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Modern American Shamanism
We honor the Gods, our ancestors, and the nature that surrounds and sustains us.
Our Projects
Our second book is out and ready to read!!!
It can be purchased at,
Modern American Shamanism Study Group!
We are experimenting with different
meditation practices from the lore as well as some standing postures discovered through archeological finds.
We are also looking into a type of Norwegian meditation exercise said to help you meet your Fylgja.
I will have copies of my new book, Working With the Ancestors, for sale at my next class on December 5th.
Class Title: Women's Traditional Roles in Northern Europe.
Class date is Dec. 5th, Time: 7pm to 9pm
Cost: $20.00
Location: Alchemy Gallery Festus
133 East Main Street, Festus, MO, 63028
636-638-5504
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Nerthus Project
I started milling around the idea of creating the Nerthus Project last year. In fact, three separate things happened in 2016, that motivated me to turn my ideas into something that would be beneficial. The first one happened when my wife and I were talking to a new pagan friend. She would talk about how different St. Louis was and how she wished she could move back to the mountains and be immersed in nature again. The second part hit me this fall when I was working with my son on survival skills. I was repeating the same thing my father had told me, “If you know how to survive in nature and live off the land you have nothing to fear.” (His point was that a good number of people are afraid of being homeless because they only know how to live in cities/modern world.) This reminded me of how disconnected people have gotten from nature. The final part of the equation happened while I was reading Tacitus’s writings about the Germanic Goddess Nerthus. Tacitus referred to Nerthus as “Terra Matter”, or Earth Mother. All three of these came together in my head and generated the idea of the Nerthus Project.
The Nerthus Project is not all about learning how to survive on top of a mountain in the middle of an ice storm. It is about reconnecting with nature and seeing the positive affects it has on our physical, mental, and emotional health. The project starts off simple and over time as you develop so does the Nerthus Project. There is no cost and no overhead, aside from what you feel you need. You can go down the path as far as you want to go. (Nature pun intended.) We will start with online adventures and over time if people would like we can work up to in person classes. (Any cost for these in person classes will be determined based on supplies and transportation needed.)
Nerthus Challenge 1
The first Challenge is to go outside and walk in nature. Now I do not mean to go outside and walk to the end of the block and say this is stupid and go back inside. I would like you to open yourself up and truly experience nature, make a connection with her. Ready, set, go. Just kidding, I will explain what I mean.
Since I am known for over sharing, just kidding again, I know most people will be blown away by the fact that I was badly injured several years ago. I had to have several surgeries on my spine. I was in bed for approximately eight months, I was always in pain, and sometimes I could not sleep for up to seventy two hours because of the pain. When it was all said and done I needed a walker to just get from one room to another. I allowed myself to become depressed. I had lost my connection with everything that made me, well me. I was stuck inside my house for weeks at a time.
Then one day my brilliant wife finally got me out of the house. We have a park by us that has level paths and bridges so I could walk on them. The problem was I still felt bad because I was not feeling the connection to nature I once had. I began to really dislike our trips to the park, they only served to remind me of something else I had lost. Now I am not sure if my lovely wife did this next thing on purpose or not, but it really changed my life at the time. She simply started to point things our to me in nature. The first few walks when she did this drove me nuts, it made the walks worse. I just wanted to sulk in my losses. Then one day when I was about ready to explode at her I realized that this whole time I had been staring at my feet. “I was afraid of tripping and falling so I never looked up.” Once I “looked up”, my connection with nature smacked me in the face. The trees were so green and blue jays were right in front of me in a tree. It was actually magical. Later I realized that I had never lost my connection with nature, “I was ignoring nature.”
Once I was able to be out in nature and be connected again my mind and body started healing at a much faster rate. The constant nerve pain became a dull ache and I traded my walker in for a cane. Over time I was even able to walk without the cane! Most times now I am only in pain when I forget to do my daily shamanic exercises. But one thing is for sure, I go out in the woods just about everyday and walk with my head up so I can interact with nature.
Keeping your head up and not staring at your feet is a big first step in connecting with nature. Give this a try at your local park or the woods if you are able. (Always be safe and do not trespass.)
(All of the Nerthus Project challenges will be just as easy as the first one, but they will all so have as much depth and meaning. I hope you enjoy them.)
Nerthus Challenge 2
This week’s Nerthus Challenge is about personal awareness and breathing. Let’s try to take three minutes out of every day this week to calmly sit and quietly be aware of our breathing. You do not need to breathe in any particular way. Just sit and feel/listen to your breath. Please remember to just have fun with it
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