Bear's Blog

Somehow, by happy accident? – medicine wheels have been a part of every School Retreat we’ve held since 2008. Several have been at the WD Ranch north of Big Timber, Montana. It’s a special place where Paul and Ellie Hawks, students of mine, built a very large wheel – a single circle – with a VERY large crystal planted in its center. We would begin with the silent “walk of intention” – like the Buddhist kinhin walking meditation – up the hill, with a few rattles and drums to accompany us.

Once there, we did some ceremony ...

Even more fun than visiting a medicine wheel, is building one! Chris Snell helped me build my first one in 2003. He had built many as large as 40’ wide on his family’s ranch (the Lazy EL) in Roscoe, Montana - but Chris has built medicine wheels in many environments, even a city backyard.

The McKay Method energy healing community has built three wheels over the years on a hill just east of Bozeman, Montana. They are smaller (approximately 10’ in diameter) but have a powerful energetic effect on the whole Gallatin Valley. ...

Medicine wheels are a creation of Native Americans that have been built for thousands of years. It’s a structure made by rocks placed in the landscape; it typically has a central stone(s) surrounded by one or more concentric circles, and/or two or more lines radiating outward from the center point. Most of the few hundred that survive are found in Canada and the U.S. Mountain West.

Some scientists and historians believe these forms were related to the stars, reflecting various celestial alignments (not unlike Stonehenge ...

I teach and practice “Full Spectrum” healing; that means I include the physical body as well as all the more subtle energetic forms that make up our whole being. It’s all connected, and it’s all important.

Just as we need to pay attention to our physical being, we also need to address and be engaged with the practical aspects of our lives. That includes participating in our group “consensus reality” - our families, communities and governments. We are fortunate to live in a democracy, having the right to vote, protest, an...

Whew! From looking at the general Presidential Energy Signature (44 from the past) and the Democratic primary field (28 candidates), we’re now down to two – and their plus-ones. It gives me an opportunity to delve into more of the dynamics of Energy Signatures, specifically the pros and cons – gifts and challenges – of the five energy types. 

Like so many things, there are “2 sides of the coin” to each energy type. In reality, the gifts and the challenges are at the edges of a spectrum; the more you’ve worked through you...

Last week I wrote about the typical Energy Signature of Presidents – now let’s review the Democratic primary candidates, for those who followed it. I will cover Joe Biden (and possibly his running mate!) again in Part 3 – the Final Nominees.

And in reviewing this, I notice that all the ”moderate” candidates had the same 3 types in their Signature (Royal, Warrior, Gardener). The ”progressive” candidates had Priest instead of Gardener in their signature – verrry interesting! 

(Here’s a cheat sheet on the physical characte...

It’s really hard to plan these days (we make plans and God laughs?) – but plan we must, and stay flexible from day to day.

There is the known; the unknown; and the unknowable. While the post-Corona future is unknown, we do have glimpses into what it might look like (based on what we’ve lived through so far). Some immediate takeaways from our current limbo land –

1) We are appreciating technology as a way to stay socially engaged on a bigger scale than ever before -

What would we have done without Zoom? Facetime and vide...

What’s REALLY killing us -

Having an either/or mentality will bite you back every time. When making a decision, I often have to jog my thinking to realize there is a continuum of choices available to me. It allows me to consider many variables and access their importance in the bigger picture.

Black and white, us and them, is easier to navigate than a “grey” zone of possibility.

Americans have hardened into debilitating partisanship; each “side” has its own facts, its own reality, and no room for other perspectives. It...

Medical knowledge and standard of care evolves over time; alternative and complementary approaches (including therapies, supplements and diet) are often leading the way in terms of effective treatment until they are proven. What we are seeing now is an extreme compression of medical experience, experimentation and knowledge in a short period of time. What we thought yesterday is no longer true, and then there’s a new issue to puzzle out… it’s stunning to watch. There are still too few answers about how to treat and preven...

Everything is contracted, smaller, we have less activity, less coming and going. It’s demoralizing that we are in this ever-worsening situation, but we can and should continue to do the small things like using “face-coverings” and keeping our distance. Yet in the magnitude of what is happening, it feels like putting sandbags around our home with an impending tsunami on the rise.

We need and miss the emotional and energetic nourishment we get when we are physically with others. And it’s a bit depressing to consider what o...

Symbols are powerful things. They are shorthand for what we believe in, and people have died for them - and what they symbolize - throughout history. National flags reflect those identities and values, and flags can also represent other self-defined groups. Pride Month just ended, with lots of flags in evidence of that celebration!

We are now having a national discussion over what flags, signs and monuments exemplify our American ideals. One thing we can all agree on is – the Statue of Liberty! Or can we? Some of our rec...

So, what is our new normal? Your new normal?

We will not be able to move in the world in the same way we used to, at least for a year or two. A vaccine will help a lot, and “herd immunity” – 60-70% of the population exposed – will take a few years to achieve. In the meantime, contacts outside our “bubble” need to be limited and carefully considered. So until then…

What is important to you? What choices are you making?

The only appointments I have deemed critical lately were with my hair stylist and the dentist! I atten...