The Sacred Path

I’m constantly amazed, although at this point I shouldn’t be, how things are brought into our lives and how before they arrive, we may not completely sense what is coming, but somewhere just outside our vision, we are aware of something watching us; something waiting patiently for that point of intersection.

We were given a list of suggested reading for our upcoming Shamanic workshop in May which will be about healing. At the top of that list of books, was Coyote Medicine by Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, Ph.D. I ordered it along with five others on the list as a start. On the day I ordered the books, I downloaded and installed a plugin called “Now Reading” which is now in the sidebar on my blog, and at the top of the list, I entered Coyote Medicine and put it in the “now reading” category even though I had not yet received the book and entered another one in the “planned reading” category.

The books ended up being shipped by Amazon in three separate shipments with Coyote Medicine being in the last shipment I received. When the other two shipments arrived, I opened them and set the books aside intending on selecting one and starting to read it, but never got that urge to pick one of them up. When Coyote Medicine arrived, that was the book I picked up and started reading. I was waiting for it but didn’t consciously realize it.

I must say I found Coyote Medicine quite enlightening in many ways. For one thing it brought back fond memories of childhood as he describes flying into Casper, Wyoming to attend a sweat lodge and tipi healing ceremony on the Wind River Indian Reservation in west central Wyoming.

My first four years of life was spent in Riverton, Wyoming which is on the southeastern corner of the Wind River Indian Reservation. My father was part Shoshone, and a registered member of the tribe, and during our time in Riverton we attended quite a few ceremonies on the Reservation and I have fond memories of those times. Between the ages of 4 and 5 we moved to Casper, Wyoming, but we would make the trip from Casper to Riverton to visit family many times during the year. Dr. Mehl’s description of driving from Casper to Riverton along highway 20-26, through Powder River, Moneta, Shoshoni (with a stop at Yellowstone Drug for a milkshake) brought back fond memories. I had many wonderful milkshakes on trips back and forth.

For someone who is studying Shamanism, Coyote Medicine is virtually a must read (and for those who are not, a suggested read). Dr. Mehl is part Cherokee, and during medical school, he was confronted by views, attitudes and practices that went against the traditional healing methods he had been exposed to by his grandmother while he was young. This book is somewhat autobiographical and chronicles his sometimes difficult journey to integrated traditional healing methods with modern medical practices.

Traditional indigenous healing methods cannot replace modern medicine, and both Dr. Mehl and Hank Wesselman say that they should be used in conjunction with modern medicine. What Coyote Medicine has done for me is expanded or widened my perspective on healing, and anything that causes you to pause and look at something from a wider perspective is always a good thing.

Well, here it is the middle of the week and I’m in California drumming and rattling and journeying through the spirit worlds at another workshop. I hope everyone is having a good time doing whatever it is they are doing. And if you aren’t, START NOW!

Since I was running a little short on time, I thought I would bring in a guest author, Mahatma Gandhi. I would have liked to spend some time with this wonderful, peace loving man. Perhaps when I get back from my workshop I’ll invite him to my Sacred Garden for tea.

The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is a correct view of freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated on achieving reform from within. – Mahatma Gandhi

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words, You words become your actions, Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. – Mahatma Gandhi

If you do not find God in the next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking for him further. – Mahatma Gandhi

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems. – Mahatma Gandhi

In his October column in The Meta Arts Magazine, Dr. Hank Wesselman, PhD talks about some of The Life Games we come into the physical to experience. (Note: If you are reading this in November 2007 or later, go here for Hank’s archives.)

One interesting thing he reveals in the article is that according to Dr. Michael Newton, 73% of those now embodied on earth are young or young-intermediate souls who are typically after money, sex, power and status – the “physical foursome” as Hank calls them.

I long ago gave up on the idea of Coincidences, and it’s not coincidence or chance that little more than a quarter of those now on earth are more advanced souls. I humbly suggest you give Hank’s article a read, I believe it will be time well spent.