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1JUNE/JULY 2007 ahp PERSPECTIVE

PerspectivePerspectiveJ U N E / J U L Y 2 0 0 7

ahpweb.orgAssociation for

Humanistic Psychology

R i t e s o fi t e s o f P a s s a g eP a s s a g e

Ritual and Rites of Passage

Kids and Aikido

Teen Drug Users in Romania

Aikido and Peacemaking

Interview with Leslie Harrington

ATP NEWSLETTERpp. 20–23

REVIEWS

RITES OF PASSAGE

RITUAL

THE MYTHIC PATH

THE GIFTS OF GRIEF

ENERGY PSYCHOLOGY

HEART OF SILENCE

THE TRANSPERSONAL

THE DECEIVED SOCIETY

TRANSPERSONAL

CONVERSATIONS

JUNE/JULY 2007ahp PERSPECTIVE 2

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

RITES OF PASSAGERefl ections and Research on Rites of Passage . . . Dana Carson and Don EulertSamurai Sprouts and “Greening” the Martial Arts . . . Michelle Manger KeipPersonality Profi le of Young Drug Users in Romania . . . Ruxandra RomanscuAikido: The Art of Peace and Peacemaking . . . Sensei Jamie ZimronInterview with Leslie Harrington: Master Singing Teacher . . . Barbara U. Jones

ATP NEWSLETTERWorld Congress on Psychology & Spirituality Conference . . . Stu SovatskyATP Launches Transpersonal Psychology Podcasts ITP and Saybrook Welcome New PresidentsReport on the Fundraiser and Festschrift for the Stanislav and Christina Grof Archive . . . David LukoffReview of TRANSPERSONAL CONVERSATIONS DIRECTED B Y KEVIN PAGE . . . David LukoffReview of THE GIFTS OF GRIEF DIRECTED B Y NANCEE BONOY A . . . Vitor RodriquesHeart of Courage: Aikido Practices of Love in Action, workshop for women . . . Michelle Manger KeipThe Woodfi sh Prize Winners: Sidian Morning Star Jones and Stanley Krippner . . . Ray GreenleafThe International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Table of Contents REVIEWSThe Myt hic Pat h: DISCOVERING THE GUIDING STORIES OF YOUR PAST B Y DAVID FEINSTEIN AND STANLEY KRIP P NER . . . Douglas J. MooreTHE PROMISE OF ENERGY PSYCHOLOGY by David Feinstein, Donna Eden, and Gary Craig . . . Douglas J. MooreLISTENING FROM THE HEART OF SILENCE EDITED B Y JOHN PRENDERGAST AND G. KENNETH BRADFORD . . . Bonnie GreenwellTHE TRANSPERSONAL: SPIRITUALITY IN PSYCHOLOGY AND COUNSELING B Y JOHN ROW AN . . . Daryl S. PaulsonRITES OF PASSAGE: CELEBRATING LIFE’S CHANGES B Y KATHLEEN WALL AND GARY FERGUSON . . . Bryan W. RichExcerpt from THE DECEIVED SOCIETY by Stan CharnofskyRITUAL: POWER, HEALING, AND COMMUNITY B Y MALIDOM A PATRICE SOM É . . . Don Eulert

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Perspective magazine June / July 2007 C O N T E N T S

AHP PERSPECTIVE Editor-in-Chief: Kathleen E. [email protected]; 415/435-1604 Fax: 415/435-1654; P. O. Box 1190, Tiburon CA 94920Consulting Editors: Don Eulert, David LukoffATP Newsletter Editor: David Lukoff

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JUDITH TAMAR STONE VOICE DIALOGUE CONNECTION TRAININGBody Dialogue I and II, and Level I Trainings SPONSORED BY AHP • 24 CECsBODY DIALOGUE I weekend, Discovering the Voice of the Body • 12 CECsSeptember 14–15, 2007 • Boulder, COBODY DIALOGUE II, Facilitator Training • 18 CECsSeptember 16–18, 2007 • Boulder, CORegister online at www.voicedialogueconnection.com or call (303) 494-5849http://www.voicedialogueconnection.com/judith.htm

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STAY ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS! AN ON-DEMAND HEALING PROGRAM WITH MARY BELL, SPIRITUAL HEALER & FACILITATOREight individual sessions in the foundational online class in the Foundation for Unity ConsciousnessSPONSORED BY AHP • CECs • On Demand • Online Register: www.foundationforunity.com (480) 247–7263

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SPONSORED BY AHP • 9 CECs & 4CECs July 6–8, 2007 • San Francisco, CA • Sofi tel San Francisco BayOctober 26–28, 2007 • Seattle, WA • Hilton Bellevue Produced by The Conference Works! Produced by The Conference Works! (800) 395–8445; conferenceworks.com; ahpweb.org

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FIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF APA DIVISION 32HUMANISTIC PSYCHOTHERAPIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY; EVOLUTION IN THEORY, RESEARCH, & PRACTICE(PRECEDING THE APA CONFERENCE) WITH NATALIE ROGERS, LES GREENBERG, AL MAHRER, MAURICE FRIEDMAN, KIRK SCHNEIDER, ROBERT ELLIOTT,ART BOHART, ERNESTO SPINELLI, ROBERT AND RITA RESNICK, DAVID RENNIESPONSORED BY DIVISION 32, HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY, OF THE APA • 24 CECs • $150 August 14–16, 2007 • San Francisco, California • San Francisco Airport MarriottContact: For a Conference Registration Form go to the Division of Humanistic Psychology website http://www.apa.org/divisions/div32or the Conference Chairperson at [email protected]; www.apa.org/divisions/div32

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WORLD CONFERENCE ON SPIRITUALITY AND PSYCHOLOGYKEYNOTES BY B. K. S. IYENGAR, SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR, SUDHIR KAKKAR, STANISLAV GROF, KARAN SINGH, ROBERT THURMAN, INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY LAMA SAMDHONG RINPOCHE, PRIME MINISTER OF TIBET-IN-EXILEFour days of workshops, plus a fi re ritual, an all-night world-fusion dance, concerts, tours, yoga, and meditation retreats SPONSORED BY ATP AND INFINITY FOUNDATION, COSPONSORED BY AHP • CECs • January, 2008 • Delhi, India • Delhi University Habitat Centre • $550 to $250 http://www.WorldCongressPS2008.org

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— Dana Carson and Don Eulert

COVER STORY

DANA CARSON

Overlooking the lush canopy from the temple atop a pyramid in the middle of nowhere and the center of everywhere, I stopped in disbelief. I had been here

before, although this was my fi rst visit to Tikal, an ancient amazing Mayan city concealed in the rural north of Guatemala. My body and mind resonated with another time and another people. Perhaps the image from a book I had read in preparation for this outing was sparked, and I was a virgin crawl-ing up the steps (there were so many steps!) to her last breath. The book’s scenario struck me as barbaric and wasteful, with Mayan kings in the habit of offer-ing virgins to appease ephemeral gods. However, as my feet carried me up the same stairs as hers, I took in the view that melted into eternity, as she had. A sliver of understanding of the community’s beliefs and hopes for goodness, as a result of sac-rifi ce, came to me. I felt sympathetic and even ac-cepting of the ritual. The immensity and intensity of design and place translated to understanding the power of the ritual—perhaps to the virgin, and perhaps more so to the believers in her community seeking the greater good. The psyche seeks passage

and renewal, which requires the discard of old identities. The Mayans—like many other cultures attending to sacrifi ce and renewal—used physical acts to elaborate a necessary psychological passage, with a community united in intent. Giving up ideas of right or wrong, my mind spiraled around my own experience of any rituals of such force, to confront death and re-

birth, with intention and in community. Memories of communion, weddings, and funerals were the only outright rituals in my life. Relieved that I had not been sacrifi ced in my youth, still I longed to know what life would be like in a culture closely bonded and bound to traditions of powerful rituals. Then, I wondered what might be the result in the lives of Americans because of our lack of rituals? Since the trip to Tikal, I researched Paul Shepard (1982) and Joseph Campbell (1988) regarding the

societal effects of the lack of rites of passage in American culture. Shepard stated, “. . . the only society more frightful than one run by children, as in Golding’s Lord of the Flies, might be one run by childish adults.” Campbell proposes that the lack of myths and rituals has led to our current state of societal dismay, including our youth engaged in a variety of high-risk behaviors. The following discussion intends to provide resources for others interested in these questions. After a review of theories on ritual process, then we provide discussion of the “state of affairs” aris-ing from lack of rites of passage.

ELEMENTS COMMON TO RITUALThe Mayans who created and inhabited Tikal were not the only people or culture to arrange com-munity sacrifi ce in hopes of rain, a good harvest, forgiveness of human error, and for transition of states of being. Campbell is a primary reference in describing the “monomyth” of resemblance be-tween various cultures’ myths and rituals. Describ-ing rituals as physical dramatization of a myth, he characterizes them as a key underpinning to a stable society and “the wisdom of life.” Mythol-ogy and ritual provide guidelines and direction. Whether Mayan, Roman Catholic, Cherokee, or Ibo, most cultures have provided clear messages about the boundaries of appropriate behavior with-in the society, about the roles of men and women, and the fate-line of each individual—conveyed through narratives and enactment. Campbell provides archives of comparative studies to illustrate C. G. Jung’s (1971) theory that all humans share a collective unconscious, in-terpsychically (and genetically) linked and net-worked. We most readily perceive the archetypes of the collective unconscious in roles (the hero, who strives for justice; the trickster, who pulls us into trouble and consciousness; the shadow, the darkness we would rather not acknowledge; and the mother/caretaker within each of us). But the archetypal fi gures of Jung’s interest were only an aspect of universal “alchemical” processes of psychological development. Perhaps all his work regarding Individuation can be viewed as attention to the means for passage from one state to the next. Jung also is voluminous on the role of the ritual in various societies (including the U.S., with six visits stoked by his curiosity about our cultural arche-

Reflections and Research on Rites of Passage


RITES OF PASSAGE

types. Deirdre Bair’s Jung is the best resource about his visit to Taos Pueblo). Mircea Eliade (1958), an anthropologist and specialist in comparative religious studies, felt that rites of passage rituals could be divided into three types: initiatory recognition (as in baptism), mem-bership in a society, and elevation to the role of a higher calling (shamanic initiation). “Society mem-bership” rituals in present America might range from fi rst communion to hazing for fraternities, sororities, and military branches, to blood-letting for gang membership. These rituals are a way to prove loyalty and dedication to the act of belong-ing to the initiating group. The third, shamanic passage, seems diffi cult to identify in mainstream culture. Stanley Krippner suggests that musicians with a cult following may be a present manifesta-tion. Indigenous groups in America and around the world continue to provide the shaman or sha-man-like fi gure a special role in order to practice ritual for community benefi t. Eliade’s work about initiation rituals is “re-quired reading” on the topic. The following summary of other theories, specifi c about rites of passage, precede a discussion of their lack in con-temporary U.S. society.

RITES OF PASSAGEResearch from anthropologists, and more recently psychologists, propose that rites of passage are primary in the transition of youth from adoles-cence to adulthood. van Gennep (1960) outlined the three essential components of rites of passage: separation, transition, and incorporation. The separation phase is conceptualized as a breakaway from the role of “adolescent.” In some rituals, the teens are literally snatched from their homes and physically separated from their families and communities. Then in the liminal phase, individu-als fl oat between roles, as Turner (1969) coined it, “betwixt and between.” During this phase, the initiates may be called by a different name, or no name at all. Thus, the initiates are taken to an alternative mental state, often via the use of plants (i.e., peyote), fasting, or a sweat lodge. Jennings Jr. (1996) emphasized the importance of a kinesthetic process within ritual to transmit and gain “ritual knowledge” in order transition from one state in life to the next After the individual has passed through the ritualized aspects of the liminal or transition phase, they then pass to an incorporation phase. The initiate youth is treated as an adult and expected to carry on further responsibilities with this role. Jennings Jr. (in Grimes, 1996) emphasized the im-

portance of a kinesthetic process within ritual to transmit and gain “ritual knowledge” in order to transition from one state in life to the next. Blumenkrantz (1997) sifted through the Hu-man Relations Area Files Archive at Yale Univer-sity and noted rites of passage rituals in eight geographic regions of the world: Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North America, Oceania, Russia, and South America. He did not fi nd all the elements of van Gennep’s model consistent within each rite of passage, although some portion of the framework was always present. Others have reframed van Gennep’s model. Delaney (1995) in her model proposed four stages to include separation, guidance from an elder, a transition, and then acceptance or welcoming by the community. Community has been emphasized by other authors as a most important element of ritual. Blumenkrantz proposed that a physical com-munity is not as necessary as the “psychological sense of community”, similar to Turner’s “com-munitas.” Turner (1969) stated, “The community is the repository of the whole gamut of the culture’s values, norms, attitudes, sentiments, and relation-ships.” Such a sense of community leads one to feel belonging and obliged to others, prepared to act for the betterment of the community rather than oneself. Somé (1993) defi ned community as “a place of self-defi nition” with identity derived from participating in the community culture. Along with the importance of collective experience for impact, such belonging brings anticipation to participate in a recognized rite of passage into the culture. In my contemplations above the jungle canopy at Tikal, I despaired the loss of powerful rituals in mainstream American society, specifi cally the lack of rites of passage. Within subcultures we do see rites of passage such as the quinciñera, Kinaaldá, fi rst communion, confi rmation, and bar and bat mitzvahs. However, many American adolescents lack such an opportunity. Or, as with most modern rites of passage—such as getting a driver’s li-cense—they lack mentorship, community recogni-tion, or any true shift of identity.

LACK OF RITES OF PASSAGECampbell and Shepard agree that the lack of rites of passage, and therefore the lack of passing of mythology and wisdom, is likely correlated with many of the disastrous happenings we see within


RITES OF PASSAGE

our society. When Campbell was asked what happens to a society that “no longer embraces a pow-erful mythology,” he responded by saying, “What we’ve got on our hands. If you want to fi nd out what it means to have a soci-ety without any rituals, read the New York Times.” Shepard dis-cussed the matter from a larger perspective, noting the damage we are infl icting on our planet at large. To pay attention to other organisms, plants, people, and the rest of the planet, you must have worked through the exis-tential questions of adolescence regarding who you are and your purpose on the planet. Shepard implies that most humans today are neotenic, which suggests they are maturing to the next devel-opmental phase, but maintaining part of their juvenile characteris-tics. He accredits this to a lack of recapitulation, as is provided in rites of passage ceremonies lead-ing to adulthood. An interesting concept we are seeing in the psychological litera-ture is an additional stage in the developmental spectrum. In the past, an individual went from adolescence to adulthood. How-ever, they now voyage through a phase that Arnett (1995) called “Emerging Adulthood.” In the time from adolescence through

the 20s, individuals continue to explore their identity, try to mas-ter instability (i.e., while moving a lot), focus on themselves, and stay open to possibilities of the future. Lack of rites of passage, includ-ing mentorship into a responsi-ble role, may have large implications for our youth and society. Since 1991 we have seen an increase in youths’ use of drugs, alco-hol, prescription drugs, and earlier sexual activity. A survey in 1999 showed a contin-ued increase in the number of gang members. A cou-ple of explanations for these trends within the framework of rites of passage might be considered. In the past, smaller and more tight-knit communities would have lent themselves to formal rites of passage, per Delaney’s model. Lack of mentorship also appears linked to an increase in hours worked by parents. In 1997, the National Study of Changing Workforce found jobs to require more hours and energy and to be less predictable. Even fi ve years ago, compared with the 1960s, the average worker spent about

six extra 40-hour weeks per year on the job... with both parents likely working. Simple logistics and single-family households make mentorship a more com-plicated task than it once was in our society. The focus on indi-vidualism and “getting ahead”

may also lead to people being fo-cused on them-selves versus a primary focus on the adolescents’ need for rites of passage. The prevalence of drug use in the United States alone is startling. In the United States National Institute for Drug Abuse poll of 8th, 10th,

and 12th graders in 2005, abuse of marijuana, heroin, crack, and Ritalin in all three grades was “stable.” Annual abuse of Vico-din and Oxycontin continue at concerning levels. Twelfth grad-ers had a 9.5% abuse level of Vi-codin. Since 2001, annual abuse of sedatives/barbiturates among 12th graders had increased 25%. Even 8th graders increased their abuse of inhalants. Current teens may be using high-risk activi-ties to lead to an altered state, such as one might experience as

an initiate in a liminal phase of a rite of passage ritual. Whether from the physiologi-cal interactions with drugs, or the adrenalin of participating in gang activity, there is an altered experience. Perhaps an aspect of the collective uncon-scious seeks intrinsic experi-ence of a liminal phase, before moving from adolescence to adulthood. A second view about engag-ing in these high-risk behav-iors is that adolescents are able to avoid a shift in their role altogether. They may feel


RITES OF PASSAGE

frightened or unprepared due to the lack of mentorship or lack of exposure to others successfully transitioning. Regardless of the reason for entering and lingering in the lim-inal phase, avoiding the transition to adult-hood seems a phenomenon of our times.

CONTEMPORARY USES OF RITES OF PASSAGEWhile the connection between the lack of rites of passage to high-risk adolescent be-haviors in our culture has not been widely explored, practitioners and researchers have given it credence. At the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in December 2005, Jean Houston shared an example of the use of ritual with suicidal youth. In a school district where several youth had become suicidal, a rite-of-passage interven-tion was formed with these youth and con-cerned peers. To transition to a newfound role in life, the ritual acted out a metaphor for death, and carried the teens to a new beginning. A major contributor to the literature, and prominent practitioner in the use of rites of passage with adolescents, is David Blumen-krantz. A center called the Rites of Passage Experience (ROPE) in Connecticut focuses on the use of rites of passage within an intentional community. The program gener-ally has a duration of three phases through-out six years. Parent/Guardian involve-ment is essential, and they are included in the formation of the rituals and mentorship for the youth. These programs have successfully created the phases of rites of passage—separation, mentorship, transition, and a welcoming from the community—to support adoles-cents in moving on. Even reading descrip-tions about the power of these interventions carries an intensity similar to the pulse that resonated through me in Tikal.

DANA CARSON will interview “high-risk” ado-lescents as part of her doctoral research as a PsyD candidate in Integrative Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology, the San Diego Campus of Alliant International University. Please send comments or suggestions for the research to: [email protected] DON EULERT, coordinator of the School’s Integra-tive emphasis and Director of the Center for Integra-tive Psychology, serves as Dana’s research Chair.

References Arnett JJ (1994) “Are college students adults? Their conceptions of the transition to adulthood.” J Adult Development 1: 154-158.

Blumenkrantz D (1992) Fulfi lling the Promise of Children’s Services: Why Primary Prevention eEforts Fail and How They Can Succeed. Jossey-Bass.

Campbell J, editor (1971) The Portable Jung. Viking.

Campbell J (1988) The Power of Myth, with Bill Moyers. Doubleday.

Delaney CH (1995) “Rites of passage in adolescence.” Adolescence 30: 891-898.

Eliade M (1958) Rites and Symbols of Initiation: The Mysteries of Birth and Rebirth. Spring Publications.

Erikson E (1968) Identity: Youth and Crisis. Norton.

Grimes RL, editor (1996) Readings in Ritual Studies. Prentice Hall.

Harvey A R & Rauch JB (1997) “A comprehensive Afrocentric rites of passage program for black male adolescents.” Health & Social Work 22: 30-38.

Jennings TW (1982) “On ritual knowledge.” In Grimes RL, editor, Readings in Ritual Studies. Prentice Hall.

Jung CJ (1959) The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Routledge.

Markstrom CA & Iborra A (2003) “Adolescent identity formation and rites of passage: The Navajo kinaaldá ceremony for girls.” J Res Adolescence 13: 399-425.

May R (1972) Power of Innocence: A Search for the Sources of Violence. Norton.

Metzner R (1999) Green Psychology: Transforming Our Relationship to the Earth. Park Street Press.

Somè MP (1997) Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community. Swan-Raven. [see review on page 30 of this Perspective]

Shepard P (1982) Nature and Madness. University of Georgia Press.

Turner V (1969) The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Aldine De Gruyter.

van Gennep A (1960) The Rite of Passage. Routledge & Kegan Paul.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rites_of_passage

http://www.boystomen.org

http://www.rope.org


KID AIKIDO

defend our reactive behavior as common sense. Without training in alternatives, we all simply do the best we can to stay safe. O’Sensei wrote, “In my Aikido there are no opponents, no enemies. I do not want to overwhelm everyone with brute strength, nor do I want to smash every challenger to the ground. In true budo we seek to be one with all things, to return to the very heart of creation. The purpose of Aikido training is not to make you simply stronger or tougher than others: it is to make you a warrior for world peace. This is our mission in Aikido.” This restoration of the war-rior role to being a stand for the creation and the protection of life is what I call “greening” the martial arts. Turning our atten-tion from personal gain to collec-tive benefi t is required of all who want to grow peace on earth. This centering in the greater good takes courage, commit-ment, and cooperation, virtues of the warrior that we all possess as human beings. In the U.S. we market the Hollywood glamour of warrior stardom to our youth by invit-ing them to become “An Army of One.” We’ve largely forgotten that the warrior sacrifi ces her separateness in order to foster and protect the whole. In war this sacrifi ce may mean giv-ing one’s own precious life. In daily life this means giving up one’s identifi cation with being an autonomous individual and renewing our connection with what Native Americans call “all our relations.” As Albert Einstein wrote in describing his revolu-

My aspirations for peace compel me to cultivate Samurai Sprouts, a holis-

tic, nature-based curriculum for young children inspired by Aikido, the martial art of peace. Later I’ll share how our simple rituals and playful improvisa-tions arouse a child’s aspiration for peace and serve as a rite of passage. But fi rst, let’s go back to the roots in Aikido. Could there be a less likely venue to espouse Love and Peace than in the warrior’s training hall? Yet there was a warrior who took that stand. His vi-sion has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people all over the planet in the last few decades. He was an avatar, someone who by their example adds new possibilities to what it is to be human. His name was Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. Morihei Ueshiba, whom we refer to as O’Sensei or “great teacher” in Aikido, manifested his legacy of radical nonviolence in the most violent of fi elds, the martial arts. Martial means war-

like, and war makes winners and losers. In midlife, as the unde-feated martial arts champion of Japan, Ueshiba was regularly challenged to duels by practitio-ners of all styles. One day after a vigorous encounter, he expe-rienced a rapturous enlighten-ment. He realized that “Budo is Love.” Budo means martial way or literally, “to stop the spear.” After this, O’Sensei prohibited competitions in Aikido. Until his death at age 86, O’Sensei remained invincible and true to the core vow of Aikido to do no harm. Today his art continues to reveal that it is possible to protect life by open-ing up, rather than bydefending. Love, the greatest power, is what makes this possible. Peace and love are at the core of all spiritual teachings. Yet when it comes down to the heat of confl ict, we readily abandon our principles and grab on to our reptilian modes of fi ght, fl ight, or freeze. Without recurrent practices of nonviolence trained into our awareness and our bod-ies, we automatically rally our

favored defenses. Our fear pulls the cork out of our open posture and we shut down to protect. We forget love and we decline peace. We

—Michelle Manger Keip

Samurai Sprouts and “Greening” the Martial Arts

“All of humanity depends upon our aspiration.” — His Holiness, the Dalai Lama


KID AIKIDO

tionary discovery, e = mc2, “The universe is one, indivisible dynamic whole in which energy and matter are so deeply entangled it is impos-sible to consider them as separate elements.” We martial artists are a prac-tical sort. We hold the high

standard that what we say and what we do are congruent. And what we do must be effective, because in the heat of emergency we must move with immediate confi dence. Perhaps this deport-ment is part of what is attracting thousands of people worldwide to Aikido. Many aren’t allured by the role of the warrior, but most want the embodied convic-tion to make a difference, now. How can we renew our chil-dren’s birthright: the expecta-tion of a welcoming world? My vision is that one day it will be common sense for everyone to accept that love is the greatest power. Peace in ourselves and in the world will be the manifesta-tion of our love. Our perceptions of common sense begin to solidify in the socialization years of age 4 to 7. Appreciating the power of timing, I’ve concentrated my passion for O’Sensei’s vision of world peace in Samurai Sprouts. Rather than downsize adult Aikido training, I’ve devel-oped an approach which meets children where they love to be: in the world of games, imagina-tion, and exploration with the

senses. I stay true to O’Sensei’s explanation of Aikido’s purpose: “In Aikido we learn about ourselves, we learn to link ourselves to the life force, and we learn how to discern the principles of nature. Step by step we make our path one of brightness and peace.” O’Sensei was a Shinto priest and martial artist, and Samurai

Sprouts springs from Aikido’s spiritual roots. In Shinto, nature is considered to be the purest expression of Spirit, so humans naturally aspire to be in harmony with nature. An expression that describes the Shinto way of seeing, Mono no aware, means, “seeing with the heart into the natural beauty and goodness of things.” “Move like a beam of light, fl y like lightning, strike like thunder,

whirl in circles around a stable center.” We take these, O’Sensei instructions, quite literally in Samurai Sprouts. At age 4 to 7, it’s typically easy to jump into another identity, such as “shine like a star.” Occasionally there is a child who is already afraid to let go of their personhood into the freedom of imagination. Yet if they fi nd the courage to stay awhile, inevitably they get swept into the tide of improvisational joy. Samurai Sprouts: children readily take to this transforma-tional vision for themselves. They’re eager to see themselves in the heroic image of the Samu-rai. They naturally respond to other small be-ings who refl ect back their own in-nocence and vital-ity. When I bring planted

bright green sprouts to class, their delight is exhilarating. The tenderness of other young crea-tures evokes a child’s own pro-tective nature, and so the strong and the vulnerable aspects of a child come together. Aikido itself is very young. We’ve just begun to invent ap-proaches tailored to the devel-opmental needs of children. O’Sensei advised against chil-dren practicing the art for fear of their injury. Just now in the 2nd and 3rd generations of Aikido teachers (Ueshiba died in 1969) are we discovering many cre-ative ways to offer the awesome power of Aikido to children. O’Sensei wrote, “Aikido is becoming established all over, but it will have a different expression in each place it takes root. Continu-ally adapt the teachings and create a beautiful, pure land.” His words assure me that he would be glad Aikido is now available to children. In Aikido we bow...a lot. I tell my Samurai Sprouts that bow-ing is a way to show respect with our bodies. When we bow we empty ourselves of our heady preoccupation with the personal. Lowering our torso, we let go into the gratitude of connection. A mother, Christine, wrote about the benefi ts of Samurai Sprouts for her son, who is often restless and wanting to do things his way no matter what. “I have seen him being considerate to smaller


KID AIKIDO

children and having the patience to sit down and teach them games.” At the beginning of every Samurai Sprouts class, the stu-dents sit on the “learning line.” First we bow to the altar with this invocation: “I bow to all our ancestors and to all the Protectors of the Peace who have come before us.” Then we turn and bow to each other. “I bow to all of us, the Protectors of the Peace of RIGHT NOW.” If you are still reading this, I imagine that you, too, are a Protector of the Peace. Take a moment, if you will, and bow. What will you bow to? All things that deserve our respect. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnam-ese Buddhist monk and peace activist writes, “We humans think we are smart, but an orchid, for example, knows how to produce noble, symmetrical fl owers, and a

snail knows how to make a beautiful, well-proportioned shell….We should bow deeply before the orchid and the snail. The feeling of respect for all species will help us to recognize the noblest nature in ourselves” (from The Sun in My Heart). Bowing produces dignity and pleasure for my young students. Bowing gives them regular prac-tice in the ritual intensity of their eagerly awaited belt promotion. And how they love to bow! Standing bows, sitting bows, so many bows. I’ve never heard a child complain about bowing. Martial arts in the U.S. mark a student’s progress with the awarding of colored belts. Whereas in competitive styles this progress can be skewed to highlight mainstream values of display, acquisition, and domi-nance, the noncompetitive foun-dation of Aikido insists we have other motives. I like the defi ni-tion of promotion as “the act of

furthering the growth or develop-ment of something.” Rather than focusing on each child’s per-formance, we hold a collective promotion for Samurai Sprouts. This group demonstration grows their experience of cooperative development. As is essential in all rites of pas-sage, the sacred promotion ritual transpires in the context of atten-tive, caring community. Family and friends gather to witness and celebrate their loved ones. In the closing ritual, the children bow to their beloved community as well. The Dalai Lama says the next Buddha will not come as a per-son but as a community. I have faith that my students belong to the blessed community that is already restoring peace on earth. Samurai Sprouts are part of the emerging “green” culture. Daniel’s parents brought him to Samurai Sprouts because he hadn’t yet found an activity where he felt a sense of belong-ing. On the day of his white belt promotion he walked up to me, took the shape of “protect like a tree” and declared, “I love being a Protector of the Peace!” Now, more than a year later, Daniel is still an enthusiastic Samurai Sprout. The Samurai Sprouts white belt promotion is a child’s initiation into being a Protector of the Peace. I know the power of ini-tiation to take root in the core of human beings. Even if that seed stays dormant for many years, when it is planted in a sacred way, it will fi nd the path to the surface eventually. Love is the greatest power.

Come Build A Stairway To The Stars

Spend five days in beautiful Taos, New Mexico, meditating play-Spend five days in beautiful Taos, New Mexico, meditating play-fully, dancing joyously, and singing sensually. Singing can help youfully, dancing joyously, and singing sensually. Singing can help you reside in the ground of your being and aid you in becoming fullyreside in the ground of your being and aid you in becoming fully human, while having fun! You will enjoy learning the art and crafthuman, while having fun! You will enjoy learning the art and craft of singing in a supportive, nurturing environment. By the end of theof singing in a supportive, nurturing environment. By the end of the workshop, you will be performing songs artfully with inspiration.workshop, you will be performing songs artfully with inspiration.

July 30–August 3, 2007 - Taos, New Mexico - $500July 30–August 3, 2007 - Taos, New Mexico - $500505 758-0202 - www.barbaraujones.com - www.singingworld.com505 758-0202 - www.barbaraujones.com - www.singingworld.com

Presented by Barbara U. Jones, Ph.D., Life Coach, Cabaret Performer and

Leslie Harrington, Voice Teacher, Master Singer and Performer

MICHELLE MANGER KEIP, RN, PHN, has an advanced degree black belt in Aikido, is founder of Samurai Sprouts, creative direc-tor of Wellspring Aikido Arts, and instruc-tor with Kidpower International. She is the author/illustrator of SHAPE, an activity and coloring book for children based on Samurai Sprouts, and contributing author in Warrior Mothers. [email protected] or (707) 544-2673.aude Gerard Koven


After 1989, Romania wit-nessed a series of psy-chobehavioral phenom-ena caused by socioeco-

nomic changes in the transitional and post-transitional [communist] society. Recent studies in economics, psychology, sociology, and psycho-pathology-related areas focus on the description of a series of changes in the conceptions, attitudes, habits, and belief systems of many popula-tions in the country. Among these, research papers mention increased criminality (especially juvenile), so-matic and psychological morbidity, divorce, alcohol addiction, HIV and AIDS infections, accidents, mortality due to car accidents (caused mostly by drunk driving), and decreased natality. But the most important of the changes is the plague of drug use, in-cluding: temptation to intake drugs, their procurement, accidents caused by consumption of forbidden drugs in combination with accepted ones (alcohol, nicotine, medication), and especially the problems that exces-sive use and abuse can create—lead-ing to addictive behavior, even from a young age. Drugs of all kinds have always been seen as “magic” pills; but their molecular composition is no longer a secret from chemists, doctors, and pharmacists. Labeled as “poor mil-lenarian molecules” by renowned authors, drugs have always been worshipped, despite the fact that these substances cannot make us su-pernatural beings. Drugs are in fact a two-sided coin. One side would be the pleasureable effect they can have on individuals, and the other is the addiction that affects behavior and makes users keep secrets from fam-ily, lose their friends and job. The desire to take drugs, the curiosity, the irresistible temptation exerted by the terrible pill, are at the same time easy and diffi cult to read in the behavior children and

Personality Profile of Young Drug Users in Romania

YOUNG DRUG USERS IN ROMANIA

—Ruxandra Rascanu, Barbara Craciun, Aneta Feldman, translated by Andre Krauss

teenagers display in front of their parents, teachers, and friends. These factors should be analyzed to better understand the neuropsychophysi-ological mechanisms and diffi culties of adaptation to rehabilitation treat-ment, followed by psychotherapy. Forbidden or tolerated by law, causing attitudes and reactions that vary from one culture or country to another, drugs have become for many years now “accessible indus-tries,” the functioning of which has been made possible by both drug dealers and consumers. In every country people have a different perception of drugs, but many per-sons experimenting traumas, stress, depression, and instability have the tendency to see drugs as something “normal,” capable of delivering spe-cial experiences, of making us look attractive—and these people forget or deliberately reject the idea that the same substance that gets us “high” is responsible for our social alienation, or even social exclusion. When under the effect of drugs, victims have the illusion of a better work capacity, of a more pregnant creativity, of increased performance, and of diminishing fears. It is true that addicted persons may initially experience an apparent feeling of calmness, and they might even seem to cope better with their family and friends, but those effects don’t last. Doctors, psychologists, and par-ents can all confi rm the conclusions drawn by the specialists in the fi eld: after the fi rst dose, a pleasant feeling of euphoria appears; after abuse or overdose, the organism gets used to the substance, and the effects expected by the consumer gradu-ally lose intensity. The user who has become a slave to it will look for the previously experienced sensations. To go back to a previous state, to the desired experience, a higher dose is needed (or another drug); in fact, it is the body, through its metabolic mechanisms, that creates this need.

In various institutions, organi-zations, and specialized centers, research has been done upon the risk incurred by the victims of various forms of addiction; research foci include: drug addiction associated with the transmission of HIV and AIDS; alcohol addicts and pathologi-cal players; suicidal behavior caused by alcohol abuse or drug addiction; the impulsiveness and the need for evasion that characterize drug ad-dicts; the correlations between EEG changes and pathological gaming; drugs, family, and antisocial be-havior; perception of the alcoholic’s failure and the relation to cultural norms (traditions); comorbidity and drug use; cognitive-behavioral con-sequences, anonymous pathological players, and the deterioration of the individual’s adaptation abilities; sport and overdose, etc.

ROLES AND RULESEnvironment is important to the development of this plague: the role of social values, the importance of moral values, norms, rules, and the need for models for the addicted. Usually, social reactions can be divided into acceptance or rejection, and the addicted most of the time are stigmatized: by penalty, sanc-tion, or punishment. The drug user personality is effected by genetic heritage, personality structure, self-image, values, ideals, expectations, aspirations, and life experience. The many subjective motivating factors in the young addicted for starting and continuing consump-tion include: curiosity (“forbidden fruit”), sensation-seeking, great need for stimulation, loneliness, lack of friends, or fear of abandonment. Also, there is a need for recognition or confi rmation, or a need to stand out. For all of these personal prob-lems, troubles, desperation, need for comfort, drugs are seen as a refuge. Unfortunately, added to all these problems and effects of the drugs, is


the later overcoming of the discom-fort that is generated by cessation of substance consumption (“ill beig”), which becomes a vicious circle. The self-image of the young ad-dict contains these characteristics: strong identifi cation with social labels (“drug addict,” “loser”), lack of awareness and recognition of his/her own individuality but also the temporal syncope of his/her own existence while consuming: “It wasn’t me,” “I was not alive at that time.” Also, there is a dominance of consumption-related themes and consumption repertory, and “cre-ation” of the individual within this lifestyle. The ensuing “brief” content on self-analysis tasks proves that a more profound analysis has not been exercised or has been avoided by the teen. Only 40% succeed in identify-ing their own resources. A searching for one’s self has a causal relation-ship with the initiation of drug consumption. The ego ideal seems to be linked to the need for belonging-ness, to be normal, or to be just like anyone else—which is a failed need. From our experience of the Roma-nian population, we consider that the social stereotypes linked with drug consumption and drug users are: no will power, no “need” for self-affi rmation, interiorization, shy, timid, weak person, bored, suffer-ing. This person may also be capable of atrocious actions. Drugs alter the personality of the addict—with a strong impact that can turn it into a negative personality. Our main goal was to analyze psy-chosocial drug consumption-related behavior in seven schools at high school and college levels. We aimed at (a) enhancing communication between psychologists and pupils and (b) bringing teachers to a higher degree of openness and collabora-tion with specialists, psychologists, police, social assistants, jurists, doc-tors, and sociologists. We began with discussions with parents who were supposed to provide accurate information and detailed accounts. We collaborated with teachers, classroom managers, principals, school psychologists, and students. We used two surveys on a sample of 600 students from Bucur-esti, Constanta, and Timisoara.

Our research contribution also included survey pretesting, which took approximately 12 months. The fi nal investigated sample included 600 respondents of both sexes, age 15–30, average age 24; education level: high school and college; fam-ily type: own family, consensual union, 60% come from disorganized families. 25% of the subjects have undergone a psychoclinical investi-gation using the Szondy test, Koch test, Family test, Luscher test, and psycho-clinic anamnesis (10% of the cases were hospitalized persons).

PERSONALITY PREDICTORSThe CAQ test (Simona Trifu, 2002) found a signifi cant difference (at a p = 0.01 level) between subjects and the average population regard-ing: normal personality (affec-tive warmth, emotional stability, extravagance, sensitivity, insecurity, self-suffi ciency) and clinical scales for suicidal depression, low-energy depression, boredom and with-drawal, psychopathic deviation, and psychological inadequacy. The model for drug consumption has the following dimensions as predictors: emotional instability–in-security–conformism. The personal-ity profi le of the young drug addict contains the followings character-istics: mood lability (cyclothymia), irascibility, suspiciousness, and per-severance; ambivalence and duplic-ity regarding own person and others (cf. Szondy test); anxiety (sometimes linked with abandonment) (cf. CAQ) and disthimia, depression (occurring especially in chronic consumers) (cf. Anamnesis); and also a high degree of emotion, sensation, and excite-ment-seeking, low tolerance to stress and frustation (cf. Szondy, Family test, Luscher, Koch). Ego strength varies between two extremes: hyper control to complete lack of control. Drug use and the state of psycho-logical/physiological addiction that follows are refl ected in behavior characterized by guilt, inadequacy, and craving, often displayed pub-licly. The victim sees in drugs an effi -cient response to exterior pressures, the only adaptive solution suiting their affective personality structure. Most of the hospitalized patients in drug clinics are the unemployed, with few stable social relations, and usually leading a chaotic life. How-

ever, the young drug user is mainly aware only of such consequences as their inability to follow the norms imposed by the majority and their apprehension of negative labeling. Psychologists have a highly impor-tant role during the rehabilitation period: 1) when the addicted person ponders the possibilities of hospi-talized treatment or ambulatory treatment (less recommendable), 2) during the assignment of medica-tion as a remedy to dysfunctions (both leading to an opening), there is a “permeability” of interpersonal relations; and 3) especially after treatment, when hopefully either long-term or unlimited psychothera-py takes place. Driven by openness to fellow dis-ciplines and deontological concern, psychologists are aware of both the possibilities and the limits inherent in any single-faceted approach and are therefore willing to collaborate with a complex team of specialists. Psychologists hold high professional and moral responsibility in the fi eld of drug addiction treatment and are highly valued by specialists in socio-human and medical disciplines.

CONCLUSIONSThe plague of drugs is a frighten-ing phenomenon in contemporary society—a complex, deep, and tragic phenomena. Young people are more open to new things, more predis-posed to new experiences and to risk. Moreover, young individuals from post-communist countries are less informed of the danger of drug abuse than those in capitalist societ-ies. And Romania after 1990 became a target of the organized illegal drug trade, and used as a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe. Degree of use, tolerance, and violence all are factors analyzed by specialists, nongovernmental organizations, and especially by institutions responsible for elaborat-ing national-level strategies meant to prevent the “white death” from making more victims. National anti-drug campaigns should be based on the deep understanding of the hidden dangers of drug use. Such initiatives should also invest in the search for methods of gaining access to the less accessible parts of the human psyche that these individu-als try to deal with alone or within a




drug-using outgroup. Such indi-viduals usually experience an acute feeling of uncertainty and confusion, which prevents them from making the right decisions; they are in a state

of psychological suffering, but with specialists’ help (especially psy-chologists) and support they can try to refuse temptation, fi ght addiction, and even change their conduct.RUXANDRA RASCANU, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Bucharest University. She specializes in

clinical and health psychology, and has pub-lished 15 books and coordinated two research projects on teen drug addiction issues. BARBARA CRACIUN, psychologist, is at Titu Maiorescu University.ANETA FELDMAN, psychologist, is at Bucharest UniversityANDRE KRAUSS is an AHP member and retired psychologist.

POSITIVE NEWS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

There is a deep desire in people today for CHANGE. It is obvious that our world is a troubled place. Life is

so beautiful yet hatred and violence rage on, billions of people are suf-fering, and climate change threatens the entire planet. Palestinians and Israelis have been locked in one of the longest and most intractable struggles in modern history. Still, de-spite ongoing war in the Middle East and the media emphasis on terror-ism, literally all kinds of people are energetically creating peace through cross-cultural dialogue, nonviolent confl ict resolution, and cooperative business and educational initiatives. The Mideast Aikido Peace Proj-ect (MAP), also known as Salaam Shalom Aikido (SSA), is playing a vital role in the peace process. MAP has a twofold purpose: 1) spreading the nonviolent practice of Aikido in Israel and Palestine, 2) establishing contact and cooperative ties amongst Arabs and Jews through martial arts training dedicated to fostering peace. Regular joint trainings and even “twin” dojos (schools) are already a reality in Israel and Palestine! Mus-lims, Christians, and Jews are mixing it up on the mat, with the harmoniz-ing infl uence of Buddhist philosophy and Eastern body–mind practices. By its nature, Aikido builds bridges. Its method is to harmonize and connect with an attacker, not to counterattack or to vanquish. Its aim is to neutralize aggression, with no harm coming to anyone. Its larger goal is to bring inner peace to its practitioners, and peace within the entire human family. Martial arts training for peace directly cultivates values and actions that can bring about the positive changes of true respect, equality, balance, health,

harmony, inclusion, security, pros-perity, and peace for all. In the words of Shehede, the fi rst Palestinian Aikido sensei in East Jerusalem: “We all want peace. A place where people could live. This place was heaven. Take down the fence, end the barriers. There are not so many differ-ences when all people are under the same God.” The Founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba O’Sensei, taught that True victory is self-victory. The only ‘en-emy’ is the mind of discord within. Aikido seeks not to develop success-ful fi ghters, but to end fi ghting itself. This is a very hopeful message and pathway for Israelis and Palestin-ians living in the midst of seemingly endless confl ict. It becomes possible to retrain and heal the mind, to stop seeing or fearing enemies “out there,” and to be the ones actually making peace. O’Sensei offered Aikido as “medi-cine for a sick world.” He gave this profound guidance to all who would practice: There is disorder in the world because people have forgotten all things emanate from one Source. Return to that Source….The Art of Peace begins with you. Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art of Peace to all you encounter. Says Dekel, an Israeli sensei from West Jerusalem: Aikido lets us share harmonizing our movements. This is so needed! That way we can come closer and combine the actual people that rep-resent the different sides. I wish to plant peace by doing peace. Through Aikido training, people locked in strife are able to recognize a common source and to focus on this innate oneness. This allows a genuine shift to the daily practice of “the loving protection of all life.” Barriers of fear, hatred, and simple lack of contact quickly dissolve

when Arabs and Jews meet on the mat, move their bodies together in powerful circles and spirals, and physically give the philosophy of peace a chance! This e-mail from an Iraqi sensei in wartorn Baghdad says it all. It was sent in response to news that Aiki Extensions had secured funds to purchase new mats for the Iraqi dojo: By great cheerfulness and big happiness, we received your good news. We danced and we cheering, and started to dream, how will we make a new dojo. I can’t express my feeling about this. Really I can’t.

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND ACTIVITY UPDATESPicture these scenes from early 2005: Two Jewish women, one an Ameri-can-Israeli sensei and the other a Russian-born medical student, ar-riving along with two Israeli men to practice Aikido with Christian Arabs in a village near the Israel–Lebanon border....These strangers meeting for the fi rst time on the mat, and by midnight eating schwarma, pita, fl afel, and baclawa together and loudly schmoozing in Arabic, He-brew, and English like old friends....Muslim men focused and smiling on the mat, women and girls training in dogi and head scarves....A dozen Israeli Aikidoists, in the cold of win-ter, nervously driving their cars and following their Palestinian hosts to a rented hall just a kilometer from a major military checkpoint....Every-one wary but excited to try training together in the Art of Peace....Now imagine all these people who have been dreaming of peace, knowing they are not the only ones. One morning about four years ago, my phone rang. It was Don Levine, the founder of Aiki Extensions (AE), a nonprofi t organization of Aiki-

Aikido: The Art of Peace and Peacemaking —Sensei Jamie Zimron


doists extending the Art of Peace into the world through their profes-sional work in psychology, medi-cine, law, business, healing, sports, etc. Don knew that I am a dual citizen of Israel and was calling to ask me about Aikido in the Middle East. I said that Aikido was now widely practiced in Israel, and that I had heard there were practitioners in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. I knew that Queen Noor of Jordan had fallen in love with Aikido and in the early 1990s brought a Japanese Sensei to teach in the royal palace in Amman! I told Don that I was living in Israel in 1994 when the peace treaty with Jordan was signed, and dreamed then of creating some sort of “Salaam Shalom” Aikido peace conference or even dojo. Salaam Shalom: nearly the same words for peace in both Arabic and in Hebrew, from the same root letters meaning “wholeness, perfection.” Those must have been the magic words, because the next thing I knew Don was on the phone, the web, and the airplane to form the Middle East Aikido Peace Project. He located contacts in various Arab countries, and visited a small group of Palestinians practic-ing Aikido in East Jerusalem. These were leaders of Karate and Judo in Palestine, and they were hungry for more Aikido. The rest is truly history in the mak-ing. It is a story that is amazing to tell, encouraging to hear, and wide open for participation. Don worked with Richard Strozzi-Heckler and Philip Emminger to set up the fi rst-ever Training Across Borders (TAB) Aikido Peace Conference, held in Cyprus in April 2005. The TAB vision was to bring people from warring nations together on the mat, on neutral ground in the UN buffer zone, to create understanding and friendship through their mutual pas-sion for Aikido. We were gratifi ed to raise enough funds to help send people to Cyprus, and to fi nd partici-pants willing to step beyond their fear, pain, and defensive mindsets. For four days in Cyprus, 100 people from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Bosnia, Serbia, Turkey, and Greece (plus a few Westerners) practiced Aikido, meditated, danced, massaged, ate, took pictures, went to

workshops, laughed, talked, cried, hugged, did more Aikido, and basi-cally had a mind-boggling life-alter-ing wonderful time together! Cyprus was really a watershed, creating ef-fects that continue to ripple and mul-tiply. While we had feared tensions might be too great, yet dared to have high hopes, no one anticipated the great “lovefest” that occurred. Feel these comments from participants:

~ It’s an unbelievable feeling to see the things in people’s eyes here. Caner, Turkey ~ A lifetime experience. From this moment the world is my family. Spiros, Greece ~ Amazing. Heaven on Earth for four days. We managed to pull off what governments only dream about. Scott, Turkey ~ It was great to meet Aikidoists from all over the world, especially countries I am not yet allowed to visit. Efrat, Israel ~ These days were a good reminder to an easily forgotten fact. It’s people out there. Thank you for the opportunity to raise my eyes from the narrow sight of daily stressful life, and realize there is a bigger and much more beautiful picture to see. Eyal, Israel ~ I put myself in the hands of O’Sensei second and God fi rst, decided to jump...and landed in a bed of roses too good to be true. There was a Harmony and energy fl ow unlike I ever experienced and it split my heart in two. Alaa, Jordan ~ This seminar achieved its goals, and went far beyond. We proved that the training mat is a perfect tool that helps people forget their hate, and even love each other. I hope the seeds of peace planted in Cyprus will grow very quickly, so that we will be able to see their positive impacts on our reality. Palestine ~ Glow, peace, glow. Ayman, Jordan

Today a growing number of Israe-lis are exploring joint training with their Arab neighbors. The Palestin-ian Aikido Federation has been established, with aid from Israelis, Americans, and Europeans. A vi-brant Palestinian dojo exists in East Jerusalem, with crossover between students there and West Jerusalem Israeli dojos. A strong group has emerged in Ramallah in the West Bank, and plans are being laid to expand Aikido into Bethlehem, Nab-lus, and other Palestinian areas. A wonderful Aikido community of adults and children is thriving in the northern town of Kfar Yassif. The sensei there has produced Aikido handbooks and fi lms in Arabic, and plans to open branch dojos in northern Israel which will be affi li-ated with Salaam Shalom Aikido. He is networking with several Israeli senseis in the north who are opening

SSA dojos in the Galilee and Golan. SSA feelers are out in several areas in central and southern Israel. And we are in the process of establish-ing a MAP/SSA headquarters at the Integral Aikido Institute in Tel Aviv, under the dynamic direction of Sen-sei Miles Kessler. Affi liate relationships are con-tinuing to strengthen our efforts. After Cyprus, we gained the offi cial support of the Shimon Peres Peace Center. Recently SSA teamed up with Budo For Peace (BFP)(www.budoforpeace.org) to enhance peace education and exchanges for youth in our dojos. When I met the founder of BFP, Sensei Danny Hakim, it was like meeting my soul brother! Danny is of Egyptian Jewish origin, grew up in Australia, and was a national Olympic Karate champion. He spent a decade training in Japan, then im-migrated to Israel to raise a family and promote a future of friendship and peaceful coexistence for the children of the region. In addition to his focus on BFP peace educa-tion, Danny works with victims of terror on both sides as a “volunteer martial arts therapist.” He describes dramatic results not only in re-newed physical capabilities, but also respect, self-confi dence, and a desire to reach out and put an end to the violence. Like SSA, BFP’s mission is to es-tablish “twin” or partner Palestinian and Israeli dojos and through train-ing together “to uproot the distrust and hatred between the two sides and sow the seeds among younger generations for a future of authentic peace.” The week before the 2004 Athens Olympics, Sensei Hakim brought 20 Palestinian and 20 Israeli kids to train together at Delphi and publicize martial arts for peace. This summer, SSA and BFP are joining with Aikido Sensei Robert Kent to bring a pilot group of kids from the Middle East to an American sum-mer camp (www.susquehannock.com/peacecamp.htm). We all aim to bolster martial arts within camp sports activities and to provide pow-erful, positive, peaceful experiences for youth meeting across national and religious borders. The Training Across Borders con-cept has defi nitely taken hold. Look-ing to 2008, a second regional TAB conference is under consideration, possibly in Istanbul or Amman.

AIKIDO AND PEACEMAKING


“Mini-TAB” seminars continue to sprout in Israel, Palestine, and Jor-dan. Arab and Jewish Aikidoists will train together in July at the Zurich Aikido Camp (“Z-TAB”), hosted for the third time by Sensei Kurt Bartho-let. Aiki Extensions has established a thriving Aikido community in war-torn Ethiopia, and the new Awassa Peace Dojo there is a beautiful part of the MAP/SSA/TAB family. Past separations, stereotypes, and enmity really are giving way to friendly new relations through the harmonious medium of Aikido.

REFLECTIONS ON TRAINING AND PEACE EDUCATIONMuch has been said about Budo, The Warrior Way, and the modern day “Peaceful Warrior.” As time goes on, it seems to me that the line between dojo-practice and life-practice is be-coming increasingly permeable. The mat itself is a giant mirror, rendering both realistic and idealistic refl ec-tions of who we are and who we can become. The dojo is a laboratory and testing ground whose lessons are impossible to leave behind once we’ve changed clothes and returned to the “real” world outside. The whole feeling of the Middle East Aikido Peace Project always reminds me of the theme of a 1989 women’s martial arts conference: Healing Through Training. I believe that Aikido is well-suited to create the conditions needed for Mideast peace. O’Sensei taught that train-ing exists to “polish the Self” and to “reconcile the world.” The vision of this Japanese Shinto priest resonates with the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah, which revolves around the living notion of Tik-kun Olam/Repair of the World. O’Sensei’s message also echoes the teachings of Christ, with the empha-sis on Ai/the supreme power of love and the phenomenal possibilities for healing when people forsake fear and fi ghting. The very word “Islam” comes from the root s-l-m, salaam, “to make whole, peace.” Deep within we know that the greatest power is not brute force. Forceful-type power really does not feel good. It is not ultimately satisfy-ing or effective. It opens the door to bullying, oppression, and destruc-tion. Peaceful power respects all life.

AIKIDO AND PEACEMAKINGIt springs from care and intercon-nectedness. Practicing Aikido is entering into relationship that seeks harmony and mutual growth. With each new partner we viscerally ex-perience our common humanity and enjoy the fl ow of universal energy. This opens the way to real healing and peacemaking. Who hasn’t gotten hurt and lost in the distortions all around and inside us? As we train our bodies and minds, we move through the fragmentation that has led to so much suffering and harm. Breath-ing and moving in the very es-sence of life, we restore ourselves to wholeness and can more readily resolve confl ict. Training keeps becoming a deeper path of Tikkun Olam, reconciling and repairing the world. Restoring ourselves and “the others” (our new friends) to the perfection and unity that already IS—and having a good time doing it! In O’Sensei’s words: The Path of Peace is exceedingly vast, refl ecting the grand design of the hidden and manifest worlds....Rely on peace to activate your manifold powers! The possibilities for peace in-dwell within each of us, and surely must be present in the Holy Land. Palestinians and Israelis are actual neighbors, and biblical cousins. This is geographic and historical reality. While others look towards military or political solutions to the confl ict, Aikido is simple and direct. It offers physical interaction that confi rms spiritual truth and the effi cacy of power that is peaceful. While others treat peace as a last resort, or a sign of weakness or surrender, Aikido provides sound philosophy and con-crete training in the power of peace. O’Sensei saw that fi ghting and war could “destroy us utterly” and so urged: “What we need now are tech-niques of harmony, not of contention.” During the era of fascism in Japan, he actually modifi ed traditional martial arts techniques to eliminate competition and conquering! He fashioned Aikido as a great Way for people to literally become one with “The Great Spirit of Peace.” O’Sensei wanted every person to develop the kind of heart, mind, and actions that would eliminate all strife and kill-ing, and that could turn confl ict into creativity and mutual benefi t. It is this Aikido philosophy and physical training that has the power

to turn enemies into friends and peacemakers. In this light, I’d like to share one more incredibly eye-open-ing and heart-warming e-mail from the Ki Center in Baghdad, amidst all of the incomprehensible violence in Iraq. A dojo member was recently killed in a suicide bombing, several other members have lost family and friends, and most have now fl ed to Syria and Jordan where they are con-tinuing to train. Says Bashar: “Once a Japanese press man I met at our dojo, he asked me before the last war Why did you choose Aikido? My answer was: Aikido make me smile in front of my en-emy. We still training in anywhere and in all exceptional circumstance. AIKIDO is our way and our life.”

WHAT YOU CAN DOAIKIDO is our way and our life. Where so many have been frozen apart in war and a dangerous culture of hatred, war and violence, Aikido truly is bringing the bright light of peaceful possibilities. Moral and fi nancial support is vital, and so ap-preciated by those “on the ground” in the Middle East. Here are fi ve ways Aikidoists, mar-tial artists, and everyone can cross borders and get involved: 1) Make a tax-deductible donation. Aiki Exten-sions (AE) www.aiki-extensions.org, (773) 702-7917. Funds go directly for instructors, mats, uni-forms, dojo rent, student fees, dedicated MAP/SSA website, administrative and travel costs of MAP. 2) Become a Sister Sponsor to a Salaam Shalom Aikido school in the Middle East. Contact Aiki Extensions to find out how your dojo/church/syna-gogue/family can participate. 3) Host a MAP training seminar or event. I and other senseis involved with MAP are available to cosponsor a workshop and/or speak in your community. Through AE you may also receive a professional 10-minute documentary of the Cyprus conference as a resource to show. 4) Become an Aiki Corps volunteer. Contact the AE office if you would like to spend 3–12 months training and teaching in a wartorn or underpriv-eleged area, to help establish Aikido. 5) Help send Israeli and Palestinian chil-dren to Summer Camp. Contact Robert Kent at [email protected] or go to www.susquehannock.com/peacecamp.htm.

And please feel free to pass on this article, and to share your ideas and contacts with us by e-mail-ing: [email protected] or [email protected]. Salaam—Shalom—May Peace Prevail!

SENSEI JAMIE ZIMRON is a board member of AE and cofounder of MAP. She holds a 5th Degree Black Belt and is a somatic psycho-therapist (MFT), mind–body fi tness trainer, and LPGA golf professional. Through Aikido and her KiAi Golf and KiAi Way trainings, Jamie works with men, women, and children to embody “the mechanics and magic” of Peaceful Empowerment.


SINGING AND ENLIGHTENMENT

LH: Before you ask me any questions, I want tell everyone, singing is such fun! It is the most fun I know, that I’ve ever experienced. It’s better than sex. Singing is the ultimate act of playing!

What is meant by your workshop title “Come Build a Stairway to the Stars?”LH: The opportunity exists to experience reality in its eternal glory by capable use of the voice. Some cultures call that real-ity nirvana, others call it enlightenment. One of the benefi ts of singing is that en-lightenment can occur within a relatively short period of time for those open to it. The stairway is learning the steps that will erect the voice for singing. The voice singing is the stars.

What is the difference between singing and studying singing? LH: Learning to sing is even more fun than singing itself! The real joy is in the preparation. Because the body is designed to sing, the joy of singing must be a psychic requirement. Singing is not necessary for normal existence, but for spiritual enlightenment, vocalization with inspiration is very useful. All of the emotional experiences of humankind can be clearly expressed in song. When a person sings, they touch the fundamental core of their being and access their deep-est emotions. Singing is a vital element of the experience of oneself. The vocal process is a complex system which is best served by conscious understanding of the involved refl exive structures. Though vocalizing is a refl exive function, our so-cialization process can establish habitual patterns antithetical to it. As a result, our singing voice can get covered up with the “stuff” of life, rather than being a true expression of who we are. Studying singing can override bad habits and re-store a measure of a person’s instinctual freedom. The impediments culture places upon the voice can be corrected and con-trolled by learning vocal technique.

What do you mean by vocal technique?LH: Vocal technique is using the voice with control. We use the refl exes of the tongue and the breath. The breath is the source of inspiration, which means breathing in. The tongue is the refl exive control center. Learning and controlling the refl exive triggering mechanisms of the breath and the tongue provides con-scious control of the voice. This is vocal technique.

How does vocal technique work?LH: The body is a system of erectile func-tions. For example, we erect our spine to

stand. The voice erects in much the same fashion. When a person sings, the voice erects the body into vocal posture. This is refl exive in nature. There are three master vocal refl exes: conversation, screaming, and calling. Conversation is the one most commonly used. Screaming is used as a warning, and calling is a beckoning. Calling is the refl exive structure used in singing and orating. When all are used, the complete tonal range of the voice is available. Remarkably, I found that the tongue, the palate, and the torso contain the refl exive points of the tonal musical scale. These structures are assembled with co-ordination for vocal erection. Because of this, the ability to infl ect intent in melody is available to all. Joy, grief, ecstasy, astonishment, all the greatest emotions, now become our tools of grace.

Is there a therapeutic benefi t to singing?LH: Culture and society instill inhibi-tions that block our instinctive responses. Singing restores our instinctual abilities, which can then override cultural/societal habits. Learning to sing, then, can pro-vide a means of accessing our emotions, which themselves are also refl exive. As a result, it can create emotional balance. Singing also teaches another order of time, which is an emotional relief. Time is an artifi cial construct, from which it is hard to escape. The reality is that everything is now. Rhythm, tempo, and speed changes, result in a “reordering” of time. Music also exists in another order of time that reconstructs our experiences and memories and allows us to exist out of time. Through the process of singing, a personal core value structure can be established. This happens in part through the resurrection of the instinctive expres-sive function. Singing also develops self-awareness, as the singer must tune into the deepest parts of his/her body to coor-dinate the refl exive functions needed. Increased self-esteem is another thera-peutic benefi t. This occurs as the singer perfects the means to use the erectile function as it was intended to be used. The singer can respect himself/herself more for what he/she can do as a result of mastering the use of the vocal process.

You mentioned that singing can lead to spiritual enlightenment. LH: In my view, the voice is ultimately the center of awareness. It is our fi rst expression at birth, when we fi rst utter a sound. That fi rst utterance, which is usually a scream, is made because we want to breathe. That scream is the fi rst

expression of self, and of self-awareness. Through this, we tap into the power of the universal utterance of existence. Enlight-enment may be achieved by learning to become the instrument of the universal utterance in song.

How did you discover this method?LH: I was gifted with a fully functioning singing voice. As a result, singers regu-larly came to me to ask how I did what I did. I sincerely tried to help. I must thank all those who asked, because their ques-tions encouraged me to examine what I was doing. As a result, I studied pedagogy along with the biomechanics of the body. I tested my methodology out on students, and found that any student who works with this method can also have a fully functioning singing voice.

What happens in your workshop?LH: First of all, I want the participants to have fun while they are learning some-thing new. In the morning, the partici-pants experience dynamic meditations, which include dancing and production of sound. The meditations are designed to open the chakras, enabling the person to experience the vertical core of their being, which prepares them for singing. Two hours are given to learning inspirational methodology. A pianist is present to ac-company all singers throughout the week. I coach each participant individually on their song(s). By the end of the week each participant is able to successfully sing two songs of their choosing.

Can participants continue after a work-shop?LH: Through the Internet with a webcam and microphone, I offer intimate instruc-tion in the privacy of their home. We can view each other and converse live (http://www.singingworld.com). And visitors to Taos are welcome to work in my studio.

Your goal is to teach the world to sing?LH: This gift comes with requirements. I want others to feel fulfi lled. In my studies and experience, I have come to believe that human beings are designed to sing and are not fulfi lled until they do. All artists can fi nd spiritual enlightenment through their work, but what is special about singing is that it is accessible to everyone. All should have the opportunity to experience the shine, the immanence, the illumination, and the enlightenment of others, which can happen with singing. BARBARA U. JONES, Ph.D., has her doctorate from the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology. She and Leslie Harrington offer a fi ve-day singing workshop in Taos, New Mexico. http://www.barbaraujones.com

Interview with Leslie Harrington, Master Singing Teacher —Barbara U. Jones

LESLIE HARRINGTON

BARBARA U. JONES


ASSOCIATION FOR TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY NEWSLETTER

The 2008 World Congress on Psychology and Spirituality, with Lama Samdhong Rinpoche,

the Prime Minister of Tibet-in-exile (Spirituality in Politics), BKS Iyengar (The Future of Yoga), Karan Singh, Sri Sri Ravi San-kar, Stan and Christina Grof (on video), Robert Thurman, and others from 27 countries invite you to join in internationalizing spiritual approaches to personal and world issues. Many institu-tions—Yoga Journal, AHP, Rus-sian, European, French, German, Austrian, Brazilian, Polish, UK, Swiss, Romanian, and Japanese Transpersonal Associations, Kri-palu Center, Aurobindo Ashram, Shruti Foundation, Green Yoga,

Kaiser Dia-blo Valley Care, CIIS, Infi nity Founda-tion, JFK University, Saybrook, and ITP have joined, as has D. R. Karthikey-an, a former Director of the Indian “FBI” and spiritualist.

A microcosm of scholars, therapists, lawyers, physicians, educators, artists, scientists, students, social activists, and techies, the Congress is primar-ily a networking event to sup-port international collaborations

for attendees in areas such as restorative justice, emergency response trauma counseling, prison reform, transpersonal clinical training, spirituality in hospitals, conscious theatre and art forms, university and high school student exchange, yoga and meditation instruction, and world-fusion ecstatic dance and musical events. Add on holotropic breathwork, Sufi singing, and sound-heal-ing workshops. Meditation retreat and temples tours will be complemented by a special yogic fi re ritual known as a Yagya for world peace, to be held at the country estate where Monsoon Wedding was fi lmed. An all-night dance meditation for two hundred youth partici-pants will close the event, whose theme is the central maxim of Indian spirituality, Vasudhaiva kutumbakam, “The world is one family.” Presenters include Laura Cor-nell (Green Yoga), Geeta Chan-dran (Spirituality of Dance), Vladi-mir & Kristiana Maykov (Russian Shamanism), Ricki Pollicove (Spirituality for Physicians), Ike Lasater (Restorative Justice), Mara Taylor (Prison Reform), Stan-ford Forgiveness Project, tantra master G. Seshan (Sri Vidya), and Shruti (Mantra Healing) Meditation master R. Ganesh will show that nondual awaken-ing can include profound intel-lectual abilities. By his forties, he had learned 17 languages, written 14 books, and became expert in physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, and various performing arts, includ-

World Congress on Psychology & Spirituality, Delhi, India, January 5–8 2008www.WorldCongressPS2008.org — Stu Sovatsky

ATP Launches Transpersonal Psychology Podcasts

Each week ATP will pub-lish on itunes a presenta-tion from the Stanislav and Christina Grof

Archives of the ATP and ITA conferences held over the past 35 years in more than 17 countries—explorations of Buddhism, Con-sciousness, Ecology, Spirituality, Psychedelics, and Transpersonal Psychotherapy by Stanislav Grof, Charles Tart , Jeanne Achterberg, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, Francis Vaughan, June Singer, Stanley Krippner, Larry Dossey, Joanna Macy, David Whyte, Terry Ta-foya, David Steindl-Rast, Michael Harner, Jim Fadiman, Rachel Re-men, Mathew Fox, and others. There are more than 200 ATP and ITA Conference Presenta-tions. You can gain access to all of them by joining the Associa-tion for Transpersonal Psychol-ogy. You can subscribe for free to this Transpersonal Psychology Podcast at atpweb.org.

CHRISTINA GROF WITH THE DALAI LAMA

ing spontaneous rap poetry. Most fascinating, he can carry on simultaneous conversations with one hundred people without losing his place. He will revo-lutionize our understanding of nondual enlightenment. Registration and proposals:http://www.WorldCon-gressPS2008.org. We look for-ward to the conversations among attendees as much as to the presentations. We look forward to creating that kind of confer-ence community, in India.



The Stanislav and Christi-na Grof Archives Fund-raiser held at the Califor-nia Institute of Integral

Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco on April 21, 2007, raised more than $6000! The evening event includ-ed wine and cheese followed by a multimedia celebration of the 17 International Transpersonal Conferences held over 34 years, from Iceland to India. I prepared a slide show of photos from the ITA confer-ences made available by Stan and Christina from their personal photo albums. In chronological order, Stan and Christina recon-structed the origins, highlights, struggles, and unexpected outcomes. People who were at the conferences also shared their memories. There were moving

Report on the Fundraiser and Festschrift for the Stanislav and Christina Grof Archives

accounts from conference par-ticipants Angeles Arrien, Francis Vaughan, John McKenzie, and Stan Krippner. The evening was a moving oral history of the internation-alization of the transpersonal movement, seeded largely by the ITA conferences and the many workshops given by Stan and Christina. A video of the oral history will be put online on the ATP website, atpweb.org. Stan and Christina donated 12 boxes of video and audiotapes from the ITA conferences, and this fundraiser raised money to get the tapes digitized to put on atpweb.org. An audio archiving service in San Jose (www.audio-archive.com) donated consult-ing time to help ATP purchase hardware including the Audio-

— Dave Lukoff

CHRISTINA AND STANISLAV GROF

phile 2496 USB (a compact audio and MIDI interface), TASCAM 102mkll Professional two-head cassette deck, and Adobe Audi-tion software, which will make high quality versions of 500+ audiocassette ITA presenta-tions. Reel-to-reel fi lm and Sony ¾” vid-eotapes will be transferred by a professional audio archivist. ATP wishes to thank all those who contributed to this success-ful evening honoring the Grofs’ contributions to the transperson-al movement—including CIIS, its staff, and the student volunteers.

ITP and Saybrook Welcome New Presidents

Dr. Thomas Potterfi eld comes to ITP from Southern New Hamp-shire University,

where he taught in its Depart-ment of Organizational Leader-ship. Prior to that, Dr. Potterfi eld had a 13-year career at Velcro USA, a $250 million company of 1,400 employees. He rose through the ranks at Velcro and eventually became its president. He has used spiritual innova-tion and applied transpersonal values throughout his corporate career and in his diverse leader-ship roles. Dr. Potterfi eld earned a Ph.D. in psychology from

Saybrook Gradu-ate School. He has served on several nonprofi t boards. Dr. Lorne M. Buchman is Say-brook Graduate School’s new presi-dent. Dr. Buchman has demonstrated leadership in the higher edu-cation and nonprofi t commu-nity for more than 20 years. His experience in higher education includes positions as President, California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts), President, Kaplancol-lege.com School of Education, and interim CEO of the San Francisco Art Institute. He also

served as Associate Dean of Student Ser-vices for the College of Letters and Science of the University of California Berkeley, Chair of the Depart-ment of Dramatic Art, University of California Berkeley,

and Provost for the California College of Arts and Crafts. He is currently the principal/founder of a consulting fi rm that provides organizational development and strategic leadership to a wide range of nonprofi t and public en-tities. Dr. Buchman received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto.

LORNE BUCHMAN



TRANSPERSONAL CONVERSATIONSDIRECTED BY KEVIN PAGE Transpersonal Media, 2005

Reviewed by David Lukoff

Transpersonal Conversations is an in-depth series of cinema-quality, docu-mentary-style interviews

fi lmed in High-Defi nition with the founders and leaders of transperson-al psychology. The six DVDs contain hour-long conversations with Stan-islav Grof on LSD and psychedelic research, his proposal to name the fi eld of transpersonal psychology, and the development of Holotropic Breathwork. Francis Vaughan discusses transpersonal psychotherapy, heal-ing awareness, and Ken Wilber. Charles Tart holds forth on altered states of consciousness, “Scientism,” the scientifi c study of the human soul, and parapsychology. Ralph Metzner talks about the Harvard Psilocybin Project with Timothy Leary, “set-and-setting” in the psychedelic process, and alchemical divination. James Fadiman reviews the impact of the 1960s conscious-ness revolution, and Ram Dass speaks on transpersonal psychol-ogy and the founding of the Insti-tute for Transpersonal Psychology (ITP). Christina Grof contributes insights into the connection between transpersonal psychology and the recovery movement, global issues in addictions, and Holotropic Breath-work. The interviews were conducted by Kevin Page who is President of Transpersonal Media. Both ITP and ATP provided support to this endeavor to document the origins and theoretical foundations of transpersonal psychology. Many talks by these founders are available in online ATP conference presenta-

tions, but Kevin Page has captured them at their most eloquent and succinct. He does not appear in the documentaries but has found a way to facilitate their expression of key concepts and turning points in the fi eld. After spending several years on this project, Kevin decided to pursue a doctorate at ITP, and I think many viewers will be similarly moved. I am personally using these videos in my graduate class on transperson-al psychology at Saybrook Graduate School. Younger students seem to fi nd the opportunity to see these pioneers and hear their stories very inspiring. More information on this series is available at www.transper-sonalmedia.com

DAVID LUKOFF is Co-President of the Association for Transpersonal Psychol-ogy and a Professor at Saybrook Gradu-ate School.

THE GIFTS OF GRIEFDIRECTED BY NANCEE BONOYA

giftsofgrief.com, 2006

Reviewed by Vitor Rodriques

No explosions, no car chases. A slow rhythm, and still you get stuck on the screen, not by

outer but by inner action. Strong emotion delivered at the right pace, allowing your soul to breathe with the movie. Six human beings (Isabel Allende being one of them) give us their testimony about their own processes of grieving, and move the fi lm along, from excerpts about how desperate, angry, depressive, or blackened it has been for them to how they became better human beings afterward, and something inside them was reborn after they walked through grief. Darkness and heaviness giving place to light, love, and beauty during these moving 50 minutes.

This is a documentary that goes deep, thanks to a harmonious proportioning of interviews with documents concerning the lives of dear loved ones, the ones who left behind grieving people. You get the impression that they all became the best human beings when they allowed themselves to grieve and to come out of that grief more mature, open, honest, and loving, both of themselves and of others. The Gifts of Grief is a movie gift we can really enjoy. It can be extremely useful for us therapists, for our patients, for nurses and medical doctors, virtu-ally anybody who is trying to deal with and understand our human-ness. I can but congratulate and thank Nancee Sobonya for such a great work—and for her hard and accomplished work, too. VITOR RODRIQUES, Ph.D., is a psy-chotherapist and writer, and President of EUROTAS (the European Transper-sonal Association).

HEART OF COURAGE: Aikido Practices of Love in Action, workshop for women September 9–14, 2007

Aikido is a noncompetitive martial art, which culti-vates harmony of body, mind, and spirit. In this

retreat, we’ll grow our capacity to “walk our talk,” access uncondition-al self-acceptance, and shift condi-tioned patterns of reactivity into joyful expressions of response. We’ll explore themes central to Aikido: centering, connecting with others, shifting from a culture of “power over” to one of “power with,” and becoming fully present. No experi-ence in Aikido is needed. http://www.omega.org. CECs available. Instructor: Michelle Manger Keip, RN, has been practicing Aikido and teaching life skills for over 25 years.



The Woodfish Prize Winners: Sidian Morning Star Jones and Stanley Krippner

With the sun shining and sailboat spinnakers fl ying on the bay, friends, family and colleagues gathered on March 3 at Greens

restaurant in San Francisco for the Annual Wood-fi sh Prize presentation. This year’s recipients were Sidian Morning Star Jones and Stanley Krippner, who are collaborating on a book on Rolling Thunder, the Native American shaman and elder. Sidian Jones is Rolling Thunder’s grandson and a poet and writer living in Mon-tana. Stanley Krippner, as our readers will know, is one of the elders of the transpersonal move-ment, having published more than 20 books on shamanism, dreams, and indigenous healing, among other topics. The Woodfi sh Prize is a joint award given to two people, one an indigenous North American (Native American or First Nation) and the other a Euroamerican (European North American), for co-creating a transpersonal social action project that is mutually transforming. This award is co-sponsored by the Woodfi sh Institute and ATP. The event was highlighted by several presenta-tions and performances. Leslie Gray, the founder of the Woodfi sh Institute, then introduced Sidian Jones and Stanley Krippner, who both spoke of the creative processes and interactions in their joint endeavor. Not only was this a multicultural endeavor, it was also multigenerational with Sidian in his 20s and Stanley being the elder statesman. Stanley told of learning the ins and outs of Myspace and other multimedia sites of the younger generation, and it was apparent to all of us that the collaboration was proving to be both signifi cant and fun. Sidian will be interview-ing folks who knew and worked with Rolling Thunder. These stories will be the foundation of the book, and Stanley Krippner, who had many interactions with Rolling Thunder, will collabo-rate and guide the project to publication. The Woodfi sh Institute was started by Dr. Leslie Gray, a psychologist, author, and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a Native American, her passion is to foster and promote “reciprocal transformation.” The Institute’s mis-sion statement says: “The mission of the Woodfi sh Institute is to provide education and services to the

general public for the purpose of bridging core indigenous ways of knowing and transindigenous healing methodologies with modern multidisciplinary approaches to human problem solving, mind–body healing, and ecopsychology.”

— Ray Greenleaf


REVIEWS

THE MYTHIC PATH: DISCOVERING THE GUIDING STORIES OF YOUR PAST: Creating a Vision for Your FutureBY DAVID FEINSTEIN AND STANLEY KRIPPNER

Elite Books, 2007, 3rd edition, 326 pp., $18, ISBN 10: 1600700160.

THE PROMISE OF ENERGY PSYCHOLOGY: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal ChangeBY DAVID FEINSTEIN, DONNA EDEN, AND GARY CRAIG

Tarcher/Penguin, 2005, 336 pp., $16, ISBN 10: 1585424420 .

Reviewed by Douglas J. Moore

TAKING YOUR LIFE INTO YOUR OWN HANDS: Self-Help Books that Really Work

Two powerful self-help books have recently been published, each showing its readers how

to draw upon compelling psy-chological and spiritual prin-ciples for creating a better life. Each provides reliable methods for freeing yourself from the grips of unconscious patterns that have interfered with your happiness, success, and well-being. Each shows you how to move on to new vistas led by your deepest wisdom. And each is an authoritative guide for per-sonal evolution that also holds strong social implications, as we must all evolve quickly if we are to save our species and planet from the ravishes of the collec-tive habitual behaviors that are leading us toward destruction. These two works each come from such a different angle that it takes a moment to realize they both promise the same benefi ts. One focuses on the forest; the

other focuses on the trees. One has you examining and making shifts in your life in terms of its broad guiding themes. Changing the forest changes the trees. The other gives you tools for mak-ing small but decisive changes, one at a time, at the level of the intricate programming that is patterned in your brain. Chang-ing the trees changes the forest. Interestingly, each book has the same lead author, a clinical psy-chologist and three-decade AHP member who has devoted a ca-reer toward empowering people outside the clinical setting. The Mythic Path: Discovering the Guiding Stories of Your Past—Cre-ating a Vision for Your Future gives us a way to think about, relate to, and dance with the dimensions of our existence that are greater than ordinary con-sciousness can usually embrace. Mythology has always been a bridge between the human mind and the human spirit, and this book succeeds in personalizing that quest. It is a 12-week pro-gram that has been evolving for more than 30 years, since fi rst author David Fein-stein con-ceived it based on research he was conduct-ing into “new therapies” while on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The book takes you through a program for system-atically examining the grand themes that have shaped your life—the music to which you have danced and will continue to dance if you do not change the tune—and helping you to

make decisive changes to bring that music closer to your heart’s wisdom and desire. With its lin-eage tracing back to the research program at Hopkins, it synthe-sizes the best psychological and spiritual self-help methods ever devised into a user-friendly pro-gram that can be accomplished a couple of evenings per week over three months. The publisher calls it “a powerful antidote for modern lives caught in the disori-enting grip of a world in turmoil.” The Promise of Energy Psychol-ogy: Revolutionary Tools for Dra-matic Personal Change introduces an innovation that was not avail-able during the Hopkins research project in the early 1970s. It is, in fact, one of the most exciting developments to come from the psychotherapy arena in decades. Energy psychology is a tool for emotional self-management that allows you to change the tones on the keyboard of your psyche. Through simple, mechanical procedures, you are shown

how to eliminate irrational fears, inappropriate anger, maladaptive anxiety, prolonged grief, unwarranted jealousy—the whole spectrum of everyday emotions that may go awry. You also learn how such emotions keep us trapped in lifelong patterns that interfere with our happiness and success. The fi eld of energy psychol-ogy applies the

5,000-year-old healing art of acupuncture to psychological problems and goals. Called “acu-puncture without needles,” you tap a set of points while bringing the psychological problem or goal to mind. The tapping is be-lieved to send signals to the brain that change the neurological


REVIEWS

underpinnings of the problem. Simple, neat, effective. Replant a few trees in your emotional land-scape and the forest starts to take on a new contour. The approach is proving itself in some of the toughest situations imaginable, where it has been successfully utilized by disaster teams going into post–civil war Kosovo and Rawanda and post-hurricane and post-tsunami areas. The book is written by Feinstein and two other leaders in this rapidly emerging specialty, Donna Eden and Gary Craig. Feinstein, in his preface to the new third edition of The Mythic Path (co-authored with the re-nowned psychologist Stanley Krippner), describes how after three decades of refi ning their model for helping people con-sciously change their guiding myths, the emergence of energy psychology was a shocking and exciting development. The au-thors found that by applying energy psychology methods at various stages of the personal mythology program, the results were even more profound and lasting. And that is why there is a third edition to the already highly respected book, whose fi rst edition in 1986 was lauded by Joseph Campbell, Jean Hous-

ton, Ashley Montagu, Stanislav Grof, and many other luminar-ies in the fi eld. The third edition adds a support guide for intro-ducing energy psychology into the personal mythology model. The support guide is an optional addition to the program, but a powerful one. It assumes that the reader has some basic skills in energy psychology. Working with the two books in combination is one of best things you could do to tend the trees and the forests of your inner life.

DOUGLAS J. MOORE, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with Mosaics Integrated Health in Cleveland, Ohio. He integrates traditional psychological methods with the practice of mindful-ness, the wisdom of the Enneagram, and principles from energy medicine and energy psychology. He may be reached at [email protected]’s Note: The Mythic Path third edition won the 2007 National Indie Excellence Book Award in the New Age Nonfi ction category, and The Promise of Energy Psychology was a fi nalist (second place) in the Self-Help Category. The awards are given by the Independent Booksellers Assoication.

LISTENING FROM THE HEART OF SILENCE: Nondual Wisdom and PsychotherapyEdited bY JOHN PRENDERGAST AND G. KENNETH BRADFORD Paragon House, 2007, 300 pp., $20, ISBN 10: 155778626.

Reviewed by Bonnie Greenwell

The experience of non-dual wisdom is begin-ning to penetrate the therapeutic process,

as therapists who have known deep spiritual awakenings seek to bring the presence and truth of being into their practices. In this remarkable anthology, 11 therapists share moments of encounter with clients that go beyond doing, and which have the potential for spontaneous healing of the splits in the human psyche. To see there is no other,

to meet in the silence of Oneness, to discover a place within that has no problem, and to allow “spacious intimacy” brings a rich new dimension into human rela-tionship with Self and others. Listening From the Heart of Silence deepens and expands the therapeutic implications of nonduality as presented in The Sacred Mirror, edited by the same team. These modern pioneers of nondual therapy are giving a contemporary voice to an ancient wisdom that is unspeakable, but clearly realized, and suggesting its capacity for healing and trans-formation. The book revolves around a central theme of using open-hearted listening and help-ing clients to discover an inner touchstone that will move them beyond suffering. It addresses the embodiment of nonduality, and suggests the possibility of a radical shift in identity that can awaken an intrinsic and power-ful relationship to life. In one chapter, therapist Judith Blackstone weaves her perspec-tive of nondual consciousness with systems theory, and com-ments: “If nondual consciousness is the essence and ground of personal subjective experience, then opening to this dimension can be understood as the direction of human matu-rity.” These insights about the true foundation of consciousness have signifi cant implications for


REVIEWS

the practice of depth therapy or spiritual guidance, and will be of interest to anyone wanting to integrate the gifts of spiritual awakening in daily life.

BONNIE GREENWELL, Ph.D., is a transpersonal author, dharma teacher, and psychotherapist. www.kundalini-guide.com or www.awakeningguide.com.

THE TRANSPERSONAL: Spirituality in Psychology and CounselingBY JOHN ROWAN

Routledge, 2005, second edi-tion, 317 pp., $34, ISBN 10: 1583919872.

Reviewed by Daryl S. Paulson

This second edition of The Transpersonal is remark-ably consistent with its predecessor, although

it has been updated. The book consists of an introduction and twelve chapters detailing the ba-sics of transpersonal psychology. In the introduction, Rowan describes transpersonal psychol-ogy as serving a bridging func-tion between psychotherapy and spirituality. He also de-scribes what he considers to be transpersonal and what he does not. For example, he does not consider New Age topics to be transpersonal. He does, however, consider certain everyday experi-ences, such as intuitive and peak experiences, as transpersonal. In Chapter 1, “Some Pioneers,” Rowan portrays the origins of transpersonal psychology. In-cluded in this informative pre-sentation are references to the works of William James, Dane Rudyear, C. G. Jung, Roberto As-sagioli, Stanislov Grof, Abraham Maslow, and Arnold Mindell, and some European theorists. Oddly, James Fadiman, Robert

Frager (founder of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology), Haridas Chaudhuri (founder of what is now the California Insti-tute of Integral Studies), Ralph Metzner, Alan Watts, and Stan-ley Krippner are not mentioned. In Chapter 2, “The Basic Map,” Rowan concentrates on Ken Wilber’s early works (Spectrum of Consciousness and The Atman Project) with some sprinklings of Jungian thought—such as Ed-ward Whitmont and James Hill-man—to present TP’s ground. Chapter 3, “Wilber and Thera-pies,” is strongly centered in Wilber’s three chapters in Transformations of Consciousness. Rowan addresses Wilber’s nine fulcrums of development, and the psychopathologies associated with each level. He also briefl y discusses treatment regimens that focus on these pathologies. In Chapter 4, “Being in Transpersonal Psychotherapy,” Rowan again uses much of Wilber’s mate-rial, particularly from Integral Psychology, con-cerning states and stages of consciousness. But he also weaves others’ works into the chapter’s discussion in a novel and creative way. In Chapter 5, “Imagination and the Imaginal World,” Rowan brings the works of C. G. Jung into play. He discusses the ima-ginal world—one’s constructed worldview—and presents valu-able insights into active imagina-tion, guided imagery, dreams, and group processes. Chapter 6, “Linking and Al-chemy,” presents a discussion of working into one’s subtle level—for Rowan, the level of the transpersonal Self. Of particu-

lar interest is the presentation of transpersonal therapy as an alchemical process; he uses many Jungian insights. Chapter 7, “Personal Mythol-ogy and Spiritual Emergence,” presents a valuable grounding in mythical motifs of the hero(ine) in terms of the call, the initia-tion, and the return, all of value on the spiritual path. He pres-ents the works on transpersonal mythology of both Feinstein and Krippner in a practical manner. He also describes the very real dangers of spiritual emergence wherein transpersonal energies overwhelm the psyche, offered in a very useful discussion. In Chapter 8, “Other Cultures,” Rowan presents a brief discus-sion of the phenomenology of spiritual experiences from the perspective of other cultures. Following Wilber’s view,

Chapter 9, “Meditation, the Causal, and the Non-dual,” Rowan presents his own cookbook medi-tation instruction set that some may fi nd very useful. He also presents his own quadrant view to understanding the meditative experience, discussing the causal and nondual levels, as they relate in medita-tion. Chapter 10, “Sub-personalities and the

Transpersonal,” is one of the high points of the book, where Rowan discusses the problems encountered by splitting oneself into spiritual and nonspiritual components, or subpersonalities, instead of integrating both com-ponents into the whole self. Chapter 11, “Issues in Transpersonal Theory,” in-cludes discussion of men’s and women’s spiritualities, the body, psychoses, and an incomplete discussion on behaviorialism, cognitive science, and neuro-physiology.


REVIEWS

Chapter 12, “The Future of the Transpersonal,” offers a basic relationship of transpersonal and humanistic psychologies, the problems of evil, transpersonal psychologies, and relationships to religion. All in all, the book is well-writ-ten and insightful. Yet, there is a problem. Much of what Rowan discusses is a decade or so be-hind the transpersonal scene, at least in the U. S. Rowan’s book is heavily skewed toward the works of Ken Wilber and is, therefore, heavily biased. Quite notably, Rowan completely disregards the extensive works of Michael Washburn, who has developed a very strong, insight-ful transpersonal theory that should be presented in any book purporting to be transpersonal. Also, the valuable work of Fer-rer presenting his participatory transpersonal theory has been omitted—a grave mistake. And, unfortunately, Rowan has not presented the more recent insights of Ken Wilber, including his revised quadrant view, lines of development, four defi ni-tions of spirituality, the frontal, and the soul and spiritual com-ponents of a person, similar to Sri Aurobindo’s view, nor has Rowan cast Wilber in his present view—that of integral psychol-ogy.

DARYL PAULSON, Ph.D, is a scholar-at-large in transpersonal and integral studies. He has taught transpersonal psychology, psychosynthesis, and in-tegral psychology. He was a member of Wilber’s Integral Institute, where he served on the core Integral Business Group. He is author of six books, and a decorated U.S. Marine who served as a Vietnamese language interpreter.

RITES OF PASSAGE: Celebrating Life’s ChangesBY KATHLEEN WALL AND GARY FERGUSON

Beyond Words, 1998, 202 pp., $5, ISBN 1885223765.

Reviewed by Bryan W. Rich

Humanistic psychol-ogy begins and ends with human experi-ence. Exploration and

engagement with the full range of human experience encom-passes a vast array of activity and ways of knowing. Specula-tive and theoretical inquiry is often fascinating and makes important contributions to the efforts to understand and serve. Ultimately, though, the human-istic psychologist returns to the essential concerns: to care for, nurture, and celebrate human life in the actual living of it. In this book, Kathleen Wall and her collaborator Gary Ferguson have offered an unusually accessible text that provides guideposts to practical action and potentially far-reaching explora-tion, both in self-di-rected work and in psychotherapy. The book is remarkable for its presentation in a highly readable style of material that has profound implications and arises from ex-tensive psycho-logical and spiritual sophistication and practical experience in psychotherapy. It provides a welcom-ing entrance into this material for the general reader, and can be of value to the self-help reader and as a workbook in a psycho-therapeutic setting. More subtly, it invites the willing professional reader to actively reexamine deeper levels of what it means to be human that, due to their very nature, yield new perspectives with each new exploration. The book is structured as a

practical guide to creating and practicing rituals in relationship to important events and experi-ences in everyday life, particu-larly with regard to signifi cant transitional passages. An open-ing chapter provides an intro-duction to various characteristics of rituals, followed by several chapters offering practical guide-lines and examples. Lighthanded and nontheoretical comments about the nature and function-ing of rituals point to the deeper implications. Much has been written about ritual and rites of passage in recent years, including rigorous ethnographic studies, inqui-ries focusing on transpersonal elements, and popular treat-ments based on varying levels of scholarship and intellectual and psychological sophistication and occupying various positions on the substance/fl uff axis. The

intention of the book is not to present a theoretical or analytical discourse. Instead, in a gentle, unas-suming, and supportive yet fi rm tone, it conveys with notable effec-tiveness that human life is variously wondrous, ar-duous, joyous, agonizing,

deeply moving, grief-inducing, and often altogether bewildering. Human beings live in an ever-changing reality that is subject to powerful infl uences in many dimensions, relational, psychic on internal and collective levels, and spiritual, over all of which we have rather little control. The authors suggest that much suffering results from habitual attempts to resist, suppress, or


evade aspects of this unfolding process, to substitute fantasized structures or illusions of per-manence, or simply to resist the ever-changing nature of life, all at the cost of an overall loss of alive-ness and satisfaction. Instead, the satis-faction and indeed full living of life are found in engaging and participating in this great and mul-tidimensional world, with intentional awareness and will-ing, active acceptance of reality as it is. This can be practiced with continually renewed attention to one’s own highest aspira-tions while keeping one’s feet fi rmly on the ground. The authors emphasize two major elements of this view. The experience of tension between poles can be recognized and engaged with as a source of creative energy and potential rather than something that one attempts to fi ght, suppress, or evade. Indeed, the anxiety that arises in times of crisis or transi-tion can be recognized as a pole in this powerful and potentially growthful dialectic, rather than feared as an independent and entirely negative phenomenon. Similarly, the fundamental con-dition of constant change can be experienced and related to as an environment of fertility, evolu-tion, and empowerment rather than one of anxiety and mean-ingless buffeting-about. Thus, the real forces supporting alive-ness, growth, love, relationship, and so on can emerge freely. The recognition of challenging elements in life as occurring in a greater context rather than fi lling and overwhelming one’s expe-rience provides a great deal of

freedom and even opportunity for transformation. However, this recognition can hardly be accomplished only through intel-lectual argument or “attitude adjustment.” Viewed in this con-text, rituals can be understood

as intentional, volitional practices that increase awareness, provide openings to interaction with multi-dimensional infl uences, and facilitate active engage-ment with them. The authors present a fi ve-stage model of the process

of growth and transformation through active engagement with the processes and forces of change. Letting go of old pat-terns that are no longer alive leads to a period of uncertainty and bewilderment that may be challenging and distressing. Consequent to this courageous, volitional surrender, multidi-mensional forces in the posi-tions of polar opposites may be discerned more freely and even interacted with consciously. Herein, new directions and pos-sibilities may be recognized and chosen. Finally, with increasing awareness and conscious choice, engagement with new realms of life is stabilized and shaped. Development of personal rituals can provide supports for this engagement. Although the form of the book is primarily practical guidelines, presented in modest language with little theoretical discourse, it is clearly informed by exten-sive background and sophisti-cation in psychological theory and psychotherapeutic practice,

and also by spiritual study and exploration. For example, the reader is encouraged to em-ploy symbols that have per-sonal signifi cance in rituals. The background in psychological theory for assertions like this is evident to the informed reader, in this case a deep understand-ing of the theories of Assagioli and Jung. However, the authors simply point out that “the more that people convey desires to their subconscious—which, by the way, is far more versed in symbols than in words—the more likely it is that as-piration will sprout into reality” (p. 172). Thus readers are provided with an invitation and practi-cal support to experience this phenomenon directly, indeed in-corporating the very unconscious processes described. Lay readers—and psychother-apy clients of all levels of sophis-tication—can derive direct and signifi cant practical benefi t from Wall’s extensive knowledge and practical experience, supported by Ferguson’s communicative gifts and skills. The book may serve the professional reader as a bibliotherapeutic resource and as a useful guidebook to practical work—and perhaps as a unique invitation to explore their own theoretical ideas directly, in vivo.

BRYAN W. RICH, Ph.D., works in community-based mental health, main-tains a private practice in psychotherapy and psychospiritual guidance, and teaches in the San Francisco, California, Bay Area. Inquiries may be directed to [email protected].

THE DECEIVED SOCIETYBY STAN CHARNOFSKY

Trafford, 2005, 178 pp., $22, ISBN 1-4120-6760-X.

Excerpt

Americans live in a maelstrom of deceit, some of it unapparent, some obvious, all po-

REVIEWS


REVIEWS

tentially deadly to our life style, and, alarmingly, our democracy. It ranges from a planet overpop-ulated and reeling from human congestion, to the destruction of pristine habitats, to indifference to the poisonous consequences of our energy choices. Aside from deception about the physical erosion of our Earth, we are also deceived about war and peace, gender issues, family life, educa-tion, and myriad other critical issues. In the book The Deceived Society, the aim is to alert our citizenry to its own culpability in many of the deceptions and challenges all of us to band together to con-front the deceptions laid upon us by a complicit media and a distorted body politic. This is not a polemic against any one political party or gov-

erning philosophy. As a society, we are vulnerable to a variety of deceits, the remedy for which is an alerted and aware popu-lace. We may not think of our vast numbers of single adults as disadvantaged, but they are. We are slowly becoming aware of our culture’s gender biases—and certainly of our reluctance to un-derstand issues of sexual orienta-tion. Our educational priorities are often unclear, more out of a lack of knowledge than from any form of malevolence. We are then deceived by a simplistic view that fl ying a fl ag means patriotism. Our parenting and home life are often contaminated by violence. Our media are often reduced to being cheerleaders for government policies, and obsess-ing on trivia. Some of our reli-gions promote intolerance rather than love and acceptance: the revolutionary Assisi Decalogue

is widely ignored. We are not yet a society that fully embraces minorities. Though these forms of cultural duplicity are confronted, it is not done with despair. We are a deceived society, but we are not a defeated one. An enlightened citizenry will rise to the task of discarding the practices that pull us down, weaken our democra-cy, and threaten our promise as a cooperative member of the world community. It is the purpose of this writing to serve as a central focal point for the several ways we have gotten off track as society. It ends with High Hopes—that through an awareness of our malaise, we may confront and defeat it.

STAN CHARNOFSKY is Professor of Educational Psychology and Counseling at California State University North-ridge and former President of AHP.

RITUAL: Power, Healing, and Community By Mal idoma Patrice SoméSwan Raven & Company, 1993, Alfred A. Knopf, 2002, 103 pp., $13, ISBN 0140195580.

Reviewed by Don Eulert

Where ritual is absent, the young ones are restless or violent, there are no real elders, and the grown-ups are bewildered. The future is dim.

For this Perspective’s cogent theme Rites of Passage, a dozen new books might be reviewed

and recommended. But here’s a slim “older” resource that can be read in one sitting, key to exploring contemporary dilem-mas. A reader will experience the promise of ritual process, and the diffi culties of fi nding communi-ty, necessary for rites of passage in our Machine culture. Malidoma Patrice Somé is from


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the Dagara tribe of West Africa. He is an initiated, gifted diviner and medicine man of his tribe. He holds three master’s degrees and two doctorates from the Sor-bonne and Brandeis University. Malidoma’s thrill-ing storytelling frames analysis of how ritual works in community, and how things work in a Machine cul-ture. Western society generates a force fi eld inside of which one is enslaved, caught up in the speed and motion required by the Ma-chine to feed its overt power. “The Machine has made itself look beau-tiful by making other ways of life that have existed for tens of thou-sands of years look silly, shameful, and uncivilized.” With his shape-shifting multicultural experience, Somé concludes, “I must say that Progress is the invention of someone who suffered immaturity and who craved to be initiated.” In pages beginning with “Constraints of the Modern World,” Malidoma addresses our culture’s intense craving for transcendence, the illusion of community, and the impos-sibility of fully reproducing the indigenous way in pursuit of

spirit. “But this does not mean that the modern-day healer is ineffec-tive.” What is done with respect, honesty, and integrity “cannot be looked at as a parody.” After describing the effect of his work with Michael Moore and Robert Bly, he refl ects, “There must be an indigenous person within each of

us.” After nam-ing seven character-istics of a community, he adds, “A community that doesn’t have a ritual cannot exist.” And since rites of pas-sage requir-ing mentor-ing, “The elder cannot be an elder if

there is no community to make him an elder.” Defi ning community as a place of self-defi nition, Somé proposes “Any group of people meeting with the intention...of do-ing together what is impossible to do alone.” So there may be some hope for contemporary versions, as described in this Perspective’s lead article. If you choose to read this book, also look forward to wry and laugh-out-loud comments rang-ing from those about Hollywood to turning into a dog to save the

ozone layer, and an elder’s com-ment about multistoried build-ings: “whoever built this has some serious problems.” Somé also provides the ele-ments and structure of ritual, with enactment as key to un-locking frozen emotions. “To cleanse the modern world from its unresolved problems of the soul, there ought [to be] . . . a mas-sive funeral day when everyone is expected to shed tears for the titanic loss wrecked by Progress on people’s souls.” Maldoma Patrice Somé openly offers cross-cultural tools. In a time when there’s a movement about “appropriating” indig-enous practices, he suggests that we all can benefi t from consult-ing with archetypal practice. He concludes:

I have come to suspect that in the absence of ritual, the soul runs out of its real nourishment, and all kinds of social problems then ensue. I do not want to pretend that I can provide a model for fi xing the ills of Western culture. My intentions are much more modest. . . . From the echoes of my ancestors, I feel I can give some clue as to how to improve that which is in constant decay in this culture.

DON EULERT is Director of the Center for Integrative Psychology at the School of Professional Psychology, the San Di-ego campus of Alliant University, and a board member of AHP.

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