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I wrote the essay below back in 2013 in an effort to explain my work as a chaplain and tie that work into my "earthy" spiritual roots.  I have recently started training in shamanic practices and find what I wrote below even more true now than when I wrote it a couple of years ago.  I hope to be able to continue to explore the similarities of shamanism and professional chaplaincy.

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in Shamanism.  In my spiritual journey I've only touched upon shamanism; however, what I do know about shamanism gets me thinking about the similarity between shamanism and chaplaincy.  What I know about shamans is that they are typically considered a type of "wounded healer."  A shaman must have been sick to understand sickness.  A chaplain is like this too.  A chaplain deals with the spiritual and emotional pain of others.

Ides of March, 2016

That's what a fellow said to me in a dream last night. I had found myself in an alternate reality where I was still in my twenties, and employed in an automotive shop. I'd been given the job of coming in early the next morning and cleaning all the grease and oil off the concrete floor of a huge garage, which had been completely emptied to make my task easier. But when I got there, I found that huge slabs of the floor had been cracked and shifted and were lying on top of each other. Obviously, there had been a massive earthquake during the night. The devastation threatened to bring the whole building down on itself, with cinder blocks crushing anyone caught inside.

This year's theme was Social Justice.

Sunday, January 25

Topics of interest in this video: Thomas Morton, three ways of interpreting "Nature", and questions of legitimacy/ establishing a religion as valid in the eyes of other religions. And wind. Lots of wind.

This is Ch. 2 of Her Hidden Children by Chas Clifton reviewed by moi, Travis on my youtube channel, Pagan Scholar. Enjoy!

I've been watching the 2016 Republican primaries with great interest. While many people seem dumbfounded and horrified by the fact that Donald Trump seems to be coming out on top as the potential Republican candidate, it hasn't surprised me in the least. After all, what the Donald has, at least on an unconscious level is a pop culture mythology that he's built around him, which easily exceeds what his rivals have.

I'm not a Republican myself, and I don't agree with Trump's stance on the issues, but I think it's important to explore, from a magical angle, just what is going on and why Donald is Trumping America (at least in the short term).

The last few weeks have been particularly difficult for a number of reasons. I generally write on broader topics, and this is no exception, but there is a crucial personal thread in this tapestry.

This week I stumbled on two posts I will share that resonated with me. One has to do specifically with the energies of the full moon we just experienced, and the other focuses on the idea of karmic contracts: