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Dear Friends,
Darkness and Snow have descended...
There is a hush upon the Land
In the distance cross the sweeps and
plains
Firelight flickers along with the sweetest
of sounds
Walking 'cross the crusted field
Lured by the light and the sweetest of
sounds
I come to standing outside the contours
Of a tipi tattooed with bison and bears
Wolves and owls and deer on its hide
And hear from within the sweetest of
sounds
'Tis the Memory of the People flowing
in Song...
Darkness and Snow have descended
There is silence upon the Land
Except for the sound of the People's
Memory
Filling the Cold with the warmest of
Song...
When plants stand frozen, stiff with
ice..
And animals sink slowly to the Forest
floor
Winter's Death comes slinking through
the ribs
Seizes the heart...prevents the brain's
own thinking,
We sidle closer as everything breathes
with heaving,
Staring bleakly - light from the fire
reflected in eyes
Scenes of another time and place slowly
upward rising
Memory is stirred and we begin our singing..
We are the People flowing in our Songs
The Sweetest of Sounds 'cross the snow-covered
land..
In the Time Between
 We
have just finished engaging in the various
cultural phenomena and individual activities
that characterize the holiday period
from mid-December through the first of
the New Year. While writing this newsletter,
I'm aware of that peculiar pause that
seems to occur just after the fairly
loud vibrations of these seasonal holidays.
Rushing into the void between then and
now is that uneasy sense of 'what's next?'
After celebrating the Return of the Light,
what to do with the fact it is STILL
very, very dark, cold, with fierce Weather
systems still to come. For shamanic cultures,
this is the time when the people use
one of the greatest gifts to the humans:
Memory.
'Tis the time when the painted hides
are unraveled and their stories told;
the Singing Staff is brought forward,
passed around the Circle and songs emerge;
dreams from the night voiced, their messages
received, while divination takes place
to determine their meanings. There are
days when events of the previous year
are surfaced, retold and committed to
memory. The memory is stored in the minds
of the listeners with iconic images added
to the painted hides. All activity during
this time is undertaken with intention
to remember:
Who Are We
From where do we come
What are the Places of Blessings for
us
That have shaped our lives
Marked and transfigured us...
What is the source of our healing powers
Who be our allies, guardians,
And companions through the many worlds..
Whether gathering in small family dwellings
or in the Circle's enclosures, everyone
knew that this was the season given to
the humans for renewing Memory - for
what is held in Memory is the very marrow
of the humans. And those who trained
to be Keepers of Memory used this time
to deepen their knowing and sharpen their
skills.
It is hearing these Memories sung forth
for the Whole that created the sweetest
of sounds during the dark and the cold.
Memory is the Marrow of The Shaman's
Path
 I
keep wondering about this Memory-driven
image of the 'shaman's winter' and some
of the dis-content many of us experience
through the Winter months.
In recent years, friends of mine have
introduced me to their "Light Boxes." These
are literally boxes containing lights
of a specific spectrum and are used daily
to counter the effects of less light
(or Sun) within one's environment. The
use seems to range from the prevention
of depression to curing depression or
sadness seemingly correlated with the
dark of the Winter days.
I do know friends for whom Winter is
their season of depression and they have
a hard time finding anything that would
lighten their mood. Days are seen through
a color spectrum of mostly gray. I have
known them long enough that when they
mention their wariness of Winter's approach,
I can call to mind how difficult did
the previous Winters seem for them.
Surely it is hard to ascertain just
how much our difficulties during the
Winter months are connected with trying
to live our lives as though every season
is the same: that is, keep the same working
hours, do the same activities, while
realizing there may be some interruptions
in travel due to hazardous road conditions! I
don't think our culture is going to suddenly
transform its priorities... nor we as
individuals... but it may be that by
adding
the shamanic paradigm to our Winter living,
we may find ourselves actually looking
forward to the return of Winter each
year!
We might find that Winter becomes the
season of self-ful-fill-ment. It becomes
the season wherein we, like other animals,
will truly have ways to both seed our
dreams and nurture those seeds to their
emergence in Spring.
I think learning how to be Winter's People
is very important.
In several of his writings, the Danish
Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, spoke
about the insidiousness of despair---despair
being a way that eats the very person
from within until nothing remains of
heart or soul. He distinguished despair
from depression (which he saw as a physiological
imbalance). The primary characteristic
of despair, according to Kierkegaard,
was the Self desiring to be other than
the Self. From this perspective, it is
the Self wanting to NOT be a Self in
Winter... not wishing to experience Winter.
Or it can be seen as the Self wishing
to be other than a 'Winter embedded Self:'
e.g. being a 'Spring Self'. For those
of us in the Northern Hemisphere, there
is no way to not be a Self in Winter
for we are inseparable from this season...
from all seasons.
If re-membering who we are and choosing
to be our very Selves is the path beyond
despair, then cultivation of Memory may
be the antidote. Letting our memories
reflect before us may be the Shamanic
Light Box that addresses the spiritual
component of seasonal dis-order. This
may not cure the physiological factor
but may allow us a proactive attitude
to our suffering. Our Ancestors may have
understood this and be able to offer
us some healing from their Ways of Wintering
shamanism.
And some of our contemporary Winter
activities are not that dissimilar from
those of our Ancestors - the primary
difference is in their intention and
purpose. For example, crafting, drawing,
storytelling, music-making, games, and
dream sharing are activities often done
through Winter months.
It is universal across peoples in the
Northern Hemisphere to perceive Winter
as the time when the Memory of the People
is both expressed and created. Shamanic
initiates used this time to learn the
stories, remember the songs, and practice
specific healing ways. One would not
be accorded full initiation until one
demonstrated the ability to re-member,
and recall from memory, the stories that
were the bloodlines of the peoples. These
could be simple or very complex narratives.
Or they might be various genres of songs:
historical, healing, or detailing relationships
with plants and animals.
These are the sweetest
of sounds
The sounds of Memory
flowing across the Winter land.
Surrounding One's Self with the Animals
 Thirty-eight
years ago Winter found me living in a
tipi in Elk, a town situated in the northern
coastal mountains of California. I had
spent the Summer months making a tipi
suitable for me, my dog Taugus, and a
Woolly Monkey that an Animal Farm in
Massachusetts had asked me to adopt.
Jerome (his name) had been involved
in therapy work I was doing with children
during my years in Boston. He had been
rescued from a group who were illegally
importing animals from South America.
The Animal Farm director simply thought
Jerome would not survive (much less thrive)
under the circumstances intended for
him. And over the two years Jerome had
developed a close bond with Taugus and
me.
So off to California did the three of
us go. That was one of the most physically
challenging Winters I've ever experienced.
I was not prepared for the endless rain
and bone deep wet cold in those mountains
that year.
I remember quite clearly, however, just
what moved this unexpected challenge
into a remarkably creative time. In
making my tipi, I had decided to paint
pictures of wilderness kin on the hide.
The effect was that whether looking in
or looking out, a community of Wild Ones
encircled my home.
From October to March I had to keep
a fire constantly going... day and night...
and that meant the reflections of these
Wild Ones were with me always. Over those
months, I shared stories with both my
living and my Shadow companions that
helped to create a mythic Winter. And
now years later, some of those animals
are the Power Beings with home I work.
In retrospect, I was simply following
the Way of Winter living practiced by
our Ancestors for thousands and thousands
of years.
I still continue the practice of circling
my home with Totemic Beings and it occurs
to me that this Winter, I shall focus
more on learning the stories they have
to share and share my stories with them.
I mention this because we can do this
mythic living using our shamanic objects.
If we don't have them now, we can go
to any nature area e.g., woodlands or
ocean area and find natural objects,
such as stone or wood, that somehow contain
the form of the Ones with which we walk
on our shamanic path. Or we might find
object forms that indicate they wish
to return home with us. They have something
to reveal to us. This is why such forms
were painted on hide, carved into the
inner support poles of lodges, or strung
from ceiling structures. By doing this,
we can re-discover the myths by which
we live consciously and unconsciously...
such discoveries contribute to the River
that flows us into Spring.
Painting Our Gifts from the Road
 A
friend of mine in Israel and I were recently
Skyping (video/phoning on the computer)
and Ziva held up for me a painting she
had done titled "Wisdom from the Road." The
painting covered a recent journey she
had made that included some sacred places
in Israel.
While peering into the computer screen,
I had a momentary thought that I was
looking at some contemporary form of
painting of the Memory Hide.
While Ziva described, my eyes traced
the iconic map she had made. When she
finished, I then retraced the route and
knew that particular journey had been
committed to my memory and my knowledge
of sacred places in the world had been
thus expanded. I could even imagine taking
Ziva's map with me on a trip to Israel
and using her hieroglyphics to follow
the same route to Places of Blessing.
Shamanic peoples have always created
such maps: whether of the nonordinary
or the ordinary worlds. Winter was the
primary time for creating these, sharing
the stories, and thus increasing the
Memory of the People regarding both History
and Place. Songs emerged honoring the
Blessings received from within the Lands.
What might we develop if we used Wintertime
for creating such maps individually and
in our Circles?
This has prompted me to suggest to one
of the Drum Circles here that we spend
some circle time recollecting the Places
of Blessings we have encountered this
past year; and then spend some time seeing
what stories might emerge as we hold
these places in our Memory. And these
need not be limited to the past year
- painting our gifts from the Path might
include several years. In such activity,
might we find that we were taken to many
different places and yet there was a
thread of similarity that we had not
seen before? Focused recollection can
be a wondrous process for un-covering
teachings and, when done with others,
for expanding everyone's knowledge of
BlessingWay Places.
Or we can paint with words images of
beautiful places... these images become
many candles in the dark months. Two
weeks ago, some of us gathered in Circle
and spent some time allowing images of
Earth's beauty to take shape among us.
Each person painted a vision of some
specific place on Earth they offered
to us as a talisman through the Winter.
My smile grew wider and wider as I saw
these scenes in the center of our Circle...
it was like looking into one of those
snow-filled glass balls, watching the
painted words fall to create fantastical
scenes that would be awaiting us in Spring
yet were also with us Now. Such moments
are illustrative for me of why Memory
is considered among the greatest of gifts
to the Humans... and the cultivation
of Memory required of the shamanic practitioner.
The Singing Staff - Winter's Friend
 During
our Solstice celebration, we took time
to honor Mother Oak - the great Tree
that provides shelter and nourishment
for all the lands in which She is found...
which is almost everywhere that Trees
live in the Northern Hemisphere. We decorated
her with seed balls and millet strands
and poured libations of Apple Cider over
her body. The sound of singing, rattling,
and bells filled the air. Such seed providing
is done in order to bring the winged
ones to her, during her own dormant phase,
so that she can experience their beauty
and song... in that way, we were assistant
to her own Mothering activities.
While doing this, I remembered the tradition
of the Singing Oak Staff in which the
Staff is used to access leylines of Song
within the Earth, bringing them through
the Staff, through one's own body and
singing them forth to the World. The
use of Staff is a marvelous shamanic
practice not used that much in contemporary
shamanism yet one worth developing and
practicing.
Just as the roots of a Tree sink downward
and bring up Earth's nutrition to the
branches, so too does the tip of the
Staff for the shamanic practitioner.
In healing the Staff is tapped upon the
ground, around the patient, to access
the appropriate healing powers within
the Land. It is used to summon the Animals
and to establish a bridge of connection
between the one holding and the ones
being touched by the Staff's tip.
One ancient Winter tradition involves
passing the Singing Staff in Circle.
It is understood that different individuals
will be given different songs... appropriate
to the vibrations of their own bodies.
Yet the many songs, regardless of who
accesses, are songs for all the people
and gifts from the Below World. We can
use the wood from whatever Tree lives
in our area and make such a staff that
could become our Winter's Friend. Individually
or in Circle, we could bring forth the
songs within our homeland. The Staff
from any Tree remembers the songs and
stories of that Tree and, if we awaken
it, we shall be granted the gift of these
memories.
I have decided to get out a Staff that
I made from wood in Montana, use it this
Winter both to access the songs from
the Land here and from its home in Wolf
Creek, Montana. I know there are others
in Drum Circles here that have Staffs
we made several years ago. I am intrigued
to discover what we might see and hear
when we bring together a group of Staffs
- asking them to become our Winter's
Friends.
Perhaps altogether
the Songs from our Staffs
Will become the sweetest of sounds
Warming us through cold Winter rains...
And Then There was Play
 Recently
I came across a description of "Mitten"...
a shamanic game intended to further the
development of certain 'sensing skills.'
It reminded me how much the divinatory
arts are furthered through games of skill
or chance e.g. the Bone Game. We can
get very serious in our shamanic studies
and lose sight of how much 'play' is
an essential human activity.
For all peoples, long days spent indoors
or in inclement weather are conducive
to developing and enacting games. A goal
for me in this new year is to increase
my repertoire of games that enhance shamanic
skills through the employment of our
various senses.
Sometimes the simplest games serve this
purpose. For example, the Mitten Game:
In this game (the title refers to Winter
Gloves), each person keeps one of their
Mittens while placing the other in a
collection along with the Mittens of
all the Players. Variations on the game
include 'finding' not one's own mitten
but the mitten of another. That is an
advanced game. The usual Mitten game
can be played individually or in tag
teams. The object is to find the other
Mitten in the collection, within a given
time, while being blindfolded.
If played by 'tag teaming,' then each
success occurs when the tag team member
finds either their own or a member of
their tag team's Mitten. If played individually,
when the mitten is found it is simply
returned to the pile of mittens thus
ensuring a continuous collection from
which one must be able to find one's
own. Several beats on the drum signify
the time for finding the Mitten is over.
The winner of the individual game is
based on who is quickest to find their
own mitten and is then awarded some prize
- often a new set of Mittens (an item
much in demand!) In the tag team, success
is based on which team accrued the most
Mittens and other teams are required
to provide a 'feast' for the winner.
Overall success is based on two factors:
the length of time needed and the ability
to find one's mitten or mittens belonging
to one's team members.
Different subtle skills are developed
during this game including touch, smell,
and sighting. Over time this Winter game
becomes a way of assessing the skill
level of various shamanic initiates,
developing these skills more deeply,
and eventually someone possessing high-level
abilities becomes a potential shaman
who employs that gift as needed on behalf
of the people. Shamanic initiations nearly
always included a history of demonstrating
one's skill in such games.
I can well imagine that this game would
be enjoyed by individuals of all ages
and it would be watched closely since
some of these skills or gifts would be
essential to the people's survival at
different times and in specific circumstances.
For example, to be able to sort surrounding
smells on the land could be invaluable.
We can also take other games we play
(board and/or card) and rewrite the rules
so that they become games of divination.
All such divinatory games were developed
over time, using the materials at hand
from which to constitute the game. Every
game has some element of guess or predicting
outcome within it. I'm not aware of much
attention paid to developing such games
in our contemporary shamanic practice
while, at the same time, such games are
integral in shamanic cultures. It would
be interesting to see what games we would
develop today!
Renewal and Re-memberment for the New
Year
 Most
of us do some focusing on entering the
New Year by divesting ourselves of that
which we do not wish to carry as extra
luggage and/or creating resolutions for
the changes we wish to be as we align
ourselves with the Return of the Light.
That's one reason I consider this an
optimal time for the healing process
of dismemberment-rememberment. Just as
Winter serves for renewing the people's
Memory, so, too can Dismemberment and
Rememberment allow for the conscious
return of our own Memory for who we are
and our purpose here. By doing this on
the cellular level in this process, our
Being has the opportunity to reorganize
so that our Soul can claim its rightful
place within us and direct our engagement
with the world.
There's a reason that this healing way
is done periodically by shamanic people.
Inevitably in the dailiness of our lives,
we accrue unwanted feelings, thoughts,
and a wide range of attached strings
that sometimes jerk us around.
We do that
which we desire not to do - we are involved
in activities injurious to our souls.
This is unavoidable yet without periodic
cleansing, the Self becomes greatly diminished
and the Soul contracts. That's why shamanic
cultures recognize the need for periodic
dismemberment.
Along with our usual rituals for transition
between the old and new year, we can
undertake this. We might consider holding
clearly that our intention is to be dismembered
and then be 're-Memoried.' Then several
days or two weeks later, journey to see
if Spirit wishes to reveal any specific
Memories now dwelling in the deep places
within our Being. Just as the
painted hides used icons depicting the
history of the People, so too are such
iconic images painted within us. If we
can draw on them consciously, we have
even more fuel for lighting and sustaining
the Ways in which we wish to live.
Over the past few years, I have experimented
with using drums OR singing for these
Dismemberment-Rememberment Journeys.
Both can provide the auditory rhythm
that holds us as we undertake this process.
If you have not employed Singers for
this particular journey, I highly recommend
trying this. Hearing my circle friends
singing for me touches that primal knowing
that 'the whole village desires this
journey for me and will be waiting for
my return.' Yes, people drumming for
us can have similar effect yet the sound
of the human voice singing us is analogous
to being accompanied by the heartbeat
of the People.
We know the heartbeat of the Drum accompanying
us. Do we know the heartbeat of the People
holding and tending us as we move along
in our journey? And what about our spiritual
helpers hearing this heartbeat singing
too? All the different ways in
which we can journey have related effects
through all the realms. Who knows what
the effect might be on some spiritual
helper (say Wolf), if Wolf hears the
humans singing while Wolf is helping
or healing me.
Memory is the River Running through
the Ages
 How
blessed are we that the world over, shamans
have recorded what they experience during
altered states of consciousness and journeys
into non-ordinary realms of reality.
These remarkable drawings show flight,
communication with spirit guides, and
otherwise hidden knowledge of the universe.
They remind us that shamans change their
energy field to interact with the energy
field of living and non-living objects
as well as the elements. They intrigue
and invite us to dis-cover these other
realms and know that state of merging
with another Being or Power.
Shamans through the ages are dependent
on those who have gone before... who
have discovered and shown some of the
ways for these extraordinary searches
to the Hidden. Practicing the Shaman's
Way or walking this path is a continuous
process of being imbued with powers from
the realm of spirit. The Way is a movement
in which one is continuously stepping
into the Memory River and adding one's
own discoveries to the River's waters.
The literature and the oral tradition
are replete with examples of the initiatory
processes whereby one undergoes some
type of purification, some form of death,
in order to be born again. Awaring ourselves
of these descriptions can keep us mindful
that this is a path of service characterized
by assistance from ancestral beings and
spirit helpers.
As we tap into ancient Memories, it's
important to remember that these can
arise from our Dreams, from images we
encounter in our walkabouts, and through
listening to the stories of our fellow
walkers on the path. If we stay tuned
to what Winter is seeding in the Darkness,
then we are able to nurture these seeds
and walk these visions into Spring and
beyond.
For me, Winter is a primary time of deep
listening to Spirit - and to the World
- to discover upon just what issues to
focus in my workshops the following Spring,
Summer, Fall. With the veils between
the worlds so thin, I am able to see
and hear more clearly what and
who is calling to me and engage in profound
conversations before the Light's so bright
that our Shadow Companions seem to disappear.
Many of you have written to me asking "what
is your teaching schedule for 2010?" At
the bottom of this letter, I can give
you dates that are now confirmed.
However, except for one or two workshops,
I am using Winter to listen for 'what
and how to teach' during the other weekends that
have been set aside. I don't want to
use these newsletters as advertising
for workshops. I consider these letters
to you as times for reflecting and meditating
together. Some information about my teaching
schedule can be seen at the end of this
letter - including how to find out more
if you are interested.
Many of us are in service through our
teaching, healing, or circle practice.
This Winter season is a special opportunity
to move from outward in, to refurbish
and renew the inspirational fire that
fuels our service. 'Tis a marvelous time
to learn more of 'withiness': withinness
of one's self, withiness of others including
people, plants, animals, and the elements.
Consider, for example, our service through
healing: often during diagnostic sessions,
the shamanic practitioner listens to
see if 'all is right within'----do the
sounds and colors beneath the skin vibrate
clearly in harmonious relationship...
and based on what we learn, we then use
the shamanic tools with which Spirit
has gifted us.
Yet sometimes in our busy lives, we can
short circuit the process and seemingly
leap easily from the initial 'hearing
or sensing' and quickly employ our tools
(e.g. extraction, soul retrieval). Through
the Winter gift of dormancy or less outer
activity, we can drop down into deep,
deep listening... refine our sense of
smell... see from the middle, the periphery
of our eyes... and explore touching which
feels way below the skin.
Meanwhile as there is this wonderful,
seeming outer dormancy, life is being
fiercely sustained from deep, deep within
- way, way down below. And these Winter
activities, that I have been describing,
are shamanic ways of balancing this inner
living with knowledge and wisdom from
the outer world. By outer world, I mean
these remarkable re-collections from
shamanic peoples - both historical and
contemporary - of the Ways of Spirit
in prayer, action and practice. We DO
learn from our human kin as well as our
Spirit Beings - and our descendants are
dependent on us to keep a continuous
thread - a truly Flowing River.
Keeping covenant with those who have
gone before and those coming requires
our own contributions to Memory's River
- finding ways of witnessing to
that which we have been shown and taught.
Perhaps Creator gave us the Gift of Winter
to use as a time for throwing back our
catches into the hole in the Ice -- having
used the prior months to nourish ourselves
with fish and loaves - now with
tears of joy and gratitude - with palms
outstretched in prayer - we sing "O Ma
Some" - and pour our wisdom libations
to all beings now sinking down into watery
roots and creating vast reservoirs of
connection below the visible surface.
Just as we cannot function without water,
we cannot function without Memory. When
Memory is referred to in shamanic cultures,
it is nearly always related to the River
that flows through All. And we know that
water, in its many forms, feeds all other
life on the planet. May we use this season
of Winter to dis-member, re-member, and
add to the Memory of the People.
May we find and do activities that create
the sweetest of sounds across the Lands.
May we move in River's flow and contribute
with our waters to the River of Memory
for the People.
Love and Blessings,
Carol
Carol Proudfoot-Edgar
for ShamanicCircles
Note regarding future workshops:
A complete description of each workshop
will be available by early March. As
stated above, I use the Winter months
for working with Spirit re: what issues
are calling to be addressed during
these workshops.
These workshops dates have been confirmed
with the Retreat Centers. Check with
Pirkko or at my website for additional
workshops not yet confirmed.
**Except for the SSP Annual Conference
(June), these workshops are limited in
enrollment.
Except for the May Women Healers Retreat,
all these workshops are for men and women
(referred to as Mixed Group). There has
been some confusion about this because
for several years I was teaching many
Women's Circles and some people presumed
my workshops were for Women only. I have
always felt it is our working together,
men and women, that will lead to a transformed
world.
Susan Gilliland and I continue to teach
together. In addition to working with
Susan and Pirkko, plans are underway
to teach another workshop (at an animal
shelter) with Dan Jordinelli in Los Angeles
in mid-Summer.
If you wish more information or to be
on a workshop mailing list, please contact
the coordinator
Pirkko Miller at pirkko@embarqmail.com.
Information and registration is also
available at my website: www.shamanicvisions.com
Carol's Workshop Calendar for 2010
May 7 - 9
Women Healer's Retreat -
Santa Cruz,
CA (Fri - Sunday)
June 3 - 6
Society for Shamanic
Practitioners (SSP) Annual Conference "Self
in Service: Shamanism without Borders" Soquel/Santa
Cruz County, CA - for information & enrollment: www.shamansociety.org
June 25 - 27
Mixed Group - Santa
Cruz, CA - (Fri - Sunday)
July 29 - August 1
Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 9 - 12
Mixed Group - Santa
Cruz, CA (Thursday - Sunday)
More
Information
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