The medicine you need most might surprise you

Yesterday during a healing session, I offered my client a Shamanic journey to connect with one of their animal guides.

The journey was very beautiful, and the animal guide came through very strongly. It told me about some of the medicine that it wanted to share with my client, and *wow.*

After the journey, I told my client which animal guide had emerged. “Huh, that’s surprising,” they said. “I never in a million years would have guessed that.”

The guide who stepped forward was an ocean animal, and my client shared that they didn’t really resonate with the ocean. “I’m more of a desert and forest person.”

“Let’s see how this guide wants to support you,” I told my client. I guided my client through a journey to connect with their guide, and I journeyed simultaneously to receive more information and transmissions about the medicine this guide was offering.

My client surfaced from the journey with new appreciation for this guide. They told me what the guide had shared with them, and how it perfectly related to their current life circumstances.

Then I shared with my client what the guide had shown me regarding its medicine, and my client ended up in tears. “That’s exactly what I feel like! Yes, I definitely need that. That is f***in rad.”

All of this to say —

The medicine we need most might surprise us.

Some of the deepest, most powerful lessons and support can come from areas of our lives where we feel less familiar or comfortable.

Are you ready for your medicine to surprise you?

Are you open to powerful lessons and support from unexpected sources?

Are you called to work with powerful spiritual forces for the purpose of guidance, illumination and healing?

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

The Best Tools and How to Use Them

If you’re like me, you don’t just want tools in your tool belt.

You want the best tools, and you want to know how to use them masterfully.

And I have to tell you —

Alchemy has the best tools for powerful transformation.

And when we apply them skillfully —

Transformation becomes not only possible, but inevitable.

Alchemy has become one of the most valuable tools in my very extensive tool kit. (Remember, I’ve been walking this path for 22 years so I have lots of tools.)

And my Alchemy apprentices inevitably find the same thing to be true — Alchemy becomes one of their most valuable tools for personal healing and transformation.

One past apprentice 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.”

If you want the best tools and the skills to use them masterfully, you want the 5 Transformational Keys of I AM Alchemy.

Key 1: Alchemy Fundamentals

• Master the Cycle of Transformation and practical application of spiritual technology.

• Study Alchemy teachings on body, mind, heart and spirit transformation.

• Learn practices and ancient wisdom foundationed in Universal Law.

• Explore Alchemical teachings and practice for your personal constitution, and learn how to offer Alchemical healing to others.

Key 2: Alchemy of Self

• Walk the 12 Pathways of Initiation to Mastery.

• Use Alchemy to liberate trauma, dis-ease and stagnation.

• Bring Alchemy mystery school teachings to your health, relationships, home, career and creative expression to transform on every level.

• Come home to yourself and your sacred purpose with Alchemy wisdom teachings.

Key 3: Embody Alchemy

• Fully ground high-vibration Alchemical transformation practice into the physical plane.

• Bring Alchemy into your body and Earthly experience through movement practice, intuitive embodiment, qigong, breathwork and somatic cultivation.

• Gain a complete somatic toolkit to create healing for yourself and your clients.

• Use these techniques with energy work and consciousness practices to provide transformational experiences in 1:1 and group healing settings.

Key 4: Spiritual Collaboration

• Cultivate powerful, working relationships with Divine beings of Alchemical wisdom.

• Receive direct initiations and transmissions from spirit-side guides and teachers of the Alchemy wisdom tradition, and the I AM Alchemy mystery school.

• Work directly with Spirit to translate cosmic and etheric forces into the material plane.

• Develop your intuitive practice to channel forces of Alchemical creation and transformation into your life and practice.

Key 5: Practical Magic

• Master the process of ritual and sacred ceremony. Prepare and design meaningful ritual experiences according to Alchemical correspondences.

• Use your Alchemical knowledge to assess transformational and healing needs. Master the practical application of spiritual technology for healing and transformation on every level.

• Cultivate your facilitation skills to create powerful transformational portals for yourself and your clients, in 1:1 or group settings.

Are you ready for the best transformational healing tools?

Are you ready to skillfully apply them in your life and in the world?

Are you ready for the inevitable transformation that will occur when you do?

The course begins soon. If you are called to join us in the crucible —

>>>Book a call with me to discuss Alchemy and see if you qualify.

Here's What Your Spiritual Practice Is Missing

Have you studied different spiritual or healing modalities, but still feel like there’s something missing?

Have you read the books, taken the courses and listened to the podcasts, but you don’t know how to organize your knowledge and training into a synergistic transformational practice?

Have you gotten the certifications and feel like you “should” be working with your tools, but you’re not sure how your unique magic and personal medicine fits within the systems you’ve studied?

If so, you need I AM Alchemy.

I AM Alchemy Mystery School will teach you to confidently transform yourself and others through the power of ancient spiritual wisdom and practical skill development.

Alchemy is the spiritual science of transformation — the logical, predictable map for how transformation actually works.

This system of ancient wisdom is the missing piece that will help all of your other modalities, tools and practices synergize and work together most effectively.

But don’t just take my word for it. Past students have reported:

“I recommend I AM Alchemy to anyone who has 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.”

“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 had learned before into a strong foundation that I can continue to use over and over again.”

“I feel so much more confident in my own practices, magic, and ability to lead.”

“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 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.”

If you’re reading this and feeling, “YES, that’s me!” —

The I AM Alchemy course begins March 17!

This course is especially crafted for healers, practitioners and guides who desire an in-depth study and practical application of transformational spiritual skill development.

Are you ready to learn tools and practices that will immediately and noticeably enhance your vitality, health, energy and well-being?

Are you called to use these powerful tools to support your loved ones, community and clients in their journey of transformation and actualization?

>>>Book your I AM Alchemy interview call now!

Alchemy for Healing and Transformation: The Physics of Soulcraft

Did you see the article I posted the other day about Alchemy for Chaotic Times? (In case you missed it, circle back. Today we’re continuing the conversation.)

Let’s talk about the Physics of Soulcraft.

Is anyone else looking around at the coup-in-progress political nightmare and thinking any of the following:

• I cannot believe how many people are going around “business as usual” and not acknowledging what is happening.

• How the heck am I qualified to support this revolution? How can I help?

• What is going to happen?

• And lots of other things, including how f*ing selfish it is of Trusk and the broligarchs to be staging a very expensive and awful hissy fit power grab when we should collectively be focusing on the environmental crisis and basic human rights.

This might seem like a weird time to talk about Alchemy, but I promise it is actually extremely relevant. Here’s why:

Alchemy is like spiritual physics: it is the universal laws of creation and transformation that are constantly at work in our lives and in the world.

Most people go through their lives and have an intuitive understanding of basic physics. When you drop your keys, they will fall on the ground. When the roads are slippery, you drive slower. You can use a wrench to tighten a bolt more than you can with your fingers. These are all examples of the forces of physics at work.

Most of the time, these forces go unnoticed. We take for granted the effect they have on our lives and we usually don’t consciously think about them or engage with them on purpose.

But when we study physics and work with them intentionally, it opens the door for all kinds of possibilities: [a very long list of scientific discoveries and technological inventions goes here]. Like, basically everything we now take completely for granted. Light. Matter. Navigation. Telecommunications. Machines.

The same is true of Alchemy: its forces are constantly at work in our lives and in the world, and most of the time they go completely unnoticed.

But imagine what doors might open for us if we studied Alchemy and worked consciously with these principles.

Alchemy gives us a very logical, predictable blueprint for how transformation works. Once you know the pattern, you see it everywhere. (In that last article I shared how this political crapstorm is a textbook example of the first stage of Alchemy, called Calcination.)

But it’s more than a pattern. It’s also a very logical, organized set of tools and practices to help you navigate the pattern.

This is the way I teach Alchemy: you learn the theory of how and why it works so you can understand what’s going on in your life, and you learn the practices to engage with it and create transformation.

And it works on every level: it applies to our physical health and well-being. It applies to our thoughts and emotions. It applies to our relationships and interpersonal dynamics. It applies to our careers and sense of meaning and purpose. It applies to our homes, finances, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

So let’s circle back to that list up above.

I cannot believe that people are going around with “business as usual,” especially anyone in the spirituality/coaching/personal development field. This coup-in-progress is the result of long-term, systemic festering and collective trauma. The political crapstorm, MAGA zealotry and outrageous selfishness does not exist in a gross little bubble. We cannot ignore it, because the very fact of its existence lives in all of our collective pain, so it is our collective responsibility to address it. Spirituality is not meant to be convenient. It is not passive. It is not “God has a plan.” It is active, participatory, and deeply confronting. True spirituality and personal development work means we are consistently committed to wholeness and healing, which means there will be times when we are present with parts of ourselves and the world that are not whole and healed. This is a very obvious one of those times.

How can I help? How am I qualified to support the revolution? I am by no means an expert in government or public policy, but I am an expert in transformation, healing and spiritual physics. I see the pattern of Alchemy at work so plainly in everything that’s unfolding. It makes sense to me in a way that allows me to stay grounded, present and feeling empowered. Because I understand the principles of Alchemy and the energetic dynamics at play, I can use the practice of Alchemy to skillfully navigate the process and help other people do the same. If you’re like me and you know that you’re here to help with the mysteries of soulcraft, let’s talk about if working with Alchemy is right for you.

What is going to happen? I may not know the specifics of how it will play out or how long it will take, but because I know how Alchemy works, here’s what’s going to happen:

1. We’ll be in the crapstorm for a while. Trusk and the broligarchs will keep crashing things as long as they can. People will get more upset. There will be a tipping point where the wave crests and the seemingly inevitable swell of fascism starts to crumble.

2. We’ll be in the soup of heightened emotion, disorientation, crumbling illusions of trust in power, dissolving of ideologies. It will feel like no one knows what’s happening.

3. We’ll start to analyze and sort it out: What was working that we want to keep? What was definitely not working that needs to be shut down forever? What new things can we try? Where do we go from here?

4. We’ll start to rebuild, and put new systems and structures into place. It might be clumsy at first, and parts of it definitely will need adjusting, but it’s a start.

5. At some point, those systems will take effect and start helping people. People will feel better about where we’re going. We’ll see positive change and new energy.

6. That new energy starts to crystalize into a new national and generational identity that solidifies and stabilizes from there.

7. And the cycle repeats, to varying degrees.

I know this because I know how Alchemy works. It is a logical, predicable pattern that explains how transformation works. Want a historical example of this to prove it? Look at WWII and the aftermath, or the Civil War. Same process. Because, Alchemy.

But remember that the real gem is more than knowing how it works: it’s knowing what to do with it. Knowing the theory and practical application of physics enables us to harness electricity, invent machines and instantly communicate with people on the other side of the world.

Knowing the theory and practical application of Alchemy enables us to achieve deep personal healing, completely rewrite old patterns, and feel empowered creating transformation in our lives and in the world.

Alchemy reminds us that Death is necessary before Rebirth can take place. This is true for us personally in our lives, and collectively as a society. This collective upheaval may be unpleasant, scary and unfortunately a lot of people are probably going to get hurt in the process. I am not dismissing any of that, and it makes me very sad. But remember, the fires of destruction that sweep through create fertile ground for new, healthy growth from the ashes. This is the promise of Alchemy.

And in case you’re feeling the call to work more deeply with Alchemy —

The I AM Alchemy course begins in March!

Are you called to collaborate with powerful spiritual forces of Universal Law?

Do you want to go from feeling like you’re living at the whims of change, to intentionally choosing your own path of transformation and creation?

Wouldn’t it be great to have a roadmap to guide you through the hardest transformational moments of your life?

Are you ready to learn tools and practices that will immediately and noticeably enhance your vitality, health, energy and well-being?

Do you want to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are living your life “on purpose?”

Are you called to use these powerful tools to support your loved ones, community and clients in their journey of transformation and actualization?

>>>Book your I AM Alchemy interview call now!

Alchemy for Chaotic Times: from Theory to Practice

I am feeling super fired up right now, for all the reasons you might imagine.

(Coup-in-progress. Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago today. Data breaches. Cutting social services. Etc.)

This might seem like a weird time to talk about Alchemy, but I promise it is actually extremely relevant.

And I know it can feel a bit esoteric or theoretical, but I’m going to help you break it down into something very concrete that will help you make sense of the spiritual forces and patterns behind the upheaval we’re seeing in the world right now.

Let’s talk about Alchemy and translating the theory of spiritual concepts into practice.

Can we collectively agree that the situation in the US right now feels kind of like a smoldering powder keg? There are lots of destructive forces moving very quickly, and people are getting really worked up. (Myself included, at times.) Let’s use this as a case study.

We are living through a textbook example of the first stage of Alchemy, called Calcination: the loss and death of physical structures. Energies of Calcination include:

• Element of fire.

• Emotion of anger/rage.

• Connected with root chakra.

Calcination is the stage where we enter the fires of transformation, not knowing what will burn to ash and what will be left on the other side. It is a huge leap of faith, a stage of profound trust in the sacred pattern of Universal Law.

I’ll share some components with you about the theory of Calcination, and then about how we turn this into practice:

Fire Element

We know that fire can be both a destructive and a regenerative force. In areas that are well-adjusted to regular fires, they burn quickly and not too hot, they clear away small brush and detritus, and they create space for new growth.

In areas where fires are suppressed, they cause much more damage when they finally explode. They burn much hotter, they jump to the crowns of trees and decimate vast tracts of land, forests and homes. (This is the energy that’s building in the country/world now and why it feels so uncomfortable.)

Anger and Rage

The message of Anger is: “A physical, emotional or energetic boundary has been crossed.” In Alchemy, we work with Anger to understand our relationship to the perceived threat of destruction.

Since Calcination burns away all of our false ego structures and unhealthy attachments, it can feel very confronting and destabilizing. People experience greater tendencies towards reactivity, fear, resistance and overwhelm. Nervous system dysregulation runs rampant, tempers flare, fingers point, and trauma responses abound.

Anger and Rage are neither inherently “good” or “bad.” They merely tell us where we perceive a threat and therefore help us understand our own inner architecture and identity structures.

For example, right now in the US, there are people who are feeling very angry about DOGE infiltrating private data, stripping away social services and firing people left and right. In this case, there are huge boundary violations of privacy, safety and material security.

There are also people (MAGA) who are feeling angry that people are calling them out, disagreeing with them or saying things they don’t like. In this case, they’re perceiving boundary violations of their ego structures and ideology.

Root Chakra

Each of the stages of Alchemy is connected with a different energy center. Calcination works with the Root Chakra because it largely concerns aspects of the material plane, and our sense of stability. During Calcination, the physical structures of our lives can be shaken: our homes, our relationships, our health, our jobs, our finances, our safety.

Right now, with a coup-in-progress, we are feeling the foundations of safety shaking across all of society.

That’s the theory behind the first stage of Alchemy. What do we do with that? How do we translate this into an informed practice?

Fire as a Regenerative Force

Since we know that Fire can be sacred, powerful force for cleansing and regeneration, we work with practices to invite in the healthy aspects of fire and stabilization/regulation practices to make sure we don’t burn out. This can include:

• Fire meditation and prayer (with a candle flame or a bonfire, size doesn’t matter). Connect with the spirit of Fire and invite it to burn away false and unhealthy structures to create space for new, vital growth. Communicate and collaborate with this element.

• Clearing and heating practices in the body: shaking, tapping, explosive movements, sauna. Invite in the energy of fire to cleanse and purify.

• Regulating, stabilizing and nourishing practices: make sure you don’t burn out. Take lots of electrolytes, prioritize rest and nourishment. Squats, lunges and lower body activation to create a solid foundation for the inner fire.

Work with Anger

Invite your Anger to teach and guide you. If anger arises, ask yourself:

• Where am I perceiving boundary violations? What is being threatened? What does that mean about me / what am I making that mean about me?

• Are those threats actual violations to my safety and well-being, or are they threats to false identity and ego structures?

• If they are threats to my healthy self, what needs to be protected? What boundaries need to be created or enforced?

• If they are threats to my false ego structures, what needs to be released or let go? (Then hold a personal ritual with Fire to help burn it away.)

Stabilize Your Root

Since we know that the fires of transformation serve to burn away unhealthy, false structures, we can nourish and stabilize our roots with healthy, vital practices. This will help make sure you don’t burn out or get overwhelmed in the process, help you stay out of a trauma response and also help you trust through the letting go.

Practices to stabilize your root include:

• Lots of rest, nourishment, wellness care: Sleep, electrolytes, hydration, root vegetables and meat/healthy proteins and fats, immune supplements, fresh air.

• Grounding and stabilization: Go outside, touch the earth. Lower body movements (lunges, squats, foot massages, open lower body channels for receiving Earth energy).

• Community and connection: meaningful time with loved ones, play music and make food together, gather in like-hearted groups and practice co-regulation.

• Identify and clear dissociation or trauma responses: many methods for this.

The sacred pattern of Alchemy is definitely at work in the crapstorm unfolding right now.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• The Alchemist enters the fires of transformation not knowing what will be left on the other side. There is inherently an element of trust and surrender involved here. But trust and surrender doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing — it is a very collaborative and involved process. The Alchemist feeds the fire, pumps the bellows and holds a state of fierce prayer and devotion.

• Things get uncomfortable when they are dying/being released or on the way out. I have seen this over and over again with my Alchemy students, Shamanic clients, doing entity extractions or energy clearings. It can be uncomfortable to the point of excruciating. But lean in to the discomfort and keep going. Food poisoning sucks but you feel better after you vomit.

• Death is necessary before Rebirth can take place. This collective upheaval may be unpleasant, scary and unfortunately a lot of people are probably going to get hurt in the process. I am not dismissing any of that, and it makes me very sad. But remember, the fires of destruction that sweep through create fertile ground for new, healthy growth from the ashes. This is the promise of Alchemy.

And in case you’re feeling the call to work more deeply with Alchemy —

I AM Alchemy course begins in March!

Are you called to collaborate with powerful spiritual forces of Universal Law?

Do you want to go from feeling like you’re living at the whims of change, to intentionally choosing your own path of transformation and creation?

Wouldn’t it be great to have a roadmap to guide you through the hardest transformational moments of your life?

Are you ready to learn tools and practices that will immediately and noticeably enhance your vitality, health, energy and well-being?

Do you want to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are living your life “on purpose?”

Are you called to use these powerful tools to support your loved ones, community and clients in their journey of transformation and actualization?

>>>Book your I AM Alchemy interview call now!

Are You Stuck in the Cycle of Transformation?

Are you feeling stuck or blocked in your life?

Are you trying to make shifts and changes, but feel like you’re slogging through molasses?

Are you looking around at your life, knowing that something has to change, but you’re not even sure where to start?

I’ve got you covered.

Let’s talk about:

The most common places people get stuck in the Cycle of Transformation

Here are the most common ways people get stuck in the process of transformation:

1. Resistance and fear of surrender: not being willing to enter into the process in the first place.

2. Cleansing, releasing and grief: becoming so immersed in loss that they are unable to evaluate or take action.

3. Over-analysis: disconnected from body and heart wisdom, unable to move beyond thinking/planning into action steps.

4. “Good enough:” taking initial action steps and stopping there, mistaking the middle for the end, not following through.

5. Rejecting or resisting new energy: not allowing yourself to actually receive and experience your new self, feeling unworthy, avoiding new energy.

6. Recreating patterns: trying to do something different without actually inviting your new self to emerge, end up recreating old, unhealthy patterns and choices.

7. Over-attachment: holding so tightly to comfort and familiarity, unwilling to enter the cycle again, resisting transformation as a cyclical, inevitable force.

Do any of those sound familiar?

If so, Alchemy is the answer.

With Alchemy, you can confidently transform yourself and others with the power of ancient spiritual wisdom and practical skill development.

If you want to master the mystery school teachings and practical spiritual skills that empower you to heal your own body, mind and spirit…

If you want to awaken your deepest gifts and confidently facilitate transformation for others…

You need the I AM Alchemy 200 hour practitioner training.

In the I AM Alchemy course, you’ll master the 5 Transformational Keys that will help you truly transform yourself and others:

1. Alchemy Fundamentals: Master the Cycle of Transformation and practical application of spiritual technology.

2. Alchemy of Self: Use Alchemy to liberate trauma, dis-ease and stagnation. Come home to yourself and your sacred purpose with Alchemy wisdom teachings.

3. Embody Alchemy: Bring Alchemy into your body and Earthly experience through movement practice, embodiment, qigong, breathwork and somatic cultivation.

4. Spiritual Collaboration: Cultivate powerful, working relationships with Divine beings of Alchemical wisdom.

5. Practical Magic: Master the process of ritual and sacred ceremony. Cultivate your facilitation skills to create powerful transformational portals for yourself and your clients, in 1:1 or group settings.

On top of that, you’ll get personal support from me, plus a cohort of like-hearted seekers also in the crucible of transformation and creation.

The course begins in March, and applications are open now!

If you’re one of the 12 people who is finally ready for big transformation and wants my help to make it happen in 2025…

>>>Click here if you’re ready to get unstuck.

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

The Cutest Transformational Love Story

I am heading to a friend’s wedding this weekend, and their love story is both super cute and an awesome lesson in transformation and alignment.

(Shared with their enthusiastic permission. Yay love!)

The Cutest Transformational Love Story

She and He met in kindergarten. (Awwwww!)

They remained friends even when She moved away at age 8. There was always a connection and feeling like they’d end up together.

And then He got engaged to someone else.

But it didn’t work out.

They had a, “Will they? Won’t they?” moment, but He wasn’t ready.

Their friendship cooled off and they fell out of touch. She was living in Colorado, He was in Portland.

Then She got engaged to someone else who lived in Portland, and moved back for that relationship.

And that REALLY didn’t work out.

She and He reconnected as friends because they’ve known each other since they were 5. He helped her move out of her ex’s house.

And no surprise --

They fell in love and are getting married this weekend!

I have been so happy to have a front seat to their romance. And it’s also been a fascinating study of the process of transformation. She and I have had many long discussions about this wild ride.

Here are some of the key lessons that I know She would want me to share with you:

• She got engaged to someone who was definitely the wrong person for her because she was settling. Even though she knew the kind of love she wanted to create, she doubted if it would happen. And she was super unhappy. But when she let go of the thing she knew wasn’t right, it made space for the thing that was definitely right. It was just a matter of timing and alignment.

• Throughout the breakup and transition process, she experienced a lot of self-judgement because she was feeling depleted, unmotivated and not like her best self. But she recognized that she was going through a deep death and releasing cycle, and needed to give herself more grace, space and rest to support that process.

• While She was still in the throes of ending the old relationship, she stayed aligned with her intuition. She told me repeatedly, “This feels really important and I don’t know what’s happening but I know I’m supposed to be here.” Even though she was very uncomfortable and couldn’t see what was coming next, she trusted that everything was moving as it should.

I am so happy for my wonderful friends! And I am so happy to support them in their journey of transformation, actualization and love.

Do you need help coming into alignment?

Are you going through a challenging transformation cycle right now?

Do you want some help with that?

If so, I’ve got you covered. The answer is ALCHEMY.

With Alchemy, you can confidently transform yourself and others with the power of ancient spiritual wisdom and practical skill development.

If you want to master the mystery school teachings and practical spiritual skills that empower you to heal your own body, mind and spirit…

If you want to awaken your deepest gifts and confidently facilitate transformation for others…

You need I AM Alchemy Mystery School.

If you’re one of the 12 people who is finally ready for big transformation and wants my help to make it happen in 2025…

>>>Click here if you’re ready for your own transformational story!

These Practices Will Save Your Butt (when you need them most)

Simple practices will save your butt when you need them most.

I am finally emerging from two solid weeks of a very severe respiratory infection. It has been brutal. I haven’t been that sick in over a decade.

During that time, the things I was doing to take care of myself got pared down to the simplest, most effective and most necessary. I didn’t have energy for anything else.

But here’s the important part: My version of “simple practices” is actually a pretty solid baseline of physical and energetic health tools, because I have spent years making them second nature.

Here’s some of what that included:

• All the immune supplements and potions (mineral detox, 12+ different kinds of mushrooms, nano silver, superfood hot chocolate, electrolytes, vitamin C drink I made from Douglas fir twigs from my land, plus six types of tea and all the nourishing soups and broths).

• Medicinal aromatherapy (immune booster capsules I made from six types of essential oils, Raindrop protocol blend made from seven essential oils applied twice a day, diffuser and steam inhalation of respiratory and immune support oils).

• Qigong and movement practice as I was able (dredging the lung channels, Ringing the Heavenly Bell and other lung channel practices, shaking and clearing, short walks outside every day).

• Energy healing (clearing and purging, microcosmic orbit meditation, I even tried a Shamanic journey during one of my feverish episodes but I wouldn’t say that one was terribly effective).

• Of course, lots of rest and snuggling with my dog and cat.

For someone else who doesn’t have the tool kit that I do, my care routine may seem overwhelming or out of reach, especially during a time of crisis.

At some point between states of feverish listlessness, I thought about this in terms of the challenges people are facing all the time: grief and loss, depression/anxiety/mental health, physical illness, spiritual psychosis, mediumship awakening and more.

When you are in challenge or crisis, it will not be the fancy or complicated practices that save your butt. It will be the simple, effective practices you can do without thinking.

When we’re in crisis (whether it’s an activated nervous system state, a trauma response, or a depressive or dissociative state), higher cognitive function shuts down.

In those moments where you are in the thick of challenge and you need your practices to help you stabilize and regulate, you will not remember the complicated meditations or invocations, or the order of the steps of a long practice.

In the moments where you are sick, afraid, tired, in pain, dissociating or all of the above, the simple practices that you have done thousands of times will help you discharge and clear energy, stabilize enough to bring some cognitive function back online, and resource yourself sufficiently to take steps towards care and relief.

Here’s the other very important part:

Doing the simple practices over and over when you have capacity to learn them will ensure that they’re second nature to you when your cognitive function is impaired.

I guarantee you the only reason I remembered the ingredients to all those complicated recipes when I was sick and feverish is because I made them hundreds of times when I felt well and healthy.

The only reason I was able to dredge the lung channels and do other qigong practices was because I’ve done them over and over for years and I didn’t have to think about it.

The fundamentals of energetic fluency are very simple practices. And they are often overlooked or glossed over in favor of shinier, more exciting practices.

But the shiny practices will not help you when you need it most. In fact, the more complicated they are, the less likely you are to remember how to do them when you’re in crisis.

It will be the simple, fundamental practices that save your butt when you need it most.

Do you want to develop your energetic fundamentals to make sure you have effective tools when you really need them?

I hate to bring up the scary state of the world/country/politics, but it is indeed scary and probably only going to get worse.

If you’re reading the news right now and dissociating —

If you feel powerless, afraid and like you’re struggling to put one foot in front of the other —

If you are called to spiritual practice as an effective tool to support your personal empowerment, well-being and fortitude (viva la resistance!) —

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

Direct Contact with the Mysteries Will Change You

Direct contact with the Mysteries will fundamentally change you.

Ironically, the more easily accessible spiritual teachings become, the more we have to go out of our way to experience that direct contact.

Yesterday in our I AM Alchemy group call, we talked about the two main ways we are learning and transforming through this course:

1. Materials (modules, textbook, practices)

2. Direct transmission (actually being in the Crucible of Alchemy)

It’s easy for us to focus on the tangible (materials). We can watch the training videos, read the book, do the practices, show up to class and session.

But the tangible materials aren’t the thing. The tangible materials are the way in which we learn how to access the intangible thing.

The materials are the tools we use to regulate our nervous systems, open our awareness, focus our consciousness and get out of our own way enough so we can actually feel and participate in the Mysteries.

This direct contact with the Mysteries is where we transform.

Not from watching the videos. Not from reading the book.

In Alchemy, the practitioner seeks to create the Philosopher’s Stone: the most perfected, illuminated state of being. (In pop culture, this is usually associated with creating gold and the Elixir of Life, aka Immortality Juice.)

But the Alchemist cannot create this perfected state of being separate from herself. She must enter the Crucible of transformation as well. She must surrender her body, heartmind, and soul to the forces that govern all of life.

In I AM Alchemy, we use teachings and practical tools to open ourselves to directly experiencing the Mysteries of transformation.

But the teachings are only the beginning.

Are you ready to be changed by the Mysteries?

I’m inviting 12 fully committed soul seekers that want to enter the crucible of Alchemy in 2025.

12 people who are ready to master ancient mystery school teachings and practical spiritual skills in the next year so they can heal their own body, mind and spirit.

12 people who are ready to awaken their deepest gifts and confidently facilitate transformation for others.

The course begins in March, and applications are open now.

If you’re one of the 12 people who is finally ready for big transformation and wants my help to make it happen…

>>>Click here if you’re ready to be changed by the Mysteries.

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

My Dog Drank Too Much Tequila (A Story of Self-Sabotage)

Yesterday, my dog, Athena, got into some trouble.

Athena is very well-behaved. We walk everywhere off leash because I trust her to listen and stay close. She looks at me to ask permission before chasing rabbits in the yard. (Don’t worry, she never gets close.) I let her roam in the forest around my house because I know she comes running as soon as I whistle.

But yesterday, my partner’s friend, Gabriel, came over with his dog, Ruby. Ruby is one of Athena’s best friends. They are both wonderful, sweet dogs. But when they get together, they rile each other up and turn into chaos monsters.

It’s like the dog version of a reasonable, middle-aged person getting together with an old drinking buddy. They get wild, take too many tequila shots and end up flipping over tables in the bar.

When Ruby comes over, Gabriel and I both keep an eye on the dogs while they run around the property to make sure they stay out of trouble. But yesterday, I when I poked my head outside to check on them, I heard a riot of shrieking barks in the distance. I put on my shoes and ran.

Gabriel had beat me there and was crouching near a very upset cat. He shooed the dogs away from squaring off with the cat, but they were still riled up and circling.

I separated the dogs and checked them for injuries, then called my vet friend who offered recommendations to care for the cat. In the end, everyone was okay and the cat went home to the neighbor’s house.

After she calmed down, Athena was very ashamed and concerned. As soon as she was inside, separated from her chaos buddy, she returned to her normal, conscientious self, and I could tell she felt bad about her behavior.

This got me thinking: How often do we humans do the same thing in our quest for self-improvement?

People on a journey of growth and transformation can self-sabotage or backslide into old behavior patterns, and then fall into a shame spiral.

Like Athena, we can fall prey to:

1. Peer influence and environmental triggers: Just like Athena's behavior changed when Ruby was around, people can revert to old habits or behaviors when in the presence of certain people or environments associated with their past selves.

2. Temporary loss of self-control: Athena's usual self-control disappeared in the excitement of playing with Ruby. Similarly, people may lose sight of their goals or values in moments of high emotion, stress, or excitement, leading to impulsive decisions that contradict their growth efforts.

3. The "all or nothing" mindset: When people slip up in their journey of self-improvement, they might feel like they've completely failed, like how Athena felt ashamed after the incident. This can lead to a "why bother?" attitude. They may abandon their efforts instead of viewing the setback as a temporary and natural part of the growth process.

4. Comfort in familiar patterns: Even when people are committed to change, old behavior patterns can feel comfortable and familiar. In stressful or uncertain times, they might revert to these patterns as a coping mechanism, like how Athena reverted to more instinctual, less controlled behavior when excited.

5. Lack of consistent accountability: Just as Athena and Ruby needed consistent supervision to stay out of trouble, people often struggle to maintain new habits or behaviors without consistent accountability or support systems in place.

6. Underestimating the power of triggers: People might overestimate their ability to resist old temptations or triggers. This can lead to putting oneself in challenging situations before being prepared to handle them.

7. The shame spiral: After a setback, people often feel intense shame or guilt, which can lead to further self-destructive behavior as a way of punishing themselves or escaping these negative feelings.

8. Difficulty in maintaining long-term focus: Just as Athena forgot her training in the excitement of the moment, people can lose sight of their long-term goals when faced with short-term pleasures or distractions.

9. Fear of success or change: Sometimes, people subconsciously sabotage their own progress because they fear the unknown or the responsibilities that come with success and personal growth.

10. Lack of self-compassion: People often judge themselves for setbacks, forgetting that growth is not a linear process. Learning to be kind to oneself is crucial for long-term success.

Sound familiar? If so, you're not weak, and you're not alone. These are common hurdles on the path to lasting change.

This is where I come in. As a Shaman and Spiritual Mentor, I specialize in helping people like you navigate the challenges of transformation.

I offer 1:1 support for healing and growth, as well as training in Shamanism and Alchemy. Ready to take the leap?

If you're tired of taking one step forward and two steps back on your journey, it's time for a change. Don’t let another day go by where you feel stuck.

>>>If you’re ready to stop self-sabotaging, click here.

Remember, growth isn't always linear. But with the right guidance, you can make consistent progress towards becoming the person you want to be.

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

A Song for the River

I live very close to the Sandy River near Portland, Oregon, but I don’t call it that.

My friend and neighbor, Ken Smith, is a Wasco elder, medicine man, and the last native speaker of 7 Wasco dialects. (The Wasco people are one of the indigenous tribes of the area where I live.) He is helping his tribe to revive the language and traditions of their people. From him, I learned the names of some of the local rivers and mountains in the Wasco language. The Wasco name for the river near where I live is Washinux. When I visit the river, I call her by that name to acknowledge the indigenous peoples of this land and the ancient names of these land spirits.

I always sing a song to the river when I visit and make a gratitude offering to the waters. Sometimes I sing a channeled song that is unique to that moment. Sometimes I sing a water blessing song.

Yesterday, I sang a song that comes from the Sacred Valley in Peru. This song was originally sung for the Cuñaq river there. When I am out here on the lands were I live, I sing this song for the local rivers, as a way to acknowledge that all the waters of the world are connected, and all are sacred.

Here is a translation of the song in English:

From Washinux comes

Water, meandering through the channels

And eddies, into our lives.

We sing water blessing songs, and also we cry.

All of my worries are gone.

Mother Earth is celebrating.

A little star

Joyfully tells me to sing my little song

To the waters, the waters of Mother Washinux.

How do you acknowledge the land and nature spirits where you live?

Are you looking for support with your Earth-based spiritual practice? Do you want help developing a powerful, tangible connection with Spirit?

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:

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

Or check out the details of my 1:1 Shamanic healing, training and mentorship work here.

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

Devotion Begins Where Inspiration Ends

Both of my wrists and my right shoulder were really sore when I woke up this morning.

At first I had no idea why I had this mystery soreness. I couldn’t think of anything I had done that would have caused it.

And then I realized that it was because I just picked up a guitar again 5 days ago (after barely playing for a very long time), got super excited about learning 2 new ceremonial songs, and overdid it on my wrists and shoulder.

I took today off from playing guitar to give my wrists and shoulder some rest, but I was disappointed to take a day off because I was *so* close to figuring out this one chord progression. Playing consistently for 3 days in a row gave me a taste of real progress and I was chomping at the bit for more! More music! More growth! More better sounds!

Why did I pick the guitar back up and play so much after a long period of no music practice?

Because I was really lit up about these 2 new ceremonial songs, and inspiration is like rocket fuel.

But here’s the thing: inspiration is inconsistent. It is fickle. I can’t always count on it to be around. That’s why I hadn’t practiced music for a few months.

I know that if I want to truly develop my musical skills (and not make myself sore when I play guitar), I need to treat my practice as a devotion. Finding a way I can engage with my music practice even when I don’t feel inspired will be the key to me continuing to grow as a musician.

Why am I telling you this story?

Because I have seen the same trajectory play out with my clients and their spiritual practice, over and over.

My clients get inspired and excited, which is awesome. They want to cultivate their mediumship! They want to be a healer! They had a visitation from a Dragon and they want to know everything about Dragons! They want to grow their Shamanic practice!

I love the inspiration phase. It feels so fun and alive and sparkly. It’s easy to make time for a practice when we feel inspired. It’s also a much faster learning curve at the beginning of a trajectory—when we go from zero to working on something, it’s exciting to feel like we’re making leaps and bounds of progress.

But inspiration is inconsistent. Every single one of my students and clients eventually hits a point where they lose touch with the inspiration. The initial fast growth starts to stabilize as they get into more subtle skill development, and it might feel like they’re not moving fast enough or making progress. And I get it—I’ve been there, too.

Devotion begins where inspiration ends.

Devotion—loving dedication—is where we root into our commitment. It’s where we come back to our core “why.”

When we make our practice a devotion, we keep showing up, whether we’re inspired or not. This is where we grow consistently. This is where we prove to ourselves that we are trustworthy and capable. This is where refined skill comes from. This is where we develop nuance and mastery.

Have you been running on the rocket fuel of inspiration, but you’re ready for more consistent growth and devotion in your spiritual practice?

I support my students and clients with their consistent devotional spiritual practice through Shamanic mentorship and Alchemy training.

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.

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

PS — I host ceremonial song circles once a month or so just outside of Portland! Do you want to attend? Invitations go out to my email list. Sign up here to make sure you get the invites.

I almost stepped on this feather.

Spirit is always communicating with us.

Are you consistently receiving the messages? Can you hear the whispers, or only the shouts?

Yesterday morning, I was out walking and going down a negative thought spiral when I almost stepped on this feather. I think it was a primary wing feather of a Barred Owl.

In an extra dose of magic, the same thing happened a month ago: I was out walking, spiraling down a negative thought pathway when I almost stepped on a primary wing feather of a Bald Eagle.

Both times, I stopped, took a deep breath, and received the message: zoom out to see the bird's eye view. What does this situation look like from an elevated perspective?

Both times, I was able to relax, shift out of the doom spiral and into compassion, patience and peace. I made gratitude offerings, meditated with the messengers and went on my way feeling supported and inspired.

I am so grateful to the nature spirit messengers who help me come back to Truth, Love and Joy!

Do you want to cultivate your intuition and connect more deeply with your spirit guides?

Are you ready to fully open to the messages that are already coming to you, whether you can hear them or not?

Are you ready for practical support for your spiritual journey?

Get Support:

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

BOOK A CALL

Discounted Shamanic Healing Sessions Ends January 31

I am very pleased to offer three options for discounted 3-session Shamanic Healing packages, available through January 31!

(Beep beep, tooting my own horn for a minute): I am a very intuitive and skilled practitioner, with over 20 years of training and experience in Shamanic healing and journey work. I have helped a *lot* of people with work like this. Do you need this, too?

Here are the three options for the session packages:

Discover Your Animal Guide

Animal Guides are powerful Shamanic allies that offer deep wisdom, healing and protection.

With these 3 sessions, you will:

• Discover the identity of your Animal Guide.

• Receive teachings, transmissions and healing directly from your Animal Guide.

• Build a powerful magical relationship with your Animal Guide.

• Open the door for your animal guide to share powerful Shamanic visions with you.

• Work with your Animal Guide to help you understand and express your core essence and unique magic.

• Invoke your Animal Guides to support you in your meditation, energy work or healing practice.

Book this package with 1 payment of 750

OR 2 payments of 397.

Past Life Healing and Integration

Do you have pains, fears or patterns that seem to have no logical explanation? Have you tried everything to address it, but it feels like there’s something subconscious you can’t quite access?

This is often the case when people experience wounds or traumas in past lives. The echo of that trauma is etched on the blueprint of your soul, and you carry that wound or pattern with you into other incarnations.

Past Life Healing can help you:

• Completely heal inexplicable pains, fears or patterns.

• Release trauma blueprints from past lives that are impacting your current incarnation.

• Resolve and close karmic patterns and cycles for relationship healing.

• Clear past life trauma echoes that manifest as physical pain.

• Release phobias, addiction or unhealthy behavior patterns.

Book this package with 1 payment of 850

OR 2 payments of 447.

Soul Retrieval Shamanic Healing

Soul fragmentation and soul loss can occur when people experience traumatic events, injuries or abuse. Soul loss can also come from prolonged stress or emotional strain, fear or grief. Societal distortions and oppression, ancestral wounding and collective pain can also cause soul fragmentation. Soul loss from past lives can also impact us in this incarnation if it goes unresolved.

The effects of soul loss often cause people to feel like “something is missing.” It can manifest as anxiety, depression, feeling distracted or disconnected from their lives. Physically, people can experience symptoms of soul loss as tiredness or fatigue, chronic illness, dissociation and addiction. People often feel disconnected from their passions and purpose, have difficulty taking concrete actions to do anything differently, and struggle with worthiness and belonging.

Soul Retrieval is a very powerful form of Shamanic healing work. I have supported many people with this, and clients have reported results such as:

• Immediate relief from chronic pain

• Sleeping well after years of insomnia

• Reconnecting with inspiration and creativity

• Feeling excited and awakened, on-purpose

• Feeling peace and forgiveness with challenging family relationships

• Being able to eat foods that had previously caused reactions

• Being able to take concrete action steps for basic life care (cleaning, grocery shopping, exercise, establishing a healthy 3D life routine)

• Influx of money from various sources

• Feeling empowered to set healthy boundaries

• Releasing old fears and limiting beliefs

• Ending substance dependencies

Book this package with 1 payment of 950

OR 2 payments of 497.

Of course, if you want support with something else, you can always book a call with me to talk about your unique journey and what kind of support is right for you, or learn more about my work here.

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