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While working on my doctorate, I focused on spiritual guidance as a semi-specialty.  (Shamanic work can hardly be called clinical psychology, after all!)

I soon learned that one could call oneself a “spiritual guide,” “spiritual counselor,” “chaplain,” or “minister.”  The word healer was never used, and juxtaposition of the words spiritual and medicine rarely occured, except in the context of hospital chaplaincy.

Yet in many indigenous cultures, medicine is the word used for whatever healing energy one can recognize.  (The expression “laughter is good medicine” illustrates a Western adaptation of this belief.)  Indigenous people acknowledge that Spirit is the real healer, not the man or woman doing the smudging, sand painting, chanting, dancing, or journeying.  Indeed, each of these practices is a message to Spirit asking for help for the person in need.  In my own practice, I have noticed that the only thing a “healer” can do to help her patient is facilitate that person’s reconnection with their own spiritual source.

Dr. Larry Dossey, MD, is one of the few medical physicians I know who openly acknowledges the truth of this indigenous belief and who, based upon his own clinical experience, has written several books on the power of prayer and the effect of a doctor’s intervention, not as a surgeon or other specialist, but as a spiritual guide and intercessor with Spirit on the patient’s behalf.

It’s fascinating to recall that not so long ago, the process of healing was composed of and dependent upon the interrelationship of what we currently call science, medicine, psychology, art, philosophy, and prayer.  These were all part of the same holistic package, which Western culture chose to separate into discrete disciplines.

Therefore, this interesting article on spiritual care in medicine,   shared by Cherry Hill Seminary’s Executive Director Holli Emore, came as a pleasant surprise.  It may be that Western culture, having exhausted the talents of “pure science,” is ready for a sea change– a return to the past in order to step more compassionately into a future that will benefit not merely humans but all beings on this planet.  One can only hope!

Dear One,  Whether you live in the USA or another part of the world, however you voted (or would have), you are likely feeling the impact of the recent election day in America. I am currently teaching in Israel and have certainly felt the deep emotional impact, not only personally but also collectively. I am still processing these challenging emotions, including pain, anger and fear. At times, I have even found myself trying to detach and push these difficult feelings away, while also realizing that they are collective and a deep part of our human history. In fact, these challenges have been here on the planet and embedded in humanity for a long, long time. This current, collective experience is not just about one person or party or this moment in history. It is about many things, including the opportunity we have right now for individuals and humanity to come together, learning and healing our longstanding discord and misunderstandings, together. And while many fear the potential misuse and misapplication of power, it is important to remember that none of us is either powerless or without choice. Anything we can do from a place of love will bring more healing, and anything we do from a place of fear will bring the opposite of peace. I will say that again –anything we can do from a place of love will bring more healing, and anything we do from a place of fear will bring the opposite of peace. To continue to build the chi field of hope and empowerment and courage and blessing, I invite you to join us this weekend, so that together we can practice transforming fear into love, starting with ourselves and starting right now. Sound Healing and other Wisdom Healing Qigong practices help us process our deep emotions and bring more healing to ourselves, each other, America and the entire world, definitively impacting our shared future. Please join us this weekend on Saturday for the Chi Center live stream from Israel, as well as on Sunday for the beautiful Day of Healing and Reconciliation sponsored by the Shift Network. All the details and links are below. We encourage you to gather with friends and participate in the live stream events together. Feel free to share this email with your entire online community. Thank you, from my heart to yours. May these events and more bring greater healing to our world, here and beyond. Wishing you Deep Peace and Healing, Haola Master Mingtong Gu This Weekend’s Events: Saturday, November 12th: 7:30-8:30 am MST (4:30-5:30 pm Israel Time) Live Stream with Master Mingtong Gu: Sound Healing Practice from Israel Sunday, November 13th: 1:00-3:00 pm MST Day of Healing and Reconciliation, sponsored by Shift Network Sunday, November 13th: 3:00-4:00 pm MST Replay from Nov. 12th “Sound Healing Teaching &Practice” Time Zone Converter   Please see the email below from Stephen Dinan, of the Shift Network: Mingtong, I am going to speak to just Americans in this email, although this is truly a global moment. So much of our country is reeling, coming to grips with the election results. I have wept myself multiple times. In the coming days, the emotional storms will likely be strong, the fears deep, and the tensions high. Our democracy is in a perilous moment. If you were a Hillary supporter, please let whatever emotions you need to feel to pass through as quickly as you can.  Because we need you now. If you were a Trump supporter, please be gracious.  We need to feel that you understand our pain and our fears. We need your heart and generosity now. We want to better understand you and your concerns as well. If you voted for another candidate or didn’t vote, we need you now. It is time for all people of conscience to help with the profound, long-term work of healing our country, which is precariously close to rupturing. We have to heal collectively and find a way, somehow, to be united again. This country is going through titanic emotions  We have to help steady the ship, build bridges and hold our country together.  Let us spread love. The MOST important thing that I can see that can help us to do this is a massive Day of Healing and Reconciliation which we are producing for Sunday. Visit our website to see our current lineup of leaders that bridge left and right.  For this to have the maximum positive impact, we need to have tens of millions participating, taking actions, building community, being inspired by others. We need to scale up the professionalism and outreach of our broadcast event massively, and better organize the grassroots.  I intend to raise $100K today for outreach and major artists. We are working on landing Stevie Wonder and India Arie.   We have extended invitations to Laura Bush and Michelle Obama.  We have top Republicans and Democrats on board already.  Our 1.0 video has been seen by over 525,000 and is spreading rapidly. I am asking for your help in three ways: Spread the word: Shift Network Day of Healing.  Help sponsor the event by sending what you are able to Paypal at payments@theshiftnetwork.com to fund outreach and impact Help activate events in every town in the country.  We want as many as possible in places of worship and will add living room organizing by Friday (feel free to do so on your own before the functionality is up). We have top notch speakers ready to speak We’ll be broadcasting from Unity of Washington DC on Facebook Live next Sunday, November 13, from 3-5 EST, 12-2 PST, followed by local programs. Mark your calendar and spread the word to every faith or spiritual leader you know to start a local event so we can really light up America and move forward. Finally, it is imperative to reach out and express love and solidarity with those who voted differently from you.  We simply must thaw the divides. Do what you need to do to work through your emotions and then we need you, in action, to help us ride out this storm and turn this into a transformational moment. Let us show what we are made of. Let us have a peaceful transfer of power and work together to create a brighter future. Love, Stephen PS – Please also share the video on Facebook, which already has 475,000 views:  Shift Network Day of Healing on Facebook . We hope you will join us. Haola.   November 13 FREE TICKET

 

Debra Carroll, recently published in the Fall 2016 issue of our Four Winds Journal, has shared this wonderful vision with us.

We All Want Peace And Prosperity…

What’s more, we know how to achieve it.

Peace starts within each of us.

True abundance arises from knowing we all are interconnected by boundless love and compassion.

Please join Debra Carroll in keeping a vigil on this perilous night.

She calls on all the merciful goddesses of every tradition to guide us in taking care of one another, the children of humankind, and Earth, who truly is our Mother, from whence we have emerged and evolved.

Help us to avoid a descent into fascism, which devalues human life.

Help us to realize we must pull together as a family, lending strength to each other to give up the nightmare of addiction to oil and other non-renewable technologies, by creative, loving means.  This addiction is destroying families, entire populations and landscapes in drilling, fracking and warfare.

We call on the feminine, nurturing spirit in all of us to help us find another dream.  May this dream be created

In Beauty.

Oops!

We forgot to mention that Dr. Judy Schavrien’s poem, “Eclipse,” which can be read in the inaugural issue of our Four Winds Journal, was previously published in the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies.

#poetvoluptuous

Orenda Healing International is excited to announce the launch of the inaugural issue of our Four Winds Journal – open access. Winds of Change are all around us and it is a fitting theme for this, our first issue. The healing that we experience ourselves and facilitate in others is fundamental to creating far-reaching and positive change. It is our hope that this journal, and the community it embodies, will act as a healing balm to the effects of our current social, environmental, and political climate on the world.  We invite you to explore art, fiction, poetry, and scholarly articles about practices and trends in various alternative healing traditions, and take a healing moment for yourself today.

Join President Obama and an all-star cast of innovative thinkers and activists on the South Lawn today– all day panels, music, conversations and more on how to help make life on our little planet more equitable, sustainable, and beneficial to all beings.

If we can imagine it, we can do it!

Santa Fe, capital city of the Land of Enchantment and OHI’s home base, celebrates our rich cultural diversity in many ways.  Perhaps the most fascinating is Indian Market, which supports native North American and Canadian artists, performers, and filmmakers and attracts buyers from around the world.  This year’s 95th Annual Indian Market, sponsored by Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), was particularly exciting.

Tourists and locals enjoyed gorgeous early fall weather this past weekend while meandering through a forest of booths  displaying truly gorgeous pieces of jewelry, weavings, sculptures, and pottery.

An increasingly popular event is the Native Cinema Showcase, featuring films by mature and upcoming native filmmakers, which really outdid itself this year.  Our favorites were Ma (Director Samoan, filmed in NZ), Rez Cars, First Contact (Directors Kiowa/Choctaw/Osage, in Mohiks with English subtitles), and Other (Directors Comanche, Pawnee/Shawnee).  Sundance trains and sponsors many of these young filmmakers, and their work is outstanding.

For Native Americans themselves, though, Indian Market seems not just a venue for displaying their skills and craftsmanship, but a cherished opportunity to gather with distant family members and friends, catch up on what’s happened in the past year, and laugh at the antics of the little ones in each family.

Wouldn’t you love being recognized for the vital work you do in the world while enjoying membership in a lively interactive international community?

OHI is delighted to offer Healing Arts practitioners, educators, and researchers 6 months’ free listing in our new Regional Resource Directory!  At the end of 6 months you may continue your listing at the low rate of $20 US a year, with substantial savings for 2- and 3-year listings.

As an added bonus, authors and artists contributing to our Four Winds Journal  will receive a full year’s free listing in the Directory.

Contact us at journal@orenda-arts.org for more information or to request a listing.

 

Dear Friends,

We’d like to tell you about Orenda Healing International’s expanded focus and programs.  

Orenda Healing International (OHI) is a 501.c.3 nonprofit organization, founded in Santa Fe, NM, in 1992.  We originally focused on designing and sponsoring arts-based community service programs in New Mexico, Northern California, and Oregon. However we have recently expanded our mission to support research and education in the fast-growing field of alternative healing.

There are many ways to be involved in Orenda’s work, depending upon your particular interest.  While the following paragraphs contain highlighted links that will take you to various areas of our website so that you can explore at leisure, one of the most exciting bits of news is the upcoming launch of our online journal.

If you’re a writer or an artist and have a scholarly paper, short story, poem, or visual art work you would like to share, our online publication, Four Winds Journal, is currently accepting submissions for the Fall issue, with the theme of “Winds of Change.”  The new deadline for submissions is September 15, 2016.

If you’re a researcher, we will be posting RFPs for relevant research proposals  in Spring 2017.  There is no deadline for research proposals– we review proposals on an ongoing basis.

If you’re an alternative healing practitioner, we offer online courses, tutorials, and webinars.  Please submit your idea for a course via email to orenda@orenda-arts.org and we will schedule a meeting to discuss it with you.

If you’re not engaged in any of the areas mentioned, but wish to support our mission because you share our values, you may make a financial donation or donate some of your time and energy to help with any of our main programs.

Finally, if you’re busy but intrigued and would like to be kept updated on OHI programs and activities, you may join our email list or contact us directly to tell us about your main area of interest.

Whatever level of involvement appeals, you are warmly welcomed to the OHI community.

Many blessings from all of us at Orenda Healing International!