In Shamanistic training, and in Psychology as well, there is a concept of the “Shadow Self” that must be confronted if one is to heal completely. This “shadow” includes all the behaviors that we think are nasty - all the things we have decided, through conditioning, experience, and pain - are unlovable. And since [...]
Early in my spiritual journey, it was easy to stay connected. There were teachers, classes, workshops, personal monthly or weekly meetings of some kind. It was easy when I was Margaret’s student every Thursday, or when my Shamanic Practices class met once a month for a full day, and had homework in between. But [...]
Two weeks ago our cat came into the living room and dropped a grey mouse at my feet. It scurried away, barely hurt, and I’ve been wondering when it would turn up again. Well, two nights ago, we found it. The cats were running excitedly from one piece of furniture to another, sniffing and [...]
Church was sacred till I was about 8. It was an elderly building in Garden Grove, with crumbling curves and huge trees peering into the windows. It was the ceilings and stairways that sanctified it: high arches held up by beautiful dark wood groins, carved mahogany banisters that zigzagged slowly up to little rooms [...]
This year in July, I experienced a spontaneous spiritual healing. It has been so profound that after 43 years as a person with bipolar disorder, I am going to talk to my doctor about reducing my medication, maybe even eventually ceasing it. I wanted to share this story with you in case it helps [...]
You can always predict the course of your life from where you are standing. And you will almost always be wrong. It’s like a game of statistics: political projections of the national budget 10 years from now. Those numbers depend on the status quo. If all the current trends continue exactly as they are [...]
People tend to think of stop signs as annoyances and interruptions. There you are, barreling along, it’s only a few yards to the other side of the intersection, and - pow! You have to come to a dead halt even if you’ve already stopped at every other street corner for miles. We think of [...]
