December 5-7
The important thing to understand is this: you are unique in this whole universe. You have never existed before, and you will never exist again. If you do not fully and passionately express this unique genius with your life, the Universe will never know what you have to offer. Shamanic skills give us the tools to live passionately committed to our soul's purpose. In the presence of chaos they give us the ability to function in the Unknown so that we can live our purpose without needing to know exactly what it is. When we can allow our unique genius to guide our life, we come into right relationship with our self, with all others, with the environment, and with the spirit world.
"How the hell do I do that?" you might be asking. This is where the Trickster comes in if we're not paying attention, showing us where we are attached to the familiar, the habitual, the addictive. Learning the skills of the shaman are ways we see through this distortion and act powerfully and gracefully in the world. We start by developing a working relationship with spirit. From there shamanism offers us the skills, healing, and experience needed to step into our soul's purpose every day.
The key to visualizing a life of meaning is to craft the vision and let it go. Surrender the "making it happen" to the Universe. It is an act of trust. You must trust that in surrendering, the Universe will give you what you need, it will be better than you can imagine in ways you could never imagine. Then our role is to act - to make manifest. The key is understanding we're only powerful in the moment. That's why it's so important to learn to see reality as it is, not as we want it to be. The great challenge is unlearning judgment and learning to wield the sword of discernment.
Christina wrote us about her work: "Literally, shamanism is about not knowing anything. It's about going to the spirits to ask so that what we create with our lives is better than we imagined. When I teach, it isn't academic and I don't have a curriculum, which is what keeps the work vital and effective. What's unique about what I do? I lead people into wild, unadulterated shamanism that's completely appropriate for the particular group gathered at this particular time. I do real shamanic healing rituals. I don't do the same ritual over and over or rituals from other cultures or from the past. I dance, and I get others to dance with abandon from their souls, even if they're paralyzed by self-criticism, haven't moved their hips in public in their entire lives, or are sitting in a wheelchair. They will all leave understanding how, why, and when to use what they learn at Rowe. They will be able to take it with them, to use it in their lives, to live in a way that honors and celebrates the wholeness and integrity of their soul in a culture that doesn't."
Christina Pratt is a teacher, author, and shaman. Her training began in 1986 amid a lifetime of dance. She opened the Last Mask Center for Shamanic Healing in New York City in 1990 and began offering The Cycle of Transformation workshop series. Located now in Portland, Oregon, Pratt is a teacher of exceptional clarity, humor, and caring. Her monumental book, An Encyclopedia of Shamanism, will be published in September of 2003. Her shamanic work synthesizes personal shamanic experience, studies with Ecuadorian, Tibetan, and Tamang shamans, and work with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and the Center for Intuitive Energy Processing. We're honored to welcome her on her return to Rowe.Christina's Web Site