The Spirit Canoe Drumming Circle is based on a six-month commitment, which includes 12 alternate Tuesday night meetings, two all-day Sunday meetings, and an ongoing email list for connection and support between meetings. The circle is open to anyone who has completed the Foundation for Shamanic Studies Basic Workshop. As a member of the circle, you will have the opportunity to learn your own ways of knowing in non-ordinary reality, meet and learn to relate to compassionate spirits of the Upper and Lower Worlds, and develop proficiency with the techniques introduced in the Basic Workshop. These techniques include the divination journey, Power Animal retrieval, the Power Animal Dance, singing your soul song, and other practices. You are welcome to bring requests for healing or divination to the circle for needs that arise in your own life. And you will learn an effective practice for long-distance healing, to respond to requests from friends and family.
For people who've completed one or more FSS advanced weekend workshops, the drumming circle provides the opportunity to practice healing methods you have learned. And you'll explore your non-ordinary reality cosmology further, discovering more about your own personal medicine and metaphorical language. Some experiences the circle has had in the past include journeying to meet new spirit helpers and teachers, information gathering journeys to build the body of shamanic knowledge shared by the circle, responding to pressing needs within the circle, as well as healing requests from others, and responding in core shamanic ways to natural disasters and other crises in the broader community.
I prepare for each drumming circle by journeying to ask my spirit teachers what will be the most beneficial practices to do, or the most relevant shamanic topics to explore. I also welcome requests from circle members for opportunities to do shamanic work in areas that are of interest to them.
The Spirit Canoe drumming circle is generally closed, with new members coming in at specific times, and committing to be part of the group for at least six-months. Continuity of membership, and commitment to attendance, allow an atmosphere of trust and confidence to develop among participants, and allows them to go deeper into their own work, without the distraction of wondering who might or might not be present at a given meeting.
As people continue in the drumming circle over time, they may find that they want to create circles of their own, that may be closer to home, may meet at different times, and may be structured differently, or have a particular focus, such as healing for the earth, or other specific types of shamanic work. Spirit Canoe drumming circle members will be encouraged and supported to create new circles, and expand the practice of shamanism throughout the community.
For more information about the Spirit Canoe Drumming Circle, including cost and meeting dates, please email me at rstaufer@gmail.com for the latest information.
