There are eight seasonal festivals (referred to as sabbats) that make up the ""Wheel of the Year"". ""Dancing the Sacred Wheel"" draws on the author's own personal experience of following a traditional Pagan spiritual path and creating ritual over 20 years in southern Australia. Combining traditional Pagan lore with history in order to develop a relationship with her local environment, the author also offers invaluable pointers as to how to incorporate the localised elements into something that also provides a ?traditional? feel. ""Dancing the Sacred Wheel"" not only provides an in-depth look the folklore and myth associated with each sabbat, but also discusses ways of creating specific rituals and observances that acknowledge each seasonal ?gateway? when the local environment is reflecting something completely different. ""Dancing the Sacred Wheel"" challenges the reader, regardless of which hemisphere they reside, to draw inspiration from their environment, and to create their own unique Wheel of the Year.

The Native American philosophy behind the vision of the Medicine Wheel is that all things and beings on the earth are related and, therefore, must be in harmony for the earth to be balanced. Dancing with the Wheel teaches you how to apply this philosophy to your daily life through many practical exercises and ceremonies. These exercises will help you gain energy from the spirits, which can heal both humans and the earth. Through Dancing with the Wheel, the second book specifically devoted to the Medicine Wheel, those familiar with this vision will gain an increased understanding of the wheel and its developments over the last ten years. Those new to the Medicine Wheel will be ushered into the teachings and technique of what has come to be a source of comfort and direction for thousands of people around the world. Whether you are in the middle of the wilderness or the middle of a city, this book and its exercises will help you center yourself and establish peace with the earth and other beings.

The Native American philosophy behind the vision of the Medicine Wheel is that all things and beings on the earth are related and, therefore, must be in harmony for the earth to be balanced. Dancing with the Wheel teaches you how to apply this philosophy to your daily life through many practical exercises and ceremonies. These exercises will help you gain energy from the spirits, which can heal both humans and the earth. Through Dancing with the Wheel, the second book specifically devoted to the Medicine Wheel, those familiar with this vision will gain an increased understanding of the wheel and its developments over the last ten years. Those new to the Medicine Wheel will be ushered into the teachings and technique of what has come to be a source of comfort and direction for thousands of people around the world. Whether you are in the middle of the wilderness or the middle of a city, this book and its exercises will help you center yourself and establish peace with the earth and other beings.

"Mary Loomis's book shows truly how all great paths of knowledge are interwoven. All are part of the great Medicine Wheel of life". -- Sun Bear

"The Medicine Wheel is a springboard of power that will allow you to link up to all the energies of the universe." —Sun Bear Millions of people around the world have incorporated Native American philosophy into their everyday lives. Now, with this special 25th anniversary edition of the late Sun Bear's classic bestseller, readers old and new can benefit from the teachings and techniques of the Medicine Wheel. In The Medicine Wheel, Sun Bear and Wabun put forth a whole new system of earth astrology to help guide people not only in their daily living but also in their life paths. In the authors' own words, this book was written to "help all people relate better to our Earth Mother...and find a kinship with the universe." The Medicine Wheel is a beautiful and inspiring approach to graceful, holistic living in trying modern times. The Medicine Wheel's philosophy is derived from a basic principle known by all people who live close to the earth: Once you fully embrace the elemental forces of nature, you become a part of the whole. Let this book be your first step toward finding peace and prosperity—and your own special place in the circle of life.

Discover a Powerful Integration of Science, Spirit & Magic Touch the Earth, Kiss the Sky is a fascinating blend of spiritual practice and cutting-edge science. Follow the eight Stations of the Sun through an astronomical year with "Touch the Earth" exercises designed to help ground your experience in nature as well as "Kiss the Sky" exercises that will help you get in contact with the Divine and your own inner sense of the sacred. Within these pages, you will explore a scientific account of consciousness and its relationship to magical practice, spiritual energy, and the subtle realms. Profound meditations and exercises lead you to a deeper sense of personal meaning and show you how to make magical changes in your life and the larger reality around you.

The most powerful black American of his time, this book captures him at his zenith and reveals his complex personality.

This is the story of my journey from a university psychology department to public mental health and private practice, and on to being a psychologist in Indian land. It includes, of course, the many interesting people, novel experiences, and challenging ideas I encountered along the way. It is a story of expanding spiritual awareness and growth as a human being and the part played in that by the Chippewa/Ojibwa Indians, whose own practice of faith clearly embodies Jesus teachings on how to live with reverence, gratitude, humility, and grace. The discovery of their faith was an immense surprise and an unexpected joy. Eventually I was called in dreams to Sundance in Canada, a calling that also included dancing in other ceremonies which, like the Sundance, required four days of fasting and prayer. I attempt to convey to the reader some of the learning and growth that are inevitable when one dances in a sacred arbor filled with kind souls and the Creators unconditional loveand yet I know full well that words merely hint at what can be learned only through experience. When I answered the call to Sundance, who could have known that as a dancer, helper, and eventual leader I would spend the next eighteen years of my life in those sacred arbors? I was fifty-two when I first danced and a couple of weeks shy of seventy when last I dragged the buffalo skulls. My dear wife pursued her own calling to teach children, and wound up teaching many years in a nearby Indian school. She made this journey ours by her loving constancy, faith, courage, and support. She was the first and best of the joy-filled surprises the Creator had for me when He moved me out of the university world.

The beat is universal -- drumming as a way of communicating with other people, spirits, and self exists around the world and throughout time. And contemporary drumming is thriving! In the neo-pagan community, the most popular festivals and workshops are those that feature drumming circles. In healing centers, nursing homes, women's centers, and schools across the country, people are forming drumming circles. Sacred Beat honors and explores every aspect of drumming -- historical, contemporary, practical. In Part I, Telesco and Waterhawk tell the history of drums and drumming circles and the myths, superstitions, and religions that have grown up around drumming. From West Africa to Tibet, from Siberia to England, from Vietnam to Apache territory, where Fox gave the people drums along with fire -- come stories about drums, their invention, their use up until contemporary times. People respond almost universally and profoundly to drums -- to relieve stress, to communicate, to move in rhythm with the universe, to praise their gods. A comprehensive section of practical information follows, with ideas for finding a drum and other rhythmic tools that are right for your vision, caring for and decorating your instrument, drum etiquette, and elements of a good drum circle. The next section of Sacred Beat is all about drumming in groups -- different ways it's being done, from Native American Pow-Wows to Goddess gatherings to community centers, and how to become a part of it. The book closes with a section on creating drumming magic all your own, with meditations, prayers, and divinations to create overall well-being and spiritual awareness with drums. The voice of the drum combines with the voice of the Ancestors, the voice of Spirit, and the voice of our own soul to create a powerful and transformational partnership. By working with the drum, a person can support this partnership, reach out to the community, touch the earth, and nurture their own spirit.

This book explores in depth the wisdom and fierce beauty of an ancient Sioux story, which teaches the value of setting out on a quest in the natural world in order to discover who and what one truly is. What unfolds, in a dramatic and inspiring way, is a vision of the elements intrinsic to the pathless path toward freeing oneself from constraining beliefs and conditioning in order to awaken to the wonder and mystery of pure presence before the soul of the world.