I know a lot of my posts lately have been on topics other than shamanic practice in specific. That’s because most of my shamanic work lately has been very personal, in part because I’ve been preparing to change my focus. Specifically, now that I am done with graduate school, I am preparing to start offering shamanic services professionally here in Portland. While my shamanism is NOT professional counseling, and my counseling practice (which is still on the drawing board) will be its own independent entity for a variety of ethical and personal reasons, I will be able to utilize some of the skills from my Master’s work, as well as all the things I’ve been doing spiritually for the past 15 years, to be of greater service to the local community, as well as the spirits I have continued to work with.
This Saturday I will be offering totem readings at the grand opening of Conjure Works at 3352 SE Hawthorne. In addition to readings, at 2pm I will be offering a brief presentation on Therioshamanism, and what sorts of shamanic services I will be offering at this location, as the proprietress has kindly offered to let me use the space for my work. I’ll be offering more information online next week, but in the meantime feel free to come to the opening and be the first to find out what I have to offer 🙂
Therioshamanism 
This is so awesome. 😀
I think so, too 🙂
You may find “Shamans and Healers” – the book I wrote about my experiences in Peru very interesting.
Why might I find it interesting? As far as I can tell, it’s the exact antithesis of what I write about on this blog. Just from the blurb, it looks like you took several trips to Peru, then quit your job to go stay there for an extended period of time, somehow still paying for bills back home. Looking further at the Facebook page for the book, you’ve apparently trained under indigenous elders of a variety of cultures. And you apparently used entheogens as a significant portion of your practice.
All this is well and good, but it’s the exact opposite of what I am doing here. I am writing with the awareness that most people aren’t privileged enough to be able to just pick up and leave the country, for a variety of reasons ranging from finances to family to legal issues. I am also writing with the awareness that white people going to indigenous communities to learn their shamanisms, without any other context, often are practicing a form of racism as well as cultural appropriation, often glossing over or even ignoring entirely the oppression, abject poverty, and violence that many indigenous people live with on a daily basis. I also do not use entheogens in my practice, and do not feel that one has to use a substance in order to effectively alter their consciousness, especially in this culture when so many people have unhealthy relationships to substances in the first place.
I am not saying this to degrade what you are doing; just because our paths are very different doesn’t mean there’s a value judgement in there. I am instead pointing out the absurdity of commenting about how I might be interested in your book, a comment which seemed completely out of context and showed absolutely no indication that you’ve actually been reading what I’ve written here.
Did you just leave this comment to advertise your book on another shaman’s blog?