Master Herbalist :
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For as long as I can remember, at least since my early 20s, I have been passionate about natural healing, natural foods, and natural medicines. The ‘natural' philosophy of healing and living has always made sense to me. More importantly, as I drew upon it's practices I found it to be effective and reliable. After several years of personal immersion in this way of life, my first step in formal training was completing my Master Herbalist Certification in 1988, both through Wild Rose College here in Calgary and with Humbart Santillo in the US. Shortly afterward I started a part time natural healing practice. |
Natural Foods Cooking Instructor/Consultant:
Through those early years of practice my family started to grow. Now there were two children to feed, and my philosophy of using wholesome, natural, unprocessed, and delicious food seemed more important than ever. I spent a considerable part of my day preparing foods from scratch, and after several years, began to be sought out for my expertise in this area. I started teaching cooking classes at a variety of different venues, from health food stores (such as Earth Harvest and Community Natural Foods) and community centers, to private organizations, churches, other groups and individuals. This led to opportunities to write articles, train staff in health food stores, and offer recipes and consulting services to cafes and restaurants. |
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Aromatherapist:
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In the early 90s I started using essential oils (aromatherapy) in my healing practice. Having a strong foundation in plant medicines, I found it easy and fun to branch out into this area. I was fascinated with the oils potency and effectiveness, but the more I used them the more I realized they had different qualities than when the same plants were used in herbal form. I decided it was time to further my training and in 1997 completed my Certification in Aromatherapy from the Michael Scholes School of Aromatic Studies, in Los Angeles, California. While I continue to focus on custom blends for clients in my practice, one of my blends for colds, coughs, flu, and low immune function has become so popular it is now sold in select stores and spas in Calgary, as well as over the internet (see Aromatherapy page). |
Plant Spirit Medicine Practitioner:
Near the end of the 90s, with the opportunity to look back on a decade of practice, I was very pleased overall with the effectiveness, safety and economy of natural plant based medicines. But I could also see that some clients were not improving as much as I'd hoped, or they were dependant on their herbal medications to stay well. In these cases I was aware that there was often a deeper source to their distress (or dis-ease) that contributed to physical symptoms, and I felt it was time to branch out and develop some skills that addressed these deeper ills. |
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This quest led me to study Plant Spirit Medicine with Eliot Cowan in Massacheusetts (1999-2000), after reading his book “Plant Spirit Medicine” and being captivated by the healing method he described there. This was also my first introduction to shamanic spiritual healing. Initially it was difficult for me to accept and embrace, being so different from my usual grounded and scientific approach, but I could not deny the results I saw in myself and others who utilized this ‘medicine'. I graduated as a Plant Spirit Medicine practitioner in the fall of 2000. |
Shamanic Practitioner:
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Delving into avenues of healing that can only be described as ‘spiritual' changed my personal outlook on healing, on medicines, and my understanding of the spiritual nature of the world around us. There was a full, rich, and formerly untapped resource that was now part of my work and my life. I felt compelled to make up for lost time and so between 1999 and 2004 I made it a priority to dedicate as much time and financial resources as possible to study with notable medicine people and shamanic practitioners in Canada, Mexico, the US, and Peru. At times these trips involved taking workshops with recognized authors and teachers such as: Malidoma Some, John Perkins, and Sandra Ingerman. At others, it was an opportunity to visit, watch, and learn from medicine people who are virtually unknown outside of their local community. After these 5 years of study, combined with my earlier experience, I felt I had established a strong foundation in shamanic spiritual work and practice, and was ready to start offering to others what I had learned. I developed several workshops and classes, some which I felt were quite unique to this field. I started teaching through Wild Rose College of Natural Healing, as well as offering courses on my own. |
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Spiritual Mentor:
Of all the Shamanic Teachers and Medicine People I have had the privilege to study with over the years, there was one that stands out in many ways, a Traditional Cree Elder named Fishwoman. She, more than anyone else, understood the nature of the experiences that this spiritual journey led me to. She took me under her wing, adopting me into the Cree tradition in the year 2000, and made a life-long commitment to be my teacher. Although we meet often throughout the year Fishwoman lives in British Columbia so travels here at least once a year for our special ‘pilgrimage' to a sacred mountain that holds great importance to my work. In April 2002, during a Traditional Naming Ceremony, I was given a Spirit Name, One Who Walks with Eagle Mountain. In September 2004 Fishwoman again honored me with the gift of a sacred pipe, and in 2006, with her blessing, I became the Lodge Keeper in her absense for a Community Sweat Lodge just outside of Calgary.
During these latter years I started taking private students in spiritual and/or shamanic work and practice, and started offering spiritual counselling to individuals and couples. My healing work expanded to include offering advice and guidance, and more people sought me out for ills of a spiritual nature, such as loneliness, depression, and feelings of unworthiness, than the physical ills I had formerly based my practice on. Bringing people to balance and wholeness took on a whole new meaning, and I found my work with clients growing deeper and more satisfying. |
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Ordained Minister:
| In April 2004, I was Ordained as a Minister with The Circle of the Sacred Earth, "A Church of Animism that Fosters Shamanic Principles and Practices". The term animism is derived from the Latin word anima meaning breath or soul . Animism is the belief that everything in Creation, living or non-living, is imbued with the essence of the Great Spirit, or Divine. One of man's oldest beliefs, it implies a sacred reverence for all natural forms, including waters, stones, plants, land, and air, and the universe of which we are all part. In this view, the sacred is immediate and one may, by being willing to be in relationship with these deeper aspects of Earth and Creation, attain a closer relationship with the Divine. Most shamanism is actually based on a "Panentheistic " view that the Divine is both immanent AND transcendent. It is immanent within creation, but creation itself does not represent the totality of the divine. How this relationship is expressed is entirely personal choice, whether through: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, one of the other major religions, Native spirituality, or other forms of spiritual expression,. This ordination provided me with additional certification for the spiritual healing work I offer, as well as affording me the rights typical to any clergy: the ability to officiate rites of passage such as births, marriages, deaths, etc. in the United States. Ministerial service is very important to me and I am currently exploring ways to have this type of work and practice recognized by the Alberta Government. I hope to be able to offer these services within my own community, and create the opportunity for others to participate at varying levels. |
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