Learning to Walk Between the Worlds
At the core of a shamanic path is the ability to walk between the worlds of ordinary (the physical realm) and non-ordinary (the soul realm) reality. When viewed archetypally, there are seven bridges/entry points/portals that allow us to move between these worlds which include the directions, the elements, movement, sound, animal energies, plant energies and the ancestors. Developing resource along each of these bridges deepens both your level of support as well as the kind of soul work you may be able to do as you become more skilled at weaving between these realities.
If you feel a resonance with the shamanic frame but are still new to how to exactly engage with it on a practical and experiential level, this two-part series may be for you. Centering our relationship with the land as our foundational starting point, part A of this series offers an introduction to shamanic journeying with the drum and altar-making over a period of 6 bi-weekly sessions as ways to support the beginning and/or deepening of your relationship and resource development with the directions, the elements, movement and sound. Part B, also comprised of 6 bi-weekly sessions, offers similar opportunities with a focus on animal energies, plant energies and the ancestors.
Parts A and B each stand alone so you are only asked to commit to 6 sessions at a time and both are offered in-person at the Healing House. You are welcome to take either part individually or both of them to complete the full series.
When: Part B: 6 Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30pm – 9/9, 9/23, 10/7, 10/21, 11/4 & 11/18
Part A: TBD – Check back later in the year for 2026 schedule
Where: The Healing House
Investment: $390 per Part – payable in $65 installments per session, if needed
To register: Contact Eamon Willow at (512) 560-7294 or e-mail at eamonwillow@calonyddraig.com
“Journeying with the Ancestors” Monthly Drop-in Groups
These monthly drop-in groups afford those who are actively working to integrate their connection to the ancestors into their daily lives and personal journeys a place to drop back into that connection with the support of others who are also open to and/or immersed in this work. Beginners to ancestor work are welcome.
Prerequisite: If you’re interested in attending this group for the first time please let me know so we can set up a 10-15 min welcome and orienting call before your first group.
When: An in-person group one Wednesday per month and a virtual group one Monday per month – 6:30-8pm CST
2025 Upcoming Dates: In person groups (Wednesdays) – 10/22, 11/19, 12/17 ; Virtual groups (Mondays) – 10/13, 11/10, 12/8
Investment: Sliding scale from $25-$45 payable via cash, personal check, credit card or Venmo
To register: Contact Eamon Willow at (512) 560-7294 or e-mail at eamonwillow@calonyddraig.com if you plan on attending OR if you’re new to ancestral work and would like some support in establishing an initial connection with ancestral resource before attending this group
*Please note: In the spirit of reconciliation practice and reparative action, 50% of fees/investment collected for these monthly Ancestors groups is returned to the service of Indigenous and Black people, communities and narratives through the following organizations:
Native American Rights Fund – www.narf.org
Lipan Apache Tribe: https://www.lipanapache.org/LAT/donate.html
Society of Native Nations – http://societyofnativenations.org
International African American Museum – https://iaamuseum.org
Winter Solstice Drumming Circle
Come take a moment to pause, ground and honor the Winter Solstice in connection with community and the power of the drum. Bring your own drum or rattle or use one of the many we have to share at the Healing House. No prior drumming experience necessary. Youth ages 12 and up are welcome with an accompanying adult. This circle will be outside unless it is too wet and/or windy. If weather is rainy, wet and/or too windy, we will meet inside at the Healing House instead.
When: Sun., 12/20 @ 6pm
Where: The Healing House – Outdoors (weather permitting)
Investment: $15 per person
To register: Contact Eamon Willow at (512) 560-7294 or e-mail at eamonwillow@calonyddraig.com
“As the Wheel Turns” – Quarterly Wander on the Land at McKinney Roughs Nature Park
Hands down, one of my favorite natural areas in Central Texas is McKinney Roughs Nature Park, an LCRA park located on the Colorado River on Highway 71 West just before you get to Bastrop. While it is difficult to get camping space there, being and wandering on the land is ever available with many different options to access a wide range of ecosystems all in the span of a single outing.
These quarterly group wanders allow an opportunity for dropping in to connect body and soul with the land and it’s cyclical evolution as support for our own growth as the wheel of the year continues to turn. Discover more about local flora and fauna in the physical world as we also listen to their messages and teachings in the soul realm throughout our individual journeys on and with the land that will then weave back together in a closing group sharing circle. The emphasis on these wanders is not about distance traveled but about listening deeply and tending body & soul in connection with the land and each other.
When: Saturdays, once per quarter – dates remaining for 2025: 10/4 & 12/6
Time: 9am-12pm
Where: McKinney Roughs Nature Park, 1884 State Hwy 71 West, Cedar Creek, TX 78612
Investment: $35 (includes park day use fee)
To register: Contact Eamon Willow at (512) 560-7294 or e-mail at eamonwillow@calonyddraig.com
Fall Camping Gathering – “At the Threshold”
This year’s Fall Camping Gathering will be back at Canyon of the Eagles in Burnet, TX on the edge of Lake Buchanan. To my great delight, it happens to correspond with the Celtic Fire Festival of Samhain, honoring the end of the old on the evening of the last day of October and ushering in the Celtic New Year through to the evening of the first day of November. It is a time when the veil is thin, the ancestors are close and, as a result, there is significant support across both worlds for honoring and letting go with gratitude and compassion of what is no longer needed or no longer serves and then opening our hearts with curiosity, hope and expectancy to what new awaits at the threshold to be welcomed and ushered in to carry us forward into this next cycle around the sun.
This gathering will include fire ceremonies both nights (weather permitting) in support of exactly what is described above. There has been tremendous support astrologically through much of this past year for both soul retrieval and ancestral work and the churning up of old frozen parts in ourselves and our lineages for compassionate witnessing and support so that stuck energies can thaw and be returned to flow and generativity. What better time than this particular threshold weekend to honor all that has moved through us individually and collectively? What better time to step into the kairos time of ceremony to be still and close to the land in community as we each listen deeply and patiently for the unfolding path before us?
Our campsites will be on Tanner Point which is a lovely little peninsula that juts out into the lake (when the lake levels are high) and is well-covered by all manner of Central Texas flora. And there is sure to be some visitation from fauna helpers as well! The weekend will include a balance of time together and solo time to feel, explore, connect, rest, listen, nourish, honor, laugh, sing, move and play. No prior camping experience needed. Space will be limited to 12 total campers including myself.
When: Fri., 10/31 @ 12:30pm – Sun., 11/2 @ 2pm
Where: Canyon of the Eagles, Burnet, TX
Investment: $275 (including $75 deposit to secure your spot)
Questions or to register: Contact Eamon Willow at (512) 560-7294 or e-mail at eamonwillow@calonyddraig.com
New periodic series: Stories for Soul Retrieval
Within a shamanic frame, soul retrieval can be viewed as the retrieving and calling home of parts that got left behind somewhere on our soul’s journey. These parts can be from earlier in this lifetime, from other existences/previous lives, or forgotten beings and/or stories from our ancestral lines. During this unprecedented time of global and planetary crisis when we are being asked to weave and evolve ancient ancestral wisdom within a modern context, soul retrieval is needed now more than ever and, for deep listeners, appears to be happening presently at a very rapid pace.
Soul retrieval can feel disorienting and bewildering if you are new to walking between the worlds and/or if the felt sensations and emotional material from the past that are showing up in the present have not yet been made conscious as such. Certain stories from the oral tradition can be helpers and guides in this process, inviting us into archetypal landscapes that are able to bypass the ego and the linearity of the left brain allowing our right brains to lead and often better make sense of the labyrinthine journey of retrieval and it’s integration.
That being said, this new periodic series offers folks a place to come together to engage with a particular story shared in the spirit of the oral tradition, dive more deeply into it through a group drumming journey followed by non-verbal processing exploration (drawing, writing, moving, reflecting) and then sharing about the experience as supports each participant’s process at the end to close out the exploration.
a sort of sung story called, “The Monster’s Belly,” that I wrote over a decade ago based on a very brief description of an Inuit tale called, “The Great Bear,” shared by Dennis McCarthy in his book, “If You Turned Into A Monster.” This tale which he briefly recalled from a children’s book he loved as a child, planted a seed deep inside me that hatched into this story and I have since called on it over and over again in my own soul retrieval work for courage, strength, orienting and remembrance. I am super excited to share it with folks at these upcoming July gatherings.
When: TBD
Virtual: TBD
Where: In-person gathering @ the Healing House; Virtual @ wherever you want to be
Investment: Sliding scale – $35-$60
To register: Contact Eamon Willow at (512) 560-7294 or e-mail at eamonwillow@calonyddraig.com