By Mary Olivar, Board Vice President, Center for Shamanic Education and Exchange

Saq Be’, Guatemalan Apprenticeship Program Update:

Last year CSEE supported the Maya-focused, non-profit, Saq Be’, helping them to start a medicinal and educational garden in Guatemala. The community is looking forward to their next season of growing traditional healing plants at their ceremonial center.  For many years, Saq Be’ has been dedicated to documenting and recording Mayan Elders.

With the garden success under their belts, Sa q Be’ made the decision to expand their work and initiated a new apprenticeship program that partners elders with young people in their communities to advance the intergenerational knowledge transfer necessary for the Maya lineage to remain vital.  Elders of the region expressed a desire to connect their wisdom to younger generations and as a result, the Mayan Lineage Apprenticeship and Documentation Program was begun.  With support from CSEE, young people will be paired with elders to do the on-going filming and documentation of their ancestral wisdom, engaging five communities throughout Guatemala.  The vision and purpose of Saq Be’ is to bring the power and wisdom of different nations together to help fulfill the prophecy of the union of the Condor, the Quetzal, and the Eagle.   CSEE is excited to support this project.

Navajo Hoghan Project

The Center for Shamanic Education recently made a donation to the “Indigenous Architecture: The Hoghan for Socio-Ecological Healing”.  This project is focused on building a Hoghan as a safe place within their community for children, parents and elders to learn and practice their traditional ways of living.  There is an invitation for all Native Nations to engage and form alliances, building more unity and to convene where the Hoghan is located.  We are delighted to highlight this project and hope you will consider donating.   Follow this link for more information and to help them reach their funding goal:  https://givebutter.com/hoghanbuild

New Project Announcements!

SPIRITUAL MIDWIFERY Project in Colombia

In next month’s newsletter we feature our support of a new project in Columbia that works to preserve the indigenous wisdom of midwifery.  At a gathering of midwives in Putamayo in 2022, it was observed that there has been a great loss of knowledge of spiritual midwifery in the Amazonian communities. Midwifery traditional practices and its information is held in the woman and the project will be focused on the meeting of area women and their knowledge transmission. This project will support the transmission of knowledge from women in the Kogi nation to Indigenous women in the Putamayo region of Colombia. The practice of midwifery for women and for the Kogi is an active ancestral practice that helps them maintain their original nations, culture, and identity.    Watch for more information and updates about this special project in June! 

Your purchase from our online shop makes a difference!  This featured textile is called “Song of Pachamama and Stars for Happiness”.  Our shop provides you with an opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind, hand made items that come directly from the Shipibo and Huichol people we work with.    Browse our shop right here:  https://shamaniceducation.org/shop/

Your donations support our projects, helping us continue our mission to perpetuate the shamanic wisdom, culture, practice, and traditional ways of life of Indigenous people worldwide.  Please accept our gratitude for your continued support and contributions.   https://shamaniceducation.org/get-involved/donate/