Saturday & Sunday, February 23 & 24, 2008

10am - 4pm
$295
Early Registration Discount $275 by Feb 2, 2008

Prerequisite: Introduction to the Shamanic Journey or equivalent. Please visit our Complete Calendar
for details, or contact us at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

 

By virtue of their biology, women are profoundly engaged in the processes of transition. These transitions – birth, puberty, menstruation, childbirth, menopause and death – can become pathways to understanding the nature of transformation. In this class, we will look at the nature of the transformation toward which each of these transitions can take us. We will look at the way we have traditionally viewed these transitions and how we have defined ourselves through them. Then we will consider how new understandings regarding the nature of transformation can help us redefine ourselves and our experience as women.

In the modern context, there has been a loss of understanding regarding each woman’s relationship to the deep feminine which the Great Mother represents. The opportunities that puberty, menstruation, childbirth and mothering and menopause provide women for understanding their particular connection to the great mystery of the feminine are numerous. They are often overlooked as women try to medicate their way out pre-menstrual symptoms, post-partum depression and menopause and other transitional events.

In many traditional contexts, women spent time alone each month, often in the company of other women. Although there are many interpretations of these times of retreat, we believe that in the most intact contexts, women were taking the time to understand themselves, their bodies, and their relationship to their femaleness away from the demands of every day life. In this class, we join with them as we pause and listen to what our bodies are telling us about our deeper selves.

Friday, May 16, 2008
9am - 3pm
$150
At California Association of Midwives (CAM) Conference in Occidental, CYO Camp
Recommended Prerequisite: Introduction to the Shamanic Journey or equivalent, not required

So much about becoming a mother is about the physical aspect of being. This is natural, because birth brings forth a new being onto the physical plane. Given this focus, it is easy to forget about the spiritual aspects of birth that are equallly compelling. In this class we will take a step back from the physical and explore the world of spirit that is connected to the biological processes of birthing and mothering.

In trying to support the birth process as fully as possible, midwives and doulas often use their own personal energy to make up for the deficit of energy resources found in many birthing environments. This kind of interaction is at the root of many forms of burnout midwives and doulas experience. We will learn about practical and effective tools to assist midwives, doulas, mothers and fathers in the birthing environment. In particular, we will focus on personal energy management techniques. Using methods adapted from the shamanic journey and hypnotherapy, we will learn new ways of connecting with the unseen during the birthing process. We will learn how maintaining this connection and directing its power into the birthing environment supports everyone involved in the birthing process in powerful and unexpected ways.

Saturday & Sunday, August 2 & 3, 2008
10am - 4pm
$295
Early Registration Discount $275 by July 12, 2008
Prerequisite: Introduction to the Shamanic Journey or equivalent. Please visit our Complete Calendar for details, or contact us at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Both the experience of mothering and the experience of being mothered are primary portals of initiation. These initiations are poorly supported in the modern context. Both mothers and children are left to their own devices in trying to understand their experience.

Many of us do not understand how our experience of the womb or our children’s experience in the womb affect more generalized experience. We often fail to understand how early childhood experience affects later life. In this class we will explore the archetype of the mother from several different perspectives.

• We will look at our relationship to our own mothers and examine how our experience of being mothered has shaped our lives
• We will look at our relationship to becoming a mother or being a mother
• We will look at the deeper meanings of a decision not to mother holds
• We will look at what the implications of being unable to mother hold
  

This class is designed to provide new tools and fresh perspectives to the most elemental relating we experience as humans. We can apply these perspectives to a broader spectrum of experience in order to come to a new understanding of ourselves.