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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Shamanism and the Renewal of Spirit

Winter is the season of The Return. It is the time to rest and slow down. For most just slowing down is the challenge. We think all we need is to catch up on some sleep or restart our daily meditation practice. For others chronic exhaustion and fatigue is the challenge and we get caught up in the actions of healing. They are each a side of the coin of imbalance that is so common in the lives of contemporary people. Both require the same journey into solitude to remedy the deeper causes of this natural imbalance in our lives. However, to just rest or slow down or try a cleansing diet again are not The Return, explains host and shaman, Christina Pratt. They only hold the space for it. The Return is a Taoist term for the natural turning inward, a natural call to leave the day-to-day patterns, expectations, habits and small addictions and to remember. We are called to remember the path back to our mountain and to connect again to why we are here in this life at this time. And we are called to participate in the kinds of actions that open our hearts, allowing true emotions to flow and fill the lake that lies at the base of the mountain. In this way we go into the source of our deepest dreaming, realign with our heart's path, and restore the resources we will call on throughout the year to come. Join us this week as we explore the renewal of Spirit.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Just Energy Radio

2012: The Year Ahead
Dr. Rita Louise is joined on Just Energy Radio by astrologers Michele Avanti & Debra Clement where we will have an astrology double header.

Michele Avanti
Michele Avanti is a published certified planetary systems analyst, consulting metaphysician and ordained minister. Since 1972, she has taught and consulted in many areas of metaphysics. Michele has lectured and given more than 15,000 live consultations on radio, television, and at seminars and workshops across America. Her columns have appeared in newspapers and magazines since 1985.

Debra Clement
Debra Clement is an internationally known astrologer with more than 20 years of professional experience counseling clients from all walks of life. Recognized for her insight into the birth chart and for the accuracy of her predictive work, she believes that her purpose as an astrologer is to help people make the most of their potential and their planetary cycles, especially the ones that will test and challenge them.

Fri, Dec 30, 2011 03:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/just-energy-radio

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The Invincible Sun of Winter Solstice

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

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Wishing all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Yule, Raucous Saturnalia, and all other celebrations of the enduring of the light at Midwinter.

The Shortest Day Susan Cooper So the shortest day came, and the year died, And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away. They lighted candles in the winter trees; They hung their homes with evergreen; They burned beseeching fires all night long To keep the year alive, And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake They shouted, reveling. Through all the frosty ages you can hear them Echoing behind us - Listen!! All the long echoes sing the same delight, This shortest day, As promise wakens in the sleeping land: They carol, fest, give thanks, And dearly love their friends, And hope for peace. And so do we, here, now, This year and every year. Welcome Yule!!

Midwinter Tomas Tranströmer translated by Robert Bly A blue glow Streams out from my clothes. Midwinter. A clinking tambour made of ice. I close my eyes. Somewhere there’s a silent world And there is an opening Where the dead Are smuggled over the border.

An Old Man's Winter Night Robert Frost All out of doors looked darkly in at him Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars, That gathers on the pane in empty rooms. What kept his eyes from giving back the gaze Was the lamp tilted near them in his hand. What kept him from remembering what it was That brought him to that creaking room was age. He stood with barrels round him -- at a loss. And having scared the cellar under him In clomping there, he scared it once again In clomping off; -- and scared the outer night, Which has its sounds, familiar, like the roar Of trees and crack of branches, common things, But nothing so like beating on a box. A light he was to no one but himself Where now he sat, concerned with he knew what, A quiet light, and then not even that. He consigned to the moon, such as she was, So late-arising, to the broken moon As better than the sun in any case For such a charge, his snow upon the roof, His icicles along the wall to keep; And slept. The log that shifted with a jolt Once in the stove, disturbed him and he shifted, And eased his heavy breathing, but still slept. One aged man -- one man -- can't keep a house, A farm, a countryside, or if he can, It's thus he does it of a winter night.

Midwinter Sophie Jewett All night I dreamed of roses,     Wild tangle by the sea, And shadowy garden closes.     Dream-led I met with thee. Around thee swayed the roses,     Beyond thee sang the sea; The shadowy garden closes     Were Paradise to me. O Love, ’mid the dream-roses     Abide to heal, to save! The world that day discloses     Narrows to one white grave.

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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Bringing Health and Well-being to Children

"Let yourself imagine and experience the certainty that ADD and ADHD, birth trauma, incomplete bonding, sensory overload, dyslexia, and autism, labeled strenuous and unalterable by the mainstream society, can be immediately and beautifully transformed forever." This is the reality accessed through the work of Jon Bredal, MA. Jon joins host and shaman, Christina Pratt to discuss his innovative, joyful, and effective healing process with children and families. His work integrates decades of art and teaching, deep exploration into kinesiology and BrainGym, and the influence of his experience with many North American indigenous peoples. Jon explains that, "These difficulties (for children) are primarily caused by incomplete infant developmental patterns. The methods and activities in this process work to eliminate the underlying causes through a combination of joyful, spontaneous play, integrative movement, repatternings, heart activities, as well as developmental/rocking movement." Jon is our next guest in the Society of Shamanic Practitioners sponsored interview series. In this show we explore how we could be more effective in our healing with children facing the challenges of ADD, dyslexia, anxiety, depression, sensory disorders, learning blocks, birth traumas, incomplete infant bonding, autism, and those other experiences children suffer for us that we can't diagnose or explain away.

This week's guest:
Jon Bredal, MA

Jon spent twenty years in the classroom teaching, coaching, and counseling middle and high school students in Minnesota, Colorado, Texas, and for the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Midlife sparked a period of intense spiritual seeking for Jon, bringing him to discover kinesiology and Brain Gym, then the best known and most powerful integrative movement method of the time. He studied this craft and over the years has blended his experience, insight, and exposure to other modalities into his own unique method of healing which assists people of all ages in developing skills that lead to inner peace and personal power.

Jon Bredal's committed contributions to the field of child development, family systems healing, and natural play are unparalleled at this time. Through a combination of reflex activations, joyful play, and spontaneous movement, Jon makes healing for children and bonding for families deeply fun and deeply transformative-like no one else. Jon has helped children heal some of the most challenging difficulties facing them today: ADD, dyslexia, anxiety, depression, sensory disorders, and autism, among others. His love of North American indigenous culture continues to inform the work he does with the Six Nations, Toquat, and Okanagan Nations. He has led workshops, given courses and consulted in over forty schools, community centers and treatment facilities throughout Europe and the Americas, where he now regularly teaches. Father of three and grandfather to seven children, Jon lives in the mountains near Wolf Creek, Oregon.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Awakenings with Michele Meiche

Metaphysican, & Spiritual Astrologer Robert Wilkinson
12pm PT --- Host MICHELE MEICHE and her guest co-host Paolo Doro share thier weekly Soul Insights, Meditations, Healing, Activation and Acceleration work for Soul Alignment. What is your Soul's Purpose & how can you actualize this? What is your role, your path, and what are the signs in your life and in the world telling you? Call in for channeled guidance readings, and psychic mediumship readings. Call in and share your path of awakening and Soul Alignment. You may also email your questions to be covered on air at awakenings@selfinlight.com. The second portion of the show is Conversations with Awakened Guests. Michele dialogues with spiritual teachers, healers, conscious experts, visionaries, awakened leaders, authors, conscious beings and people of all walks of life that are focused on living consciously. This week’s conversation is with Robert Wilkinson. He has been an internationally known futurist, metaphysican, and spiritual astrologer, spiritual counselor, and strategic analyst for over 35 years.Using Astrology, Spirit, and Archetypes to move and groove through the intersections of fate and free will. He has one of the largest astrological/metaphysical blogs in the world with visitors from over 130 countries and 6.5 million page views in 6 years. www.aquariuspapers.com

Wed, Dec 21, 2011 03:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/awakenings

Just Energy Radio

The Gospels: Fact or Speculation & Jesus: The Missing Years
Dr. Rita Louise is joined by Gary Greenberg and Frank Huguenard to discuss the life and times of Jesus.

Gary Greenberg
The Gospels: Fact, Fiction or Speculation
A New York City criminal defense attorney and President of the Biblical Archaeology Society of New York (BASNY), Greenberg has long been interested in the intersection between ancient myth and ancient history, especially as it applies to Egyptian influences on the writing of the bible. The problem, he says, is figuring out how to separate the myth from the history. Gary is the author of The Moses Mystery, The Bible Myth, 101 Myths of the Bible and Manetho: A Study in Egyptian Chronology.

Frank Huguenard
Jesus: The Missing Years
Frank wanted to create a documentary on the topic that filled what he felt was a void. He wanted to take a spiritual route and to focus on comparing the teaching of Jesus with Hinduism. Franks documentary Beyond Belief explores compelling new evidence that the eighteen 'missing' years of Jesus' life, unaccounted for in The Bible , were spent with Rishi's, Yogi's and Swami's of India, and also focuses on significant evidence that Jesus lived to be around 100 years old and is buried in Kashmir.

Fri, Dec 23, 2011 03:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/just-energy-radio

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Michigan Christian Notices Christmas is Pagan

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

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Christmas lovers in a quiet Michigan neighborhood were shocked to find a note appended to their mailboxes denouncing their holiday light displays. It began:

Hi neighbor

You have a nice display of lights and this love note explains how that pagan tradition began. For thousands of years Sun worshippers have celebrated the Sungod's rebirth after solstice. Pagans honored the birth of the "invincible sun" with a "festival of lights." They used big bonfires, pigs fat tallow candle lights, and today, billions of colored christmass [sic] lights. Rome's seven-day December Saturnalia was religious revelry with decadent drunkenness outrageous adultery and giving Saturn's nativity birth gifts to the children. The Norseman's yuletide solstice carousal used sexual soliciting mistletoe, Yule-log bonfire, and decorated evergreen wreaths and tree worship. None of this honors the life of Yeshua the Christ.

But for the invective, that could have been written by a pagan. (I particularly like the way Sungod and Saturnalia are capitalized but "christmass" isn't.)  In fact, last year I offered a bit of history regarding the pre-Christian roots of bringing evergreens into the home during solstice and the Bible's condemnation of it. But light-displaying Michiganders scoff at such litmus tests of their Christianity and do not take kindly to the grievous insult of being called "pagan."

Danette Hoekman, who received the letter, said: 'I laughed because I think it’s ridiculous that people would get upset over Christmas lights.'

. . .

Miss Hoekman added: 'It's a sin to judge other people and to tell people that if they have Christmas lights they are Pagans.

'We're not Pagans, we go to church regularly, my kids go to the Christian school.'

The mash note writer isn't the only one calling Hoekman's faith into question. George Conger at Get Religion points out that Christianity and single motherhood are oxymoronic and strangely conflates the whole thing with lesbianism.

A “Miss” whose kids go to the Christian school? That would be news.

But facts and George Conger don't seem to be well acquainted. Conger also takes both the Michigan do-gooder and the Huffington Post to task for claiming that it was Christians who coopted the pagan holiday when it was the Roman Emperor Aurelian.

This bit of conventional wisdom does not stand up to scrutiny. It will disappoint the crank of Hudsonville no doubt, but he (and the Huffington Post) have it backwards. As Prof. William Tighe wrote in Touchstone magazine a few years ago:

… the Emperor Aurelian instituted on that date [Dec 25] in the year 274 was not only an effort to use the winter solstice to make a political statement, but also almost certainly an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already of importance to Roman Christians.

In other words, it was the pagan Emporer Aurelian who sought to paganize the Dec 25 holiday of the Christians, not the Christians who sought to Christianize the Roman pagan holiday.

Never mind that Christianity owes ancient Rome and its emperors for most of the Christian foundations we hold dear. It was the pagan Emperor Constantine who formally legalized Christianity and organized the Council of Nicaea which was responsible for hammering out Christian doctrine and assembling the Bible that fundamentalists today consider the irrefutable word of God. Constantine was only baptized into the Christian faith on his deathbed after a living a thoroughly debauched, wife-murdering, life.

More to the point, "the crank" doesn't appear to have said anything at all about who it was who so thoroughly enmeshed Christmas with paganism. But that enmeshment cannot be reasonably disputed.

The Wild Hunt has more on the link between Saturnalia and Christmas.

So get out your statue of Saturn, or if you don’t have one, I suppose a statue of Santa will have to do, place him on your best couch, and let the merriment begin!

“According to the Augustan historian Livy, following the sacrifice the Roman senate arranged a lectisternium, a ritual of Greek origin that typically involved placing the deity’s image on a sumptuous couch, as if he were present and actively participating in the festivities. A public banquet was held (convivium publicum), and afterward the shouting of io Saturnalia began, originally only on the single day.”

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Harmonic Indigence

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

Well, we knew this was coming. James Ray's lawyers have washed their hands of the Harmonic Wealth author who hasn't been able to pay them for some time. It's funny. I was opening some of the newly posted court documents and before I even read this one, my eyes lit on Brad Brian's name at the top of the letter head and felt a rush of relief. I had this overwhelming sense that he felt done with James Ray. Then I read it. He is done with James Ray. As are his legal eagles Luis Li and Truc Do and all the other nameless, faceless attorneys and paralegals at Munger, Tolles, & Olson who have put in thousands of billable hours on this case. For all Li's grandstanding about how they're going to appeal this, that, and the other thing, his firm is handing Ray off to the public defender's office.

James Arthur Ray hopes to rely on a court-appointed attorney to further the appeal of his negligent homicide conviction, according to a request filed Monday.

. . .

If his request is granted, he will likely receive an in-house or contract attorney through the county public defender's office.

So the tax payers of Arizona will have the pay the legal bills of a man who until very recently claimed be a millionaire on his way to be being a billionaire. He'll either be represented by some overworked public defender or the state will contract it out. Could that be to Tom Kelly? Maybe. I can't help noticing that Kelly has been the one signing off on all the recent documents, such as his notice of appeal.



Meanwhile, Sheila Polk is preparing to appeal a number of the judge's rulings in the case, which could potentially negate many of the defense's arguments for appeal.

Also on Monday, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk filed a notice of cross-appeal that outlines her intention to do more than merely defend allegations in the upcoming appeal of Ray's conviction, sentence, restitution and fines.

. . .

In the cross-appeal notice, Polk lists, without elaboration at this point, several areas of legal dispute the state intends to argue when the case goes to the Arizona Court of Appeals. All stem from rulings by Judge Warren Darrow that went against the prosecution.

Her notice of appeal is here. Among the decisions she's appealing is Judge Darrow's decision to run the sentences concurrently, which apparently means she's seeking the longer, six-year sentence.

Arizona prosecutors will seek a longer prison sentence for self-help promoter James Arthur Ray.

He was given two years for causing the deaths of James Shore of Milwaukee and two others in a 2009 sweat-lodge ceremony.

I didn't know you could do that. Huh.

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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Shamanism, Winter Blues and your Purpose

The "Winter Blues" viewed from a shamanic perspective are misdiagnosed. Through the eyes of the shaman the Winter Blues are not so much about less light, but about the fact that we don't respond to the shorter days by turning off the TV, closing the email, unplugging, and going deeply within. The Winter Blues aren't so much about depression as they are about the feeling of your soul's purpose refusing to stay pressed down. The Winter Blues are actually your soul's purpose saying, "renew your connection to me now or the path will grow too dim to find me." Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as she explores the winter path to Darkness and the renewal, restoration and rejuvenation of an intimate relationship with your soul's purpose. The activities that restore those parts of our self that move on a soul level, like dreams, journeys, mediations, and sleep, all happen in the dark. The increase in darkness each day is an invitation to visit Darkness. It is a time to ask for the threads of connection to the soul that have grown thin through the over activity, imbalance, and stress of the year to be renewed. It is a time to clear the calendar and be simple, in solitude, and renew your commitment to live from the inside out, finding again the voice of your heart and allowing it to move you. When we surrender our Winter Blues to The Dark we stoke the fire that will rise again in springtime in the rejuvenation of passion for our soul's purpose.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 11:00 AM Pacific

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Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Dr. Linda Christensen Show

Shamanism and Ancestral Ties w/ Christina Pratt

"We are the dreams of our Ancestors..." and they are also our nightmares. All that remains unresolved in your ancestral line, the violence, injustice, and suffering, has impact on your life today. It is the job of the ancestors to remember and the job of the living to change and heal. You and your extended family are the only means by which the ancestors can heal and they are using you to heal in this moment. By healing the ancestral line with intention you can free your health and well-being for your own life. This freedom allows you to reconnect with your soul's unique purpose.

Join Dr. Linda Christiansen as she interviews shamanic healer Christina Pratt about ancestral healing, the ties between the living and the dead, and how we can create health and well-being for the ancestors, the living, and the descendants who are coming.

Tuesday, December 13 at 6:00 PM PST

in Seattle - Listen live on 106.9 FM radio

over the web from any/everywhere at www.ContactTalkRadio.com

Awakenings with Michele Meiche

Astrologer Brian Evis and his predictions for 2012

12pm PST --- Host MICHELE MEICHE and her guest co-host Paolo Doro share thier weekly Soul Insights, Meditations, Healing, Activation and Acceleration work for Soul Alignment. What is your Soul's Purpose & how can you actualize this? What is your role, your path, and what are the signs in your life and in the world telling you? Call in for channeled guidance readings, and psychic mediumship readings. Call in and share your path of awakening and Soul Alignment. You may also email your questions to be covered on air at awakenings@selfinlight.com. The second portion of the show is Conversations with Awakened Guests. Michele dialogues with spiritual teachers, healers, conscious experts, visionaries, awakened leaders, authors, conscious beings and people of all walks of life that are focused on living consciously. This week’s conversation is with Brian Evis is a Certified Professional Astrologer by the International Society of Astrological research,(ISAR), one of the top two world-wide astrological organizations. Since the early 80's Brian has provided astrological counseling and consulting services for thousands of clients, including millionaires, major celebrities, academy award winning film makers, and successful, and soon to be successful average people. He has been lecturing at professional astrological seminars for the past dozen years and was on this show in October 2008 where he successfully predicted that Obama would become president.

Wed, Dec 14, 2011 03:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/awakenings

Just Energy Radio

Stephen Mehler: The People Of The Great Pyramid

Stephen Mehler joins Dr. Rita Louise to discuss his work on the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
About Stephen Mehler
Stephen Mehler's fascination with ancient Egypt , which began at the age of eight, has guided his education and spiritual work all his life. Since 1992, Mehler has worked with and been a student of, Egyptian-born Egyptologist and indigenous wisdom keeper, Abd'El Hakim Awyan, popularly known as Hakim. Stephen has written two books, The Land of Osiris and From Light Into Darkness: The Evolution Of Religion In Ancient Egypt.

Fri, Dec 16, 2011 03:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/just-energy-radio

Awake: Now What?

Meet Vipin Mehta, Teacher, Author, Counsellor

Vipin Mehta, P.E., M.A.P.A. was born in India and raised in Mumbai during the Independence Movement inspired through Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of non-violence. Shortly after migrating to the United States in 1969 with only a few dollars to his name, Vipin became a licensed Professional Engineer and established MEHTA Engineering, which has since evolved into a 30-year engineering and construction management firm for roads, bridges, airports, and other infrastructure related projects. After arriving to the U.S., Vipin also received a Masters in Public Affairs from Northern Illinois University and has since played a very active role in local, state and national politics and has been addressed as the Metaphysical and Spiritual Counselor to many politicians – both Democrat and Republican.

Vipin has pursued Metaphysical and Spiritual learning by Spiritual Masters and Mystics from all over the world. His interest in Metaphysics began in 1947, where he first learned from Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings. Other Spiritual Masters include the Indian mystics J. Krishnamurti, Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Prize winner in 1912) and Rajneesh/Osho along with western spiritualists Edgar Cayce, Ruth Montgomery, and other modern mystics. Vipin has studied many Metaphysical and Spiritual scriptures including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zen, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sufi and others through which he taught “Religion of Man” and other courses at local Colleges and gave lectures on Metaphysics across the U.S. and India.

Vipin now lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife Hansa and has two children Ravé and Radha.

For more information go to http://vipinmehta.com/

Sun, Dec 18, 2011 06:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/awake

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"Why Shamanism Now?" with Christina Pratt

Shamanism, Abandonment and Fulfillment

Fear of abandonment, separation, or banishment is one of the great life hobblers, never quite stopping us from moving toward health, vitality, and our soul's purpose, but effectively keeping us lame and unable to satisfy this core life journey toward our self. The irony in the fear of abandonment we carry from the past is that it inspires us to abandon our selves again and again in present time. "The unique logic of shamanic work allows us to slice open the debilitating infinite loop of abandonment and dig out the core," explains host and shaman, Christina Pratt. "At the core of abandonment lies the seed to fulfillment and deep intimacy with self." However to harvest that seed we must be willing to "return to the scene of the crime" as it is carried in our bodies, release the memory, sense of debt and remorse, and grasp the True Value that we hid there. With the help of our spirit guides and our own True Value firmly in our grasp, we can return to present time and come to know what mattered to us so much as a child that we would risk abandonment to move toward it. When we renew our relationship with what really matters to our heart, our True Value, we inspire our natural movement toward alignment with self and the richly satisfying fulfillment of our soul's purpose.

Tuesday, December 5, 2011 at 11:00 AM Pacific

Log on to Listen
Why Shamanism Now? on Co-Creator Network
Questions? Comments? Call: 1-512-772-1938

All episodes are now available in the iTunes Podcast Library.

Awakenings with Michele Meiche

Shekina Rose Harmonic Vocalist in the Language of Light

12pm PST --- Host MICHELE MEICHE and her guest co-host Paolo Doro share thier weekly Soul Insights, Meditations, Healing, Activation and Acceleration work for Soul Alignment. What is your Soul's Purpose & how can you actualize this? What is your role, your path, and what are the signs in your life and in the world telling you? Call in for channeled guidance readings, and psychic mediumship readings. Call in and share your path of awakening and Soul Alignment. You may also email your questions to be covered on air at awakenings@selfinlight.com. The second portion of the show is Conversations with Awakened Guests. Michele dialogues with spiritual teachers, healers, conscious experts, visionaries, awakened leaders, authors, conscious beings and people of all walks of life that are focused on living consciously. This week’s conversation is Shekina Rose is a Priestess of Light, Divine Messenger and Harmonic Vocalist who sings, tones and chants in the 528Hz Miracle, Love and DNA repair frequencies of the Language of Light. that activates your "God Heart DNA Christ self .She is the Channel of the Blue Ray Transmissions, and a very powerful yet gentle divine healer, Blue Ray, intuitive, empath, clairaudient, claircognizant, clairsentient, clairvoyant, who facilitates Privates Sessions, Soul Readings, Divine Activations and Sound Performances. www.shekinaspeaks.com


Wed, Dec 7, 2011 03:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/awakenings

Just Energy Radio

James van Praagh & Nick Redfern

James van Praagh
What Would It Be Like If You Grew Up In Heaven
His very natural, easy-going style would lead you to believe that James Van Praagh is chatting with a friend on the telephone, not communicating messages from the grave. James is a survival evidence medium, meaning that he is able to bridge the gap between two planes of existence, that of the living and that of the dead, by providing evidential proof of life after death via detailed messages.

Nick Redfern
Who Are The Real Men In Black
Originally from England, Nick Redfernis the author of many books on UFOs, aliens, Bigfoot, werewolves, the Loch Ness Monster, paranormal phenomena, conspiracy-theories, psychic powers, and Hollywood scandal. His titles include the following: Contactees; Memoirs of a Monster Hunter; A Covert Agenda; Strange Secrets; Celebrity Secrets; Body Snatchers in the Desert; and Man-Monkey to name a few.

Fri, Dec 9, 2011 03:00PM CT

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/just-energy-radio

Awake: Now What?

Meet Dr. Verna Bugg, Registered Nurse, Ordained Minister

I have known for many years that my purpose was to help others improve their lives.
As a child born in Barbados in poverty, with few opportunities for success at that time, I was willing to share my limited resources with others. Somehow I knew that I would be okay.

During the course of my life I have overcome extreme adversity, and today I am able to help you do the same and guide you on your path to success. So if you are ready to move beyond your current reality, I am here to help.

My Experience as a Registered Nurse, an Ordained Minister, and Spiritual Coach has equipped me with the background and expertise to help others change the course of their lives.

My products and services are created to help you transform every area of life: spirit, mind, emotions, relationships, and finances.

As your Life Reinvention Specialist, I will show you how to utilize various techniques that will bring about the change you want to experience.

I am here as a facilitator to help you discover what is already in you and offer support and encouragement along the way.

My definition of transformation is "a significant change in thoughts, emotions, beliefs and actions that result in positive, life enhancing outcomes in any area of life."

There is being at peace with yourself and others. There is power in letting go and trusting the divine spark within you to be fanned to a flame, as it burns more brightly so that you can live your best life yet.

I am privileged and honored to be part of your life transformation process, and look forward to celebrating with you along the way.

For more information go to www.powerintransformation.com

Sun, Dec 11, 2011 6:00PM ET

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/awake

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Sean Stephenson: Diploma Mill Yoda -- UPDATED

Crossposted from Reflections Journal.

It was probably apparent in my previous post that I really took a scunner to Sean Stephenson. Aside from finding him appallingly arrogant, he struck me as something of a phony. When I first looked at his website, I thought it was a little sketchy on the details of his education, but I didn't want to go down that particular rabbit hole. His testimony constituted a small part of a very long post. My husband, however, couldn't let it go. It probably has something to do with the fact that he holds a doctorate from a legitimate institution, but he's a little touchy when it comes to people arrogating to themselves the title of Doctor without the proper educational credentials. So he started digging and I did more digging and we found, not to any great surprise, that there are some rather serious issues when it comes to Stephenson's academic background. No wonder he was so evasive when Sheila Polk questioned him on the importance of having the proper credentials if you're going to tinker around with someone's mind.

In his bio, Stephenson lists his undergraduate degree as being from DePaul University but he doesn't say what it's in. According to a very uncritical Wikipedia entry, it's in political science. So far so good. And DePaul's a fine school. But a degree in political science doesn't qualify anyone to counsel people, something he felt called upon to do in his work as a motivational speaker. In his quest to help people with their emotional problems, he pursued higher education... in hypnosis and NLP. I have not been able to find reference to any education in psychology.

For his hypnosis and NLP training he went to Bennett/Stellar University, an alternative healing school, which claims to be accredited but does not say who it is accredited by. According to this, it's accredited by the International Coaching Society. It is not listed in the government database of accredited institutions.



But it's his doctoral degree that really looks dodgy. In his bio, he claims to have received his doctorate from Kona University, previously American Pacific University. His Wikipedia entry goes into a little more detail. He began his doctoral program in clinical hypnosis in 2004 when it was American Pacific University. It doesn't say when he completed it. As explained in a footnote, American Pacific University was unaccredited, but when it became Kona University in 2009, it gained accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council. I confirmed this through the government database. It is accredited, although it does not have regional accreditation which is really the gold standard of accreditation.

DETC is a national accreditor and should not be confused with regional accreditation. The vast majority of all schools in the United States are regionally accredited from elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and higher education institutions. Some regionally accredited schools accept and recognize the accreditations of nationally accredited schools, but others do not.^[4][5] Michael Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of the DETC, says that about 70% of DETC graduates are successful in transferring credits. He also asserts that the "vast majority" of employers do view DETC as being equal, since DETC institutions are accepted for the tuition reimbursement programs in most corporations today.^[6]

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) offered an opinion in a November 2000 statement that, "Institutions and accreditors need to assure that transfer decisions are not made solely on the source of accreditation of a sending program or institution."^[7] The Higher Education Transfer Alliance (HETA) online directory^[8] was designed by DETC to help students and the public find educational institutions with transfer practices consistent with criteria articulated by CHEA in its Statement to the Community: Transfer and Public Interest.^[9] According to CHEA, institutions that are members of HETA have agreed that their "transfer decisions are not made solely on the basis of the accredited status of a sending institution and that the institution has agreed at least to consider transfer requests from other institutions."^[8] The HETA directory provides links to member institutions so that students and others can review a specific institution's transfer policies and practice.

While it's not entirely clear whether Stephenson received his doctorate from the accredited Kona or the unaccredited American Pacific University he started with, the distinction is meaningless for several reasons.  The first is that Kona doesn't offer a doctoral degree. It only offers a masters degree in transpersonal psychology which is not the degree Stephenson holds. The second is that the hypnotherapy program originally offered by American Pacific was terminated in 2008. (More here retrieved by the Wayback Machine.) The third, and probably most important, is that there is no such thing as a doctorate in clinical hypnotherapy in the United States.

So Stephenson studied hypnosis and NLP at an unaccredited school that claims to be accredited. He got his doctorate in something you can't legally hold a doctorate in from a university that may or may not have been accredited at the time he graduated, but was never accredited to give that fictitious degree. Note that there is no mention of his holding a masters degree which is a prerequisite to a doctoral degree.

All of this somehow qualified him for "Board Certification in Clinical Psychotherapy," despite having no discernible education in psychology. But that certification comes from the Association of Integrative Psychology. This prestigious institution has been around since all of 2005. It certifies practitioners, not of psychology, but of hypnotherapy, NLP, or some trademarked entity they call Time Empowerment® or TE®. I know that's not the sort of training and education I think of when I hear the term "psychotherapist."

It's one thing to train in holistic disciplines for which there are no governmentally recognized accrediting bodies, as long as you're transparent about the nature of that training. Here's what you don't get to do: You don't get to call yourself "Dr." In fact, it's illegal in a number of states to claim degrees from unaccredited schools.

Jurisdictions that have restricted or made illegal the use of credentials from unaccredited schools include Oregon,^[80][81] Michigan,^[83] Maine,^[84] North Dakota,^[80] New Jersey,^[80] Washington,^[81][85] Nevada,^[81][86] Illinois,^[81] Indiana,^[81] and Texas.^[87][88] Many other states are also considering restrictions on the use of degrees from unaccredited institutions.^[89]

Hmmm... Illinois... Isn't that the home of one Sean Stephenson? Yeah. It is.


Update:

Credit where credit is due: Sean Stephenson did, indeed, amend the information on his site as promised. He has removed "Dr." from his name everywhere that I can see on his website and from his Twitter profile. He has added the following information to his bio and similar text to his private sessions page.

Sean Stephenson completed a seven year educational journey in Clinical Hypnotherapy from American Pacific University (now named Kona University). His Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, while unaccredited by the Department of Education, is one of the most elite and comprehensive educations in the field of Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistics.

He also changed text describing his client services and eliminated the incorrect information from the Washington Post quotation he and I discussed in the comments.

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