From Ofelas1 at msn.com Tue Apr 29 20:18:04 2008 From: Ofelas1 at msn.com (Kristin Madden) Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:18:04 -0600 Subject: [Shamanic Studies News] Pathfinder newsletter Message-ID: Pathfinder the newsletter of Ardantane's School of Shamanic Studies April 2008, volume 7, issue 1 Greetings and Happy Spring! Thanks to Chris Echohawk, we have this wonderful newsletter list so we can keep in touch the way we used to. I hope life has been good to all of you. Just when I thought I could not possibly squeeze one more thing into my already-insane life, I was suckered into taking over as Clinic Director for Wildlife Rescue. And my gigantic kid is now a 7th grader with a ton more work for this homeschooling mom. Whew. The School of Shamanic Studies has been progressing and growing pretty steadily. We're offering new classes and have a growing interest in classes in the Las Cruces-El Paso area. It looks like Ardantane will even have some new faculty members from down there too! If you haven't checked out the Ardantane website lately, you really should!!! Chris has done some incredible things with it and you can even take a virtual campus tour now. The progress on the dome will amaze you if you haven't been up there recently. As you probably know, the Ardantane forums are no more. I'm hoping we can regain some of the energy we had with our email lists prior to the Forums. In my abundant free time, I'll try to get some focus directed to our new email lists this spring and summer. Since we are moving into the season of rebirth more and more every day, it might be a good time to reexamine life and your path. Are you truly living your path? Let me share a little of the talk I recently offered in Las Cruces at Enlightenment IV, with a few additions that were not part of the talk. Much of this is taken from a new book I have coming out at the end of the year. Have you ever had a moment of absolute connection that takes you beyond joy into a direct contact with the Divine in all things? For some of us, the only time that happens is during orgasm. But that experience is relatively fleeting. Imagine a lifetime of magickal moments strung together each and every day. Imagine living without fear and knowing, really knowing, that you will always be ok. Knowing that if you let go and fall, you will be caught and supported. And knowing that your dreams are possible for you. That is what we all strive for. True joy springs from living in harmony with the multiverse and honestly walking your path. When you are in tune with your Self, your spirit allies, the natural world, and the magick that is inherent in all things, then life seems to flow almost effortlessly. Challenges no longer create fight-or-flight responses, wisdom streams forth into your decisions, and you emerge even stronger and whole. To me, this is the essence of living one's path. So how does one go about creating that? Maintaining a Regular Practice Daily rituals Prayer Honoring The Holidays Vision Questing or going within to reconnect with your Self and your path Integrating into Everyday Life Does your path inform your relationships, choices, and actions? Is it a living, breathing part of all that you do? Language The things we say give tremendous insight into our real shadows and beliefs. Pay attention to those around for a day and notice whose words seem to focus more on the faults of others, what is wrong with the world, and how things just aren't fair. How do you think that focus influences their experience of life and how well they are able to create effective magick? Are they creating the lives they really want to live? I recommend that everyone take one weekend and pay very close attention to your language. Take note of how positive or negative you tend to be. Notice what you spend more time on: intelligent discourse and planning for goals or bitching and moaning? Pay particular attention to any of these. ? Do you tend to put yourself down a lot, even as a joke? ? Do you criticize other people frequently? ? Does your conversation focus on what is wrong with the world? ? Are your pet names for people derogatory? At the end of that weekend, make a list of at least three things you can change to create a more positive personal language. Carry that list with you and spend the next week making a serious effort to incorporate those changes into your life. The next weekend, explore how those changes made you feel, how they altered your interactions with others, and the role your various relationships play in maintaining positive or negative life experiences. Developing Self-Awareness To develop an honest awareness of your reactions, focus your attention for one week on your interactions with your life. Keep a journal and note every reaction you experience, whether you act on it or not. Write down every time you swear at your computer, every time another driver aggravates you, every time your emotions were affected by someone or something. At the end of the week, review this list. Consider the times that you just reacted and what you did. Then ask yourself these questions. ? How many times did you wish you had said or done something differently? ? How many times did you fail to react the way you would have preferred, and why didn't you? ? What shadows were evoked in each situation? ? Why were you so easily pulled into that drama and is it a pattern in your life? ? What made those reactions that were just what you wanted and needed at the time different? A Healthy Home Our living spaces really do reflect our shadows, values, beliefs, and challenges. In order for our spiritual paths to manifest in our mundane lives, the places where we spend most of our time in must be created as sacred spaces. Survey and Transform 1. Take a walk around your home or survey your office or room. Notice how each of these spaces makes you feel from a purely mundane perspective. Is it all a little too perfect? Does it have no soul, no life? Or is it a space that you feel you must clean up before people come visit you? Are you able to find what you need? Do you need to cut a path to get through it all? 2. Now enter a light trance state and survey your space again. Be very aware of how the energy flows throughout the space. You may want to use a pendulum to find areas of stagnant energy. Feel the life force of your space. 3. The next thing to do is make a plan for reestablishing a free flow of harmonious energy through your space and for creating an aesthetically pleasing place that makes you feel good. Then do it! Make the time to organize and clear away clutter. Give the place a really good physical cleaning, without heavy chemicals. Perform a thorough house clearing ceremony. Use plants, mirrors, and artwork to alter the flow and bring light and life into the space. The Body Divine Like your home, your body is a sacred space. It is the physical temple where your Divine spirit resides for this lifetime. It needs to be fed delicious but healthy foods. It requires clean water and fresh air. It deserves exercise, sensuality, and relaxation. What it does not need is excess. Do your best to avoid all those things that we all know are not good for our bodies. Trust me, I love good red wine, dark chocolate, and all sorts of comfort foods at least as much as you do. But they cannot become an entire diet without affecting your health in the long-term. Take care of your body as you would a temple to your favorite spirit ally or deity. Walking Your Talk In my mind, this is absolutely paramount to living your path. If you don't practice what you preach, then you are clearly not living your spirituality. Considering and outlining your own personal code is important. It forces you stop and really think about what you believe, what you want to accomplish, and how you intend to do that. We honor our spirit allies and the gods when we do our best to live the lessons and guidelines they offer us. Honor is about practicing what you preach and living your ethical code. It includes integrity and also involves doing the right thing . simply because it is the right thing, not because you will get something out of it. It also brings in the concepts of listening, honesty, learning to communicate well, tolerance, and humility. Honor means holding your power, remaining connected to Spirit, and acting from that sacred space within. I hope to see you all at an Ardantane event or class soon! May all your journeys be blessed, Kristin Madden, Dean of Ardantane's School of Shamanic Studies Recent Classes and other events Last December, Digby and I offered the first Soul Remedy: Soul Retrieval and Extraction in Albuquerque. Six people joined us for what turned out to be one of the most incredible and powerful classes I've ever been a part of. We were blessed with amazing healings, fantastic insights, wonderful discussions, and the welcoming energy of Connie & Digby's home. Unfortunately, the January short classes, Leading the Journey and The Shadow Side, were canceled due to some miscommunications and low registrations. Sadly, several people registered only days before the class, but it had already been canceled and folks had made other plans for the weekend. Shamanic Certificates We now have seven certificate track students with one more application pending. Online Shamanic Journeying Group Feathered Wolf is our fabulous moderator for this group. We are very happy to have her on board and are enjoying her innovative and exciting ideas for the weekly journeys. Contact her if you would like to be a part of this. Upcoming classes in the School of Shamanic Studies All classes are at Ardantane unless otherwise noted. See www.ardantane.org/schedule/schedule.html for more details. May 24: Crafts of the Shaman-Las Cruces with Kristin, Marcie Galbreath, and Doug C. assisting (class full) June 7-8: Path of the Shaman with Kristin, Chris Echohawk teaching and Cody Misplay assisting June 28-29: Plant and Animal Medicine with Kristin and Connie Henry Sept. 27: Crafts of the Shaman-Jemez with Kristin and probably Otis Price Oct. 11-12: Death, Dying, and the Eternal Spirit with Kristin and Digby Henry Dec. 6-7: Healing the Fractured Spirit with Kristin and Digby Henry Deep within the still center of my being, may I find peace Silently within the quiet of the Grove, may I share peace Gently and powerfully, within the greater circle of humankind, may I radiate peace OBOD druid's peace prayer, author unknown -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.ardantane.org/pipermail/shamanic-studies-news/attachments/20080429/24d18a34/attachment-0001.htm