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NEWS WINTER SOLSTICE 2011

Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies

~ 25th Anniversary ~

Many things have changed since it was first created, and for the past three months we have been revisiting the past and bringing it into the present. This has been a major transformation. Our new website follows and honors the old, using the same beautiful images, colors and style, but with more updated information and an easier way to navigate around the site and within each section. There are still many articles (including two new ones!), new pages about shamanic work to do alongside courses, and more information on shamanic community.

We hope you will find it inspiring and a useful tool as we all go into the New Year and new adventures.

The old clears the path for the new. We deeply thank B-Joe Johansen and Andrea Tune who literally gave us our website years ago. And not only did they give it to us - they also maintained it for years! A true gift of love, which we have felt, and still feel, every time we open the site. Now they have passed on the keys to Zara, Jonathan’s partner, whose dedication and experience has brought this new edition forth. Thank you, Zara, for your hard work, clear vision and skill. It’s beautiful!

This year also marked Jonathan reaching seventy years and Annette turning sixty. We’ve been looking back over those years as we reshaped the website, remembering many of the steps and many of the people who helped to bring us to where we are now, and the times when the Spirits stepped in and gave a hand. None of it would have been possible without connection and cooperation on many levels. And here we are.

Now we have the days of the Sun’s standing still. We hope you also will be able to stand still and see where you are as our ancestors did in the past. Soon the days will begin to get longer, and before we know it Spring will be here – and then it will be time to start again with our courses in March. You can read all about them on the new website course section!

We thank you for your part in the year that has passed. We look forward to the days ahead. We hope that you journey well into New Year and that it will be filled with Good Health, Good Friends, Good Spirit, Peace and Power. We look forward to spending time together with you again.

PS A little special Solstice gift: the story of our Logo. Click here!

Jonathan Horwitz can be reached on email jonathan@shamanism.dk or daytime tel (+46) 431 441 220
Annette Høst prefers daytime telephone (+45) 32 54 28 08. Email annette@shamanism.dk

Sometimes life takes us by surprise. Recently I came to hear about The Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers (www.grandmotherscouncil.org) and right after got the chance to go to Göteborg to listen and learn from two of them - Sámi healer Laila Spik and Hopi elder Mona Polacca. This turned out to be a wonderful, heart-opening, and encouraging experience. They talked about their cultural traditions, about environmental changes, global warming, and the Hopi Prophecy. They talked about not giving into fear, but, instead, keeping awareness of our interdependence with The Four Foundations, as Mona calls them - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

Together with the Spirits, the four elements are very much at the center of the work we do. And when I heard these two women talk about their own life experiences, from being raised in Lapland and the Arizona desert to visiting the other Grandmothers in Asia, Africa, and South and North America, I felt as though I was being reintroduced to the world around me – it was the same world, but expanded.

Returning home, reading about the occupation of Wall Street in New York spreading across the USA (www.occupywallst.org), I saw again how economic growth is directly proportional to environmental destruction. Then word came from Survival International (www.survivalinternational.org) about the Belo Monte mega-dam in Brazil which, if built, will flood thousands of square kilometers of jungle, destroying the natural habitat of rare animals, medicinal plants and thousands of people, some of them yet un-contacted tribes.

It’s all the same story – our story. And I remembered the Grandmothers’ words: "Do not give in to fear."
- Jonathan

NEWS MAY 2011

Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies

For some, Spring is the end of Winter. For others, Spring is the beginning of the year. We are born in the dark and emerge into lengthening days. Now the light nights are here, opening new possibilities. What next? Recently, I found these words of T.S.Eliot:

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning
The end is where we start from

These words feel like an invitation to leave the past behind, to stop worrying about the future, and to invite healing in. As another great poet, William Stafford, asks:

What can anyone give you greater than now
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

- UPCOMING SUMMER COURSES -

Our summer season begins with Annette teaching SHAMANISM, DEATH & LIFE in Jutland, 19 - 22 May (in Danish).

With Jonathan, the SHAMANIC HEALING course is fully booked. There are still some places on SOUL RETRIEVAL at Tokalynga, Halland, Sweden, 26 - 31 July. If you are on a healing path, we highly recommend taking not only the Healing course, but also Soul Retrieval and Death & Life, as these three together build an essential foundation.

If you are already experienced in working with others, there is a rare chance to go deeper and learn Shamanic Guidance on SHAMANIC COUNSELLING 2 at Åsbacka, southern Sweden, 14-20 Aug. This is the most advanced course Jonathan offers, and is only taught every few years in small groups. It is already half full, so if you are interested, contact courses@asbacka.org for further information. To apply, you must have completed Shamanic Counselling 1 and have a current practice of working shamanically with people.

Jonathan is teaching two more introduction courses this year - the extended residential THE SHAMAN'S JOURNEY at Tokalynga, Halland, Sweden, 21 - 24 July, and a non-residential weekend in London, 28 - 30 Oct. Annette will be teaching THE SHAMAN'S JOURNEY in Danish in Copenhagen in the autumn.

For information on all courses and how to book, please go to the coursepage

- SPECIAL EVENTS -

LIVE ON-LINE INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN -
on Tuesday 10th May at 19:00 GMT/20:00 CET, Jonathan will again be interviewed by US shamanic practitioner Christina Pratt for her internet radio show. This time he will talk about Power & Responsibility, and his "Three Shamanic Rs" - Re-connecting with being alive; Re-discovering the spiritual power we are all born with; Re-learning what it means to be part of the whole. You can listen to it live at http://www.co-creatornetwork.com or anytime afterwards by clicking here.

ISC SUMMER GATHERINGS ~
the International Shamanic Community will again offer a summer get-together, with socialising and shamanic work to explore the spirit of community. This year there will be two smaller gatherings, reflecting the international nature of the circle.

On 25-26 June, Jonathan & Zara will host an ISC Summer Gathering at Åsbacka, south Sweden. For info, contact courses@asbacka.org

On 12-14 Aug, Gemma May is inviting people to come together in Hampshire, England. To take part, contact Gemma on summergathering09@yahoo.co.uk

You can find more details about the Summer Gatherings here, including times and prices. The ISC was set up by and for people who have worked with Jonathan and Annette to help sustain a sense of community, support and inspiration beyond workshops. It also offers help as a Healing Circle and holds Spirit Circle ceremonies. To find out more, including how to join, see www.shamaniccommunity.org

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NEWS FEBRUARY 2011

Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies

EARLY THAW
The darkest days have passed now and the light is returning. But here in the North we are still in the grip of Winter as we move through the days of measuring. The power of this time of year is clear from its place in the calendar - halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Imbolc, Kyndlemisse, Candlemass or Groundhog Day are the names our ancestors have given to these days. In times past, the farmers looked to see if there was grain enough both for planting and eating. It is a threshold time, a time of divination and decision. The time of hibernation is over. The power of the new year stirs under the surface. Already the colour is coming back to the tips of the birches as the sap moves up the trunk from the roots deep in the ground. The rising energy can move us on as well. Anais Nin wrote: "...the day came when the risk to remain tight as a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." We look at our dreams for Spring and let them help us to make our decisions for the coming year.

UPCOMING SPRING COURSES

Jonathan is teaching THE SHAMAN'S JOURNEY in Stockholm, 18-20 February. It is one of the very few basic courses he is holding this year, and the first time he has taught in Stockholm for 20 years. There are still some places left so if you or someone you know want to come, please email courses@asbacka.org For those of you in Denmark, Annette is offering THE SHAMAN'S JOURNEY in Danish in Copenhagen, 1-3 April.

The next SHAMANIC PRACTICE WEEKEND at Åsbacka, south Sweden, is 30 April - 1 May. In Denmark and Sweden this is the feast of Valborg, in Celtic practice it is Beltane, one of the major turning points of the year. It is a time when the power of nature is bursting up from the earth, called by the heat of the Sun. It is a time of flowering transformation and the workshop theme will be "Step into Change". More information about this weekend can be found here.

Both Annette and Jonathan will be teaching SHAMANISM, DEATH & LIFE this Spring. Jonathan in Hungary 12 - 17 April, and Annette in Jutland 19 - 22 May (in Danish). The course deals with traditional shamanic work around death, and working with the endings and losses we experience in everyday life. We both feel that this is one of the most life-empowering courses we teach.

For information on all courses and how to book, please go to the coursepage

SPECIAL EVENTS

BLESSING ARTICLE - to coincide with the "Blessing the Shaman's Way" workshop, Jonathan and Zara have an article in the new issue of Sacred Hoop about working with the power of blessing in shamanic practice. It will be out in March. For more information: www.sacredhoop.org

INTERNATIONAL SHAMANIC COMMUNITY - the ISC was set up by and for people who have worked with Jonathan and Annette to help sustain a sense of community, support and inspiration beyond workshops. It also offers help as a Healing Circle and holds Spirit Circle ceremonies. Members can take part whatever country they live in. The ISC website has a full calendar of shamanic events and drumming groups offered by members, and also a page of links to shamanic practitioners. Read more about the ISC and how you can join at www.shamaniccommunity.org

LIVE ON-LINE BROADCAST INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN - if you did not hear Christina Pratt's interview with Jonathan in December, where he talks about power, trust and surrender, you can listen to it here

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