Finding Freedom and Beauty Exploring Unseen Worlds

A free international event

All,

Something I talk about a lot in my work is how in order to respond to our callings as fit elders, we have to look after each other, but also respond at a soul level. I recently spoke at length with Celine Roche about this in an interview for The Art and Science of Shamanism Conference. I thought long and hard before agreeing to participate in this event, because I knew if I was involved I would have to speak in a way that was true to the way I experience soul work, which would mean expressing concerns around diverse representation in the conference, and the problems around modern shamanism. I have a great deal of respect for the conference host, Celine, and to my surprise she was down with it all.

The registration window for this free event has opened. Though she expressed concerns around her own settler culture in France, Celine’s placement outside the American-centric framing of ‘shamanism’ has afforded her relationships with a wide varienty of people practicing a wide variety of paths, and this is reflected in the international line up. The conference runs 7-11 March, I don’t know when my interview will air, though there are many good offerings from deeply informed folx throughout the event.

In my interview I covered a lot of territory. Our talk covered the relationship of animism to shamanism, why I can’t use the word ‘shamanism’ to describe my work and why I used to, how cosmology and ritual provide safety and relationship in soul work, and why it’s important that as human-persons we understand the impact of our agency. I’m looking forward to watching the interviews with the other participants, and I’d be down for chatting about what you find interesting in the conference, and how your path is shaping.

As ever, thanks for all you do in the world. From the roots—

PS - Feel free to forward this email to anything you think may be interested in attending.

PPS - Yes, those are my feet in the sun. We’re already having 70+ degree days, three weeks ahead of Spring. It was a nice day and my feet did a good job blocking the sun from my eyes.