An Indigenous Approach to Healing with Water

The practice of charging liquids, particularly herbal medicines with intention is widely practiced throughout the Amazon basin among many different language groups, most often done with whistling or song, and/or the blowing of tobacco smoke over the liquid. In fact people have believed in our ability to influence water since the days of antiquity, with the Christian tradition being the obvious example, with the ongoing performing of rituals that turn regular water into holy water. Vibrational essences and the water from flower baths are just a few other examples of people believing in the capacity for water to be affected intentionally for healing purposes. What excites me is the idea that millions of people may be able to collectively focus their intention on sending their blessing to the waters of this planet. Read more.

How Drumming Improves Mental and Physical Health

Drum therapy is an ancient approach that uses rhythm to promote healing and self-expression. From the shamans of Tuva to the Minianka healers of West Africa, therapeutic rhythm techniques have been used for thousands of years to create and maintain physical, mental, and spiritual health. Current research is now verifying the therapeutic effects of ancient rhythm techniques. The American Journal of Public Health reviewed drum therapy in its April 2003 edition, concluding that "shamanic drumming directly supports the introduction of spiritual factors found significant in the healing process. Shamanic activities bring people efficiently and directly into immediate encounters with spiritual forces, focusing the client on the whole body and integrating healing at physical and spiritual levels. This process allows them to connect with the power of the universe, to externalize their own knowledge, and to internalize their answers; it also enhances their sense of empowerment and responsibility. These experiences are healing, bringing the restorative powers of nature to clinical settings." Read more.

How Patriarchal Value Systems Affect Consciousness

According to social psychologist Christa Mackinnon, none of the countless issues we face on this planet today can be resolved by our current way of thinking and being, based on our established, mainly masculine, value systems. A functioning, sustainable whole requires the feminine and the masculine to be integrated within the individual and within humanity as a whole, and we are increasingly aware of the dysfunctional results of millennia of human development based almost solely on patriarchal, masculine value systems.

The feminine wasn't always subordinate to the masculine. As far as we know, it was the earth – nature itself – who provided our ancient, tribal forefathers and mothers with the concept of the Great Mother and with a value system based on nature's ways and cycles. The Great Mother was a symbol of life itself. In her womb grew all of life; from her body emerged all of life; she sustained all of life through the nourishment she provided, and all living things returned to her when dying. Therefore, the Great Mother, as an inclusive force of life and its cycles, was seen as being sacred.

The feminine principle stems in its origins from this nature-based concept, as the female body exhibits the same patterns and cycles as nature. Consequently, the feminine was seen as the life-giving, nurturing, sustaining and life-embracing force, the 'creative vessel of life that contained, birthed, nurtured and protected'. Not surprising, then, that ancient people respected the feminine. Read more.

The Transformative Power of Drum Meditation

Drumming is perhaps the oldest form of active meditation known to humanity. It is a simple and effortless way to still the incessant chatter of the mind, thereby inducing a shamanic trance state. Shamanic drumming carries awareness into the transcendent realm of the collective unconscious, the infinite creative matrix of all that we are and have ever been. It is an inward spiritual journey of ecstasy in which one interacts with the inner world, thereby influencing the outer world. Drumming can help with a myriad of issues, such as: retrieving lost aspects of soul, releasing unhealthy entities, solving conflicts within the unconscious, transforming the negative energy of past traumas into positive energy, helping people finally feel suppressed emotions, and healing unhealthy patterns and habits. Read more.

For The Next 7 Generations

For The Next 7 Generations is a documentary that reveals the importance of Indigenous knowledge in our world today as shared by thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, wise elders, shamans and medicine women, from all four corners of the world. In 2004, thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers from around the world, moved by their concern for our planet, came together at a historic gathering, where they decided to form an alliance: The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. This is their story. Four years in-the-making and shot on location in the Amazon rainforest, the mountains of Mexico, North America, and at a private meeting with the Dalai Lama in India, For the Next 7 Generations follows what happens when these wise women unite. This film reveals timeless wisdom to help us make a difference in our every day lives in service of peace, of Mother Earth and healing in the world. Watch the trailer.