The
Medicine Wheel Way:
Chuluaqui-Quodoushka Teachings
of Spiritual Sexuality
by Stephanie Wadell
the journal of divine eroticism
ecstasy Volume II Number 2
UNTIL RECENTLY, ANCIENT TEACHINGS merging spirituality and sexuality have been hidden from us. There has been a rediscovery of shamanism and with this the teachings of Native Americans have come to light. The Chuluaqui-Quodoushka (CHOO-lakway Kwuh-DOE-shka) Medicine Wheel way has recently been revealed at the discretion of Harley Swiftdeer, a metis (mixed blood) of Cherokee (clan of the Tsalagi Aniyunwiya) and Irish descent.
The Chuluaqui-Quodoushka teachings were once secret rituals and ceremonies that were taught and practiced with the guidance of a Firewoman or Fireman. A Fireperson was trained as a sexual educator, initiator, or facilitator. Years of training sponsored by a council of Grandmothers (women of wisdom and knowledge) were required before a person could assume the role of Firewoman or Fireman. In this way, sexuality and spirituality were integrated to create the appropriate reverence for one's body, mind, and spirit. A path of spiritual sexuality provides an awareness for being in right relationship with all that is, with everything, and with nature - the true reality. Called Fire Medicine, the ChuluaquiQuodoushka teachings were part of a rite of passage for adolescents (however, there is no term for or concept of "adolescence" in Native American nations). Upon entering puberty, men and women were understood to be adults. A rite of passage was held; each individual was sponsored by a Grandmother.
A vision quest was formalized. The quest was done over a period of time, beginning with a sweat lodge for purification and fasting for clarity of mind. Upon the young person's return from the vision quest, a council of Grandmothers selected the appropriate "fire person" to become their sexual educator or initiator.
Each Firewoman or Fireman had been through years of training that included medicine wheel teachings, ceremonies to honor passages of time (individually and in connection with nature), techniques that involved breathing practices, understanding of energy vortices, explanations of the female and male aspect of each individual, how to balance energy centers within one's body and mind and how to do this with another, understanding one's sexual strengths and "gifts", the study of genital anatomy types, and role playing with the Lover's Mask Medicine Wheel (sexual personae within us that we act out consciously and subconsciously in relationship to another).
Spiritual sexuality can be a
powerful political statement.
The heart-pleasuring ceremony (a process of selfstimulation using rhythmic breathing, visualizations, pelvic movements, and energy centers within the body to integrate the body, mind, and spirit with an intention of healing) and the Fire-breath organism were taught as the young person advanced in knowledge and experience. Levels and types of orgasm were understood and practiced. Ceremonial ways of achieving a blissful state of union with another were also taught.
The impact of understanding one's sexuality in these ways gave an individual a sense of self-awareness, self-knowledge, and self-esteem. The result was the ability to make conscious, responsible sexual choices. The first experience of sex was not about romantic love and fostering dependencies; instead, it was about knowledge, pleasure, and personal power, e.g., self-esteem.
My initiation as a Firewoman came in 1986 at an advanced Quodoushka ceremony. I had been studying the rituals and techniques of the ChuluaquiQuodoushka teachings since 1983. Healing the sexual-spiritual split within myself through a variety of ceremonies and initiations inspired me to take a vow to bring the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka teachings to the general public. This path of sacred sexuality, with an emphasis on our connection to nature, gave me the tools for ecstatic enhancement.
Practicing as a Firewoman today is done somewhat differently than it was in the ancient aboriginal cultures. Of course, we are not allowed to practice with children under the age of consent, although this is who would benefit the most. In modern society there is no ritual or ceremony for moving into adulthood. Young people should be receiving guidance from elders who are sex-positive and understanding. In today's culture, young people are inundated with erotic messages and then condemned for sexual behaviors. Double messages exist everywhere. At the risk of life and death, the AIDS epidemic has forced us to talk about sexual behaviors. It is taboo very early on to touch oneself, to talk about "it", or to do "it" with another. Consequently, young people have no opportunity to develop an appropriate understanding of their feelings, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors with regard to sexuality.
I would like to see the rituals and ceremonies of the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka teachings become a natural part of our "education" and development. In my own practice I have combined the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka teachings with other disciplines to increase my knowledge and ability to help others in their sexual healing process. For example, part of my background and training includes a Master's degree from the University of San Francisco in Counseling Psychology. Also, I have been practicing hypnotherapy since 1984 and I have studied body therapies since 1982. I enjoy using the medicine wheel approach to psychology as it is the most holistic system I have ever studied. The importance of ritual and ceremony done with the guidance of a Forewoman or Fireman, shaman, or medicine person contributes to developing sexual/spiritual alignment.
The Medicine Wheel way of the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka empowers the spirit through sexual knowledge and pleasure. Sexual experiences can bring us to a feeling of "oneness", a merging of energies within ourselves, a merging with our partner(s), and a connection with nature as a common reality. When an aspect of spirituality is combined with a sexual, ecstatic experience, we are freed from being dependent on another to fulfill our needs and wants. Without the integration of spirituality and sexuality, fantasies of dependency and childhood needs are activated. Perhaps this is what Sigmund Freud was struggling to understand and categorize.
. . . wars will stop when men and
women stop the wars between
themselves in the bedroom.
The spiritual-sexual split
The Chuluaqui-Quodoushka teachings expanded my awareness of the split between sexuality and spirituality so prevalent in Western European culture. Sigmund Freud was the first to discuss childhood sexual instincts and devise a paradigm of psycho-sexual development. Along with other thinkers of his culture, Freud tended to be dualistic in nature (separating the body from the spirit and the mind). Freud's inhibited development was studied within a system of pathology popularized by medicine in the 19th century. Guilt was the primary result of behaviors that were associated with sexual instincts. It was believed that childhood events and patterns of infancy had to be understood in order to overcome one's past. Freud made some wonderful discoveries and important contributions but misinterpreted them because of his cultural conditioning and his particular orientation to pathology.
To understand the dualism that influenced Freud, and which permeates our culture today - casting a shadow upon our individual experiences of sensuality - it can be helpful to go back 1500 years before Freud. St. Augustine was battling with his own subconscious. His desires and instincts for pleasure were a constant torment to him. He was informed by the Church that to be close to God was to denounce the natural desires of his body. Often times today we may experience this same conflict. We may associate feelings of sexual arousal and pleasure with guilt. Due to our cultural conditioning we may find ourselves in relationships that are motivated by ego-drives instead of spiritual-drives. For some, orgasm can briefly unite these two drives. However, uniting spirituality and sexuality, as other cultures practiced, integrates the body, mind, and spirit, creating an understanding and feeling of "oneness."
Following Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung attempted to broaden his thought processes concerning human behavior; he was more concerned with the "unknowable" and the dream state. Defining universal thinking patterns of personalities, called archetypes, Jung sought to incorporate the individual psyche and the collective psyche. Jung was one of the few great European thinkers to naturally combine spirituality and sexuality, merging them as essential aspects of nature and human nature. Perhaps if he had delved with greater depth into the teachings of the medicine wheels throughout North, South, and Central America (which he knew only as spiritual symbols), he would have written more extensively on holistic psychotherapy, combining spirituality and sexuality.
Spiritual sexuality can be a powerful political statement. By claiming our natural right to experience our bodies, minds, and spirits in ways that go beyond certain biological or reproductive requirements we cangain access to personal power, self-esteem, and conscious living.
In the 1940's Wilhelm Reich commented on this state of affairs: "Since the emergence of the patriarchy, the natural pleasure of work and activity has been replaced by compulsive duty. The average structure of masses of people has been transformed into a distorted structure marked by impotence and fear of life. This distorted structure not only forms the psychological basis of authoritarian dictatorship, it enables these dictatorships to justify themselves by pointing to human attitudes such as irresponsibility and childishness. The international catastrophe through which we are living is the ultimate consequence of this alienation from life. The structuring of masses of people to be blindly obedient to authority is brought about not by natural parental love, but by authoritarian family. The suppression of the sexuality of small children and adolescents is the chief means of producing this obedience.[1]
Wilhelm Reich understood the importance of childhood sexuality. When suppression is the standard practice in a young person's life responsible choices are also denied. A young person in Western culture is not thought to have the capability to make responsible choices, sexually or otherwise. When suppression begins at an early age, the child learns that he or she is incapable of understanding feelings and making choices that are the result of those feelings. Females and males alike suffer from this lack of self-esteem that is directly related to their thwarted sexual drives.
Different from Western culture, Native Americans believed in the responsibility of young people to attend to the details of family life. Sensuality and sexual responsibility were a part of their awareness. Spirituality was understood to exist in everything, in all the worlds-plant, mineral, animal, human, and spirit. Each "world" was honored as having a sacred place on Grandmother Earth. The expression of sexual energy was observed in all things. Young people were taught to be responsible for their feelings and their behaviors. As the skin of their feet touched the skin of the Earth a sensuality was experienced, a sense of honor was expressed.
Combining an aspect of spirituality with our natural feelings and desires gives us the appropriate relationship to honoring ourselves and others. When we feel a sense of honor towards ourselves and others, then we have the capacity to honor the Earth, to walk lightly and with respect. The Native Americans lived this way for thousands of years.
As these ancient and once secret teachings become available to others we can embrace a holistic approach to living and dying. We can transform our dualistic, linear, and pathology-based systems of psychotherapy into a holistic, intuitive, and spiritual process of integrating sexuality into a model of healing and selfdiscovery. The Medicine Wheel offers us the way to do this; by traveling the wheel we can gain knowledge of our place in the universe, individually and collectively. Our eyes are opened to viewing all people as mirrors for each of us. We can stop being blinded by the surface of things. With new eyes we can see the commonality in all colors of peoples.
"Sweet Medicine" - Finding a path
I discovered these powerful teachings in 1983, studying with three metis Medicine Men-Grandfather Roberts (1890-1988), Keetowah (the Crystal Godfather, 1916-1987), and Harley Swiftdeer (1940-2013). These studies introduced me to rituals, ceremonies, and initiations that transformed my thoughts, my feelings, and my behaviors, sexually and spiritually.
I began the journey of the Sweet Medicine Sundance path with great enthusiasm and a willingness to change. The term, "medicine", is conceived of differently than in white man's terminology. Medicine connects us to the Great Spirit, to all that is, brings knowledge and awakens one's personal power and "gift" (why one is here). Incorporating the traditional and ancient teachings of the Native Americans with the Medicine Wheel teachings of the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka, a holistic approach is applicable to understanding the forces that create one's perceptions, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors.
I was seeking an understanding of how to live in an ecstatic state of harmonious sensuality lightly touching the Earth healing myself, and others. The Sweet Medicine Sundance path introduced me to many healing practices; for example, the drum, the gourd, the sweat lodge, sand paintings, kachini dances, kiva ceremonies, ways oflistening to Grandmother Earth and healing her, the Dreamer's Sundance, the Firewoman initiation, and most sacred of all, the pipe ceremony. These traditions were once taught orally, drawn as diagrams in the Earth and passed down from one generation to the next in the form of stories, rituals, ceremonies, vision quests, chanting, drumming, dancing, and were understood in a circular philosophy of interconnectedness. The time has arrived in which writing (a linear approach) has become a new way of teaching. It is always best to understand these teachings with the guidance of a shaman or medicine person by experiencing the multidimensional levels of transformation, i.e., mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and sexually.
In 1984 I attended an event sponsored by the Ojai Foundation, a month long program called "Awakening the Dream: the Way of the Warrior". A council of scholars, scientists, shamans, and spiritual teachers gathered together to explore through discourse and practice the patterns that connect the sacred with the scientific in order to awaken compassion for all living creatures, including the Earth. The leaders of the program were R.D. Laing, Joan Halifax, and Harley Swiftdeer. The "natural", sacred laws of the Cherokee Nation were honored at the month long program. These were stated as:
1) Everything is born of woman.
2) Let nothing be done to harm the children.
During this time Swiftdeer spoke of the importance of woman "taking her power" by understanding all aspects of her sexuality. He suggested that the wars will stop when men and women stop the wars between themselves in the bedroom. An introduction to the ChuluaquiQuodoushka teachings was presented. Sexuality was presented as the "center of the medicine wheel", meaning that it could become a way of incorporating the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual aspects of being a human. By understanding our own orgasm and orgasmic energy, we could build a platform of sexual healing and union with another.
Soon after this gathering I attended a Quodoushka workshop. We gathered at a private residence. The atmosphere was intense as we all sat in ignorance and shame surrounding our feelings and concepts concerning sexuality. At the time most of us had little or no understanding of how to combine spirituality and sexuality or why it was important. We felt that we were not satisfied with our sex lives and that there had to be more than what was currently being exchanged between our lovers and/or partners.
For 3 1/2 days we shared our experiences and sexual agendas with the "talking stick" (a way of sharing our thoughts a nd feelings verbally without any interruptions). We practiced ceremonies and rituals that had been traditionally taught by a Firewoman or Fireman, the traditional title for a leader of this discipline. We began to replace our old and often repressive sexual concepts and feelings with a more holistic approach, becoming aware of how sexuality could be experienced as a way to express all the levels of our being emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual.
During the course of the 3 1/2 days some of us would experience states of ecstatic union with another; some of us would be disappointed but willing to do more work to unblock the energy centers in our bodies; some of us would feel like we had come home to a place of honor and respect for all of our sexual feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors.
The Pipe Ceremony
The pipe ceremony opened the workshop. We sat in a circle and watched as the pipe was filled, lit, and smoked.
As the pipe was smoked in all four
directions, the winds outside began
to howl and the trees bent over.
Swiftdeer called in the Powers of the Four Directions, the worlds (plant, animal, mineral, human, and spirit), and we stated our intentions for the weekend. On a symbolic level, we were told, the pipe represents thejoining offemale (the bowl) and male (the stem) energies with the breath, symbolically igniting the spiritual-sexual fire that lives in us all. Similarly, the bowl of the pipe is seen as the receptacle that holds tobacco and other herbs, combining male and female energies. The stem of the pipe represents the male entering the female and oparking life. In the coming together of female and male, the connection to the divine energy of the Great Spirit was made.
As the pipe was smoked in all four directions, the winds outside began to howl and the trees bent over. It had been perfectly still before.
Figure 1. Medicine Wheel
We were lucky to feel a strong connection with nature. Sometimes when the pipe is smoked a quietness descends and there is a clarity of mind that results. The smoke is prayer made visible. The pipe ceremony helps to focus our intentions and purify the heart. A sacred atmosphere was created, forming a spiritual bond that remained with us as a group for the entire weekend. This bond was seen symbolically as the pipe. In the final ceremony the pipe was taken apart in honor of the two sacred laws, mentioned earlier.
The Medicine Wheel
One of the most relevant aspects of that Quodoushka weekend was the concept of the Medicine Wheel, a spiritual concept and tool that is found in almost evety indigenous culture throughout the world. It is interesting to note that there were approximately 20,000 Medicine Wheels that existed on Turtle Island (North, South, and Central America) before European people migrated here.
Sun Bear states in his book, Dancing with the Wheel: The Medicine Wheel Workbook, "Forms of the Medicine Wheel exist all around the globe from the great stone circles of Europe to the mandalas oflndia. All of these are reminders of our past when the world was guided by the law of right relationship, and humans respected themselves and all their relations - mineral, plant, animal, spirit - on the Earth Mother. Leaming about the Medicine Wheel can help you remember your connection with all these aspects of the universe.[2]
The Sacred Hoop or Circle teaches us to think and experience our lives through a non-linear approach, similar to a "holographic" thought process. For modem man it is a way to experience rather than analyze. A Medicine Wheel can be a circle of people who have gathered together (such as the Ojai Foundation Council) to share information, stories, or knowledge. It can be a circle of rocks laid out on the ground to designate and meditate on sacred aspects of life and death. There is no beginning and no end to a medicine wheel; you travel the circle gaining another perspective from each viewing place.
The most basic teaching wheel of the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka is common to all Native Americans. There are 9 aspects of this wheel the cardinal directions (North, East, South, West), the non-cardinal directions (Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest), and the Center (the Void). The center is viewed as the catalytic energy which "spins" the wheel. Each direction has a color, an element, a "world" (plant, mineral, animal, human, spirit), a human aspect (an emotion or feeling), an expression of self, a heavenly body, a manifestation (for example, art, music, science etc.), and, in the advanced Quodoushka teachings, a "shield".
Each direction encompasses the "light" (individuation, creativity, freedom of expression) and the "dark" (the shadow or secret, shameful side in which you are at effect and not at cause) expression of human nature.
The best way to think of the medicine wheel is that it allows us to take in and process information about our lives and the world without fragmenting it or removing small elements from the whole.
Figure 2. Star Maiden's Circle
We are always part of the whole instead of pieces of it.
Depicted in Figure 1. is a Medicine Wheel of the Powers of the Four Directions and the five levels of being: emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, and sexual. Briefly, the emotional aspect (South) can be defined as "I feel", the mental aspect (North) as "I think", the physical aspect (West) as "I do", the spiritual aspect (East) as "I actualize", and the sexual aspect (Center) as "I catalyze".
The Star-Maiden's Circle
The Star-Maiden's Circle (see Figure 2.) is the main wheel of the Sweet Medicine Sundance teachings. In the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka teachings there are medicine wheels within medicine wheels. The qualities and powers of the eight directions provide us with guidelines for exploring aspects of ourselves.
In the South, we have the concept of mythologies and entertainment. These arepersonal scripts that we "believe" about ourselves; we entertain ourselves with certain thoughts and beliefs. On the dark side, these mythologies restrict and limit us; for example, "If I express my full sexual passion, then I will lose control and others will disapprove." On the light side, these mythologies bring us beauty and joy; for example, "If I express my full sexual passion, then I will experience true intimacy and lovemaking will be ecstatic." In the Southwest, we have the symbols of our life experiences. Symbols are the basic building blocks of communication and understanding. Closed symbols are ones that we associate with fear and uncertainty. Seen as limitations, we are at effect and not at cause in our personal expression. Opening a "closed symbol" brings us a sense of power and freedom, for example, think of the practice of oral sex; does this bring up feelings of disgust or feelings of excitement?
In the West, we have the idea of the daydream. This is the place of introspection and intuition. Our dreams are born here and we begin to nurture our dreams into physical manifestation. On the dark side, we get enmeshed in the "dreaming", that we cannot actualize, for example, we think that meeting our "soulmate" would solve all of our problems. On the light side, there is an expression of great activity as we get excited about making plans, for example, we dream about creating a sensual experience for ourselves or our partner(s). The "dream" is the seed.
In the Northwest, we have rules and laws. These are our own conditions about how things and people should be and act. We place boundaries on ourselves and others. Rules and laws indicate our moralities. On the dark side, rules and laws limit and imprison us with an expression of rigidity, for example, "I never do oral sex with a person until they have made a commitment to me." On the light side, rules and laws keep us in harmony with "natural law" and the two sacred laws, for example, "I will always honor my true feelings of sexual passion."
In the North, we have philosophies and beliefs. These are mental frameworks that we think about ourselves and others, life and death. These are a broader definition of how things work and our roles in the production of life and death (different from mythologies which are personal scripts). On the dark side, these are restrictive and limit us in expressing ourselves with honor and gentleness, for example, "It is wrong to have more than one sexual partner." On the light side, these are philosophies and beliefs which empower us and promote our growth and contribute to gaining insights, for example, "The orgasmic energy that I feel is in tune with nature and is embodied with a sense of healing."
In the Northeast, we have our choreography of energy. This is the place of illumination and enlightenment; we design our "energy" of body, mind, and spirit within this concept. We choreograph our life and death. On the dark side, we use our energy in ways that create imbalance with ourselves, others, and the world
Merging spirituality and sexuality
creates an integrated person, one
who has a holistic perspective...
around us, for example, when we consent to a sexual experience because someone else wants us at a time when we feel our energy as low. On the light side, we choreograph our energy to bring balance and harmony with ourselves and with others, for example, when we choose to engage in a sexual experience because we truly want to participate.
In the East, we have fantasy. Fantasy is imagination that is directly connected to a spiritual aspect. Fantasy is the bigger picture than the daydream of the West. More elements are involved in this creation. On the dark side, we have fantasies that keep us in illusion or those that are harmful to others, for example, "I wish that he/she will never experience sexual fulfillment with another." On the light side, there are fantasies that teach us about unconditional sexual-spiritual intimacy, for example, "I love myself just the way I am and I awaken my god/goddess aspect whenever I do the heart pleasuring ceremony."
In the Southeast, we have self-concepts. This is how we perceive ourselves in all aspects of our "beingness", emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexually. On the dark side, we experience attachment, dependency, judgments, comparisons, unfulfilled expectations, and lack of self-esteem, for example, "I am not a worthwhile person if I do not have a partner." On the light side, we experience self-awareness and appreciation, self-acceptance, self-pleasure, self-love, and selfactualization (we can accomplish what we have dreamed and fantasized), for example, "I am a joyous, worth while person expressing my sexuality in honor of myself and others."
Integration - Individuation
Merging spirituality and sexuality creates an integrated person, one who has a holistic perspective, a sense of personal power, and self-esteem. This combination creates a healing process fot most people who were raised in a sex-negative, repressive culture in which the church and the state have chosen to segregate spirituality and sexuality.
In order to integrate our feelings and concepts of spirituality (a meaningful purpose to life and death in terms of a force greater than ourselves) and our feelings and concepts of sexuality (a heightened state of body, mind, and emotional awareness) it is necessary to follow a disciplined path. The Chuluaqui-Quodoushka ceremonies, rituals, and techniques (similar to Tantra but based on a medicine wheel approach incorporating levels and types of orgasms) can teach us a way of integration if done with discipline and guidance.
The integration of spirituality and sexuality creates a way of living with honor; self-respect; and self-esteem to ourselves, to each other, and to the planet as a collective family. Thinking back to my high school education concerning the constitution, I remember that Jefferson had studied the ways of the Iroquois Nation and pondered whether or not he should include the sacred laws and the law that is part of the second one, "whatever decision we make today, we must consider the seventh generation." 500 years later, Western culture is beginning to embrace some of the ways of the Native Americans.
We have begun taking a closer look at the shamans and alchemists of ancient times, discovering that beyond what we once thought were "superstitions" are truths that can guide us to a deeper meaning of being a human. As we approach the year 2000, we recognize the importance of inter-cultural and inter-disciplenary exchange to foster the advent of a planetary culture.
What we do not know about spiritual sexuality dwarfs what we do know. Disciplines like the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka, Tantra, and Taoism can expand our capacity to receive and give pleasure and in so doing bring our bodies, minds, and spirits into an appropriate alignment with all that is. We become medicine wheels of knowledge for ourselves and others.
Notes:
1. Reich, W The Function of the Orgasm, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1973, pg. 8.
2. Bear, S. Dancing with the Wheel: The Medicine Wheel Workbook, Prentice Hall Press, New York, 1991, pg. 2.
Through private consultations, public lectures, and seminars, Stephanie Wadell carries on the "tradition" of the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka Firewoman rituals and ceremonies. She bases her own insights on this body of knowledge. Her formal graduate education includes a Master's degree (Counseling Psychology) from the University of San Francisco. Her practicing techniques also include applications of Eriksonian hypnotherapy. Stephanie enjoys working in a discipline of focused practice; for example, one to two week long intensives with individuals and couples. For further information, private consultations, or seminar estrangements, please contact Stephanie Wadell at: PO Box 60971 Palo Alto, CA 94306
The Legend of Harley Swiftdeer-Chief of the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka Teachings, A Medicine Wheel View of Spirituality Harley Swiftdeer is a strange mixture of Irish and Cherokee blood with a bit of Texan thrown in for accent. As a Shaman and Warrior, he is currently a member of the Twisted Hairs Metis (of mixed blood) Medicine Society. This council of elders is a tribe of traditional Medicine men and women, shamans, magicians, and healers from Turtle Island (North and South America). Dating back to 1250 AD, the Twisted Hairs shared sacred knowledge with all peoples. Known as "braids of truth," this knowledge was usually passed down orally. The written form also took place on Grandmother Earth herself, with permanent drawings and medicine wheels.
Chain smoking clove cigarettes and chain drinking Dr. Peppers, Swiftdeer warns, "Don't believe anything I say, instead, find out for yourself." As a coyote shaman, Swiftdeer teaches with an intent of playfulness and chaos. As he continues to take the teachings and practices of the Native Americans on the road to heal Grandmother Earth, he embodies those truths that shamans have always worked to bring about balance within the chaotic movement of the universe.
Swiftdeer has established the Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society which he chiefs. His staff of apprentices coordinate the activities of the Rainbow Powers Educational and Healing Center in Los Angeles, California (818 285-9062) and in Scottsdale, Arizona with teachings, ceremonies, and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and other countries.