Like many of you, my early life was filled with unexplainable (and therefore often unacknowledged) mystical experiences. Early on, I was taught to ignore them, and certainly never to speak of them ~ they were not real. Voices? Visions? Experiences in and with the unseen? Intuitive knowledge? Connected to the Earth and to all of life?  The reflections of the world told me that these experiences which for me were so clearly true, loving, and compassionate ~ were actually fantasy, made up, silly, or worse yet ~ bad, evil, crazy. I am grateful for a strong soul.
 
In these experiences I found deep comfort and moments of inner peace that were not found in the world of my eyes. The sense of Truth resonated in a deep way and I was unwilling to give that up. Instead, I chose to remain silent, no longer speaking of, or trying to share these experiences.

I tried hard to fit in with the stories of the world and to live as I was taught would ensure happiness. I married, raised children, had a successful career. No matter what I did, my inner world was so distinctly different 
from the outer world that I did indeed feel crazy, and still I could not speak of it. Fear drove me.

By 1989 I could no longer ignore this internal split and finally said Yes to the call to integration. At that time I was a Manufacturers Representative and had nothing to contextualize what was happening to me; the call beckoned me to the path of the healer. I knew no one who did such work. I was terrified to step into it, but saying 'no', was no longer an option. The deep inner unhappiness and lack of alignment could no longer be ignored. The guidance that had walked with me throughout my lifetime, that  Omnipotent, Omnipresent power and beauty that I had always called upon in times of stress, sorrow, or joy, was now calling on me. This inner knowingness was too powerful and beyond denial. I knew without doubt I had to find my way to peace. For me that came through the 'Yes'.

In 1991, I began studies at the Portland Psychic Institute where I took my first steps into the healing realms. In 1992 I became a member of the Board of Trustees. In 1996, I discovered the term "Shamanism" and was surprised to discover that the concepts interwove and explained the modalities and underlying perceptions I had already incorporated through experience. At that time, I began extensive training in what had already become a thick thread in the weave of my life's work. 

In addition to a 2 week intensive and many 5 day and weekend workshops rooted in core shamanic practices, I am also a graduate of the 3 year advanced training in Indigenous Healing Practices through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. 

The way I describe Shamanism is different than the way many describe it. For me it is an integral (or integrated) way of seeing and being in the world that has been practiced in indigenous cultures globally for nearly 50,000 years. It involves deep, core understanding of nature and the inextricable connection and web of life. This way of seeing is not taught through words, but through experience.
This is how I knew Pachamama before ever hearing the word.

I believe that at our core, every one of us is a healer in one form or another ~ here with purpose in a very special time. It is time to awaken to our deeper selves. It is time to change the non-sustainable dream we have collectively been living. For my children's grand-children, and for your children's grand-children, and all beings of the future, I am willing to give my life for that purpose, and to celebrate and honor all that that is included in this sacred experience called life! 

If you have questions or would like to schedule a symposium or another service I offer, please contact me at majasdance@yahoo.com

For more info on this journey of sharing & discovery, please see my blog at
pachamamalove.rootedinlife.com


It is important to remember to honor one's teachers. I am blessed to count these among mine:
Gaia; my daughters; Shawna Mariah, and Mackenzie Marie Daniels, Rev. Jayna Geiber, Rev. Kathleen Verigin,  Michael Harner, Sandra Harner, Alicia Gates, Joanna Macy, Sharif Abdullah, Mary Ellen Flora, Sonya Shaw, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and many cherished friends.