shamanic convergence story

This is my story: while reading the ”Gaia Atlas of First Peoples” on Spring Equinox, 1992, at the Ovens Park, NS, I went into an altered state: I “saw” that first peoples could not bring the medicine forward from Turtle Island needed in the next century without the Rainbow People (refer to Black Elk’s vision of the Rainbows and Mandala). I “heard” on the inner that there needed to be a shamanic convergence of energy held in Nova Scotia for the coming changes. My ordinary mind, said,”how?” and the answer was, of course, “don’t worry about it.”

Many years passed since then, with me almost forgetting my vision because I was so busy. Once, in a healing session with Barbara Shaw, I heard Black Elk saying that I got hidden in the dominant culture in this lifetime so that I would not be recognized for my medicine for a long time and would face the challenges of believing in myself.

Ten years after the convergence vision I was given the Mandala teachings by those on the Other Side and began to share those teaching through the Mandala Project for Peace, so that wholeness of the circle became more and more of a focus for me.

December 2007, I let go of all of my dreams, vision, hopes, and just waited. I had been grieving the loss of my mother, moving away from a familiar setting and way of life, and was practicing sitting with it all. My new home and situation supported time apart, and so I went inward.

After a Winter Solstice drumming that involved at least three circles of spiritual practitioners from different paths, I felt a shift. The the fire of inspiration started. I was asked to revisit the legacy of the Sacred Flame in Ireland with Brigit as my guide, and to bring forward the design of workshops I created four years ago on Sense of Place in Nova Scotia. Renewal of other projects and plans were suggested by guides, and the most challenging one for me was this shamanic convergence/conference idea, only this time with a location and a date.

In December I had heard the vision of Carole MacInnis at Oceanstone, near Indian Harbour, NS. She is creating Oceanstone Institute with a mission that is in alignment with what I feel points to the next level on the spiral of earth stewardship in Nova Scotia and creating space for shamanic practices to find their way into the mainstream of healing.

We are so fortunate that the Earth Protector of the Shambhala Lineage is here in Nova Scotia and that presently there are a number of other grassroots examples of appropriate land stewardship from many paths being practiced here.

My question to the shamanic community is what part are we playing in this? What do our elders and leaders say?

This has caused me to approach the wider community about a shamanic conference that relates to sacred stewardship and to ask that we gather in support of the vision. The dates given to me were to include Fall Equinox, 2009. I leave it to others to interpret the astrological significance of that date.

Another piece of the medicine is that I have been in touch with Dermot O’Hara, a Celtic shaman from Ireland. He and I poured a sweat within his lodge for a group of pilgrims and local practitioners at the Peace and Reconciliation Centre in the Wicklow Mountains, Beltane, May 1, 2008. I sent him a copy of a dream I had about a white bear. (One of the guardians of our new home is a white bear and our ancestor, Harris). Dermot’s interpretation led me to merge more deeply with the bear spirit in order to take my next step on this journey of manifestation. I did this and.found a circle of shamanic practitoners on the web who are interested in supporting such events from all over the world. One of its founders is White Bear Woman. I feel that the white bear, as the animal that calls all other animals to the council, is guiding me to make this call.

None of us are alone but we do need one another here and now. I am asking for your help in making this happen.

For all my relations,
Nancy

sha•man•ism (shah-muh-niz-uhm) Shamanism is the primal ground
from which all spiritual traditions have emerged.  It is the
ancient tradition of our ancestors, who took nature as their
spiritual teacher.  It has no sacred scriptures or dogmas.
It is a living wisdom rediscovered by countless generations
of nameless adventurers who have explored the hidden terrains
of consciousness and glimpsed the vastness of reality.
-Wisdom Keepers: Shamans in the Modern World, by Timothy Freke