Santa Cruz Shaman

Aama’s pictures and December Schedule of Events to post soon.

I was able to have some truly fabulous professional photos of Aama and the group healing taken. I will post the as soon as I get them from the photographer.

I will also be posting some upcoming events although because of the holidays they are fewer than typical. If you sign up to follow my blog you can be assured of receiving notices of these events.

Highlights of Aama’s visit

Aama has left me with joy in my heart. It wasn’t until yesterday that I had time to contemplate her visit. Here are some of my observations.

What a joy to prepare breakfast while she moved through the house and yard chanting mantras and lighting incense.  My humble efforts to use my Nepali Phrasebook lead to lovely conversations. And when that was put aside, without the necessity for conversation, there were lovely shared moments. We had a few minutes to walk on the Esplanade in Capitola where she expressed joy at the sound of the surf. We laughed as she attempted to copy my placement of my feet on the seawall as we sat on one of the benches.  With her short stature this was much more difficult for her. Communication does not depend on language. Despite her longing to return to her home after an extended trip, I loved her ability to be fully present.

From the moment I announced Aama’s forthcoming visit, many wonderful and generous individuals came forward to help. I feel so blessed and thankful to them all. You know who you are and I thank you. My biggest thank you is reserved for Larry Peters who has a lifetime of service to Aama and the other Nepali and Tibetan shamans who are now family to him. He is responsible for making this event possible. I also especially appreciate the support and help of Icasciana Barrs and Diane Wilson from Samadhi Life. I have had the great good fortune to attend one of the Grandmother’s gatherings and can only hope to have more such opportunities. I offer my profound apologies to any who’s needs were not met in the unexpectedly hectic schedule that surrounded Aama’s visit.

Tuesday evening’s healing session was such a joy. Those of you who were present certainly felt the joy, hope, and loving kindness present in the room. Despite long waits and uncomfortable seating, people were so kind and patient. My desire to provide more chairs was squelched in an effort to make the experience as much like it would be in Nepal as possible. I hope those of you with physical discomfort were able to accept it as part of the pilgrimage. It truly saddened me to see your discomfort.

Here are a few mental notes I made during the healings. I share them here in the hope that they might help your understand Aama’s healing process.

• Some problems have physical causes, some karma or life patterns (astrology), and some spiritual. Aama treated the spiritual component which can also positively affect other causes.
• Aama has the wisdom to know which problems she can help and which ones she can’t. That sounds a little like St. Francis, doesn’t it?
• She doesn’t sugar coat bad news while leaving open the possibility of improvement.
• If Aama prescribed that you do some sort of healing ritual, it isn’t as important that you do it perfectly as it is that you hold the proper intention, focus and humility as you perform the ritual.
• Many of those present have their own healing gifts. It is up to each of them to discover how to use those gifts. Regular meditation is one of the best tools available to strengthen those gifts.
• Great comfort is available to all through meditation.

A couple hours into the evening, a lady said to me,” when is she going to start doing healing?”  My eyebrows raised in surprise. I recognized her as a local healer and said, “Aama is doing healings with each person who sits in front of her. These are spiritual healings, not the energy healings you are more familiar with.”  That is a subject I will blog about at another time and only one of several subjects to explore as a result of this event.

At the end of Aama’s visit Larry Peters told me, “In Nepal there is great spirituality but little money. Here there is great wealth but we are hungry for spirituality. It is a good exchange.” I use Aama’s practice of accepting donations rather than setting a specific fee for shamanic services.  It requires a lot of faith in abundance to do so as the cost of living here is about 50 percent higher than it was in Portland. But that is nothing compared to Aama’s situation.

Tibetan refugees in Nepal experience none of the rights of citizenship we take for granted. Even though Aama was born in Nepal, she is still a refugee. She is Tamang, an ethic group from Tibet.  A refugee can never take a job from a citizen nor can a refugee own land. That means there are few sources of income available to refugees. Beautiful Thanka paintings, carpets, and jewelry are traditional Tibetan crafts that provide much of the income of the refugees.

Aama alone supports 14 people.  In addition, in the small refugee camps, as in many poor cultures, there is much sharing with the community. People know that if they don’t share, when they are hungry no one will share with them.  This shared experience draws people together much more closely than any coffee klatch.

I thank you all for your generosity to Aama.  Your money will go into the world and do much good. I also must say, that as an initiated healer in Aama’s tradition, I was able to observe much during the healings that might not have been visible to everyone. I can say for sure that the value received by many of you is much greater than the money exchanged.  So, dear friends, as Thanksgiving is almost upon us, I am holding a prayer of gratitude in my heart and looking for ways to share what I have with those in need.   I encourage you to do the same.