The Shamans way

16 months in the medicine wheel

all materials PROPERTY OF AND copyright vibrant reiki 2015

 Welcome to the Shamans Way
Shamanism is a love story this path is about falling in love with yourself, and with all of creation. To do this, we methodically and
purposefully work our way through the medicine wheel on an epic 16 month journey of transformation. This training will be one of the
most deeply rewarding experiences of your life youll be asked to rise to the challenge of truly meeting yourself, and loving everything
you find. As we return to love, we hold more light, and anchor that light and love for all of earths children. Achieving our happiness and
joy is in service to creation welcome home to a path of love.

Each direction has an archetype and a theme that will permeate your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, energetic, financial,
ancestral and karmic bodies whether you focus or intend that to happen. By stepping into the medicine wheel, youre invoking this
transformation in your life. Although it may be challenging, this is the catalyst for real change in your earthwalk. I honor you!

SOUTH
LETTING GO OF THE PAST
Sachamama, Great Serpent Mother, wraps your coils of light around us, as we begin the journey that returns us to right placement in the
web of creation. We learn in the South how to shed our past as snake sheds her skin - this is critical to our awakening, so that we
mindfully stop living in story, and engage with the miracle of being alive in our human skins. We use the miraculous and powerful tool of
Inkan Illumination to release from our luminous bodies the dense, heavy vibrations of our stories, patterns, beliefs, ideas, triggers, and
fears. We inform sacred stones and begin building our healing mesas. We learn and practice forgiveness, name our river of life and
refer to it as a map, work in pairs and pods outside of class, and begin performing healings for each other. In the South, call on Great
Serpent Mother to shed all of our old skins, and be continuously reborn anew.

WEST
WALKING WITH THE SHADOW
In the west, we death ourselves, meet our shadow, let go of enemies, step beyond fear, and release drama. This is the most intense
and challenging of the directions, and brings light and voice to your shadow self. We meet Lady Jaguar, and navigate the jungle of what
we fear most about living and ourselves, the experiences and aspects of self that keep us unconscious and avoidant, and obscure the
brilliance of who we truly are. To help us courageously name, meet, and fall in love with our shadow selves, we learn and work deeply
with reiki tangible love. We learn to shapeshift, work with our core wounds, extract crystalline entities and fluid energies using
crystals, and learn to nourish the grains of truth that seed the shadow. We walk in the ShadowLands. In the South, call on Lady Jaguar
to help us navigate the realms of shadow that teach us who we truly are love.

NORTH
SAVORING THE SWEETNESS OF LIVING
After diving deeply into the places that challenge us, we soar into how delightful living can be! After working so beautifully in the West,
the sweet medicines of the North feel like divine, soothing balm. In the wheel, we have made our first steps in this container to let go
our fear and story, learned to love the unacceptable parts of ourselves, and are ready to dive into the sweetness and richness of living.
We fly with Hummingbird, learning to drink the deep sweetness of the nectar of life, ceremonially release our roles, practice living in
simplicity, and embody not knowing. We learn two amazing forms of soul retrieval, and learn to navigate the chambers of wounding,
contracts, retrieval, and blessings. We visit the hall of the ancestors, become a shamanic chorus, and journey together in physical
reality. We celebrate our wild and precious lives. In the North, call on Hummingbird to life fully, sweetly, gratefully, and with grace.

EAST
MANIFESTING OUR DESTINY
The sun, Inti, rises. Twelve months into the wheel, your life is beginning to take new shape, new meaning, and you have tools to begin
aligning to the trajectory of your destiny here on earth. In the east, we soar with Great Eagle and Giant Condor to meet and fulfill what
we came here to do, and welcome in our dreams. We journey to meet our celestial parents, descendants. We witness each other's
deepest dreams, and journey as a group to walk in those dreams, and offer power to make them real. We write our own eulogies,
practice spirit flight, and take turns leading the group in ceremony, as we step fully into the power and brilliance of our being. We learn
how to let go of form as we manifest and call to the deep dream seeds of where our hearts call us, so that Creator and the great bright
light of our own selves help us dream down our heaven here on earth. In the East, call on Eagle and Condor to be light, and divine.
 NUTS & BOLTS
Materials
Hullooooo medicine women and medicine men! You're embarking on an incredible adventure where you begin to build your healing
Mesa...you are actively empowered in your process. (Making a mesa is so fun!) A mesa is a medicine bundle, wrapped in cloth and
filled with sacred objects that we'll craft over the months. You'll need the following objects to begin your medicine bundle in the
South, and you wont need them all at once:

1. A square of cloth you love, approximately 25-30 square (Britex has some lovely textiles on floor 2, get a mesa from the Qero, etc)
2. A pendulum (try Scarlet Sage in the Mission or Crystal Way in the Castro, should be around $20)
3. Three crystals to illumine and become your medicine tools (you'll have 13 stones by the end of 16 months, and a completed mesa). I
recommend something 2-4 inches in width, that fits comfortably in your palm. Make these beautiful...these stone people will be your
tools for a long time. For instant gratification, Scarlet Sage or Crystal Way are good...and when you have a couple weeks, I'd contact
the magical, beloved beings at Ahhhmuse - tell them I sent you. When you contact them, just share who you are, that you're looking for
stones for your mesa, and they'll go into the Stone House and listen for you, and ship the stones that speak for you. These people are
made of magic...you'll LOVE what gets shipped from them! It's not a quick process, and for the first month, I'd go the instant gratification
route at a local SF shop, or work with a beloved stone you already have.
4. A journal and pen
5. Some small figures to create stories with...toy stores are a great idea, and sometimes sell packs of 10-20 little figures. Things like little
plastic animals, figurines, etc are great. Google animal toobs and see what calls to you these are great to start. Trust that you'll find
the right thing.
6. A rattle. I'll have a basket of rattles at the first class for you to use, and you'll need your own rattle for our second month. If you
google 'gourd rattles' or medicine rattles you'll find a great selection online. Also try Scarlet Sage in SF, or Etsy online.
7. An eyebpillow, bandanna, or eye covering to block light while you journey.

Our in-class altar

In every class, we'll build an altar for our circle. Please bring flowers, sacred objects, stones, etcand please please please remember
to take them home with you. Every month, Ill ask you to bring a stuffed animal to represent an animal spirit youre working with, and
also your mesa, which we begin on month 2.

HOW TO CALL IN SACRED SPACE

Medicine people call on the protective helping spirits of the directions many ways. The idea is that we want to operate in sacred space,
just as a surgeon would want to operate in a sterile setting- when we leave our bodies behind, its a good idea to leave them in a safe
space full of love and protecting spirits. Parts of the 16 month training is based on Inka ideas passed through anthropologist and
psychologist Alberto Villoldo, and the invocation to the directions he uses is published in his book Shaman Healer Sage. I use
something based on his words when invoking that feels good to me the idea is to call out profoundly with your heart, and welcome
spirit to come and guide you with love. Youll all be responsible for calling in the directions for the entire group as we move through the
training, and youll need to be facile with this so you can do your deepening work between classes. Use what feels good to you, and
speak with love in your heart - heres a place to begin, from Villoldo:

Alberto Villoldos Invocation

To the winds of the South
Great serpent,
Wrap your coils of light around us,
Teach us to shed the past the way you shed your skin,
To walk softly on the Earth. Teach us the Beauty Way

To the winds of the West

Mother jaguar,
Protect our medicine space.
Teach us the way of peace, to live impeccably
Show us the way beyond death.
To the winds of the North.
Hummingbird, Grandmothers and Grandfathers,
Ancient Ones
Come and warm your hands by our fires
Whisper to us in the wind
We honor you who have come before us,
And you who will come after us, our children's children.

To the winds of the East.

Great eagle, condor
Come to us from the place of the rising Sun.
Keep us under your wing.
Show us the mountains we only dare to dream of.
Teach us to fly wing to wing with the Great Spirit.

Mother Earth.
We've gathered for the healing of all of your children.
The Stone People, the Plant People.
The four-legged, the two-legged, the creepy crawlers.
The finned, the furred, and the winged ones.
All our relations.

Father Sun, Grandmother Moon, to the Star Nations.

Great Spirit, you who are known by a thousand names
And you who are the unnamable One.
Thank you for bringing us together
And allowing us to sing the song of Life.

- From Shaman, Healer, Sage by Alberto Villoldo, PhD, p 135

Some JOURNEY notes

A note about the 16 month training, and journeying
This training is based on Alberto Villoldos teachings, gathered from his work with medicine people in the Amazon and the Andes. As I
understand it, the Inka dont use drums or rattles, or rely on journeying to power animals or helping spirits, which are taught as an
integral part of core shamanism, a term coined by Michael Harner, founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS). This 16
month training is interdisciplinary and contemporary we will draw on several medicine tradition that are all presented here to withhold
the framework of Villoldos teachings of the medicine wheel, where we shed our past in the South, learn to go beyond fear in the West,
transcend time in the North, dream down heaven in the East, build a healing mesa throughout, and work directly with the Qero.

In this training, journeying to a drum, seen as the shamans horse, is an important tool and not derived from the Inka. I include and
draw heavily on journeywork in the Shamans Way because I perceive that the path of direct revelation is key to awakening in our
human skins, and is a really, really profound tool for developing wisdom. Well journey to the archetype of each of the four directions for
support and guidance Serpent, Jaguar, Hummingbird, Eagle - frequently calling on our spirit animals and guides while journeying, and
in my mind, be the richer for it. Shamanism, energy work, and spirit work are rich, beautiful traditions, and well weave several together.

A note about ethics

Its really important to be responsible about ethics and boundaries with shamanic work. Generally, this comes up when theres a conflict
between two people, some kind of event like illness or injury occurs, or someone feels unsafe about whats being sent their way.
Generally, Id advise against any work that affects any other being unless you have explicit, express permission. In my
worldview, its ethical to ask my allies to send healing to the relationship that exists between me and someone else, and Id never want
to send any healing work to anyone without their absolute, explicit permission. For me, it feels ethical to send healing to someone if
theyre having a surgery, experienced an accident, or are moving through an illness ONLY when they have specifically asked or given
me explicit permission to do so. In cases where I feel like some less-than-light mojo is being directed my way, Ill frequently ask an
archangel or other ally to stand between me and the source of distress, and to keep me intact, unaffected and safe. Really, the basic
idea is this: this work is incredibly real, and we dont want to incur a backlash of energies by violating someones boundaries or free will.
Everyone will have their own interpretation of this topic, and I encourage you to be with what feels rooted in high vibration love,
honorable boundaries, and respectful space-giving. This is a big topic, and well talk about it in class.

How do I deepen with this work?

To journey, all one really needs is a safe and sacred space (important!), basic knowledge of the cosmology of the shamanic worlds, an
intention, a drumbeat (youll all have a drumming CD in Sandys book), and a curious and loving spirit. The short overview provided to
you before our first class is intended to familiarize you with the act of entering a trance state, knowing that you can reach the lower and
upper worlds to being journeying with your compassionate helping spirits, how to frame questions, how to honor your allies, and to begin
to trust the experience you have. There are many, many, many nuances to journeying, and well explore more in class. The best way to
answer questions you have (about shamanism or your life) is to journey about it!

YOUR MESA & MEDICINE BAG

A mesa is a sacred medicine bundle - a portable altar you can carry with you, and a representation of you and the divine. Youll keep
your sacred objects and empowered stones in your mesa, and imbue it with love and reverence. Your medicine bag will store all of the
objects youll use in your healing sessions and ceremonies that dont live in your mesa, and its helpful to have all of this in one place.
Youll build both your mesa and medicine bag over the course of the 16 month training. Heres a full list of what youll need (at the time
of this writing) in the Shamans Way well build this together over time:

1. MESA: Mesa cloth: This might be a cloth hand woven with intention from Peru by medicine people who understand the magic
and mystery of this tradition. Traditional mesa cloths can be purchased online or from the Qero when you meet them, and
generally run $150-$300 USD these are beautiful works of art that take the craftsperson many, many hours and months to
create. Each pattern symbolizes a mystery from the tradition. As you walk this path, you may find that visiting medicine
persons in this tradition are brought to your attention as they visit the US. A Qero prophecy speaks that a time of great change
(pachakuti) will come, and the time of the Qero visiting the Americas is happening. As Qero medicine people visit the US,
there is opportunity to purchase mesa cloths directly from them, and learn who wove them. Some of you may become
interested in traveling to South America and undertaking pilgrimage there. Some of you will want to use a more contemporary
cloth, and imbue it with love and delight listen to the calling of your heart and the guidance of your helping spirits as you build
your mesa for whats right for you. As all of this work is also based in intention, a bandanna or square of cloth can be just as
powerful and sacred as something woven by the Qero.
2. MESA: Illumined stones (kuyas): Over the course of the 16 month training, youll add 13 illumined, or empowered, stones to
your mesa bundle. Treat them with love and care, and be sure to talk to them now and again to learn if they need to be
cleansed, or want time under the moon, sun, or stars.
3. MEDICINE BAG: Burning herbs, fire, abalone shell, feather: Sage is a purifying medicine plant, and a generous smudge to
heighten vibration before calling in sacred space, or during illumination or other spirit work, is really beneficial. Sweetgrass is
great too, and many traditions burn tobacco to offer prayers to Creation. Learn which kind of burning herb calls you, and
incorporate a bundle or twist of it, lighter or matches, and something to burn your sage in like an abalone shell or small bowl.
Keeping some sand on hand to extinguish your sage fully can be a good idea. Using feathers to direct smoke over a client, into
a room for space clearing, or to make an offering is a beautiful practice I like to use kind-harvested turkey feathers. NOTE:
we often wont be able to burn medicine herbs in a space, and when this is the case, I use essential oil sprays. Scarlet Sage
and Whole Foods are good places to peek for sprays for your medicine bag.
4. MEDICINE BAG: Candle and holder: During the training, youll receive 7 archetypes, which get blown into your luminous body
in ceremony. They will require literal care and feeding, and having a vessel for fire in your medicine bag is a good idea. During
all ceremonial work when possible calling in the directions, illumination, retrievals, divinations, etc keep a candle going to
bring divine light into your space. I recommend beeswax, which helps support industries that keep bees, and also release
negative ions that cleanse toxins, similar to houseplants. Please use caution in burning candles made from petroleum (paraffin)
or soy, which can be harmful to health. NOTE: when I cant use open flame in a space, I try to use something symbolic, like
flameless candles, Christmas lights, etc. Get creative!
5. MEDICINE BAG: Drum & rattle: Some of you will want to learn how to drum while you journey, or use drumming during
illumination to break up old patterns and qi. Fiberskyn drums are synthetic, and can be found at Remo online the advantage
is that they never need tuning, are always ready to use, and can be painted easily. Skin drums are a bit more tricky, and can
need to be tuned as moisture and temperature changes. I suggest journeying to learn what drum wants to work with you, and
honoring its name and its specific requests for care. There are some great workshops where you can build your own
drumtake a peek online for these.
 6. MEDICINE BAG: Extraction stone: Youll want a completely clear quartz crystal, with double terminated points, to do certain
kinds of extraction work. Some folks like to have a quartz rock for one of the two kinds of soul retrieval well practice in the
North, that houses soul parts during soul retrieval ceremonies.
7. MEDICINE BAG: Tongs: There will be times during the training when youll want to do burning ceremony, and having a pair of
good metal tongs will help you a lot. Be sure they can be completely doused in flame from a candle metal only.
8. MEDICINE BAG: Totems or fetishes: As you learn the identity of your helping spirits, you may choose to keep an item in your
medicine bag that represents and honors them. I like to carry small statues or fetishes of my helping spirits with me for
medicine work.
9. MEDICINE BAG: More goodies! Each of you will know whats right to add to your medicine bag objects that are sacred to
you, and that hold good medicine. Youll be guided over the years to add things with deep beauty to your medicine bag.

MESA FOLDING
To fold your mesa, lay it fully flat on the groud, with your kuyas in the center. Fold the bottom flap up earth to sky. Fold the left flap
practical and the right flap magical. Fold the top flap down sky to earth, and secure the bundle with a cord. Traditionally, the cords
that tie a mesa are beaded. A good video on mesa folding is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N86wGyhEsZw

IDEAS FOR THE SOUTH

Great Serpent Mother wraps her coils of light around us in the South, and we begin the journey that returns us to right placement in the
web of creation. The basic idea to grasp in the South is that were all surrounded by our individual luminous energy bodies called
wiracocha or poqpo in the Inkan tradition. These luminous energy bodies are record keepers for our experiences on our earthwalks in
this life, in past lives, in parallel lives, and from our ancestral lineage. When we experience trauma and dont clear emotional charge, it
can be stored in our luminous energy bodies in a pattern called an imprint its like a scratch in a record that plays over and over. In
an elegant way, our wiracocha will create experiences in our lives, or draw us to certain situations sometimes over and over in an
elegant attempt to create a situation where we can clear the imprint of pain, suffering, or trauma to be rid of it, and get our energy bodies
flowing smoothly again.

Its our inherent nature to flow harmoniously, and be joyful and at peace. The Inka call high vibration love and light sami and its a
highly refined, beautiful energy. Our goal is to open to sami as much as possible so that we literally create heaven here on earth the
goal of the 16 month training. The obstacle to living in heaven here is to be trapped in the container or story of our past, where we can
hold old hurt, sorrow, anger, suffering and identify with our stories, which can hold heavy energies for us. The Inka call heavy, dense
energy hucha, and the process of illumination tracks where the hucha is stored in the luminous energy body around an experience,
trauma, or event. Our goal is to release our hucha, send it with love and blessings to Pachamama for composting and alchemy, and
bring in sami. Thats where the love story aspect of this training comes in this is a love story about us falling in love with light,
goodness, forgiveness, sweetness, and the brilliance of our own miraculous selves.

When we become willing to let go of our stories, they no longer hold us as emotional hostages, and we can be at choice about what we
create in our lives. It is the movement from our unconscious, reactive states to expanded light consciousness that sets us free free
from our lives being programmed by past experience, doomed to relieve events again and again. Illumination is they key tool that well
use to set ourselves free in the medicine wheel of the 16 months well be draining toxic energies from our imprints, and erasing the
imprints themselves.

In the South, we learn to practice nonsuffering, and stop identifying with our stories. Literally, we begin to let it go and understand that
the beautiful gifts we are to creation are not dependent on our stories we can let them fall from us like old skins. In the Inka worldview,
we are all travelers here on a great journey through infinity, and we can travel unencumbered by reactivity, past events, and story.

Main ideas in the South

- we are not our stories let go of the drama, story, and suffering of the past by not identifying with it anymore
- practice non-suffering by consciously not telling stories about our pain and drama, and not colluding with others stories
- practice not falling into blame (giving away power), and accepting triggers as opportunities to heal and release hucha
- inkan illumination is a key to releasing the energetic burr that keeps the stories and emotional charge alive in our light body