The Bad to the Bone School of Shamanic Leadership

¨The world is like a mirror that you see. Smile and your friends smile back."

Well, here I am back in the desert in San Rafael, SLP Mexico. It has been a long time since I paid much attention to the lead up to Easter, but in Mexico local folks are very much into celebrating the death and cricifiction of Jesus. I accompanied Masauke on one of his trips to Real de Catorce and was amazed at the long long line up of pilgrims flooding into the city for the long weekend to see the re-enactment of the crucifiction and to visit the Cathedral of St Francis of Assis, who around here is better known at Santo Panchito!

In the neighbouring town of Wadley there have been festivities every day since Thursday. Races for children of all ages in the plaza, an annual Saturday night dance that is attended by most of the town and the neighbouring pueblos, the Easter church service and so much more. Family comes from far and wide for the long weekend. Easter here is a big deal.

I decided today that Masauke´s training should be called the Bad to the Bone Shamanic School of Leadership Training. Bad to the Bone is a term that Masauke often uses to refer to a person or a thing he thiks is extra special. The task of learning shamanic techniques, of being an apprentice medicine woman is a diverse and often difficult one, that involves learning many skills that I had never expected that I would learn in the course of learning about healing.

Much of what I have learned, outside of ceremonies and visits to Las Latas and the pyramids, has been learned while building the healing centre or while in the co-pilot seat on one of our many long drives from one location to another. I have learned as much about carpentry, plumbing and general contract work as I have about healing. But then again Masauke does not distnguish training or healing from living life. All must be approached in the same way. It is all about the mathematics, and everything is mathematics.

I have learned the mathematics of carpentry as I assisted in making the cabinets for the kitchen, in puttting the windows into the bungalow and th chateau where i am staying, in constructing and installing the shutters for the windows, in putting up a closet in the bedroon, in installing the door on the chateau. When I arrived in January there were no windows or doors on the chateau where I am now sleeping. There was no bathroom, just adobe walls and a dirt floor.

I assisted in installing the plumbing for the bathroom that I now use, and only this week, in installing running water in the kitchen, so that the dishes no lo0nger have to be done outside!! All the while Masauke was sharing his perspective not only on plumbing but on the medicine way he follows and on the lessonbs that plumbing and carpentry have to teach us about wallking the medicine way.

It has been a truly wonderful experience learning to build the house that you will live in. I have learned about sustainability and about leadership. I have learned what i can only call shamanic leadership skills, which is really about deciding how we will approach life regardless of what life throws our way and trying to figure out the equations for the solutions we have been given, trying to understand the mathematics that are in front of us.

1) Everything in life can be approached in a medicine way 2) Every aspect of one´s life is mathematics. 3) We are often given solutions but fail to understand what the equations are that match the solutions we have been given.

Staytuned. Staywell and Tavel with Spirit, Spirit Traveller.