Having recently completed another Feminist Shamanic Foundations Intensive here at the Center, I'm reflecting on how things went, what seemed to work well, and what I may want to do differently next time.

Over the years, the annual Intensives, which are required for all students and apprentices, have varied widely in scope, content, numbers of people present, and the kind of group dynamics that have been created by combining different energies, medicines, and personalities for a short period (4-10 days) of intense shamanic explorations.

These gatherings tend to bring to the front each person's unresolved issues (including mine!), as well as highlighting some of the things that most Western women find so difficult to do: Shut off cell phones; Be silent for long periods of time; Leave one's issues at the door, and bring only one's shamanic expertise to the circle; Let go of self-interest in the interest of group needs; Focus on what one is contributing to the group experience rather than on what one is getting from it; and many more.

The challenge for me as these issues arise is to help those experiencing them to view and interpret them from a place of feminist shamanic consciousness, rather than ego consciousness, which is always the root cause of all such difficulties. Even for women on a feminist shamanic path, setting Western culture's preferred level of consciousness - ego consciousness- aside in favor of a non-patriarchal approach to being and seeing, even for short periods of time, is a very difficult thing to accomplish.

Over the years I have observed all kinds of things taking place during these gatherings, ranging from the hilarious to the unnerving to the downright chaotic, and have had to learn by the seat of my pants, so to speak, how to handle them as they arose...from the perspective of feminist shamanic consciousness.

This past Intensive was perhaps the most calm and productive we've ever had. For the first time, we were blessed with a very stable group of women who could hold the energies of the four directions, and so were able to create a balanced atmosphere in which a great deal of productive and powerful work was done. We were also blessed with several responses to our work from the natural world- a sudden passing thunderstorm as we began the formal opening ceremony; a strange wind that sounded like sea and surf rushing through the forest as we journeyed outside together to the Ancient Sea Turtle Goddess, whose teaching ground is beneath the sea; and a rain shower at a critical point in our work.

This year, I wanted to make the opening ceremony more formal and defined than it usually is, and my advanced student, who served as my teaching assistant, and who has a background in theater and set design, created a wonderful entrace to the teaching space through which students walked to enter. We also did one of the most powerful group drummings we've ever done.

There are several reasons why I hold the Intensive each summer: to build community (since students are not geographically close and work one-on-one with me throughout the remainder of the year; to gain understanding about the nature and purposes of feminist shamanic ceremony and ritual; to develop the necessary skill and intent to create and follow through on feminist shamanic ceremony and ritual; to experience the power of group journeying and drumming; and to develop a close connection with the Student Medicine Wheel at the Center, which students refurbish and clean together each summer. This year, all of those goals were accomplished, and I am left with a strong feeling of satisfaction about the way things went.