Quite the contrary- it wasn't out of
the ordinary for my mother to ask me about my intuitive feelings and
dreams.
So when people ask
me how I got started in spiritual work- I'm left feeling that I never
"got started"- it just always was a part of life for me.
Right around the age
of 13 I picked up my first set of tarot cards and started doing readings
for myself, my family, and my friends.
By the age of 15 I started
reading tarot professionally- now, over 20 years later, I'm still
reading professionally but am also following a calling that was given to
me during my first vision quest in the early 1990's. On that vision
quest I was urged by one of my guides to aid people in healing
physically, mentally, and emotionally. This wasn't a path that I
understood how to walk at the time, so I simply continued working with
my guides and learning new techniques for self discovery and spiritual
understanding.
It was also during
these early years that I connected with a Native American medicine man
from the Karuk Nation by the name of Charlie "Red Hawk" Thom.
I attended sweat lodge ceremonies that he conducted several times a
year. He was a true catalyst for my personal growth. It was through the
songs that he taught and the wisdom that he shared that I truly felt my
connection with Spirit growing stronger and stronger.
It wasn't until
1993 that I actually realized that what I was learning and practicing
since childhood had a name... shamanism. I picked up the book "Way
of the Shaman" by Michael Harner on a whim one day. I was browsing
the local metaphysical bookstore and was just pulled toward it. After
reading this book, adopting some new techniques to further my connection
with my guides, and actually realizing that there were other people
using the same techniques as myself- my calling to work with Spirit and
learn as much about Shamanism as I could was strengthened to the point of doing
daily work.
I spent the years
that followed in the mountains of New York walking through the woods and
learning about the spirits of the land and animals. There was many a day
when I could be found sitting on a ledge overlooking a valley where the
hawks would fly so close you could almost touch them. Many nights would
be spent alone in a cave performing a night vigil to learn from my
guides and open up doorways that lead deeper inside myself. I feel that
these practices were my greatest tools for learning- it's often said
that no one can teach you as well as Spirit can.
So it was through
these experiences that I eventually found how to walk the path I was
told about during my first vision quest. It's been an honor and a
blessing to work with Spirit and my guides to facilitate healing in
others. No other job or task has been as rewarding as the role I play in
the healing that Spirit does.
During the last
couple of years I have decided to start studying with other shamanic
practitioners to learn the techniques of others and see what aspects may
be assimilated into my own techniques. I am a member of The Foundation
for Shamanic Studies and have studied with them through David Corbin and
Nan Moss. I have also studied with Elise O'Shea and Julie Lang in New
Jersey and with Eeve Crowe in New Hampshire.
I feel that it is
very important for people to have access to teachings and techniques
found within shamanism for their own self growth and healing. For this
reason I also spend time conducting drumming circles and teaching
classes and workshops on shamanism and its techniques.
