This year, 2005, I will be offering The Return of the Sidhe (pronounced "shee") in New York City; Eugene, Oregon; Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey; Boulder, Colorado; St. Polten, Austria; and Salt Lake City, Utah. (See the schedule page for details.) I am greatly encouraged by the interest being shown in this workshop, and I am eager to tell you how and why I've restructured it over the last half year or so. There is a new and fuller description of it further below. For people new to this term, Sidhe refers to the spirits known as the faeries, the Dananns, the old Irish gods and goddesses, and the Shining Ones; it also refers to the realm in the Otherworld where they reside.

As the political and military crises in the world and here at home intensify, and as the assault on the global environment continues, and as religious fundamentalism increases its hold over people in America, the Middle East, and elsewhere, it is more important than ever that we return to the "original instructions" of indigenous cultures if we hope to maintain the necessary conditions for sustainable human lifestyles. I make that plural intentionally because we know from our reading of history that there has been more than one way for human beings to organize themselves in decent, livable communities that promote happiness, security, creativity, and the moral values that make living together worthwhile. A decent human community of the future may look very different from how we live today. It may look like nothing we have ever imagined, or it may look like something so ancient we remember it only in dreams.

Karen Armstrong, a leading writer and speaker on the Abrahamic religions, points out that fundamentalists in all three branches -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- absorb and foment the violence of their societies, and always make religious and political positions absolute and inflexible. Fundamentalists see themselves at war against recent developments, be it in the areas of women's emancipation, environmental protection, less repressive sexual manners, new scientific discoveries (such as stem-cell research, reproductive methods, or evolution), more diverse family arrangements (note the hysteria over gay marriage), and of course, any freer thinking that criticizes or questions the fundamentalists' interpretations of these three religions. Fundamentalists tend to demonize whoever or whatever they disagree with. It seems to me personally that if fundamentalists create the world of the future, it will be a poorer, meaner, and less tolerant place to live.

Armstrong notes, "Religion comes from where our dreams come from, and if our dreams become disturbed, everything about us becomes disturbed in times of war and violence." She says about Christian fundamentalists, "They want a male religion where Jesus ain't no sissy. The gun lobby is important to them." Armstrong wryly comments that "religion is like any other human activity. Like cooking, it can be disgusting." In brief, religious dogma, ego, fear, intolerance, and selfishness can suppress the sacred, can knock our world off its axis, can make life go awry. Ironically, this form of religion can actually prevent people from having a real religious experience, of encountering the sacred Other in their lives.

So how do shamans respond to all this?

As we always have.

We listen to the Earth, the animals, the seasons, the wisest of our ancestors, and the ancient races who lived before humankind and now dwell in the invisible realms of the Otherworld. We listen to the Creator's voice that speaks through the many songs and stories that we hear in, about, and from Creation Itself. We attend to the prayers of the Earth.

In the Celtic tradition we listen to the folk of the Sidhe and become their representatives, their messengers and healers who dream the dream of a peaceful world. This is a world that is in balance with the worlds of spirit. Sith, a variant of Sidhe and pronounced the same way, means peace and harmony. The world of the Sidhe is described in all the old tales as one of beauty, love, youth, joy, and strength. In other words, it is the proto-world for our own, or what our own should look like, or could look like. These are the values the Sidhe hope we champion, these are the values they offer to us from their shining realms. And these are the values that will keep the worlds in balance and make human societies livable and fulfilling.

What makes this workshop even more critical for our times is that our reckless, greedy, and destructive ways threaten the physical life of this world but also the health and vitality of the Sidhe itself. As shamans, healers, and faery doctors we must become partners with the Sidhe-folk not only for our own salvation but for that of the Sidhe as well. And as in indigenous cultures, a shaman's responsibility is to stand in for the community, to perform the rituals and rites that honor and heal the spirit world, even if others in the community do not. If we lose the good will and help of the spirits, we lose both our own power as shamans and the vital life-force on which human life depends.

So below is the new workshop description. It includes experimental material about faery doctoring that I, some of my two-year students, and a few other cohorts have been exploring over the last several years. Someday "Faery Doctoring" may be a workshop or training program in its own right. The new workshop also contains work with the Cailleach (pronounced "kal-yuck), that challenging, uncompromising Mother who will not let us ignore the harsher aspects of human and planetary life, but whose mysteries we need to understand, or at least live in, if we hope to live and die truly and fully human beings.

NEW WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION FOR 2005
THE RETURN OF THE SIDHE

The Sidhe (pronounced "shee") refers to both the world of Faerie and the spirits of that world, who are also known as the faeries, the Danann gods and goddesses, and the Shining Ones.

Legend relates that the Dananns retreated into the invisible places of the Earth and became the Sidhe. Many people today sense that they are returning. Spirits such as the Sidhe seem to survive the great changes in the Earth, and return or disappear, to the extent that their power is needed in ordinary reality. It is possible that the Sidhe are actually stalking us. They are seeking out individuals who are open to their energies and influences, people who are willing to carry and transmit their bright, civilizing power to heal the present crises in the nation and the world. There may even be a need for people to embody "Sidhe energy" in order to survive the crises and to reconstruct human civilization, if it comes to that.

In this workshop we consider the current unbalancing of energies between our world and the Sidhe, and the need for shamans to become faery doctors to rectify that imbalance and heal people suffering from what traditionally were called "faery illnesses." These are illnesses whose symptoms include: lack of energy, tiredness, depression, listlessness, loss of enthusiasm for life. We will explore and learn faery doctoring practices appropriate for the modern world.

We will seek out the help of ancient Irish spirits known as the Gods of the Harp, harpers being shamanic healers in traditional Celtic societies. As archetypal spirits of the Sidhe, these gods can become powerful allies in our healing work and in our understanding of the human yearning for wholeness in body and spirit. Not only does spirit-music bring healing to men and women, but it maintains the health of the seasons, nature, and the planet itself. This is the mystery of the Oran Mor, the Great Song.

Lastly, we will look at the need to recognize and honor the Cailleach (pronounced "kal-yuck"), the Dark Mother of Death. She presides not only over death but the inhospitable, even hostile forces of nature and landscapes where human life is a struggle for survival. As our planet continues to become ever more weakened in its ability to sustain life, knowing the Cailleach's ways and mysteries are vitally important for shamanic healers and practitioners.

Requirements: Participants must know how to journey shamanically and work with power animals.