Current Research

• Spontaneous Shamanic Initiation
  There has been considerable controversy in recent years about the validity of spontaneous shamanic initiation. Advocates insist that this is the most authentic method by which a shaman is "made." Detractors, on the other hand, believe that only through a process of many years of rigorous training with a practicing shaman can an acolyte become an adept. Rather than argue the validity of one method over another, this paper discusses the experience of one shamanic practitioner - myself - and correlates my experience, as well as those of various clients and students, to theories of spontaneous initiation prevalent within both historic indigenous societies and the contemporary shamanic community.
  
  Download pdf
  
  
• Coming Home to Gaia - Earth as Nurturing Mother
  The following slide show is excerpted from my PhD dissertation,
  Coming Home to Gaia: Mentored Earth-based Rites of Passage for Adolescent Girls.
  
  Shown here are photos of some of the Girls’ masks and final drawings, which they created with the help of their Mentors, and a brief profile of each Girl.
  
  Download pps file (slideshow)
  
  
• Four Corners Media Project
  We have completed Phase I of our 3-phase Four Corners Media Project, based in Shiprock, New Mexico. This program, with a seed grant from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California, is reconnecting Navajo (Diné) adolescents with Navajo elders by teaching the teens filmmaking so that they can film their interviews with parents, grandparents, and Navajo teachers and healers. In addition to promoting intergenerational communication and reconnection, the Four Corners Media Project may help preserve the Navajo language and culture, and thus save for future generations the wisdom of the Diné Beauty Way.
  
  Details of the project background are available at www.orenda-arts.org/4Corners.pdf. Meanwhile, the journey continues! See our plans for Phase II of the Four Corners Media Project."