Jill and I are in full swing with our teaching schedule now stretching toward Summer, and we have had wonderful sweet groups this Spring – at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California; at Breitenbush Hotsprings in Oregon; at the Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma; at the Studio Maui in Haiku; and a one day shamanic healing workshop in Sacramento.

At these seminal events, Jill and I regularly witness miracles as our participants utilize the shamanic method to reconnect with their inner sources of power and wisdom as well as with the spirits. These are the entities that reside in the world of things hidden and that typically fall into several different categories.

First, there are the elementals, the spiritual vibrations of the building blocks of the natural world—fire, water, earth, stone, air and even the matrix of Nature herself. These are transpersonal and transrational forces, but because we are drawn to perceive them as beings, some of them may obligingly assume forms meaningful to us in conveying the gifts that they carry—the mythic gnomes (earth beings), the undines (water beings), the friendly mimi spirits (rock beings of the Australian aboriginals), and so forth.

Then there are the spirits of the creatures who live in the natural world, the power animals and power plants some of who may come into connection with us to provide us with power, protection and support. They are typically thought of as helping spirits and they often convey information to us in the early stages of relationship.

A third category is composed of our ancestors—disembodied or discarnate spirits related to us through blood or marriage with whom we may have a special behind-the-scenes relationship. Like us they have lived and suffered and prevailed here on Earth and have now moved on. Some of them continue to have a particular affinity for their kinship groups and are now in the inter-life state from which they may be of service to us in various ways.

Then there are the higher organizing intelligences who no longer embody but who have great love for those of us still engaged in our ongoing cycle of incarnations. These include the saints (ascended masters) and the angelic forces, many of whom are in service to humanity as teachers. Among them we have several very special connections—our own higher self or oversoul, our council of elders, and our Guide.

These are the transpersonal beings with whom we seek connection in our Visionseeker trainings. Allow me to add that there is still another category of spiritual beings with whom we usually do not seek connection. These include the hidden folk who live not in the spirit world, but in this world right here. These include the Jinn—the genies of Islamic myth, and the Faery folk, the Elvish race, and the little people of mythologies the world over. The reason we do not journey to them is because we have to be invited. That’s correct protocol from their perspective.

With warm thoughts—Dr. Hank