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Second International Shamanic Gathering
The response from villagers in this first gathering confirms the importance of a major purpose of Shamanic Circles: that is, to bring together people from around the world who walk the shaman’s path. This is especially true if we wish to strengthen our global shamanic community and work together on behalf of the world: both on specific projects and to encircle the Earth with compassion and love.
Come Together—Return to Circle—Together Let us Tend, Nourish, Mend We invite you to answer this Call in April – the Village is Calling you Home Creating our Village The 2002 Oracle Planning Committee — Susan Gilliland, Sandra Ingerman, Lanz Lowen, Lori Levine, Pirkko Miller, and Carol Proudfoot-Edgar — will be coordinating the over all plans. This includes the formation of different committees that will work on both programs and ceremonies. If you are interested in giving offerings, helping with the ceremonies or volunteering to assist with village tasks that help keep our village flowing smoothly, you will have the opportunity to let us know once you register and/or by signing up at our web site.
This year we invite children to participate and we plan to have various children’s programs. In our first gathering we were not able to offer programs for them. Now, however, we see our village needs to be open to all who wish to come—allowing our village to represent the world in which we live. If parents decide to bring a child (or children), however, they will be responsible for their care and behavior - no childcare will be provided. If you wish to offer some activity for children, you can let us know in the letter you receive after registration or indicate this on your registration form. Our ceremonies, which involve the whole village gathered, will take different form this year. These will evolve as those working on ceremonies journey and listen to both Spirits and the World. Already we have received clear communications that deeper renewing, sacrifice, and returning of our energies to Earth is required; these are some ways of rounding the Hoop nourishing the Tree, and mending the Web.
These are our themes and intentions. We remain attentive to the Spirits who work with us, and to our world during this time of great shifting. Staying attuned, we are confident that we all shall be guided so that our village reflects and manifests the service now needed in our World. Confident we shall know the joy of joining together—creating and becoming a BlessingWay Village. Confident we shall know how to leave trails of Beauty in Oracle and, migrating back to our homelands—be a Walking Web of Beauty holding together our relatedness to each other and to this path. About the Site “I blessed you before…now there is Blessing Work on behalf of the world for you to do and this Place shall hold you…. Return… Return.” And so we return to this landscape, to this YMCA camp 6 miles outside of Oracle, Arizona, on the backside of the Catalina Mountains. It is approximately an hour north of Tucson and 2 1/2 hrs. South of Phoenix. We will arrange for shuttle service from Phoenix and Tucson for the opening and closing days for an additional fee. There is plenty of parking space for those driving. There are cabins available and, for those who wish to sleep on the Earth and under the stars, camping is permitted but you must bring your own camping gear. Fees We will continue to update the Oracle pages here at the web site from now until we are together in April 2002. If you do not have Internet access, or have questions, please contact: Lori Levine As the seasons are changing, we invite you—whether in Northern or Southern Hemisphere—to look towards Spring in the Arizona desert; please make prayers for this gathering; participate in planning; and then come join with others in both healing and celebrating under One Sky, on one desert Earth ground—Blessing and being Blessed. With joyful anticipation and prayers for our world, we send forth this Call and this invitation on behalf of ShamanicCircles, |
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Lori Levine
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Carol Proudfoot-Edgar
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The Hoop of Life—Fragmented or Round
We met in May to begin planning and coordinating the Second International Gathering. Since May, however, our world has shifted radically. More than ever do those of us on this path need to join one another, bring our strong hearts, open spirits, and collective intention to serve and tend our World. We met again this November to share information from our Drum Circles, our various egroup Circles, and to inquire of the spirits “On what should we focus this Second International Shamanic Gathering?” The themes and images that were offered to us: “Focus on the Hoop, the Tree of Life, and the Web.”
We are blessed to be living in a time when the world’s ills, dis-ease, and distresses are so obvious and demanding a response. We are blessed to be living when such a clear choice is before us: shall we wither as humans sharing One World—or—shall we grow and evolve together—spiritually, physically, mentally. We are fortunate, indeed, to have a place and time in Oracle where we can share our wisdom, our lessons, our gifts from this path—and join with others to serve Hoop, Tree, and Web.
Ages ago, the Calling Drum was first heard and people migrated to some Blessing Land, some common ground, and to a Circle larger than their clan. As they Circled, they practiced both old and new ways. After days of ecstatic Circling, they left—feeling renewed, rebirthed, and having made new relations with those whom they had met. As did our Ancestors, we are sounding the Calling Drum again—sending the beat, our prayers, and our songs upon the Powers of the Winds.
One of the great joys of the first gathering was the various “offerings” that individuals and Circles brought to the village. There was shamanic crafting, song, types of drumming, painting, plant spirit medicine, story telling, healing, 
engaging the Spirits of the Desert, and many other offerings. As before, we invite individuals or circles to bring offerings for the whole village.
Ceremony plans developed thus far include: our first night (Wednesday evening) will be a time of making music, dance, and awakening the joyful rhythms of a village forming—and shaking the dust of travel from our bodies. Thursday morning is our opening ceremony on the themes of transmutation, engaging and embodying the Elemental Powers. It is focused around the teaching in the words of Chief Joseph: “The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the measure of our bodies are the same.” Friday night’s ceremony is the ancient “Earth Renewing Dance” or “Dancing My Medicine into the Earth.” This takes place all-night from sunset of Friday night to Sunrise of Saturday morning—to be followed by a period when we each and all hold Silence in the Desert—until we meet together at 3pm Saturday afternoon. Saturday night’s ceremony will be one of together tending the Hoop, Tree, and Web—so that the next morning we leave the Desert more deeply connected with each other and all relations—the fragmented Hoop shaped into Roundness; in our midst a dry Tree now Greening; and a Web of Luminous Spirits threaded in harmony just as the Stars so fill the Night Sky.
Since last May, we have explored various places in which to hold our gathering this Spring – each place had serious drawbacks in terms of cost and location. Additionally, some ‘desert spirit’ we couldn’t really name (Wind?) kept whispering ‘return, return.’ So back to Oracle we went to look again and see “Is this where we are to gather?” To our surprise, we found a landscape changed and some new facilities—large conference center with meeting rooms and a dining room on the top floor overlooking distant mountains, an outdoor “dancing ground,” a cluster of new cabins, and overall facilities improved.