spirituality, and compassionate living among community all in one. For those teen, young adults, and young-at-heart who want to learn about shamanism in a very personal way, I present Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism.

 

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Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

 My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful that I finally seem to be out from under the plague I’ve had since Memorial Day.

I’m thankful for rain.

I’m thankful to have the help of others in promoting my new book.

I’m grateful for my family.

I’m happy to celebrate Summer Solstice.

I’m grateful for creativity.

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks?

This post is part of VikLit‘s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Participate by following the link and adding your name to the Linky list, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever!

Click here to hop on… the Hop, and thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment.

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Teen Spirit Wise Voice – K. A. Laity – Accidental Shaman

I’m thrilled to have author K. A. Laity joining us today. Comment below to be entered to win an ebook copy of her non-fiction collection Rook Chant: Collected Writings on Witchcraft & Paganism (suitable for most ages).

Accidental Shaman

In my novel Owl Stretching, I describe the main character Ro as an ‘accidental’ shaman. What I mean by this is someone who has not been mentored in the art and remains completely ignorant of the practice—until she finds herself journeying in an alternate reality.

Although Ro’s story has a lot more to do with her bad choices (not taking responsibility, in fact doing her best to avoid conscious rationality as much as possible), when she accidentally meets the creature who will become her guide and mentor—a magpie from hundreds of years before her time—curiosity gets the better of her and she begins to seek out questions without knowing where to look.

She turns to her librarians. In the Google era, much has been said about the superfluity of libraries, but as Ro figured out, knowing what questions to ask was as important as finding answers. Often when we have experiences that are difficult to explain or describe to others—that sound wrong or crazy or impossible when we try to put them into words—it’s difficult to know where to turn to find answers.

Ro is a liminal figure: someone who stands between things as shamen and shamankas often are. She has a fluid sexuality, she doesn’t identify for or against things that people feel she ought to do, but feels a dissatisfaction with her life. Ro worries that there is something significant missing from her life; never mind that her best friend has been in a coma for ten years—oh, and did I mention that there’s also an invasion of aliens that are anything but friendly.

If you’re reading this site, you already have some idea of the journey ahead of you if you choose to follow a shamanic path. When I first received formal training in shamanic practice, I was amazed to find I had already learned many of the skills without a mentor to guide me (which meant I had some poor practices and little in the way of protection).

I think creative writing in particular (though to some extent, all the arts) offers similar skills to shamanic journeying. Diving deep into the unconscious, finding threads to follow and returning with the story needed—whether you’re helping someone to heal or constructing a fictional world, the skill needed is the same. The more you’re conscious of it as a practice, as an art, the more you are likely to respect the work you do and value the gift you reveal.

The intoxication of the journey should not overwhelm the power of the story you bring back. Stay connected, practice with discipline and build your strengths. No one else can tell the stories that lie within you. It’s your job to locate them and bring them to the light.

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K. A. Laity is the author of novels like White Rabbit, Owl Stretching, Pelzmantel and many more stories, plays and non-fiction works. Over at Witches & Pagans, she’s the History Witch, currently translating the Viking wisdom poem Hávamál with commentary. Find her on her website or Amazon Author Page, Facebook, G+, Goodreads, History Witch at Witches & Pagans, Scribd, Soundcloud (audio), Twitter and Wattpad.

Comment below to be entered to win an ebook copy of her non-fiction collection Rook Chant: Collected Writings on Witchcraft & Paganism(suitable for most ages).

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Available worldwide, Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism.

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Wordless Wednesday

Photo by Brian Eager

The post Wordless Wednesday appeared first on Soul Intent Arts.

The Weekly Rune – Gebo

Gebo – gift- The last time Gebo was The Weekly Rune was 31 December 2012. Has it been that long since we’ve had a gift?

Of course Gebo isn’t just any gift. Its emphasis is on the exchange of giving and receiving, more than on what is given, what is received. In short, it’s about an exchange strengthening a bond.

The emphasis on that bond is why Gebo is often associated with partnership. A Rune winding down the first aett, with Gebo, we’ve come through creating ourselves into being and discovered our power as souls in form.  Then it happens–we find friends! Through our ability to give to others, and possibly receive from them, we create our web–the network of support closest to us, which helps us stay actively involved with All Things. In the Jungian hero’s journey, this stage is the acquisition of allies, those in form, in spirit, and within.

The process of drawing to us those who can truly move us along our paths is a powerful thing. Celtic traditions have the concept of anam cara, or soul friend. I’ve written before on this special bond, what it is, and how we interpret it. Anam cara has most often been misinterpreted as ‘soul mate,’ as in a romantic partner. In reality anam cara speaks to a much higher bond that always urges each other toward growth, which could be found in a lover, an animal familiar, a place, a child. As we all know, sometimes growth means periods of discomfort, and all soul relationships aren’t necessarily cheerful. They all, however, hone our sense of self, and what we give to the world. The way we learn what we have to give is through sacrifice, through acceptance.

The bottom line with Gebo at this time is someone is coming or will soon come who can help us reach the next significant place of growth. Perhaps both individuals are helped in the joining, perhaps not. The emphasis is recognizing that a bond has been made, and a new level of self has been attained, as a result.

Celebrate the bond. Be as fully present in it as possible, and know that we’re in this together.

–Be sure to subscribe to The Weekly Rune, so you don’t miss out! The form is found on SoulIntentArts.com, on the sidebar or footer.

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