“Before us came photosynthetic bacteria that produced our oxygen rich environment. When they breathed, then we were able to breathe. As we breathe, so breathe the other animals and the plants…and thus the earth breathes. When the Pomo and the Paiute, when the Massachuset…
High in the Andes, the beauty of ancient ceremonies and wisdom embodied in living ancestral languages of word and ritual hold a blueprint for creating a heart-centered life within a living universe. The people have survived here for centuries. Handed Down Recently, signs from…
Recently our good friend and master shamanic artisan, Abelardo Mirano Chara, created a new Nusta Khyua (sacred initiation stone) to honor the feminine huacas (sacred places) of Peru & Bolivia after receiving the Nusta Karpay (Energy Initiation or transformation) from his teacher, don Mariano…
Revered and personified as a deity or goddess, Mother Earth has many names and faces. The underlying belief is that earth is a life-giving and nurturing motherly entity. She crosses many traditions, not confined to shamanic traditions, yet shamans recognize that all life support…
I recently watched online The Power of Shamanism Summit featuring 31 shamanic practitioners from many traditions including African, Siberian-Russian, Peruvian, Celtic, Egyptian and Greenland-Inuit, to name a few. Woven through many of the presentations was the thread of ancestor honoring. Not the same as…
It starts in the womb. By 24 weeks, babies hear noises a mother may not even notice: beating heart, air moving in and out of lungs, growling stomach, and blood moving through the umbilical cord. You could say it is in the womb we…
Thrum of the Drum Every shaman needs a music maker. Sound and music are used to call in energy and spirit guides; transport one on journeys; support ceremony and ritual, and facilitate meditation. Drums frequently serve this purpose. If you have ever had the…
The Q’ero, a Quechua-speaking indigenous people of south central Peru, believe that everything in nature is animate and in the concept of ayni, or reciprocity. Andeans practice this principle within their communities, as well as in their interaction with the energies of nature. The…
Those of us who have been walking our spiritual paths for many moons understand the significance of the equinox as a cosmic-spiritual event, the equal duration of day and night, as a time for bringing ourselves into balance: the “as without-there-in-the-universe, so within-our-human-body-selves.” I’d…
Summertime and the living’ is easy, or at least, spent in the garden. In my corner of the world my lot is wooded and a creek runs through it. I see my share of wild life and appreciate Pachamama for all her glorious gifts,…
Creating a ceremonial altar is not just about transforming the energy of a space, it is a way of creating your reality. The altar can be seen as a microcosmos of your world, and the greater universe. When we commune with the elements of…
The drum has been used throughout various indigenous and shamanic cultures as a tool to alter consciousness or to enter a trance state for various reasons. Shamans or healers enter into a trance states to travel to different realms to aid in healing, finding…
Life in the elevated levels of the Peruvian Andes Mountains can be tough and the climate can be the most diverse in the country. When storms blow, tearing across the rugged peaks, they are often accompanied by strong winds, killing lightning and damaging hail. …
Who doesn’t love the iridescent splendor and seemingly magical ability of a hummingbird as it floats and flits in mid-air? As a birder and animal lover, I still get a thrill at seeing hummingbirds at my nectar feeder. In the Midwestern United States, I…
Summer solstice. It is time to step out into the light of your being. To open up to share this radiance, coming from deep within you. To remember the reason why you came here. So you could shine, and allow yourself to be all…
An excerpt from the book Living Sacred Ceremony by Natalia Karoway. Life is full of cycles. Just as a seed sprouts, grows into its full expression, produces its own seeds, then dies and returns to the earth, many phases of our lives come full…
