Circle

APRIL 2022

Life makes itself known, in its vibrant and insistent regeneration. Springtime in Scandinavia is a rich time - tight tiny buds on trees unfurling, early flowers reaching for the Sun and green growth overtaking dry remnants of Winter.

Whatever tragedies play out on the human stage, Nature insists on Life. Here it is again, right in front of us. We can open to the Power of new Life, of Regeneration, of Budding and Blossoming. Even in sadness, grief and anger, Beauty is here. Even in …

FEBRUARY 2013 -

Many of us recognize the importance of finding and following our own path. My own life experience has been that sometimes I find my path to be be hard and stony, sometimes smooth, sometimes inspiring, sometimes boring, and sometimes it just didn’t seem to be there at all - even though it always is.

In January, I volunteered to be Firekeeper for our International Shamanic Community (ISC). The Firekeeper takes on the responsibility of tending the spirit fire of the community for …

SPRING 2013 -

It was a long winter, but now it seems we can finally say “Spring is here!” How wonderful to walk on the bare Earth, feeling that raw, re-awakening power come up through the snow-flattened grass. I always become more Earth-conscious in the Springtime, the joy of the early days of smells and textures in the air, the new shoots penetrating through last year’s leaves, the brush of green on the willow, hazel and beech.

This joy is sometimes dampened by the constant reminders that som…

MIDWINTER 2014 -

Years ago on a workshop in Finland, a friend asked me, “What do you do when you get tired?” “I drink a cup of coffee,” I answered. He smiled. “That’s one possibility,” he said. So I asked him, “What do you do?” He smiled again. “I take a nap.” For me it was a very deep teaching that I often reflect on, especially at this time of year.

In these days before the Winter Solstice, we are at the edge of darkness. And what do we do when it’s dark? We turn on the lights. Well, that’s …

HARVEST EQIUNOX 2015 -

The first birch leaves are yellowing, and soon the cranes will be flying south as Summer seamlessly moves into Autumn. When does the one end and the other begin? It’s different every year, but one day I become aware that the light is changing and I find myself looking back on the warm mornings of July and forward to the cool evenings of October. What did I plant in the Springtime and what am I harvesting now?

At the end of the soul-retrieval course in August I realized t…

FEBRUARY 2018 -

Our first human teacher of shamanism, Michael Harner, left the land of the living to join the Spirits on February 3rd. He left behind him a great legacy. No, not his organization, The Foundation for Shamanic Studies. The legacy he left behind are the thousands of people who have had their lives changed because he showed that the ability to do the shaman’s work is not limited to people living in tropical jungles or on the arctic tundra. The ability to intentionally contact and i…

AUTUMN 2019 -

When teaching, we often hear ourselves say: “The Circle is my Home.” We have come to feel the truth of this more and more. The feeling of sitting together, around a center, sharing intention, touches the heart and soul. In the Circle we see people begin to heal and become more themselves. We see them open to the Spirits and to new possibilities. In a Circle, we don’t all have to be the same. We don’t have to be anyone else but ourselves. We learn from each other’s experiences and…