My journey into shamanism began more than forty years ago. In the ensuing years I have had several beloved teachers. They represent the wide range of types of shamans, the good and the bad, and those that seemed beyond either category. Yet each spent precious time teaching me, and I hold them dear.
I am profoundly indebted to, and grateful for, these teachers, some living and some who have passed into spirit. I often think about the late Dr. Bernardo Peixoto (Ipu), an Amazonian shaman, and his wife, Cleicha, a Peruvian Highlands Shaman, who helped me understand that we are all shamans. They taught me so that I might be truly useful to others, and insisted we must all do work, even in the face of prejudice and threat. Ipu and Cleicha served their communities under the most threatening of circumstances, and remain bright lights for freedom and resistance to oppression, wonderful human beings who risked much for the good of many. I miss Ipu’s late night phone calls and laughter filled encouragement.
My work reflects the teachings of all my teachers, rather than resting in any one tradition. I am not a carrier of special or unique knowledge, nor do I have tribal affiliation. I am simply a human being doing my best to be “a good shaman.”
I do not use Ayahuasca in my work.