I come to this place in life — elder in training, breaking the spell, claiming sovereignty, consciously evolving, living true to real purpose for reviving individual sovereignty and naturally healthy community — through a series of good fortunes and bad, instinct and synchronicity.
I was born near the sacred lands of Little Manitou Lake in Saskatchewan where I now make my home. My parents were simple, kind and community-minded people with a natural spirituality, love of nature and strong work ethic. They were ‘pillars of community’ in the way they conducted themselves and contributed in their livelihoods and work through service clubs and as good neighbours.
My grandparents on both sides were little more than peasants economically speaking, and part of the founding of the communities of Renown and Conquest, both in Saskatchewan. My paternal lines are Norwegian and Swedish, my maternal lines Scottish. I have enduring bone memories of the old spirituality in my lines and the strong power of my own Canadian Motherland. I have always had keen instincts and insight, a strong relationship with the land and a strong spirit.
In 1997 I entered a very challenging phase of loss of loved ones, loss of my marriage and home, and the beginning of my disillusionment with the ways and beliefs in the paradigm we now see falling away. This trouble quickly accelerated my awakening on a very personal spiritual level which was then further spurred by world events — 9/11 in particular — and what I was learning about the soul loss in people and our systems from my walk through the world as an organizational leader, event and project designer and producer and communications/leadership consultant.
In 2001 I found my way to Douglas de Long and was introduced to the healing and consciousness work of the old mystery school traditions. Doug helped me to decalcify my pineal gland, clear my energy field of debris and open the multi-dimensional nature of life here in this plane.
By 2007 I was experiencing extreme tension as I continued to earn my living immersed in the old belief system. I was visited by a pneumonia two winters in a row. The grief of losing my elders combined with feeling mis-matched and ahead of my time in this material plane had begun to dominate me. I knew that another radical shift within was required if I was to recover my well-being and grow as a service provider to people for living well and co-creating healthy lives in community.
It was at that time that I began to use terms and speak of natural and evolutionary concepts that no one had taught me, to paint images intuitively and understand more about life through them, and to awaken in the mornings feeling like sleep had changed and inspired me. As this new consciousness was emerging, so were some very tense reactions coming alongside – a growing impatience and anger (RAGE!) for the ways society as we’ve known it causes extreme harm to people and planet, a quickening of my nervous system, and a sudden felt sense of urgency for wholesale change.
I closed my business and entered a new domain, following my instincts to find Angeles Arrien, Barbara Marx Hubbard and Jeanne Houston. These teachers helped me ride the often turbulent expansion of my consciousness. During this time I also took Reiki training, which activated my intuitive abilities even further.
What none of my helpers were assisting with very well was my grief. I was coming off the ground in beautiful dreams for a healthy and sovereign future while spiraling into despair in my soul. Following my instincts once again, I was delivered into the presence of Randy Thomas Jones, grief worker, wild nature teacher and author. We traveled together for three years. Along with sharing his own gifts, he also introduced me to the culture and leaders of the people of Burkina Fasso in West Africa where he had himself trained. It was deep and difficult work, also incredibly exciting, and one of the most meaningful and inspirational times of my life.
Just as important as the focused spirit and soul development, was the journey I undertook independently to research the trouble in our world. I was on a hunt for the roots of our off-kilterness and I found them. The exercise gave me ample content to practice my body’s ability to sense truth and my skills of discernment. By combining what I witnessed through my personal experience in our dysfunctional belief and community systems with what I discovered in the shadows through my research, I made the connections I needed to make to put the spiritual, natural and village intelligence development I had been working on into a relevant context for the transformative moments we are now in.
More recent influencers for me have been Jacqueline Hobbs and Jason Breshears who share information and personal gifts that continue to help me refine my felt senses and navigation skills here in my body in the plane.
Over the years I have started, hosted and participated in many evolutionary circle groups. In these circles we have worked together through the spiritual and political awakening and supported one another in holding onto sanity, faith, and good dreams as we witness the old world fall apart in the explosive death throws of the corrupt going at their last grasp and breaths with all they have.
Without knowing it, I have been waiting for exactly these days for my work to come into it’s Right timing. The suspension of human rights enshrined in national documents, near to complete loss of privacy, censorship of knowledgeable, ethical and truly leading voices shows us clearly who’s who and what’s what. And now that our ranks are growing daily, and the real causes of protecting one’s soul, life and liberty are coming clear, we are ready to walk away and co-create the world we imagine for ourselves and our children in synch with Source, each other and the living world.
My Deep Gratitude Goes to….
The original traditions of my Norse and Celtic lineage, my courageous and hardworking pioneering peasant great and grandparents; my aunties, uncles, neighbours and friends for the enduring love, guidance and complementary work undertaken in their own lives, supporting mine.
To my siblings Ricky and Dale for bonds of affection that can only take root in common bloodlines and the epic journey of sharing the time and container of childhood. To my parents Maurice and Kay for conceiving, birthing, caring for, teaching and leading us by the way they lived their lives in love, friendship, partnership and community. And for the way they managed to adapt to the most sorrowful of all tragedies and carry on.
To Angeles Arrien, whose spirit whispered the words of her own original medicine and work to me through the ethers in 2008. She radically changed my life and is my spiritual grandmother. To Laurel Bay, the healer who recognized me speaking Angeles’ words before I knew of her and connected me to her work in the physical plane.
To Randy Thomas Jones, Sobonfu Somé and Malidoma Somé, Stephen Jenkinson, and all the rest who work in the land of the mythic and mystic life with its many dimensions of spirit, grief, praise, genius and soul. Their culture and soul medicines have helped me heal and become as a rewilding woman, enriched my being, sparked my true purpose, and taught me much.
To world renowned leaders and teachers Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jean Houston, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra for getting me started as an evolutionary traveler. To Jacqueline Hobbs and Jason Breshears for helping me catalyze it all and make the leap out of what is left of my slave self and into the sovereign positive timeline of our New Earth.
To Esther Stenberg, Patricia Smith, Verna Cashene, Brigitte Tan and Bonnie Mann for their company and support through some of my most difficult years of awakening and transformation.
To Jani Burgess and Crystal Baschak who were the first two students in the Natural & Village Intelligence Camp, putting their faith in me and the promise in the work. It is because of their willingness to begin the beta testing phase that I am here now, inviting others to join me with their assistance for something needed, something good, something true, and something beautiful.
To the many great conscious evolutionary leaders all over the world who are taking their stand against tyranny and trauma and giving their gifts to our shift for the sake of living just, free and healthy lives in harmony with our homeland, Mother Earth.
Last, but certainly not least – mia familiars! My mate Rick for his constant breadwinning and exceptional willingness to walk the road of life with a woman like me; to my beloved children Michael and Kayli and my grandson Owen who are the best teachers and best reasons for carrying on through thick and thin; and to Sage, my dog, who reminds me to always be ready for adventure and kisses while we roam Little Manitou together every day; and to Freya, my cat, who teaches me to never stop being my brave and curious self or to give a rat’s ass what anyone else thinks.
Wild & Salty Healing Company 