Embrace Your Transformation: A Journey Beyond the Ordinary

Dear Seeker,

Have you ever encountered something in nature that stopped you in your tracks, making you question your perceptions and beliefs? Recently, I had such an experience with a beautiful snake on a hiking trail. (If you missed my last article, go check it out!) This encounter reminded me of the transformative power that lies within each of us, often hidden beneath layers of fear and societal conditioning.

Just as many people fear snakes, we often shy away from our own potential for transformation. But what if, instead of retreating, we chose to embrace the unknown? What if we saw our fears not as barriers, but as gateways to profound personal growth?

You might be:

• An energy healer seeking to unlock your authentic gifts

• Someone committed to personal growth, looking for practical spiritual tools

• Going through a major life transformation or deep healing journey

• Seeking to reconcile ancestral and karmic wounds

• A new or aspiring intuitive practitioner, channel, or medium

• An experienced spiritual seeker feeling stuck or plateaued

• A medical or therapeutic professional wanting to integrate spiritual gifts into your practice

• Someone with a "normal" career yearning for a meaningful spiritual practice

• Involved in sacred plant medicine work

• Feeling isolated on your spiritual path and seeking community

• Called to embody a new way of being and contribute to global consciousness shift

If any of these resonate with you, I invite you to consider transformational mentorship with me. Like the snake shedding its skin, this journey offers you the opportunity to release old patterns and step into your true potential.

Through our work together, you'll receive:

• Personalized guidance to anchor your unique spiritual gifts

• Practical support for processing life transitions

• Tools for trauma healing and energetic block removal

• Assistance with soul retrieval and past life integration

• Safe exploration of your intuitive and channeling abilities

• Support in receiving and integrating spiritual initiations

• Fresh perspectives to renew your growth

• Help aligning your practice or business with your authentic self

• Guidance in integrating spirituality into your career

• Activation of your natural gifts and intuitive channel

• Assistance in making sense of your various trainings

• Support in rewriting energetic codes and healing ancestral trauma

• Empowerment to embody your mastery and creative potential

• Guidance in awakening to your Sovereign Self and Personal Power

• Support in discovering and living your unique Sacred Purpose

Like the too-often misunderstood and vilified snake, your path to transformation might seem mysterious or even frightening at first. But I assure you, it's filled with beauty, strength, and wisdom waiting to be uncovered.

Are you ready to shed your old skin and embrace your true potential? I am opening a limited number of spaces for 1:1 clients to come do deep work with me. Details here.

Book a call with me today, and let's explore the transformative journey that awaits you. Together, we'll navigate the shadows and emerge into the light of your authentic self.

Click here to schedule your initial session with me. Your transformation begins now.

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

P.S. Remember, just as the snake lives in intimate contact with the Earth, your transformation will ground you deeper in your true nature. Don't let fear hold you back—reach out today and take the first step on your transformative path.

Neon Blue Snake

I was hiking back from the river yesterday morning when I came across a beautiful snake on the trail! It had little red dots on its sides, but most impressively, a neon blue stripe down its back. (There was no time for a photo so you’ll just have to believe me. It was gorgeous.)

I stopped and stared at it. It stared back at me for a second before disappearing into the bushes on the side of the trail. This brief moment of connection felt significant, as if the snake was offering a glimpse into a world of mystery and change. This unexpected encounter with such a striking creature made me pause and reflect on the symbolism of snakes and how they relate to human experiences of transformation.

Snakes are very special beings and are highly regarded in many wisdom traditions as magical creatures. There are many creation myths from different cosmologies that feature serpents, their mystical knowledge and powers of transformation. This rich symbolism surrounding snakes often mirrors our own complex relationship with personal growth and change.

I enjoy snakes so much. I love how they are simultaneously so strong and so delicate. I love holding a snake and feeling its coils around me. I love that they live with their bodies pressed fully to the ground, always in intimate contact with the Earth. Snakes are so sensitive. I once played a singing bowl for a friend's snake and watched him relax and enjoy the sound bath.

But I know that there are many people who are afraid of or repulsed by snakes. They perceive them as cold, dangerous, creepy and sinister.

These are often the same people who are afraid of what they don't understand, who are not connected with their own inner wisdom, and who resist going into the shadow of their own healing and transformation. This fear of snakes often parallels a deeper discomfort with change and transformation in one's own life.

The fear of snakes, and by extension, the fear of transformation, can manifest in various ways:

1. Avoidance: Just as some people might go to great lengths to avoid encountering a snake, many individuals avoid situations that could lead to personal growth or change, preferring the comfort of the familiar.

2. Misconceptions: People often have misconceptions about snakes, seeing them as inherently aggressive or evil. Similarly, the process of transformation is often misunderstood as always being painful or disruptive, rather than potentially enriching and liberating.

3. Loss of control: Snakes move in ways that can seem unpredictable to humans. This unpredictability mirrors the fear many have of losing control during periods of personal transformation.

4. Shedding of old skin: Snakes regularly shed their skin, a process that can appear unsettling but is necessary for growth. Many people struggle with the idea of leaving behind old habits, beliefs, or identities, even when doing so is essential for their personal development.

5. Facing the shadow: Snakes are often associated with the darker aspects of nature and the psyche. The process of transformation often requires confronting one's own "shadow" - the parts of ourselves we prefer to ignore or suppress.

6. Cultural conditioning: In many cultures, snakes are portrayed negatively in stories and myths. Similarly, societal norms often discourage radical personal change, making the prospect of transformation feel taboo or threatening.

7. Fear of the unknown: The swift, silent movement of a snake can startle us because it's unexpected. In the same way, the unknown aspects of personal transformation can be intimidating, causing many people to cling to the familiar, even if it's no longer serving them.

Understanding these parallels between the fear of snakes and the fear of transformation can be a powerful tool for personal growth. By recognizing our reactions to these symbols of change, creation and primordial wisdom, we can begin to explore our own resistance to transformation and potentially open ourselves up to new experiences and personal evolution.

Just as learning about snakes can help alleviate the fear of them, educating ourselves about the process of personal transformation can make it feel less threatening. And like the unexpected beauty of the snake I encountered on the trail, we might find that embracing transformation leads to discovering unexpected beauty and strength within ourselves.

Are you ready to shed your old skin and embrace your true potential? I am opening a limited number of spaces for 1:1 clients to come do deep work with me. Details here.

Book a call with me today, and let's explore the transformative journey that awaits you. Together, we'll navigate the shadows and emerge into the light of your authentic self.

Click here to schedule your initial session with me. Your transformation begins now.

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

P.S. Remember, just as the snake lives in intimate contact with the Earth, your transformation will ground you deeper in your true nature. Don't let fear hold you back—reach out today and take the first step on your transformative path.

All Those Called to Higher Service: It’s Time to Step Up

In case you missed it, the Supreme Court recently issued some really f*cked up rulings that made homelessness illegal, removed the power of federal regulations from organizations like the EPA, and established broad presidential immunity that got our least favorite former president off the hook for his role in the January 6 insurrection.

It is a dark, dark day in the news, and the implications for our immediate and ongoing future are staggering.

Arresting houseless people and putting them into the prison industrial complex. Removing environmental protections, food safety regulations, child labor laws, worker safety laws. Granting whomever is in office unprecedented power to commit atrocities in the name of “presidential duty.”

My first thought on hearing the news was, “You’ve got to be f*ing kidding me.”

My second thought was wondering, “Where the heck is the accountability?”

To whom and to what are we accountable?

As a Shaman, I take my responsibility and accountability very seriously. The laws to which I hold myself accountable aren’t decided by a court. The highest laws to which I answer are Divine Law, which is the Law of Love, and Gaian Law, which is the law of Free Will, Sovereignty, and Respect for Life.

It is because I know and abide by these laws that I have close relationships with powerful spirits and noncorporeal beings. It is because I know and abide by these laws that I am committed to living a life of empathy, generosity and compassion for all beings. It is because I know and abide by these laws that I am a Shaman, a healer, a spiritual mentor, and I support others who are called to higher service. It is because I know and abide by these laws that I work in service for the healing, liberation and illumination of all beings, everywhere. It is because I know and abide by these laws that I hold myself accountable to serve my community, serve humanity, serve Gaia and Spirit.

It is because I know and abide by these laws that I am disgusted and enraged by humans who have the audacity to break them so blatantly. But it is not my job to judge them or hold them accountable. When they are held accountable, it will be by a community of people devoted and accountable to the Law of Love. They will be held accountable by Spirit and by their own karmic retribution.

If the man-made laws are corrupt, we must do better. We must hold ourselves accountable to Love and Respect.

If you’ve been waiting to step into your Higher Service, now is the time.

Healers, I call you.

Teachers, I call you.

Social workers, I call you.

Counselors, I call you.

Advocates, I call you.

Doctors, I call you.

Scientists, I call you.

Animal protectors, I call you.

Earth tenders, I call you.

Grant writers, I call you.

Activists, I call you.

Neighborhood organizers, I call you.

Farmers, I call you.

Permaculturists, I call you.

Naturalists, I call you.

Parents, I call you.

Youth mentors, I call you.

Artists, I call you.

Those accountable to Divine Law (the Law of Love) and Gaian Law (the Law of Free Will, Sovereignty, and Respect for Life), I call you to step into the full, embodied commitment of your Higher Service, no matter how that expresses for you.

If you have been waiting for the “right time,” that time is now.

I invite you to ask yourself:

• What is my calling to Higher Service? (If you’re not exactly sure about the specifics yet, start with your gut feelings.)

• How does my Higher Self want to express in the world? (Again, follow the bread crumbs and trust that it will continue to unfold.)

• What support, training and mentorship do I need in order to step into that? (Are there credentials, prerequisites or qualifications that you need to do that work?)

• Who is the right person or organization for me to learn from or collaborate with? (Is someone out there already doing that work and you can partner with them? Is there a teacher you can study with?)

• What community or special interest groups are there that I can join? (We can’t do this alone.)

And if your particular flavor of Higher Service would benefit from my support, I invite you to book an introductory call with me so we can discuss your journey and see how I can help you on your path.

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

If you want me in your corner, I am opening spaces for new clients to come into 1:1 work with me!

***There are no prerequisites for working 1:1 with me. I work with advanced practitioners who have years of training and study and want personal support for themselves and their work. I work with new and aspiring healers and practitioners who want support in foundational skill development and processing their awakening. I work with spiritual seekers who are not practitioners and want powerful tools for their own healing and transformation.***

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

• Shamanic and energy healing work.

• Teaching and instruction about specific principles and tools of spiritual practice from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages.

• Shamanic journeying, intuitive and mediumship practice to connect with the spirits for guidance and healing.

• Personal ritual or ceremony.

• Learning and practicing embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques.

• Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

• Working with your spiritual business or soul-aligned practice (designing your new program, making a retreat budget, updating your website and your intake forms).

With Transformational Mentorship, you get me in your corner for 6 months of personal support. Check out all the details here, and when you’re ready, book a call with me to discuss if this work is the right fit for you!

If structures and systems in power are accountable to laws of profit and corruption, then we must do better. We must hold ourselves accountable to our own hearts, to empathy, to compassion, to justice, to generosity, to health, to respect, to life, and to love.

If the compass of federal law is f*cked, we must go deep within to know and understand the compass of Divine Law and Gaian Law.

Love is powerful. Community is powerful. Doing the right thing is powerful. Compassion is powerful.

May we all have the courage and fortitude to commit fully to our Higher Service, and know that our contributions will be fundamentally necessary in the days to come.

The Beauty and Opportunity of Being Triggered

As a healer and spiritual mentor, I regularly witness people feeling triggered. This is a normal part of any healing or transformational process, and even though it can feel yucky, it’s actually something worth celebrating because it opens a portal of opportunity.

Instead of trying to avoid them, I teach my clients to approach triggers from a place of understanding them, feeling prepared and ready to work with them as part of the healing process. Triggers are an inevitable and predictable part of shadow work or underworld initiation, and it’s important to remember that when they come up.

Here is my working definition of a “trigger” or when someone “feels triggered:”

A trigger is a sensation of nervous system arousal that results from a person or situation resonating at a similar frequency to an unhealed wound or unresolved trauma.

For example, if someone grew up in a household with abusive, alcoholic parents, and they have not worked to regulate themselves and resolve their developmental trauma, they may be triggered by seeing another person drink a cocktail, even if that person is behaving peacefully.

Triggers, while they may feel super crunchy and we may wish to avoid them at all costs, are actually beautiful and powerful opportunities for some of the deepest, most powerful transformational healing work.

In some practices, such as Alchemy, there are even meditation and healing techniques that deliberately elicit trigger responses so that the practitioner may work with the energy of the trigger to transmute it from a wound or base state into peace, love and fully actualized radiance (the internal gold).

Here are three important things to know about healing through trigger portals:

1. Triggers are opportunities to heal. In order to work with a trigger for the purpose of healing, the person must understand that their nervous system is being aroused to a stress response due to energetic resonance with a past trauma, not directly because of the current circumstances. If they understand that, they can employ nervous system regulation tools, consciousness practices and repatterning techniques to create a feeling of safety and peace within their body, heart/mind and spirit. From this place of feeling regulated and embodied, they may use Shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, extraction or liberation healing work and Alchemical ritual to transmute the underlying wound.

2. If people mistake the trigger for a trauma, or try to bypass the trigger, they reinforce the original wound. This is very typical if people don’t yet have the tools and awareness to understand and intentionally work with their triggers. This is also true for people who may have awareness of some healing practices, but perhaps the trigger is particularly strong or charged. Regardless, every time someone’s nervous system runs unchecked in a trauma pattern, it digs that neurological groove a little deeper. It is never too late to heal, but it requires effort, attention, repetition and consistent reinforcement of a new pathway.

3. Working with triggers requires simple practices. When the nervous system is activated into a stress response, cortisol in the body spikes, the logical mind shuts down and people may experience memories of trauma, physical sensation or pain. Since the intellectual brain shuts down in a stress response, it is impossible for someone to “logic” themself out of a trigger response. For healing through trigger portals, we must rely on very simple practices that we have ingrained in our muscle memory from practicing them thousands of times while not in a triggered state. When we use these regulation practices to bring our cognition back online, then we can shift into consciousness practices and more advanced Shamanic and Alchemical healing techniques.

Are you working with nervous system healing and regulation, and healing through trigger portals?

Do you want some help with that?

I am opening spaces for new clients to come into 1:1 work with me!

***There are no prerequisites for working 1:1 with me. I work with advanced practitioners who have years of training and study and want personal support for themselves and their work. I work with new and aspiring healers and practitioners who want support in foundational skill development and processing their awakening. I work with spiritual seekers who are not practitioners and want powerful tools for their own healing and transformation.***

This work is for you if:

• You are committed to your personal growth and development. You want practical spiritual tools in your personal tool kit that are more than guided meditations.

• You are going through a big life transformation and you want practical support to help you process, stay grounded and feel present/connected to your inner wisdom through the transition.

• You are going through a deep personal healing journey. You want support with trauma healing and nervous system regulation, relationship challenges, childhood wounds, energetic blocks, beliefs and conditioning, or physical symptoms that “don’t make sense.”

• You want to reconcile ancestral and karmic wounds in order to heal and clear karma and rewrite soul contracts and patterns.

• You want support with soul retrieval, integrating the wisdom and lessons of past lives and coming into full expression of your Higher Self knowing.

• You feel stuck or blocked in your continued development, or like you’ve reached a plateau, and you’re looking for some fresh energy and perspective to help you renew your transformation and growth.

• You are recovering from abuse or harm by a practitioner or medicine community. You don’t want to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” but you need help coming back into healthy alignment and relationship with your authentic spiritual practice in a safe and supportive spiritual container.

• You want support from a grounded spiritual mentor who has been on this path for a long time, who can help you see what you might be missing and give you specific tools, teachings and guidance that is aligned for you as you grow and transform.

If any of this sounds like you, I invite you to step into 1:1 work with me.

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

• Shamanic and energy healing work.

• Teaching and instruction about specific principles and tools of spiritual practice from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages.

• Shamanic journeying, intuitive and mediumship practice to connect with the spirits for guidance and healing.

• Personal ritual or ceremony.

• Learning and practicing embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques.

• Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

• Working with your spiritual business or soul-aligned practice (designing your new program, making a retreat budget, updating your website and your intake forms).

With Transformational Mentorship, you get me in your corner for 6 months of personal support. Check out all the details here, and when you’re ready, book a call with me to discuss if this work is the right fit for you!

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

You can also book an in-person 1:1 retreat with me at my temple home on sacred forested land just outside of Portland, OR! Book a call with me to discuss your personal retreat.

If you’re ready to take inspired action on your healing and transformation journey…

If you’re reading this email and thinking “Yes, that’s me”…

If you want me in your corner for personal support and guidance…

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Integrity and Multi-Lineage Practice

Good medicine travels. It always has.

The proliferation, adaptation and syncretization of spiritual practices, belief systems, therapeutic and medicinal practices has occurred throughout human history. Taoism was strongly influenced by Buddhism. Mystics and spiritual practitioners traveled across the Himalayas and shared practices and ideas. Western Alchemy, which began in Ancient Egypt, spread throughout Alexandria, impacted and majorly influenced Greek philosophy, spread through the Arabic world and experienced its heyday in Europe. Eastern Alchemy arose out of Taoism, and spread throughout Asia to join with the Alchemical texts in the library of Alexandria. The spread of spiritual practice and philosophy is not a new phenomenon, despite the recent surge in globalization of spiritual practice through ease of travel and the internet.

There are many paths to the top of the mountain, and all different traditions that abide by universal truth ultimately work with the same archetypal frequencies under the same set of universal laws. Of course there are differences in how these truths manifest according to the geographic/climatic/ecosystemic and cultural context, but the core archetypal frequencies are the same.

For example, the same deities appear in different cultures under different names: Athena in the Greek tradition is syncretized with Brigid in Celtic tradition, Iansã in Afro-Brazilian traditions such as Umbanda and Santería, and Oyá in Yoruba. Each of her faces is represented differently. She is honored in different ways according to the cultural context of different groups of people, on different feast days, with different offerings and songs. But the core archetypal frequency of her medicine is the same across traditions, and she appears to people all over the world to deliver her medicine, no matter what name they call her.

I’ve been reflecting on spiritual globalization more than usual lately in relation both to my own mixed lineages, and those of my students and clients. As a modern, western Shaman living in the United States, supporting people all over the world, the question of integrity in holding multiple lineages is vitally important and has always been part of my awareness. But recently, there seems to have been another surge in cries of cultural appropriation. I welcome the opportunity to reflect on integrity in my practice, how to support my students and clients in the most ethical, aligned way that honors and respects the lineages I hold, the traditions they come from, and support my clients in their aligned, integrous, multi-lineage practices.

I am a person of mixed, but mostly white, European heritage. My ancestry includes indigenous people from the Celtic nations, nomadic horse tribes from the Eurasian steppe, as well as colonizing people from England and France who came to North America. I am a Shaman and spiritual practitioner who holds multiple lineages. My primary Shamanic lineage comes from the Shaman Clan Baksa of what is now Hungary, but those people migrated from Siberia thousands of years ago, following the reindeer across the continent as the ice receded after the most recent glacial era. Additionally, I hold lineages from the Celtic tradition, Western and Eastern Alchemy, and Dragon lineages. These are the lineages I hold and have been initiated into, but I have learned from and studied many others. I have lived in the US most of my life and studied with Turtle Island indigenous teachers from different tribes. I have worked with teachers and lineages from South America, including the Huni Kuin people of the Brazilian Amazon, practitioners trained in Umbandaime and Santo Daime, Templo Ampiri and Shipibo lineages, to name a few.

My clients and students are also usually multi-heritage, multi-lineage people who have either already studied from several different traditions, or they have come into their spiritual or Shamanic awakening and want to do so with integrity. My clients sometimes feel trepidation because they don’t want to unintentionally hurt anyone’s feelings or be accused of cultural appropriation. As one recent consultation told me, “I don’t want to be that middle-aged white person saying, ‘I’m a Shaman.’”

Here’s the thing: Spiritual practice is universal. Animism is universal. Shamanism is universal (despite the seemingly common, erroneous belief that it’s only Native American or Siberian people who can practice Shamanism). And the vast majority of spiritual practices that we see expressed in the modern world are not “pure,” meaning that they most likely have been influenced by other practices, or even adopted traditions or ideas from other lineages sometime in the last several thousand years.

I take ethics and integrity in my practice very seriously, and I think there’s a fine line between honoring the traditions of a given spiritual practice, and perhaps misplaced dogmatic purism.

The reality of spiritual practice in the modern world is that the vast majority of practitioners will work with multiple lineages, or hold practices that have integrated influences from other traditions. This is especially true in countries with high populations of people from mixed cultural backgrounds, such as the US, but also true even in remote areas of the world. The person who studies yoga (originally from India) also studies Reiki (originally from Japan) also works with sound healing (from many different traditions) also has an altar to Mother Mary (Christian mysticism) and Sekhmet (ancient Egypt) and a medicine wheel (many different indigenous cultures all over the world) in their backyard. The Sweden-born practitioner raised in Germany studies TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). The Mexican-born healer will not only study curanderismo from their grandmother, but come to the US and get their massage license. The indigenous paje (medicine person) in the Brazilian Amazon serves indigenous medicine, plays African rhythms on African style drums, plays European guitars, sings medicine songs in multiple languages, and makes their beautiful beadwork from Italian glass beads purchased with US dollars.

Yes, spiritual globalization and the travel of good medicine is as old as humanity itself. I believe wholeheartedly that when done with care and devotion, it is appropriate and beautiful to study and hold multiple lineages of practice from different traditions. I believe that our study, appreciation and honoring of spiritual practices from around the world supports greater empathy, respect, and global community between different cultures and groups of people. I believe that people grow, mature and become more loving and compassionate through exposure to ideas, traditions and beliefs from many traditions. I believe that it is possible to approach more than one spiritual tradition with deep devotion, reverence and to receive initiations responsibly.

I also have seen firsthand that there are people in the world who do not do this responsibly, who have created a business under the guise of spiritual service, and profit off of their misrepresentation of lineages that they have not properly studied. There are people who are “spiritual tourists,” who take a weekend workshop and immediately turn around to regurgitate these teachings for a profit. There are people who consume spiritual teachings and then present them as their own, with no acknowledgment to their teachers or to the lineages from which they came.

I understand why people get upset when they see (or think they see) instances of cultural appropriation. There are definitely examples of this in the world, and plenty of people who are out of integrity with this. I occasionally hear from internet trolls who call me a “plastic shaman” because I’m white and I charge money for my Shamanic work, or they say I can’t be a Shaman because I’m not Native American, or all sorts of other things. Even though it’s annoying, I offer the benefit of the doubt that people are saying something because they’re concerned about potential harm caused, or that I might be taking advantage of indigenous people, and I’m able to come back to my compassion and care and remember that they don’t know anything about me, and they just see another white person calling themselves a Shaman.

I understand when people cry cultural appropriation because of their care and concern, particularly for historically marginalized populations (usually BIPOC people). When possible, I try to engage with these people in a conversation about my Shamanic practice, and address their concerns respectfully. Sadly, most of the time, people are not actually open to any discussion about this. They don’t want to hear that I’ve been studying and practicing Shamanism since 2003, and have apprenticed with my current teacher since 2009. They’re not interested in considering the possibility of healthy and responsible spiritual globalization.

I’m not saying this in any kind of “oh poor me” way. I really don’t care what these people think of me. But what I do care about deeply is how this close-mindedness potentially inhibits the healthy and positive sharing and collective appreciation of different traditions and cultures. I am concerned because of all of the people who might be going through a spiritual or shamanic awakening, but might be too intimidated to pursue training and study because they’re afraid of getting called out. I worry that the shadow side of this attitude is another form of rigid, dogmatic purism that says these spiritual teachings are only for a select group of people, and criticizes anyone who might simply be looking for help through a challenging time, or discourages someone who wants to step into service to their community.

As a multi-heritage, multi-lineage Shaman and spiritual practitioner, I know that there are many paths that all work with the same universal truths. I have walked several of these paths for many years and become very masterful in these realms. Some paths I will never walk in this lifetime, but I respect and appreciate their wisdom. I trust that all people will find the paths that are right for them, and I am committed to guiding those who come to me in the most aligned, respectful and integrous way as they explore how the truth of universal law comes alive through them.

Are you a multi-lineage practitioner?

Are you going through a Shamanic awakening?

Do you want to receive healing, training and support from a master healer and teacher who gets it?

Hi! I’m Michelle Hawk— Shaman, Alchemist, master healer and spiritual mentor. I’ve been studying and practicing Shamanism and other forms of healing work and spiritual practice since 2003.

I am opening spaces for new clients to come into 1:1 work with me!

***There are no prerequisites for working 1:1 with me. I work with advanced practitioners who have years of training and study and want personal support for themselves and their work. I work with new and aspiring healers and practitioners who want support in foundational skill development and processing their awakening. I work with spiritual seekers who are not practitioners and want powerful tools for their own healing and transformation.***

This work is for you if:

• You’ve been studying energy healing or various modalities for a long time but it feels like something’s missing. You want to go beyond the certifications and modalities to anchor into your personal gifts and authentic magic.

• You are committed to your personal growth and development. You want practical spiritual tools in your personal tool kit that are more than guided meditations.

• You are going through a big life transformation and you want practical support to help you process, stay grounded and feel present/connected to your inner wisdom through the transition.

• You are a practitioner, healer, therapist, coach or medical provider. You have been “in the closet” about your Shamanic, intuitive or magical self, and you are ready to stop hiding and start sharing this aspect of your practice.

• You feel alone on your path, you don’t have any spiritual community and you want to be able to talk and process with someone who doesn’t think you’re bonkers.

• You want support from a grounded spiritual mentor who has been on this path for a long time, who can help you see what you might be missing and give you specific tools, teachings and guidance that is aligned for you as you grow and transform.

If any of this sounds like you, I invite you to step into 1:1 work with me.

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

• Shamanic and energy healing work.

• Teaching and instruction about specific principles and tools of spiritual practice from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages.

• Shamanic journeying, intuitive and mediumship practice to connect with the spirits for guidance and healing.

• Personal ritual or ceremony.

• Learning and practicing embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques.

• Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

• Working with your spiritual business or soul-aligned practice (designing your new program, making a retreat budget, updating your website and your intake forms).

With Transformational Mentorship, you get me in your corner for 6 months of personal support. Check out all the details here, and when you’re ready, book a call with me to discuss if this work is the right fit for you!

You can also book an in-person 1:1 retreat with me at my temple home on sacred forested land just outside of Portland, OR! Book a call with me to discuss your personal retreat.

If you’re ready to take inspired action on your healing and transformation journey…

If you’re reading this email and thinking “Yes, that’s me”…

If you want me in your corner for personal support and guidance…

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

2 Dogs and My Faith in Humanity

I recently had profound encounters with two different dogs that broke and then renewed my faith in humanity.

But first, here’s a little Alchemical teaching to set up the story:

“Taking inspired action opens doors for our prayers to be answered.”

This is a teaching I recently shared with my I AM Alchemy apprentices during our first retreat of the year-long course.

This is the key that helps us move beyond a passive relationship with manifestation into an active, collaborative and co-creative relationship with Spirit. Here’s a little story that illustrates this principle:

There is a massive flood and a man is trapped in his house. He makes it to the roof of his house where he prays to God to save him. A few minutes later, a boat comes by, and the people in the boat invite him in. The man on the roof says, “No thank you, God will save me.” A few minutes later, a helicopter flies overhead and they offer to pull him up. Again, the man says, “No thank you, God will save me.” After that, the man drowns, and when he comes face to face with God, he accuses God for not saving him. God replies, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter!”

This is a cute little story but let’s return to that original teaching, and then I’ll tell you a story of how I recently experienced this in my life, with the help of a leash and a dog.

“Taking inspired action opens doors for our prayers to be answered.”

Let’s break it down into these four parts:

1. Taking Inspired Action

2. Opens Doors

3. Prayers

4. Answered [Prayers]

…We’ll start with #3: Prayers.

What’s the difference between a Prayer and an Intention?

• An intention can be a statement or a goal of qualities, feeling, sensation, or experience that we would like to actualize or bring about in our lives.

• A prayer is a specific and personal appeal requesting support from Spirit and divine beings, asking for help to actualize or bring about qualities, feeling, sensation, or experience in our lives.

Prayer = Intention + Asking for help from Spirit

Intentions are great. They help us with mindset, affirmations, rewiring our thought patterns. But asking for divine intervention to support us in that adds another layer of power and alignment.

#1: Taking Inspired Action

Notice I don’t say “taking action, any old action.” It’s specifically inspired action. You probably recognize the root of that word—spirit. The word inspire originally came from the idea of “breathing life into (someone or something), as from a divine being or spirit.”

That means that when it comes to our prayers, we must act from a place of inviting Spirit to come breathe life into our choices and behaviors. We act while surrendering to divine intelligence and the architecture of creation that comes to life through us, and collaborating with that force.

#2: Open Doors

Aliveness is always flowing. Nature is in constant spiraling, shifting, transforming. Energy gets stuck in stagnation. Spirit has a heck of a lot harder time helping us if we’re just sitting around on our butts, no matter how hard we pray. When we take our prayers out into the world and live them into being through inspired action, it creates opportunities for synchronicity and alignment. It creates openings for Spirit to conspire in our favor. Inspired action opens doors.

#4: Answered Prayers

This is actually one of the hardest parts, and not in the way you think. This part is about receiving—are you actually open to receiving the answer to your prayers? Are you actually able to let it in and fundamentally change you? Are you actually open to receiving that much love, care, nourishment? Letting the answers to our prayers come to their full fruition is the actualization of transformation. It can be deeply confronting and unsettling, and requires its own kind of courage. This point deserves its own article.

And now, here’s the story with the dogs.

This story has a sad beginning but a happy ending, and a great teaching. (Be forewarned.)

I recently moved out to some sacred, forested land just outside of Portland, OR. I was walking my dog, Athena, on a beautiful game trail through the forest that we had walked on many times, when I saw something I had definitely walked by but never noticed before.

I saw a chewed-through leash tied to a log on the edge of a forest, well away from a rural fire lane road. (In case you need a translation: someone tied their dog up out in the country and left it there, away from a road where no one would see it.)

My heart sank. I picked up the end of the leash and examined it. I have had dogs for my whole life—I know a chewed-through leash when I see one. As my eyes brimmed with tears, my thoughts raced. How could somebody do that? How long had this leash been here? The leash was dirty and faded on one side, so probably quite a while. How could somebody do that? How had I never noticed it before? The dog chewed itself free, maybe it was okay or had gotten picked up. How could somebody do that?

Athena, concerned by my distress, came over to examine the leash as well, and I hugged her and cried. I told her, “I will never leave you. I will never abandon you. You are mine, and I am yours. You are always safe with me.” We walked home, and I overflowed with disappointment in humanity.

That afternoon, Athena and I drove to the local dog park—a massive plot of land with forest, river beaches and open fields, plus miles of hiking trails. I reflected on my ruptured faith in humanity and asked Spirit to please help me understand. “I want to remember the goodness and kindness of people.”

On our way home, as we rounded a corner, I saw a dog standing in front of a house, almost in the road. I pulled around her in time, but saw her in my rear view mirror as she almost got hit by the car behind me. I quickly flipped a U-turn and circled back to her.

There are plenty of dogs running loose out in the country, but you can tell they are comfortable with it. They know where their house is, they know about cars and they look relaxed. This dog did not look like that, and as I pulled my car over near her, she ran towards my car and I almost hit her. She definitely needed help.

As I got out of the car, she did the “Thank you I love you I’m nervous I’m happy to see you please help me I’m scared are you my friend” dance and tried to hide between my legs. She had a collar but no tag. It was after 7pm, so any vet office who could scan for a microchip was closed. I leashed her and knocked on doors in the area, but the only person who answered said, “I think she lives there,” and gestured to a house where I had already knocked.

I left a note on the door of that house, prayed that everyone would get along in a confined space, put the dog in the back of my car with Athena (thankfully, both dogs were very well behaved and respectful), and took her home with me.

When we got home, she and Athena played a bit in the backyard, had dinner and snuggled down on the couch. Her dad called me a few hours later, thanked me profusely and I delivered my sweet guest back to her human.

The following morning, I woke up feeling so happy that I had been able to help this dog be safe and make it home. She was such a sweet pup, everything had gone smoothly and everything had ended in a best case scenario.

And then I walked with Athena by that same chewed-through leash, and it hit me:

I answered my own prayer to restore my faith in humanity by helping that dog.

In the course of one day, I had seen something so very sad, suffered extreme disappointment, wondered how anyone could do something like that, and lost some faith in humanity. Then I was immediately presented with an opportunity to act in an inspired way according to the kindness I wished to see in people, and I was able to make a positive difference in the world, and in the life of that dog.

“Taking inspired action opens doors for our prayers to be answered.”

Prayer: I am asking Spirit to please help restore my faith in the kindness and generosity of humanity.

Inspired Action: I took the dog home with me so she would be safe while I found her human.

Open Door: I had a good experience with the dog, she was safe and I returned her to her grateful human.

Answered Prayer: My faith in humanity is restored because I know that I am not the only person doing things like that, and I am reminded that there are so many people choosing to make a positive difference in the world and in the lives of others every day.

So, friend, I ask you…

What are your prayers?

What inspired actions are you taking?

What doors are opening for you?

How are your prayers being answered?

…Do you want some help with that?

Hi! I’m Michelle Hawk— Shaman, Alchemist, master healer and spiritual mentor. I’ve been studying and practicing Shamanism and other forms of healing work and spiritual practice since 2003.

I am opening spaces for new clients to come into 1:1 mentorship work with me!

***There are no prerequisites for working 1:1 with me. I work with advanced practitioners who have years of training and study and want personal support for themselves and their work. I work with new and aspiring healers and practitioners who want support in foundational skill development and processing their awakening. I work with spiritual seekers who are not practitioners and want powerful tools for their own healing and transformation.***

This work is for you if:

• You’ve been studying energy healing or various modalities for a long time but it feels like something’s missing.

• You have taken lots of online classes, read lots of books and want practical, personal support that goes beyond a generic “Spiritual 101” curriculum.

• You are committed to your personal growth and development. You want practical spiritual tools in your personal tool kit that are more than guided meditations.

• You are going through a big life transformation and you want practical support to help you process, stay grounded and feel present through the transition.

• You are going through a deep personal healing journey.

• You want to reconcile ancestral and karmic wounds in order to heal and clear karma and rewrite soul contracts and patterns.

• You want support with soul retrieval, integrating the wisdom and lessons of past lives and coming into full expression of your Higher Self knowing.

• You want support from a grounded spiritual mentor who has been on this path for a long time, who can help you see what you might be missing and give you specific tools, teachings and guidance that is aligned for you as you grow and transform.

If any of this sounds like you, I invite you to step into 1:1 Transformational Mentorship with me.

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

• Shamanic and energy healing work.

• Teaching and instruction about specific principles and tools of spiritual practice from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages.

• Shamanic journeying, intuitive and mediumship practice to connect with the spirits for guidance and healing.

• Personal ritual or ceremony.

• Learning and practicing embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques.

• Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

• Working with your spiritual business or soul-aligned practice (designing your new program, making a retreat budget, updating your website and your intake forms).

With Transformational Mentorship you get me in your corner for 6 months of personal support. Check out all the details here, and when you’re ready, book a call with me to discuss if this work is the right fit for you!

You can also book an in-person 1:1 retreat with me at my temple home on sacred forested land just outside of Portland, OR! Book a call with me to discuss your personal retreat.

If you’re ready to take inspired action on your healing and transformation journey…

If you’re reading this email and thinking “Yes, that’s me”…

If you want me in your corner for personal support and guidance…

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

Freedom Through Commitment

What are you committed to this year?

Those of us who follow the path of Spirit know what it feels like to commit to something that defies logical explanation.

Even if it's terrifying. Even if it goes against everything we thought we knew.

When I AM Alchemy was asking to be born in 2017, I was apprehensive. At that time, offering a year-long course tied to a syllabus sounded constricting and limiting. One of my core values of practice is freedom, flexibility and immediacy, so I can follow the emergent currents of energy and the illuminated path in my personal and professional practice. Sometimes that can change from year to year, or season to season.

Fellow Seeker, I'm sure you understand. When Spirit is calling, we heed the call.

But the thing about this course is that it has a life force of its own, and as such, it has a process of evolution and growth within the body of knowledge itself. I AM Alchemy is not a dry, scripted teaching from a dusty book. It is a vital, living entity that has its own energy flow and plan. Someone asked me during the early years of I AM Alchemy how I organized and offered my teachings, and the most honest response was simply, "I listen to what wants to be shared."

This is the difference between teaching and stewardship. Yes, I have a plan. Yes, I have a course outline and recorded videos and documents and structure. But more important than this is the capacity to listen and to transmit what wants to come through, and knowing that it will be exactly the right thing for my students.

Even now, as I have shifted from teaching the classes live to sharing the teachings over video recordings, there is flexibility and freedom for real-time transmissions, and I am always listening.

Ultimately, my role in this process is to simply pass along the messages. As a steward of this mystery school, part of my job is to be quiet and allow myself to be guided, so that I can guide my students in turn. This is my commitment to Spirit and to Alchemy itself, and as long as I practice this work, I honor this commitment. As long as I honor this commitment, I have the freedom I desire in my practice.

My commitments to this body of knowledge allow me to be an active participant in the mystery, which always feels like the most illuminated path.

In preparation for one of the I AM Alchemy course retreats, I ask my students to write their own commitments. This practice is our way of making a contract of sorts with ourselves and with the work. We witness each other in our commitments during ceremony, and the power that comes from this practice always blows everyone away.

What happens when we make these commitments? What happens when we spell out in writing what we are signing up for as an Alchemist on this planet?
 
Seeker, what are your commitments?

Here are some of mine. Check out below for the prompts I offer my students if you would like to write your own.

As an Alchemist, I commit...

As an Alchemist, I commit to holding myself in trust and compassion through change as I discover and know fully all parts of my Self. I commit to bringing magic to every facet of my life.

As an Alchemist, I commit to bringing more subtlety, intentionality, precision and grace to my work. I commit to redefining my personal practice to align more supportively and harmoniously with my well-being.

As an Alchemist, I commit to carrying out the operations of the Sun, Moon and Earth here on this planet for the Highest and Greatest Good of all beings.

As an Alchemist, I commit to being an instrument and steward of this body of knowledge, to ensuring its path in the modern world, and to honoring and participating in this cycle, always. I commit to holding the torch so that those who are ready may find the path. I commit to listening always to this work, and offering teachings in alignment with the instruction I receive.
 
If you are ready to step into your own commitments to the path, then I AM Alchemy is right for you. If you are ready to answer your deep soul calling to live your purpose... If you are ready to step into fulfillment of your Soul Contract and commitments... If you are ready to remember who you truly are, claim your I AM and inspire others to do the same... If you are ready to walk the Earth as a Divine Embodied Being...
 
...submit your application for I AM Alchemy now.

I AM Alchemy begins March 17. Are you ready to commit?

Journal prompts:

What are my commitments to my Self?
What are my commitments to my practice?
What are my commitments to Spirit?
What do I need in order to honor those commitments?

I AM Alchemy:
Study the Mystery
Practice Transformation
Actualize your Radiance

Your Spiritual Growth and Education in 2024

Happy Gregorian new year, friends and like-hearted seekers!

If you're taking the opportunity to vision, set goals and orient yourself for the year ahead, good for you! (If not, that's fine, too.)

If you're like me, you probably have a few courses or retreats on your radar that you would love to do, but need to plan, schedule and budget for.

Now is a great time to set goals and intentions for spiritual growth and skill development in conjunction with year planning.
 

Here are some helpful things to consider. Ask yourself:

1. What are my priorities for my spiritual path this year? (For example: skill development and certification in a particular modality, personalized 1:1 mentorship with a teacher, sample from a buffet of different modalities, get your personal practice really dialed in, etc.)

2. What training, education, support and/or mentorship would be most supportive for me to address those priorities? (For example: go on that retreat, work with that teacher you've been following for years, take lots of mini courses, etc.)

3. What prerequisites and preparation do I need to pursue those priorities? (For example: are there certain courses that require prerequisites? Is there advance preparation required for a retreat?)

4. What commitment of time and energy am I willing to allocate to my spiritual priorities this year? (This can be flexible as necessary, but it's helpful to realistically assess your availability and be honest with yourself about your capacity. For example: take a year-long course and devote up to 5 hours per week to study and practice, take a 7-week course in the fall when kids go back to school, go on a 10-day retreat once a year, 10 minutes of daily personal practice, etc.)

5. What is my budget for my spiritual priorities this year? (This can be flexible as necessary, but I have found it to be helpful especially when planning for higher-investment training, retreats, mentorship and tuition. I have a continuing education budget in my business and consistently spend 5-10% of my gross income on courses, skill development and healing work for my own spiritual practice and so that I can grow as a practitioner and serve my clients more effectively. For example: you want to take a course that costs $15k but offers monthly payments that work for your budget, you can comfortably spend $200 per month attending local events and circles, you set aside $50 per month in your budget to take that $400 course, etc.)

6. What deadlines, prices and scheduling/3D logistical information do I need to track this year? (For example: the course you want to take begins in September and costs $X, so you need to look for early bird registration starting in July and allocate $Y in your monthly budget so you're ready to pay in full, and block the October retreat dates off in your calendar and request time off from work for that long weekend.)

I regularly consider and review these questions when deciding how to plan and where to invest in my spiritual path and skill development. I hope this helps you!
 

Is working with me on your radar for 2024?

Here are some of the ways you can work with me this year for your path, spiritual mentorship, continuing education and skill development:
 

1:1 Transformational Mentorship

• Topics and skills: Personalized mentorship and healing work for your spiritual path. Includes energy healing work, developing your unique spiritual and intuitive gifts, personal practice, movement and sound, support for your spiritual and/or healing business practice. Includes training as needed from my many bodies of knowledge, including energetic mastery, shamanic practice, mediumship, Alchemy and more.

• Prerequisites and preparation: None required.

• Time commitment: 2 sessions per month for 6 months, plus personal practice, homework and integration between sessions (average 3-7 hours per week).

• Budget: Pay in full $4500 or six monthly payments of $797.

• 3D considerations: Rolling enrollment according to vacancies in my calendar (apply anytime). Consultation and application required. Sessions are virtual or in-person near Portland, OR.

I AM Alchemy

• Topics and skills: Shamanic Alchemy apprenticeship. "Spiritual grad school." Includes online curriculum, live group classes, 1:1 mentorship sessions* and four 4-day, in-person retreats* (*with Apprentice Path).

• Prerequisites and preparation: For people of intermediate to advanced spiritual background. Recommended that candidates have foundations of energy healing and personal practice.

• Time commitment: 3-6 hours per week for one year, plus four 4-day, in-person retreats*.

• Budget: Student path (classes only) $3197. Apprentice path (classes, 1:1 sessions and retreats) $9497 plus retreat lodging and travel to and from retreats. Payment plans available.

• 3D considerations: begins March 17, 2024. Closed cohort (enrolls once a year), accepting applications now. Year-long apprenticeship. In-person retreats held near Portland, OR. Fly into PDX. Consultation and application required.

Dragon Initiation

• Topics and skills: Initiation into the Sapphire Dragon Line. Includes supplementary training and transmissions from the Dragons.

• Prerequisites and preparation: The Dragons have been calling you and guiding you to this initiation.

• Time commitment: 3-day in-person retreat plus three 1:1 sessions, to be completed within 6 weeks.

• Budget: $4500 plus lodging for retreat, travel to and from retreat. Payment plan available.

• 3D considerations: Rolling enrollment (apply anytime). Consultation and application required. Retreats held near Portland, OR. Fly into PDX.

Sacred Ecology

• Topics and skills: How to work with land and nature spirits, Shamanic practice, geomancy, foundations of ecology.

• Prerequisites and preparation: None required.

• Time commitment: Seven weekly 90 minute classes, plus optional 1:1 sessions.

• Budget: $777 (classes only) or $1697 (classes plus 1:1 sessions). Payment plans available.

• 3D considerations: Closed cohort (enrolls once a year). Begins May 2024, Early Bird enrollment and discount begins April 2024. Online course, optional 1:1 sessions held virtually.

Personal Retreat

• Topics and skills: Add an in-person 1:1 retreat to our work together. Includes energy healing work, qigong and movement practice, shamanic journey, nature time, support for your spiritual and/or healing business practice. Includes training as needed from my many bodies of knowledge, including energetic mastery, shamanic practice, mediumship, Alchemy and more.

• Prerequisites and preparation: 1:1 mentorship with me.

• Time commitment: 3 or 4-day in-person retreat.

• Budget: $3600-$4500 plus lodging for retreat, travel to and from retreat. Payment plan available.

• 3D considerations: Rolling enrollment, add personal retreats to other work with me for personal healing and mentorship work. Retreats held near Portland, OR. Fly into PDX.

Best wishes for your spiritual growth and skill development in 2024!

I cried a little bit when I read this.

Sometimes we need reminders about how much our impact helps the people around us.

Early this fall, as I was contemplating offering I AM Alchemy again in 2024, I had a moment of doubt.

I took 2023 off from teaching I AM Alchemy so I could focus more deeply on my Shamanic practice and lineage, and the extra time and attention I had led to creating the Sacred Ecology course, supporting clients more deeply in their Shamanic practice, and developing my work with sacred plant medicines. It's been wonderful.

But because I've been away from I AM Alchemy since my last apprentice graduated in March earlier this year, I forgot how amazing this course is.

"Does this course actually help people?"

"A year-long apprenticeship course is a huge investment of time, energy and money, for me and my students. Is it worth it?"

"My Shamanic practice is going so well. Should I just focus on that and back off of Alchemy?"

These questions and doubts were floating around in my mind when my recent apprentice graduate emailed me the most wonderful and articulate review of her experience in this course.

Y'all, I cried a little bit when I read it.

Reading more about how her experience in this year-long apprenticeship impacted her in enormously positive ways reminded me that...

YES, I AM Alchemy definitely helps people, and the benefits extend far beyond the year-long course.

YES, I AM Alchemy is a significant investment of time, energy and money, and it is totally worth it.

YES, my Shamanic practice is more thriving than ever, and it coexists and harmonizes beautifully with Alchemy.

Read on and see for yourself what she had to say about I AM Alchemy:

"My name is Nicky Smolter. I am a teacher, community leader, and magical person.

I worked with Michelle in I AM Alchemy and one on one mentorship [prior to I AM Alchemy].

I joined I AM Alchemy because I had been on a spiritual and magical journey for several years, but I desired something deeper to truly integrate all that I was learning. I knew I was in a transition stage but didn't quite know who or what I was transitioning into. I knew I needed something with structure that was not just about completing modules or participating in calls, but something that I was able to immerse myself in while still living my day to day life.

The I AM Alchemy course was not just a way to deepen my own magical mastery through all of the different teachings, tools, and practices, but it was a container for deep transformation. I am a different person than I was before working with Michelle and doing this program, but at the same time, I am more fully myself than ever before. This container was really what held me and supported me through the death of the old and rebirth into the new.

Through I AM Alchemy, I have learned so much about how creation, transformation, and magic works on both a practical and spiritual level. This course helped me to incorporate all of the different teachings and modalities that I've learned before into a strong foundation that I can continue to use over and over again. My life is so much more magical and expansive. I feel like I've upleveled into a new version of power, creation, mastery, and connection. I have also deepened my trust in spirit and magic that has made the hard parts of life so much easier and the best parts of life more joyful.

One of my biggest takeaways is trusting when I feel called and leaning into the unknown. I felt called to do this program but I didn't always understand why. I'm not a practitioner or healer so I wasn't sure that I needed to invest in my own spiritual, personal, and magical growth in this way. However, I am so grateful that I gave myself this opportunity because it has led me to live in a way that I had always dreamed of. Mixing magic and spirituality into a very practical 3D life. I don't feel like I need to choose between the two, but instead can weave them together to create a life that feels both personally fulfilling and deeply impactful.

Because of this course, I will continue to trust and lean into this work. Even if it's not what I get paid to do, its effect on my life and those I work and interact with is remarkable. I see and feel the value of committing to my own spiritual and magical path to create a life I love.

Michelle’s support and this container helped me to step into my own power. I really feel like I spiritually and magically grew up during my time working with her.

I recommend I AM Alchemy to anyone who feels called, especially those who have taken many courses and programs but still feel like they're not fully integrating. For me, this was like the graduate study in practical magic that helped pull everything together and allowed me to lead my own transformation.

I was actually a little nervous when I first started working one on one with Michelle because I knew that choosing her as a teacher and guide would push me outside of my comfort zone and challenge me to go deeper and step into my own magical power at a completely different level. Michelle is truly someone who walks the walk, and the depth of her knowledge, practice, and embodiment was something that I wanted for my own life. I felt incredibly supported, encouraged, and challenged throughout our work together.

[Shared verbatim in a personal phone call] I feel like that last year of investing time and energy and money will be paying off dividends for decades to come."

If any of that resonates with you, now is the time to submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

Do you desire the peace, confidence and expansion that come from deep self-mastery?

Are you guided by universal forces to master spiritual technology based in Universal Law?

Are you ready to offer actual magic for the purpose of healing, illumination and actualization, for yourself and for all beings?

I AM Alchemy is a year-long course in practical transformation for your spiritual journey, and it begins March 2024. Check out all the course details here.

Early Bird ends TODAY.

Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

Why do you need Alchemy?

Alchemy is an esoteric mystery school that dates back many thousands of years, but its principles and magic are just as applicable today because they are based in Universal Law.

Think of Alchemy like the physics department of spirituality. Literature and art will change with culture. Social sciences evolve over time. Biology studies forms of life and the ecology of a changing world. But no matter what, the laws of physics are universal and timeless. The laws of physics are consistent, predictable and universal. They are applicable to an infinite range of concepts, and understanding them allows us to understand the fabric of creation itself.

“Thus will you obtain the Glory of the Whole Universe. All Obscurity will be clear to you. This is the greatest Force of all powers, because it overcomes every Subtle thing and penetrates every Solid thing. In this way was the Universe created. From this comes many wondrous Applications, because this is the Pattern.”

– The Emerald Tablet (text of Alchemy)

The original, most defining text of Alchemy itself tells us what we can expect from this study. Universal truth. Clear understanding. This universal force that is present in all things is the driving force of creation and all of life. Alchemy is the pattern of creation, and can be applied to anything at all.

Okay, so why do YOU need this, dear reader?

Those who know the laws get to use them according to their will and desire, for better or for worse. This is true in society, in science, in finance and more. We have seen this throughout human history: the people with the knowledge of the laws of any given system (government, physics, investing) are the ones who get to shape its structure for everyone else. Ideally, those are people with good hearts and generous intentions, who are using their knowledge of the laws to create beneficial structures that serve all beings.

However, there are plenty of examples of people using their knowledge of laws for selfish or narrow-minded purposes. Best case scenario, the structures they create are inconvenient, annoying or expensive. Worst case scenario, the manipulation and distortion of laws is used to cause harm and wreak havoc for the purpose of personal gain.

If Alchemy is the study of Universal Law for the purpose of transformation and creation of the fabric of life itself, we need people like you to have these tools.

You, with your desire to heal yourself and those around you.

You, with your empathy and generosity.

You, because you want the world to be a better place for all beings.

You, because you love life, you love animals and plants, you believe in magic and you know that you are called to serve.

Imagine if you had the blueprint to the fabric of creation.

Imagine what might become possible for you as a student of the Great Mystery.

Imagine what you might do in your life and in the world with the knowledge of Universal Law at your fingertips.

Are you ready to become a student of the Great Mystery and master the application of Universal Law?

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

"The I AM Alchemy course was not just a way to deepen my own magical mastery through all of the different teachings, tools, and practices, but it was a container for deep transformation. I am a different person than I was before working with Michelle and doing this program, but at the same time, I am more fully myself than ever before. This container was really what held me and supported me through the death of the old and rebirth into the new.

Through I AM Alchemy, I have learned so much about how creation, transformation, and magic works on both a practical and spiritual level. This course helped me to incorporate all of the different teachings and modalities that I've learned before into a strong foundation that I can continue to use over and over again. My life is so much more magical and expansive. I feel like I've upleveled into a new version of power, creation, mastery, and connection. I have also deepened my trust in spirit and magic that has made the hard parts of life so much easier and the best parts of life more joyful.

One of my biggest takeaways is trusting when I feel called and leaning into the unknown. I felt called to do this program but I didn't always understand why. I'm not a practitioner or healer so I wasn't sure that I needed to invest in my own spiritual, personal, and magical growth in this way. However, I am so grateful that I gave myself this opportunity because it has led me to live in a way that I had always dreamed of. Mixing magic and spirituality into a very practical 3D life. I don't feel like I need to choose between the two, but instead can weave them together to create a life that feels both personally fulfilling and deeply impactful."

I AM Alchemy is a year-long course in practical transformation for your spiritual journey. Check out all the course details here.

Early Bird ends December 22. Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

What is Alchemy? (And what is it not?)

The word “Alchemy” gets thrown around a lot these days. When people hear “Alchemy,” their association usually goes in one of two directions. They might think of medieval wizards stirring cauldrons, trying to turn lead into gold, or they might think of a nebulous, new-age concept of intangible transformation through the blending of opposites.

While there is a little bit of truth in both of these, neither idea really captures the essence of Alchemy and why it is vitally important to you, here, now, in this modern age.

Let’s break down some of the common misconceptions.

Alchemy is NOT a synonym or metaphor for transformation. Lots of mindful/intentional/slightly spiritual flavored personal development offerings are using the word “Alchemy” to describe the transformation of their clients, and while their clients may have awesome benefits from that work, it’s not actually Alchemy. Alchemy IS an ancient body of knowledge with specific teachings, practices and initiations that come from spiritual technology based in Universal Law. Alchemy IS a rich lineage of unique energetic and physical principles that encompass both spiritual and practical transformation.

Alchemy is NOT stirring a cauldron, turning lead into gold. While the quest to turn lead into gold is a very literal interpretation of one aspect of Alchemical philosophy, there are infinite applications of Alchemical wisdom. Alchemy IS the practice of applying specific spiritual technologies to a situation or person in order to transmute the base aspects into a higher form of radiant actualization. Some Alchemists do this with metals. Some work with plants. Some work with the physical body and movement practices.

Alchemy is NOT coaching, mindset, Law of Attraction or energy healing. While these modalities have their own power and tremendous benefits, they are not Alchemy. Alchemy IS actual magic performed through the principles of energetic resonance, layering of like frequencies and active relationship between Above (Spirit) and Below (Earthly) planes of existence.

Alchemy is NOT personal development or the creative process. It is NOT an abstract idea of transformation. Alchemy IS the study of the Great Mystery to learn the principles of Universal Law, and the application of those principles through specific rituals, practices, initiations and techniques for the purpose of healing, illumination and actualization.

Alchemy is NOT a buzzword. It is NOT something you can learn by reading a book. Alchemy IS the origin of all modern medicine and science. Alchemy IS a major influence/contributor to other mystical bodies of knowledge such as Taoism, Kabbalah, Hermeticism, Tarot, Egyptian mysticism, Christian mysticism, and many more.

Alchemy IS a body of knowledge for which many people were persecuted and silenced.

Alchemy IS a tradition that had to go underground in order to survive.

Alchemy IS a mystery school that self-selects those who are meant to steward these wisdoms forward.

Are you called to be a student of the Great Mystery?

Are you guided by universal forces to master spiritual technology based in Universal Law?

Are you ready to offer actual magic for the purpose of healing, illumination and actualization, for yourself and for all beings?

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

"Through I AM Alchemy, I have learned so much about how creation, transformation, and magic works on both a practical and spiritual level. This course helped me to incorporate all of the different teachings and modalities that I've learned before into a strong foundation that I can continue to use over and over again. My life is so much more magical and expansive. I feel like I've upleveled into a new version of power, creation, mastery, and connection. I have also deepened my trust in spirit and magic that has made the hard parts of life so much easier and the best parts of life more joyful."

I AM Alchemy is a year-long course in practical transformation for your spiritual journey. Check out all the course details here.

Early Bird ends December 22. Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

Is I AM Alchemy “too much?”

Has anyone ever told you that you're "too much?"

If so, this is for you.

Is I AM Alchemy “too much?”

Over the years of teaching I AM Alchemy, a few fellow entrepreneurs have offered me their unsolicited feedback on this course when they hear how involved it is. They say, "You're delivering too much in I AM Alchemy. Why are you offering so much in your course? What if you offered less? What if you scale back your availability? Are people interested in that much content?"

My first response is, "I am delivering exactly what Spirit has guided me to offer." (My second response is much more blunt and I’ve only said it to someone’s face once. Read on for that.)

Here's what people who think it’s “too much” don't understand about I AM Alchemy:

I AM Alchemy is a course in practical spirituality and experiential education, not a self-study workbook course. Each one of the 36+ modules throughout the year includes an in-depth teaching transmission with practical applications and integration exercises. Most of the modules also include accompanying movement practice videos for somatic integration.

I AM Alchemy is a mystery school lineage, not a coaching program. In the coaching world, the philosophy seems to be "scale everything you can.” This is not a group mastermind. This is not hot seat coaching. I AM Alchemy is a mystery school, which means that our focus is on training, experiential learning and practical application of specific techniques and philosophy. Our group calls are focused on deep exploration and integration of the material into each student’s personal practice. We also prioritize community: students are invited to collaborate with each other, and to connect with past I AM Alchemy apprentices for additional peer support, mentorship and community through the lineage.

I AM Alchemy is a journey of self mastery, which is a deeply personal and vulnerable process, and I’m here for all of it. I don’t contract a coach to support my apprentices. I don’t have a virtual assistant answer my students’ emails. I am personally available to all of my students for support and guidance throughout the year.

As far as, "Are people interested in that much content?" ...you're the only one who can answer that.

Are YOU interested in being initiated into a powerful mystery school that will teach you practical applications of universal law to help you create your life in accordance with the divine blueprint of your soul?

Do YOU feel the call to gather with like-hearted seekers for the purpose of initiation, deep magic and powerful transformation?

Do YOU want to receive powerful and consistent support from a magical teacher (me), who you know has your back and wants to make time for you?

...or is that "too much" for you?

You're the only one who can answer that question. And truly, there is no "right" or "wrong" answer.

But as far as I'm concerned...

Fuck “too much.”

Fuck the idea of providing less value, less material and less experience.

Fuck the idea of making myself unavailable to the people I want to support.

Fuck "taking away 80% of the course and scaling back to the non-negotiable 20%.” The whole thing is non-negotiable, since that’s how Spirit directed me to teach it.

This course was never about me. This course was never about trying to create something that would "succeed in the market." Most of the time, I honestly don't even feel as though "I" am the one teaching. Instead, the wisdom of this lineage pours through me, and the best thing I can do for it and for my students is to let it happen and be in humble presence with the mysteries.

Is that "too much?"

For some people, yes. This course is absolutely not for everyone.

...but if you're reading this and your heart is pounding with a feeling of recognition, maybe it's for you.

If you also are ready to say, "Fuck 'too much,'" maybe this course is for you.

If you feel a soul calling to Alchemy, maybe this course is for you.

If you know that you are meant to show up for something bigger than yourself and let your own divine directive flow through you like rain pouring through a sacred vessel, then maybe this course is for you.

You are the only person who can know that for sure. But if I AM Alchemy is calling you, know that Early Bird ends December 22.

I promise you that this course is not "too much" if it aligns with your sacred path. I AM Alchemy is part of my path, and if it's part of yours, it'll be just right.

Are you ready for personal training in practical spirituality and experiential education?

Do you feel a calling to the mysteries?

Are you craving the peace and trust that come from deep-seated Self Mastery?

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

"I joined I AM Alchemy because I had been on a spiritual and magical journey for several years, but I desired something deeper to truly integrate all that I was learning. I knew I was in a transition stage but didn't quite know who or what I was transitioning into. I knew I needed something with structure that was not just about completing modules or participating in calls, but something that I was able to immerse myself in while still living my day to day life.

Through I AM Alchemy, I have learned so much about how creation, transformation, and magic works on both a practical and spiritual level. This course helped me to incorporate all of the different teachings and modalities that I've learned before into a strong foundation that I can continue to use over and over again. My life is so much more magical and expansive. I feel like I've upleveled into a new version of power, creation, mastery, and connection. I have also deepened my trust in spirit and magic that has made the hard parts of life so much easier and the best parts of life more joyful.

I recommend I AM Alchemy to anyone who feels called, especially those who have taken many courses and programs but still feel like they're not fully integrating. For me, this was like the graduate study in practical magic that helped pull everything together and allowed me to lead my own transformation."

I AM Alchemy is a year-long course in practical transformation for your spiritual journey. Check out all the course details here.

Early Bird ends December 22. Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!
$400 off Apprentice Path!
(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

I AM Alchemy:
Study the Mystery
Practice Transformation
Actualize your Radiance

Study the Mystery. Practice Transformation. Actualize Your Radiance.

Study the Mystery.

Practice Transformation.

Actualize Your Radiance.

This is more than the I AM Alchemy course tagline. This is the foundation of how we engage with the mystery school of Alchemy, but what does it mean?

It’s the 3-step recipe for how to effectively create healing and growth.

1. Study the Mystery

The keys to healing, radiant aliveness, right relation and well-being are woven into the fabric of creation all around us. Life itself is encoded with the truth of Universal Law. Everything on Earth flows with the Cycles of Power and energetic dynamics. By devoting ourselves to studying the Great Mystery, we open to learning these laws and codes. The cure for every ail already exists—we start by simply assessing what the ailment is, and that will indicate the appropriate actions to bring it into balance.

Alchemy is a diagnostic practice, which means that it will help you confidently assess the challenge or ail. Based on our studies of Universal Law and the Great Mystery, we form a diagnostic assessment. This may include:

• Which stage of Alchemy the person is in

• Which level(s) need the most support for transformation

• Which aspects of Self/archetypes of the Inner Constellation are needing the most support, and which parts of Self are driving the process

• Which planetary or universal energies would be most supportive to cultivate at that time

Example: let’s imagine a person who has gone through a challenging loss, such as ending a relationship. They have divided up their shared assets, moved out of their home, and lost connection with some mutual friends and community. This person is feeling grief, loneliness, disorientation and pain.

By studying the mystery and using our diagnostic tools, we could assess that this person is in the Dissolution stage of Alchemy, which is characterized as “Death of energetic and emotional structures.” The loss of the physical structures already happened in the previous stage: closing a relationship, moving out of the home, losing friends. Now the etheric architecture of those structures is dissolving away from this person’s life. The energies of this stage are all about mourning the loss, returning to the Void, surrender and reconnecting with the potential of creation.

Our diagnostic assessment of this person may look something like this:

• Stage of Alchemy: Dissolution

• Levels of support: All levels

• Archetypes at work: Calling upon Inner Nurturer to support Self through the process, healing Inner Warrior from feeling defensive and Inner Sovereign from fear of (not) being seen and loved

• Universal energies: Cycles of change, Grief work, Clearing stagnation and emotion

From this diagnostic assessment, we form our recommendations.

2. Practice Transformation

This is where we take inspired action and create transformation. Alchemy is a prescriptive practice, which means that based on the diagnostic assessment, we can apply specific practices and spiritual technology that work directly with the energies at play in order to create change.

Alchemical practices and spiritual technology are specific to the stages of Alchemy, the levels of energetic density, the Inner Archetypes and Universal energies.

To support the person in our example above, an Alchemist may prescribe the following:

• Dissolution practices for all levels (Cibation meditation, yin yoga, sacred water offerings, sacred water collection and consecration, ritual baths, intuitive movement, journaling and writing unsent letters).

• Inner Nurturer, Warrior and Sovereign practices (addressing nutrition, rest posture, Shamanic journey practice, soul retrieval, Inner Child work, solar plexus activation, heart opening practices).

• Lunar rituals to work with the cycles of transformation, Lung channel qigong to purge grief, and tapping practices to clear organs, glands and release trapped emotion.

The “Practice Transformation” part of this 3-step recipe is where we have power to actively apply tools and techniques in order to bring about change. Transformation is a process, but in this case, it is also a specific skill set that operates based on logical and consistent truths of Universal Law.

3. Actualize Your Radiance

This is the inevitable outcome of moving through the cycle of Alchemy and effectively applying practices of transformation according to our studies of the Great Mystery. Life is encoded with all of the keys to healing, radiant aliveness, right relation and well-being. All of creation seeks to thrive, and when we live our lives according to the truth of Universal Law, we work with the unseen forces all around us that support our thriving.

A successful outcome for our example person above might look like:

• They move from the Dissolution Stage to the Separation Stage and work with principles of Purification.

• Their Inner Nurturer is balanced and nourished, their Inner Warrior is peaceful, and their Inner Sovereign is shining their light and feeling worthy of love and attention from Self and others.

• They are working in collaboration with Universal cycles of change (rather than feeling tossed around by them), Lung qi is healthy with Courage and Integrity, organ function and emotional body is clear and relaxed.

When we devote ourselves as students of the Great Mystery, we learn the keys to healing and radiant aliveness.

When we know the keys to healing and radiant aliveness, we can apply specific tools and spiritual technology for transformation.

When we apply specific tools for transformation, we actualize our most thriving, radiant selves.

Do you crave the healing, transformation and growth that comes with Alchemy?

Are you ready to Study the Mystery, Practice Transformation and Actualize Your Radiance?

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

"I joined I AM Alchemy because I had been on a spiritual and magical journey for several years, but I desired something deeper to truly integrate all that I was learning... The I AM Alchemy course was not just a way to deepen my own magical mastery through all of the different teachings, tools, and practices, but it was a container for deep transformation. I am a different person than I was before working with Michelle and doing this program, but at the same time, I am more fully myself than ever before. This container was really what held me and supported me through the death of the old and rebirth into the new... Michelle’s support and this container helped me to step into my own power. I really feel like I spiritually and magically grew up during my time working with her."

I AM Alchemy is the year-long apprenticeship that will teach you practical transformation for your spiritual journey. Check out all the course details here.

Early Bird ends December 22. Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

Self Mastery: The Alchemist's Path

Dear fellow Alchemists,

Thank you for continuing to ask the Big Questions. You know the ones I mean...

"Who am I?"

"What is my purpose?"

"What the f*** am I doing with my life?"

If you're asking these questions, you’re not alone.

Spiritual practices like Alchemy necessarily involve a high degree of uncertainty and inquiry. We ask a lot of big questions, and sometimes we find answers, but just as often we end up with more questions. The same is true of science. In both cases, the process of inquiry is just as important as any possible answer.

But sometimes, it’s neither the answer, nor the question itself that’s important. Sometimes, the most important thing to consider is why we’re asking the question.

Many years ago, I was talking with a mentor about the 6 Core Drivers of Human Behavior (originally from Tony Robbins). I was already familiar with this concept, but something landed for me in a new way when I looked at the driver of Significance.

"People who are driven by Significance are those who crave Mastery of their lives," my mentor said.

At that time, I had always taken for granted my interest in self-inquiry and Self Mastery. I had never before put the idea together with an archetypal driver of my behavior that impacts my choices, my worldview and how I offer my work to serve others.

During that lightbulb moment, I learned that not only do I want to know myself and practice the path of Self Mastery for me, but:

I want it to matter.

I want my journey to be important and serve other people.

I want the questions I ask myself and the path of self-knowledge to ripple out farther beyond me than I could ever imagine.

I want the path of Self Mastery to be available to all who seek it.

Are you asking Big Questions about your life?

Do you crave the self-trust, confidence and peace that come with Self Mastery?

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

“You said it all along—this course is self mastery, but I didn’t really believe it. But now I feel it. There was a maturing that happened—I don’t need to go to someone else to fix my life. You guided me and encouraged me and you were there to support me and offer the wisdom, but this gave me the tools to become the co-creator of my own life [with Spirit]. I’ve stepped into that much more easily without feeling like I’m faking it. I’m not looking for someone else to spark my transformation. I feel very resourced, I trust myself. I have guides and support and people who can help, but I know what to do. Instead of feeling like “someone else has all the answers and they will tell me what to do,” I know what to do. This course is like spiritual grad school—no one will tell you what to write your thesis on, they’ll help you but it’s in your own hands.”

I AM Alchemy is the year-long apprenticeship that will teach you practical transformation for your spiritual journey. Check out all the course details here.

Early Bird ends December 22. Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

Shiny Object Syndrome in your spiritual practice is like trying to build a house without a blueprint.

Shiny Object Syndrome in your spiritual practice is like trying to build a house without a blueprint.

Do you suffer from Shiny Object Syndrome in your spiritual practice?

If so, you may feel like your knowledge is disorganized, fragmented or doesn’t work together in a useful way. You might feel like you’re not making the progress that you desire in your healing and transformation. You may be sitting around, looking at your life and thinking, “I took all these trainings, now what?”

Relax, I’ve got you. You’re not alone.

Shiny Object Syndrome is something that a lot of people fall into, especially at the beginning of their spiritual journey, and to a certain extent, it’s useful. Shiny Object Syndrome lets you dip your toes in the water of many different pools to see what sparks your interest and resonates well with you at that time.

But beyond exposing you to many different modalities, Shiny Object Syndrome in your spiritual practice is no longer useful, and can actually be detrimental to your long-term growth and healing if you keep pursuing hodgepodge trainings without understanding how to apply them in a cohesive way.

Don’t get me wrong—I love learning. I am a huge fan of studying different modalities and learning a variety of techniques for healing and spiritual practice. I’ve been practicing for more than 20 years and the list of trainings and certifications I have is probably pages long at this point.

The problem with Shiny Object Syndrome isn’t studying a variety of practices—the problem is if you don’t have a holistic framework for those practices to be useful to you within the larger context of long-term healing and transformation.

Imagine if you wanted to build a house, and you had a belt full of tools and a pile of materials, but no blueprint. You would know how to use each of your tools individually, but you would have no idea how to put the materials together in a way that made them useful to you to build a big project.

Alchemy provides a blueprint for transformation that gives you a holistic framework to determine which practices are most beneficial and useful to you at any given time in your overall process of growth and healing.

Alchemy is literally the blueprint for transformation. That’s its whole thing. Look no further, my friends.

All transformation (including growth, healing, spiritual development and more) includes consistent and predictable stages that have very different energies and require different practices to work with those energies. The simplest way to look at this is the three phases of Alchemy:

• Death: releasing the old

• Purification: rearranging what you keep and making room for the new

• Rebirth: bringing in new life and creation

All transformation also happens on all levels. Alchemy calls this The Three Essentials:

• Salt: the body/physical realm

• Mercury: the heart/mind/soul

• Sulfur: the spirit/etheric realm

You will always need a variety of practices to navigate the process of transformation. This is where Shiny Object Syndrome is useful, so you have a buffet of practices to support you. The practices you need to support your body through a Death phase of cleansing and releasing will not be the same as the practices you need to support your heart/mind through a Rebirth phase. Just like you need different tools to accomplish different tasks in building a house, you need a variety of spiritual tools to support you in a long-term, holistic transformation process.

But unless you have the larger context and framework to help you understand where you are in the process of transformation and which specific tool you need, you will be sitting there with your toolbelt and materials and no blueprint to build the house, trying to use a saw to install the plumbing.

Do you need a blueprint for transformation? Do you want to put all of your trainings and practices to their best, most effective use in your growth and healing?

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

“Through I AM Alchemy, I have learned so much about how creation, transformation, and magic works on both a practical and spiritual level. This course helped me to incorporate all of the different teachings and modalities that I've learned before into a strong foundation that I can continue to use over and over again. My life is so much more magical and expansive. I feel like I've upleveled into a new version of power, creation, mastery, and connection. I have also deepened my trust in spirit and magic that has made the hard parts of life so much easier and the best parts of life more joyful… I recommend I AM Alchemy to anyone who feels called, especially those who have taken many courses and programs but still feel like they're not fully integrating. For me, this was like the graduate study in practical magic that helped pull everything together and allowed me to lead my own transformation.”

I AM Alchemy is a year-long course in practical transformation for your spiritual journey. Check out all the course details here.

Early Bird ends December 22. Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

I AM Alchemy: The Mystery School of Science and Spiritual Practice

Okay, y’all. Time for a vulnerable share.

I AM Alchemy represents something quite phenomenal, and deeply personal. What now exists as a year-long intensive training course in practical magic began as me following my intuitive guidance to work with the natural energies of transformation.

From the time I was very young, this way of looking at the world has simply made the most sense to me. When I first began officially studying and practicing Shamanism in 2003, my natural inclinations were confirmed by an Earth-based way of knowing that is older than recorded history itself.

I was always interested in healing, science, magic, personal inquiry and the miracle of nature, and I discovered while I was in high school that these concepts had a very natural intersection. I continued my education and investigation. While earning my undergraduate degree in Animal Physiology and Behavior, I simultaneously completed Master Healer training and furthered my Shamanic studies. I walked the paths of magic and of science at the same time, and discovered that they ultimately led to the same place: back to that same worldview that I’d had as a child, but with all the benefits of the added wisdom of life experience.

I AM Alchemy is simply a synthesis of this world view. That which I took for granted as a child (the sacredness of life itself, the magic that exists in all beings, the power and utter majesty of the Earth) now takes on new significance through the lens of where the path has taken me through the study of life. As I grew beyond my young innocence, I learned that not everyone experiences the world in this way… but that people are hungry for it again, and the time has come for us to reclaim this Sacred Work.

This course is a revolution not only in the body of knowledge itself, but also in the way that we relate to knowledge. Science and Spiritual practice have more in common than we might think: both are means of discovering Truth, both emphasize inquiry and research, both honor the contributions of our ancestors (physical, energetic and intellectual) and both, in their purest form, serve to uplift, empower and inspire all beings.

These two paths of Science and Spirituality were once a unified journey. The investigation of life took place just as much within the heart as within the lab. Modern chemistry, medicine and principles of physics were born from the research of spiritual practitioners as they sought to identify God in the world around them. Throughout history, Alchemists are noted not only for their philosophical and spiritual work, but their contributions to the scientific community. Alchemy is one of the few practices (if not the only one) that has maintained a foot in both worlds.

However, these paths drifted apart, and the worlds of Science and Spirit grew to vilify each other. History is riddled with examples of the scientific community looking upon spiritual practitioners with disdain, and just as many examples of the spiritual community rejecting the findings of science. The path of science shifted in the Yang direction of logic, linear thinking, reason and structure, and spiritual practice as a whole moved in the Yin direction of fluidity, passivity and suppression in the outer world. The spiritual collective had lost its structure, and science had lost its soul.

We are at a turning point in the evolution of the planet where we have the opportunity to bring these fields once more into collaboration and support of each other. I firmly believe, having walked both paths, that this is one of the fundamental pieces necessary in order for us to live a life of fully empowered creatorship. In order to truly actualize the world of our hearts and dreams, our relationship to knowing must include both the evidence-based experience, and the power of faith.

The time for knowledge that exists only in the thinking, rational state is over. Now is the time of feeling, embodied wisdom and subtle perception.

The time for retreating into an oblivious bliss state and separating from the physical realm is over. Now is the time of sovereignty, discernment and returning magic to the workings of Earth.

I AM Alchemy operates as an apprenticeship in practical magic through the paths of both Science and Spirituality. Throughout this course, we’ll be using the principles of scientific inquiry: asking really good questions, tracking data (lots of journaling and opportunities to reflect on trends), moving along a trajectory of investigation and grounding our results into our lived experience. We’ll also be working with principles of spiritual practice: honoring the immediacy and multifaceted nature of Truth, taking time for reverence and pure connection, inviting Spirit into our lives and living in alignment with the sacredness all around us.

My greatest wish for this work is that it serves to help usher in a new way of being on this planet—one that honors the sacredness of life and also gives us a road map for how to live in this world.

May this work support your own journey of sacred unfolding as you come home to yourself.

May this work support the freedom, sovereignty and health of all beings on Earth.

We do this work for the benefit of ourselves, of all those around us, of all beings on Earth and of the Earth, Herself.

Does this worldview of science and spiritual practice resonate with you?

Are you ready to take your place as a student of the Great Mystery?

Are you ready to apply for the course and claim your Early Bird discount?

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

(If you're not sure which option is right for you, I will help you decide during our consultation.)

Here's how to lock in your spot for I AM Alchemy Early Bird:

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

Are you excited?? I'm excited!!

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

Honoring the Ancestors

Hello, friends! Here in the northern hemisphere, we are entering the portal of Samhain. (This holy day is commonly acknowledged on November 1, solar Samhain falls around November 7, and lunar Samhain varies with the lunar cycle. Pick your favorite). Samhain (pronounced SOW-in, or SOW-ain), one of the four cross-quarter holy days, marks a time of year when the veil between this world and the spirit realm is thin.

During this season, we honor the third and final harvest, release and Death on Gaia. The solar cycle of the year ends, and we prepare for the next.  This is the portal of the Tomb: returning to the Void, surrender and rest.

This holy day is a powerful time to celebrate our ancestors--those ones who came before us, both known and beyond our knowing, who carried the torch of life through the ages, and whose flame lives on in us today.

At this time, we may request blessings and support from our healed ancestors.

We may offer blessings and healing to our ancestors who are wounded or suffering.

We may make offerings and prayers for ourselves to become good ancestors and take our seat of power to be in healthy service to all of our descendants (children, ideas, projects and legacy).

If you are called to do so, you can make a dedicated ancestor altar for the season for the purpose of prayers, offerings and healing work. Here are some tips on how to do that:

Michelle’s ancestor altar

How to Make an Ancestor Altar

There are many ways to make your ancestor altar. Some cultures and traditions have specific directions and practices, and if you observe these practices, go for it. If not, you can still honor your ancestors in an appropriate and respectful way.

Here are some items you may wish to include on your ancestor altar:

• Photos of your ancestors

• Personal belongings or heirlooms from your ancestors

• Items in the color red, to honor the bloodlines

• Offerings of food and drink (especially any known favorites of your ancestors,). You may wish to offer a small bite of your meal to the altar daily.

• Candles, flowers, incense and other nourishing/energizing sacred offerings

• In many traditions, offerings of tobacco, alcohol and sugar are considered particularly nourishing and energizing to the spirits. Please use your best discernment of what feels healthy and appropriate, especially if you are aware of a history of addiction within your lineage.

I invite you to bring your authentic, sovereign prayer to connecting with your ancestors. If you want some inspiration, here is an ancestor song:

We are remembering all of our ancestors
We are remembering all of our ancestors
Deep are the roots of the tree
Long is our memory
Great is our family
Of love alive in me
Of love alive in me

I'll be posting more ancestor songs on Instagram over the next couple of weeks. If you want to tune in, follow me there for more.

Blessed Samhain!

Michelle Hawk

Here's what people are saying behind my back

Here's what people are saying behind my back.

...in the best possible way!

Y'all, the Sacred Ecology course was so much fun. After decades of developing this curriculum through my personal practice and 1 on 1 mentorship instruction, I finally made it an "official" course at the end of the summer.

But don't let me tell you how amazing it was. Here are some notes about the course from a few of my students:
 

"I am a Medicine Woman, Trans Medium and Channel, Somatic Psychedelic Integration Specialist, and Psychedelic Doula. I took the Sacred Ecology course because Michelle is the best in her field, and after witnessing her powers from other offerings it truly was a no brainer. This course has been great because I have fully connected to the land, the spirits, and myself through Michelle’s guidance. In Sacred Ecology, I learned how to create a Protectorate and work within the fields of nature magic. My biggest takeaway is a true deepening of my morning and evening practice, my connection to the dragons and nature spirits, and feeling the depth of my connection to trees, plants and animals. Because of this course, I will be able to grow as a Medicine Woman, and continue to share my gifts more deeply and profoundly."

— Dayle Breault, she/her, Ceremonial Guide and Medicine Keeper, Costa Rica

"I like how Michelle sees and talks about the natural world. She is deeply committed to honoring & respecting Nature in all her forms. Michelle is a great teacher, and has put a lot of energy into creating a clear and well organized class. Michelle talked about certain offerings, as well as ways of connecting to animal allies in a way that inspired me to take action on things that I had been called to do for a while, but felt “blocked” from following through. Once I followed her direction, I was able to release old stories & welcome in fresh energy. These practices strengthened the connection I have with my home, land and neighborhood. After hearing my story with one particular offering, Michelle pinpointed an issue that I could do some self healing with to benefit my life and my ancestral lineage, and she provided a great framework for how to move forward with that."
— Jessica Riphenburg, Shamanic Practitioner

"I participated in Sacred Ecology because I wanted to connect to my indigenous ancestors and respect the land in which I travel. Now I have a high level connection and new tools to respectfully travel on land that I can honor and respect. I can give offerings and work directly with my ancestors and spirit guides. In this course I learned where I come from and have a deeper understanding of the presence of Gaia and how I can connect and work in collaboration with the world around me with sacred intention. My biggest takeaway is now I am connected to source and feel a huge responsibility to respectfully honor my sacred indigenous lineage. The #1 thing I will remember from working with Michelle is making intention and consciousness top of mind with everything I do. I have guidance all around me and now I know it’s possible to ask for that guidance. I recommend this course for anyone who wants to connect to our ancestral roots and become more personally conscious of our responsibility as stewards of this land. Michelle has an incredibly special talent she has been called to share. Her insight and sacred approach is incredibly inspiring. I’ve grown to trust her guidance and approach to honoring the land and ancestry at a very high level. Beautiful soul!"
— Concetta C. Healer. Salem, OR

Sacred Ecology will be back in summer of 2024! If you missed it this time around and want first dibs when I open registration next year, reply to this email and say "I want first dibs!"

In the meantime, here are a few other ways to work with me:

• 1 on 1 mentorship: ongoing enrollment. Totally personalized, high-level individual support for you and your unique spiritual path. Ideal for practitioners who want support with skill development in energetic mastery, healership and mediumship, and for spiritual seekers who want tailored support for their personal journey. Submit an application here to get the ball rolling.

• I AM Alchemy course: begins March 2024. Year-long apprenticeship training for soul-aligned seekers. Receive profound training in practical applications of spiritual techniques, ritual, magic and ceremony that will have a material, measurable effect on your life, your practice and the world. Course admission by application and interview only. Applications open in November. Get on the wait list here.

• Sacred Amazonian Plant Medicine: monthly ceremonies. Sign up here to receive calendar updates and invitations.

Study the Mystery.
Practice Transformation.
Actualize Radiance.

Get Support:

Are you ready for practical support for your spiritual journey?

Book a call with me to talk about what type of support is right for you.

6 Things I Do with Every Client

No matter what energetic skill level and capacity a client has when they come to work with me one on one, we end up working on these 6 fundamentals, and it universally makes a huge difference.

I have shared some form of this framework with almost every single private mentorship client for the last few years--people who are newer on the path and get overwhelmed going to the grocery store, people who have some energetic tools but maybe not everything they need, and even well-established practitioners who may have a blind spot about something fundamental to their practice.

The reason these 6 things are so beneficial and universally applicable is because these are the Foundations of Energetic Mastery.

These 6 things build the solid foundation of your energy practice.

These 6 things make all the "fancy" work possible. These are essential skills for things like channeling and mediumship, shamanic extractions and soul retrieval.

These 6 things will save your butt when you feel overwhelmed, depleted and stressed out.

These 6 things will bring you back to center when things in your life go sideways and you're too distracted to channel the angels for guidance.

These 6 things are deceptively simple, but simple is effective.

A lot of people who already have some training in energy work think they have the fundamentals mastered, but then I show them these 6 things and their eyes go wide. They say, "No one has ever explained it to me like that before. I didn't know I could do that. That makes so much sense. Will you please teach me how?"

Here are the 6 things:

The Foundations of Energetic Mastery

1. Awareness

This is the foundational skill that makes all the other pieces possible. Your awareness is your ability to sense and assess your body and etheric field, to discern what energy is yours and what is not, as well as to determine the presence, location and other relevant information regarding blockages or interferences in your body and energy field. Your awareness is your ability to direct and project your consciousness like a voluntary muscle. Your awareness is foundational to your energetic regulation and radiance.

2. Clearing

Clearing is your ability to release and send away any energy that is not yours, or things that are yours that you don't need anymore. Clearing releases hidden and trapped emotional residue, old karmic patterning and soul blueprints, trauma and traumatic imprints, energetic parasites and psychic implants, stagnation, other people's energy, and more.

3. Grounding

Grounding enables presence. Grounding helps you anchor your consciousness firmly into your bioform, the cells in your body, and to Gaia. Grounding is your ability to be stable and resourced in your presence, and to call upon the aliveness in your body and the Earth.

4. Centering

Centering brings you back home to yourself. This practice calls all parts of your Self, your energy and your attention back to wholeness with you. Centering is also where soul retrieval comes in to support healing from soul loss and fragmentation.

5. Cultivation

Cultivation brings in energy from Earth, the Heavens and Source to increase the amount of energy in your field, as well as your capacity to hold it. Cultivation practices give you radiant aliveness, raise your vibration, support thriving health and well-being and enable you to practice high-demand energy work like incorporation mediumship.

6. Protection

Finally, Protection acts as a semi-permeable membrane to help you conserve your energy and regulate yourself efficiently. A lot of people think it's important to start with Protection, but this is actually the final step.

In which of these 6 things are you most confident? Which one feels the most challenging to you?

Do you want help with this in your own practice?

I've got you covered!

Get Support:

Are you ready for support with the Foundations of Energetic Mastery?

Book a call with me to talk about what type of support is right for you.

How Do You Honor Your Guides? Archangel Michael

Saint Michael Feast Day: Sept 29

I'm a firm believer that any day is a good day to make an offering, anytime is a good time to pray, and it doesn't really matter what you say as long as it is true and sincere.

That being said, working with the specific frequencies of your guides can be particularly helpful to honor them, attune to their wisdom and most effectively receive their medicine.

For example, if you were to pray with Deer spirit, making an offering of meat and requesting support with cultivating courage and fierce boundaries would not be in alignment with the wisdom path of Deer. Your prayer would still be heard, but it might be answered by another guide, or in a way you didn't expect, or less efficiently.

If you were to pray with Deer spirit, make an offering of flowers and greenery, and request support for attuning to your higher guidance and divine wisdom, and receiving subtle communication with spirits in the liminal spaces, that prayer and offering would be very aligned with Deer wisdom path.

When making prayers and offerings to your guides, it's a good idea to consider the nature of their wisdom path, any important correspondences (colors, foods, items, songs, things they like) and days or times of year when they are most powerful.

Let's look at an example:

Saint Michael's feast day is approaching. He is one of my patron guides. Do you also work with Archangel Michael?

Here are some ways to connect with this powerful energy.

Archangel Michael

Feast day: September 29
Color: blue
Stones: sapphire, blue topaz, kyanite
Energy: Divine Protector, Peaceful Warrior, Defender of Faith, "Who Is as God."
Wisdom Path: Guardian of the Blue Ray (the First Ray, the beginning of creation that emanates from the Void), Bearer of the Sapphire Flame, Keeper of the Sapphire Temple.

Here is a prayer to connect with Saint Michael:

"Archangel Michael, I invite you to please be with me now. Please support me in aligning with truth, integrity, faith, devotion, fidelity and righteousness. Please help me to calibrate my personal will to Divine Will, so that I may know and act in right alignment with Divine Will. I ask for your support to help me be courageous, to help me live as a Peaceful Warrior of the Light. Please help me to live by and uphold the Laws of Love in my life, for the highest and greatest good, for the benefit of all beings, everywhere.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the blessings."

I hope this supports you in connecting with your guides more powerfully!

If you would like to join me for a special Saint Michael Feast Day Ceremony next weekend, please join my list for invitations and event notifications.