http://www.articlesnatch.com/profile/ross-heaven/19814 ross heaven is an author at ArticleSnatch.com Article Directory. Below are the most recent articles from ross heaven. For more of articles by ross heaven please use the link above. http://www.articlesnatch.com/profile/ross-heaven/19814 http://static.articlesnatch.com/i/logo.gif en-us http://www.articlesnatch.com/profile/ross-heaven/19814 PHP/5.0.26 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/HEALING-WITH-AYAHUASCA/1110432 Ayahuasca is a magical rainforest medicine made from ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of the chacruna plant (Psychotria viridis). The mixture is prepared by cleaning specially-chosen vines and adding them and the leaves to water. This is then boiled and reduced for several hours, attended by shamans who blow their intentions and good wishes (soplada) into it, make prayers to their spirits for good healings and singing icaros (sacred healing songs) into the brew during its preparation and in ceremony. When ayahuasca is drunk it can open up a new world that is extraordinary, amazing and healing – and yet it is the same world we are part of every day; ayahuasca simply opens our eyes to what is really before us. The experience normally begins soon after drinking with a feeling of warm presence in the stomach which spreads throughout the body. Most people describe this as very pleasant, like being in a warm, body-temperature bath. **End Summary** Topics: ayahuasca]]> healing]]> ayahuasca retreats]]> ayahuasca ceremonies]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Author, therapist, healer. See www.thefourgates.com for details Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:42:51 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/HEALING-WITH-AYAHUASCA/1110432 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/THE-HUMMINGBIRD-RETREAT-CENTRE/632700 By Gina Holsgrove When Spanish explorers first encountered hummingbirds, 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. That is why the hummingbird is the symbol for The Hummingbird Retreat Centre. RELAX AND UNWIND Located in one of the most peaceful and unspoiled parts of rural Spain, The Hummingbird Retreat Centre offers a relaxing and invigorating space where you can escape from ‘normal’ life into a more magical one where time slows down and you have the space to breathe, dream, heal, explore and allow your spirit to flourish as you enjoy the breathtaking scenery of our beautifully tranquil mountain setting and one of the sunniest and most welcoming climates in Europe. A RANGE OF THERAPIES AND WORKSHOPS The Centre offers a wide range of healing therapies and treatments, including massage, hot stone therapy, reiki, shamanic healing and crystals, and training in the arts of shamanism, soul retrieval, Thai herbal massage, plant spirit shamanism, yoga, creative writing - and many others - with courses taught by some of the world’s best-known and respected teachers. **End Summary** Topics: Shamanism]]> healing]]> retreats]]> holidays]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Gina Holsgrove is the administrator of The Hummingbird Retreat Centre (www.thehummingbird.org) and a therapist and healer. Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/THE-HUMMINGBIRD-RETREAT-CENTRE/632700 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/THE-HUMMINGBIRD-RETREAT-CENTRE--SPAIN/582359 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. 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’ life into a more magical one where time slows down and you have the space to breathe, dream, heal, explore and allow your spirit to flourish as you enjoy the breathtaking scenery of its beautifully tranquil mountain setting and one of the sunniest and most welcoming climates in Europe. The Centre offers a wide range of healing therapies and treatments, including massage, hot stone therapy, reiki, and crystals, and outstanding training in the arts of shamanism, soul retrieval, Thai herbal massage, Indian head massage, plant spirit shamanism, yoga, dance, creative writing - and many others - with courses taught by some of the world’s best-known and respected teachers. . **End Summary** Topics: spain]]> retreats]]> writing]]> ayahuasca]]> shamanism]]> healing]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Gina Holsgrove, the author, is a therapist and the home-maker at The Hummingbird Retreat Centre. I assure you of a warm welcome at our lovely venue! Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/THE-HUMMINGBIRD-RETREAT-CENTRE--SPAIN/582359 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SAN-PEDRO--THE-MIRACLE-HEALER-------/543451 SAN PEDRO, THE MIRACLE HEALER” By Ross Heaven The Western world is increasingly familiar with ayahuasca, the visionary brew and plant doctor” of Amazonian shamans, thanks to celebrities like Sting and Madonna who have drunk it and television programmes like Bruce Parry’s Tribe and Amazon, which showed the presenter drinking ayahuasca in the jungles of Peru, during which he experienced, he said, some of the most profound insights of his life. Scientific studies carried out by Western doctors have also demonstrated the effectiveness of ayahuasca in curing illnesses that orthodox medicine finds it hard to address. Especially impressive is its ability to help people overcome drug and alcohol addictions, with a success rate of 70% through the use of ayahuasca alone. Less well-known, however - but no less effective - is another of Peru’s visionary healing plants: San Pedro. Like ayahuasca, it has been drunk for thousands of years in shamanic healing ceremonies and through it there have been a number of ‘miracle cures’ to a variety of illnesses, including cancer, diabetes and paralysis, as well as emotional and psychological problems such as depression and grief. **End Summary** Topics: San pedro]]> huachuma]]> healing]]> shamans]]> shamanism]]> peru]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> The Author Ross Heaven is the author of more than 10 books on shamanism and healing, including Plant Spirit Shamanism, Plant Spirit Wisdom and The Sin Eater"'s Last Confessions. The Hummingbird"'s Journey to God, about San Pedro healing, is published by O Books in 2009. He runs workshops on these subjects too, including journeys to Peru to work with the shamans, healers and plant spirit medicines (ayahuasca and San Pedro) of the Amazon and Andes. For more information, visit www.thefourgates.com or email ross@thefourgates.com. Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SAN-PEDRO--THE-MIRACLE-HEALER-------/543451 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SAN-PEDRO--THE----MIRACLE-HEALER---/386980 SAN PEDRO, THE “MIRACLE HEALER” AN INTERVIEW WITH AN ANDEAN HUACHUMERA (SAN PEDRO HEALER) By Ross Heaven 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”. Even its post-Hispanic name, San Pedro, embodies these qualities because Saint Peter is the holder of the keys to Heaven and the name of the cactus therefore speaks of its ability to ‘open the gates’ into another world where those who drink it can heal, discover their divinity, and find their purpose on Earth. It is also known as huachuma and this is how it is most often referred to by the shamans who use it, who call themselves huachumeros (male) or huachumeras (female). Its use as a sacrament and in healing rituals is as old as history itself. **End Summary** Topics: San pedro]]> ayahuasca]]> healing]]> shamanism]]> plant spirit shamanism]]> ross heaven]]> peru]]> the amazon]]> the andes]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is the author of more than 10 books on shamanism and shamanic healing, including Plant Spirit Shamanism, Plant Spirit Wisdom, and The Sin Eater’s Last Confessions. He runs workshops on these subjects too, as well as journeys to Peru to work with the shamans, healers, and plant spirit medicines (ayahuasca and San Pedro) of the Amazon and Andes. For more details of these events and a free Information Pack, visit www.thefourgates.com or email ross@thefourgates.com. Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SAN-PEDRO--THE----MIRACLE-HEALER---/386980 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/IQUITOS-AND-CUSCO/351528 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 disrepair. It is now a place without an apparent purpose, still decked out in post-colonial-rubber-boom splendour, but literally in the middle of nowhere, a true frontier town. When you stand on the Malecon at the edge of the city (and civilisation) you overlook thousands of miles of rainforest: a truly breathtaking and beautiful experience. Iquitos is where participants meet for our plant spirit shamanism and ayahuasca experiences on the Magical Earth Amazon Adventure (see www.thefourgates.com – Sacred Journeys – for details). Cusco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire, is a city in south east Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountains. **End Summary** Topics: Ayahuasca]]> san pedro]]> plant spirit shamanism]]> Iquitos]]> Cusco]]> Peru]]> Ross Heaven]]> shamanism]]> healing]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love’s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can read about his workshops or join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon and Andes. Email ross@thefourgates.com if you would like a FREE Information Pack about his workshops in plant spirit shamanism, or plant spirit shamanism, ayahuasca, and San Pedro journeys to the Amazon and Andes of Peru. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/IQUITOS-AND-CUSCO/351528 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Voodoo-Shamanism/210654 This is Tim Boothâ€'s introduction to my book, Vodou Shaman, where he speaks of his own experiences with Vodou / Voodoo. What do we really know about ‘voodooâ€' in the West? Almost nothing. Not even the correct spelling. Even now my computer underlines Vodou (its correct name) in red to inform me of a typo. But feel the phoney word ‘voodooâ€' in your mouth. It could be the first word a baby might form. A fantastic word - so many Oâ€'s. For most of us in the English-speaking worlds it has a somehow sexy, implacable feel, but one that is also dark and dangerous. This comes courtesy of the Western Empire's "reality tunnel". History is, indeed, the propaganda of the victors. No wonder they were scared. Vodou inspired the only successful slave revolt in history, defeating first the superior firepower and numbers of the French, then the British a few years later. ‘Black magicâ€' could be the only rational (sic) explanation… Itâ€'s easy to see how the Empire's belief in the power of the rational mind to civilize "primitive cultures" would lead it to demonise Vodou. **End Summary** Topics: Vodou]]> voodoo]]> shamanism]]> healing]]> James]]> Tim Booth]]> Gabrielle Roth]]> haiti]]> Five Rhythms]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Voodoo-Shamanism/210654 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--The-spiritual-practices-of-the-Ninja--Personal-transformation/210653 Dr Mark Atkinson provides the introduction to my book, The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja: Mastering the Four Gates to Freedom. Do you really want to be free and happy - or are you addicted to your sorrow? A lot of people are addicted and they either donâ€'t know it or donâ€'t know what to do about it. Herein lies the problem: programmed by society to believe that happiness, love and freedom can only be acquired through power, possessions and people, men and women have lost the one thing that really matters: themselves. Many, sadly, will never learn the truth of who they are, of ‘who it is that livesâ€', beyond the labels given them by the world. You are not one of these people. You have been drawn to this book because life has chosen this moment to reveal something of itself to you through the writings of Ross Heaven, its author. You are right on time to read what you are about to read. **End Summary** Topics: Ninja]]> shamanism]]> healing]]> empowerment]]> shamans]]> mysticism]]> Shinto]]> Buddhism]]> Japan]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--The-spiritual-practices-of-the-Ninja--Personal-transformation/210653 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SHAMANISM--THE-FOUR-GATES-TO-FREEDOM/210652 We know little about the origins of the Ninja, the ‘children of darknessâ€' - 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 warriorâ€'s supposed descent from tengu, savage demons that were half man half crow and were able to bend the laws of nature and control the human mind. Probably closer to the truth, according to Stephen Hayes (the first American to be accepted as a personal student of Masaaki Hatsumi, the thirty-fourth master of Togakure-ryu Ninjutsu) is that these warriors were ex-military men who fled China after the collapse of the Tâ€'ang dynasty and settled in Japan. Here they became teachers of martial arts, philosophy, and mysticism adapted from the esoteric knowledge of India and Tibet and the spiritual practices of Chinese monks and shamans. They expounded systems of integrated mind-body awareness, based on personal understanding of the order of the universe [and an] unconventional way of looking at situations and accomplishing things… The original Ninja were mystics, in touch with powers that we would describe as psychic today. **End Summary** Topics: Ninja]]> shaman]]> shamanism]]> ninpo]]> martial arts]]> meditation]]> samurai]]> Shinto]]> Buddhism]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SHAMANISM--THE-FOUR-GATES-TO-FREEDOM/210652 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--The-sin-eater/210651 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. His cottage stood at a crossroads, just back from the road itself and surrounded by tall bushes and trees. It was a walk of about a mile from the village and there were no other houses anywhere near it. It felt somewhat like the fairytale cottage of a witch, a place you stumble upon in error, after which your life is never the same. As I stood looking at this mysterious cottage, whose lopsided architecture had begun to take on the form of the surrounding land, the door opened and its single inhabitant emerged. **End Summary** Topics: Plant spirit shamanism]]> folk healing]]> herbs]]> sin eater]]> sin eating]]> herbalism]]> funeral customs]]> burial]]> wales]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--The-sin-eater/210651 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--SHAMANIC-HEALING-THROUGH-SOUL-RETRIEVAL/210650 Soul retrieval a contemporary therapeutic practice rooted in the 50,000 year old tradition of shamanism - is attracting significant attention in the modern Western world as the holistic healthcare movement continues to gather force. 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 ‘holeâ€' in our energy field which other energy can enter, which shamans call spirit intrusion. Or our own energy can continue to ‘leak awayâ€', a situation known as soul loss. In shamanic terms, therefore, illness comes about in two ways: 1. The loss of our power when we give away our energy, and 2. The entrance into our bodies of other, useless energy (shamans believe there is no such thing as ‘badâ€' energy, just energy which is not helpful to us or which is in an inappropriate place) The trick to maintain health or to recovering from illness is to recover the power (energy) we have lost. **End Summary** Topics: Soul retrieval]]> soul loss]]> shamanism]]> healing]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--SHAMANIC-HEALING-THROUGH-SOUL-RETRIEVAL/210650 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SHAMANISM--THE-MESSAGE-FROM-STONE/210649 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 matterâ€', but actually this ‘silent majorityâ€' of the universe this missing 90% - is ‘darkâ€' (i.e. immeasurable) energy, not matter at all. It is this, the vast ghostly echoes of primal energy, sweeping through the cosmos into the world of humankind, that unites us, not the material things around us. Quantum theory tells us that time and space do not exist everything is taking place here, now. Giving space-time coordinates to events is a human conceit to try and establish scientific order over a universe that is mostly unseen and presumed to be out of our control. **End Summary** Topics: Divination]]> shamanism]]> magic]]> premonitions]]> nature]]> paganism]]> plant spirit shamanism]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/SHAMANISM--THE-MESSAGE-FROM-STONE/210649 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--ECSATIC-TRANCE-POSTURES/210647 Although I had practiced yoga for a number of years, I did not make much of a connection between the physical asanas as methods for exploring the world of spirit until I began working with indigenous shamans and discovered an ancient and little-known practice where body postures are used to guide what are known as shamanic journeys: special states of trance or meditation through which we can access our inner selves or, as the shamans say, ‘journey to other worldsâ€'. My own experiences were profound and showed me that there was, indeed, something new and different about these body postures; something I had not discovered in yoga practice, so I began to research these postures, finding just two published works on the subject: Where The Spirits Ride The Wind, by Dr Felicitas Goodman, and Ecstatic Body Postures by her student, Belinda Gore. With these two sources to guide me, I began conducting experiments of my own and introducing these new asanas to participants on my shamanic workshops, to test the claims of Goodman and Gore that these postures could, indeed, transport people to other worlds. This article is based on my findings. **End Summary** Topics: Shamanism]]> yoga]]> meditation]]> trance]]> shamanic journeying]]> Felicitas Goodman]]> Belinda Gore]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Shamanism--ECSATIC-TRANCE-POSTURES/210647 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism-in-France/210635 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. 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 (questing) to explore our relationship to the Earth. Through these we slow down to the natural rhythm of life and meet with our allies in dreamspace. We also learn some of the secret herbal approaches from Haiti and Peru, as well as classical and cross-cultural techniques for working with plants shamanically, drawn from a rich variety of sources. One of these is communion with the spirits of Nature through the vine of souls, and there will be vision ceremonies this week. The venue for our work is a beautiful rustic farmhouse in the traditional French style, with extensive gardens and its own stream, where the water flows down from seven mountains. **End Summary** Topics: Plant spirit shamanism]]> ayahuasca]]> healing]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> shamanism]]> retreat]]> workshop]]> course]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism-in-France/210635 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--The-seguro/210633 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. At the age of eight, Juan made a pilgrimage to Las Huaringas and drank san pedro for the first time. Now in his 50â€'s, every month or so it is still necessary for him to return there to accumulate the energy he needs to protect and heal his people. Healing sessions with san pedro involve an intricate sequence of processes, including invocation, diagnosis, divination, and healing with natural ‘power objectsâ€', called artes, which are kept, during the ceremony, in a complicated and precise array on the maestroâ€'s altar or mesa. Artes may include shells, swords, magnets, quartz crystals, objects resembling sexual organs, rocks which spark when struck together, and stones from animals' stomachs which they have swallowed to aid digestion. They bring magical qualities to the ceremony where, under the visionary influence of san pedro, their invisible powers may be seen and experienced. **End Summary** Topics: Plant spirit shamanism]]> san pedro]]> the andes]]> shamanism]]> peru]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> healing]]> magic]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--The-seguro/210633 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/PLANT-SPIRIT-SHAMANISM--THE-PUSANGA/210632 The quest for love unites us all. What if you could find it and a simple perfume could help? That would be magic, wouldnâ€'t it? Read on! 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”â€' because love, of course, is the thing most people do want! HOW PERFUME ATTRACTS AND HEALS Beautiful smells derived from flowers and herbs have always been used for healing and attracting love. Even the word ‘perfumeâ€' comes from per fumer (Latin, ‘through smokeâ€'), and is a reference to its ritual use in ceremonies for the gods who offer loveâ€'s blessings. The ancient Greeks, for example, believed that sweet aromas were how the deities made their presence known. The oracle priestesses of Delphi would sit in the smoke of bay leaf incense to allow these gods to speak through them during divinations to help people in their search for love. **End Summary** Topics: Plant spirit shamanism]]> pusanga]]> perfume]]> scent]]> aromatherapy]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> healing]]> the amazon]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/PLANT-SPIRIT-SHAMANISM--THE-PUSANGA/210632 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--The-work-of-the-medsen-fey/210631 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. Ours is a spiritual tradition which traces its lineage to the shamans of primal Africa, which we call Gine”, said Loulou. It blends together a number of African beliefs with elements from other faiths, such as Catholicism, the religion of the French slave traders who took the shamans and priests of Africa to this new world of the Caribbean. The lwa are the spirits who travelled with us from Africa. They come to us through a trance where the healer is ‘mountedâ€' by the lwa or through their appearances in our dreams”. **End Summary** Topics: Haiti]]> plant spirit shamanism]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> vodou]]> voodoo]]> shaman]]> loa]]> lwa]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--The-work-of-the-medsen-fey/210631 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--San-pedro/210629 In the shamanic traditions of Northern Peru, the san pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi), or ‘cactus of visionâ€', opens the doorway to expanded awareness and acts as mediator between man and the gods. 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 unbroken for at least 3,000 years. The earliest depiction of the cactus is a carving showing a mythological being holding a san pedro, which dates from about 1,300 BC. It comes from the Chavín culture (c. 1,400-400 BC) and was found in a temple at Chavín de Huantar, in the northern highlands of Peru. The later Mochica culture (c. 500 AD) also depicted the cactus in its iconography, suggesting a continued use throughout this period. **End Summary** Topics: San pedro]]> cactus]]> plant spirit shamanism]]> the andes]]> shamanism]]> healing]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> divination]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--San-pedro/210629 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--SHINTO/210626 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 spiritual and psychological effect such as the clarity of mind brought about by its refreshing qualities which ‘blow away our cobwebsâ€' and help us see more clearly. Kami, then, are the guardian spirits of the land, but also of occupations, skills, talents, virtues, deeds or admirable actions, as well as our ancestors and sacred dead, all of which have an ‘essenceâ€' which infuses our lives. In short, they are the divine forces of nature, representing the beauty and power of life in all its forms. **End Summary** Topics: Plant spirit shamanism]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> healing]]> japan]]> shinto]]> buddhism]]> kami]]> ]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--SHINTO/210626 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--The-Way-of-The-Lover---Sufi-healing/210625 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. Flowers heal, it is said, because they possess dhat. This is the spirit of God and the essence of every flower that ever was, is, or can be. Shamans say the same: that every plant is all plants, so that lavender is not just a lavender, but all lavenders; and since all lavenders are not just a member of their species, but part of the entire plant kingdom, they are not just one flower either, but carry the potency and spirit of all plants. This shamanic concept also illustrates the magical Law of Similarity” referred to by Sir James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough, which states that like attracts like. **End Summary** Topics: Sufi]]> Sufism]]> Islam]]> healing]]> Rumi]]> plant spirit shamanism]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> Prophet]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--The-Way-of-The-Lover---Sufi-healing/210625 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/PLANT-SPIRIT-SHAMANISM/210623 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”. Though our lands are no longer forested as they were, we try to recreate a sense of their beauty and tranquillity in our gardens, parks, and the green spaces in our cities, giving us at least a taste of Nature with which we can sustain ourselves against the soulless backdrop of the steel and concrete jungles that are our homes today. For many people, plants are still the messengers of divinity, harmony, and beauty. They are also the source of our health and wellbeing, not just as medicines but in their ability to relax, refresh, or excite us. Some deep part of us knows that the healing power of plants is inherent in what they are as much as what they do. **End Summary** Topics: plant spirit shamanism]]> soul retrieval]]> soul loss]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> healing]]> folk medicine]]> folk healing]]> sin eater]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/PLANT-SPIRIT-SHAMANISM/210623 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Soul-retrieval-through-Nature/210621 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. 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 coming of Spring, have lost much of their purpose and meaning, and our connection to nature is weakened. In turn, our souls, individually and collectively, have become weak and, despite our great wealth and ‘powerâ€', many traditional societies regard us as the poorest people on Earth. Healing soul loss, as you might sense from this, often involves the shaman reconnecting his patient to nature, so she is restored to balance and her spirit has a safe, strong, whole, place to return to. In Japan, one method is to accompany the patient (or advise her to go on her own) on a walk into nature to find and make contact with a particular tree that calls to her. **End Summary** Topics: Plant Spirit Shamanism]]> soul loss]]> soul retrieval]]> healing]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> magic]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Soul-retrieval-through-Nature/210621 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--What-s-Up-With-The-Weather-/210619 Plant spirit shamans natural healers who work with herbs, ritual, and the elements have long known that the world is not made up of discrete and separate parts, but that we are all one: that the ‘butterfly effectâ€' of a single extra drop of water released from a cloud into a Gloucestershire river could eventually lead to flooding in the distant streets of London. Through Gaia Theory and a more informed understanding in recent years of how the natural world, the environment, and the climate really works, some scientists are also coming round to the shamanâ€'s age-old view of the connections between all things. How might these scientists and the shamans counter some of the current scepticism about ‘carbon footprintsâ€' and climate change, and what might they say about the ‘freak weather conditionsâ€' many of us have been experiencing lately? What are the objections of the sceptics, what are the facts, and what are scientists and modern-day shamans saying? DOES CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING? The sceptics say there is no proof” of this. But proof is not the job of science, which deals, in fact, with the art of probabilities. **End Summary** Topics: Plant spirit shamanism]]> nature]]> environment]]> shamanism]]> climate change]]> healing]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> weather]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--What-s-Up-With-The-Weather-/210619 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Shamanic-plant-healing/210618 Shamanic healing with plants is hardly ever and certainly never solely about administering ‘medicineâ€' 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 ‘luckâ€', or the healing of the soul through the energy of the plants, and not their physical attributes at all. The aim of a plant shaman, in fact, is not even to cure a ‘conditionâ€', but to remove its spiritual cause by restoring in his patient a sense of balance, harmony and reconnection to the sacred and the Earth. This balance and at-one-ment is regarded as the natural state of human beings and once the patient experiences it again, the illness (which was a messenger of disconnection rather than a condition in itself) has no need to remain and will magically disappear. The plant is an intermediary in this, playing the role of doctor, counsellor, confessor, therapist, or friend whatever the patient or the shaman needs it to be, in fact, in order for balance to be restored - rather than a source of medicinal or chemical properties. **End Summary** Topics: Plant Spirit Shamanism]]> soul loss]]> soul retrieval]]> healing]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> aromatherapy]]> homeopathy]]> teacher plants]]> ]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Shamanic-plant-healing/210618 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Planta-maestras--the-shaman-s-teachers--part-2/210617 MOCURA/MUCURA: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL STRENGTH One of the qualities of this plant is its ability to boost oneâ€'s psychological and emotional strength. For this reason it is regarded as a ‘great balancerâ€', restoring connection and equilibrium between our rational mind and feelings. For example, it is good at countering shyness and can enhance oneâ€'s sense of personal value and authority by helping to overcome painful memories (of past embarrassments and ‘failuresâ€', etc). Mocura is also used in floral baths to both cleanse and protect against malevolent forces such as sorcery and envidia (envy). Its medicinal properties include relief from asthma, bronchitis, and the reduction of fat and cholesterol. In the West, there are a number of plants that have similar effects and bring calm and balance to the soul. These include lavender - which Pliny regarded as so powerful that even looking upon it brings peace - meadowsweet, pine, and rosemary. Burning pine needles will purify the atmosphere of a house and a pine branch hung over the front door will bring harmony and joy to the home. **End Summary** Topics: Plant Spirit Shamanism]]> soul loss]]> healing]]> herbs]]> herbalism]]> aromatherapy]]> homeopathy]]> teacher plants]]> stalking]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Love"'s Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his Sacred Journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon. Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism--Planta-maestras--the-shaman-s-teachers--part-2/210617