Dear Friend,
There is so much that is tragic and frightening about our world these days. We hear the news and despair, adding each problem to the leaden weight we carry around our hearts. We lose sight of the overarching picture, the knowing that there is something here that is trying to be born, to rise, to flower - a balance to be found, a world radiating love. Working with the compassionate helping spirits and with so many of you who have devoted your lives to transformation and love, is the fuel that keeps me going. Inspired action is the antidote to despair. It is what keeps our hearts alive.
Lift up your eyes to what could be.
Open your heart to love’s healing light,
Let it burn out your fear and doubt.
The future flows from what you do,
Nightmare or dream, it’s up to you.
If you give love, it comes back to you
And love can shape the world anew.
It could be a whole new world
It could be a dream unfolding
It could be if we care,
If we care enough to dare it.
Take one small step
Just take one small step
And then the next.
In gratitude,
Susan Mokelke
Editor
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MONGUSH B. KENIN-LOPSAN (1925 - 2022)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mongush B. Kenin-Lopsan, the first FSS Living Treasure of Shamanism. Professor Kenin-Lopsan passed away on February 10 at the age of 97, peacefully at home surrounded by family. The Foundation had a long relationship with the esteemed Professor, who was present at our first Tuva expedition in 1993. He was named as a Living Treasure of Shamanism for his role, at great personal risk, in preserving shamanism in Tuva under Soviet rule. More about his life and work. (Photo by Aldynai Seden-Khuurak.)
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ONLINE WORKSHOPS
The FSS is now offering a full lineup of online shamanic healing workshops, as well as a Knowledge and Power series. Each workshop is based in Michael Harner’s pioneering core shamanism and carefully crafted to be effective in the digital environment. Experienced FSS faculty teach each of these fully interactive and experiential workshops via video conferencing. The programs have been very well received, with more than 450 workshops taught online by the Foundation's US and Canada faculty.
"Exhilarating in this day and age that something so liberating
could be made so accessible. Afterwards, I was so
inspired and encouraged I journeyed for a few more hours
and was uplifted by the results. This workshop was a life changer;
so much more than imagined was given to me."
Student, The Shamanic Journey
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Online Knowledge & Power Series. Workshops in this series focus on powerful and effective methods to gain and apply wisdom from the spirits to resolve persistent problems facing humanity, our precious Earth, and its inhabitants. The series includes training in shamanic journeying, divination, the shamanic worldview, and practical shamanic training in methods to bring shamanic wisdom to real world problems. Workshops index.
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IN-PERSON RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS SCHEDULED IN 2022
After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, the FSS is now hopeful that our in-person residential programs can safely resume in 2022. The FSS places a high priority on both the safety and the unparalleled quality of these programs. For the latest information on the status and schedule of the residential programs, visit the FSS website:
IN-PERSON WEEKEND WORKSHOPS. We are looking forward to resuming the FSS weekend workshops in the USA and Canada this year. Visit the in-person workshops index page (scroll down past the yellow banner) for information, index, and links for our authentic and time-tested workshops in core shamanism.
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SHAMANISM NEWS
The Squaxin tribe can once again drum, sing, and dance on ancestral beaches. At the end of last year, 1,000 acres of land were returned to the Squaxin Island Tribe of western Washington State by the Port Blakely forestry company. The Squaxin are descendants of the maritime people who lived along the Salish Sea for thousands of years. The land is a fraction of the approximately 2.5 million acres that were ceded to the US government in 1854. For more about this historic step in the right direction, see the story in Native News Online. You can also read more about the Squaxin Island Tribe on their website. Submitted by Beth Beurkens, FSS faculty.
Peer reviewed study from March 2021, in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, shows distinctive characteristics of shamanic state of consciousness. In it, the authors studied brainwave patterns in a group of 24 shamanic practitioners -- including FSS faculty Tim Cope and others trained by the FSS -- and 24 healthy controls. The results were then compared to data from previous studies of healthy individuals on psychedelics. Some key conclusions: 1. The shamanic practitioners differed significantly from controls in several domains of altered states of consciousness, with scores comparable to or exceeding those of healthy volunteers under the influence of psychedelics; 2. Psychedelic drug-induced and non-pharmacologic alterations in consciousness have overlapping traits but are distinct states of consciousness. Link to the full study. Submitted Ann V. Phillips, Three-Year Program graduate, and several others.
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White sage is in danger from over-harvesting. Jan Timbrook, a curator emeritus of Ethnography at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, writes about the mass production of white sage bundles, and the over-harvesting of wild plants that are used to make them. This thoughtful and educational article provides important background information for anyone who uses white sage in their shamanic or other spiritual practice.
Instead of relying on plants that are unconsciously and often illegally harvested, consider growing your own white sage at home, Timbrook writes: “Advocates say that rather than going to Amazon or Walmart to buy the impersonal product made from plants callously ripped from the wild, one who raises one’s own sage develops a direct relationship with the plant, will respect and appreciate it, and therefore will be more likely to experience meaningful spiritual and health benefits.” Read the full article. Submitted by Susan R. Davidson, Three Year Program graduate.
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FSS POLESTAR: Responding to Events in Ukraine
The Foundation has received many requests for advice on how to respond shamanically to the suffering and despair that is unfolding in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. We are grateful to be part of a caring and compassionate community that is motivated by such a strong desire to be of service. Though it is easy to feel powerless right now, we have the love and wisdom of the helping spirits to guide us. By engaging in ethical action, guided by the spirits, we can reconnect with hope. More information and links to support spirit-inspired action.
Here are two specific ways the FSS is providing to respond:
Training in Shamanic Methods to Help Ukraine. If you would like to join with others interested in applying shamanism and the power of the spirits to find ordinary reality ways to help, please see the Shamanism for Inspired Local & Global Change calendar. Scroll down to the calendar listings and look for an offering that displays “Focus on Ukraine.”
Inspire the shamanic community by sharing what you are doing on the FSS blog, Core Shamanism Chronicles. Share your inspiration, activities, artistic endeavors, actions, and ideas about what is being done to help Ukraine and its people. Post a comment on Core Shamanism Chronicles: Help for Ukraine.
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Dedicated to the study, preservation, and teaching of shamanic knowledge for the welfare of the Planet and its inhabitants.
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Distributed by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies
Editor: Susan Mokelke
Assistant Editors: Narrye Caldwell & Robbie Staufer
Editorial Assistant: Noelle Burch
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Copyright ©2000-2022 The Foundation for Shamanic Studies,
a non-profit public 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization.
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