Master Herbalist :
 |
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. |
 |
Aromatherapist:
 |
In the early 1990s 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 my focus is on custom blends for individual clients, two blends that I developed have become quite popular and are sold by other practitioners and over the internet: The Cold/Cough/Flu/Immune Support blend, and the Molloscum contagiosum blend. (For more details, or to order, go to the 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 also aware of a deep, inner contributing factor to their distress (or dis-ease) and realized it was time to branch out from traditional herbal therapy and develop skills that addressed these deeper ills. |
 |
After reading the book “Plant Spirit Medicine” by Eliot Cowan and being captivated by the healing method he described there, I enrolled in his two year training program in Massacheusetts during 1999-2000. 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:
 |
Delving into avenues of healing that can only be described as ‘spiritual' changed my personal outlook on healing and medicine, as well as 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, 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 shamani
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 their local community. After 5 years of intense personal experience and study (the story of this time provides the core content of my book, “Heeding the Call: A Personal Journey to the Sacred”, I felt I had established a strong enough foundation to begin sharing with others what I had learned. I developed several workshops and classes, some which I felt were quite unique to the field. I started teaching through Wild Rose College of Natural Healing in Calgary, as well as offering courses and private training through my own business, Earth and Sky Healing.
. |
| |
Spiritual Mentor:
Of all the Shamanic Teachers and Medicine People I have had the privilege to study with over the years, there is one that stands out in many ways, a Traditional Cree Elder named Fishwoman (Pauline Johnson). 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, which includes an annual pilgrimage to the sacred mountain that holds great importance to my work. In April 2002, during a Traditional Naming Ceremony, I was given the 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 Lodge Keeper for a Community Sweat Lodge just outside of Calgary.
Having a dedicated spiritual path and practice complemented and strengthened the healing work I was offering and my knowledge of the ways that illness and distress can manifest within a person’s body, mind, and spirit expanded. In addition to the physical ills I had formerly based my practice on, people sought me out for emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of unworthiness. My work expanded to include offering advice and guidance, as well as spiritual counselling to individuals and couples. Bringing people to balance and wholeness took on a whole new meaning, and I found my work with clients growing deeper and more satisfying. |
| |
Ordained Minister:
|
In the traditional healing ways of the Medicine People, there are no certificates and no designations. This was not difficult for me to accept as I saw first hand the beauty of the medicines. Yet when an opportunity to become an Ordained Minister with The Circle of the Sacred Earth, "A Church of Animism that Fosters Shamanic Principles and Practices", arose in 2004, I took it. This ordination afforded me the rights typical to any clergy: the ability to officiate rites of passage such as births, marriages, and deaths in the United States. Ministerial service is very important to me and I am currently exploring ways to be legally 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.***
In 2008, after completing the closing ceremony of the Annual Vision Quest that Fishwoman and I host, she offered me yet another gift of acknowledgement for my years of work and service, the title of Spiritual Elder. This role is very dear to my heart, as being accepted as an “Elder” comes not from completing a particular form of training or a specified number of years. It is an acknowledgement awarded by the community I serve and the Cree Elder who has guided me and watched me grow. It is an honour.
|
|
