Ross
The Fabulous Ones |
Ross Heaven Shamanism
"Those who trade liberty for safety deserve neither"
Self-indulgence: me me meGender
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about me
i am a therapist, healer, and the author of several books on healing, spirituality, and love, including Love’s Simple Truths: Meditations on Rumi and The Path of The Heart, and The Way of the Lover: Rumi and the Spiritual Art of Love.
Others include Plant Spirit Shamanism, Darkness Visible, The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja, and The Journey to You. i also run workshops on these themes and trips overseas to work with shamanic healers, including the ayahuasceros of the Peruvian Amazon. My website has more details: www.thefourgates.com
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Ayahausca and San Pedro: Shamanic Vids:
Articles
When Spanish explorers first encountered hummingbirds in Peru, they called them joyas voladoras: "flying jewels." The hummingbird was revered as a sacred healer, a guardian of plants, the spirit, and those who needed healing or were training as healers themselves.
Sat, April 18, 2009 - 3:34 AM
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That is why the hummingbird is the symbol for The Hummingbird Retreat Centre. Located in one of the most peaceful and unspoiled parts of rural Spain, it offers a relaxing and invigorating space where you can escape from ‘normal’ ... read more 
I'm pleased to announce new workshops and events with the world's most amazing teacher plants!
Sat, April 18, 2009 - 3:05 AM
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THE RETURN OF THE SERPENT: PLANT SPIRIT SHAMANISM AND THE VINE OF SOULS SPAIN, SEPTEMBER 19-22 On this workshop we explore our connection to nature and the folkways, medicines and wisdom of our ancestors as we restore balance to our souls through the healing and visionary powers of ayahuasca, one of the world’s greatest teacher plants, which is said to be “born of a snake”. Participants lea... read more 
AN INTRODUCTION TO PLANT SPIRIT WISDOM AND PLANT SPIRIT SHAMANISM
Wed, October 1, 2008 - 5:10 AM
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Based on a presentation by Ross Heaven to the Freedomseekers Shamanic Conference, Glastonbury, England, 2008 Archaeology shows that human beings have worked with plants for thousands of years, as medicines – foods, of course - and as consciousness-changing agents. Even today 75% of our planet’s people rely on medicines derived from plants – so do the other 25% actually but they just don’t know it because most of our pills a... read more 
San Pedro (Trichocereus pachanoi), the sacred cactus and visionary teacher plant of the South Americas, is especially associated with the shamans and healers (curanderos) of the Peruvian Andes. It has other names among these healers as well; including “El Remedio”: The Remedy, which refers to its healing and visionary powers which, they say, can help us to let go of “the illusions of the world”.
Thu, September 25, 2008 - 5:32 PM
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Even its post-Hispanic name, San Pedro, embodies these qualities because Saint Peter is the ho... read more 
IQUITOS AND CUSCO
Sat, July 19, 2008 - 7:00 AM
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TWO VERY BEAUTIFUL BUT VERY DIFFERENT PERUVIAN CITIES Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, with a population of around 400,000, and is generally regarded as the most populous city in the world that cannot be reached by road. The only way in is by aeroplane or river boat. In the 19th the city century was the centre of the rubber industry, but by the early 20th century the trade had moved to the Far East, and the city had fallen into neglect and disr... read more 
A review of The Sin Eater's Last Confessions (Ross Heaven, Llewellyn, July 2008) by Lauren D'Silva of Bella Online (www.bellaonline.com/articles...080.asp):
Thu, July 10, 2008 - 8:04 AM
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The Sin Eater's Last Confessions by Ross Heaven I found The Sin Eater's Last Confessions: Lost Traditions of Celtic Shamanism a fascinating book. In it Ross Heaven provides us with a window on Celtic healing techniques of the past. The old Celtic tradition of ‘sin eating’ has been lost now, but once it was customary h... read more 
PLANT SPIRIT SHAMANISM
Wed, July 2, 2008 - 8:57 AM
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The Return of the Serpent: The Vine of Souls Two unique ceremonial workshops and introductions to ayahuasca, the legendary vine of souls and visionary teacher plant I am delighted to announce a first-of-its-kind event where i will be joined on by Guillermo Aravelo, a Shipibo maestro (master shaman), ayahuascero, and vegetalista, for his first ever visit to England. Guillermo is descended from many generations of healers and is a sought-after speaker and ce... read more 
I am delighted to offer you this opportunity to experience authentic Andean shamanism, using the methods, plants, and approaches that have been practiced in this region for thousands of years.
Fri, January 11, 2008 - 9:27 AM
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The programme includes authentic ceremonies with the legendary Cactus of Vision, plus: Limpia: an Andean healing method where the shaman divines areas of unbalanced energy within a patient’s body. These are then rebalanced and any unhelpful energies are removed. Pago: an offering to the spirit... read more 
I’m pleased to announce a new, dedicated programme enabling you to experience authentic Plant Spirit Shamanism and Ayahuasca Ceremonies in the hauntingly beautiful Peruvian Rainforest.
Fri, January 11, 2008 - 9:23 AM
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This event is focussed on healing and self-exploration, and offers a transformative encounter with the magical powers of Nature through the ancient rituals of the Amazonian plant shaman. There are seven Ayahuasca ceremonies, as well as jungle walks to meet the spirits of the plants, the opportunity to di... read more 
i have posted a new slideshow of some of the beautiful images from our Magical Earth trip to the Amazon in October/November last year, which you can view at:
Tue, January 8, 2008 - 3:38 AM
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www.slide.com/r/LjWmHbME7...d5RjYGH4Woho The next event takes place in August 2008 and is booking now. For more information on this email ross@thefourgates.com or visit the Sacred Journeys section of the website, www.thefourgates.com. i hope you will be able to join us! 
Syed Hamraz Ahsan was born into a Sufi Syed family and is a descendant of the prophet Mohammed. His grandfather was a pir (Sufi saint) and spiritual healer, who belonged to the Sufi Qadiriyyah Order, one of the oldest and most respected in the Indian subcontinent. In 2007, Syed Ahsan provided the introduction to my book, The Way Of The Lover: Rumi and the Spiritual Art of Love.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:52 AM
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I follow the religion of Love; Whatever way Love’s camels take, That is my religion and my faith Ibn al-‘Arab... read more 
Jalaluddin Rumi, the great Sufi mystic and love poet, was born 800 years ago, in the city of Balkh (now in Afghanistan), Eastern Persia, to surroundings of wealth and power. His well-to-do family, relatives to the king of Khorasan, were scholars, theologians, and statesmen, and it seemed clear that Rumi would follow them into a profession befitting a member of the elite.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:50 AM
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Rumi, however, was something of a rebel, more motivated by freedom and the quest for love and truth, than by social con... read more 
Malidoma Somé is a “walker between worlds” as a Western-educated PhD and a shaman of the African Dagara tribe. In 2005, he provided the introduction to my book, Darkness Visible. Here, he explores ‘the powers of darkness’.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:48 AM
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In an age in the Western world where there is an almost insatiable yearning for “enlightenment,” what could be more timely than an invitation to reestablish a sacred relationship with darkness? Indeed, it is in the redefinition of darkness that we discover an entrywa... read more 
My darkness falls suddenly and without warning.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:47 AM
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One moment I am looking up at the night sky, marveling at the stars, like diamonds scattered on a jeweler’s velvet, the next I am held from behind, with a blindfold across my eyes. Then I am spun three times so I am no longer certain of direction and led into a darkened room, where I will stay for five nights, always in darkness, blindfolded for most of it. This is not a kidnapping. It is a ritual procedure conducted in Haiti as part of t... read more 
This French Plant Spirit Shamanism medicine retreat is about discovering who we are, what we want from life, and where we are going - and finding plant allies that can help us in this. There will also be time to explore the beautiful countryside of the Pyrenees.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:42 AM
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We attune ourselves to and diet the plants each day in order to develop our connection to them and learn how they can assist in our spiritual work. We also undertake meditative practices, quiet time, and time spent in vision (ques... read more 
Andean shaman, Juan Navarro, was born in the highland village of Somate, department of Piura. He is the descendant of a long line of healers working with san pedro and with the magical powers of the sacred lakes known as Las Huaringas, which have been revered for their healing properties since the earliest Peruvian civilization.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:40 AM
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At the age of eight, Juan made a pilgrimage to Las Huaringas and drank san pedro for the first time. Now in his 50’s, every month or so it is still necessary for ... read more 
The quest for love unites us all. What if you could find it – and a simple perfume could help? That would be magic, wouldn’t it? Read on!
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:39 AM
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In the spiritual traditions of the Amazon in Peru, this magical perfume is called pusanga. It is a made from flowers and plants which have the power to attract to the people who wear it the things they really want. For that reason, pusanga has developed an impressive reputation as “the love medicine of the Amazon”’ because love, of course, is the thing m... read more 
Loulou Prince is a medsen fey (leaf doctor/herbalist and shaman) in Jacmel, a small Haitian town close to the border with the Dominican Republic. In his daily practice, he deals with a range of health problems typical of the area – from aches and cuts and bruises symptomatic of the hard toil in the fields through which most of his patients make a living, to sufferers of more serious complaints such as HIV and AIDS, a disease as prevalent in Haiti as in other Third World countries.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:35 AM
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“Ours is... read more 
In the shamanic traditions of Northern Peru, the san pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi), or ‘cactus of vision’, opens the doorway to expanded awareness and acts as mediator between man and the gods.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:33 AM
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San pedro grows on the dry eastern slopes of the Andes, between 2,000 - 3,000 metres above sea level, and commonly reaches six metres or more in height. It is also grown by local shamans in their herb gardens and has been used since ancient times, with a tradition in Peru that has been unbr... read more 
Shinto is the folk-religion of Japan. Intrinsic to it is a belief in the spiritual power of nature and the protective energies of plants, trees, mountains, and other forces of the Earth. All of these are known as kami - the “genius” of “divinity” of nature – which may be a particular form like a flower, a place like a forest, or a natural process, like the turning of the seasons, which brings different plants and energies to prominence, or, indeed, the blowing of the wind, which has a spirit...
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Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:30 AM
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Ayahuasca is the jungle medicine of the Upper Amazon. It is made from Ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis Caapi) and the leaves of the Chacruna plant (Psychotria Viridis).
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:28 AM
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Both are collected from the rainforest in a sacred way and it is said that a shaman can find plentiful sources by listening for the 'heartbeat' that emanates from them. The mixture is prepared by scraping and cleaning the specially-chosen vines and adding the Chacruna leaves. It is then brewed with water and reduced for s... read more 
According to Sufi legend, the Prophet Sulaymãn was the first to learn the healing properties of flowers and herbs while he was at prayer one day, and a flower sprang up and greeted him. Sulaymãn returned the greeting and asked the flower what it wanted. It replied that it was a healer. Sulaymãn noted this and, seeing his interest, other flowers grew around him and told him their healing secrets too, until he knew the cure for all diseases.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:27 AM
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Flowers heal, it is said, because they possess dha... read more 
Since the beginning of human experience, plants have played a role in the evolution of our species, not only in the provision of food and medicine but in our deepest spiritual experience and the development of consciousness. Their form, beauty, enchanting scents, their healing and emotional qualities, have all provided a gateway to the Great Mystery of Nature, which our Celtic forebears called “The visible face of Spirit”.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:26 AM
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Though our lands are no longer forested as they were, we try to recre... read more 
Shamans believe that the soul can be lost through trauma, abuse, shock – and, fundamentally, by dishonouring nature or ignoring our need to connect with it.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:24 AM
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In many shamanic countries, there are still roadside shrines where people can rest, pay their respects to the natural world, and receive healing and replenishment from it. In the modern West, we have few such sacred places or ceremonies of connection left. Festivals such as May Day, originally a fertility ritual to welcome the com... read more 
Shamanic healing with plants is hardly ever – and certainly never solely – about administering ‘medicine’ in a form that a Western doctor might understand the term. Instead, it may include divination, the receipt of spirit blessings, magical potions to change ‘luck’, or the healing of the soul through the energy of the plants, and not their physical attributes at all.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:23 AM
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The aim of a plant shaman, in fact, is not even to cure a ‘condition’, but to remove its spiritual cause by restoring in h... read more 
MOCURA/MUCURA: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL STRENGTH
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:21 AM
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One of the qualities of this plant is its ability to boost one’s psychological and emotional strength. For this reason it is regarded as a ‘great balancer’, restoring connection and equilibrium between our rational mind and feelings. For example, it is good at countering shyness and can enhance one’s sense of personal value and authority by helping to overcome painful memories (of past embarrassments and ‘failures’, etc). Mocura is als... read more 
Planta maestras (plant masters or plant teachers) are key among the shaman’s tutelary spirits, his chief allies and guides to the worlds of health and healing. In ordinary reality, they are also considered the jungle’s most skilled and important ‘doctors’ because of their usefulness and relevance to the healing concerns of most patients. Through knowing these plants, the shaman can deal effectively with the diseases of his people.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:20 AM
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It can be difficult to find discrete Western analogues for so... read more 
How is it possible – as shamans contend - that plants can affect human beings, situations, circumstances, and life energies remotely, as it were? That is, without being used as a form of curative for a specific medical problem, but more as a means of magical attractant, harmoniser, or conduit for spirit, energy, or ‘luck’?
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:18 AM
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Let’s ask Cleve Backster, a scientist working in the unlikely field of lie detection and interrogation techniques, whose job was to teach policemen and security agents h... read more 
Fragrance has long been associated with the arts of love. In Japan, Geisha girls priced their services according to the number of incense sticks consumed during love-making, while in Indian tantric rituals, men were anointed with sandalwood, and women with jasmine, patchouli, amber, musk, and with Saffron crushed and smeared beneath their feet. In Europe in the 17 and 1800s, the use of eau de Cologne became a widespread and fashionable trend, where the morning ritual in many homes began with ...
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Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:17 AM
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Every time a shaman dies, it is as if a library burned down
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:16 AM
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Mark Plotkin, Medicine Quest There are nearly 270,000 species of flowering plants on Earth, and less than one percent of have been studied for their healing properties. Moreover, most of the research that is taking place is conducted in Western laboratories, where scientific rather than spiritual methods are, of course, employed. The intention is to isolate one or two active ingredients and patent more drugs instead of finding mo... read more 
The hoodoo tradition of the American South is another that works with plant energy while often not requiring a patient to ‘take’ a medicine to experience healing.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:14 AM
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The word ‘hoodoo’ has African origins, and is used to describe various forms of magic, folk healing, and ‘hexing’, using roots and herbs. Nowadays, the hoodoo practitioner is often referred to as ‘root doctor’ or ‘juju man’. These quaint terms belie the power of the tradition, however, because in Africa, these practitioners were... read more 
In the ceremony of limpia – cleansing – the patient may sit on a wooden chair below which is a bowl of smoking copal incense. This will purify the patient’s body and is relaxing to any spirit intrusions, which are made drowsy by the smoke. As the limpia takes place, the shaman circles the patient, chanting, blowing tobacco smoke over her and stoking her body with flowers. The tobacco smoke eases the passage of the intrusion, which is then caught by and ‘re-housed’ in the flowers.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:13 AM
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Sometimes... read more 
There is one concept that underlies all work in plant spirit shamanism, which is that nature itself will tell you what they are used for and its well-stocked medicine cabinet is right in front of us every day.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:11 AM
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Shamans recognise the spiritual powers and qualities of plants in many ways: the colours of their flowers, their perfumes, the shape and form of their leaves, where they are growing and in what ways, the moods they evoke, and the wider geographical, cultural, or mythological landsca... read more 
The great visionary artist, Pablo Amaringo, was born in 1943 in Puerto Libertad, in the Peruvian Amazon. He was 10 years old when he first took ayahuasca - a visionary brew used in shamanism - to help him overcome a severe heart disease. The magical cure of this ailment via the plants themselves led Pablo toward the life of a shaman, which he pursued successfully for many years, healing himself and others from the age of ten.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:09 AM
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In 1977, he gave up his healing work to become a full-time pain... read more 
Integral to any ayahausca ceremony are sacred chants sung by the shamans to call the protective jungle spirits, summon the essence of nature, and to provoke the mareacion or effects of the ayahuasca by making a plea to the spirit of the vine. In the words of Javier Aravelo, quoted in my book, Plant Spirit Shamanism, icaros “render the mind susceptible for visions; then the curtains can open for the start of the theatre”.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:07 AM
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Icaros may be magical chants or a melody that is whistled, sung, or ... read more 
Our fascination with perfume began thousands of years ago, with the burning of scented plants mixed with gums and resins to create incense that was used for ritual as well as practical purposes - for merging with the natural world to increase the effectiveness of hunting, for example, as well as for calling “the owner of the animals” to ensure plentiful game, and protection on the hunt itself.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:06 AM
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Anthropological evidence shows that from around 7,000 - 4,000 BC olive and sesame oils were combi... read more 
A few years ago, I was called as an expert witness in a criminal case involving trance and possession. The circumstances of the case are not important to this article but, not to leave you hanging, had to do with a man who had flown to the UK from Nigeria and was found to be carrying cocaine when he was stopped by Customs Officers. His defence was that he had been entranced, or possibly drugged, by a group of men who had planted the cocaine on him before he boarded the plane.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:03 AM
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What was more... read more 
In Peru, floral baths known as banjos florales (‘flower baths’) are a staple of shamanic healing from the high Andes to the Amazon basin, where they are used to wash away unhelpful spirits so that blockages are removed and the energy of the universe can flood in to correct the imbalance.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:02 AM
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Shipibo shaman, Artidoro, describes the process in Peru. How are these baths taken? The bath is most often taken on the morning after ayahuasca ceremonies so that the body is modified to accept the n... read more 
The Incas regarded coca as the divine plant, mainly because of its ability to impart endurance, and its use was entwined with every aspect of life, art, mythology, and the economy of the Incan Empire.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:00 AM
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Millions have chewed coca on a daily basis and the practice has continued for hundreds of years. It continues as a custom, not because coca (the basis for cocaine) is a ‘habit drug’, but because it is a part of Andean culture. Even today, distances are measured in cocadas - how far a load ca... read more 
Shamanic healing often employs plants to good effect, though it is rarely about herbalism, per se. Indeed, most shamans are explicit that the pharmacological properties of the plants they employ are of far less importance than the spirit which is held by the plant. It is the spirit which heals, while the plant itself is secondary, acting only as the home of the plant-spirit.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 9:58 AM
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The point is illustrated by Amazonian shaman, Javier Arevalo, who works with the visionary jungle vine, ayahuasca. ... read more 
We are delighted to announce a new, dedicated programme enabling you to experience authentic Plant Spirit Shamanism and Ayahuasca Ceremonies in the hauntingly beautiful Peruvian Rainforest.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 9:56 AM
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This event is focussed on healing and self-exploration, and offers a transformative encounter with the magical powers of Nature through the ancient rituals of the Amazonian plant shaman. On this journey we provide the orientation, conditions, and support for you to experience authentic jungle medici... read more 
Tim Booth, singer-songwriter with the rock band, James, is also a successful solo recording artist, writer, workshop facilitator, and teacher of creativity and dance. In 2003, he provided the introduction to my book, Vodou Shaman, where he speaks of his own experiences with Vodou / Voodoo.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 9:53 AM
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This is Tim’s introduction... What do we really know about ‘voodoo’ in the West? Almost nothing. Not even the correct spelling. Even now my computer underlines Vodou (its correct name) in red to infor... read more 
Dr Mark Atkinson is the founder of The Whole Body Healing Clinic in London and a pioneer in the field of holistic medicine, healing and personal transformation. He is an author and the complementary health expert for Now magazine and Good Morning Television in the UK. In 2006, he provided the introduction to my book, The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja: Mastering the Four Gates to Freedom.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 9:51 AM
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This is Dr Atkinson’s introduction. Do you really want to be free and happy - or are you addicted... read more 
When I was a child my family moved to the Herefordshire countryside, in the shadow of the Welsh Black Mountains and deep in the heart of Celtic mythology. At the edge of the village, alone and isolated from the rest of the scant community there was a small cottage, long fallen to disrepair; a place I was always warned to stay clear of. For in this cottage there lived a madman, who was somehow unclean and undesirable to the village... so they said. Inevitably I found my way to this place.
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 9:49 AM
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H... read more 
What do you do if you’d like to learn more about shamanism but you don’t have time to attend a workshop or the dates aren’t right for you?
Mon, July 23, 2007 - 9:43 AM
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One solution is to study at home, with the Medicine For The Soul course - a ‘workshop online’ in Classical and Cross-Cultural Shamanism, which captures the essence of a Shamanic Practitioner’s course in a home-study programme you can follow at your own pace. A Certificate or Diploma in Shamanism is awarded to successful candidates at the end of their st... read more 
Jalaluddin Rumi, the great Sufi mystic and love poet, was born 800 years ago, in the city of Balkh (now in Afghanistan), Eastern Persia, to surroundings of wealth and power. His well-to-do family, relatives to the king of Khorasan, were scholars, theologians, and statesmen, and it seemed clear that Rumi would follow them into a profession befitting a member of the elite.
Wed, May 23, 2007 - 8:01 AM
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Rumi, however, was something of a rebel, more motivated by freedom and the quest for love and truth, than by social con... read more 
By Ross Heaven. Adapted from my books, Love's Simple Truths, and The Way of The Lover.
Sat, May 19, 2007 - 11:54 AM
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Jalaluddin Rumi, the ‘Master of Love’, was a Sufi mystic and poet, born in 1207 in Eastern Persia. As a child he gained a reputation as a gifted spiritual teacher. During his life Rumi composed thousands of verses of mystical love poetry, the messages of which concern the notion of tahweed (unity), where, through love itself, we become one with “the Beloved”: the divine spirit of love within all of us. F... read more 
By Ross Heaven.
Sat, May 19, 2007 - 10:28 AM
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Shamans believe that we are all born with an amount of energy or power, which is enough to sustain us through life. But we can become attached to events or relationships with others (such as ex-lovers) and can give our energy away. Once this energy leaves us, it creates a ‘hole’ in our energy field which other energy can enter, which shamans call spirit intrusion. Or our own energy can continue to ‘leak away’, a situation known as soul loss. In shamanic terms, therefore... read more 
By Ross Heaven.
Sat, May 19, 2007 - 10:26 AM
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The lessons of quantum physics and its new kid on the block, holographic theory, are that all things are intimately connected through the energy that infuses the universe and all it contains. According to our scientists, in fact, 90% of the universe is unknown, in that we typically only see 10% of the reality we subscribe to, while 9/10ths of it remains invisible to us. Science calls it ‘dark matter’, but actually this ‘silent majority’ of the universe – this missing 90% - ... read more 
By Ross Heaven. Adapted from my book, The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja: Mastering the Four Gates To Freedom.
Sat, May 19, 2007 - 10:23 AM
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We know little about the origins of the Ninja, the ‘children of darkness’ - mysterious shadow-warriors who maintained their eerie mist-shrouded mountain secrecy in the Iga and Koga Provinces of Japan from around 900 AD, practicing the arts of stealth and invisibility. Legends, however, tell of the Ninja warrior’s supposed descent from tengu, savage demons that were half man half... read more
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