A local woman brought Reiki into our community and my curiosity was piqued because it was Energy work. After 2 1/2 years I became a Reiki Master Teacher because I found efficiency, effectiveness, and beauty in its simplicity. In 1998 I began teaching and have taught nationwide, at Johnson State College as an adjunct, and out of my home practice Indigenous Roots. I’ve now taught hundreds of students. During this time my son Grady was born in Greensboro, Vermont at home.

Soon after he was born, we moved to Stannard, Vermont. One day I was up in the woods snowshoeing, feeling lost, and praying hard for a teacher. The next day, Sky and I went back up to heal a fight that we had had. As we were snowshoeing, I saw a brown lump laying in the snow ahead of us. I immediately knew what it was. It was the biggest moose antler I’ve ever seen in my life. I didn’t have any tobacco to lay down, so I pulled out a hair and left it in exchange for the antler. The end was still pink and wet, the antler itself smelled of pine. The next day I went up to take an offering and felt movement off to my left. There was a huge bull moose with one antler on its head, and I knew this was the moose that had gifted his antler to me. I also knew this was connected to the prayers I had cried out. The moose gracefully and very slowly backed up, one step at a time, and after about 20 minutes left me alone to cry and give gratitude. Seeking answers to what this meant, I called my friend Annie McCleary. She directed me to a workshop where there was a wait list, to spend the weekend with Martin Pretchel.

I got into that workshop and I did a few other workshops with him as well, and learned about gratitude and giving back to the spirits. He teaches about the importance of honoring grief. He’s also an incredible story teller, his stories having layers of meaning. Eventually I learned about a Peruvian and Brazilian husband and wife team who were coming to Vermont to teach South American Shamanism. This was a one-year apprenticeship with them. Over the course of the year there was a group of people that I looked forward to drinking coffee with in the morning. We got to know each other pretty well over the year.

On the last day of the training, one of the grandmothers who was blind, asked me to help her. At that time, she asked if I would consider being in their Medicine Lodge. Explaining that I would be on probation for six months, and at the end of that time if they felt I was a good fit and if I determined they were a good fit, we would continue on together. At the end of that six months I was initiated into their Medicine Lodge. It was held in the Northeast Kingdom and I was in the lodge for seven years. During that time, I took various workshops with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. The leader of the Medicine Lodge was trained by Michael Harner and a graduate of his three-year shamanic program. She was also Abenaki. She told us that we were to never share the ceremonies that she taught us and I have never spoken of them to anyone. After seven years it was time to leave the group. The other grandmother left the group as well. She was a pipe carrier and also full-blooded Abenaki. She worked with me and gave me the pipe teachings for over two years. There was a small group of us that traveled all over Vermont and southern Canada doing pipe ceremony for the earth and the people. The spirits told her I was to become a pipe carrier, meaning I could teach others the sacred teachings. So far, I’ve only taught a handful of people. She requested of a lodge leader in our group that I become trained as a water pourer for sweat lodge. I was taught in the traditional way, including learning the songs, and fasted for a total of 10 days, during which I had to carve another pipe. This Elder is still alive and I still meet with her twice a month, and she just recently gave me the great honor of gifting me her pipe.

This path has not been easy, there have been many tests. Grief has cooked my bones down to a soft understanding. I acknowledge white privilege and know that I have benefited from this. It’s important for us to educate ourselves on systemic racism, and for me to educate my students about it, and to be present as an ally to people of color and to people marginalized because of gender or sexual orientation. All people are equal. It’s been important to give back when I’ve been the recipient of important and sacred teachings. This path has been my life since I was in my 20’s, and I’m now 60. I am a supporter of indigenous people’s rights, sending prayers, provisions, and money whenever I can. When I meet with my Elder, the one who calls me granddaughter, she asks if I am still teaching. I say yes, and she says good. I have native blood, I have Siberian blood, I have Irish and Scottish blood, I have English blood and German blood. There have been those that have tried to stop me, but I will continue on. I will keep walking this path, with respect to all beings.

Walking the in-between places, in the realm of unlimited possibility, is my specialty and passion, where I was born and live. Supporting people gently, lovingly, sometimes fiercely, as they surrender to the destruction of the false self, which includes soul-sickness and colonized amnesia, and gradually reclaim authenticity, roots, and a deep sense of connection, is a sacred and holy thing. This is accomplished with integrity and deep respect for the individual's own inner guidance and unyielding love for the earth. Divorce, death, depression, job-change, and environmental grief can catapult one into this place of initiation.