Indie

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Shaman
Issue 45
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The Spirit of Wild

Patagonia
Self-isolation is why
Uncontacted Tribes
Survive Today
Shamanic Drums
Karmic eddies:
personal vibrational
healing www.indieshaman.co.uk
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Cover Features
Made in Derbyshire http://www.madeinderbyshire.org/

9
5 Self-isolation
is why
Shamanic Uncontacted
Drums Tribes
Survive
Today

13 17
Karmic eddies:
personal vibrational
The Spirit of healing
Wild Patagonia
2
 Contents Contributors
Features Articles
Adam X. Hearn
5 Shamanic Drums Elizabeth E. Meacham
Eoghan Odinsson
9 Self-isolation is why Uncontacted Fiona Watson, Survival International
Tribes Survive Today Hannah Spencer
Rochelle Kent-Ellis
13 The Spirit of Wild Patagonia Steven Ash

17 Karmic eddies: personal vibrational Columnists

healing Nikki-Marianna Hope
Yvonne Ryves
19 Healing Journey through the
Medicine Wheel Covers:
Front Cover Photography: Rochelle Kent-
23 A Wing and a Prayer: Birds in Myth Ellis
and Mysticism Back Cover Poem and Photography: Chris
Roe
27 Northern Plantlore: Mint
‘Shay Mann’
Regulars & Snippets Simon Harding

5 Editor’s Letter Storyteller’s Corner

Storyteller, Martin Pallot; Artist, Cathy
30 Lucky Draw Competition - ‘Earth Leigh Tsoukalas; Photographer, Rochelle
Spirit Dreaming’ Kent-Ellis

Shay Mann Editorial and Production

Editor, Design & Production - June Kent
31 Story Teller’s Corner: A Dream of a Sub-editor & Proofreading - Martin Pallot
Voice Printing - Minuteman Press, Bristol
Distribution - indieshaman.co.uk
35 Columnist Nikki Marianna Hope: Indie Shaman logo courtesy of Cat
Creating the Peace and Joy Essence Hawkins

39 Columnist: Shaman Moon by WEBSITE: https://indieshaman.co.uk/

Yvonne Ryves DISCUSSION GROUP: https://www.face-
book.com/groups/indieshaman/
41 Meet Branwen - Ravenswell, SOCIAL MEDIA:https://www.facebook.
Supporting Cornish Wildlife com/IndieShaman/
https://twitter.com/JuneKent
42 Lucky Draw Competition - ‘Making https://www.instagram.com/indieshaman/
Shamanic Drums’

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3
 Editor’s Letter
Welcome to Issue 45 of Indie Shaman.

I hope you like this magazine’s cover photo as much as I do. The seal shouting about The Spirit of Wild
Patagonia is courtesy of Rochelle Kent-Ellis, who fortunately returned home from her travels in South
America just before the worldwide covid-19 crisis.

As the coronavirus ‘lockdown’ eases in many countries, including here in the UK, my thoughts have
turned to all those who did not have a safe home to shelter in; amongst others, those indigenous
peoples whose lands are still being invaded. So I was honoured to feature another article by Survival
International - this one is on Self-isolation is why Uncontacted Tribes Survive Today - especially as
I have heard from many of you who appreciate these articles and discovering more about the issues
that are affecting tribal peoples.

One of the positives of the covid-19 pandemic seems to be how everyone here in the UK, who can, is
now gardening! And gardening in a nature friendly and grow your own food type of way, rather than
the previous fashion of designing an outside ‘easy to maintain’ space for entertaining. I haven’t been
physically able to do any of the heavy work in the garden for some time so it’s been great to have
Simon here with plenty of spare time – for me, him and the garden! And we were very happy to have
our hedgehog friends appearing again this year as well as many young birds from a variety of species.
We don’t have many veg growing at the moment as we’ve (or should I say Simon has) mainly been
busy landscaping (our way!), turning what was once all lawn into something more interesting. But we
do have a new raised bed made from what were our old bookcases nearly ready to go together plus a
patio full of tomatoes in pots!

The importance of sustainable ways of living is mentioned by Adam X. Hearn towards the end of his
article on Shamanic Drums. I had the pleasure of reviewing Adam’s book Making Shamanic Drums for
this edition of Indie Shaman and Adam kindly donated 2 of these wonderful books for a lucky draw in
this issue. Elizabeth E. Meacham also offered an article from her fantastic book Earth Spirit Dreaming:
Shamanic Ecotherapy Practices which I reviewed in the last magazine and we have a copy of this book
also to give away in another lucky draw in this issue. Two fantastic, very practical, books for those of
you who like to do something rather than just read about it!

Talking of being practical, Indie Shaman was lucky in being able to offer some small practical help
to Ravenswell, a Cornish wildlife charity recently. Like many wildlife charities the covid-19 lockdown
had caused Ravenswell a few difficulties with funding. Do take a look at page 41 to find out a bit
more about Ravenswell and our amazing new sponsor bird, Branwen. I also volunteered to update
Ravenswell’s website including adding some PayPal buttons so people can
donate and/or sponsor a bird directly. To find out more do visit https://
ravenswellcornwall.weebly.com/ (and let me know if you find any errors in
the website!)

Wishing you and yours much health and happiness.

Blessings
June

4
 Shamanic Drums

Adam X. Hearn
Using a single headed frame drum to beat a repeated rhythm in an attempt to connect to the spirit
world is something which has been done for many hundreds if not thousands of years in many cultures
all around the world. In fact, recent archaeological discoveries in Greenland identified the remains
of two drums of the Saqqaq people, which date back 4500 years. These were almost identical in
height, thickness and cross-section to those collected by a Danish Polar explorer by the name of Knud
Rasmussen who collected drums from the Inuit in the 1920s.

Going further back in history, just outside the village of Mezhyrich in the Ukraine, a farmer dug up the
remains of a mammoth skull drum, painted with patterns in red ochre and dating back some 15000
years. Naturally this is not a frame drum but because of the inferred shamanic connection it felt
important to include this. There are also reports that I have been unable to substantiate of an even
older elephant skin drum, which is believed to be 37000 years old. Either way, what we do know is
that some of the earliest instruments used by humanity are identifiable as drums. There is a known
depiction of a drum painted in a shrine room in what is now modern day Turkey, which dates back
to 5600 BCE. It is believed that this was a matriarchal society and that the drum was sacred to the
Goddess.

However, though these may very well be the oldest physical evidence that we have of drums which
were of a shamanic nature, this is far from the same as saying that frame drums are no older than
this! The main reason for this is that even if drums are not easily identifiable in older rock art, this does
not mean that they are not simply misidentified or overlooked, as there are often circular depictions
which could be interpreted as drums. In addition, drums in many shamanic cultures are perceived as
embodying spirits which take on animal forms and would hence be painted or carved in animal form.

In the past 2000 years, there is evidence that shamanic drums have been used (and are often still in
use) within indigenous communities globally, in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Amongst the
undefeated and unconquered Mapuche people of modern day Chile and Argentina, the Kultrun drum
has been in use since before written records and is still very much in use today. This is a single headed
drum, which is normally made from the Foyé (Canelo) tree, and the skin is secured in place over a
wooden bowl. Some of the main reasons that this specific wood is used are its medicinal and symbolic
5
qualities such as its hermaphroditic flowers
(mirroring the often hermaphroditic energy of
Mapuche Machi healers). This type of bowl drum
remains the drum of choice amongst Mapuche
communities today for shamanic drumming,
possibly due to the circumference being smaller,
making them more portable, as well as issues
with producing strong hoops using no glue (a
bowl is the logical next shape which can be
carved directly from a burl in the tree or from
the trunk itself). This bowl style of shamanic
drum was also common amongst the Sami
people of Northern Europe, who still use this
style of drum, albeit less frequently now that
drum hoops are easier to procure.

In Europe and central Asia, historically, images

of priestesses drumming can be identified in the
art and writings of many pre-Christian cultures
such as the Sumerians, Minoans, Greeks Mapuche Kultrún
and Romans. So much so, that there is some debate on whether the drum as a sacred instrument
was exclusively in the hands of our female ancestors. Indeed, the connection between the beat of a
drum and the heartbeat within us all is so strong that the Romans identified the drum as being the
sacred instrument of Cybele, mother Goddess; a statue of whom stands in the very centre of the
city I grew up in and perhaps connected to my own journey with the drum. Cybele, identified as the
mother Goddess, was also connected with wild music, wine and ecstatic trance. Although the worship
of ancient Greek and Roman deities has almost totally disappeared, many drum remains have been
discovered by archaeologists showing that these were of importance throughout the classical time
period. It does not take a huge leap of faith to see these reflected in modern day folk use of drums,
such as the bodhrán in Ireland.

The single headed frame drum is often associated with Native American cultures, probably due to the
effect of Hollywood and the countless spaghetti westerns that were churned out in the 1950’s and
1960’s. It must be made really clear that although drums were and are an integral part of many tribal
traditions in the North Americas, drums of this type were by no means restricted to this part of the
world. It is shocking to think about how our perceptions are shaped by the media! In fact, the Eastern
European tradition of shamanism was always very powerful, so much so that under the Soviet Union
shamanism was banned as a potential threat to the state and many practitioners were either sent to
the gulags or killed outright. Additionally, shamanic artefacts were forbidden and many drums were
collected and destroyed. It is against this background that we encounter the use of ribbons instead of
a beater to play a drum, for this was much quieter and less likely to result in discovery and arrest. In a
different world, perhaps the names of tribes such as the Nenets, Evenks, Nganasan and Selkup would
be as familiar as those of the Lakota, Cherokee and the Navajo.

In my book Making Shamanic Drums I aim to try and continue the rich tradition of single headed
frame drum construction, with a specific focus on shamanism. I made my first drum under the expert
guidance of a Swiss Shaman, Irene Zumsteg, a healer and wise woman of considerable standing who
has dedicated a significant portion of her life’s work to the birthing of shamanic drums in a holistic and
ethical manner. Irene lives in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, up in the mountains surrounded
by the gentle hum of bees and the fleeting dances of deer. Birthing a drum with Irene was a life-
changing event for me as I went into a two-day workshop convinced that I was NOT going to be able to
birth a drum that would look or sound good. I left the workshop in a daze, sorer than I had ever been
before and completely astounded by what had happened. I had spent two days in a state of trance,
singing, chanting, drumming, laughing and crying … and the drum that I birthed remains one of the
most significant drums in my life to this day. I had journeyed to the spirit of the drum and seen the
drum that I needed to create; a healing tool which was to outlive me, which was open for all to use in
a spirit of peace and love and something that was well and truly alive.

However this first drum birthing process was so intense that it seemed clear to me that this was a one-
off, a piece of work that was so deep and moving that there was no way I could replicate it again in my
life. In fact, it was several years before I felt called to make another drum and work with Spirit in this
way. When it next happened, it was a totally different experience, as I sought to use the off-cuts that I
6
had saved and dried to birth a much smaller shamanic drum.
This second drum was not meant to be a copy of the first, it
was birthed in a different way and I was entirely spirit led in
the assembly.

Just as the first drum had revealed itself to be a drum that

was open for others to play, focused on healing and on
celebrating the joy of life, this second drum was clearly a
drum for the dead and dying. It was created with the specific
intention of allowing the drummer to reach through the veil
and accompany the living on their last journey, as well as to
allow the dead to move on to exactly where they were meant
to be. This drum remains hidden from view for most people,
a very private and personal drum that has such a specific
use attached to it that it has never been taken to any of
the hundreds of drumming circles that I have held over the
years.

Following the birthing of this second drum, there was a clear

message from Spirit that I needed to work, hand in hand
with Spirit, in the birthing of shamanic drums and I was
fortuitously provided with a number of perfectly prepared
hoops and rawhide with which to do so by Irene. I discovered that each drum needed to be birthed in
a very specific way, guided by the spirits in ensuring that the beauty and power of each drum was just
the way it needed to be. But this was still not enough.

My journey led me to seeking out ‘green’ hides, which are untreated fresh hides that need to
be worked in order to turn them into either rawhide or tanned hide. There seemed to be a lot of
information out there on how to tan hides but virtually nothing on how to turn green hides into
rawhide, which was vital for shamanic drum-making. With this in mind, I have spent years working
largely through trial and error to come up with a method that seems to work for me and I hope that
my book helps to further spread knowledge which our ancestors may have had, but which our 21st
century culture seems to have almost lost.

I believe that for us to triumph as a species we have to realise that there is space for us all to do
the work we are meant to do and that there is no limit to what we can achieve. We need to focus
on sustainable ways of living within our planet’s means and ensuring the use of the entirety of any
animal that is killed is a part of this. With so many billions of people, animals and plants on the planet,
wastage is simply not an option and any approach which allows us to tread gently on the earth is
welcomed and embraced.

Biography
Adam X. Hearn is a shamanic practitioner, drum-maker and PhD researcher in energy, currently living
in the border area of Germany, France and Switzerland. He was first initiated into shamanic practice
by a Yachag healer of the Kitchwa people in the Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador. He trained with The
Sacred Trust in the UK in core shamanism and also has an MA in Medical Anthropology from the School
of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) London. Adam has worked with many indigenous peoples from
around the world, including the Mapuche, Kogi, Aymara, Maya, Kitchwa, Cofan and Secoya. Adam is a
lay herbalist, forager and mycologist who was a guest speaker at the Medicinal Mushroom conference
in the UK. He has run numerous drum birthing workshops and drumming circles, many in the UNESCO
world heritage village of Avebury, Wiltshire in what he refers to as a ‘Sacred Landscape’ as well as
internationally. Adam creates sacred drums at auspicious times which are uniquely tailored to the
individual.

If you want to order a print copy of Making Shamanic Drums direct from the author, or commission
your own shamanic drum please email [email protected] or visit his Facebook page https://
www.facebook.com/realshamandrums.
Edited excerpt from MAKING SHAMANIC DRUMS by Adam X. Hearn. UK SUR (14 July 2019).
Reprinted with permission.

See page 42 for the editor’s review of ‘Making Shamanic Drums’ and for your
7 chance to win a copy of the book!
8
 Self-isolation is why Uncontacted
Tribes Survive Today

Dario Yanomami of the Hutukara Yanomami Association: "Our shamans are working
non-stop to counter this epidemic. We need support from the whole world."
© Fiona Watson/Survival

Fiona Watson, Survival International

“Cough, catarrh and chest pain killed everybody. Everybody died… They weren’t buried.
They were too weak to bury the dead. They were very ill so they didn’t bury them. The
vultures ate them from the ground because they weren’t buried.”

Imagine the mental strength to keep going when all around you your loved ones are
dropping dead for no apparent reason as strange epidemics ravage your community in a
matter of days. The devastating effects of new diseases are all too grimly familiar to the
indigenous peoples of the Americas, up to 90% of who were killed by diseases introduced by
colonisers in the last 500 years.

The quote above comes from Ake, a member of the Panará, a Brazilian tribe who desperately
avoided contact until the early 1970s, when construction workers bulldozed a highway
through their forest home. Between 1973 and 1975 over a third of their population died
from diseases and more than four-fifths of the tribe died in just eight years.

The catastrophic impact of new diseases is one of the reasons why there are over 100
indigenous peoples on Earth today who deliberately avoid interaction with outsiders. They
are known as uncontacted tribes and the majority live in the Amazon. These peoples’
previous encounters with outsiders likely led to many deaths, from violence as well as
disease, at the hands of those who invaded their land to steal their resources. Many

9
uncontacted people fled or are the descendants of survivors of the Amazon Rubber Boom1 around the
turn of the last century; some will have suffered genocidal attacks or epidemics decades ago, others
even more recently.

There is nothing romantic about avoiding contact. It must be tough - imagine being the “Last of his
Tribe”2, the sole survivor who witnessed the massacre of his people and is now living entirely on his
own. This solitary man lives in a patch of rainforest in the Amazon surrounded by hostile farmers. We
don’t know who he is, the name of his tribe or what language he speaks. His people were probably
massacred by cattle ranchers who invaded the region at breakneck speed in the 1970s and 80s, using
gunmen to hunt down and murder uncontacted Indians in order to lay claim to their land. Today he
fiercely refuses any contact and continues to hunt and grow produce in his gardens. When he dies all
trace of his people, their language and their knowledge will have disappeared for ever.

This house was built

single-handedly by an
uncontacted man known
as the Last of his Tribe.
He is the only survivor
of genocidal land grabs
in the 70s and 80s when
loggers and ranchers
massacred his family,
his community, and
neighboring communities
too. He has refused all
attempts at initiating
contact and now lives by
himself on land protected
by FUNAI, the Brazilian
Indigenous Affairs
Department.

©Survival

For some tribes, this quest to survive has meant adapting their whole way of life: they’ve been forced
to abandon living in villages and cultivating gardens to becoming nomadic hunter gatherers, to leave
the lightest possible footprint on the earth and to be able to move on quickly to avoid detection and
contact. They never know when the next attack will come, when the next wave of epidemics will sweep
through their homes. Some lived in virtual silence to avoid detection, communicating by imitating the
calls of the forest birds and animals, always on the lookout for the sound of strangers on the forest
paths, The Avá Canoeiro people hid in caves by day and hunted at night, always ready to flee on
hearing the warning scream of the macaws; they even stopped bearing children.

In April this year fears grew for the survival of uncontacted tribes in Brazil as coronavirus swept
through the country. The indigenous health service is precarious and underfunded at the best of times.
Many indigenous organisations fear the pandemic will be used by evangelical missionaries to try to
make contact with such tribes, the majority of whom live in Brazil’s Amazon.

Population loss due to diseases introduced during and after contact has been catastrophic - the
statistics are shocking. Over 50% of the Matis tribe died following first contact in the 1970s. Nearly all
their shamans with medicinal knowledge perished as flu decimated them. Bina Matis, who survived the
epidemics, told Survival :

“At first, we were very frightened of the whites because they always want to kill us. So I ran into the
forest. Later we went down to the FUNAI [government’s Indigenous Affairs Dept] camp and that was
our first contact. They gave us axes and machetes and we also took two dogs…I tried to talk with the
whites, but they didn’t understand. But we caught illnesses in their camp and then everyone rushed
into the forest… We got pneumonia. A lot of people died. Disease hit everyone and now we don’t have
shamans anymore.”

1 https://www.survivalinternational.org/articles/3282-rubber-boom
2 https://survivalinternational.org/articles/3599-Last%20of%20his%20tribe%20new%20footage%202018
10
If governments fail to protect indigenous territories, coronavirus could complete the genocides of the
uncontacted tribes of Amazonia, which began 500 years ago when the first Europeans invaded.

In March 2020, Yanomami shaman and spokesman Davi Kopenawa appealed to the UN to support
uncontacted Yanomami who might soon be exterminated by invading goldminers:

“The [Moxihatatea uncontacted] Indians are now surrounded…. I don’t know their houses, any more
than you do. I only saw them from the sky, from the plane. I have never visited them on foot. We
have never spoken with each other. That is why I am very concerned. Perhaps they will soon be
exterminated…. The miners will undoubtedly destroy them all by killing them with their shotguns and
their illnesses, their malaria, their pneumonia.”

Davi’s worst fears may now be realized: in April the first death from coronavirus among the Yanomami
people has now been confirmed and by May a second had been confirmed.

The way uncontacted people live is entirely self-sufficient and sustainable and any claim that they
should be contacted for their own benefit is utterly wrong. They possess encyclopaedic knowledge
of their land and the plants and animals they live alongside, and their finely tuned technologies and
unique skills, honed over generations, mean they can obtain their food, clothes, medicine, tools,
building materials and anything else they need entirely independently; all they need is their land.
Where the territory of uncontacted people is properly protected, they continue to thrive.

This June the Yanomami tribe launched a global campaign to expel 20,000 goldminers from their land
amid the coronavirus pandemic. By then three Yanomami people had died from Covid-19 and dozens
more were infected. There are fears the disease could wipe out thousands of Yanomami people and
hit several Ye’kwana communities who also live in the territory. New research released as part of
the campaign reveals that thousands of Yanomami people living near the illegal mining zones in the
Yanomami Indigenous Territory could become infected and that the territory is the most vulnerable in
the entire Brazilian Amazon to the virus.

Dario Yanomami of the Hutukara Yanomami Association said: “We are monitoring the Covid-19 disease
spreading through our land and are very sad at the first Yanomami deaths. Our shamans are working
non-stop to counter this xawara (epidemic). We will fight and resist. To do this, we need support from
the Brazilian people and from the whole world.”

The “#MinersOutCovidOut” campaign has been launched by several Yanomami and Ye’kwana
associations and many supporting organizations worldwide. The Yanomami aim to get 350,000 people
signing a petition3 calling on President Bolsonaro’s government to expel the miners from their territory
– the largest indigenous territory in Brazil. It has been the target of illegal goldmining since the
1980s. Malaria epidemics introduced by the miners in the 1980s killed a fifth of the tribe’s population
in Brazil, and many in Venezuela. Miners have been operating close to one of several communities of
uncontacted Yanomami, who are known as the Moxihatatea.

The Yanomami’s survival as a people depends on the miners being removed. At the moment their
rivers are being polluted with toxic mercury, their forest destroyed, their children are dying of malaria
and more miners are invading under cover of the coronavirus pandemic. A humanitarian catastrophe
is unfolding. The Yanomami are up against 20,000 goldminers and a President determined to finish off
the country’s indigenous peoples. If the government doesn’t act now we could witness the appalling
scenario of the 1980s goldrush again, when one fifth of the Yanomami population died from diseases
due to government inaction.
“We, the Yanomami, do not want to die. Help us expel more than 20,000 miners who are
spreading Covid-19 throughout our lands.”
Sign the petition at https://www.minersoutcovidout.org/

More Information
Fiona Watson is Director of Research and Advocacy at Survival International, the global movement for
tribal peoples. We help them defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures.
For over 50 years, Survival International has been fighting worldwide for the land of uncontacted tribes
to be securely protected. We campaign for their decision to self-isolate, for their own survival, to be
respected by all. Join us now; for tribes, for nature, for all humanity. https://survivalinternational.org/
getinvolved
11
3 https://www.minersoutcovidout.org/
12
 The Spirit of Wild Patagonia

Rochelle Kent-Ellis
Stretching across Chile and Argentina, Patagonia is a vast and wild region in the southernmost section
of South America. Snow-capped statuesque mountains protect deep winding valleys, deserts, turquoise
lakes and freezing glaciers; seducing your body, heart and spirit to Patagonia’s powerful energy.
Patagonia bears the very south of the Andean mountains (the Andes) whose veins course through
7 countries in South America, stretching all the way north to Venezuela. Many different indigenous
peoples and tribes hold great histories throughout the Andes; they remain an incredibly important
ancestral and spiritual part of the world. In addition to this, the Andes remain an impressive natural
beauty, filled with powerful and gentle wildlife.

Whilst trekking through Torres Del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia, my partner and I were
fortunate enough to witness an Andean Condor soar high up in the mountains ahead of our path. With
a wingspan of around 10 feet, it was an impressive and grounding experience; this was her home and
she was the boss around here. The Inca people believed condors to be messengers and connecters
to the divine because of their ability to travel between Earth and skies; their presence is certainly
majestic. Patagonian condors prefer open grassland due to the high numbers of grazing herbivores
such as guanacos (the wild ancestor of llama) as prey. Condors are primarily scavengers who will
feed on carcasses of the kills of other predators, such as Patagonian foxes and the ever-elusive puma.
Pumas are symbols of strength and represented the Earth to the Incas and are a symbol of Patagonia
for many.

While I had not seen a puma on this journey, at one point I felt like we had encountered one. On our
third night of camping in the mountains, in the dead of night at around 3am, my partner and I were
awoken by a large animal who seemed to be head-butting us through our flimsy tent, trying to find

13
a way inside. We both froze in fear in the pitch black, realising we were positioned on the edge of
the campsite next to some dense woodland, where the wild things are. We whispered to each other
that our food-containing backpacks were in the front section of our tent and that there was only a
plastic sheet separating us from this very curious animal ... and then we remained silent. After about
5 minutes we heard the creature shuffle further and further away, seemingly giving up on us, and we
sighed with relief. Another 5 minutes passed and he was back; again we froze. This time he managed
to find a way to get his snout inside the tent entrance and for 10 long minutes we listened as we
felt the animal trying to pull the backpack out, while we squeezed each other’s hands in silence. The
following morning we discovered two torn-off backpack straps lying on the ground next to our tent.
At breakfast, we asked fellow campers if they had experienced any bumps in the night but nobody
else had heard or felt anything, despite also having bags with food items. Later that morning we were
stunned as a beautiful wild fox appeared before us in the campsite, sniffing and exploring our human
encroachment onto her habitat. We watched her, wondering if it was her curiosity that had frightened
us in the night. However, to this day we both agree that the energy we felt that night was much louder
and much larger than a fox.

Culpeo (pictured) and Patagonian foxes are actually ‘false-foxes’ and part of the Canid
(dog) family
October is springtime in the southern hemisphere; wildly strong gusts of wind pull tears from your eyes
yet make colourful wildflowers dance among the long grasses, rough and serene all at once. While the
trek is popular with tourists, most opt for the warmer months of December to February which meant
we had a generally quieter journey where we were able to appreciate our trail and ponder all of those
who had walked here before us; perhaps the nomadic Selk’nam (also known as Ona) or Aonikenk
peoples who shared the land here in pre-Columbian times. It was the indigenous Selk’nam people who
attempted to domesticate the Culpeo fox (pictured); the resulting species was named a ‘Fuegian dog’,
although it is now extinct.

The experience felt rare and spiritual to me. The other travellers we met tended to be like-minded
pilgrims exploring the depths of their own being through this wild part of the world and most would
agree it is a place like no other, without being to explain exactly why. Of course, there may be a few
who come here to boost their social media with the breath-taking views but I suspect even these are
taken more deeply into the spirit of wild Patagonia than they expected.

I was able to photograph many beautiful birds from primitive looking scavengers like the Southern
Crested Caracara (pictured) to a humble pair of Rufous-collared Sparrows who seemed to be our spirit

14
guides, appearing each time we were figuring out whether to turn left or right (we named these Timmy
and Jimmy). Other special species that can be encountered in Patagonia include Magellanic penguins,
elephant seals, and big hairy armadillo (yes, really!).

A tender moment between a pair of Southern Crested Caracara

On a separate trip to Puerto Madryn on the Argentinean side of Patagonia, we took a tour to see the
gigantic seals and penguin colonies and were very fortunate to see several nesting penguins with eggs
as well as admire them swimming through South Atlantic waves. Nearby nature reserve Punta Tombo
holds the largest colony of Magellanic penguins, whose population is sadly decreasing due to climate
change, which makes it an important breeding site along with the Falkland Islands. We were told that
tourism on the site helps to fund protection of the species and preserve the land they have chosen to
breed on, keeping it safe from developers.

15
Hiking such a pristinely beautiful and wild part of the planet stirred a surprising curiosity towards
spirituality and the holism of life. Our longest day took us 21 kilometres and almost 8 hours through
steep climbs and rocky worn-down footpaths under the midday sun. We would occasionally feel for
our over-packed heavy bags and beneath the hardship and poor sleep was a profound sense of awe
at every glance at our surroundings; how lucky we were to be here. Relief came while drinking from
waterfalls along the way and feeling so blessed to do so, feeling connected and part of it all. People
often believe that we are no longer a part of nature and while I agree that we can be very far removed
from its natural systems and cycles within modern society I felt sure, with every bit of dirt I turned
over with my boots and every flower’s pollen I brushed past, that I was playing my role just as the
puma plays hers – although somewhat clumsier.

Biography
Rochelle Kent-Ellis is a zoologist
who is passionate about wildlife
and environmental issues. She has
participated in a diverse range of
conservation work including: tracking
wolves and lynx in Poland; working
as a conservation assistant at a
fishing cat research and conservation
project in the wetlands of Sam
Roi Yot, Thailand; working on the
Mankwe Wildlife Reserve in South
Africa and initiating a project erecting
barn owl nest boxes in Wiltshire,
England!

Rochelle is also a keen wildlife

photographer and some of her
portfolio of wildlife photography can
be found at https://www.instagram.
com/yellowhammersnest/.

16
 Karmic eddies:
personal vibrational healing
Elizabeth E. Meacham, PhD
My spirit guides gifted me the concept of karmic eddies, a powerful metaphor for actively working
with light in vibrational reality. My guides taught me that karmic eddies are certain places that I go to
with my body-mind energy. An eddy in a river or stream is caused by rocks, or other formations, that
hold water - swirly, still, sometimes fetid - in place instead of moving with the flow. My karmic eddies
hold my life force. Sometimes these flows are integrated with my soul path and sometimes they are
blocking my spirit from moving forward. Certain eddies pull my energy from the more essential work of
presence to the world in each moment and awareness of the stories that I create in each moment.

Some of my karmic eddies are older than others but all of them keep parts of me in certain habitual
places, some supportive, some limiting and hurtful to the ‘flow’ of my life and spiritual growth.
Many karmic eddies are made by our own choices, whether these are conscious or not. Some are
programmed into our experience by higher beings to support our learning. All require attention and
awareness to call our spirits back to us when needed to connect fully with the Earth, work in vibrational
reality and visioning through awake dreaming.

Karmic eddies are places of important learning. We move our life force into holding patterns along the
stream of our river of life to attend to hurts, complexities, sacred missions and growth opportunities.
Often, karmic eddies are unfinished business that we brought with us into this life or things that
happened to us that are out of our control. Sometimes they are memories that we bring from past
lives, or that help us gain skills and grit for the tasks of a future life. Karmic eddies may bring us to
places in time or out of time.

Often, even after completing the purpose of a karmic eddy, we return to them again and again,
through memories, reflections, resentments, fears or repetitions of patterns and stories that form our
identity. While karmic eddies have an important place in our development as souls, it is also important
to learn to complete them and call the energy of these eddies back into the river of our lives.

Karmic Eddy Mandala Drawing

Purpose

Many of our karmic eddies are out of our awareness or such a usual part of our consciousness that we
don’t notice them. Drawing a mandala of the eddies in our lives can help us develop awareness of the
places that pull our spirit. We use the ancient symbol of a circle to place our karmic eddies in a symbol
that consciously or unconsciously brings attention to our place in the larger community of life and the
cosmos. We use a circle to feel the balance or imbalance that karmic eddies bring to our lives.

Description

Begin by gathering art supplies to create a drawing. You will need paper and a pencil, pen, crayons,
coloured pencils, markers or paint. Keep it simple. This exercise is about increasing your self-
awareness, so try to release any fears or pressure to make ‘art’. Using simple materials may help you
release expectations and return to a ‘child’s mind’ about your karmic eddy mandala.

To support this simplicity, I use children’s Crayola markers or crayons and any piece of plain paper.
You can also do this exercise on a page in your journal of on a piece of scrap paper. The karmic eddy

17
mandala drawing is something to do again and again, as the currents of our lives are constantly
shifting and changing. Remaining aware of our stories and patterns requires reassessing on a regular
basis.

The task of creating a karmic eddy mandala is simple, while the realisations and feelings that emerge
are often surprising and intense. Begin by drawing a circle on a piece of paper of any size. Draw
symbols, images, words - or even scribbles and different colours - that represent the karmic eddies in
your life right now. When I do this exercise, I often use a spiral to represent each karmic eddy in my
life. As I draw, the spirals might blend together or birth new spirals and offshoots. Your karmic eddies
can be anywhere on the page in relation to the circle. Listen to your body and intuition as you choose
situations to represent on the mandala. This is not a thinking exercise but rather like free writing: let it
flow. You can do it again and again, so there is no need to ‘get it right’.

Begin to draw images or symbols of things in your life that feel like they take up space or pull your
attention again and again. These can be good things or bad things, or somewhere in between. As you
draw your karmic eddies, you can include past hurts that you return to often or attempt to keep from
happening again, such as small and large annoyances with family members, friends and co-workers.
You can draw important memories from your past that influence your present and perceptions of your
future, major traumas and the best moments that you can remember. You can also draw habits of
worry about performance, place, work, body image and money.

Many of my karmic eddies are shared, perpetuated by the consciousness of our Western industrial
culture (some examples include: money worries, body shame, fear for the environment, political anger,
many ‘isms’ and concerns for humanitarian crises and wars around the world). You might draw life
themes: things that you think about or have feelings about again and again.

Cultivate loving kindness toward yourself as you increase recognition of the eddies and paths in the
river of your life. Each represents important and sacred work during your time on Earth. You can
decide when that work is done and you can retrieve your spirit from these swirls of energy in your life
whenever you are ready. Many of our karmic eddies are shared, perpetuated by the consciousness of
our communities and cultures.

As I (gently) identify and remind myself to swim out of my karmic eddies for another perspective, I
find myself more often experiencing the open flow of a beautiful, soulful life. Swimming more freely in
the river of life, I find more space each day for joy, gratitude and magic. As we bring awareness to, feel
into and unravel our karmic eddies, we also do this work for the world. As we change our stories we
begin new dreams for the Earth.

Excerpt from EARTH SPIRIT DREAMING: SHAMANIC ECOTHERAPY

PRACTICES by Elizabeth E. Meacham, Ph.D. © 2019 Findhorn
Press. Printed with permission from the publisher Inner Traditions
International. www.InnerTraditions.com (pp. 137-139)

Biography
Elizabeth E. Meacham, Ph.D., is an internationally recognised
environmental philosopher, ecospiritual teacher, shamanic practitioner and
musician. She is the founder and co-director of the Lake Erie Institute for
Holistic Environmental Education. Her workshops and training programmes
offer initiatory experiences that reflect her long-term engagement as a
student of the Earth and Cosmos. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Her book
Earth Spirit Dreaming: Shamanic Ecotherapy Practices was published by
Findhorn Press/Inner Traditions in March 2020.

Learn more about Elizabeth’s work at http://shamanicecotherapy.com/ and

about the Lake Erie Institute at http://www.lakeerieinstitute.org/.

See page 30 for your chance to win a copy of ‘Earth Spirit Dreaming’!

18
 Healing Journey through the
Medicine Wheel

Steven Ash, Buffalo Spirit Man

This journey of healing through the Medicine Wheel needs to start off with some descriptions,
definitions and energy mechanics of what we are doing. I hope that you all have a feeling and knowing
of each of the Sacred Directions: East, South, West, North, Earth, Sky and Within. If not before
you embark on this journey study the medicine wheel teachings available in books, online and in
conversation with others. Decide for yourself what attributes of your life, the world you live in, your
attitudes, preferred colours, seasons, elements, animal guides, ascended beings etc… correspond to
each of the seven directions.

The Medicine Wheel (MW) or the Seven Sacred Directions is a universal and multicultural template
that tells us where each one of us is in the universe. “I Am, here in the centre of my experience; I
Am, anchored on the Earth, breathed by the Sky; I Am, receiving from all around me and I can give
gratefully to all around me. I Am in the Centre of My Universe”.

Healing describes a vast experience of mind, body and spirit. Healing is a feeling and knowing of ease,
where we are each happy and at peace with ourselves, we are in a state of contentment from the
inside out and from the outside in. “The difference between living and non-living tissue is that living
tissue heals itself”1. For healing to happen you need to be alive, conscious and aware; once you are
dead healing cannot occur.

A journey is a creative and opening vision that is very personal and linked to freeing up the imagination
so that you can go safely within your potential as a ‘walker between the worlds’. This gift of un-limiting
our imagination is the prerequisite for manifestation of reality in our normal lives and a journey allows
this to happen. During a spirit journey you can travel, you can look, listen and feel within yourself for
the resonances of allies, experiences and helpers that exist in the world around you; these helpers
will assist you in your conscious living. In your journey you can ask questions of your past, present

1 Dr AEM Ash (The Handbook of Natural Healing, 1977 Campress

19
and future self and dig deep into the unconscious, unseen and buried aspects of your personal and
family history. Within the Medicine Wheel you can pray to the powers of the Sacred Directions to
help you; these powers reside outside as well as within. Inside you is the universe, a mirror of the
outer magnificence - here we have all the answers to all our questions, these external forces pour in
when invited, we must learn to be open and invite. I call this the ISU our Inner Space University and
journeying opens the doors for this inner space to receive information from the world outside that has
depth and knowledge beyond our limited understanding to flow in and be present as we move forward
in our life purpose, we are waking up. We can ask the unseen powers for guidance and answers that
will allow our lives to flow with greater ease. A journey is an exploration for the part of you called your
soul.

If the Soul can understand and incorporate the changes for healing to occur then the effects will
permeate from your intelligence and understanding, into your emotions and on into the substance
of your physical body. Our consciousness is the interface and the bridge between the powers of the
Medicine Wheel and the healing we are seeking, again once healing is achieved inside us, it will
reverberate out into our world and behaviour.

The drum is the vehicle we are using to enter the journey or trance state. Drum brings out and
amplifies hidden rhythms and frequencies; the varied brain waves, the heartbeat, blood pulses and
returning blood movement; lymphatic, Cranio-Sacral rhythms of plasma and internal waters; individual
body organ frequencies and bio rhythms and most importantly the breath flowing in and out of the
lungs.

During this journey of healing through the medicine wheel we are going to use our senses of listening,
feeling within, seeing and external feelings as a means of projecting as well as absorbing and exploring
the information and pictures available to us. The senses give us the parameters and boundaries of our
individual soul. Our senses do not lie, they sense what is.

Give your self permission to travel openly and safely into the direction on the medicine wheel of your
choice and do your searching either in a clockwise direction, for example North to East or across the
medicine wheel, for example North to South. Try not to go backwards - walk forwards, travel forwards,
receive new light and release the old shadow. Your mindset is vital - be open and grateful for all the
teachings offered, release fear, you are safe, allow yourself to Be.

Feel the relationship between each sense organ and the corresponding sacred direction and with that
sense search and explore the full scope of offerings presented and made available for the healing
to occur. Observe where there is resistance or a feeling of stickiness, stuck energy and pain. These
experiences can be explored further or allowed to be released. You can explore them or let them go;
this is your choice in the living moment.

Stay fluid - do not be rigid with the senses, although their strength is definitely in a given direction,
allow the other senses to take part and allow the other directions to help you. Remember each sacred
direction of the medicine wheel is a power, a being with character, energy, and humour. Be like a child
and go for a ride, round and round, across from one side to another, up and down, in and out. Make
this journey a real adventure into your self, find reasons to laugh and cry, reflect and release where
you sense it is right to do so.

So here are the Sacred Directions and their corresponding senses:

West is hearing with your outer and inner ears, listening as a boat lists from side to side finding its
balance as well as listening to the internal body sounds, voices, high in the background hums and
rivers of light. Humble and flowing like water, giving and forgiving, letting go of all tension and being
really still; hearing what there is to hear deep inside you and in the hidden part of you, travel from top
to bottom, as deep inside to as far outside. Listen as far back as a child and baby and far forward into

20
your potential.

North is your inner feelings, going deep inside, diving down through your breath into your heart and
further down into the tissues and cells of your inner core; and on further down into all the buried and
unseen, in mind, body and spirit. This is your alone-ness, “You were born alone, you live alone and
you will die alone”2. This is where the real healing happens, where shadows lie dormant but ready for
unearthing, where you go overnight and every night when you sleep; this is where your dreams filter
and churn, where the blankets keep you warm there in your private hidden place of you.

East is your sense of seeing, light coming into your eyes and waking up your liver, jumping you out
of bed. “Eyes are the windows of the Soul”. The master Yeshua said, “Awaken, awaken, awaken whilst
you are in this body for everything is within it”. Awaking is not only the motive of returning from night
time sleep it is quickening, igniting and revealing. It’s the light that allows you to see, reflecting off
everything in its path. Now on this journey you not only see but you look, you seek, focusing your
energy towards a light some-where within; with your two eyes, plus the third deep inside your brain,
project into the east direction outside and in, as if they are the same.

South is your external feelings, the picture of you that you have shared with the world since
childhood; where and how you fit in your family, home, world, work, gifts, talents etc. This is the skin
of you, your personality and passion. South is your soul’s web of connection expressing itself to life.
The skin, the largest of the endocrine organs, feeling, breathing, warming and cooling, protecting and
enclosing, holding it all together, alive and sensitive like the skin of the Earth Mother.

Earth, she is below you, you are made from her; the sense organ is your connection to all and being
part of everything. It is a magnetism and an electric current where you are receiving from all life and
at the same time giving to all of life. You are a co-creator, you make, create and invent from what the
mother provides. Your co-creations are based on your values and you are the judge of their beauty,
use and function.

Sky is the information pouring down upon us, the golden light of creations potential; pure energy
without form, judgement or reason. This information from the Sun, planets and moon is blended with
the soup of all the cosmic forces swirling in amazing order and chaos and it hits us smack on the top
of the head and shoots down the yang meridians into our Earth Mother. The first law of Traditional
Chinese Medicine states: “We stand between Heaven and Earth”.

When we go into the North we go inside, into the Great Mystery and unknown, we go into the potential
for a new cycle to begin. Here we fully digest the ‘Something’ that we discovered and called for to be
healed. The resulting understanding goes deep, sinks under and expresses itself as a new beginning in
the East or a flowering in the South and the courage for further release in the West. Therefore in the
North is the mysterious unlimited potential for healing.

The East in being born and the South of the inner child; these are the ‘seeings’, observations and
feelings expressed as joy, comfort and happiness. These realms of the inner child are the subconscious
unihipili - the lower self or subconscious that remembers every happening, occurrence, hurt in detailed
pictures, the history of this life time down to birth, conception, zero and beyond.

As pictures come up, see them (East), feel them (South), forgive, let them go, release their tension
(West), breathe deep into your heart; you are alone in this mystery (North) and healing happens as
a consequence of being alive and having the intent for change to occur. The second law of Traditional
Chinese Medicine is “Ye Ye Zhi Ye”, Medicine is Intention.

Go around again, pick up a ‘something’ that needs to be healed, seen, felt and released. See it (East)

2 Quote attributed to Orson Welles “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship
can we create the illusion for a moment that we’re not alone.”
21
explore touch and feel its nature (South), let it become a dance between east and south. Listen for the
wisdom from your ancestors, grandparents and parents, listen to their voices helping you, in letting it
all go like water flowing down a river (West); look at and listen to your history through their voices.
Move on and breathe deeply into your heart, smell and taste the ‘you’ in your mouth and nose, take
it down and digest all the ‘something’ with the compassion of an ascended master (North). You are
alone, a child, youth and adult, release the child inside to happiness and know that the Great Mother
cares and watches within you every single moment she is keeping you safe; she is below you and
supports you in every choice you make. Oh and Sky Father keeps providing the energy for it all to keep
on happening. There is no judgement, from the external source; it’s just power constantly delivering
information.

You can continue the circling of seeing and lifting the lid in the East, feeling and digesting in the South,
letting go of the consequences in the West and with hope going deeper ready for a new cycle to begin
in the North.

Now you can invite in the Four Winds to assist you and here you can play like a child, break the rules
and dance, because life is a dance. Let the fresh morning breeze of the East gently blow all the painful
memories of the West into the sunset and allow the sorrow to slip over the horizon to be taken by the
indigo of night. You can bring in the rain clouds of the West - across the centre to cleanse the Earth
and air so that new beginnings can unfold in the East. You can allow the cold biting winds of the North
channeling trust, purity and truth, striking like a sword across the centre of the medicine wheel to
speak with the pain held in the repeating patterns of the South. And in return bring through and invite
the warmth of the summer wind to unfreeze old shadows, shame and lost dreams in the North. There
are an additional four winds of the cross quarters which you can include but start off simply and allow
the winds to teach you their medicine.

This journey of healing through the medicine wheel is a long term project and it takes practice. The
fact is that it works; the system is set up to work and all you have to do is open your senses and focus
upon the deeper meanings that each one leads you too. Remember there are no rules to follow only
your own deep integrity and willingness to be open like a child. You know how to unlock the process,
now follow the scent. Practice by meditating on your own needs, there is no hurry and when you feel
confident you can explore the method with others.

Biography
Steven Ash is an experienced healer, master
of Chinese Medicine and gifted musician,
whose roots lie in the shamanic traditions of
Europe, North and South America. His name
Tatanka Wanagi Wichasta - Buffalo Spirit
Man - was given to him by the late Ed McGaa
Eagle Man; and Wallace Black Elk, medicine
man of the Lakota people, adopted him and
his wife Renata as his spiritual grandchildren.
Steven spent part of his childhood in
Wikwemikong and Oshwegan, First Nation
reservations in Canada, where his father
was the medical doctor for the tribe. He
studied Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, Tai
Chi and Qi Kung and holds a doctorate in
radiaesthesia.

Steven’s work with the Sacred Drum as a

tool of self-exploration and transformation
has made him a worldwide authority in the area of the healing drum. His book Sacred Drumming is
regarded as a classic reference book on the subject of drum healing. Steven originated the work with
Sacred Drumming as a framework for personal growth through ancient wisdom and ceremony rooted
in the power of the Seven Sacred Directions of the Medicine Wheel. Together with his wife Renata he
is holding a vision for the renewal of spirituality and a way of living in harmony with Mother Earth and
all our relations for the past, present and future generations. Ho Mitakuye Oyasin - to all relations. For
more information please visit his website: https://www.sacreddrumming.co.uk/

22
 A Wing and a Prayer:
Birds in Myth and Mysticism

Reconstruction of murals at Çatalhöyuk

Hannah Spencer
Birds are possibly our most ancient guides to the spirit world. Their gift of flight offers
access to the sky realms and in many cultures birds guide souls to the realm of the dead
and, like the stork in modern folklore, also guide them to the land of the living.

The World Tree in Scandinavian mythology has an eagle perched in its uppermost branches,
representing the uppermost tier of existence. In the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, this perch
was taken by the monstrous Zu-bird which likely inspired the legend of the Roc. Totem poles
and wooden pillars which represent the World Tree are often topped with a bird in Native
American and Siberian traditions and it is believed a cave painting in Lascaux in France,
dating to 17,000BCE, represents a bird atop a totem pole or World Tree.

The most important birds in mythical and shamanic traditions include the vulture, the swan
or goose, and the crow or raven.

The vulture has been depicted at sacred sites for over 12,000 years. Göbekli Tepe in
southeast Turkey, a hillside sanctuary dubbed the oldest temple in the world, was built
around 9600BCE and was central to the development of agriculture and civilisation in the
Middle East. Its stone pillars are carved with an elaborate array of dangerous animals and
birds, including the vulture.

23
The later site of Çatalhöyuk, 500 miles
away in central Turkey, is considered the
world’s oldest town, first occupied around
7400BCE. The town is famous for its
elaborate murals which include several
paintings of vultures devouring human
bodies. The skulls of many creatures
including vultures protrude from the wall
plaster.

The reason for the vulture’s special

reverence is their trait of seeking and
devouring dead bodies. People have long
associated corpses of both humans and
animals with illness, especially in warm
climates and would also have noticed that
bones picked clean by vultures posed no
health risk. In a time before bacteria and
contagious illness were understood, it was
a logical assumption that this contagion
was caused by the angry or vengeful spirit
of the corpse in question. It is a worldwide
belief that the spirits of the dead must be
appeased to prevent them bringing illness
or ill-luck onto the living and vultures were
naturally linked to this process. Perhaps
they were believed to seek out the spirits
of the dead as they seek their bodies and
guide their spirits to the next world as
A pillar at Göbekli Tepe depicting a vulture holding a
they devour their bodies. A round object
possible human head
balanced on a vulture’s wing at Göbekli
Tepe is often suggested to be a human
head or, perhaps more accurately, a human soul.

The people of the Middle East gradually spread across Europe and the East, taking with them the
concepts of agriculture and the new culture that grew around it. These concepts reached Britain around
4000BCE. Their religious beliefs spread with them, adapting to the vastly different climes and blending
with the indigenous cultures in the areas they settled.

At Çatalhöyuk and many other places, bodies were excarnated: exposed for carrion-eaters to devour.
The bodies were often placed on raised platforms, indicating it was important that birds do the work
rather than carrion-eating mammals such as foxes or dogs.

Vultures are not found in northern Europe, but excarnation was still practiced in early farming
communities. High wooden platforms found along the River Avon near Stonehenge are believed to
be excarnation platforms linked to the high-status burials around the monument. Birds of prey such
as kites, buzzards and sea eagles – the latter being of particular reverence in Neolithic Orkney off
northern Scotland – are carrion eaters, as are crows and ravens which have a strong link to the
otherworld in British mythology.

Crows and ravens haunted ancient battlefields and scavenged amongst the slain – “the raven screamed
aloft, black and greedy for corpses”, wrote one Anglo-Saxon poet1 – and the Celtic Goddesses of war,
the Morrigan, Babd and Macha, took the form of ravens as they revelled in the carnage. Their sinister
and doom-saying reputation hasn’t waned in modern times, as any folk horror fan knows.

The raven was also known for its wisdom which reflected the divine laws of harmony known to the
Anglo-Saxons as Wyrd. This is little remembered today but in more recent times the cunning folk
would warn against trusting the wisdom of the crow, for its truth was often veiled and could mean the
opposite of what it appeared.

1 Elene, 11. 52-53, 110; G.P. Krapp, ed., pp 67-69 quoted by William A. Chaney in The Cult of Kingship in Anglo-Saxon
England. Manchester University Press (1970).

24
Odin, a Scandinavian God with shamanic links, had two ravens, Huginn and Muninn (meaning ‘thought’
and ‘memory’) who told him every secret seen or whispered in every part of the world. The raven or its
rare cousin the Cornish chough, was associated with King Arthur who was believed to one day return
in the form of this bird. The Welsh hero-king Bran, whose name means ‘raven’ and who inspired many
aspects of the later Arthur legends, was buried at Tower Hill in London where his spirit would guard
Britain against invasion. The Tower of London is still famous for its ravens which have almost mythical
status.

Water birds, in particular the swan and goose, have long been considered spirit guides, especially
across northern Europe and Siberia. Many of these birds are migratory and arrive in huge flocks to
spend the winter in the wetlands and marshes of Britain and Europe before returning north to breed.
The north was often the direction of the spirit world – most northern cultures recognised the North Star
around which the heavens and all else pivoted – and these migratory birds were often said to carry the
souls of the recent dead with them on their migratory journeys.

Many other birds leave their Arctic breeding grounds for Europe in winter; the link to water is probably
what makes the swan and goose special. Water has always been seen as liminal, offering access to
the spiritual realms and water birds, which were equally at home on land, in water and in the air, were
often seen as messengers and guides between Earth and the otherworld. A goose-like bird was the
mythical ancestor of the Ob-Ugrian people of western Siberia and their shamans wore bird masks and
costumes in spring fertility rituals in its honour.

The Milky Way, the band of stars often seen as a ‘spirit road’ through the heavens, was often
represented as a river and at its highest point in the northern hemisphere are the stars of Cygnus, the
celestial swan, which appears to be flying down its length. This asterism is depicted as a bird in many
cultures and may represent the bird atop the World Tree or cosmic axis. The swan therefore guides the
soul journeys of shamans and the deceased along the Milky Way. Researcher Andrew Collins2 suggests
this may date back 15,000 years, to the time when Deneb, the brightest star of Cygnus, was the Pole
Star and thus the true pivot of existence.

The swan has long had otherworldly connections and still has a near mythical status in Britain today.
Its Anglo-Saxon name was ylfetu, meaning ‘elf-white’, linking it to the otherworldly beings which could
bestow blessings or disaster at whim. In Norse myth, the Valkyries, warrior-women linked to Odin who
chose those to be slain in battle and conducted their souls to the afterlife, took the form of swans.
In Celtic myths, people were often bewitched to take the form of swans. In a Mesolithic cemetery in
Bogebakken in Jutland, a young woman, possibly a shaman, was buried around 4000 years ago and
beside her was a baby lying on a swan’s wing, perhaps offering guidance to the afterlife.

The goose has links to death which have little association to its natural life. The Welsh king Gwallawg,
brother to the fairy-king Gwyn ap Nudd, had his eye torn out by a white goose, perhaps reminiscent of
the sacrifice of an eye by gods such as Odin. The ‘corpse-goose’ was a name for the raven to the Norse
people. But geese do not eat flesh and do not peck out eyes. Perhaps the goose absorbed some of the
characteristics once associated with crows or vultures? One explanation for this role of the goose is the
eerie noise of migrating flocks when they fly far overhead at night, a noise suggested to explain the
appearances of the Wild Hunt, led by Gwyn ap Nudd and his pack of ghostly hounds, which roam the
skies and hunt down the souls of the dammed.

The language of the birds has long been a metaphor for divine and poetic wisdom and the more we
look the more we see that every bird has its own unique story to tell.

Biography
Hannah Spencer is a historian, novelist and short story writer. She loves history, folklore and the
metaphysical, which provide the themes for most of her work, and in between writing she works on a
dairy sheep farm. Find her online at:
http://hannah-spencer-author.weebly.com and http://light-onecandle.blogspot.com
Facebook: @hannahspencerwriter. Twitter: @hspencer339

More information about Hannah’s book Broken Skies, which is reviewed in this edition of Indie Shaman,
can be found at https://ouroboros-series.blogspot.com/ including the factual basis behind the story.
2 https://www.andrewcollins.com/

25
26
 northern plantlore:
mint

E
o
g
h
a
n

o
d
i
n
s
s
o
n

27
Quick Facts

Latin/Linnaen: Mentha Arvensis

Family: Lamiaceae

Old English: Minte

Synonyms: Field Mint, Pudina in Hindi, Wild Mint, Corn Mint

Action: Carminative, cholagogue, antibacterial, secretolytic, cooling

Part Used: Oil

Indicated For: Internal: flatulence, functional gastrointestinal and gallbladder disorders, catarrhs
of the upper respiratory tract. External: myalgia and neuralgic ailments.

Dosage: Unless otherwise prescribed: Internal, average daily dosage:3-6 drops;

inhalation, 3-4 drops in hot water; external, several drops rubbed into the skin;
equivalent preparations. 5-20 percent in oil and semi-solid preparations; 5-10
percent in aqueous-alcoholic preparations. In nasal ointments, 1-5 percent
essential oil.

Preparation: Essential oil and other galenical preparations for internal and external
applications.

Cautions: Contraindications - Internal: obstruction of the bile ducts, inflammation of

the gallbladder, severe liver damage. External: For infants and young children,
mint oil-containing preparations should not be used on areas of the face and
especially the nose.

Other Uses: Beverage: A herb tea can be made from the fresh or dried leaves.

Description
Mentha arvensis (Field Mint, Pudina in Hindi), Wild Mint or Corn Mint, is a species of mint with a
circumboreal distribution. It is native to the temperate regions of Europe and western and central Asia,
east to the Himalaya and eastern Siberia and to North America.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 10–60 cm (rarely to 100 cm) tall. The leaves are in
opposite pairs, simple, 2–6.5 cm long and 1–2 cm broad, hairy and with a coarsely serrated margin.
The flowers are pale purple (occasionally white or pink), in clusters on the stem, each flower 3–4 mm
long.

Cultivation

Hardiness Zone: 4-10

28
Soil pH: Prefers slightly acidic soil

Soil type: Tolerant of most soil, even heavy clay.

Cultivation: By seed or root division

Sunlight: Full sun-partial shade

Habitat: Native to Europe, Asia and North America.

Mint can be highly invasive and you could consider growing it annually in containers if you don’t have
land to devote to letting mint spread.

Historical Notes

It is a perennial, the root-stock, as in all the Mints, creeping freely, so that when the plant has once
taken hold of the ground it becomes very difficult to eradicate, as its long creeping roots bind the soil
together and ultimately overrun a considerable area. It is generally an indication that the drainage of
the land has been neglected. It is abundantly distributed throughout Britain, though less common in
the northern counties and flourishes in fields and moist ground and Peppermint growers must be ever
watchful for its appearance.

The Corn Mint (Mentha arvensis) is the type species of the Japanese Menthol plant but is not endowed
with useful medicinal properties, great care indeed, as has been mentioned, having to be taken to
eradicate it from Peppermint plantations, for if mingled with that valuable herb in distilling its strong
odour affects the quality of the oil.

It is a branched, downy plant. From the low, spreading, quadrangular stems that lie near the
ground, the flowering stems are each year thrown up, 6 to 12 inches high. The leaves, springing
from the stems in pairs, are stalked, their outlines freely toothed. The upper leaves are smaller than
the lower and the flowers are arranged in rings (whorls) in their axils. The flowers themselves are
small individually but the delicacy of their colour and the dense clusters in which they grow, give an
importance collectively, as ring after ring of the blossoms form as a whole a conspicuous head. The
flowering season lasts throughout August and September.

This mint varies considerably in appearance in different plants, like all the other native species of mint,
some being much larger than others, with a more developed foliage and a much greater hairiness of
all the parts. It has a strong odour that becomes more decided still when the leaves are bruised in any
way.

It is said that the effect of this plant, when animals eat it, is to prevent coagulation of their milk, so
that it can hardly be made to yield cheese.

Biography
Canadian born Eoghan Odinsson is an award winning journalist and author with a lifelong passion
for the knowledge of our Northern forefathers – or ‘folk lore’. Literally, the knowledge of our people.
Graduating from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland with his Masters of Science degree, he
subsequently taught for the University. In addition to his academic background, Eoghan also holds a
Black Belt in Chito-Ryu Karate and has taught Martial Arts in Canada and the USA. Eoghan is now back
in his native Ottawa Valley where he lives with his wife, son and three dogs. Eoghan is a professional
member of the Canadian Authors Association.

29
 Indie Shaman Lucky
Draw!
Win a copy of ‘Earth Spirit Dreaming’ by
Elizabeth E Meacham!

Published by Findhorn Press

To enter simply email [email protected]

with the email title ‘Earth Spirit Dreaming’. Deadline for
entries is 9 a.m. Thursday 1st October 2020 (UK GMT).

Winner chosen by random draw and notified by email by Indie

Shaman. Entries also accepted via http://shamanismbooks.co.uk,
Lucky Draw email mailouts, Facebook page and Facebook group. For
full competition terms and conditions visit http://shamanismbooks.
co.uk/competition-terms-and-conditions/.

Editor’s Note: To find out more about Earth Spirit Dreaming read the review in the last issue of
Indie Shaman or visit the author’s website http://www.shamanicecotherapy.com/. You will also
find my review at https://shamanismbooks.co.uk

Shay Mann

30
 A Dream of a Voice
Martin Pallot

Artist: Cathy Leigh Tsoukalas

31
I am a thing of myths and magic
The naming of the land is known to me
Memories of life and death back to the first of me
Colours of the world are painted in me
Wisdom of elders was taught through me
How to find the way was shown to me
All that’s good and fine was fed to me
Tales of heroes and villains told to me
The ancient words of how we came to be
But now the spirit is calling within me
Calling
Only I will hear the tale of how we cease to be
I am a thing of sighs and sadness
I am the last of my kind
My tongue is stuck in my mouth
And you have not the ears to hear

Begin

My name is Mishianikuq

No that is not my name but it is the nearest to my name

that the letters of the moon skins can say
so it will be my name on this trail of words that speak my story
of how the moon skins took my land and my people
and left me alone to speak my truth
so now I must use these letters to speak
for my voice is trapped in my head
like a salmon in a net it glints and fights
but is sad for it knows it must die

For I am the last of my kind

My people had woven blankets for generations

blankets woven with beauty and colour
the moon skins blankets were woven with sickness
my people traded their beauty for the moon skins sickness
it wove itself around their heart and spirit like a snake and slowly took them
with much crying and pain took them to the ancestors

Moon skins stole the land the animals the water all that my people had or wanted
they steal the very bones of the Mother to make their dwellings
for this they have their thunder dust
which throws the Mothers bones into broken heaps
that they cut and hack with iron tools to make their homes

I have seen this

when I saw I crouched low and covered my ears

the moon skins laughed at me
they thought I was frightened of their thunder

I am not frightened of thunder

it was the pain and cries of the Mother that my spirit heard that frightened me
How can the moon skins not hear these things

That frightens me

32
My people went away from the moon skins into the deep and quiet places of the land because we did
not want the gifts they offered us or the chance to live as they did
the moon skins grew angry and instead of living in their peace with us
as they said in their letters that speak
they hunted us they caught us they took us from the land we knew
into a land of other folk a land that did not know us or our stories
who was a stranger to us also and where the stories and spirits would not let us rest
where we did not know how to behave with honour and respect to the spirits
so we tried to return to our land that loved us
this made the moon skins angry again they called us bad and renegade
decided that we must be punished
they caught us again they took us to their dwellings
made us their slaves and beat us made us wear their clothes
that clothed us in the moon skins sicknesses and took us to the ancestors
they buried us below the earth in the forgotten corner of their burial grounds
so we could not see the Sun and find our way to the West
and must lay lonely and silent always

those of us that were left went further into the land we knew
higher into the cold places where the winds came from all around
singing their songs of ice and snow and where the Eagles cry
their prayers of sorrow and joy at the life that flies away
in fear from the freezing breath of the mountains
food was harder to find here and the old ones sang their death chants
wrapped themselves in snow to wait the Sun and his path to the west
and we grew less and less until there was just three of us a girl an old wife and me
of all the long story walked by my people

just three of us

we went into the place of the Bear the last refuge of my people
a place that hid us from the world but we were starving
so I did a thing that I had never done before and I found a moon skin home
I went in and the smells were sweat and grease and staleness and wrong
the stones of the dwelling still moaned of their fate
I took food and ran from there
the moon skin must have seen me for one came hunting into the place of the Bear
found the girl and took her away
the old one screamed at him and so he killed her and I hid myself and was a snake
that only cares for itself and hides from the Eagles
then with an aching heart I gave the old one to the trees so she could see the Sun
wept for her and sang her death chant then I went to the moon skins home
I saw the girl but she was already wearing moon skin clothes and her eyes were red
she saw me and was sad and signed I should go
I returned to the place of the Bear
the winter grew worse and my hunger grew more and I determined to die
I dreamed of my people and they said I should go to the moon skins
and be a slave for punishment for not saving the old one or the girl

So I walked and waited in the moon skins place of horses

I took the clothes they gave me and worked with the horses
the days passed but I did not die
A moon skin came who knew some signs
told me I should go with him
took me to a huge stone place he called a college
the stones were still singing their death chant for stones have old spirits
that do not die easily or quick
the moon skin wanted to know the story of my people
but he could not learn the way of my hands speaking
in a dream my people said I should tell our tale
so all might know what the moon skins did

33
I began to learn the letters of the moon skins
these shapes that speak on thin skin paler than the moon skins
now I speak the moon skins speech and work their writing
now I only speak the tongue of my people in my dreams
one day the moon skin came to me
and told me the girl had died and been buried
I cannot understand how the moon skins think a spirit can breathe
under all that earth
earth spirits can because they are grown to it
but we need the air to live and so do our spirits as they go to the west
it pains me to think of the girl lying under that weight
her spirit unable to move or breathe or go to the sun
in my dreams my people say I should leave the moon skins when this is finished
return to the place of the Bear
build my resting place in the trees wrap myself in a blanket
sing my death chant so they know I am ready
and lie and wait my walk to the west

and oh my heart is heavy for I am the last of my kind

I only speak to my people in my dreams and soon we will all be like a dream
I can not even place my true name on this thing I make
but can only twist it to fit the moon skins letters
like the moon skins have twisted my people away from their truth
and made the voice of my people
nothing but a whisper in their head

Biographies
Martin Pallot lives on the drifting edge of Epping Forest in north east London. He describes what he
does as ‘writing pictures’ and uses inspiration from nature, myth, folklore and his animist beliefs to
create poetry, short fiction and ‘dream tales’. He’s been published both online and in print, here and
in America, was featured in the anthology, Moon Poets (published by Moon Books) and recently had
his own small book of poetry, Whispers in the Wood, published by Veneficia Publishing UK. You can
read more of his work at martinpallot.wordpress.com and contact him at [email protected].
Whispers in the Wood can be purchased at https://www.veneficiapublishing.

Cathy Leigh Tsoukalas is an international artist specialising in traditional portraiture and spirit art.
She lives with her family in Greece. Artwork available on commission. Her online gallery can be viewed
at https://cathyleightsoukalas.smugmug.com/.
34
 Creating the Peace and Joy
Essence

Nikki-Marianna Hope
What is a Flower and Vibrational Essence?
From my perspective, the essence holds the Yin energy signature of flowers, plants, trees, a place,
the wind, sounds, an event, astrological alignment, the Stars or a combination of these and is created
along the lines of the Bach Flower Remedies. This energy is freely gifted to a bowl of water and held by
the incredibly flexible H2O molecules. This is often referred to as the ‘Mother’; typically several drops
of this are placed in a bottle of water with preservative (often known as the ‘Son’). Several drops of
the ‘Son’ are also then placed in a bottle of water with preservative - this is ‘dosage strength’. I may
intuitively dilute the Mother a couple more times to reach dosage strength. Every event or experience
leading up to and during the creation of an essence gives the producer an indication of what the
essence will assist people, animals and places to process and assimilate at an emotional level. An
essence is classified as a food.

Creating the Peace and Joy Essence

It seemed straightforward in 2019 when I volunteered to facilitate the
creation of a Peace and Joy essence at the BFVEA (British Flower and
Vibrational Essence Association) 2020 Annual Gathering. Our event
organiser, Dawn White, helped me plan the logistics - how many spare
bottles, how much preservative. I use organic vodka and most people
would bring their own bottles to take home some of the essence.

I spent the winter months feeling exhausted - betwixt and between worlds
simply Being, ‘hibernating patiently’ until my energy and ability to Do
returned. Ten days before the Gathering, I began my journey to ‘Doing’.
Dawn had injured her wrist and asked me for help with preparing the
rooms etc.

35
I designed and printed bottle labels for everyone, I instinctively chose the image of the fifth painting
which I created on 16 January 2020. It felt important to use 2020 in the title as it is our expression for
perfect vision.

Aware that the Coronavirus might appear at Woodside, with everyone held there for two weeks, I
chose to come, thinking “this would be an amazing group to be isolated with”.

As I began my journey to Woodside on the Wednesday, I had that almost ‘tingly’ feeling and knew
the energies were congregating for the creation of this essence. I arrived the following day when we
planned to make up delegates’ boxes after an early dinner with two other essence producers who were
due to join us. By 5.30 I was hungry - dinner was not available until 7pm, I needed to keep focused
on something else! I arranged the essence bowl on a table at the back of the conference room, poured
spring water into it and covered it with blue muslin. Later I realised that I had used the same bowl
to create ‘Loving Protector’ essence in 2007. I’d lent a print of this painting to Dawn at last years’
Gathering, Dawn returned it to me and I felt prompted immediately to cut out the circular design and
place it under the base of the glass for the 2020 Peace and Joy essence. Then the four of us created a
highly efficient production line to make up boxes for delegates. We finished at 7.30pm and immediately
ordered dinner, by which time my eyes were closing!

At breakfast on the Friday a colleague mentioned that her maiden name was Peace; she wasn’t given
the option to keep Peace when she married. Since a kinesiology session when her maiden name
proved to be her true name, she has often thought of using a double barrelled surname. As we will
be making a Peace and Joy essence, I asked if she would be willing to share the story of her name
when she placed her items of peace and joy beside the water bowl, which she did. Another colleague
began talking about the Aquilegia essence she had made combined with harp music 3 years after her
husband died. She knew the plant wanted her to create an essence. After the third year it was ready
- the Aquilegia held a profusion of blooms. The blossoms literally fell off and into the water bowl while
the harpist played. This essence was about creating a rainbow bridge between the two worlds and
honoured both her husband and her spiritual teacher who had died a year after her husband.

I mentioned that I had painted the energy of each of my essences; these are shown on each of the
labels. I created the ‘Loving Protector’ essence to honour my grandson James on the first anniversary
of his premature birth and death. I felt his beautiful presence with me over 23 days and nights,
through the torrential rain, storms and clear winter days and nights and a copper coloured eclipse of
the full moon that it took for this essence to be created. This essence is helpful for bereavement and
people who feel vulnerable, ‘stripped away’, overwhelmed, with too much incoming information and
are unable to process and integrate it all. We chatted about the wonderful harp music whose vibration
added a special dimension to the Aquilegia essence and my colleague volunteered to play a CD of the
harp to introduce the making of our 2020 Peace and Joy Essence. I had shivers of joy and excitement
going up and down my spine – how perfect! At this point, I began to realise what an important /
pivotal moment in time it is for this essence to be created and promised to do my utmost to live up to
36
whatever was required to facilitate the co-creation of and distribution of this essence across the globe.
In these times of Brexit, Coronavirus, isolation of people and whole countries this essences is seriously
needed!

Our Gathering began on Friday 13th March at 4.15pm with a beautiful meditation. Then we gathered
round at the back of the room for our co-creation of the 2020 Peace and Joy Essence. I lit a white
candle behind the bowl of water and introduced the intention for this essence. Though feeling
somewhat choked by the emotional importance for its creation at this precise moment in time, the
wonderful words I had been planning to say may have remained unsaid. In fact I have no idea what I
did say, other than it was heartfelt!

We began with the sounds of the wind flowing through harp strings on the Isle of Iona followed by
birdsong and then wonderful harp music. I placed the two flight feathers, one from her left and one
from her right wing, which I had saved in pristine condition from my Harris Hawk who had been my
companion and teacher for 10 years until February 2004. Through her I learned the deep joy of being
in the winter woodlands, seeing them from her hawk’s eye view and gaining an intense awareness
of the effects of the elements as well as every sound and movement around me. And the peace of
her summer moult, as she let go of her old itchy feathers and honed and straightened the beautiful
silver shafted new feathers until they were ‘hard penned’ in perfect alignment, a time of new growth,
relaxation and deep peace.

People came up in turn and placed 2 small items from nature close to the ‘essence in making’, one
which brings them Peace and one for Joy. Those who wished to, shared their stories and I was deeply
moved by hearing of their experiences of Peace and Joy. Those items which were impractical to bring,
were represented by the energy of their words written on paper. It was a diverse collection: a cactus;
pine cones; pink and deep purple hyacinths and yellow forsythia flowers; a conifer sprig; an angel; a
pottery dish of a flowing river and its banks; a golden eyed green carved crystal dragon; a wooden
mushroom and a glass of sea water.

For Peace: Owl and Buzzard feathers; a large

flint from a peaceful garden; an angel on a
beautiful necklace, representing Transition;
rose quartz (life’s heartbeat); the purring of
a cat; a yin yang pendant; a picture on the
wall above the bowl of smooth water, worn
river stones and an Orchid flower with “When
we let go of ALL expectation there is PEACE.”

For Joy: the song of the robin; the sparkle

of sun on a raindrop; the love of happy
children and family; grandchildren; a sprig
of deep pink flowers; a bee purse (the joy
of friendship); a happy cat card; a Peter
Rabbit type picture of two happy rabbits,
one carrying a well filled bundle slung across
its shoulder, contentedly walking past a
vegetable patch; a flagging daffodil who
drank up the water in the glass with the
other flowers then joyfully bounced its energy out!
A Celtic Blessing:
“The strength of the Oak around you.
Protection of Rowan surround you.
The wisdom of Hazel within you.
And the joy of the Birch be yours.
The wind and the rain will bless you.
The light of the Moon caress you.
The gold of the sun shine within you.
And the song of peace be yours.
Strong arms of the Mother will hold you.
The green of the forest enfold you.
The living waters will heal you.
37 And the Song of Love be yours.”
We had begun sharing slowly and I wondered if there would be enough time for all 50+ of us to share?
Then time itself slowed down, the way it often does when creating an essence. There was no rush as
people took their turn to speak and share. We closed dot on time! I felt very humbled by the wonderful
sharing and the incredible timing of this event in the face of the deep World unrest and the coronavirus
pandemic and UK lock-downs that was about to happen.

During our sumptuous Gala dinner I chatted with a colleague and afterward met up with him and a
few others to make music with his mouth organ, voice and guitar and my drum. A refreshing evening
filled with music and joy. What I didn’t ‘twig’ at the time, was that the essence was in the same room
and picking up the joyful vibrations of our sounds - or were we picking up on the joyful energies of
the essence? As we parted from our musical evening, I wondered out loud when the essence would be
ready. My colleague ‘tuned in’ and suggested adding vodka to the elixir in the morning then gathering
everyone around the bowl to reinforce our hearts intentions of Peace and Joy.

On the Sunday I relit the candle, having blown it out each night for safety reasons and lit it again each
morning, removing the blue muslin to uncover the bowl. Our final ‘intention’ began with wonderful
Harp music as we stood in silence in a semi-circle around the essence. The energy of our heartfelt
intentions gathered momentum, I sensed the Redwood Trees and the presence of many elementals
from the gardens joining us, someone else saw several Goddesses above the bowl and there were
others from many realms. Then the deepest almost tangible loving silence surrounded us all, no one
really wanted to move or break the spell and time stood still. I felt as if the very Air Sylphs were
supporting me in a gentle loving embrace - truly magical. I spoke my thanks quietly.

One by one people came up and I filled each bottle using a sterile 50ml syringe drawing the Mother
2020 Peace and Joy Essence directly from the bowl. I had left my glasses on the table where I’d been
sitting so I asked each person to tell me when their bottle was full because I couldn’t see the liquid
inside!

This was my first time holding the space for an essence creation; with over 50 people involved over a
full weekend, it was joyful, exhilarating and required unfaltering clear focus. It is an amazing feeling to
have facilitated the creation of this essence, at exactly the moment when it’s needed in our world more
than ever before. In the garden at sunset I gifted some of the Mother Essence to those Energy Beings
who had joined us during the ceremony - the trees gave me a ‘thumbs up’ sign. By 20th April I had
sent out 55 of the 2020 Peace and Joy essence atomisers around the world.

Recurring themes, indicating the purpose of this Essence:

• Support for those who are passing over and the bereaved.
• Peace as we transition through challenging times
• Joy gifted to us from the natural world and / or wider loving family
• New growth after the ‘winter’ of shedding the heavy load of our old ways of Being.
• Efficiency and Simplicity - the ability to create an efficient simplified way of doing things.
• Help can appear almost before you’ve thought of the issue you need assistance with!
• Collaboration and cooperation from people, places and amazing natural energies.
• The importance of resting and simply ‘Being’ rather than the out dated need to be Doing.

Biography
Nikki Marianna Hope is an Advanced Flower and Vibrational Essence Practitioner
and Producer, an artist, sound healer, shamanic practitioner and teacher currently
working online focusing on the Q’ero Peruvian practices. Online bespoke ‘ceremony’
co-facilitator at Hope and Joy Ceremonies.
Current website www.kkiessences.net, up and coming website http://www.
nikkimarianna.com/

The Peace and Joy Essence is available at a special offer price of £6 per
bottle including second class UK postage. To purchase a bottle please
message Nikki-Marianna Hope on Facebook or email hello@nikkimarianna.
com with your name and address and quote Indie Shaman Magazine /
Essence.

38
 Shaman Moon

Yvonne Ryves
The Covid19 outbreak in recent months has affected all of us in one way or another. For many of us it
has been challenging and all of us will have had to adjust to a new ‘norm’, a norm that seems to have
gone from changing almost daily to a norm that is changed by planned increments (or I hope that by
the time you read this that is what has been happening anyway).

For me it all started back in January, just as we had made the final payment on our trip to Indonesia
and Singapore to celebrate my husband’s ‘big birthday’ in April. We knew Coronavirus was in China but
the virus began to spread. The number affected crept up in Singapore and realising we would lose our
money if we pulled out I began to read about how to protect ourselves whilst travelling; hand washing,
not touching surfaces, wiping cutlery with napkins before using them and so on. Then on March
12th our lives changed completely when everything shut down. Some businesses closed voluntarily,
including the pubs, which was unimaginable in Ireland! Social distancing and online shopping became
my new norm and then, a blink of an eye later, we were told we had to stay within 2km of our homes
unless for shopping, medical reasons or an emergency. Our holiday of course was cancelled.

How I have been manoeuvring through the times since then has varied enormously from week to week
and some weeks, from day to day. Each day while enjoying my coffee I have found myself checking
in to see how I am feeling, what it feels like I need to do. Going with how I feel has become more
important than having a set routine as it has allowed me to respond as immediately as I can to my
needs, whatever they might be. I also realised quite soon that there was no point trying to resist what
was happening.

Early on I set up a ‘gym’ in my home workspace as it was clearly not going to see any clients or
students - my ‘gym’ consisting of a yoga mat, a Pilates ball, a foam roller and some resistance bands I
found in the back of a drawer. YouTube became my friend and as my real gym moved online I watched
workouts avidly in the hope I might find the one exercise I could do without killing myself. I have tried

39
to use the gym a few times a week, with lots of stretching and rolling to stop my body seizing up. I am
lucky as my cabin also gives me some solitary space when I need it. If I need to be alone I can go and
hang out there. I can read, undertake a shamanic journey, carry out energy work of some kind; I can
drum, I can chat to my guides and once I had learnt how to make Spotify download a few playlists to
my phone, I could also dance.

Our garden has been a godsend as it has provided me with the one thing I found myself craving, fresh
air. Pretty much every day our windows have been open as wide as they can go, doors have been open
… and still I have needed to be outside. I’m not the most enthusiastic gardener, preferring to allow the
garden to do its own thing and wildlife to find a home but clearing out the pots ready to be replanted
was a task I actually enjoyed this year. I have made regular ‘pilgrimages’ to check the progress of my
oak and holly saplings, planted out last autumn at the end of the garden. The main purpose being to
make sure our wild rabbits haven’t eaten them and also that the rabbits haven’t dug too many holes
in my stone circle. Lighting a fire in the fire pit in the centre of my stones has also proved to be a real
highlight at times; there is nothing like a fire ceremony to shift some energy after all. My awareness of
the natural world has grown stronger, walking the roads around us I have seen plants growing that I
would have missed had I been in my car. I have stood in the garden watching the International Space
Station, the Starlink satellites, the moon and our bats flying around.

There have, of course, been difficult days - days which weirdly (or maybe not) coincided with down
days for others too. Days where it felt like hitting a wall, where I have needed to draw on everything
I have in my toolkit as a therapist; days where I am truly grateful for a distance Reiki sharing with a
friend or a down to earth conversation with one of my guides. I became aware that on days like this I
had forgotten to live in the moment, taking each moment as it comes and going with the flow. Instead
at these times I have felt down because I was looking ahead, worrying about what might come, how
long we might be coping with the situation - everything that I know is useless and a complete waste of
energy.

There are many good things that have come out of the closing down of countries though: clearer air;
less pollution; appreciation of the natural world; spontaneous and creative fund raising; creative use
of social media to stay in touch; an awareness of the importance of health workers, shop assistants,
cleaners and sections of society that before were either underfunded or considered ‘unworthy’ in some
quarters. Alongside this has been a growing appreciation for communities, the place we live in, our
family, friends and the value of communication however it takes place.

One such community is the community of writers that make up Moon Books. We have between us
been involved in many collaborations, some of which have been highlighted in this column. Our latest
collaboration is a little different in that, led by Trevor Greenfield as editor, we have managed to create
a free ebook, available in many places for free, entitled Weathering the Storm.

Like all communities the writers come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences and
Weathering the Storm reflects this. Within the ebook are sections on Psychology Matters, Spirituality
Matters and Practical Matters. There are twenty eight ideas within these sections and each of us has
written of something that has assisted us and continues to help us through these difficult times, in the
hope that it will help others too. None of us pretends to have all, if any, of the answers but we hope
you will download the ebook and take inspiration from the words within.

Featured books
Trevor Greenfield (editor). Weathering the Storm. Moon Books (15 May 2020).
ebook.

Weathering the Storm is free at Barnes and Noble (Nook Book), Amazon
US (Kindle) and cost 99p at Amazon UK. Purchase links at https://www.
johnhuntpublishing.com/moon-books/our-books/weathering-storm

Biography
Yvonne Ryves is ‘proactively transitioning’ from working full time as a
shamanic and energy healer and is the author of Web of Life, published
by Moon Books as part of their Shaman Pathways series. Yvonne still
offers distance work such as Shamanic Counselling, Spirit Guide Readings,
Auragraphs and Chios Training. She lives in Ireland and otherwise divides
40 her time between her travels, art and training as an Ovate with OBOD.
Yvonne can be contacted via her Facebook page @YvonneRyvesHealing.
 Meet Branwen
Ravenswell, Supporting Cornish Wildlife, is a registered charity working throughout Cornwall to relieve
the suffering of wildlife in need of care and attention and, in particular, to provide and maintain a
rescue home for their reception, care and treatment. They also aim to provide information to the public
about animal welfare.

Totally reliant on public donations, these are difficult times for Ravenswell, as they are for all animal
charities; usually the in-house trained captive-bred rescued birds are able to get out and about with
their human assistants, for fund-raising and to help raise public awareness. And, of course, even when
you can’t fund-raise in person the resident birds still need feeding and housing and new incidences of
wildlife needing rescue still occur.

Ravenswell’s latest tiny

rescues that came in during
the covid-19 pandemic - a
little grebe and a young
herring gull. Both are doing
well.

Long-time Indie Shaman subscriber, Wendy Winstanley, has worked tirelessly to help these lovely birds
and many other animals throughout her life. One idea she came up with to bring in financial help was
to offer a reduced rate of £15 for which people could sponsor one of the resident owls … or Branwyn.
And in a great case of synchronicity thanks to the generosity of another subscriber Indie Shaman had a
£50 donation so fortunately was able to sponsor a bird (thanks Anna!). Meet Branwen!
The very special Branwen is a
gorgeous 3 year old Raven and
a vital part of the Ravenswell
team.

Branwen was bought to Wendy

after her parents wrecked her
nest, so the breeders asked
Wendy to take her on. Due to
trauma when she hatched, she
lost a toe and her left eyelid is
weak. However this doesn’t hold
her back and she is not a bird
to be messed with! Wendy is
great at handling her - but she
does have an amazingly powerful
beak and bite. Branwen has a big
character and can even speak
Cornish!

More information
If you would like to sponsor a bird, make a donation or find out more about Ravenswell do visit
their website at https://ravenswellcornwall.weebly.com/. Or if you are on Facebook you can keep
up to date with current news by following their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/
Ravenswell-1552433135011959/

41
 Book Review
Making Shamanic Drums
Making Shamanic Drums is a very complete guide to doing exactly what it says in the title, from
sourcing the deerskin for your drum to using your offcuts to make a rattle, there is information on
every possible part of the process you could need. Author, Adam X. Hearn, made his first drum under
the expert guidance of a Swiss shaman, Irene Zumsteg and since then as a shamanic practitioner and
drum maker has held hundreds of drumming circles over the years.

Unusually Making Shamanic Drums includes information on how to process hides and turn ‘green’ hides
into rawhide or tanned hide. Information we could have done with here a couple of years ago when
someone offered us fresh hides from culled deer but we were unable to find anyone who was able to
process their own hides to make drums! The book does contain a warning that it also contains pictures
of deerskins being processed which may be “upsetting to sensitive readers”, although, even as a long
time vegetarian, I didn’t find them too bad and if you prefer to buy ready processed rawhide you can
always fasten these pages together and not look at them!

The author apologised for the price, which is £22.98 (UK) due to the use of full colour photos, that I
agree are essential for guidance. However – and it’s a big however – making a shamanic drum is an
investment which will, unfortunately, set you back a few bob regardless (buying one made for you even
more so) and having excellent instructions could save you costly errors. The book is also available on
Kindle which reduces the price considerably to £9.99.

Highly recommended - the most comprehensive set of instructions on everything involved with
shamanic drum making that I have seen! I would say Making Shamanic Drums is the book to buy if
you are even considering making your own drum but don’t know how or what is involved.
Adam X. Hearn. Making Shamanic Drums. UK SUR
Reviewed by June Kent (editor).
(14 July 2019). ISBN: 978-1906809027

Indie Shaman Lucky

Draw!
We have not just one but 2 copies of ‘Making
Shamanic Drums’ to give away courtesy of
author, Adam X. Hearn.

To enter simply email [email protected] with

the email title ‘Making Shamanic Drums Lucky Draw’.
Deadline for entries is 9 a.m. Thursday 1st October
2020 (UK GMT).

Winner chosen by random draw and notified by email by Indie

Shaman. Entries also accepted via http://shamanismbooks.co.uk,
Lucky Draw email mailouts, Facebook page and Facebook group. For
full competition terms and conditions visit http://shamanismbooks.
co.uk/competition-terms-and-conditions/.

42
 Reviews - Fiction
Broken Skies Transition
We are all used to seeing
books dealing with various
‘end of days’ scenarios due
to pollution, environmental
degradation and the other
results of human greed and
lack of care; of which I am
sure, the readers of this
magazine are only too well
aware. Most of these are
factual or works of theory
and ‘best outcome’.

Broken Skies is a tale inspired by the discovery Transition is different; Transition is a work of
of the Gobekli Tepe in southwest Turkey and fiction that brings you face to face with the
by legends telling of a race of gods, angels or very human ‘hard slog’ side of all those post-
demons who could shape shift into the form of technological works.
animals, fly like birds and had skills in medicine,
magic, agriculture and astronomy. These legends The author explores many of the facts and
also talk of the calamitous war that arose from theories talked of in those other books but they
a difference of opinion on the teaching of these arise naturally from the lives and hopes of her
forbidden gifts. human (sometimes very human) characters, the
challenges they face and how they overcome
Set at the dawn of civilisation, following a comet them.
falling to Earth with devastating effect, Broken
Skies tells the story of the ancient peoples who Transition means ‘change’, ‘progression’,
could have lived at that time and the first rift ‘metamorphosis’ and this book is the tale of
between them. The Anunnaki (Wolf People) Steve, Charlie, Sylvie, Leo and others; a group
believed the people should stay on the ruined of people, much like us, living through these
meadows of the Dilmun. The Irin (Watchers) left days of climate change and the times beyond.
from the plains of Harran, shared their knowledge Transition relates the changes and progressions
with the clans and built the ‘Enduring’ to ensure a they experience - practical, spiritual, personal
disaster like this would never happen again. But and collective - in their struggle to create a
it did. Livia knew the Irin had lost their way and sustainable and self-sufficient way of living and
believed the Anunnaki had too; she believed they tells of how all existence is ultimately “touched by
would have to come together to survive. the hand of the sacred”.

If you like well-written fiction where you can There are people (like your reviewer) who may
immerse yourself in a richly imagined, highly doubt some of the ideas expressed in this book
evolved world with complex characters facing - there are others who will agree with them
physical, spiritual and moral challenges realistic wholeheartedly - but, whatever your point of
to the time and place they are living in, you will view, by placing a human face on the tale of
love Broken Skies. And it’s book one in a series so global metamorphosis, Anne Fallas has achieved
there is more to come! that most important goal of any author; a good
story well told, that holds the reader from
Reviewed by June Kent (editor). beginning to end, on an important subject - the
future and our place within it.

Hannah Spencer. Broken Skies. Independently Reviewed by Martin Pallot.

published (12 Feb. 2020). ISBN: 978- http://martinpallot.wordpress.com/
1658763660
Anne Fallas. Transition. Peacock Press (28 April
2020). ISBN: 978-1912271603

43
 Events and Workshops
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most physical events due to take place currently
are now cancelled or postponed. We have left some listings online where appropriate
so you can check with the event holder whether future events and workshops in
2020 are still planned, cancelled or whether alternatives have been put in place such
as online events etc.

Ongoing events and drumming groups are listed here as well as online so potential
new attendees can see what is usually available and contact group and event holders
to plan ahead.

At the time of drafting this issue there were also the following online events listed on
our website.

ONLINE EVENTS
Shamanic Ecotherapy with Elizabeth Meacham. Please check website or contact for latest online
events. Email [email protected]. Access to all via Zoom. http://www.shamanicecotherapy.
com/
Sunday evening distance drum healing group, on Facebook with Renata & Steven Ash. To join
or add names to the list please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/181194739151270/.
Online (Zoom) Free Shamanic Healing Support Group, with Itzhak Beery at 11 am -12:30 (New
York-EST) on Tuesdays and Fridays. (Please check your local times). If you are interested please email
[email protected] to get a Zoom link a few minutes before the session begins and join many people
from around the world.
Online Shamanic Drumming Circles plus Online Shamanic Classes, with Jonathan Weekes of
Heron Drums. Facebook Live and Zoom. For more information please visit https://www.herondrums.
co.uk/ or email [email protected]

ONGOING EVENTS
Introduction to Shamanism days, with Paul Francis, Therapeutic Shamanism. Experiential
and covers the basics of shamanic practice. Email [email protected]. http://www.therapeutic-
shamanism.co.uk
Sacred Circle Dance and Drumming with Michael Meredith, Keith Barrett & Barbara Moorby
in CAMBRIDGESHIRE. Every 3rd Saturday afternoon in the month plus “Wheel of the Year” Drumming
Days every 3 months. http://www.sunflower-health.com/shamanicworkshops.htm#Workshops
Shamanic Sundays, with Mandy Pullen. FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. Monthly journeying
circle. Regular Introduction to Shamanism workshops. Contact details: Mandy Pullen Tel:01594 541850
or Email: info@mandypullen. co.uk. http://www.mandypullen.co.uk/Workshops_Groups.html
Monthly Cacao Ceremony. Held every month on the new moon, INVERNESS, SCOTLAND. Using plant
medicine teachings, ceremony, meditation, sacred space and guided invocation, music and more. Email
[email protected]. http://www.spanglefish.com/SacredVisionsSanctuaryServices/index.asp
Drum Birthing Days with Nicola & Jason Smalley, The Way of the Buzzard, near
Chorley, LANCASHIRE. Cost from £190. Contact Nicola or Jason on 01257 233909, contact@
thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk. http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/drum-birthing-day/
Shamanic Ceremonies & Women’s Circles with Maria Fotiou (Maia) in LONDON on/ around the
New/ Full Moon and the Holy Days marking the change of the Earth seasons. For next dates, email
Maia at [email protected]. https://www.thefeminineway.online/
Birth your Healing Drum with Melonie Syrett. Create a frame drum and beater and journey to find
its guardian. Cost £180. Workshops held in LONDON or if a group of 4 can be gathered I will come to
you. Contact [email protected] 07462615299. https://www.meloniesyrett.org/drum-birthing
Shamanic day workshops & weekend retreats in the PEAK DISTRICT, YORKSHIRE DALES, LAKE
DISTRICT, FOREST OF BOWLAND and the WEST PENNINE MOORS with Nicola & Jason Smalley, The
Way of the Buzzard. [email protected], 01257 233909. http://thewayofthebuzzard.
co.uk/workshops/

44
 Events and Workshops
Monthly Shamanic journeying circles, 3rd Friday of the month, just outside of GUILDFORD,
SURREY, UK, with Hat Sa’Re. For more information email [email protected]. https://www.
invitethelight.net/events
Monthly Open ‘Warrior’ Soul Rescue Circle with Shirley Flint and Kieron Morgan. St Michael’s
Church, Ewell Village, SURREY. 7.00 pm. Rescuing the lost souls of those who have fought in war.
Enquiries Shirley Flint on 07889 018713 or [email protected]. http://www.ravens-wing.uk/
events-warriors-soul-rescue-circle.html
Crystal Space Events. Meet up at ‘Our Space’. Plus events including drum making. SILSDEN, WEST
YORKSHIRE. http://www.crystalspace.co.uk/
Munay Ki Network. YORKSHIRE http://crystalspaceally.wix.com/munay-ki-network
Walking the Sacred Way. Near PERTH, SCOTLAND, with Brian Anderson. This 3 hour workshop
offers a practical and effective method of healing that you can use in your life as and when needed.
Email [email protected]. http://www.oakenleaf.co.uk/?page_id=42
Sacred Activism Events Monthly. Near PERTH, SCOTLAND, with Brian Anderson. http://www.
oakenleaf.co.uk/?page_id=44
Monthly Full Moon Fires, near LEWES in EAST SUSSEX, UK with Ali Rabjohns. Gather us together
to re-connect inwardly and with each other. The ceremony originates from the High Andes in Peru.
More Info: [email protected], phone 07528 614747. https://alirabjohns.com/

DRUM CIRCLES - England

Shamanic Quest Drum Circle BEDFORDSHIRE. Monthly on Mondays. Email melanie@shamanicquest.
co.uk. http://www.shamanicquest.co.uk/.
Shamanic Drummers MK, Milton Keynes, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. Every Friday 12-3pm. Cost £6.
https://www.facebook.com/shamanicdrummersmk/. Email [email protected].
Cambridgeshire Wellbeing Drumming Circle. CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 2nd Saturday afternoon each
Month. www.sunflower-health.com/shamanicworkshops.htm#Workshops
‘The Shamans Drum’ Monthly Drumming circle Holbrook, Nr Belper, DERBYSHIRE, UK. E-mail:
[email protected]: 01332880984. http://dunnwooddrums.com/#/drumming-
groups/4533077917
Monthly Shamanic Drumming Circle. Totnes Natural Health Centre, Totnes, DEVON. http://www.
southdevonshamanism.co.uk/workshops/
Kki Sounds - Inspiring Inner Stillness. 1st Friday monthly, The Kingsley Centre GU35 9DN (HANTS,
UK) from 7.15 - 9pm. £15, £12 concessions. Contact: Nikki Marianna Hope, E [email protected], T
0791 871 5011. http://kkinaturally.net/sounds.html/
Dragon Isle Drums. 1st Thursday of the month, Doors close 19.25. Cost £5.00. Shalfleet Village Hall
Shalfleet, ISLE-OF-WIGHT. Phone Steve 07867900475 or email [email protected]. https://
www.serenitysounds.co.uk/
WhiteBuffalo Sacred Drum/Dance/ Circle . Monthly Near Maidstone, KENT. Contact:
[email protected] for full information.
‘The Buzzard Circles’, Chorley Clan 2nd Tuesday of the month. The Bay Horse pub, Heath
Charnock, Chorley, LANCASHIRE, PR6 9ER, 7.30pm. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley contact@
thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk, 01257 233909. http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/buzzardcircles/
‘The Buzzard Circles’, Lancaster Clan 1st Thursday of the month in Halton Mill, Mill Lane,
Halton, Lancaster, LANCASHIRE, LA2 6ND, 7.30pm. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley contact@
thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk, 01257 233909 http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/buzzardcircles/
‘The Buzzard Circles’, Cuerdan Clan 2nd Monday of the month at The Barn, Berkeley Drive,
Bamber Bridge, Preston, LANCASHIRE, PR5 6BY. Contact Nicola and Jason Smalley contact@
thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk. 01257 233909 http://thewayofthebuzzard.co.uk/about-our-circles/
Healing Women’s Drum Circle, 3rd Thursday of the month at Balham Spiritualist Church, 211
Balham High Road, LONDON SW17, 7:30-9pm. Contact Melonie Syrett, email [email protected], phone
07462615299. https://www.meloniesyrett.org/women-s-drum-circle
Closed Women’s Drum Circle. Currently Balham, SW17 and Richmond, LONDON. We meet every
2 weeks. Contact Melonie Syrett, email [email protected], phone 07462615299. https://www.
meloniesyrett.org/

45
 Events and Workshops
Walks with Horses Drumming Group meets monthly at Core Music, Hexham, NORTHUMBERLAND,
NE46 3NT on Saturday afternoons 2-4pm. Cost £5. For dates contact Gwen at gwen.a.brown@
btinternet.com
Hummingbird Gatherings Drumming and Journey Circle at The Sound Lodge, Hexham,
NORTHUMBERLAND, Saturday afternoons 2 – 4.30, starting 9th September. Cost £15. Enquiries:
[email protected] Tel:01434 606159 or visit soundtouchforlife.com
Kki Sounds - Inspiring Inner Stillness. Midhurst, WEST SUSSEX, UK, 1st Monday in month from
8 – 9.30pm at The Old Town Hall, Market Square GU29 9DN. £15 or £12 concessions. Contact: Nikki
Marianna Hope, E [email protected], T 0791 871 5011. http://kkinaturally.net/sounds.html/
Evening Shamanic Drumming Circle 1st Wed in month. £15, 7.30 - 9pm Baby Moon Camp,
Dunsdale, NORTH YORKSHIRE, TS14 6RH. Contact Elaine McKeown phone 07933 718368 or via http://
www.innerpeacehealing.org/
White Bear Drum Circle. 2nd Sunday of the month at 11am-1pm, £8 at Heart Song, 1 New Cottage,
Stock Lane, Aldbourne, WILTSHIRE, SN8 2NU. Contact Evelyn Whitebear 07464861129, email
[email protected].

DRUM CIRCLES - Scotland

Shamanic Circle: Celtic Ways One Sunday per Month, 6:30-8.30 Dates: Jan 27, Feb 17, Mar 24, Apr
21, May 19. Location: Beetroot Sauvage, 21 Ratcliffe Terrace EDINBURGH, Scotland, EH9 1SX. Contact
via website link or email [email protected].
Spirit Tree Visions Shamanic Drumming Circles: 19 Windsor Place, EDINBURGH, EH15 2AJ
(monthly £17.50/£12.00 waged/unwaged) and The Ecology Centre, Kinghorn, FIFE, KY3 9YG
(fortnightly. £10). Contact Liz Harris: email [email protected] Tel 0758 260 8317. https://
www.facebook.com/pg/spirittreevisions/events/
The Way of the Drum Shamanic Circle, Monday nights, 19:00-21:00, GLASGOW, Scotland.
Fee £13 or £10 concession. Contact Fotoula Adrimi, [email protected]. https://www.
theisisschoolofholistichealth.com/glasgow-shamanic-circle
Shamanic Drum Circle Gathering, INVERNESS. We meet at full moon / dark moon around
Inverness. Outdoors £3.00 indoor £5.99. Email – [email protected]. http://www.spanglefish.com/
SacredVisionsSanctuaryServices/index.asp.

DRUM CIRCLES - Wales

Sacred Drum Community Circle in Talgarth and Cwmbran, TORFAEN, SOUTH WALES. Twice a month,
dates vary, contact us for details. Suggested donation £5 or just come and join us, we would love to
see you! Contact details: [email protected]

For full details plus more events as they become available

please visit
https://indieshaman.co.uk/community-resources/

FREE INFORMATION SHARING SERVICE

If you are running an event or planning one for 2021 do
let us know and we’d be happy to share it on our website
and in these events pages in Indie Shaman magazine*.
For more information email
[email protected]
* magazine listings subject to available space

46
47
 Soul

Be silent
Be still,
Awakened.
Be the silence
That struggles
To be heard.
Perceive
Acknowledge,
Be the wisdom
Love
Be loved
Be silence.
Be this space,
This inner sanctum,
That is
Your soul.

Poetry and Photography: Chris Roe http://www.silentflightpublications.co.uk/