Drum and Harvest Ceremony

Autumn Equinox and the Harvest Ceremony

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

Happy Equinox! May we manifest the harmony within ourselves to help bring balance to the world around us.

We returned from the Drum and Harvest Ceremony in Mexico earlier this week. The time in the Sierra Madre was beautiful and intense as always. Don Jacinto, the leading shaman in the ceremony, exuded kupuri (life force) as he chanted for hours on end. The intricate songs summoned the spirits from the four directions and the sky realm to bless the people, along with the harvest of corn and squash. The children shook their rattles as mothers cradled the youngest babies.

Drum and Harvest Ceremony Altar

One aspect of the ceremony is to help take the spirits of the children to places of power that they are still too young to visit. While their bodies may not yet be able to make the journey, their spirits fly through the Nierika (spiritual doorway) to connect with the dreaming gods and goddesses of these sacred places. In this way, they are invigorated with the energy of the diverse landscape so that they may live a long and healthy life.

Gathering for the harvest ceremony

Huichol women and children gather for the harvest ceremony.

After starting at sunset last Friday, Don Jacinto chanted late into the night, well past 1:00 a.m. Accompanied by the sound of the drum, the ancient songs echoed up into the mountains. Even the crickets seemed to be in awe, silently listening in a state of trance. After a few hours of rest, corn stalks were cut from the fields, and the altar was built as the sun prepared to make its way over the horizon.

 

The rattles and God’s Eyes from each child were brought out of the temple hut, and the altar was filled with fresh fruits, corn, squash, and tamales. Nawa (a fermented corn drink) prepared by various families was poured into jugs and gourds. As the rays of sunshine flowed over the distant peaks, the drum and chants commenced once more and continued with only brief breaks until early evening.

Young Huichol girls participate in the ceremony

Young Huichol girls participate in the ceremony

As soon as the ceremony finished for the day, lightning strikes danced atop the mountains all around us. It began to rain as thunder grew closer. Eventually, a heavy downpour lulled us to sleep and kept the village dreaming until around 3 or 4 a.m. when the elders began to gather around the fire once again.

On Sunday morning, the fresh corn and squash were cooked on the fire, and then everyone lined up to take a piece of both. Before feasting, each person placed their small piece of the harvest onto the drum to be blessed by the shaman and then offered a few kernels of corn and a pinch of squash to the fire. The taste of Huichol corn is far heartier than what you find in most stores or farm stands around the world. Each bite contains an earthiness and fullness that is hard to describe. This ancient staple represents the healing of the body for the Huichol, and indeed, you can taste the difference in the food grown on the land that has been stewarded for thousands of years by such a grounded culture.

 

Before dispersing back to our nearby huts and distant villages, everyone gathered around the ceremonial fire to offer one last prayer. Together, the entire village called out to Tatewari (Grandfather Fire), to give thanks for a successful ceremony and for all those near and far who supported this sacred gathering.

 

Thank you for being a part of the ceremony from afar. Even if all you did was read this message, you are connected within the concentric circles of community. 

Hopefully the positive effects of the ceremony will continue to ripple out into the world.

We wish you a bountiful and balanced autumn season!

With Love & Gratitude,

Brant Secunda + Nico Secunda

Autumn in the Huichol Sierra

Autumn in the Huichol Sierra

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Don José Matsuwa

Honoring the memory of Don José Matsuwa

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

Today we remember the passing of Don José Matsuwa. 29 years ago Don José transitioned from this world. His long life, which lasted 110 years, is such an inspiration and his vision continues to guide us at the Dance of the Deer Foundation in all that we do.

Born in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico, Don José grew up surrounded by many great shamans and healers; however, it wasn’t until he was a young man that he decided to dedicate his life to the way of the mara-akame (shaman). While his uncle, a respected shaman and ceremonial leader, and other shamans in his village were able to see the spirits and interact with nature in mystical ways, Don José felt blind, unable to see these mysterious energies. So he decided to dedicate his life to learning the ancient ways.

Don José spent 10 years living alone in the forest to learn the language of nature. He then underwent a traditional apprenticeship with a revered shaman, who could transform himself into the spirit of a jaguar during ceremonies. He went on many pilgrimages to sacred places of power and vision quests; his longest being an astonishing 15 days, without food and water.

Around 40, after completing his training, Don José married Doña Josefa Medrano, who later also went on to become a respected Huichol Shaman, healer and ceremonial leader. Together they had 13 children and many grandchildren.

Later in his life, a young white man from New York was found unconscious, after having hiked into the Huichol Sierra in search of the Huichol villages. A shaman from a neighboring village had a dream and sent his sons out to rescue the man, who lay dying in the remote mountains in the heat of the dry season.

Don José had dreamed of this young foreign man as well and summoned for him from the village which had rescued him. Upon meeting, he adopted the young bearded white man as his grandson and put him through a traditional apprenticeship. 12 years later Brant Secunda received the transmission of power ceremony and Don José told him that we would go on to share the ancient wisdom of the Huichol culture with people around the globe.

During the following years, Don José traveled to the United States and Europe approximately 15 times to announce that he was leaving Brant in his place to carry on the Huichol traditions.

Together Brant and Don José founded the Dance of the Deer Foundation in 1979. The mission of the foundation was and remains to share the teachings of Huichol Shamanism around the world and to support the spiritual heritage of the traditions by giving back to the Huichol people.

In 1989, Brant and his wife Barbara gave birth to their son Nico Secunda. Later that year, Brant, Barbara, and Nico traveled to Don José’s village in Mexico, where Don José blessed Nico and gave him his Huichol name, MATSUWA (pulse of life). Nico would go to be the first white person to graduate from the Drum & Harvest Ceremony at 6 years of age and he would follow in his father’s footsteps, dedicating his life to the way of the mara-akame and to supporting the Huichol people.

On November 6, 1990, at the age of 110, Don José passed away.

Before he died, he had a few words for those closest to him. To Brant he had a lengthy message. One of the things he said was, “Tell your people to follow the deer all the way to their heart.”

With sincere gratitude and love, we thank you Don José Matsuwa for your life and for the long journey you walked. Your vision continues to guide us each day.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Shamanism the Power of Trust

Trust – Believing in others begins with believing in yourself

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

Each and every person has their own relationship with the word TRUST. Do we generally trust others? Do others trust us? What does it mean to have trust in someone?

How easy it is for us to trust others is based heavily on our individual past experiences. Like many aspects of the self, our tendencies to trust and distrust are molded into our psyche from a young age. A single poignant moment in our life can dramatically alter these propensities. Whatever the case may be, we all have our own unique understanding of trust and an individual aptitude toward trust or distrust.

Many of us find ourselves questioning the trustworthiness of others. “Are they lying to me?” we may ask ourselves. “Are they not telling me everything?” These and countless other questions fill our minds, clutter our thoughts, and drain our kupuri (life-force).

So, how do we keep our own sanity in a world that sometimes seems full of dishonesty?

Obviously, simply trusting everyone and everything blindly is not a recipe for success. It is important, however, that we continually hone our ability to both trust and discern truth from fiction. The path to finding this balance starts within ourselves. If we are unable to trust our self, how can we ever fully trust somebody else?

Now another question arises: how do we trust our self? And what does that even mean?

By remembering that we are a mirror of our environment, of the natural world that surrounds us, we can start by reminding ourselves of our faith in nature. We can focus on believing the truths of nature: that the sun will rise again tomorrow, that the seasons will continue, and that the universe will consistently rebalance itself. Finding even this trust can be difficult amidst the apparent chaos of the world today, and like many things in life, that first step is sometimes the hardest.

When we reaffirm our faith in nature everything else becomes clearer. By focusing on the sunrise, for example, we support our natural circadian rhythm, which innately helps us to be more in balance, both hormonally and spiritually. When we watch a sunrise, our problems fade away, time seems to slow down, and we inherently retune our bodies to the natural rhythm of Mother Earth. A byproduct of such daily rebalancing is that we maintain and enhance our internal equilibrium. Over time, we can maintain peace and tranquility amidst external chaos. This alone empowers trust in ourselves; a trust that we can face the obstacles in our life with self-confidence.

Through a process of trusting nature, we thus learn to trust ourselves. By building that sustainable trust within our heart, we learn to trust others and, most importantly, trust in life itself.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Huichol altar at Drum and Harvest Ceremony 2017

Drum & Harvest Ceremony • Autumn 2017

/2 Comments/in , , , , , /by

We arrived in the village just before sunset. After eating a light meal of beans and fresh handmade tortillas with salsa, we prepared ourselves for the ceremony. People from various villages had traveled to partake in the harvest ceremony. Elders, men, women, children, and newborn babies all coming together to celebrate, to give thanks, and to pray. Everyone gathered around the fire to offer prayers for a good ceremony. Then the leading elder shaman began to chant quietly, the sound slowly growing as the flames of the fire strengthened.

At one point, a heavy rainstorm had us all taking shelter in huts and under strung-up tarps for a few hours in the middle of the night, as thunder and lightning filled the sky. Once the rain passed, everyone gathered around the fire at the center of the village once again, and the ceremony continued.

At sunrise, an altar was constructed in front of the temple. Corn stalks were tied up, creating a goal post of sorts to set the trajectory of our spirits, as we journeyed to Wirikuta (the Land of the Gods) and Raunasha (The Mountain Where the Sun was Born). Between the goal posts, a god’s eye (Tsikuli) was secured like a target, helping to keep our aim centered and true with the protection of the ancient ones. Then a twisted piece of twine was tied to the god’s eye and stretched tight to an arrow in the earth about 10 meters away. Finally, small balls of cotton were placed along the twine; each one representing a place of power at which we stop during the spiritual journey to Wirikuta.

Once the altar was constructed, freshly picked husks of corn and squash were piled in front of the altar. The mothers laid out dishes with offerings of fresh fruit, blue corn tamales, and small thick tortillas. Beside each plate, arrows with small gods eyes were stuck into the earth. The number of gods eyes on each arrow representing the age of one of the young children in the circle.

 

As the sun broke free from the clouds and rose higher in the sky, the drumbeat continued to follow the call and return of the shamans’ chanting. The crisp sound of the tree gourd rattles being shaken by children unified the entire circle in focused intention around the dancing flames of the fire. The harmony of the male and female elders singing intricate verses, whispered into their ear by Kauyumari (Elder Brother Deer Spirit), is like the sound of a flowing river, with the stream of chants neither being pulled or pushed, but rather naturally circulating with a clear intention of reaching the ocean of energy within the Nierika (sacred doorway).

With small breaks for folk music and folk dancing, along with time for timeless jokes and laughter, the ceremony continued through the heat of the day. As the sun reached its zenith in the sky, food offerings were shared amongst everyone in the village. Replenished with this fresh nourishment, the chanting and drumming commenced once more as we approached the final stages of the ceremony, in which the shaman summons our spirits back from sky realm, through the Nierika, and into our hearts.

The wind began to wisp up the mountain slopes and through the village, carrying with it a cool breath from the river below. As the refreshing breeze broke through the heat of the day and as the sun starting caressing the lush plateau to the west, the ceremony drew to a close.

Our hearts content and souls empowered with the energy unified from the four directions, the circle slowly dispersed outward to shaded rocks under the carao and calabash trees. The ebb and flow of life in the Huichol village continued as dusk began to wash over the Sierra. With the night settling in, everyone found their place within the village, the fire still burning in the center of it all.

When the flames began to dwindle, someone awoke to add fresh food to the fire. Soon a few of the elders gathered around the fire, and the sound of chuckles gradually grew into laughter as they retold stories from the past and teased one another about things old and new. Eventually, the joy around the fire drew more and more people from the dream world back into the circle.

Eventually, the shaman started to chant, and the drumbeat followed once again. The other shamans chimed in, echoing the songs like sound bouncing through a valley. Then the song changed, indicating it was time to dance. The women and men created two lines, skipping around the fire with the rhythmic beat of the drum. This was the Dance of the Deer.

Honoring the birth of the sun, we danced until the sun burst forth from behind the distant mountain peaks, the golden light warming the village like the smile of a good friend.

Now it was time to bless the freshly harvested corn and squash that had been stacked in front of the altar. Together, all of us – women, children, and men – were given ears of corn and pieces of squash cooked on the fire. One by one, the leading shaman blessed each person and their individual bounty. Once blessed, we offered a small portion of our food to the fire before enjoying it ourselves.

That first bite of crisp corn and soft squash was truly delicious. We had been fasting from corn and squash since the fields were planted in early June, so everyone was especially thankful for this meal.

The shamans gathered for the one final song, to honor Mother Earth and give thanks to the spirits that had joined the ceremony. This marked the close of the ceremony and beginning of another season.

Following the ceremony, the various families gathered together as we dispersed the materials and supplies which we had brought with us on the long journey. With a deep sense of gratitude on both the giving and receiving end, each and every person exchanged positive energy, and through this process, we all became even closer, and even stronger family.

It was time for us to leave, to make the long journey from this home back to another. Before leaving the village, everyone gathered around the fire to make one final prayer to Tatewari (Grandfather Fire). Together we prayed out loud, calling out for ourselves, our loved ones, and all of creation.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Huichol Girl Laughing in hut window

Journey into the Huichol Sierra

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Chronicles of the Spring Ceremony by Nico Secunda

We made it home! After a beautiful and empowering journey to the Huichol in Mexico, we arrived back to our home in Santa Cruz, California last night. My father and I, along with a small group of long-time students, partook in the spring ceremony to honor Tate-Urianaka (Mother Earth) as she awakens from her winter slumber.

Hopefully you received my previous message about the ceremony, which I was able to send out from the road just in the nick of time before losing our link to the modern world through cellular reception. Thank you to all of you, for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Your support means a lot and could be felt throughout our journey.

I always look forward to crossing that invisible boundary between the modern world and the ancient Huichol landscape. Watching the bars on the cell phone disappear brings a wonderful feeling. A weight is lifted. The obligations of modern life, which can at times steal our time and distract us from the more meaningful endeavors of the spirit, are switched off.

Crossing that invisible border we enter into the Huichol territory. We continue through rolling hills of mango and papaya trees, then up the incline of switchbacks into the mountains of the Sierra Madre, eventually reaching the end of the road. Here, we must transition from roadway to waterway, in order to press on deeper into the Huichol territory.

We made it home! After a beautiful and empowering journey to the Huichol in Mexico, we arrived back to our home in Santa Cruz, California last night. My fat

One of Don José’s sons is awaiting our arrival at the river. He greets us and along with a few other Huichol men, we load into three boats and push off to make our way upriver. The moist air kisses our cheeks as the boats head against the current.

As the sun sets behind us, we reach a familiar bend in the river and finally the village comes into view. This is a sight I have seen countless times and once again I am filled with a sense of returning home. I grew up coming here time after time and have a deep gratitude for the connection to this place that is now strongly rooted within me. The boats scrape onto the banks and the young Huichol men on the bow jump onto the moist soil to tie up to large rocks half submerged in the water. One by one, we all step ashore.

Now, the last leg of the journey to reach the village. In single file, we follow the steep winding trail to the uppermost plateau perched on the hillside overlooking the river and rugged peaks that reach skyward in the distance. “Keiaku!” (Hello) and “Buenas Tardes,” young children greet us as they run down the trail to help carry our mountain of bags filled with gifts. When we reach the upper village, we walk through the gate at the village entrance and see the fire in the center burning like a beacon to which we have been summoned.

We make our way around the fire, greeting our Huichol family and the elder shaman who, at over ninety years old, will be leading the ceremony. People from numerous villages have come to take part. The firewood has been gathered. The food offerings are prepared. Candles in the temple are lit, and the altar in front of the fire laid out. Chairs are placed for the shamans, and now we are ready for the ceremony to begin… (end of part 1 – check back soon for the second installment of this chronicle)

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Tahiti - photo by Mark Allen Ironman Triathlon World Champion

Tahiti – Realizing a Childhood Dream

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

In my early teens, I saw a group of photos from Tahiti. They showed deeply contoured lush island peaks surrounded by emerald blue ocean lagoons. It was the South Pacific, French Polynesia; the very islands that some say their Hawaiian neighbors originated from, traveling across vast expanses of ocean from one paradise to another. In those first moments lost in the pictures in the magazine in front of me, I hoped that some day I’d be able to make the journey to Tahiti to see such amazing beauty with my own eyes.

But the years ticked away, one decade then another. Life has its own timeline, and although I’d had a number of opportunities to go there over the years, it just never panned out. Fortunately, the window opened this year and I boarded an Air Tahiti Nui plane bound for Papeete, the largest city in the islands and the capital of Tahiti. Unfortunately the flight landed well past sunset, forcing me to wait another night on top of the 40+ years I’d already spent dreaming of seeing the islands first hand.

Tahiti Sunset Clouds - photo by Mark Allen Ironman

Sunset in Tahiti • photo by Mark Allen

It was worth the wait. Sunrise was a flush pink and golden sky that met the powdery blue ocean. Moorea in the near distance had each of its sharp jungle-covered peaks capped in cottony clouds. How could it get any better!

I soaked it in, way in. The experience was new. The process was familiar. You see as a young boy I had another dream, which was to find a teacher, a real teacher. Those weren’t quite the words I had for it at the time, but it was a yearning to be guided and learn from someone who knows the workings of the universe beyond the ordinary constraints of life. Someone who could help me connect with the greatness of all life in a way that only a person who had dedicated their life to knowing the Great Spirit could bring. That dream was answered twenty-five years ago when I met Brant Secunda in Mexico and began to study with him.

Tahiti Intense Clouds - photo by Mark Allen Ironman

Intense Cloudy Sky in Tahiti • photo by Mark Allen

 

Over the past two and a half decades I’ve heard him emphasize again and again that shamanism is about developing a relationship with nature: with the light, the plants and rocks, the trees and flowers and all the animals, and Mother Earth.

In those first moments breathing in the beauty all around me in Tahiti I realized this is what I do every day. All around me no matter where I am, there is some aspect of nature that I become aware of; that I connect with, that I can draw perspective from and be reminded of how I’m a part of nature’s greatness. It takes away isolation, stress; it resets my trust in the bigger picture of life. It’s priceless, and I realized that although I’d waited over forty years to experience the beauty of Tahiti, that I’d been experiencing beauty in a deep and profound way with Brant and through his teachings since 1990.

He speaks about how a flower is no more or less important than a rock, and that a lake or ocean is no more or less important than a mountain peak or vast endless grasslands. I’m blessed to make it to Tahiti. I’m also blessed to be seeing every day as a chance to experience the “Tahiti” in my own backyard.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Brant Secunda with Don José Matsuwa and Doña Josefa Medrano

Journey into Healing

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

In 1970 at 18 years old, intrigued by a book of Carlos Castenada. I left my hometown in New Jersey and set out on a journey to Ixtlan as a spiritual tourist in search of Don Juan. En route, I met a Huichol schoolteacher, who gave me the name of his family’s village – a five day walk away.

Soon, I found myself hiking through the Sierra Madre Mountains, in search of the mysterious Huichol natives. With the sun blazing down on me, I followed a narrow deer trail hoping I was still heading in the right direction. The Mexican towns, along with the rest of the modern world quickly faded behind me.

The Brazil Trees and the thick underbrush enveloped me, as I continued deeper into the Sierra. After three days and no sign of any village, I found myself hopelessly lost. I had drunk my last sip of water and tried to calm the panic rising inside of me. Pressing on in hope of finding the village, dehydration and sun exposure overtook me. The trees around me began spinning. I collapsed, sinking into unconsciousness, as feelings of disgust, anger and finally fear overtook me.

As I lay dying on the parched earth, I dreamt of circles full of light spinning in front of me. Visions of deer and an old indigenous man appeared. Suddenly, cold water hit my face. Startled into consciousness, my beautiful dreams and visions faded. Slowly opening my eyes, above me loomed the dark faces of three natives. They told me in Spanish of an old shaman in their Huichol village who had dreamt I was dying at this spot and sent them to save me two days earlier.

Still weak, I was led through the mountains to a clearing with mud and stick huts, the smell of tortillas cooking and sounds of children playing. Amazed at this scene and that I was alive; I was taken to their shaman Don Juan (of the same name, but not the one of Castenada fame). I remained there for two weeks. The people told me of another shaman, Don José Matsuwa, in a nearby village who had also dreamt of me: He summoned me to his rancho. The same three natives who had originally saved me led me to his hut.

Shortly after meeting Don José I was put in a cave for five days and five nights with no food or water. I was told this was my initiation. If I lived, I would continue as an apprentice to this renowned shaman and healer.

12 years later I completed my apprenticeship. I had been adopted as Don José’s grandson. He had taught me the ancient wisdom of healing and ceremony and we had become close companions on the path of the shaman. Following my training, I was sent back to the modern world, to help share the secrets of the Huichol, to heal those in need and to conduct ceremonies to bring balance to the Earth.

Since that time I have been traveling the world, striving to fulfill the vision of my teacher. Thousands of people have come to me for healing. From every corner of the globe and from all walks of life. Many of them have tried everything western medicine has to offer before finally resorting to shamanic healing. It seems to me that people today are more in need of healing than ever before.

Personal Stories of Healing • from Marilyn Del Duca

I was diagnosed with Lyme’s disease, and antibiotics were not helping.
I went to Brant to ask for help.  He did a series of healings for me that
healed the Lyme’s with no residual effects.  Years later when I suffered a
bad fall and tore my MCL, his healings made it possible for me to avoid
surgery.  These are just two of the ways his healings have  helped me over
the years.

Another time, my niece was trying to get pregnant.  I told her not to worry – if she wasn’t pregnant by the following June, I would take her to meet Brant at the Summer Solstice, as I knew he had good luck with women’s issues.  He did a fertility healing for her, and she was pregnant within a month.  Her first baby was born the following April, and she had a second baby 20 months later, blessing me with two beautiful great-nieces.

Shamanic healing searches out the root of illness. Often a person’s ailment stems from something much deeper than what is felt on the surface. This is common with psychological and spiritual trauma, but also with physical ailments. The shaman strives to find the source of the illness and to extract it from the individual.

For many, shamanic healing may seem far-fetched or simply archaic; however, I have witnessed time and again its relevance for those very people who don’t even believe in it. I have had numerous people come to me after trying “everything else” and searching desperately for healing. One such man came to my office in Santa Cruz, California for a healing over 15 years ago. As soon as I met him, he asked if he needed to believe in the shamanic healing I was about to conduct. I said “no” and he replied, “Good, because I don’t.” His doctors had given him two weeks to live with his pancreatic cancer. He ended up in remission and lived another ten years.

I am so grateful for my journey to the Huichol. I am thankful for the countless healings I witnessed while studying with Don José, which allowed me to believe. I remember one of the first things he told me. He said, “Until you learn to believe, you will never really learn.”

You can be told the earth is sacred or that shamans can dream of the future or heal terrible diseases, but until you experience it yourself, you can never fully believe. Experience is one of our greatest teachers.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Brant Secunda blessing with macaw fan

SHAMANISM: The Healing Journey of the Heart

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

Shamans throughout the world, from Tibet and Mongolia to the Americas, have been involved in healing for thousands of years, dating back to Paleolithic times. An integral part of this healing tradition is its perspectives, both personal and at the same time planetary.

Shamanism, perhaps as old as consciousness itself, is an ancient healing tradition that has, throughout the ages, reflected the changing cultures of the surrounding world.

The shamanic tradition involves healing through personal transformation as well as healing our family, community, and environment. Central to this healing tradition is the belief that we must heal and honor our mother the earth, who is viewed as a living, conscious organism. This sacred female Goddess, the earth, who nourishes our very existence, must also be nourished with such prayers and ceremonies, say shamans.

I have studied and practiced shamanism for over 40 years, completing a lengthy apprenticeship with Don José Rios (Matsuwa), a 110-year-old Huichol shaman-healer. The Huichol of Mexico are said to be the last tribe of North America to have maintained their pre-Columbian traditions, little disturbed by colonialization and Christianization until very recently. I feel fortunate for having been able to study with such an amazing group of people.

As I was taught by the Huichol, healing is a way of life; a way of being that permeates our very existence. Healing is something to be practiced constantly, not just when we are ill. Moreover, the shamanic tradition of healing does not limit itself to the healing of the physical body, but rather involves the maintenance of the harmony and balance of the universe. We must consciously make contact with all life, see our life in all things so that life and health are embedded within our hearts that so need to be nourished and cared for.

Shamanism focuses on all life as being majestically and mysteriously interrelated and sacred. Plants, rocks, two- and four-legged creatures all have personal identities with whom the shaman develop a personal relationship. When the shaman prays, he prays not only for himself but also for his sacred relatives: our mother the earth, our father the sun, our grandfather and giver of light the fire, our grandmothers the eagle and the winged ones. Don José often told me never to forget that my relatives are the earth, sky, rivers, birds, animals, stones, gems, mountains, caves, springs and lakes. Upon our first meeting, Don José spoke of our mother the earth, who nourishes and speaks to our heart. The shaman learns to listen with his heart as well as his ears, and thus shamanism, as a healing art, makes a person whole and complete, a whole system integrated fully to the surrounding environment.

According to various shamanic mythologies, there was a time when paradise existed and all life was one. For example, fire communicated freely with people. Now this is lost and for this reason, the shaman acts as a bridge, drawing upon lost lines of communication with all life that surrounds him both visibly and invisibly.

Shamanism as a healing art seeks to maintain or restore balance, both for the individual and for the planet. All life is ultimately one, and the responsibility of a shaman is to bring the forces of balance, harmon, and intuition into resonance with one another. One can say if we celebrate our life as one with our environment, our environment will thus give thanks to us with the proper amount of sunlight and rainfall. Shamans themselves act as intermediaries between people and all other life forms, the gods and goddesses and all creatures who co-inhabit the earth. Shamans also have the ability to transform themselves into a spirit entity almost as if they had the key to the process of metamorphosis. Thus the role of a shaman has been vital to the community in which he lives, as he acts as a vital link to the surrounding world.

Embedded within the tradition of shamanism and healing is the technique of achieving ecstasy. Ecstasy is sought by shamans in order to experience unity with all things. The forum used for the attainment of ecstasy is ceremonial celebration, which utilizes ancient forms of ceremony and ritual. The Huichol perform ceremonies throughout the year to maintain the delicate balance of our environment, of our universe, so that one may know their heart and feel the ecstatic joy that emanates from our very being. The “Dance Of The Deer”, a most beautiful and intense sacred dance, of the Huichol, is employed so that the participants of the ceremonies may enter into a trance state of joy and ecstasy. The shaman and his assistants chant the ancient songs as the others dance about them. All enter together as one heart into a sacred doorway, known to the Huichol as “Nierika”, face of the divine, or link to other realms of consciousness and being. At ceremonies, the Huichol shaman calls upon his ally or spirit helper, Kauyumari, the magical deer spirit person, to assist him in the task of transporting the ceremonial participants thorough the nierika (doorway), into the realm of ecstatic joy and harmony. The dancers also assist the shaman as they too, like the deer, become messengers of the gods.

Through ceremony, participants allow themselves to be transformed, renewed and life force itself is transmitted in a sacred manner. The shaman and participants in the ceremony are provided a medium for reaching the realm on the gods and the heart source of life itself.

At the same, shamanism involves what is often seen as the more mundane and down-to-earth aspects of the shaman’s day- to-day life. Students of shamanism must endure many hardships and show much strength, both inner and outer. Pilgrimages to “places of power”, (caves, springs, oceans, mountain tops), form an important aspect of shamanic healing, as pilgrims are said to receive power, (including power to dream) and many blessings for having arrived at such places. Many Huichol shamans, as well as many shamans from other cultures, are farmers and, working daily with the earth, they develop a special relationship with the earth, which they believe to be their mother.

The wisdom of ceremonial celebration, pilgrimages to sacred spots and proper daily living to achieve balance among ourselves as human beings and our environment has been lost to many people of the modern world. For this reason Don José, an incredible 103-year-old master of shamanism adopted me as his grandson and trained me in the ancient art of shamanism and healing. “You are an educated person who knows and understands your world”, he told me. “Now you will know our world too and use the two so that modern people may once again know what we have tried never to forget. There is a balance between our two worlds, grandson: that’s the way it is.”

“Is your heart happy?” Don José often asks the children at his rancho in the Mexican Sierra. “Dance with all your heart. We are following the example of the gods and the way they have taught to us. This is our life.”

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Mt. Shasta Pond Sunset

Mount Shasta Journey

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

Looking ahead, I see a journey to Mount Shasta. A beautiful, magical place which over the years has brought much power, healing, and balance to my life. Although this will be my 16th consecutive year it is, I hope, as if I am going for the first time. I know the area and places we will be going, I know how to get there, and have seen the view for many years, but I like to always go “as if” it is my first time. This allows my heart to see things in a way I may never have seen them before. It allows my heart to be open to what the mountain wants to show me, to what the spirits of the sacred land want me to see and learn. It allows for new experiences. The mountain has sight, it can hear, it has power and heart that deeply touches my soul and transforms what needs changing.I look forward to this journey every year. I feel I begin to prepare at the end of one years’ journey for the next which is still a year away.

This year is centered on healing for my heart and kupuri. I have been preparing by praying to the mountain, visualizing the mountain, and trying to dream of the land I will be sleeping on for 9 days. With only several weeks to go before taking off, I continue to focus on what need to be done before I leave. This becomes easier as I know that soon I will see the mountain, soon I will sleep on the earth listening to the sound of the water putting me to sleep at night. Soon I will sit before the fire, my grandfather, and speak to him with my heart. Soon I will make beautiful prayers with my family, friends, and community for the things that are most important in life.

Soon.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info
Santa Cruz Harbor Ocean Sunset

Softening at the Ocean

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

I am at home and I feel a certain restlessness. It is one I am not unfamiliar with, it is the feel of the ocean telling me that I need to come and sit with her for awhile. At first I resist, I have this or that to do, but in the end I concede and allow my heart to drawn to her shore. As I approach, the sound beckons me to come closer. I sit down on the sand giving myself a few minutes to transition from one world to another. The endless ebb and flow of the tide on the shoreline slowly seeps in. I feel my self slowly relaxing, letting go of what feels like a hardened thin crust of clay I have created to protect me from certain aspects of our modern world. I have not created it consciously, but almost as impulse or reaction by my body to the constant inundation of sounds, sights, and pace of modern living.

Grandmother sea, tate haramara, sends her beauty and love to me the instant I sit down. I can feel that thin layer softening, being melted by her continual beauty. I feel more relaxed. I feel my mind slow. I feel my heart opening to receive what she offers. I close my eyes trying to deepen my connection. The sound of the wind, the sound of the seagulls, pelicans, cormorants, and sandpipers. The sound of each wave breaking, the rush of the water up the sand and then racing to return to the ocean. There are other background noises, but I close them out. I focus just on the sound of the water until that is all I can hear. I can feel my heart trying to catch and hold onto anything my spiritual grandmother has to say and is willing to send my way.

As I rise and prepare to leave, once again I feel that tugging and a small sadness in my heart. I do not want to leave. I tell my grandmother I will miss her, I will pray to her, I will imagine her until I return again. As I walk away, I thank her for the healing I feel.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience. If you continue using this website, we'll assume that you are happy about that.
IT'S OK more info