I stepped onto the shamanic path in 1983 when, in a local Minneapolis bookstore, the topmost copy of Michael Harner’s The Way of the Shaman leapt off its stack by the cash register and landed in my hands. It was shouting: “READ ME!” I got chills and said to the clerk behind the counter, “I guess I’ll take this too.”

And so my journey began.

No wizened natives beckoning from behind cacti; no paradigm-shattering mystical visions along the roadside. A prosaic beginning, but a beginning nonetheless. Discovering shamanism gave my spiritual seeking a direction and focus it had lacked before. I did not feel as if I had come home. My response was more: I think I really need to learn about this.

A few months after I read his book, Michael Harner himself came to teach a workshop in basic shamanism. After taking that, I was most definitely hooked. I have been exploring ever since and have learned from many other teachers along the way.

After some years of learning and practicing with fellow students, I began to ask other friends and acquaintances if they would give me the gift of allowing me to attempt to assist them shamanically with whatever they might need. Slowly over time, other people began to approach me and ask if I would try to be of help to them. Gradually I built a shamanic practice which today reaches out to all parts of the United States as well as into Europe and Asia.

Over time, I have acquired some credentials.

I am certified as a shamanic counselor by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in Mill Valley, California, and have completed Sandra Ingerman’s Two Year Teacher Training Program in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I am ordained as a healing minister by the Center for Wholeness in Edina, Minnesota. Between 2003 and 2006, I served two tours of duty as a Ministerial Guide for the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community, an interfaith community in Minneapolis.

In 2006 I was initiated into the age-old practice of firewalking and  in 2007, I was certified by the Sundoor School of Transpersonal Education as a Firewalk Instructor.

For over 27 years, I taught shamanism and facilitated drumming and journeying gatherings at Pathways, a healing center in Minneapolis. I have also taught classes in shamanism throughout the United States. And in 2008, I joined the faculty of the Foundation For Shamanic Studies, and now represent it in the upper Midwest.

Currently I live and maintain a healing practice in Minneapolis.