Tom Cowan, a highly experienced shamanic practitioner shares with us a technique for seeking wisdom from the world around us. A way to find signs from Nature and Spirit. This presentation includes a 20-minute lesson on Omen Hunting, followed by a 15-min opportunity to...
A Review of Soul Journeys: Christian Spirituality and Shamanism as Pathways for Wholeness and Understanding by Daniel L Prechtel, John R. Mabry, and Katrina Leathers One of the important teachings Michael Harner gave us is that shamanism is not a religion. It is a...
The shaman's path is unending. I am an old, old man and still a baby, standing before the mystery of the world, filled with awe. ~Don Jose Matsuwa I've been haunted by this statement from the renowned Huichol shaman Don Jose Matsuwa since I first read it back in...
Reporters covering the coronavirus keep referring to this as a war. So too do health-care personnel, politicians, and commentators. Certainly there are enough aspects of this pandemic to warrant the war analogy. We hear about the president's War Powers Act, wartime...
As the coronavirus spreads around the earth, we may teeter on the brink of despair. Despair that there’s nothing we can do, or despair that things are not going to get better, or despair that the good things may be gone forever. I’d like to wallow in this despair for...
This audio features beautiful Celtic storytelling, poetry and song. We then turn to ask ourselves, how are we similar to Beara, Brigid and Angus and how can these Celtic allies support us and others during this time of year?...
"From oak I come to oak I go, I sit amid the ancient flow. From oak I come to oak I go, I look, I watch, I see, I know...." ~Tom Cowan https://cdn1.shamanicpractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/13120105/The-Acorn-Meditation-by-Tom-Cowan.mp3 [media-downloader...
As I begin to write this review of Ann Drake's excellent new book The Energetic Dimension, Americans are trying to make sense of the two most recent shootings over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, which together left 31 people dead and many more...
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.” —Rumi We've described the United States and other nations as polarized for so long now it seems this condition is normal. Government, societies, churches, schools, towns, families,...
Like shamans, poets have visionary experiences which they share with others through their poetry. If a poem is mystical, or even semi-mystical, it resonates with something deep within us. We feel that our souls understand the poet's vision. Aristotle said that image...
Unless they are flooded and overflowing their banks, rivers pretty much keep to themselves, flowing through channels cut into the land since ancient times. Although many rivers are powerful, even mighty, they can become somewhat helpless in the face of human abuse. ...
In this audio Tom explores the wisdom and secrets contained within the innocence of childhood. https://cdn1.shamanicpractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/18141929/Shamanism-and-The-Secrets-of-Childhood_Tom-Cowan.mp3 [media-downloader media_id="3621" texts="Download...
This audio offers a beautiful meditation to begin your day with gratitude and blessings. https://cdn1.shamanicpractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/18165209/Prayers-to-the-Four-Directions-with-Tom-Cowan.mp3 [media-downloader media_id="3328" texts="Download Mp3...
There is a type of fairy encounter often dismissed as less authentic and less significant than other types, and yet possibly the most common encounter and one with the most positive, uplifting effects on the human spirit. This is what I call encountering the “faerie...
Reflections on Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Shaman by Tom Cowan Often we derive secret pleasure when informing people who label shamanism a “new age fad” that shamanism is 35,000 to 40,000 years old, maybe older, more ancient than the world's “major...
Authored by Sandra Ingerman and Llyn Roberts Book Review by Tom Cowan ~ Sandra Ingerman and Llyn Roberts have written an engaging account of how they incorporate their love of the natural world into their shamanic practices. Each writes from personal experiences about...