Posts Tagged ‘shaman’

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During a recent thunderstorm, some flying debris hit the side of our house, damaging the vent that allows heat to escape from the dryer hose.  The damage was minor, basically just bending part of the vent so that it did not close like it normally should.  It would be an easy repair, buying a new vent and replacing it, the only reason this home repair scored higher than a rating of “easy”,  is that our dryer is on the 2nd story of the house, thus requiring a very tall ladder to access that part of the house outside to replace the vent.

We had plans to repair the vent during the weekend, as we were traveling and away off and on for a couple of weeks. Upon returning home, we pulled the hose off of the dryer to make the repair and discovered that a bluebird had built a nest inside the dryer vent hose and laid four beautiful blue eggs.

While we were away, the vent had opened enough for the bluebird to come in and lay the eggs, but with more storms passing through, the vent had closed again to the point where the mother bird was not able to come back in for a couple of days to sit on her eggs.  The chances are slim at this point that the eggs will hatch, but we carefully removed them from the hose and placed them intact with their nest in a garden container and moved them into our walk up attic, which is very warm and identical to the temperature of the dryer vent hose where the mother had chosen to lay the eggs.  We’ll continue to watch the eggs and see if they will hatch, which would be a minor miracle at this point.

A visit from a bluebird laying eggs in your home does not go un-noticed in this house and I had to go research the shaman meanings of bluebirds and the reason for their visit, which include:

• A good omen, considered to bring happiness, contentment and joy
• The bluebird visits a human and reports back to the gods, similar to the phrase, “a little bird told me”.
• Prosperity, good luck and the bluebird is the only bird considered not to have a dark side.
• Symbol of changes and passages, bluebirds indicate that those who previously attempted to block our progress, will now find themselves blocked and hindered
• Bluebirds are the magical color of the East and enhance the throat chakra and creative artistic impression

There’s also the number 4 in the equation here, with four brilliant blue eggs in the nest. Four symbolizes creating balance in all aspects of life. It is calm, enduring and friendly. It represents the four directions, north, south, east and west, the four winds and the four seasons and represents the fourth dimension, in which time is an illusion.  It also stands for the four guardian angels and the four corners of the temple.

We have been blessed four times by the bluebird of happiness and we offer thanks to the Great Spirit and Mother Nature for this divine gift.

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Welcome to the ‘Quick Five’, where I chat with fascinating authors, artists, teachers and researchers and ask them five questions about their work. Our guest today is Crichton Miller. In his book, The Golden Thread of Time, Crichton explores the ancient scientific and spiritual wisdom that has shaped our present and still influences our future. He reveals a forgotten system that reaches back beyond the current established religions, further than Ancient Egypt or Sumerian into an age where Mankind lived in harmony with Nature.

Kala: Crichton, welcome to the ‘Quick Five’. You’ve written a book entitled The Golden Thread of Time. How did you become interested in this topic and its history?

Crichton: Hello Kala and hello to your readers, thank you for asking me to share my work, you are quite correct, I have written a book called the Golden Thread of Time which was published in 2001. There are many esoteric reasons for the title, which can be interpreted on many levels of consciousness by the reader.

To answer the second part of the question, How did you become interested in this topic and its history? I want to share a passage from the Bhagavad-Gita with you:

‘The living entity, bewildered by ignorance, desires to be put in certain conditions of life, thereby his or her chain of action and reaction begins. A living entity is, by superior Nature, full of knowledge’.

As a living entity, I decided not to be bewildered by ignorance and so was put in unique and unusual conditions of life which allowed a different chain of action and reaction than was the norm for my peers. I decided to search the world both inner and outer to find the answers I needed that released the forgotten knowledge I hold within me. Each one of us is Life Being Human and we are all collective in the true nature of the word individual which really means indivisible from the Duality. It has always been essential for our survival as a family, tribe, clan, business or country to have unified collective beliefs whether they are right or wrong. This essential element is designed to allow a society to perpetuate itself in balance and harmony in an environment that is specifically designed to return all systems to chaos after a period of time. To understand this truth requires a knowledge of the true nature of time and to work with it. That is what our ancestors managed to do over thousands of years until their great civilisations collapsed and died. In each of these collapses, much was destroyed and only a few fragments remain which are either misunderstood or deliberately abused. I set out to find some of these fragments and piece them together using reason and common sense. That process allowed me to discover the methods used by our ancestors to keep time, measure the earth and construct buildings embodying the knowledge of the Nature of this world for posterity.

In my research, I have discovered that the very thing that saves us from instability in one set of circumstances can also destroy us if we adhere to it when those circumstances have changed. As we have become more secular in modern times we find that that very secularity creates conflict with the collective well being. Topic in the ancient sense of the word comes from the Greek and is a class of considerations and arguments’ on which a rhetorician may draw.

My rhetorical topic then is this: History as we understand it is in error because those that wrote it felt that to expose the true nature of the world to the masses would bring chaos into society. When corruption worked its way into the Church and Crown the rebellion which resulted in the destroyed Royalty throughout Europe and discredited the Roman Catholic Church leading to fragmentation of Christianity. Some critical thinkers in the past saw the duplicity and hypocrisy clearly and separated themselves from the old ways of thinking preferring rational and provable evidence, but those who blindly maintained the system fought to preserve it at all costs. In other words a battle line was drawn up between science and church. The result was a descent into secularity with deep divisions appearing between the spiritual and the practical. The worldly process has gained dominance through the linear thought patterns created by Darwin who argued continued improvement of the species through natural selection.

The truth I argue is that Science and Spirituality are indivisible and therefore our ancestors practised science too but with the addition of a spiritual world view giving superiority to Nature as a whole and accepting our reduced role in a holistic approach. It is my argument that Humanity is entering another stage in the journey which could result in the destruction of our society as we know it and a return to a Dark Age or a step forward into a sane and balanced future. The Maya predict this as 2012 but the process is already beginning where world economies fail and Nature attacks us on all quarters.

The proof of this fall is a historical and cyclical evidence that all failed civilisations descend into secularity while the barbarian enters the back door. Before we can rebuild we need to uncover the truth and re learn a system that allows us to live in balance with those awesome forces. The word Temple means a place of measuring Time using the movements of the heavens as does the word Church. To measure anything requires a balanced holistic instrument which is both spiritual and practical. That original instrument is the cross with the wheel and it is the archetype and embodiment of all measuring instruments and mathematical principles that we employ in science today.

Kala: Is the Celtic Cross a scientific instrument as well as a sacred symbol? How did ancient people use the cross in architecture, philosophy and geometry? Did they also use the cross in combination with the zodiac and the pyramids?

Crichton: The Celtic cross is the key to understanding how our ancestors thought and survived and therefore it is both a scientific and a sacred instrument of the highest importance. Without studying its functions, no one can understand the ancient mysteries. I put together a theory that there must have been an archetype instrument that has remained elusive to archaeologists, historians and archaeoastronomers. I discovered that there was one in the Great Pyramid of Giza in the Queens Chamber that was discovered in 1872, parts of which lie in the British Museum and set about reconstructing it. Science is about measuring and testing which is what I have done. Make no mistake about its scientific credibility, since it has gained two British Patents as a surveying, astronomical and navigation instrument. I own by law and design the gift of the working Celtic Cross, Wodens Wheel, The Sun Cross, and any other derivation of our ancestors greatest sacred instrument that actually makes physical spherical geometric measurements. The Great Spirit of Creation and the Spirit of our ancestors gave it to me and me alone out of millions of people on our planet.

As Don Ajlehandro, Chief Mayan Elder and Spiritual Leader of his people said to me at a Sun Ceremony in 1998 I have been chosen and I am predicted in the Mayan Glyph ” Man with a Purpose”. and that “Our Jesus Christ was crucified on the sign of his own science and spirituality”. In time gone by, some of our ancient ancestors specialised in agricultural lifestyles and others were land and seafaring hunter gatherers that eventually became wandering herdsmen . Both of these lifestyles require the practical and spiritual understanding of time and place and the only way to do this successfully was to study the predictable motions of the sun, moon and planets against the fixed back ground stars. Geometry, which literally means earth measurement, comes from astrology which means star logic, or mathematics. You see, each star follows an imaginary line and is always directly above a point on the earth on that line at least once a day as the planet spins, consequently all the natural numbers of measurement come from this knowledge. It is the meaning of the word to Rule or measure. There were adepts who were chosen by their people or tribe and that knew how to measure for the benefit of society who were called Rulers as is the simple instrument used in every school today.

A Rulers service to humanity was to measure the value of produce, measure land ownership, create the Rule of Law and predict future events. They were the real Lords of Time and could divine Time. That is why it is called the Divine Right of Kings chosen by the group for their talents given by the Gods. The Rulers became so sophisticated that they created the natural numbers we still use today from the motions of the heavenly bodies. Genesis Verse 14. 15 and 16 in the Holy Bible instructs us exactly how they did this. They made signs in the stars that were similar to objects on the earth in their local area so that the generations that came after them would understand. Because they believed in reincarnation those signs were placed in myth , word, stone and wood constructions so as to be preserved to remind them of what they already knew in a previous life if and when they were re born. This was science to them although they did not call it that, and I cannot argue that they were unscientific in their theories and conclusions based on observation, measurement, and construction. The pyramid complex at Giza is one such example where the Ruler incorporated the mathematics of the stars into a format of indestructible stone. It is said that Sir Isaac Newton worked out the rate of luni-solar precession at the pyramid complex. Well, he would, since there is nothing to work out, it was all done for him thousands of years ago, the pyramids tell us the rate of precession as well as giving us the circumference of the earth, and the speed of the moon apart from hundreds of other mysteries. You only have to know how to look and it becomes obvious.

Our ancestors, whom we disrespect if we apportion their skills to aliens in space ships, believed that failure to remember and understand the Natural Laws would lead future generations into chaos and cause the eventual destruction of our civilisation and possibly our species. Ancient people believed that our planet that they saw as the Mother and the Sun that they saw as the Father were vastly superior living thinking entities that held complete dominion over us. They also considered that each entity on the planet had a Spirit which the Egyptians called Neteru from which the word Nature is derived. The word Scientific means making systematic, exact knowledge and the working Celtic cross does exactly that.

Kala: Is the cross a Time keeper? How was it used with water clocks?

Crichton: The cross is not a timekeeper but rather the only logical instrument capable of measuring the Natural cycles of time using the exact motions and positions of the moon, sun and planets as they travel along the ecliptic plane. It was the person using the cross was the Time Keeper. What allowed my patent was the upright arm on the top of the cross which makes it unique . It is because of the top arm that sidereal or horizontal measurements can be taken and no other archaic instrument such as the Egyptian Merkhet, quadrant, astrolabe, octant, cross staff or sextant can achieve that level of spherical geometry or accuracy. The problem with observing the stars and planets is that it can only be done when the sky is clear and there is an uninterrupted view of the sky and horizon. Water clocks and sand timers allow time to be kept and them re calibrated when the sky becomes clear again.
Kala: The history of the cross begins with ancient Shamanism, through the burning of Alexandria and its rediscovery 500 years later by the Knights Templar, resulting in communication with the Amerindians before Columbus and eventual excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church. How did the meaning of the cross become hidden and lost in our full view?

Crichton: The original Rulers were Shaman. They communicated with the Nature Spirits at all levels for the benefit of their tribes either naturally or through drug enhanced sensitive mental states. This ancient skill is called Animism because they communicated with the “Over Spirit” of each species or element that were of either of service or threat to them and sought advice from their ancestors. My abilities and the gift of the cross make me a throwback or incarnation of those ancient people, I use these powers in everyday life and business to protect those who rely on me. Shaman looked for meaningful forms and omens in rocks, water, clouds, trees, fire and the stars, a process we call Simulacra today. Much of this way of life can be seen in the remnants of the Amerindian practices including Totems and dressing up in bird and animal forms. The Signs in the heavens were originally animism and simulacra as can be seen from the Greek word Zodiac which literally means wheel of animals. Ancient Egypt was the peak culmination of an enormous length of Human time we like to call the Stone Age which was eventually conquered by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. Eventually a great library was founded in Alexandria which housed countless papyrus scrolls with the history and techniques learned over countless millennia. Many of these ancient books fed the philosophy of Greece and its Arab neighbours before being deliberately destroyed by fire. What little scraps of knowledge that were saved were scattered far and wide with some ending up in Jerusalem, Timbuktu and Constantinople, but the unified history and science of the astrological ages of Aries and Taurus were lost forever.  It is from Constantinople that we find sea Charts or Portolans such as the ‘Admiral Pirie Reis maps’ that describe the ability to find both latitude and longitude a thousand years before it was supposedly discovered with the invention of the stable Chronometer by Harrison in the 1700′s.

It should be remembered that Constantinople which houses the great Temple Sophia was the seat of the founder of the Roman Catholic Church Constantine who changed the Christian Piscean sign of the Fish for the Cross which was from his Gaul homeland, already ancient the cross was known to northern Celtic tribes as Wodens Wheel. It was reputedly Constantine’s wife who discovered the real cross in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem band whereas history records this discovery as a Relic it is more likely the source of early Christendom’s great knowledge and power. The word Church comes from the words Kirk meaning ruler and Cerise meaning circle and so properly translated means measurer of the circles. Since the name Templar is associated with the Latin word Tempus meaning Time we can see its dualistic role as keepers of the Temple and Time keeping.

The combination of Time keeping and earth measurement along with more ancient Portolans allowed the powerful Templar fleet to trade with the Amerindian cultures while perpetuating the myth in the Dark Ages that the world was flat. The secret eventually leaked and the Templar’s were captured and tortured to find this valuable source of gold and new land that had made the order so rich. There is only one ancient instrument that can find longitude without running two mechanical time pieces and that is the cross and plumb line calibrated with astrology and a carefully kept almanac showing the position of the retrograde moon against the ecliptic stars and Venus. This gave enormous power to the Church and they would kill and burn to protect the knowledge from those outside the hierarchy. They set about conquering the New World and the rest is history. However, there is two simple clues to the deceit, one is the Diego Ribero Chart of 1510 which is in the Vatican showing the world in perfect longitude including both sides of the Americas and two hundred years before longitude was discovered and the Saxton Map of England in the 14th Century with Wells Cathedral at Glastonbury as the centre of the meridian with longitude graduations along the southern edge.

Wells Cathedral had the first 24 hour clock which made it England’s first mechanised Temple. In defence of the map which the headline boasted “Did they have GPS in the Middle Ages” and was recently sold for a fortune it was pointed out that this highly accurate and anomalous map had to be kept secret so as to protect the country from invaders. If you know what I have learned you can read the messages in all churches and cathedrals about the importance and creativity of Time. It has been hidden in full public view because the Church can say on the Day of Judgment that the knowledge was left available to those with eyes to see and ears to hear. But just in case, it was forbidden on pain of death to hold the Cross any other way other than upright.

Kala: The research explores how a Star Cult was born of necessity, which then led to the concepts of a Sun God in Heaven that still exists in fragmented form today. Can you explain the history behind these concepts?

Crichton: If we don’t know the time, we are lost, If we don’t know the place, we are lost, If we don’t know where we came from, we are lost, If we don’t know where we are going, we are lost. We have become disconnected, forgetting our past, blind to the obvious, frightened of the future, bewildered about our own existence through secularity and singularity. Our ancestors were not because they kept time by the natural motions and rhythms of the sun and moon, seeing all Nature as one expression of Life in all its diversity and consciousness maintaining balance. To observe the position of the signs in the zodiac was essential for planning to intercept migrating herds or fish, collecting berries and fungi each by its month and season.
We only have to realise that the moon has 12 orbits of the earth in a year which is why a month is really a moon-th .That its speed over the earth’s surface is 720 arc minutes per hour and its influence on the earth’s tilt that causes the seasons is 1 degree every 72 years to begin to understand what they knew and we have forgotten.

The 3000 year old Pagan Gold Wizards hats from Europe incorporate the 18.6 year Metonic cycle or Enneadecaeteri reputedly discovered by Meton of Athens a thousand years later.  Through stellar observation, they learned to sow and reap at the right time as conditions on the planet changed throughout the year because of the natural obliquity to the sun. Appreciation of the spirit of the moment and perfect harmonious timing became a star cult with its own feast days, celebrations, percussion, music, singing and dancing at regular times for various purposes kept by the Rulers and Priests. Each precessional Age was named, so Egyptian for the Age of Aries which commenced with the building of the Great Pyramid of Khufu is Amen which is put on the end of the Christian Lord’s Prayer today. However the name Pharaoh (which means Great House) and the living God was often named in this way Tut Ankh Amen, which translates as Wisdom and life of Aries Amen-Ra means the Creator Ra(Sun) in the Age of(Amen) Aries a kind of composite concept between the sun and the Time The moon was vital because she caused fertility in women and the Sun was the source of all Life. Each heavenly body and constellation was measured every moment and the priests referred to as Followers of Horus(Time) were the Watchers in huge temples from Stonehenge to Giza and on all continents across vast oceans separated by water and time. The watch on our wrist has a hand that is a pointer to the sun and the mechanical clock is directly descended from the mathematics of the Zodiac calibrating the position of the sun as it moves over the spinning earth, before we mechanised it and became disconnected, we knew that we are its energy and without it we have nothing.

The Sun passes its rays of energy to the earth and feeds the leaves on the trees and the grass in the fields, watering them and keeping them warm. We eat that energy second hand through food and that food becomes us and we become that energy. People were taught to bless and respect food because it would become part of us and become as enlightened as we are because we are what we eat. We are all sons and daughters of the Sun and the Sun is our Life and we are the Life, each one of us is of the sun and the earth and our own family genetics or blood line. Christ on the cross is the Sun at the winter solstice, fixed in the moment of death pinned to the wheel of Time before being resurrected. The ancients knew that when the sun dies every winter solstice it stands still for three days and like the image of Christ on the time piece(Cross) the sun rises to bring new life to our frozen north. They saw that the crops and insects plants and trees are renewed and felt that we were no different because Heaven told them so through observation. It was Akhenaton that displaced all the Neteru and the Creative force of the moment (Amen)with the monotheistic Sun God. But he did not know that the Sun is but one star amongst billions in the Creation of the Great Spirit.

In a few years I shall pass away from this mortal body and if I am fortunate I will see the world again through the eyes of those yet to be born, but the last prayer I make is this one, that I may take Human form in the Golden Thread of Time and be born into a Golden Age of peace and beauty that is not become mad with illusion and lies that breed fear.

Here is the poem I wrote in 2000 just before 911 when the world of Men was shaken and changed forever.

‘The Golden Thread of Time
Chaos rules the world of Man and Nature in the moment of now,
Order will return for as moment in the cycle of the times,
but the World will never die,
The Vine of Man may wither and pass away.
They who are to walk the earth
Will spin beneath the ruthless eye of Starry Serpent
and watch the hoary twelve sail by with Orion at the helm
and will they see the sun give life by day?
As did we,
and live in balance with the world
For a while.
New Birth will come and Ma-at return,
New eyes may greet the rising of the Sun,
In distant future, another kind may taste the living air of ancient dead and rise in life from the dust of ages.
To wonder once again at the stars and keep the Time to sail on wind and tide.
What clothes will you wear my love?
and how shall I recognise thee?
Will we be as One as once before?
When we meet again in this ship of Life, in distant times,
On the Golden Thread of Millions of Years’.
Kala: Crichton, thanks for taking the time to join me here for a Quick Five.

Crichton: Dear Kala, thank you for sharing my thoughts and poetry with your audience, it has been a privilege to serve.

For more info: Crichton Miller was born in Scotland and is a fully qualified navigator, historical researcher, author and public speaker. A family man with children and grandchildren, he is aware that the hope of mankind is carried by the next generations and how they are taught by parents, society and the teaching establishment will shape the world they live in. Crichton Miller specialises in seeking truth about our ancient history and spirituality, he is independent and detached from peer groups, materialism and religion. More about him at: www.crichtonmiller.com

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Shamans, mystics, high priestesses and psychics access many forms in nature in order to communicate with the natural and supernatural worlds and receive information from the earth and the higher planes. On the earth plane, the natural elements of earth, air, fire and water relay energetic messages. In my work as an intuitive, I pay attention to signs in nature as they appear, as there is much information to be found in the world around us if we slow down long enough to look around and take notice. With any reading of natural elements, there is an art and skill involved as well as discernment. Mystics will explain that not every animal has a message when seen and the same goes for other natural elements. Having said that, there are times in nature, in clouds, in totem animal appearances and in other rare occurrences, when there is a message being shared.

While traveling on Sunday evening along the coast of Florida, a friend of mine watched a storm rolling in and she noticed that the clouds looked particularly ominous. She snapped this photo and sent to me,  asking me what I thought about this formation. When reading clouds, the shape of the cloud is taken into account along with the connection with the elements of air and water. When clouds appear light and fluffy, they represent the energy of air. On days when clouds prepare to release the water vapor they have gathered, they represent the element of water as they return the condensation back to the earth as rain.

The clouds in this photo are gathering for a strong storm. The energetic pattern formed here expresses the anger emitting from the earth plane regarding the catastrophic situation in the oceans with the oil spill in the Gulf. The clouds are extremely dark and heavy, as if they are trying by sheer will to lift and remove the toxic oil out of the ocean.

The image has taken on the energy and shape of a dragon cloud. Dragons represent the ley lines of the earth. The earth is in great turmoil as the devastation continues from the oil spill which continues to spread, soon to reach the rest of Florida and then over to the Atlantic, moving up to North Carolina and into the Gulf Stream which will carry it over to Europe. The cycles of balance in nature are not fully understood during this shift of the ages and it is not quite clear how much damage will occur when the oil spill hits the gulf stream, which affects our weather patterns. No one quite knows how rapidly earth changes will occur. We have only to reference the scientific research presented regarding the melting Wilkins ice shelf in the Antarctic, which was predicted that it would take another 15 years to move and instead a huge section has already broken away and the shelf still in existence is now being described by climate scientists as ‘hanging by a thread’. The surprise collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf provides another example.

While many people are deeply saddened over the oil spill in the Gulf, it has not yet hit the full global consciousness that this is a disaster of proportions which has not been seen before in this lifetime and many others. Beyond the very obvious and growing worse daily environmental impact, there will be an equally devastating economic impact which will be felt globally.

Returning back to the Dragon Cloud and what it predicts, beyond the ley lines and earth energy that it represents, the dragon also represents Asia. The dragon will bring a backlash from Asia and it will affect the stock markets in a most negative way. Watch for this to occur this week and the effect to be felt in all markets.

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Tom Soloway Pinkson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, ceremonial retreat and vision-fast leader, sacred storyteller, and shaman. For 32 years he worked with terminally ill children at the Center for Attitudinal Healing in California, successfully integrating the wisdom teachings of the Huichol and other medicine teachers into the world of the practicing psychologist. His most recent work includes training in the Hardiness Factor (training for emotional resilience) and A New Vision of Aging (working consciously with the challenges and opportunities of the elder years). The founder of Wakan, a nonprofit organization committed to restoring the sacred in daily life, he lives in northern California.  Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Dr. Pinkson about his work and research of the Huichol.

Kala: Hi Tom, thanks for joining me here on Kala’s Bohemian Blog.  Your book is The Shamanic Wisdom of the Huichol: Medicine
Teachings for Modern Times. The Huichol tribe, is not as commonly known as other tribes, most likely because they were never conquered by the Europeans. What is the origin and history of the Huichol?

Tom: The Huichol, known to themselves as the “Wixárika”, are believed to be descendants of a tribe of people caleld the Guachichiles from the state of San Luis Potosi, which is north central Mexico, a high desert area surrounded by mountains. They left the area traveling three hundred miles to the west on up into the high mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental to escape the invading Spanish conquistadores. They introduced their peyote-based religion to the local inhabitants and established their new homeland where they continue to live to this day.

Kala: Religious traditions seem to be transforming in this new century and in many cases, blending. I’m hearing that many people, when asked to describe their spiritual practice or belief, describe an a la carte type of belief system. They choose to pull in bits and pieces from various religions and blend these to create a new spiritual tradition. What are your thoughts about blended traditions?

Tom: I think it is fine to explore and learn from different traditions but the bottom line is that one has to have a practice that they build into their lives, a regular discipline that enables them to experience a spiritual communion and integrate the fruits of that numinous encounter into the acts and relationships of their daily life. Otherwise it is just empty words. The true test of one’s spirituality is how one treats the people in their life, how one treats Mother Earth, the animals, the plants, in other words, all our relations since in truth, we are related to all beings and to the visible and invisible forces of nature, experienced by indigenous peoples as spiritual entities.

Kala: If a person was interested in the ways of the shaman or following shamanic wisdom, what steps would they take to begin?

Tom: One could begin by remembering that the Earth is alive, conscious, has a spirit, as does the ocean, the mountains, the forest, the desert, the trees, plants, animals, the sun, the fire, the rain, i.e. The cosmos are alive and we are totally dependent upon their gifts for our lives. Thus we owe them a debt of thanks-giving for as we “feed them” with respect and gratitude – and this is precisely what many of the ceremonies and rituals are intended to do – they will continue to feed us and so the cycles of life continue on. But we modern folk have lost touch with this reality and think we can just take and take without giving back which leads to an imbalance, a disharmony, a breaking of the sacred trust handed down by the creation stories which is to respect, honor and “give-back” to the animating life-giving powers (spirits) of the universe for when we fail to do so, disaster is the result. We can see this disaster all around us today with the reality of global warming, increasing social unrest and other increasing ills of modern society.

Given this understanding a good place to start in following the ways of shamanic wisdom is to not just take but to give back. When the sun comes up each day, face it and give thanks. Before you take food or drink into your mouth, give thanks to the wisdom powers that made and give you the gift. Find a way that is in alignment with your integrity to open your heart and give some loving thankfulness that is real back to the creative intelligence that gives you your life and sustains it. Remember that you are not here by accident but through the grace of those powers. Remember that you are a sacred and worthy being, that at your essence you are love and that love is for giving. Take the steps appropriate for you to open to deeper listening for your purpose in being here and then try your best to live out that purpose each day of your life. That is a good start.

Kala: Describe for our readers the Huichol Medicine Teachings and how they are used in healing practices.

Tom: The spirit of the fire, known as “Tatewarí” – Grandfather Fire – is the Elder who leads the ceremonies and guides the human shaman. The Deer Spirit- Kayumari – is its ally and brings the wisdom guidance messages from the Fire to the human shaman who then follows the guidance that is given for healing. The ancestor spirits, the sacred plants, such as the peyote which is considered to be the footprints of the Sacred Deer in the Huichol holy land, Wiricuta, where it grows and is harvested in a yearly pilgrimage led by the shaman, are used to obtain communion with the spirit world through which instructions come for what must be done to bring about healing.

Kala: Chapter Six of your book is titled: Responsible Ecstasy. Can you describe this feeling and connection?

Tom: A natural human need is to experience ecstasy as a periodic part of life; its joyful, its healing, its celebratory, its exhilarating, it frees us temporarily from the imprisonment of ego identity and ego consciousness. When this need is denied or repressed, it can be expressed in toxic, destructive or self-destructive ways which are culturally harmful. Indigenous societies as the Huichol build in to their cultural framework periodic experiences of ecstatic release that are socially integrative rather than socially disintegrative. Responsible ecstasy refers to finding ways of meeting one’s natural need for this experience that are healthy, life-affirming and socially beneficial.

Kala: Our planet, mother nature, gaia, has been treated badly, poisoned, polluted, and the natural resources exploited. What do the Huichol say about the state of the earth and what’s to come for the future?

Tom: My spiritual grandmother Guadalupe de la Cruz, a Huichol holy woman now in the spirit world, told me over twenty years ago that Father Sun was slowly coming closer to the Earth each year because the “the People in the North had forgotten how to live in a respectful way with Mother Earth.” The Sun was coming closer to purify us so that we would wake up and remember how to live in a sacred way. She gave me the assignment to return home and help the people here learn how to wake up and live as we were intended to – in harmony with nature and with each other – all of our “each others”.

Kala: The Huichol are located in Mexico. Do they share any prophecies similar to the Mayan prophecies of 2012?

Tom: Many Native prophecies, not just the Mayan, speak to the coming to the American continent of a people who do not know how to live in right-relationship with the land, its peoples and its spirit. They speak of how disaster results from that behavior. As mentioned above in the words of Guadalupe there is the notion of the Sun coming closer to the Earth to purify us but it was not told to me in terms of a specific date. She also said, as I have heard in other prophecies, the final outcome is not yet determined. It depends upon those of us who are alive today and what we do. Purification is taking place but to what extent it will go and what will come out of it is in the mystery. We are in what Joanna Macy calls the “Time of the Great Turning” and each of us is called to wake up and do our part in shape-shifting destructive life ways to sustainable ones that respect and work in cooperative harmony with the powers of nature and with one another to create a world that works for all life and the generations to come.

Kala: Many of us are not able to travel and live amongst a shamanic tribe for any period of time. Given this fact, what insights on how to live a Shamanic lifestyle, can you provide that can be accessed and applied anywhere regardless of a person’s surroundings, including city dwellers?

Tom: Underneath the concrete of the biggest city, above the tallest building there is still the sky, the clouds, the rain, the sun, the snow, the moon and stars and beneath it all the Mother Earth. Each day no matter where you live and whether you can see it or not the Sun rises in the east and brings a new beginning that cuts through the darkness of the night. The powers of nature are still in operation no matter the location of our dwelling place and one can still give thanks to them for the gifts they give you of home, food, drink, clothes, breath. One can still seek to open the heart and remember that we are love and that we are here to love, to be kind, to be compassionate, to help those less fortunate than us, to be a conscious part of transforming our life ways to ones that honor life. We are all given the gift of creativity and special gifts of being that are uniquely ours, we all have a sacred purpose in being here. Set out on your own quest for deeper vision that helps you discover that purpose of why you are here and then do your best to live it out each day that you are alive.

Kala: If a Huichol shaman could share their thoughts with us at this moment, what would they most like to say to the world?

Tom: As my spiritual grandmother Guadalupe would tell me when I went to ask her an important question – “Go ask Tatewarí”. Listen to the Old Ones Who Know – the Sun, the Fire, the Earth, Great Grandmother Growth, the Deer Spirit Kayumari. They will tell you. They will guide you. They are your Elders. But first of course you must give thanks for the gifts of your life. Do not ask for more until you have expressed your thanks for what you have already been given. Then there will be balance and right relationship. That is the way to go. Find and visit the sacred sites near where you live. Give them some appreciation. When you treat them right they will open up their wisdom and help you on your path.

Kala: Tom, thank you for your time, appreciate your insight and all the best to you in your work.

Tom: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

About Tom Pinkson Ph.D…
Tom Soloway Pinkson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, ceremonial retreat and vision-fast leader, sacred storyteller, and shaman. For 32 years he worked with terminally ill children at the Center for Attitudinal Healing in California, successfully integrating the wisdom teachings of the Huichol and other medicine teachers into the world of the practicing psychologist. Tom’s book is The Shamanic Wisdom of the Huichol: Medicine Teachings for Modern Times. More info at: tompinkson.ning.com and www.nierica.com

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More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala’s Guided Meditations CD’s include a sacred site trilogy including Spirit of Hawaii, Egyptian Mystery Temple and Tibetan Mountain Journey. Kala lectures on Wisdom Teachings, Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom (also known as the Divine Feminine).

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You would think it verged on the impossible that any male cat, even a thoughtful one like our little shaman, Zane, could teach anyone anything about chivalry and true love and, until tonight, I would have agreed with you. Tonight was one of those rare times when my three favorite things – Amy, Zane, and my psychic gift – came together and produced this most special teaching.

I wish I could say with complete certainty that I can psychically hear Zane’s thoughts but my ability to understand what he’s trying to communicate seems to be largely the result of my simply paying attention to him and expecting him to try to express himself. I think all young cats living with humans try. No cat, however loving and smart, suffers fools gladly and their lack of patience is legendary. They soon stop trying if their attempts to interact are met by the ignor-ance of humans who are not trying to decipher their cat’s signals.

Amy and I have tried to treat Zane as a thinking being since the first moment we set eyes on him as a kitten back in May of 2001. We’ve now learned that he should have still been with his mother – eight weeks is now considered too early to separate them – and perhaps that is why he didn’t want to be picked up or held. And so we didn’t.

Zane has never been a lap cat. Living with him is like living with a noble, gentle, wise and wild animal who deigns come in his cat door to sleep and eat and come get me to go out and walk with him. It’s one of my favorite things in the world, both the walk and the fact that he’ll come get me and rub against my boots to show me he wants to go walking.

So I suit up no matter what the weather – he loves the rain and cold and tolerates the snow – in my glow-in-the-dark hat and jacket. I also wear a headlamp whose LED’s glow either white or red. Unless I need to see something clearly I prefer to use the red light because it enables me to see Zane’s eyes and that of the many other creatures walking around our country neighborhood at night – other cats, dogs, and the occasional raccoon, possum, deer, or fox. My night vision is quite good thanks to our nightly excursions and the red light doesn’t interfere with it. And the stars are so bright here at the eastern end of Long Island, one of the few places on the east coast dark enough for a person to be able to see the Milky Way – so gorgeous!

Not so gorgeous is the fact that practically everyone we meet tells Amy and me that we are the only happily married couple they have ever known, especially since we’ve been together since 1975 and were married in 1978. We are so obviously in love with each other, including the more than occasional public display of affection (PDA), that those who meet us for the first time assume that we are in the first blush of our romance or newlyweds on their second or third marriage who’ve finally gotten in right.

We have a few theories about how we got it right the first time. We put just about everything we know about dating, mating, and relating into our book “Love, Light, and Laughter: Relationship Secrets of the Enchanted Couple,” published by RedWheel/Weiser/Conari Press. One of the few things I forgot to include was what Zane taught me tonight on our walk.

Although I’m a sensitive New Age guy, I was born in Brooklyn, NY, in the 1950’s. It was not a good time to be a sensitive guy. Like almost every male who grew up there and then, I was set upon by groups of surly teenagers from before I was even ten years old. I survived mainly by using my brains, my sense of humor, my father being a NYPD cop, and by my being big for my age. If that failed – especially the cop for a father part – I knew I was dealing with someone so stupid and dangerous that I had to defend myself as best I could and try not to hurt anyone too much – my father would have not liked that! I also defended a few unlucky people who had violence done to them but did not have my skills, size and attitude and he didn’t like that, either.

Those days are decades behind me but for Zane, like our brave soldiers in harm’s way and totally on adrenaline-fueled guard right this second, it’s his moment-to-moment  experience to be on guard against the many critters, people, and cars that might do him harm. Lucky for us, he is very wary of human animals so the chance of some serial-killer-in-training of a young person hurting him or worse is very small. I detest cruelty to animals and have often intervened to prevent it, restraining myself from expressing myself physically. I know myself well enough to know that I would not restrain myself if someone harmed Zane and so I’m doubly grateful that he stays away from humans as much as possible.

Zane is quite gentle and respectful of us and allows us to cuddle and kiss him – he smells so good! Though he, like every healthy cat, is a perfect delivery system for claws and teeth, he never bites or scratches us or even anyone at the vet, where he’s known as a sweet and healthy boy.

But Zane is not so sanguine when it comes to other animals. I’ve seen him run straight at a raccoon to scare him off. The local bluejays – mean birds, no lie – give Zane room because he’s taken them off the bird feeder or in mid flight when they’ve attacked him! I’ve seen him go rocketing out of his cat door right at an offending dog who’d wandered through our back yard, sending the dog to the ground exposing his neck in the universal animal sign of surrender. Animals are smarter and nicer than humans that way. They have so much to teach us, if we’d just take the time to watch, listen and learn, so much that Amy and I were inspired to create our “Animal Powers Meditation Kit,” complete with a CD of very cool meditations inspired by various animals and set to original music by maestro Luigi G. Colorullo – it’s our “Peter & the Wolf.” You can find it on our shelves in the Spirituality section of almost every Barnes & Noble store in the USA. Or you can buy it online in several places, including from our Enchanted World website. Here’s the URL

http://www.theenchantedworld.com/productshowcase/productshowcase.php?Subpage_ID=29005&Section_ID=10&Subsection_ID=9&Bucket=Enchantments&Product_Detail=1&Product_ID=4301&Ecards=

I so enjoy the peace and love that we wrap ourselves in every day here in our Enchanted World, especially because my life was not always so tranquil. I recall getting attacked when I was in the sixth grade by someone old enough to be in high school, getting him down and making him promise to stop if I let him up (and breathe), only to have him really go to town on me once I had foolishly taken him at his word. That’s a lesson you don’t forget.

So when we’re out walking I’m often aware that though Zane has been neutered, he has not lost his male cat’s sense of territorial pride. I could have used the word “macho” but I have an issue with it. In fact, that issue is at the heart of this teaching of Zane.

My understanding of what it is to be a man is quite simple. So simple, in fact, that it is written as one sentence on the side of every Los Angeles police car, “To protect and serve.” It is a man’s job to protect those he cares about and to serve them as he sees fit, sure, but also to serve them as they ask to be served.

I certainly serve Amy and Zane. I serve Zane his food where he sits. I know, that’s spoiling him, but he enjoys it and I enjoy seeing Zane and Amy enjoy anything and everything. Life is indeed brutal and short, as Zane reminded us today when he brought in a chipmunk as our Wedding Anniversary present – he usually only brings in live animals and birds to our great distress (for his captives). We got the chipmunk out the door before Zane hurt it. Sometimes they don’t make it. To serve and protect those we care about is a noble job and one that I love.

So does Zane. I was once arguing loudly with a man who had done the worst job imaginable tiling our kitchen floor. He was getting really weird – as weird as he looked – and just as the thought crossed my mind that I might have to defend myself against this nut job in burst Zane and put his little body, all 15 pounds of him, in between me and the crazy guy. He was scared, of course, just like me and every person who knows that push has, indeed, come to shove and it’s time to go Brooklyn. He couldn’t look the guy in the eye and he hid behind me but came right back. I was astonished. I was so consumed with love for Zane and surprised admiration for his courage in the face of real danger that I immediately diffused the situation and got the guy out of my house so I could pet Zane and tell Amy what a brave little man we were lucky enough to be sharing our lives with.

Zane also has a very special relationship with Amy. He curls up with her every night. He won’t go near me in the bed unless Amy is not there. He kneads her like a kitten kneads his mother. Seeing them together is one of the greatest joys in my life. I know that all is well and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. What is better than that?

So last night, when Zane came to get me for our walk, I had the psychic hit that Amy should come along with us. This has only happened a couple of times in all these years. She has always left it to me and Zane to have our special meditation time together, as she likes to work on her art or her fashions for Bergdorf Goodman at that time of the evening. It was such a beautiful night that Amy said yes to take a break, and off we went, the three of us.

Suddenly, I noticed something that was so different in Zane’s behavior that I was as shocked as I was when he came in to defend me. You see, although I say that Zane and I go walking every night, a good part of my time is spent standing around. Zane likes to sit on a couple of large decorative rocks that our neighbors have on their lawns, probably absorbing what heat they’ve stored during the day. But I do most of my standing around in the middle of the road with my red light on my head hoping the neighbors understand what I’m doing while Zane goes walking up their driveway and all around their property, especially if they have pets. It’s like I have the genetic propensity to be a constable on patrol (cop) like my father, walking my street with my partner, officer Zane, checking every house.

Only tonight Zane didn’t check any houses. In fact, his paws didn’t once leave the asphalt of the road. I had seen that he was happy that Amy was joining us. But what I realized after he very uncharacteristically walked past two of his favorite houses was that he was following Amy with a purpose. He did not take his eyes off her for one minute during the entirety of our walk! Our little warrior cat was guarding her as best he could and I am very glad that no animals decided to challenge us on our walk, for their sakes.

To protect and serve. Here was this little cat showing me and everyone who was willing to do the work of paying attention to him what being a man is all about. Too many men pervert the notion of being macho and, instead of using their defensive skills to protect and serve those they love, selfishly turn this noble energy into aggression against the very people they should be serving and protecting. It’s a true perversion of a most basic and noble human attribute. Or should I simply call it a basic attribute of all caring beings, like our Mr. Zane.

I know a little bit about martial arts, mainly from books and, from when I was in my twenties and my friend Jay Abramson, a karate black belt sparred with me/beat me up to stay in shape while he lived with me in Brooklyn before going into the Navy as a carrier pilot. I have even used my size and attitude to do security work during my time in the movie business, quoting the masters to keep the black belts from killing each other on the set of “The Last Dragon,” doing the security for the filming of the movie “A Chorus Line,” and even being Michael J. Fox’s bodyguard during the filming of “The Secret of My Success.”

Every martial artist aspires to be like a cat because they are the epitome of grace, speed, and accuracy when striking. And no animal comes close to them when it comes to balance and the economy of motion. If they knew about Zane, he’d be the cat that they’d all aspire to be like, as I do. So next time some jerk calls you a pussy, just smile and say “Thank you.”

Listen to the interview with Kala, Monte Farber and Amy Zerner on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show.

The show airs on August 7th, 2009.

More About Monte Farber and Amy Zerner:

Internationally known self-help author Monte Farber’s inspiring guidance and empathic insights impact everyone he encounters. Amy Zerner’s exquisite, one-of-a-kind spiritual couture creations and collaged fabric paintings exude her profound intuition and deep connection with archetypal stories and healing energies. For more than thirty years they’ve combined their deep love for each other with the work of inner exploration and self-discovery to build The Enchanted World of Amy Zerner and Monte Farber: popular books, card decks, and oracles that have helped millions answer questions, find deeper meaning, and follow their own spiritual paths.

Together they’ve made their love for each other a work of art and their art the work of their lives, with over two million books in print in fourteen languages. Their other best-selling titles include The Chakra Meditation Kit, The Tarot Discovery Kit, Karma Cards, The Enchanted Spellboard, Secrets of the Fortune Bell, Little Reminders: Love & Relationships, Little Reminders: The Law of Attraction, Goddess, Guide Me!, The Animal Powers Meditation Kit, Astrology Gems, True Love Tarot, The Instant Tarot Reader, The Psychic Circle, Wish Upon A Star, The Pathfinder Psychic Talking Board, The Truth Fairy, Spirit of the Ancestors Altar Kit, Vibe-Away!, The Mystic Messenger, The Breathe Easy Deck, The Healing Deck, and The Ghostwriter Automatic Writing Kit.  More info at: www.TheEnchantedWorld.com

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It appears that soon seven billion people will be on planet earth. Isn’t that amazing! One aspect all of these people have in common regardless of nationality, religion, geographical location or gender, is relationship. Almost everyone has relationships with other people and everyone has a relationship with life, the earth and themselves. There must be something more to this than just keeping ourselves company as we spend our time here.

I have spent the better part of the last twenty years exploring our potential as human beings. As a shaman I have investigated the mysteries of intention, perception, being, the Divine and healing, all with the intention of becoming more empowered on the physical plane so that I may fulfill the potential of my higher self. With all of the exploring I have done I have found no area in life that brings me more power and purpose than relationship. This realization about personal growth has come to me through experience, and it always fills me with a great amount of hope and gratitude.

One reason relationships are so powerful is they prompt us to go outside of ourselves to learn more about our true nature. When we reach out to another human being, to discuss consciously what is going on with us, we release the energy of our current challenge. This allows us to see our challenge in a new light with the help of another. We realize that this challenge is in our lives so we can grow from it and become empowered. Then we are available to assist others with similar challenges. I have found that releasing the energy surrounding a situation, by speaking to another human being about it, is essential for being able to change our perception. Once we change our perception anything is possible. The only requirement to be available for this shift is to let go completely of the need to be right.

Another way relationships provide so much growth is through the power of mirrors. Every person in our lives is a mirror in which we can see ourselves. The way this works is that people mirror back to you everything that is within you. This includes your divinity and your character defects. The way we identify if someone is mirroring to us, instead of just being who they are, or who they think they are in this world, is if the behavior in question has an emotional charge. When we set our intention to pay attention to how we feel in our relationships, and read the mirrors without blaming anyone, including ourselves, a phenomenal amount of power comes to us. We are able to identify the small things about ourselves so we can move into the strength and purpose of our higher selves.

Most of the different spiritual traditions detail how the One Spirit many refer to as God fashioned its creation out of love so that it might get to know its Self through its creation. Whether we are conscious of it or not we all have a relationship with the Creator and its creation. Every creator has a relationship with its creation. You have a relationship with the creation of your life, which includes all of your relationships. The stories and myths about the beginning of creation tell us that the power of relationship tracks all the way back to the beginning. If you reach out to other people to overcome a challenge in your life and you remember that you are using the same power and intention for creation in the first place, that challenge will become a means for you to know your Self. Soon your entire life will change as well as your challenges. Your life will be a manifestation of beauty and the meaning, purpose and power you have always wanted it to be.

John English will be on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show this Fall. Check back for the official show date coming soon.

More about John English…

John English is a shamanic healer and award-winning author whose newest book is entitled The Little Book on Relationship.  He conducts private sessions and workshops about destiny and the dreamtime, shamanic healing, journeying and the medicine wheel. He can be contacted through Dreamtime, LLC at www.mydreamtimellc.com or 480-473-8957.

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