Category: Shamanism

• Teaching the Medicine Wheel

  Tuesday my class met with Alicia Daniels from the University of Vermont. Alicia is a field naturalist who has devoted many years studying with Indigenous healers, and to understanding the Medicine Wheel. Now she respectfully shares its teachings with students and elders. We met in my classroom, then, needing a place to construct the wheel…

  Michael Watson PhD

  April 23, 2015

  Shamanism

  Medicine Wheel, Shamanism, spirits

• Holding Place Dear

  A lovely, chilly, raining day. It is good to have rain, as the Earth here has been quite dry, and the fire danger high. Saturday Jennie and I hosted a workshop focused on using personal stories to nurture and protect beloved spaces. Those gathered shared stories of the places they hold dear, and the fates…

  Michael Watson PhD

  April 20, 2015

  First Nations, Psychotherapy, Shamanism, Stories

  Native American, Place, Shamanism, stories

• Richly Storied Places

  Indigenous people give value and preference to story. Stories arise from place; it is often said they come from the land, but it is more accurate to say they arise from places, which might include the water. Seafaring peoples depend on water for food and commerce, and many speak about the ocean as a First…

  Michael Watson PhD

  April 17, 2015

  native american, Psychotherapy, Shamanism, Stories

  Australia, colonialism, Indigenous, Narrative Therapy, psychotherapy, Shamanism

• Soul Loss

  I’m sitting at my desk in the study, watching the sun descend over the mountains and lake. The light is soft and rich, a glow that persists off to the west. I’ve just come from teaching my college class; today I feel emotionally satisfied enough to put off dinner for few minutes in order to…

  Michael Watson PhD

  April 7, 2015

  Shamanism

  healing, Shamanism, soul loss