Key Memberships and Professional Associations

Society for Shamanic Practitioners
Shamanic Teachers (authorized by Sandra Ingerman)
Foundation for Shamanic Studies
Sacred Dance Guild
Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church, Adelphi, MD
Chesapeake Pagan Community
Green Party

Formal Training and Coursework

• Depossession, Curse Unraveling, and Spell Breaking (Betsy Bergstrom, Feb. 2007)
• The Alchemy of Self-Empowerment: Applying Shamanic Methods in Mental Health Practice (Jacke Schroeder, Nov. 2006)
• Two-Year Training to Teach Shamanic Practitioners (Sandra Ingerman, 2005-2006)
• Healing with Rocks and Crystals (Herb Stevenson, 2002, 2003)
• Medicine for the Earth (Caroline Kenner, 2002) (this course covered eliminating toxins from yourself and the environment)
• Soul Retrieval (Sandra Ingerman through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Nov. 2002)
• Two-Week Intensive in Advanced Shamanism and Shamanic Healing (Sandra Ingerman through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, 2001) (coursework included extractions, psychopomp work, soul retrievals, working with ancestors, crystals, nature spirits, and more)
• Celtic Shamanism (Tom Cowan, 2000)
• The Way of the Shaman (Michael Harner through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, 1995)

Sense of Self

Tyrtle loves to sing and dance and drum. Like many who live in Takoma Park, Maryland (also called "Berkeley East"), her home is heated in winter by a delightful corn-burning stove. Her vision, like Takoma Park itself, pushes the edges of mainstream consciousness.

Vision

Moving out of dualistic, "power-over" systems and into the emerging "power-with" paradigm is the central force uniting Tyrtle's views on spirituality, politics, and personal relationships.  Part of questioning dualism is her belief in the need to transcend gender roles.

The alternative to dualism and power-over is often labeled "Both-Andian"; the both-and view invokes far more colors and possibilities than "either/or" dichotomies allow.  She describes her spiritual path as that of a "Both-Andian Unitarian Universalist Shamanic Mystic"  and has engaged Harner-method shamanism since the early 1990s.

Stone Baths ("Sweats")

She has organized "sweats" from a variety of traditions (Sun Bear, Norse, Wiccan, and other protocols) for large Pagan gatherings since 1995 and continues to do so for the Chesapeake Pagan Community. She also pours at these events in her own eclectic style, which she prefers to call "Stone Baths" in honor of her Anglo-Saxon/Germanic heritage. [Note: Hers are not American-Indian style sweat lodges.] Sorry, private sweats are not available.

Community Activism

Her spiritual beliefs inform her political activism, which dates from the 1970s and includes a range of freedom, justice, and ecology movements.

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To schedule a healing session or to find out about workshops in the Washington, D.C. area, contact Tyrtle.

To learn more, see Links and Resources.