Indie Shaman: The Shamanism Magazine

Indie Shaman is a leading shamanism magazine published in the United Kingdom and distributed internationally for those interested in shamanism, animism and all things shamanic. With pages packed full of informative illustrated articles by established authors in the field of shamanism, this magazine is aimed at people interested in living ethically according to shamanic principles. The 'Indie' in Indie Shaman stands for independent, meaning all inclusive regardless of tradition or area of shamanic interest. Indie also means independent people who thinks for themselves as in their slogan 'For Independent Spirits', a very shamanic trait found in both indigenous and contemporary shamans. Indie Shaman seeks to provide a supportive network for those interested in shamanism or a shamanic way of life, as well as for shamanic practitioners from all cultures. In doing this they endeavor to help people answer questions about life, promote self-discovery and self-development, and encourage respect for the self, the community and the land. To learn more visit Indie Shaman.

Traveling Shamans Camp 2019

Traveling Shamans Camp 2019 July 26-28 is a free admission 3-day festival/camp in Hotchkiss, Colorado for shamans, shamanic artists, practitioners, students, friends, and the shaman curious. This gathering of shamans features ceremonies, sweat lodges, a medicine wheel workshop,  journeying lodge, drum circles, shamanic trance dance, dance of universal peace and more. Enjoy the magic of earth-based ceremony and dancing and drumming with all our relatives. The shamans are gathering beside the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Bring your tipi, tent, or RV and join the camp. Plenty of camping sites at the Fairgrounds, Tipi Haven, and Mountain View Meadows in Hotchkiss, Colorado. The event is sponsored by the Shamanic Arts Center in Hotchkiss and Epic Grand Valley Magazine from the Grand Valley of Colorado. For more details see the official website at https://ShamansCamp.com.

Sacred Hoop Prayer Song

The circle or sacred hoop is a universal symbol that can be found in many indigenous cultures around the world. Within the cosmology of primal peoples, the circle represents life. All aspects of life, energy, and the ever-moving universe spiral in circles. The plants, the animals, the minerals, and the elemental forces of nature all exist within the circle. The sacred hoop, sometimes known as the medicine wheel, represents the natural cycles of life and the basic way in which the natural world moves and evolves. All creatures walk the circumference of the sacred hoop, experiencing birth, life, and death. This archetypal journey has four stages or rounds, each associated with a cardinal direction. Four rounds signify completion, wholeness or fullness. After completing a cycle of learning on the sacred wheel, each of us returns to the source, the Great Mystery at the center or heart of the circle. Listen to "Sacred Hoop," my prayer song to the circle of life. Available on iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby.

Mother Drums

Mother drums are large drums that can be played by many people at the same time. Also called community or council drums, these powerful drums symbolize the heartbeat of a community drum circle. Some drum circles like to open each gathering with a round of drumming on a mother drum. One way to do this is to ask a community drum keeper to set up the beat, and then the rest of the circle will stand up and join in one at a time. When no more room is left to drum, the first drummer leaves to make room for another, and so on until everyone has drummed.

In drum circle culture, mother drums are usually open to any participant who wishes to join in, however it is a "sign of respect" to ask permission before you sit on a drum. Each drum is different, but there is some basic protocol when you play on a mother drum: Have respect for the drum and the drum keeper. Anything being passed at a community drum should be passed clockwise around the drum, never over, across or counterclockwise. Do not rest anything on top of the drum except for a drumstick or blanket when instructed by the drum keeper. Mother drums are usually covered with a blanket when not in use.

Mother drums foster and sustain a culture of engagement and collaboration. Playing together on a community drum bonds the individual members of the circle. Mother drums are often used to support group shamanic journeys. A group shamanic journey basically involves one person drumming a repetitive rhythm while the others relax and journey within. Transported by the resonant beat of the drum; the shamanic travelers journey to the inner planes of consciousness. If you have never had the opportunity to take such a deep shamanic journey, I invite you to try a "Mother Drum Journey." Available at iTunes, Amazon, and CD Baby.

New Arrival of Sacred White Bison Calf

A white bison calf was born last week at the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in Manitoba, Canada, bringing the number of the extremely rare animals in the herd to five. Herd caretaker Tony Tacan says the white buffalo mother has had five calves in total -- one brown and four white -- even though all the fathers were brown. Just how unusual that really is depends on the source of information, but all agree it's a rare and deeply spiritual event for this community and beyond.

"The first calf she produced was brown and the ones after that were all white," says Tacan. "Nobody ever expects this to happen. There's a reason this is happening, and all we can do is share it with our First Nations brothers and sisters so they have a place to come and pray for people who would otherwise feel hopeless."

The Dakota, Lakota and Nakota people see the birth of a white bison calf as a sign that the prophecy of the White Buffalo Calf Woman is now coming true. According to Lakota legend, the first sacred pipe was brought to Earth 19 generations ago by a divine messenger known as White Buffalo Calf Woman (known in the Lakota language as Pte-san Win-yan). The pipe was given to the people who would not forget -- the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota nations. The Buffalo Calf Woman came to the tribes when there was a great famine and instructed them about living in balance with nature. She gifted the people with a sacred bundle containing the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, which still exists to this day and is kept by Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Over a period of four days, White Buffalo Calf Woman instructed the people in the Seven Sacred Rites: the seven traditional rituals that use the sacred pipe. When the teaching of the sacred rites was complete, she told the people that she must return to the spirit world. She asked them to honor the teachings of the pipe and to keep it in a sacred manner. Before leaving, the woman told them that within her were four ages, and that she would look upon the people in each age, returning at the end of the fourth age to restore harmony and balance to a troubled world. She said she would send a sign that her return was near in the form of an unusual buffalo, which would be born white.

Since then, the vast herds of bison that once migrated across the North American plains have dwindled, hunted into near extinction by nineteenth-century non-indigenous hunters. With their numbers reduced at one time to a mere 500 animals, and the chances of a white calf being born estimated at one in ten million, the fulfillment of the prophecy of White Buffalo Calf Woman seemed improbable. However, a white buffalo calf was born in 1994, and since then at least four to six of these sacred buffalo calves have been born every year. Even more significant was the virgin birth of a white buffalo calf at the Woodland Zoo in Farmington, Pennsylvania in 2006. It would be hard to believe, but Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle, has confirmed that a female buffalo gave birth in captivity without artificial insemination or a male buffalo present. Chief Looking Horse believes that these are all signs that the prophecy of the White Buffalo Calf Woman is now coming true.