Community Building in Neo-Shamanic Subcultures

There is something wonderful going on in the Neo-Shamanic subcultures that I have noticed.  It is a repeating medicine story that goes something like this:

Somebody falls into a pocket of beauty. It changes their life in profound healing ways-so profound that they feel compelled to share the beauty they found. They start up a class. The medicine is transmitted and many benefits come out of this. People from all over the world get to meet each other and exchange ideas. Powerful containers are created for deep, transformative experiences. Most importantly, love is modeled in a larger theater, where the imprint of it can affect people’s lives and the lives that they touch in a good way forever.

However, in terms of community, there is an aspect to this story that rarely gets talked about. It goes something like this:

People go to workshops, get intensive downloads of spiritual information. When they go home, it is often to some sort of isolation, as they are not connected to other people in their area who are doing the work.  There is a reintegration period to the everyday life, which can be difficult and then a process of distilling the lessons that were learned at the workshop.

After a while a longing grows, for more information and also community. So, it becomes time to sign up for another workshop. Sometimes people go to workshops soley because they are yearning community. There they find connection again-not sustained but well needed.  The struggle with isolation goes on. Some people stay committed to their path, follow their calling and then start up a personal practice. They start to teach workshops filled with the wonderful medicine they have found. People from all over the world come to receive this medicine…and the paradigm continues.

 My Dad’s view on community is this, “No one has to build community. If you have the right people together with the right circumstances, it happens all by itself.” He grew up in the farmlands of Southern Minnesota in the 50’s and to me, his logic still makes a whole lot of sense.

Community is relationships.  Relationships are organic. They grow over time. However in today’s modern society, we do not stay still long enough to be in the same place with the same people long enough to get to know who they are. Plus, as we know, shamanism is not something everyone does. The time of the town square, where everybody comes to hang out, is over. Heck, in Seattle the time of the sidewalk bench is over, since the businesses got all concerned about not giving homeless people a place to sit.

You can hold a class but a class is not a community. You can set up a Yahoo group and even recruit 200 members but if nobody talks to each other, that’s not community either. In order to have community we have to create the circumstances that allow people to have sustained face time with each other so that relationships can build naturally. Fertile soil. The spinning sound of Spiderwoman’s web.

This is what I believe.  People need each other. Students need fellow students to be scholarly with. Students need teachers.  Teachers need students to follow their calling and to grow with. Teachers need teachers to help each other become better at what they do. The same goes for Practitioners. The community needs all of them, in good balance with each other in order to be healthy and well.

This is my vision of a thriving shamanic community.

Filling the need for community should be free. I see different kinds of open circles for folks to journey together, to drum, to make sacred music and to play. There are public ceremonies to benefit individuals and community needs. There are potlucks, storytelling sessions and sharing of shamanic poetry and art. Deep relationships that grow around these frequent gatherings support us through life’s challenges and spiritual awakenings.

There is supervision and support for teachers and practitioners. Psychologist and therapists have built in requirements in their profession for both supervision and continuing training. We don’t have that, so knowledge about key areas can be hard to get: boundary issues, projection and transference between clients and caregivers, power and ego issues, money issues. Because of confidentiality, classes and community gatherings are not the place for these people to get what they need. Being isolated as a teacher or practitioner is not only difficult but dangerous for everyone involved if they only have themselves to rely on when the going gets complicated. It is too easy for shame and blame to enter the picture when things go wrong and without a network, someone in trouble is liable to try to work it out on their own. So, we need peer circles and peer emergency healing networks for the times when we get whomped in session. We need open dialog between teachers comparing class structures and typical workshop issues.

The benefits of this vision of community are vast. There is support in the fiber of our everyday lives as shamanic people. There is more opportunity for learning, growing and applying what we learn from our teachers. There is an arena where people who are not trained can participate, have powerful experiences and find their way to teachers and healers.

 Barriers to Coming into True Community

Knowing what the barriers are to true community will help us work around them. Here are some that I see.

Scarcity perspectives around money:  What would happen if I was living paycheck to paycheck as a teacher? I may be afraid to encourage community activity because I think that it may steer ‘business’ away from me. I might not be willing to refer someone to a teacher that is more appropriate for that student than I am. The truth is that rich communities will create a nurturing flow to and from the teachers. There is enough for everyone. The more practitioners and teachers support each other rather than compete, the better exposure the whole network gets to the public. It is also an option for practitioners to hold part time or full time job.

Ingrained Hierarchy in our dominant culture. Unfortunately, as much as we may believe hierarchy is not the best model, it is still ingrained in us. We still look to authority figures to do what needs to be done and sometimes do not support non-authority people in their efforts to bring us together! Unfortunately, teachers and practitioners are busy holding space for people so they are not the ones to rely on to build our webs and till the soil in the P-patch!

Unless a teacher is consciously creating circles in order to encourage them to co-create or fly the nest, using words like community in class can create power and boundary confusions. For example: If this is a community can I disagree with my teacher in circle? Can I make contributions and/or suggestions? Communities do arise around teachers, though and there is nothing wrong with that but they are not independent. The teacher becomes the lynch pin of the community. Whether they want the power or not, they steer and shape the container just by being who they are. And if the teacher leaves, community falls apart.

 Fear around empowerment

Lots of people prefer to follow than to lead. We want things to be set up for us so we can walk in and participate when we have the time but not be expected to be anywhere consistently. This can happen for a few different reasons. Consumerism has certainly crept into our attitudes about most things that happen outside the house. But also, a lot of people just do not know what to do. Often we do not feel capable or empowered to contribute to community. We become afraid that contributing to community will become an all-consuming activity.  Lots of fears come up. I believe that in our society, choosing to be part of community is as challenging as going on a vision quest is to someone who comes from a culture where one’s identity is tied to place in community.

A solution to these things could be to verbally encourage students to create shamanic activities outside of paid events. Even allow a brainstorming session about it during class. I’ve seen this work. Sometimes people think of starting a study group or circle but don’t because they are shy and need a little boost. There might also be unfounded fear of walking on a teacher’s turf. Openly speaking to these things can bring down barriers to community.

What we need to do is teach others how to be leaders, to empower and then slowly step away. This is a process which includes instruction on how to hold a circle, group facilitation, and the skills we used to put on a public event. It is as crucial as teaching healers to do soul retreival. Granted, it is not easy to find willing students but stubborness around expecting people to shine really pays off.

Community-building needs to be a shared value.

A few motivated people cannot do this work alone. That is why unions pay their organizers. Because of this, I try to instill the big difference that small things make. Cooking for events warms the whole dynamic. Offering one’s living room for a circle can be a goddess-send to the organizer who lives in a studio apartment.  Once a structure is set up, people can come and go but the container will still be there for people to flow through. The trick, I tell people, is to only do as much as you can. Small things make a big difference.

Here is a list of suggestions that might help you jump in. You can post it on your website, send to your email list or put on your refrigerator.

• Offer something for free. A healing drum event, a public ceremony in a public park…give a reason for people to come together.
• Be brave, have a potluck for a bunch of shamanic people you don’t know.
• Start a website like Spiderlinks.net so local subcultures and teachers can get connected and find circles to practice in.
• Start a circle.
• Go to a circle, just to explore, even if you don’t know if you will go again. You are sure to run into those people again.
• Sample a local teacher you don’t know much about.
• Be generous.
• Give people in your community compliments on their work. Tell them how much you appreciate what they do.
• Gift someone something without them expecting it.
• Let someone know that you are here for them, to do journeys or healing if they ever need you.
• Take around flyers for the teachers that you love.
• Send referrals to healers that you really trust.
• Honor everyone no matter how bumpy we all may get on this wild path of introspection and healing.
• Be brave. Reach out and make a new friend with someone you met at a circle or class.
• Ask for help. Sharing and love is as much about receiving as it is about giving.
• Get some training/Give some training in community organizing.
• If you are a teacher, give your students assignments that engage them in community
• To try out local circles
• To practice your teachings with colleagues outside of class
• To partner up and do something together for the broader community
• Be clear in our classes where people can help
• Holding and creating space
• Seeing each other in light
• Go out for tea with all the other practitioners in your area
• You don’t have to be friends, you are in community. Think of the village square. You don’t pick who lives in your village – but you know them.
• Encourage your students to hold practice circles. Give them some pointers on how to structure a circle.

Speaking of circles, there’s a lot to know about starting one so here is a little guide to help you out. It should also help members of existing circles be more present to circle dynamics.

http://tasara.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/creating-a-stable-spiritual-circle/

Well, have fun and don’t forget that the land, sky, water and moon are part of your community, too. They long for us as much as we long for them.

Much love,
Tasara

http://www.littlelight.info

Creating a Stable Spiritual Circle

We need more gatherings of people in spirit. Our planet needs it, too. If you have wanted to start one but don’t know the first thing about it, maybe I can help you out. I’ve made this little guide here to help you out. This should also help members of existing circles be more present to circle dynamics and possibly solve some ongoing issues.

So let’s dive in, eh?

What is a circle?

A spiritual circle is a place for people to come together in spirit. The purpose and structure of the circle can be one or many of the following:

• A study group: to further research common interests.
• A supportive group: to talk about each other’s lives.
• A practice group: to practice spiritual methods everyone has learned.
• A transformational place between time and space create for healing works.
• A place to take turns teaching.
• A place for community and friendship.

A circle is not a class.

It’s important to not confuse a class with a circle, or vice-versa. A class is when people come to learn another person’s Way. There is typically no discussion on agenda or content. A circle may have agreed upon sessions where one person is teaching but overall decisions are usually made by more than one person.

Structure of a Circle

This section is about things that need to be decided before the circle ever meets – at least temporarily. It can be done in discussion in the first meeting or the organizers can decide ahead of time based on what they want to offer.

In my experience, it is the political groups that are hungry and willing to talk about power dynamics and group structure for hours on end. In spiritual circles, I have noticed that many people don’t want to bother with the logistics of setting up and maintaining a circle. They lead busy lives and consider it a big deal to just be able to attend in order to get the soul food they need.

So someone has to figure this stuff out.

The most effective way to answer these questions -and the way that takes the most time- is to poll everyone individually to get a feel for what the community needs. This not only helps create a group people want to invest in, but the polling process makes people feel important – and builds relationships. When you poll a community, have a list of questions. Believe me, if they are open ended questions, give example of the kinds of answers you are looking for or no one will respond at all:

-       How often will it meet, where and for how long?

-       Is the group led or facilitated by one person or is that task shared?

-       Who decides what the activities will be? Can they be vetoed?

-       Is there a fee? Where does the money go? This needs to be transparent.

-       Who is responsible for sending out reminders and keep a list of members?

-       Does the group have a prerequisite? Will it assist people to meet that pre-requisite?

-       Does this group require a certain level of commitment?

-       Is it ok to come late or leave early?

-       Is it a closed group or open group? (Closed groups tend to go deeper and have a higher level of expected commitment.)

-       How deep will the work go? Are the people involved ready for deep work? (You do not want to lose people by pushing them outside their comfort zone.)

What makes a spiritual circle work

Here are some crucial elements that are needed to make a spiritual circle work.

Clarity on what the circle’s purpose and method is.

This might seem obvious but no one wants to carve out their valuable time after work to drive across town for a journey session and find that their shamanic circle is hosting a presentation on druidic practices. What if that journey was really needed?

Integrity in using the structure that was set up for the group

A clear power structure is clear flow of power in the group. It creates a safe place for people to work on themselves, share and take risks. They can engage and so will more likely get behind it. A clear power structure makes the circle strong. It prevents miscommunication, unnecessary conflicts or just bad feelings over power and communication. People go and people come.  The structure stays the same. Formal power structures that are designed to promote power-sharing will prevent informal misuse of power.

Changing the structure together if it is impeding what the group wants to do.

It’s not uncommon to spend a bunch of time coming up with the perfect structure and then trying it out to find that emotional or spiritual forces keep bending the group in another direction. Honor this and follow the heart and spirit of the group.

Awareness and honoring of the group as its own spiritual/emotional entity

Every circle has it’s own spirit, whether its members tap into it or not.  It can be a beautiful guiding force and a temperature taker when issues start bubbling up from the sacred shadows. Sometimes, conflict can be avoided by taking a wider perspective, including this over-arching presence.

Tending to the group’s health.

Letting issues slide again and again only builds up frustration and sometimes resentment. As a leader, when you are able to address uncomfortable energies that no one else is talking about in a calm and strong, loving way, you are giving people permission to speak. You are also modeling healthy behavior for those that have no idea how to act.

Universal dichotomies in circles

There are certain areas of tension that come up in all community groups, whether they are spiritual, political or any kind of group that tries to accomplish things together. Knowing what they are enables us to not be surprised, to not be emotional when they pop up and to troubleshoot around them.

Spiritual activity vs. Social time

It is natural for people to crave community. So if there is not a space designed to meet this need, there will likely be times when the spiritual work is not getting done. One solution can be an optional early time before circle when people can hang out and catch up. Another idea is to have regular social get-togethers outside of sacred time.

Spiritual activity vs. circle business

The business of running a circle can be handled by a few people, done in email discussion or in the circle itself. If there is not a place for it, the business will find it’s way into an activity unplanned. This can be difficult for those that are badly needing spiritual work, so it is good to figure out how to handle this.

Personal sharing vs. Energetic workings

If the group has agreed upon longer check-ins, then that is healthy for the group. If the group is supposed to be about spiritual work, then long stories tend to drag the energy out. Each circle has it’s own needs so it is good to make a decision together and stick to it, unless it seems that decision does not reflect the desire of most people in the group.

Mundane conversation vs. Reverence in sacred space

When doing things like raising energy, sending blessings, doing shamanic journey there are a few different philosophies out there on how to maintain sacred space. If this is not agreed upon there may be times when someone is upset. More serious magical practitioners desire perfect focus and minimum energy leaks. Native cultures honor community as sacred in their circles so there might be food passed around, children running in circles and even gossip shared as the spiritual work blends together with all.

Structure vs. Mystery

Structure is good for safety, common expectation and mutual intention but there will always be circumstances where the best thing to do is to throw out the structure and punt. Thoughtful flexibility in this area can be very helpful. When this is done, make it clear to everyone what is going on so there are no surprises.

 Inclusiveness

I’m sorry but all-inclusiveness is just too idealistic. I went through the 90’s during the Gulf War I protest and tried complete consensus with all-inclusiveness and I tell ya, some people are not ready for group work. It does not mean that they are bad people. It only means that the level of problems some people are dealing with makes them unable to focus on others. We cannot function as a group if we are consistently working on or fielding one person’s issues. There is a time for circle and there is a time for private therapy.

If a group’s energies are drained by people too needy to function collectively, they will not find the group a healing environment, nor will anyone else.  – Starhawk

Being in Circle: Staying present to power flow

What is Power? Power is a word that can be as scary as money or love to some people. Power is the ability to make change, to move energy, to influence people, to create, to destroy, to heal, to impact. Some power is not ours or something that we  should try to hold on to. It is something that moves through us. It is something we borrow and then return to the earth with respect.

We also have personal power, some more than others. It is important to never forget that a lot of power is still parceled out by societal factors like gender, race, education or financial status. There are also people with high levels of charisma. Access to information is power.

Power is not bad. It is just power, the ability to make change. In order for it to be useful it’s flow needs to be clear and balanced, so we need to learn to watch power move in a circle. A good way to do this is to consider the group itself as an entity with a soul that can be tended to. When you are listening to one person speak, try to develop and ear to the entire group, even though only one person is speaking. There is a whole world of information there.

 What are some power structures?

As Starhawk teaches us, there is power-over, power-within and power-with. The first power we work towards is power-within. This makes our power-with in circle so exciting! Vibrant! Creative! Power-over might work in a class where one person has agreed to maintain structure. There is also a style where there is one decision-maker but decisions are based on input from everyone in the circle. This might work well for circle that meets on a frequent basis and include members that are too busy to take part in the business of running it.

Formal Power and Informal Power

Often there are people in the group who are natural leaders, who people respect and listen to. These people may or may not have official positions. This is totally natural, however we try to keep the informal and formal power structures to match as closely as possible. We don’t want someone to single-handedly sway a group even though it is formally supposed to be using a process that invites all opinions. We also don’t want to shut down a natural leader or someone with a lot of wisdom just because what they have to offer is very strong. Some very wise people may not want a position of leadership but they still should be able to contribute, even if their views are consistently popular.

Conflict and Tension

Oh wow, I get all excited when conflict starts to arise in a circle! Conflict is a sign of a healthy community. Conflict is natural. Conflict is going to happen if people are being real with each other.

Tension is a good thing. It means something is coming. It means there is something we are not looking at. There is an opportunity to growth, which is going to bring the whole circle to a new place.

As M. Scott Peck says, there are 4 Stages of Community: Pseudo-community, Chaos, Silence, Community.  First everyone gets together and they are all excited. It’s a honeymoon. A dream come true! Then, if people stick around long enough, chaos comes rolling in and everyone gets blown out and challenged. After this, silence. People are thinking, ‘What the heck?” If the individuals are brave enough to come back and be honest about what happened, they reunite in a new way, working through and learning from their problems. This last stage is community.

Oh boy. We are human. I guess we haven’t worked it all out yet.

Facilitator Tips

OK, now that you know what you need to know about circle dynamics, let focus on you as a leader. Your role is unique. Your actions are being watched by everyone and your love is contagious.

Be extremely aware of your own power as a facilitator. We live in a hierarchical culture where people give leaders power and hang off of their every word. Just by unconscious habit. Especially if you are a white man, so be careful. The words of a person in a position of leadership carry more weight than anyone else, even if that is not their intention or desire. It can be too easy to crack a joke and hurt someone’s feelings. Do not take this on as a weight to be a perfect person. Just be aware. Sometimes it is a relief to everyone else if you insist on being yourself. It give them permission to be imperfect too. So.. be imperfect in a healthy way.

Sometimes being a good leader means to be silent in order to give room for others to express themselves. Staring at the floor can be helpful when circle members forget to address the entire group when they speak. You will find yourself having to be insistent on not receiving everyone’s attention. When planning spiritual ceremony, I have been successful at getting all the ideas on the floor but when it comes time to weave them together, sometimes I have to leave the room. I say, “I’ll be over in the kitchen. Someone come get me when you have a plan. Then I will contribute my part.” The moment I leave the room, they are rockin’ and having a good time. Or they are struggling, in which case I keep walking and let them struggle. I cannot help another person find their strength by telling them to find their strength.

Here are things that a facilitator can do to support the health of a circle

• Keeping track of where you are in the conversation or in the energy work.
• Providing and asking for clarity when it is needed.
• Model the behavior that you are looking for. Everyone learns through example. We are not all perfect but try.
• Defend the health of the group over the needs of one individual. Clearly there are exceptions but overall, if someone cannot include the groups’ needs along with their own, the circle may not be the place for them. If there is a conflict between two people, the easiest way to diffuse it is to refuse to deal with personal issues and to ask how the issue at hand fits into the work of the circle. If it does not, then those people need to take it outside.
• If the energy feels dead or tense, address it. You might not want to be the one to name the issue but you can ask “how does it feel in here right now?” and encourage others to speak up. This is a great teaching opportunity, allowing others to find their way.
• Outside the Circle – Be All Ears: Ask people how it went. If you want an honest answer, don’t give your views before you hear a reply. Outside the circle you may hear things that people don’t feel comfortable saying in a group. Heck, your opinion may not matter at all because as an organizer, your opinion is highly shaped by listening to the experiences around you. You are listening for what is needed to serve your community best.

• Thank and Compliment People on their Contributions: Everyone wants to feel appreciated, even if they are volunteering for the hundredth time. Some people have gifts they are not aware of so a simple compliment can not only make someone’s day but affirm their sense of self. Do not forget this, ever. Not being thanked can feel pretty yucky, especially if the event was stressful.

OK, you got it? Go out, make circles happen and have fun! Don’t be surprised if you don’t get a lot of help right away but over time as people get to know each other, things may change. There is great joy and great reward in serving your community in this way. Let me know how it goes and write in if you run into any trouble.

Much love,

Tasara

http://www.littlelight.info

How to Put on a Public Ritual

Ritual is as old as humans have been human. It is primal and it is primary to shedding the veils between our ordinary world and the divine. Until the latest chapter of ‘civilized’ culture, it has been woven into the very fiber of our lives.

Now we are often without it.  Many think of ritual as ‘routine’, what we do when we get up in the morning, but ritual is much, much more. Ritual may be practiced on public holidays or at major sports events but without the intention of accessing the divine, it will bring us no further along than we were at its beginning.

If you are called to bring sacred ceremony back to our public arena, this is a beautiful community service you are stepping into. It is also something that is not easy to learn how to do effectively. There are many elements to this art form, from handling people, logistics and delegating as well as listening to Spirit and taking care of oneself in the process. Because of this, I have written an article in hopes of empowering those that hear the call of public ceremony.

What is ritual?

Ritual may be dressed up differently across cultures and occasions but at its bare bones, ritual is always the same. It always has a beginning, a rising of energy, a culmination and a closing. Each of these sections are vital to making up the whole.

Here is the skeleton of ritual.

Beginning. In the beginning, we somehow create sacred space. Some people like to call the directions; some like to cast a circle, some like to stand still and become very, very present of their place on this physical planet. During this process, there is a cleansing of this area being temporarily claimed in time and space. One might use sage, cedar, bells, brooms. What we are called to the most, brings most passion. As we are called, we call back. We call out to our helping spirits to join and support us.

Rising of Energy. We open ourselves to the sacred circle, now sealed and claimed in time and space. We are certain that we are safe to be vulnerable, as the more vulnerable we can be, the greater the energy evoked. We dance, we sing, clap hands, drum, sit quietly and pray. This honoring, this blending with need and passion blends us from the mundane right into the places in-between. In between this world and the ones of the spirits.

Culmination. In the same way that a musician feels the peak of an improvisation, we feel when the energy is most potent, when it is time to do our work. It may be work of divination. It may be prayer. It may be a soul retrieval for someone else or an invocation. We have planned carefully and designed all aspects of the ritual to reflect our intention and we do it with utmost focus.

Closing. When the work is done, we allow the energy to fall. We offer gratitude to the spirits for helping us and ground excess energy by sending it safely home. Home to the earth, to the ones we pray for, to mother ocean, to flame. We come home ourselves, sound in our bodies and ready to manifest the gifts we have received in the world we live in. The circle is opened. And if it’s really good, we celebrate each other through the sharing of food.

This is ritual at its most basic expression. The power of its effectiveness is determined by the clarity of intention and the ability for participants involved to let their guard down and really invest. As a public ceremony planner, the more you can design your ritual to be accessible to everyone, the more people will feel good about it. When people know their role, they are able to invest energetically. When it comes to healing, truly, most everyone wants to help so give them the chance!

I believe that public rituals that performed be a few while everyone else watches can be disempowering. Rituals with highly specialized roles work better for small groups where members have common training or at least common understanding as to what metaphysics are being practiced so they can get behind it. This also might work in a workshop setting where there is an expectation of time spent on instruction.

In open public rituals there is no time to give on much beside an explanation of the main intention and how participants can take part. People come from too many different backgrounds and as we do live in an entertainment-based culture, we all want to get right to it.

Planning the Ritual

Graphic by Patrick Corrigan.    http://drawingbreath-comic.blogspot.com

Intention
Before knowing who is coming, where it’s going to be or what color the candles will be, you need to fully understand the intention. Everything else follows from there. Intention of the spiritual work will be your guide in whom you invite, what the flyer looks like and possibly everything else down to what time of day, depending upon your ceremony style.

This intention will fail to draw a gathering if it came from your brain or your favorite book. Intention-choosing is really more like intention-finding. Use your community relationships to listen, listen, listen to what people are yearning for. It didn’t take a lot to figure out that people needed to have a way to express prayers for Mother Ocean in the last year or so. Sometimes the yearning can be heard in unexpected ways. For instance, if a community of people is becoming cerebral, too caught up in city life, then a Spirit of the Land ceremony might be appropriate.

Organizers must have many relationships that cross many different sub-cultures. Community is nothing if it is not relationships. Relationships are everything. They are how you are capable of keeping your ear to the ground of the broader spiritual communities. They are the fibers of community, the elixir of life. They model respect for other leaders. Through this type of bridging, cross-pollination starts happening and you start to hear people exclaim that they keep running into the same people at events. This is community, yeahh!

In finding the intention, we remember that the spiritual work we do is not fully ours. It is shared, so in sharing and listening we discover what community needs. What needs to be balanced. At the same time, as an organizer, your labor of love is going to be most powerful if you are working on a cause that you are passionate about. So find the cause that serves both you and your community. It won’t be too hard.

Crafting the Ritual

Once you know what you are doing, energetically, everything else falls into place. All your decisions get easier. You may want to craft the actual ritual yourself or you may want to include a few more people. In a later section, I will talk about the process of crafting with other people.

Be sure that you have at least one tangible way that people can contribute their personal prayers to the ritual. This could be through adding something to the fire or releasing something in the water…there are many ways. Public rituals run the risk of being alienating without this crucial part.

Once the ritual is designed, you have the opportunity to bridge-build in your community, if you feel you have a strong enough base to do that. Take a look at your plan and ask yourself if there are sections or elements that would be best handled by some other talented person. For example, I wanted to invite the African drumming community but knew that if I spent my focus honing the drum circle during the event, I would not be able to do my job. I invited some local drumming teachers and they were thrilled. They were not pagans or shamanic practitioners, but they were well skilled in the ability to read and ride energy through the drum.

Contact these people early in your process. It is an honor to them if you are able to do this before the flyers even go out. This allows them to give input that may change core logistics. If their presence is crucial, make sure you align your schedules.

The actual flyer is your main invocation. It is THE call to community to come and gather. It states the purpose, place and how people can get involved. It is a highly, spiritually potent document, so try to make it reflect the energy you are attracting. Put it out about 6 weeks in advance and then again 6 days beforehand.

When you make your call, ask for help! People love to help make something big and awesome happen. Figure out how to answer the question, “What can I do to help?” What a beautiful question. If someone is asking, they are offering their valuable energy to making the event strong. Plus, you might be about to make a new friend! Or better yet, this person may be about to meet a great friend through their volunteering for you. Never turn someone away that wants to help. The more the merrier, they say. Have small jobs and big jobs so no one feels overwhelmed or unneeded.

Ask people who you know love this event and are connected to other communities to spread the word, even if they personally cannot come to the event.

Let everyone know how much they are appreciated. Let them know several times. This powerful work of connecting people before the event is yoru way of sharing power with other, making our webs stronger. It is also what will keep you from burning out on your 7^th ritual.

I advocate for free events. There is time for classes, workshops and healing clients and there is time for play. In a city where park benches are pulled up so that homeless people can’t hang around, we are gravely lacking in places to gather. There are a lot of people who cannot afford classes and more that think they can’t afford classes because they have not experienced the good medicine of what they are missing.

So give. Don’t make it a promotional event. Just give. It will come back in ways you cannot guess, as giving for the sake of giving is contagious. If you have to charge to cover the rent, make that clear on your flyer and talk about how pitching in is what is makes these events happen. People love the thought of barn-raisings. If there will be a food, make it a potluck and ask volunteers to bring utensils made from recycled materials.

You are creating a temporary autonomous zone where people can have a shared, powerful experience, make new friends and feel like they are part of something important. This is more valuable than apple pie. This is hot apple pie with hand-whipped cream and a sloppy hug from somebody’s grandmother. Do it.

When I am ramping up to a public ritual, in some sense, I become a conduit for the entire ceremony. I feel the energy. I hear strong intuitions about the shape of things. I can’t sleep. I wake up with new inspirations and run for my pen. I become possessed with the spirit of the ceremony. It builds – and then a few days before the event, it falls out of me and I know that it is no longer mine. It is out, fully with the spirits and those that have honed their course to meet up with us. It is out of my control. All I have left to do is show up and do my job.

The Ceremony. People are going to be late. Even if you ask them not to. Get over it. Ask the spirits to help create a cone that allows for that. Ask the spirits from the moment the first flyer (invocation) goes out to start preparing sacred space ahead of time for you. With you.

People who did not respond before are going to ask if you need help when they get there. Be ready. Don’t forget to find a few people who are willing to stay and cleanup. Crucial.

Chances are, your audience is going to be spiritually mixed. In this time, we are in the midst of another spiritual renaissance so your audience likely represents explorations of all parts of this tangled forest of earth-based spirituality. Be aware of a strong resistance to being told how things are, in the spiritual realm. This comes from people who are still running from organized religions that hurt them very badly. It is common for one to stick to only one chosen modality…or refuse to commit to any one path, as a result of this kind of wounding.

Because of this, be sure to use generic spiritual language in the flyer, email as well as in the ritual itself. We want to leave all doors open for people to engage. I don’t even call specific spirits out loud when I call in the directions. I do invite others to practice whatever they are used to when opening sacred space. This includes verbally stating that inviting Jesus or other deities that alternative cultures may shun, is welcome. Most of the time people are too shy, but it’s always nice when someone takes a twirl or sings their spirit song.

In these public things, the level of inhibition is not to be judged. We just focus on saying the right things to make people feel welcome and safe.

The more a community has worked together, the more you can ask of them. People who know each other are more liable to get silly and growl like bears or chant to the rain or dance in the dew.

In any case, know your audience.

Be very, very clear in your introduction as to what the intention is, how that is being carried out and how people can engage. Are there slips of paper for people to write on? What are they for? Where do they go? Where is the energy being directed at the culmination? Who are the key people and how are they serving us?

Then, try to let go. Have a strong beginning and then get out of the way. Allow people to make mistakes, enjoy the mishaps, disappear into the crowd if your presence is making people follow only you. Love people through it. Introduce yourself to new people and make them feel welcome.

Hang out for a while and–learn from my mistakes–ENJOY yourself. Spend a few minutes with your friends. If you didn’t get enough volunteers to cover all the bases, let some things slip so you can get a hug or two. Bring your own food and water and don’t let your blood sugar drop. Ask for help. Always ask for setup/clean up help ahead of time or you are going to walk away feeling like you need a time clock to punch.

Closing. When the ritual is over, energetically close the circle yourself again and ask for a clearing from spirit. Emphasize the importance of closing because new people often like to hang onto the metaphysical high and don’t realize they can keep that good stuff while still coming home to their bodies. Thank everyone you see for all that they did. Have a happy party in your mind with your helping spirits and receive. Receive the blessings they are bestowing on your for doing this beautiful work.

I really hope this is helpful. If you have questions feel free to write in, and I will do what I can. This will be a living document for a while as I go through revisions so your questions will help me, as well.

May your ceremonies be blessed.

May you find kinship and cheer in your community.

May we all commune in the happiest way with our spirit friends.

Addendum: Crafting the Ritual with Friends/On-the-Spot-Ritual-Making Style Ceremonies

Now up until this point, I have been talking about doing it with an organizing committee of one plus. You and your spirit allies. This is not ideal, as things are way more fun and power-packed with an actual guiding circle, but to get to that point, you need community. So somebody’s got to hunker down and start.

I love to co-create rituals with a circle. This can be dynamic, spirited, spirit-led and very deep. It also can be cantankerous, filled with questions and egos and misunderstandings, so you need a strong facilitator.

This is what you have to do.

Intention
Keep your eye on the prize, the prize being the Intention of the Ritual. As I mentioned before, this is the vital life of the entire event. It is the artery, the guide and the ruler. It also makes circle confusions much less confusing because if there is question about whether to use a suggestion on the table, what the circle is looking at is not who suggested it or why, but how it fits into shared Intention.

Coming up with an Intention can be simple like “sending love to Mother Ocean” or (if celebrating a Sabbat) can become more complex. The big markers of the year like Summer Solstice or Fall Equinox can be honored in as many ways as there are people.

Personal Desires
So I play this game of having everyone journey or meditate to hone their own personal needs and spiritual hungers are for the agreed theme. We do this with no regard to structure or possibility. Dreams cannot be hindered. Then we lay it all out on the table to see how it fits together. We find common themes, crucial things for some people and less important things that someone might willingly take off the table. Don’t let someone take something off the table just because it doesn’t fit when it is clear that this person really needs it. There is always a way to weave it all together.

Weaving into One
Then comes the weaving part. Really fun. Highly creative. If one person want to honor the death of the sun and another wants to honor the birth of the moon, how does that work in one ritual? Come to it with a sense of fun and other people will join you. You are still working on energetics of the intention, how the energy is traveling through the ritual, not how any of this will be expressed.

When the Intention is set, read it back clearly to everyone to make sure all present are on the same page. This is the time for changes.

My advice to you is the bigger the audience for the ritual, the more simple the ritual should be. Otherwise complexity will hinder public engagements. Simple chants, simple explanations. Keep the major energy work down to two things. Maybe three. One is really good.

Dress-Up
OK, now that the intention of how the energy is being used in the ritual, you are ready for what I call dress-up. Do we want lavender or dragon’s blood? Should one element be a meditation or a dance? The possibilities are endless. If someone shows up on fire to copy something from a book they love and it doesn’t really fit, ask them what about the book-spell or poem is calling them. Honor that. Ask them how it serves the Intention. There is something important there for sure, so find it without compromising the integrity of the ritual.

Then you run around and get all your stuff and make a big deal and meet up at the beach.

On-the-Spot-Ritual-Crafting

Once you get this process down, it is SUPER fun to do it with a bunch of strangers at the ritual itself. In order to make this feasibly fast, you set the Intention for everyone ahead of time. Tell yourself that the ritual will be designed in no less than an hour, stick to that and have fun with it.

For example, I might put the call out to anyone who wants to co-create a ritual to honor the Puget Sound. We all meet on the beach and I ask people to call out why they love the Sound. In this case, I don’t try to get everyone’s voice. I only use what comes without prompting. There is no time to have deep process, especially with a mixed group of spiritualists.

Let’s say one person feels it is a great woman. Another person is sad about how urban development affects the sea creatures. When we come out of the process, there might be 3 people making a goddess in the sand while others are singing along the water line. Then we weave these elements together as we put candles in the sand and we all connect to the Moon to allow our prayers to be stronger. Perhaps we have cast sacred space by running around in a sand circle, laughing.

Oh my goodness, this way of doing ritual is super, super fun for everyone! It is a creative process that everyone got to be part of from beginning to end. People feel like they did something, they were included and their contributions were important. Friendships come out of such stuff as this.

It’s all about intention. The rest falls into place.

What is Prayer? The Shamanic Sense.

What is prayer?

 For some of us, the word prayer invokes feelings of power-under, being small while making entreaties to a god that is big and far, far away. Some of us might associate prayer with guilt, as in “I don’t pray enough” or more likely, “I am _(lazy, unenlightened, lame, etc)_ because I have not kept up with my spiritual practice.”

But there is no shame or blame in the spirit world that we choose to engage with in shamanism. There is only love.

Shamanism in all things is about relationship. Relationships with the awesome, embracing, guiding spirits, relationship with the self ­— and just as profoundly, relationship with the land. This relationship with the land is where prayer comes in.

Prayer, meditation, yoga, martial arts practices all talk about Being. As a shamanic person, this means being myself as the magnificent carnal creature of the earth that I am. As I go deeper into my meditation, I am more and more awakened to my fibers, to the breathe of the trees, to the birds, to the concrete and cars passing by. I am awakened, once again, to the passages that connect it all together. The connection, all around like crazy and wrapping back to me, is relationship. It is highly intimate if I open my heart to it.

This work, this gentle finding of our way back into relationship with the Mother Earth is prayer.

The experience is more like Ahhhh… There you are! Ahhh… There I am! And Ohhhh, it’s so nice to be back.  It’s a home-coming. It is unique to all of us and unique each time we practice. We practice and practice with no goal, really, because we reverently know that there is always more to find. This practice of finding, communing and balancing is all there is. It is what it is. It just is. Delicious.

In this conversation with her, some of us may find peace, some may find revelation, in some, a long awaited release of emotion. After we have been able to clear the private rivers of mind and emotion, there is, waiting for us, joy. This being in relationship, being in balance, is intrinsically, joy.

As a shamanic person, I do not find that I teach or hold ceremony out of an altruistic desire to help, nor from a feeling of obligation. Rather, I do it because it is my function in this vast web of beings to bring things back into balance. Myself, the land, the humans I walk with and between the earth and sky energies. I do what I do because it is who I am, so I don’t need any reasons. It makes things less complicated. I am a love-earth creature and my job is to bring balance. It is my place.

Prayer is the first step to coming back into relationship with my home, Mother Earth. It is the prerequisite to doing any other work. She is always there, waiting. Or not waiting. Just being. But she is always there, willing to connect. All the good stuff.

Shamanism. Relationship. Balance.

Respecting and honoring your spiritual teachers, yourself and the spirits

As a teacher I try to teach good boundaries. I try to hold good boundaries as well. I expect my students to be aware that they are coming to be part of an event which is highly interdependent. Even if you go through an entire class without getting to know your colleagues, your actions and presence have great effect on everyone else. Here are things I ask my students to consider before taking part in a Littlelight Ceremony.

A spiritual class is not a commodity. It is an offering of time, space and love, crafted by someone hopefully with a deep well of life and spiritual experience to share with you. Your payment is an exchange of effort and commitment back to this person who is thinking of you in every step of their workshop preparation. The teacher is one person, not a big company that can take losses of time and money.

Your preparation is as important as the teacher’s. How you approach the class you are signing up for makes a big difference. Everything counts, both ways. Please be aware of how your attitude towards your spiritual training affects your teacher and your fellow students.

Sign Up On Time

It can be such a huge hassle to determine if a class is running or not running based on who has signed up, that sometimes the effort of juggling time, people and managing a space is not worth the class to the teacher. When you wait to sign up until last minute, unless you just heard of the workshop, you are being disrespectful to the teacher. Spaces that are rented have cancellation policies and other students who are yearning to be part of a shamanic training are waiting to know if the class will run.

Informally telling the teacher you are coming is not signing up, even if the teacher is your friend. Anyone who has run a workshop knows that the most confident-sounding people are liable to change their mind until they put some money down. By paying a nonrefundable deposit you are putting an investment in that shows strong likelihood of your attendance and some compensation towards running the class for other people if you drop out. If a class is cancelled on the last minute because the teacher was waiting for the inevitable last minute sign-ups that never came, it becomes a huge waste of effort for everyone who has arranged the time off and to the teacher who has spent many hours preparing.

Show Up On Time

Spiritual classes are pockets of sacred energy built up for transformational work. They are places where people also build trust so that they can do personal work in a public venue. Every person is a vital energy to the nature of this container. Many times, class does not start until everyone participates in creating sacred space together. Showing up late is disrespectful to everyone, including yourself. It is not being aware of your own value and how your absence affects everyone else.

Teachers know that the best approach to deal with people who are late is with love and understanding, but as a student you should know that no matter what the reason, you lateness has affected the circle.

Show up Prepared

Shamanic classes and circles are strong when we are all focused. No one can carve out the space to give full attention to your practice but you. Altars at my classes are always open to anyone and always, you are expected to bring something to the altar. This can represent a power animal, a prayer or an offering. When we all add to the altar, the circle is strong. Consider the beginning of your commute to class as the beginning of circle for you. Perhaps, play music that contributes to a grounded state of mind and consider what your intentions are for the session.

Be Present to Sacred Space

Your presence, insight and wisdom is not to be put on a shelf just because you are in a class. Everyone needs you to be fully there! Though it may not be appropriate to function as though you are in a shared circle while in a class, your knowledge of energy still should be applied to the tending of the circle.

Apply your full heart and effort into the calling of the spirits as if you were home doing it on your own. Don’t rely on the teacher’s spirits to form the container. Shamanic teachers always create a container for you but you want to be strong with your own spirits when you do your practice. You also want to be active in your community by earnestly praying for spirits to come and support the work of your colleagues.

Be aware of the things that contain or deplete the potency of the container and support the container. Keep irrelevant chit chat to a minimum when in the altar room.

Honoring Boundaries

As we know, Spirit speaks to people in their own language, so there is no way any one person can interpret another person’s journey. We hold space for each other and encourage our circle-mates to see their own wisdom, listen to their own intuition. If we learn a great lesson, we speak about our experience without ‘preaching’ to the circle. Telling others ‘how it is’ creates barriers, whereas sharing our own path creates intimacy, the basic ingredient for deep work, deep love, deep transformation.

We also don’t try to ‘take care’ of each other. If someone in circle is going through difficulty, we may ask what we can do to help. We perhaps offer ideas but with always with respect for the boundaries of that person, the circle and ourselves.

Do Your Homework

When we are given big messages or blessings in shamanic time, a crucial part of the practice is to bring the medicine home. This means carrying out the message of the journey in our lives. How this manifests depends upon the circumstance and journey. When this work is done between circles, our spiritual lives continue. We are becoming practitioners rather than students. When we return to circle having done this work, we come bearing new wisdom and presence to the circle. When we give to ourselves, we inherently give to our spiritual support network as well.

These things are staples of being a spiritual adult.

Being accountable, being prepared, being present, serving our community with our care and doing our homework. Honoring ourselves in our path with commitment and in turn, honoring our teachers and community.

And when

And when the barriers fall
my love,
my folded heart breathes
my inner winds blows
and my limbs pick themselves up

my body flies from to to fro
the joy inside such light to throw
and I think,

This is what dancing is.

Where have I been? Why was it so hard?
But then the joy sweeps across
with the wind
and I don’t care ’cause I am free.

I don’t care about what happened and how it hurt
or where I lost things
or all the lost time.

I can do this and that is freedom.
My mother fought for what my grandmother could not
and I have found joy
in my body.

After the Flying Drum Ceremony – The Divine Below

She is the golden diamond, drunk from the cool, cool springs within
she is the sweet, sweet nectar which the bear so cherishes
she is whole
some and old
en and fresh with bounty from the sun’s new kisses
the divine within
the divine mother earth
the rivers rush diamond, cleansing us
the pungent peat of life
receiver of all fallen
she who knows the steps of every creature who breathes her delicious breathe
she is the giver
she is the responder
she
divine
from below
mother earth