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I feel very humble this morning. In my search for information to share this month on my shamanism pages, I had Path Of The Feather fall into my lap. What a gracious, gentle, giving site. As one outside of the Native American circle of life, I find myself walking that very fine line of "assuming" another person's culture. My thoughts are that these teachings are universal - to be shared by all, and to be placed into our lives in a working manner so that knowledge becomes wisdom. The authors of this site seem to agree with me on this. :)
The basis of the teachings on this site are that life is a shamanic journey - using Medicine Wheels and Animal Spirits as guides. (I will mention this ahead of time - this is a very basic site, containing a great deal of wisdom. In several places you will see words running together - for me, this made the site more human. It is not perfect, but it is of a very caring nature.)
You are encouraged to become one with the "living voices of the earth" - i.e. with All Of Our Relations. You are encouraged to view life as a continuous Vision Quest - remaining opento the voices of the Animal Spirits and the Ancient Ones. From the site: "This shamanic journey is your personal story of transformation, empowerment, and healing." The Path Of The Feather is about taking each of life's simple tasks and performing them in a focused, sacred manner.
From the site: "What is a shaman and how does the concept apply to art and healing ?The shaman in tribal cultures is the person who sees into the sacred world and shares the visions with the people. The shaman brings their sacred visions out as art, music, dance, and storytelling. By this ritual art process, the shaman heals themselves, others, and the earth. By having visions of healing and doing sacred ritual the shaman makes the visions come true. This is ancient magic, ancient healing. The shaman manifests reality in the outer world, from the visionary world. That is the same way the world was created from God's vision. We are all her vision on earth,we are."
The Path Of The Feather has three basic steps. The first step is to ground yourself with Mother Earth, to see the sacred in life, and to see all of life as a healing experience. The second step is seeing the sacredness in Mother Earth, in opening yourself to hearing the Ancient voices, in hearing/seeing the story of Mother Earth through the eyes of her Spirit Animals. The third step is using the making of a living Medicine Wheel, and doing rituals to heal yourself and others.
In ritual work you achieve that "space between the spaces", that intimate flash of connection with Great Spirit. This is where wisdom comes from - this is where healing comes from. Here are your small moments of "knowing" who you are, of understanding your place in these times, of how the healing is to be done.
There are many different pages to this site, explaining what Medicine Wheels are, how to set them up, how to connect with animal spirits, how to hear the Ancient voices - all of the "things" that are part of this path. These are for you the reader to discover for yourself. No time is wasted that is spent visiting this site. :)
The authors of this work, Michael Samuels, M.D. and Mary Rockwood Lane, PhD, give workshops where the Path Of The Feather can be experienced on a personal level. The work remains for the student to do, but the basic procedures for building a Medicine Wheel, finding your Animal Spirits, learning to see through their eyes and creating sacred space are experienced.
From the site:
On the Path of the Feather, we pray for world peace.Thank you for visiting my Shamanism pages. May your day be Blessed. Mitakuye Oyaasin - For All Of My Relations.
Bonnie Cehovet
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