Tenets of the Groups

It is our position that you must be an active participant in your spiritual seeking. You must own primary responsibility for yourself. Only you can discover your true spiritual path. No one can do it for you. No teacher, no guru, no priest, no god, nor goddess, angel or even the One Spirit, can do it for you. You must work hard, seek, suffer, question, accept, confront, doubt and study. The ultimate answers will be totally unique to you. These answers must be discovered by you.

Teachers, gods, goddesses, angels, saints, elemental spirits, guides, friends, trees, animals, stars and omens can help and support your seeking, but they cannot nor should not give you the "answers". Shamanism, like Buddhism, involves the teaching of ancient methods that help the seeker to discover his or her truths. Some processes work for one person while others do not. There is no judgment of this process of discovery. There is no judgment of your unique way. Shamanism does not have a morality or a set of laws. These shamanic groups permit us to explore, and even to doubt or question the processes found in Shamanism. We can share what we know and support your own self-discovery of your answers. We can teach you some ancient methods of self-discovery. The answers come through a change of perception, awareness and life discovered by you, within your unique self and your unique experience of the outer world.

There is no set time for how long your healing or self-discovery may take. It may occur in one year, in one day or it may occur in twenty years. We are very patient and you need to be also, taking as much time as necessary -- accepting your resistance to these processes.

Shamanism, being a methodology of the earth-based traditions (e.g., Native North American and South American, Aboriginal Australian, Celtic Druid, Wiccan, African, Western Mysteries etc.), teaches that you are real, the inner worlds are real, the cosmos is real, the Earth is real, rather than "merely illusions." Being an earth-based tradition, our work is very much within the physical realm. Part of the goal of the groups is to help you discover these realities for yourself., and your own connectedness to the world around you.

Contact Outside Group

• We encourage and support outside contact among group members (and among groups).
• Some group members do not wish to participate in outside contact, and this we also support.
• Each group has a phone and e-mail list to facilitate contact.

Sex among Group Members

• Sex among persons in the same group is not recommended, though it is not forbidden. A sexual relationship among persons in the same group will make life for the group and for the particular sexual partners very complicated.
• If sex among members does occur, it is imperative that it not be a secret.

Friendship

• If you make friends with members in the group, it is important to let the group know this, rather than holding it as a secret.

Confidentiality

• All groups are confidential. Who you see here, what you hear here, when you leave here, let it stay here.
• One's membership in group, one's identity, and what is shared in group is confidential, and is not to be shared with anyone outside group.
• Gossip is greatly discouraged; it is not compatible with spiritual development.