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Warm holiday greetings to you.
 We hope that you have a beautiful holiday season and that 2018 brings you meaningful relationships and work, health, and much happiness. From our hearts, we thank you for your participation and support.
For inspiration for the Winter Solstice, scroll down to the Healing Words section below in this E-news.
In gratitude,
Michael, Sandra, Susan, Noelle
and the FSS Board of Trustees
Holiday Hours
The administrative office will be closed starting Friday, December 22, 2017 and will reopen Tuesday, January 2, 2018, so that we may enjoy the holidays with our families. For information during that time, visit shamanism.org. Email will be checked on a limited basis. We look forward to meeting again in 2018!
Susan Mokelke
Editor
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FSS NEWS
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FSS SHAMANIC TRAINING 2018
If you are making plans for 2018 and are considering shamanic training, please visit the FSS website workshops pages on shamanism.org. There you will find course descriptions and complete calendar listings for FSS two-day workshops in shamanism and shamanic healing.
Advanced residential training offered in 2018:
For more about the
FSS Three Year Programs and Two Week Intensives, view excerpts of two live video conferences with instructors Susan Mokelke (
view video) and Amanda Foulger (
view video). More about
Harner Shamanic Counseling (audio):
Q&A with April Tuck.
2017 FOUNDATION HIGHLIGHTS
Click on the links below or download a print version (PDF) of the Foundation news section from the December 2017 issue of the journal Shamanism
.
The new documentary film The Way of the Shaman: The Work of Michael and Sandra Harner was released July 22, 2017 for free online streaming.
View the documentary...
New two-day workshop Advanced Shamanic Healing Practice, designed to provide students with advanced FSS training the opportunity for hands-on healing practice using multiple core shamanic methods.
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HEALING WORDS
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"The Winter Solstice is the time of ending and beginning, a powerful time -- a time to contemplate your immortality. A time to forgive, to be forgiven, and to make a fresh start. A time to awaken."
Frederick Lenz
The Winter Solstice, December 21, 2017, is nearly upon us. In the Northern Hemisphere, this shortest day and longest night of the year is culturally considered the first day of winter. The word "solstice" derives from the Latin sol (sun) and stitium (to stand still). At this time, on its path across the sky, the sun reaches its southernmost point from the celestial equator and seems to stand still before reversing its course. (For more facts and folklore, see the Old Farmer's Almanac.)
Since ancient times, solstices and equinoxes have been marked and celebrated by humanity cross-culturally worldwide. There are well-known ancient sites throughout the world thought to be aligned with these yearly events, such as Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, and Chaco Canyon.
Ceremonies on these occasions honored nature and our connection with and place in the natural world; acknowledging as well, the great cycles of life and death, beginnings and endings, stillness and movement, inward and outward turning.
Machu Picchu
If you wish to participate in a Winter Solstice ceremony, try an internet search for local solstice events and you should find several. If you prefer to gather with others to create your own shamanically-oriented ritual, this is a good time to journey together to design a ceremony perfectly suited to your group.
"The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory."
Gary Zukav
For individuals, the Winter Solstice is an excellent time for shamanic journeying or quiet meditation. Take the opportunity to delve into your personal lessons and gifts during the past year. Consider, too, your own areas of darkness, where you would like to improve and grow spiritually, and how you can be of service in the new year. In addition to your ordinary reality ponderings, ask the compassionate spirits for help.
For example, you might ask questions such as:
- What are the teachings I received during this past year?
- What are the gifts?
- What are some areas in my life that need improvement?
- What can I do in the new year to grow spiritually in [a specific area] of my life?
- How can I be of service to my community in 2018? And so on...
One lovely way to participate in the Winter Solstice is to search the internet for art, poetry, songs, essays, and other inspired outpourings -- beautiful, thought provoking, joyous, funny -- or create your own and gather with your group to share. Below are a few offerings from shamanic practitioners to stir your imagination.
Have a delightful, inspiring and peaceful holiday and solstice season and New Year.
Susan Mokelke
* * *
'Twas the Night Before Solstice
by Lora Jansson
'Twas the night before Solstice,
and all over the Earth,
the Spirits were gathering
with intent and great mirth.
The planet was spinning
in its shimmering way
and the Spirits saw Beauty
leading the way.
Of course, they saw problems,
pollution and strife,
but they also saw beings
living their life.
Lora Jansson is an experienced shamanic practitioner from Bainbridge Island, Washington. Contact her via her website and blog: onetribeonly.com
* * *
The Coming of the Light
by Susan Mokelke
The coming of the light
The waning of the night
A grateful welcome to the sun
We celebrate the light
Refrain (after each verse):
Love burns bright and binds all life together
Holy light, we live to feed the flame
The coming of the light
Stars are sparkling bright
The shining moon's a silver bloom
We celebrate the light
The coming of the light
Daybreak kindles night
The splendor of the dawning sun
We celebrate the light
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The
Foundation for Shamanic Studies is dedicated to the preservation, study, and teaching of shamanic knowledge for the benefit of the Planet and its inhabitants. Thousands of people each year take the Foundation's rigorous
shamanic training. Originated, researched, and developed by
Michael Harner, internationally recognized as the pioneer of modern shamanism,
core shamanism
consists of the universal, near-universal, and common features of shamanism, together with journeys to other worlds.
Become part of a growing community that is working to return spiritual democracy to the individual, as well as helping to preserve indigenous shamanisms and foster this transformative and powerful method of healing and problem-solving.
We welcome your participation!
Susan Mokelke
President
The FSS E-News is distributed by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
Email: info@shamanism.org
Editor: Susan Mokelke
Assistant editor: Narrye Caldwell
Copyright ©2000-2017 The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, a non-profit public 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization.
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