A Welcome Spring

It’s been a while since a Real Awakenings newsletter has been drafted, but things haven’t been idle. A lot has happened. First, after I retired from the workplace a few years ago, I went straight into Achilles tendon surgery. I was in the beginning of a long recovery during COVID, but like many others, I used the time to reorganize my belongings, and update my living space. Then last year, it was time to do the same for Real Awakenings. I had planned to revamp my medicine wheel course for several years, and create some new offerings, but never seemed to have the time required for such a major overhaul. But come Jan 4, 2024, there was no reason to delay any further, so I began the work…

What’s New at Real Awakenings

After much research and contemplation, I came up with the concept for version 3 of my medicine wheel course, which is now the most robust edition to date. It took the better part of last year to write it all, taking over 1,400 hours of development. My new flagship program, is called Way of the Warrior (WOW) which is a 40-hr course built around Celtic spirituality. The class is divided into 6 modules, meeting one day per month, for six months. The first module is an Intro to Shamanism, while the other 5 take a deep dive into the wisdom wheel, and it’s relevancy to modern life.

Way of the Warrior includes lectures, a notebook full of handouts, a few crafts, and gentle non-psychoactive elixirs to enhance your journeying. Mugs and a poster are optional items to augment the class. WOW is designed for newcomers to shamanism, where we start from square one with all the basics, including how to journey.

Availability: The program debuted last September, and just wrapped up this weekend. Another round is targeted to begin in early May. See website for details, or email me for an application!

Note: All courses are currently being taught in small intimate gatherings of 6 or less. An online version can be made available now by request, and an on-demand website version is TBD in 2026. Additionally, I would consider traveling a reasonable distance to offer the class, so email me if you have a small group that might be interested! WOW is for personal development, and not a certification or practitioner-level program.

 

 

 

Other New Offerings

Besides teaching WOW, offering personal shamanic services for clients, and leading group ceremonies, there are other goodies in the works:

  • Companion Workbook for WOW
  • Path of Empowerment – Advanced Celtic Shamanism
  • Mini Workshops in: Negative Energies, Ancestral Work, Magic, and Nordic Studies
  • Mentorship program for individuals/practitioners
  • Teacher training program

Creating Something New

We live in an interesting time in history. Some people may be experiencing illness, loss, setbacks, indecision, hardship, upheaval or unpredictability. And yet for others, things may be going smoothly. But as best as we know how, we all can capitalize on what we want to create, both personally and collectively, by harnessing the energies of nature that work in our favor. Shamanic traditions knew that spring is a powerful time of magic, rebirth, transformation, and growth.

In Celtic mythology, the Welsh goddess Cerridwen brews a magic potion for her son, but her servant Gwion ingests a few drops of the potion by accident. He instantly becomes enlightened with the gift of creativity, equipped with equal parts of elation, and terror. From fear of Cerridwen’s possible wrath, Gwion flees, and shape-shifts into multiple forms to avoid her detection. He transforms into a hare, a greyhound, a salmon, a crow, and finally into a grain of wheat. During her chase to capture him, Cerridwen swallows the grain of wheat. It germinates inside her, giving birth to a son who was in fact Gwion being reborn through her. He was adopted later, and renamed as Taliesin who became a famous Welsh poet. In addition to her cauldron, Cerridwen’s symbols include the hare, and eggs which are similar to the German pagan goddess Eostre from whom our Easter symbols originated.

The spring equinox is about balance, harmony, and equality. So assuming we feel balanced, and present inside, we can make decisions that are in our best interest, expressing who we truly are at our core. Like Taliesin, you may decide to align with the forces of spring to shape-shift, and transform into a newer, more improved version of yourself, and bring your dreams to fruition!