The word “shaman” comes to us from the Tungus language of Siberia and refers to a person who makes journeys to non-ordinary reality in an altered state of consciousness. In their trances, shamans are able to communicate with the spirit world and journey to the Upperworld and the Underworld.

The shaman’s goal is to discover the truth and bring the message back to the tribe, and this is precisely the role played by Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and John Lennon in the 1960’s.  There was real magic in their performances that can be traced back to shamanic healing rituals from our collective past.

The “Shamans of Rock & Roll” transports the audience into a magical world of sight and sound – using compelling music and visuals to portray a sort of fantasia reality in high definition.  Interviews with today’s top rock & roll artists, anthropologists, artists’ biographers, and shamanic experts are interspersed throughout the film.

We explore how one becomes a shaman…starting with how one is identified as a shaman candidate.  This person is usually, from a young age, a dreamer and has “out of the ordinary” perceptions.  Dreams connect them to their power. They also have suffered “shaman’s sickness” – which is some event or hard times such as family tragedy, illness, or rejection – which causes them to lose their soul.

Like the shaman candidate, each of our four artists were dreamers who saw the world differently than most people. In their early lives, they suffered greatly from family crises, injuries, and other extreme circumstances that set them apart from their peers. These experiences set them off on a quest to heal themselves and discover who they really were and what was happening in the world around them.  Their songs described their personal journeys – how they convened with the spirit world, survived the ordeal and ultimately got their act together – revealing their truth.

Millions of fans tuned in and were turned on by the music of our rock & roll shamans — because their music told them what was really going on. The recognition of this truth changed a generation. But the real lesson provided by exploring the lives and music of these rock & rollers is not the particular truths which they discovered, but how the path they followed offers clues as to how each of us might undertake a shaman’s journey of our very own.  It’s time to discover and live our own truth.  Now more than ever…

For more information about our documentary, please visit www.shamansofrock.com and join us on Facebook.

I never felt that I belonged in my birth family. From an early age, I sensed that I was different and somehow out-of-place.  I was the dark-haired child in a household full of blonds. My dad had dark hair, too — but, he was always away at sea — working to support our family. It took me years to discover that what I had inherited from him went way beyond my looks and disposition.

While my mother’s well-documented family tree stretched back to include Dutch settlers arriving in New Amsterdam in the 1600’s — my dad’s family was much more of a mystery. I remember him showing me an old sepia-hued photograph of a husband and wife who looked very Native American. They had dark eyes, dark complexion, and long dark hair. Evidently, my great, great, great grandmother was a Nanticoke Indian.

Nanticoke Indians of Delaware

The Nanticoke Indians of southern Delaware ¹ - also known as the Tidewater People - are an Algonquian tribe that was first encountered by Captain John Smith in 1608. They lived on the peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay – but, in the late 1700’s many of them moved up the Susquehanna where they ultimately became affiliated with the Iroquois. ²

The Nanticoke were distinguished from neighboring tribes by their darker complexion. According to their tradition they intermarried with a crew of Moorish sailors — Spanish Privateers aka pirates – who became shipwrecked along the southern coast of Delaware. ³

Although the Nanticoke fished and trapped for subsistence – these were unsettled times and their way of life was being turned upside down by the encroaching European settlers. According to a missionary who wrote about Native American culture at the time

They are also said to have been the inventors of a poisonous substance, by which they could destroy a whole settlement of people, and they are accused of being skilled in the arts of witchcraft…I have known Indians who firmly believed that they had people among them who could, if they pleased, destroy a whole army, by merely blowing their breath towards them. ⁴

Now that’s some powerful magic.  Knowledge that was probably used for both good and evil – depending on whose side you were on.

My inheritance reflects the victories, defeats, and hard won battles of all my ancestors. These karmic traces inform who I am and how I see the world. In this legacy is a gift that’s longing to be expressed through me. How lucky am I to be part of this family?

While conducting research for my documentary, I’ve frequently been asked about the difference between priests and shamans.

Many scholars have theorized that all of the major world religions have shamanism at their very foundation.  So, whether the founder was Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Buddha, et al.…

these religions grew out of attempts to describe, depict, and explain the supernatural experiences of their founders – who were, by any standard, shamans of the highest order. ¹

Shaman’s Mask

And, as the anthropologist Weston La Barre asserted: 

all our knowledge of the supernatural derives de facto from the statements made by religious visionaries and ecstatics (i.e. prophets and shamans) – the Priests only administrate the ecclesia established on this supernatural basis. ²

A further review of the anthropological literature indicates that while some overlap may occur as to what constitutes a shaman versus a priest — shamans primarily obtain their powers from direct contact with spirits — and priests earn their credentials through special training associated with their particular religion. ³

Bottom line, shamans have the direct experience and priests are part of the religious bureaucracy that begins to build over time…although there are always exceptions.

I’ve devoted my life to exploring the spiritual dimensions of reality while staying grounded in the material world. I’ve got a degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and extensive sales and business development experience in the technology and media & entertainment marketplaces. Along the way I’ve sampled myriad spiritual approaches, discovering that all of them have — at their foundation — elements of shamanism. I took my first workshop in shamanism with Michael Harner from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies over 25 years ago — and I’ve studied with Carlos Castaneda. I’m also a long-term practitioner of the Tibetan Bön Buddhist meditation tradition. And, as a writer, I continue to pursue highly meaningful, socially conscious creative projects that will impact the world community.

The 2-day conference brought together people from a variety of disciplines, including technology leaders, Zen teachers, neuroscientists, and academics, to explore how we can live with deeper meaning and wisdom in our technology-rich age.

Here’s a link to where you can find videos from the sessions.

My favorite interview was entitled “Spiritual Activism in a Connected World” with Seane Corn, Spiritual Activist, in dialogue with Tami Simon, from Sounds True.

Seane reveals how she uses her yoga practice to stay in the present moment — how she deals with her shadow and her triggers — and how she honors her many gifts by not “being a shithead.”

Here’s the video.

I’ve been teased throughout my life for talking too much and for being a social butterfly. And, in fact, one of my strengths is my ability to communicate and deal with all sorts of people.  My successful career in corporate sales is a testament to that.

I was reminded of this during a recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.   I attended a workshop given by Elizabeth Jenkins on Inkan mysticism.  During this weeklong adventure, Elizabeth taught us the techniques that she had gathered from the many years studying with the Q’ero community of Peru.   We did a lot ceremony and several of the initiations included jumping into freezing cold pools of water and walking barefoot across an old a’a lava flow.

One of the participants, noticing my reticence to jump headlong into these exercises, began teasing me – and calling me “The Reluctant Paco.” The term “paco” in this case refers to an initiate of the Andean mystical traditions.  And, I realized right away that this was a moniker that I could wear proudly.

Having been involved in far too many to remember spiritual retreats and classes over the years – I’ve learned that it’s good to look before you leap.   Putting a little space between myself and what’s being taught allows me the opportunity to judge whether what’s being given out is worth taking in or not.  And, if that looks like reluctance — well then, so be it.

Here’s a video taken shortly after our barefoot walk across the a’a lava flow near the Black Sand Beach.   Aloha.

Well, you get Russell Simmons’ new book, Super Rich.

And, don’t let the title fool you. Although Russell may be a super rich hip hop mogul, this book is not about creating wealth and a lavish lifestyle. Instead, Russell provides a road map for his fans to jump start their spiritual evolution. In describing his journey – from hip hop promoter to promoting spiritual well-being — he offers insights into how he ditched his street mentality and simplified his life by meditating and practicing yoga. Interspersed among these observations are quotes from many sources including Gandhi, Yogananda, Lao-Tsu, the Maharishi, and the Bhagavad Gita.

Super Rich provides readers with simple, straightforward principles that will help them grow rich in mind, body, and spirit. Writing in a down-to-earth street smart style, Russell conveys the notion of spiritual transformation in terms that the hip hop generation can relate to. Where else can you find the Law of Attraction explained from the perspective of the pimp-ho dynamic. By promoting what he calls the “2 C’s” — consciousness and compassion — his goal for each day is to be more awake and less distracted. Ultimately, he wants his readers to cultivate and maintain their creative inspiration – which is the key to true happiness.

In full disclosure, I’m a hip hop fan from way back. And, I was lucky enough to see Russell’s brother’s group, Run DMC, several times back in the 80’s just as they began getting airplay on MTV.  So, I truly enjoyed reading how his personal and business experiences impacted his spiritual development — both positively and negatively.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that’s looking for a good read – and perhaps a little spiritual enlightenment.

Remember all the buzz surrounding the promotion of the “The Secret?”   There were the Oprah appearances, the Larry King interviews, the DVD rising to #1 on Amazon – and then “The Secret II.”

All that hype got me to thinking about our consumer-driven demand for spiritual products – and what underlies this phenomenon.  I must admit that my first impulse was to judge it harshly – but, then I began to step back and explore my own personal culpability in creating this sensation.

Since beginning my spiritual explorations back in the 70’s — I’ve discovered that there are many ways to get diverted and distracted on the spiritual path.  The Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa acknowledges that there are “numerous sidetracks which lead to a distorted, ego-centered, version of spirituality” where we end up only deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are developing spiritually, when, in fact, we’re only “strengthening our ego-centricity through spiritual techniques.”  He calls this principle spiritual materialism – and, in our culture, where economic success is valued above all else, its no surprise that this marketplace is growing by leaps and bounds.

One has only to go online or into any bookstore these days to find a dizzying array of spiritual products, techniques, and services.  Ads abound for healers, body workers, psychics, and schools for almost any mystical pursuit.  The underlying message seems to be that there’s something missing in our lives – and even more subliminally, that there must be something wrong with us.

I’ve felt this void – and it’s caused me to accumulate far more mystical teachings and paraphernalia than I’d like to admit – crystals, pyramids, feng shui tchotchkes, you name it.  And, in the end, I still felt unfulfilled – longing for something more.

Through a series of interviews with New Age gurus, “The Secret” explores the implications of the metaphysical “law of attraction.”  The basic message is that your thoughts create your reality.  Whatever you focus on, you’ll manifest.

Following this logic – is it possible that my personal attachment to being spiritually material might actually be co-creating (along with everyone else) our current money-driven mystical marketplace? And so, although I could write endless critiques on the plethora of metaphysical fads and crazes – it might be somewhat hypocritical of me to criticize a reality that I’ve had a hand in creating.

During an Esther Hicks “Law of Attraction” seminar I attended a few years back – I kept hearing everyone refer to “what they were wanting” in their lives.  People mostly wanted health, happiness, and financial security.  But, I wondered which part of them was actually doing that wanting.  Was it the wisest part of them?  Or was it just their ego wanting to be the center of attention, wanting to be protected at all cost.

I realized that the reason I was left feeling empty after “The Secret,” the Esther Hicks seminar, and with other metaphysical teachings — was that none of them offered any insight into how to get my ego out of the way.  How could I allow my ego to step aside gracefully — so I wouldn’t end up being just be another spiritual tourist shopping my way through an unfulfilled life?

I did find a simple yet profound solution to this dilemma in the philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism.  This tradition views the spiritual path as a process where we cut through our confusion – until we reach enlightenment.  Enlightenment is defined as an awakened state of mind – where the ego has relinquished control.  This awakened state is not a commodity to be bought or sold – but, a permanent state that’s already there, waiting to be discovered.  And, it can be discovered through something as simple as meditation.  Just by sitting still and being quiet on a daily basis — imagining the sun appearing from behind the clouds, my clouds.

Amassing great collections of books, teachings, sacred objects, and techniques aren’t going to allow those clouds to part.  So, the sooner I get started on my meditation practice, the less attachment I’ll have to what’s being bought and sold in the spiritual marketplace.  And then I can just let it be — and smile.

Source:
Trungpa, Chogyam; “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism”; Shambhala Publications, Inc.; Boston, Massachusetts; 1973. Here’s a brief introduction.

Who were you at 8 or 9?

Feeling stuck in your life?  Are you looking to regain a sense of potency and vibrancy?

You might find it useful to look back to who you were as a young girl. Back before the pressures of puberty, and then life in general, may have steered you onto a different course.  Perhaps that little girl knew exactly who she was — and what she wanted to be when she grew up.

In her book, The Girl Within, Emily Hancock asks us to do just that — to rediscover the gifts and dreams we had at 8 or 9.  She refers to this period as “an interim space between fantasy and reality that fosters creative self-ownership.” According to her research, re-discovering the girl within — and reintegrating that androgynous little girl — appears to be the key to a woman’s identity.

I spent my childhood just beyond the western suburbs of Philadelphia. A dreamy, intuitive child, I loved music, animals, and playing in the woods and fields that surrounded my home.

I would entertain myself for hours in my tree fort. I loved imagining that I was a secret agent solving mysteries. I also loved drawing mazes and writing about my cats. Life was good. I felt connected to my world.

But then, when I was 8, everything changed.

My mother, nine months pregnant with my sister, had a stroke. And, although this event was never spoken about, I felt a growing sense of uneasiness and uncertainty enter my life. With a father who worked far from home — and sisters and a brother to look after — I was forced to become an adult way too early.

In this new reality there was no place for that dreamy little girl. I had to be responsible. And so, I devoted the next 30 years of my life to building structures that I thought would make me feel safe and secure. I got a good education and what seemed like the right jobs. But, all I ended up with was a dreamy girl trapped inside a hardened business woman’s body (with plenty of chiropractic bills to show for it).

Now I’m rediscovering that little girl — and integrating her energy, vitality, and enthusiasm back into my life — safe in the knowledge that her gifts will actually guide and protect me on the rest of my journey.

Try looking back to those years — and see who you find. She might have something very valuable to teach you.

Source:
Emily Hancock,“The Girl Within,” New York, Ballantine Books, 1989.

For many the word “apocalypse” conjures up images of death and destruction.  We’re reminded of the the long-prophesied cataclysmic “end of times.”

But, if we look deeper — the word takes on a different significance.  The word “apocalypse” is derived from the Greek word meaning

to uncover, to lay open what has been veiled or covered up.

The last book of the Bible — “Revelation”- was originally titled “Apokalupsis Iohnnou.”  “Apokalupsis” in its Greek raw root form means

to uncover what has been covered up.

We now have an opportunity to discover long-hidden truths.

It’s the end of the world as we know it.

The veils are being lifted. What a wondrous time to be alive.

Sources:
“Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament.” Hendrickson Publishers, 2002.

And, thanks to REM for their great song.