TEACHINGS FROM THE LAND:
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE

Featured Presenters

DR. KAREN WARD AND JOHN CANTWELL

Equinox Ceremony: The Healing Spirit of Day & Night in Equality & Balance AND Teachings from the First Ancestors of Ireland

Equinox Ceremony: The Healing Spirit of Day & Night in Equality & Balance.
An Cónocht Fómhair or Fall/Autumn Equinox along with its twin in Spring is the second half of that rare seasonal festival that occurs twice in the calendar year. While there is obviously a replica of balance of day/night, light/dark in both festivals, the Autumn edition brings a sweet spot of equality and balance that prepares us for the ascendency of darkness towards Samhain and Winter Solstice. There is valuable opportunity of ceremony in the stillness and poise of the cosmic balance now. We are called once again into the Triskel, the triple spiral immram (wonder voyage or shamanic journey) that asks for three awakenings. Looking behind we are invited to honour life lived in the now ending ascendency of light (Spring Equinox to Autumn Equinox), we are asked to look forward and honour life to be lived in the soon coming ascendency of dark (Autumn Equinox to Spring Equinox). Thirdly and now, we are invited to enter the sacred pause where ascendency is transformed into the serene balance and equality of Autumn Equinox energies. In ritual we can embody the Triskel immram, facing outwards and inwards, discovering infinity as the destination of both directions. At Autumn Equinox, there can be a rediscovery of a unique breath and consequent powerful vision. There can be recalibration, recovery and preparation simultaneously. Dr Karen Ward and John Cantwell, wife and husband, co-directors of Sli An Chroí Shamanism look forward to sharing the Triskel immram of Autumn Equinox in ways traditional in Ireland and offering an inclusive, participatory and experiential celebration of this special seasonal festival, one that orientates the creation of this great gathering of shamanic practitioners.

Teachings from the First Ancestors of Ireland
In our changing awakening collectives of contemporary shamanic practitioners there is considerable diversity, heritage (or none), concern over appropriation and debate on where we stand in relation to each other. Our stories are immense, complex and nuanced, yet beyond them where does Mother Earth hold the soul stories of the human who today, is in deepest relationship with nature? In Irish mythology there is a sacred remembering of the first woman, Cesair and the first man, Fionntain Mac Bóchra. They arrived to the island as visitors and entered a voyage of innocence, wonder, magic, interaction and connection that gifted them a sanctuary of belonging, of home. The stories of how they stepped from visitor to native hold seminal teachings for the awakening shamanic practitioner in the Irish tradition, yet the stories speak to all humans walking a primal path of visitor to native. Drawing upon storytelling, imagining with inspiration, sacred drama and shapeshifting, ceremony and ritual, Dr Karen Ward and John Cantwell, wife and husband and co-directors of Slí An Chroí Shamanism bring a sharing of the ancient soul seeds for the shamanic human embodied in Cesair and Fionntain. The historical stories of our families and cultures importantly deserve acknowledgement. So too do the soul stories of us in those families and cultures where the ever-opening heart reveals codes of belonging, often not containable in family or cultural histories. Visitor. Native. We can be both. And beyond.

John Cantwell and Dr.Karen Ward are husband and wife, co-founders and directors of Sli An Chroí Shamanism in Ireland. They met during the auspicious week of the Solar Eclipse in August 1999 and share a life of ever deepening connection to the natural world. The ancestral lineage of Shamanism in Ireland, including that of Druidry, is a precious resource for them.  Bringing warmth, integrity and gratitude into all of their work is a vital aspect of their vocation. After years of holistic therapy and teaching experiences coupled with shamanic initiations, they both began to hear the palpable call to invite others to awaken to their Celtic soul destiny. Taking a step into the unknown, they first opened their Clinic and School of Irish Celtic Shamanism in 2005 which has grown beyond their wildest dreams. From international travel to sit, equal but different, with indigenous people from around the world, work with a wide variety of individuals, charities and organisations to maintaining a cherished community in Ireland and online. www.slianchroi.ie

ITZHAK BEERY

THE USHAI AND THE LANGUAGE OF SHAMANISM

DEBRA MORRILL

Reconnecting to the Ancestral Homeland AND Explore the Gathering Place of Ancestors 

Debra Morrill, BA, has a shamanic healing practice near Baraboo, WI. She specializes in ancestral healing, soul retrieval, and compassionate depossession. She teaches the popular “Energy Essentials for Empaths” series of classes, a one-year ancestral healing program called “The Red Thread,” and a 2.5-year shamanic training program. Her gentle grounded energy creates a safe place for healing. She has been in practice since 2005. Visit www.debramorrill.com for more info.

Jaime Meyer

OPENING CEREMONY AND HEALING WITH SACRED TOBACCO AND SONG

Opening Ceremony
We will open the ceremony and set the container for the weekend with joyful communal noise and prayer. Bring drums, rattles or other sound makers – or we will have a few for borrowing. Dancing, whooping and ebullience are warmly welcomed.

Healing with Sacred Tobacco and Song
We will explore the fundamentals of working with tobacco and singing for cleansing, calling in power, and protection. This presentation is informed by Jaime’s several years of working with Shipibo healers in the Amazon jungle.

Jaime Meyer’s eclectic background includes earning a Masters’ Degree in theology and the arts from United Seminary of the Twin Cities and studies with a variety of shamanic teachers for more than 30 years. He is the President of the Board of Directors of SSP. He is the author of two books, “Healing With Shamanism” and “Drumming The Soul Awake.” Twenty of his plays have been produced in various cities in the USA. He co-founded the first theatre in the world for the Hmong community (a refugee population from Laos and Vietnam) and managed it for ten years, mentoring scores of young Hmong actors and writers. Since 2015 he has been learning from Shipibo masters in the Amazon jungle. Some of his teachers include Jose and Lena Stevens, Tom Cowan, Ailo Gaup, Martin Prechtel and Sandra Ingerman. His website: www.drummingthesoulawake.com

Ana Larramendi

Invitation to Sacred Places

Wild landscapes are filled with mystery and magic. Woven amidst cliffs, meadows, springs and forests are power places, often unseen or unrecognized to those who are not paying attention. Many of these places cloak their magic and medicine unless we approach them with recognition, respect, humility and offerings. In our leisurely stroll, we will explore how to identify these mysterious places. Then we will practice Napayquy (A Peruvian technique of Invitation to a sacred place) followed by sacred stillness. These teachings enable us to communicate and interact with the spirits of the land and build a relationship with them wherever we go.

MARY OLIVAR

sacred SONGS OF THE LAND, sacred song circle

JEAN SCHNEIDER

Mediumship with Plant Spirit: Northern European practice of utiseta for modern times.

Growing up with daily access to wild land, I came to understand plant spirits and land spirits in what I thought was my own way. After receiving training in the shamanistic traditions of Northern Europe, I discovered these were the practices of my magical lineage. I finally understood why my scientific study of plants and land felt so flat and devoid of spirit and magic.
Utiseta, is the practice of “sitting-out” and being between realms. Utiseta is
traditionally done outside in nature, although the modern practice can be adapted for indoors. This mediumistic work with plants meets us all a bit differently. We will discuss energetic languaging and why yours is different from mine, even though we are likely receiving similar information. Discovering how we sense differently from one another, eventually can bring us to similar understandings.
In this experiential offering, we will learn the practice of utiseta with several different plant spirits. Jean will provide plant materials for all participants.

Since starting her teaching practice in 2008, Jean Schneider has become nationally known for her trainings in relational Plant Spirit work as well as personal energetic and ancestral tending work. Jean trained as a Völva, in the art of Seidr, and has studied extensively in the shamanistic traditions of Northern Europe. She teaches modern plant utiseta, the practice of “sitting-out” between realms, and psychopomp with Plant Spirit. Jean also regularly works with clinicians and therapists, sharing the art of energetic tending and
ancestral healing. She has degrees in botany, psychology and clinical herbalism.
Along with one-on-one healing sessions, she offers Plant Spirit preparations as well as body supportive plant tonics at her website. Her practice is located in Token Creek, just outside of Madison Wisconsin. www.nativamedica.com

Rev. Cindy Pincus

The Astral Earth and the True Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden has a reputation as a place of guilt, shame, and ultimately divine punishment.  But this is a gross mischaracterization of what’s actually going on with our Earth and how we first came into relationship with Her.  Come join Rev. Cindy Pincus for this teaching and practical workshop on what the Garden of Eden really is, what our true relationship is to it and the Astral Earth, and how to call up this ancient blueprint to offer shamanic healing to any place on the planet.  

Rev. Cindy Pincus is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and student of the Franciscan mystical tradition. She’s served as a Hospice Chaplain in the Denver/Boulder area. Services and trainings include shamanic healings, monthly teachings and workshops, and in-depth online courses in subjects such as shamanic forgiveness practices and energetic boundaries. Her professional training is as a wetlands ecologist, marine biologist, and finally on to theologian. She weaves these subjects together with Buddhist psychology, trauma-based healing theory, and the practice of offering blessing and prayer to support her clients, peers, and colleagues. She has completed the One-year, Basic Practitioner, and Advanced Practitioner Training programs with The Power Path School of Shamanism and blends these tools as a preacher, teacher, and healer. She is a member of Society for Shamanic Practice and is a Community Leader with SSP’s Shamanism Without Borders Program. Her greatest teacher is, of course, the Earth herself and you will often find her in the Colorado Rockies snowshoeing and skiing during the winter, or walking the alpine tundra in the summer. www.kardialumina.com

Katy Breunig