Methods

We use a number of different methods of spiritual work. Ritual is a very important part of the work. The work also includes sharing in heart-circle, drumming, guided meditations, journeys, and gestalt psycho-drama.

Ritual

Ritual is used in all cultures worldwide, as a central spiritual process. We utilize ritual in three different manners in the shamanic circles.

Ritual Work in Group around the Wheel of the Year
About every 6 weeks the group does intensive ritual celebrating the Wheel of the Year in the Monarch Bear Hill Grove, a sacred space in Golden Gate Park adjacent to the National AIDS Memorial Grove. The purpose of these seasonal rituals are many. Ritual is created by shamans to experience a sacred space where beings from other levels of consciousness (faeries, gods, stones, trees, goddesses, rivers, etc.) can enter with us to co-create a universe which is better for all of us. We honor the earth. We honor ourselves and our community. We seek to connect to the eight seasons of the earth (dates per northern hemisphere). Rituals are designed to help us experience each of the eight earthly seasons inside and outside ourselves, connecting to the natural world. During ritual, we create and empower our shamanic tools.

"A magical ritual is a means of heightening your perception, awareness, and intuition, by the use of movement, objects, sound, and conentration. This change of state helps Otherworld powers, forces and dynamics to come into the ritual Working Area and be directed by the magician for whatever purposes the ritual has been designed." - from p.47 of Glamoury by Steve Blamires.

Ritual Work Within Group
Periodically, in group, we perform rituals for healing, to manifest our intentions, for protection, and other focus purposes.

Personal Rituals Group memebers are encouraged to develop their skills at ritual and to use ritual in their personal life and to do rituals at home by themselves with friends or other circle members.

Shamanic Journeys
Once per month, during the work period in group, Rodney guides the group in underworld, middleworld, and upperworld journeys through a guided visualization and drumming process. The group divides up into pairs, and are led in a shamanistic journey to seek wisdom from the spirit world. Each group member decides upon a question which they will have their partner journey and ask for answers or input from the spirit world.

Guided Journeys
Once a month, Rodney leads group members in guided journeys based upon Jungian archetypes and ancient mythology such as the grail tradition, for healing.

Gestalt Psycho-Drama
Once per month, during the work period, a group member will lead a psycho-drama, a re-enactment of an important event or experience in their life. They will choose other group members to play the part(s) of other characters in the event. They will play themselves in the event. We choose a rotation focusing on particular issues for example: who broke your heart? An important dream, or an important wounding experience.

The Cauldron of Intentions (Magic)
Each circle member establishes from one to three intentions (goals) for each of the four seasons of the year (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter), and places objects representing those intentions into the group cauldron. This intentional cauldron remains in the meeting room. Intentions held in the cauldron are the spiritual work we individually focus on in that quarter. Intentions are goals - spiritual or material. Your focus may be developing close relationships, making more money, finding a right livelihood, etc. We encourage you to work with your intentions on a weekly basis - on your personal alter, in meditation, or in heart circle.

Dreamwork
Group members are encouraged to remember and share their dreams in Heart-Circle.



Outside work and self-care
Our groups have a spiritual focus. They are not psychotherapy groups. We acknowledge and honor each member's real need for healing. This group is unable to meet all of those needs. Therefore, we suggest and encourage our members to utilize other outside resources to facilitate their healing and spiritual development. Some suggested activities and communities include:

• Individual psychotherapy
• Group therapy
• 12-step programs (A.A., N.A., Al-Anon, O.A., etc.)
• Encounter groups and spiritual fellowships
• Body work
• Artistic and creative endeavors (painting, writing, singing, drawing, dance, etc)
• Religious organizations. We encourage group members in their individual religions and /or spiritual paths. We delve into a tradition involving practices and experiences of discovery, and this can co-exist with other religious practices

Suggestions for Daily Devotions
We encourage daily devotions for the mind, body and spirit. Here are some suggestions:

• Contact with nature - walking, hiking, camping, etc.
• Visiting the Monarch Bear Hill Grove in Golden Gate Park
• Meditation
• Spiritual reading
• Personal altar at home. We encourage the avid use of a home altar. This portion of your living quarters is dedicated to honoring the divine spirits in your life. It is also where you can work on personal spiritual issues. In Greco-Roman custom, the hearth functioned as the main altar for the home and family.
• Personal rituals at home. We encourage you to develop formal personal prayers and invocations that are meaningful to you.
• Physical self care (yoga, stretching, exercise, tai chi, good nutrition and eating habits, adequate sleep and rest, martial arts, etc)
• Sacred gestures
• Sacred movement (dance).
• Poetry circle (for an active poetry circle, contact Jehanah at 415.346.0347 re: Wednesday night circle at Sacred Grounds, Hayes & Cole 7:30 - 9:45)
• Daily or frequent journal work (dreams, book of shadow, diary)