| I have known myself to be a healer, ministering to | | | | government-sanctioned spiritual leader of the |
| others, for nearly as long as I can recall. My | | | | traditional Teutonic religion Asatru; for 3 hours we |
| professional and spiritual selves are intertwined, and | | | | discussed mimetics and the resurgence of interest in |
| my life is "of a piece"...and surely handmade. | | | | animistic religions. In semi-arid Guanacaste, Costa Rica, |
| My ancestors were 'stillen im lande', the quiet people | | | | with its black volcanic beaches, I joined a funeral |
| of the earth - my maternal line Amish and paternal | | | | party as we paraded through the streets while |
| Mennonite - and, for good measure, others were | | | | carrying the coffin and shovels; in Puerto Rico I had |
| Quakers. Pacifists all, and several clergy among them | | | | an out-of-body experience at the base of a waterfall |
| - still others, 'barber-surgeons', as the country doctors | | | | in the El Yunque rainforest - on my 30th birthday and |
| of Switzerland, one of my two ancestral homes, | | | | at the time of my birth; in Belfast, Northern Ireland, I |
| were once called. Though my parents themselves | | | | met with a social worker who was facilitating social |
| weren't farmers, we nevertheless lived on farms for | | | | relationships between Catholic and Protestant youth. |
| two distinct periods in my early childhood, and my | | | | I've listened to the repeated Islamic calls to prayer |
| first memories are of a deep connection with Nature | | | | that order the days in Morocco and Egypt, and |
| in its myriad forms...and a lack of distinction from the | | | | crossed the border on foot into Israel - Palestine, |
| natural world, a visceral impression which remains to | | | | where I visited the Holocaust Museum and viewed |
| this day. | | | | the wall being built between peoples. In New Delhi I |
| By the time I was 5 years old, my father had | | | | discussed ayurvedic medicine with a family from |
| adopted a more fundamentalist religion. He became a | | | | Keralu, the ayurvedic center of India; with the father |
| minister, and for much of my youth I gained a deep | | | | of this family, a retired army general and devout |
| sense of community and service to others while | | | | Hindu, I explored pacifist methods of national |
| developing an intimate relationship with the world of | | | | security, the premise of the "think tank" that he |
| spirit. Soon thereafter we relocated to New York, | | | | developed and leads. Across the globe, I've attended |
| where I became acutely aware of art and the | | | | worship services in cathedrals and temples, mosques |
| creative act as a source of beauty and wonder, | | | | and synagogues, and countless other sacred places, |
| enrichment and expression of humanity's potential, | | | | and visited numerous houses of art. |
| spirit made manifest in much the same manner as | | | | In Korea, Mongolia, and Siberia, I've witnessed and |
| the natural world had always been for me. Having | | | | participated in shamanic rituals. One such ritual in |
| abandoned the religion of my youth by late | | | | Korea took place over an 8-hour period on a large |
| adolescence, for the past 3 decades I've explored | | | | flat boat in the Yellow Sea, an annual event for the |
| shamanism and other animistic, magico-religious | | | | blessing of the fishing season which was led by Kim |
| traditions, worked in ritual with pagans and witches, | | | | Keum Hwa and supported by two dozen shamans |
| and sampled Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, | | | | and musicians of North Korean heritage, with 200 of |
| Hinduism, Unitarian Universalism, and the Society of | | | | us in attendance. Another occurred in Eastern Siberia |
| Friends [Quakers]. | | | | in the hills near Lake Baikal, again an all-day affair this |
| Shamanic touchstones: generally blessed with strong | | | | time in the Buryat tradition for one extended family, |
| constitution, at the age of 6 I was bedridden for two | | | | including the sacrifice of a ram by the bloodless |
| months with a significant auto-immune illness; at 14, in | | | | Buryat method. To reclaim my own heritage, I |
| the ocean immediately following a thunderstorm, I | | | | traveled to two small villages near Berne, Switzerland, |
| underwent a near death by drowning; at 32, I | | | | where I met with town historians and genealogists in |
| experienced three months of altitude-induced mental | | | | order to detail my family lines: to "sing flesh onto the |
| instability. In childhood, I had a powerful dream of | | | | bones" of long-dead ancestors, in the way of a |
| shamanic themes that included flying above a single | | | | shaman. |
| ancient oak tree in a flock of giant waterfowl with | | | | In addition to my work as an integrative psychologist, |
| human faces; I've also had a lifelong recurring dream | | | | having also been ordained as an interfaith minister, |
| of emergence that begins with my swimming | | | | I've studied Asian philosophies and practiced Chinese |
| fathoms deep in the ocean in a state of bliss. In | | | | medicine for many years. Having now lived in two |
| adulthood, I've experienced three profound visions | | | | Asian countries and traveled to several more, I've |
| and multiple other transcendent events. One such | | | | integrated many of these spiritual values into my |
| vision was a powerful spontaneous healing from the | | | | being. As well, I've experienced and studied - and |
| harms of my youth; another took me to a forested | | | | shared with others - multiple forms of healing and |
| sanctuary and, as many native peoples would say, | | | | consciousness-shifting, to include transpersonal |
| my totem creatures, while the third introduced me to | | | | psychology, meditation and trance, guided imagery |
| my ancestral Council of Elders and an intermediary, all | | | | and visualization, and various somatic and energetic |
| of whom I've worked with closely, in a trance state, | | | | therapies. Countless times I've experienced the |
| for 20+ years. I've encountered various natural | | | | power of spirit in the healing process; from a |
| disasters, been the recipient of violence several times | | | | six-month old baby to a 92-year old man and the |
| in the form of street crimes in New York, witnessed | | | | spectrum in between, I've been privileged to witness |
| extremes of poverty, destitution, disease and | | | | transformation. |
| homelessness, and experienced the longterm | | | | An abundance of spiritual teachers and mentors from |
| aftereffects of mass destruction in the wake of the | | | | an array of perspectives and cultures have served as |
| World Trade Center disaster. All of these contributed | | | | my guides. In addition to each of those already |
| to my spiritual growth. | | | | mentioned, of particular note are Dr Bou Yong Rhi in |
| At the tender age of 16, I was helping people to die. | | | | Korea, a neuropsychiatrist and Jungian psychologist |
| I worked as a nurse's aide in an eldercare facility, the | | | | with a 40-year study of shamanism and its effects |
| policy of which was that no one should die alone but | | | | on the cultural psyche; Dr Elizabeth Serkin in the US, |
| with companionship - and grace, and dignity. For more | | | | clinical sociologist and specialist in the treatment of |
| than three years, I sat with the dying, holding their | | | | trauma and of addiction, a lifelong Quaker from a |
| hands, often in poignant silence as they hovered | | | | family of artists; and, Dr Sandra Rasmussen, |
| between the worlds, bathing and redressing their | | | | psychologist and nurse, who guided me closely in my |
| bodies following their final breaths. In my adulthood, I | | | | doctoral work. |
| volunteered with a hospice and revisited this | | | | Significant relationships throughout my life, connection |
| experience. I've also served as witness to the death | | | | and community, are in fact primary elements of my |
| of my beloved grandmother as well as that of a dear | | | | spiritual self, and I've been most fortunate in this |
| friend of the heart, and the traumatic near-death and | | | | regard. The experience of love, of cherishing and |
| longterm recovery of my sister. | | | | being cherished by another, on several occasions has |
| Traveling widely for the purpose of connecting | | | | opened my heart and soul to the spirit world in an |
| deeply with others and understanding culture, including | | | | indescribably profound way; the love of friends and |
| art, folk medicines and mythologies, has enriched my | | | | family has provided me with an extensive and |
| spiritual life. I traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, on | | | | complex global community, and a deep sense of |
| several occasions to assist a mentor there in healing | | | | support. Humanistic values in outward manifestations |
| work. In Reykjavik, Iceland, I discussed natural | | | | of social and political activism, pacifism, and |
| medicines with a woman from a 400-year lineage of | | | | sustainability have directed my adult life and further |
| healers, the only ones given government permission | | | | determined my spiritual development. |
| to harvest medicinal herbs at Thingvellir. There I also | | | | Connectedness, authenticity, and deep experience. |
| met with Jormundur Ingi, a druid and the | | | | These are the themes of my spiritual journey. |