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!

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

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.

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!

Why do you need Alchemy?

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

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

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

– The Emerald Tablet (text of Alchemy)

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

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

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

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

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

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

You, with your empathy and generosity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

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

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

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

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

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

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

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

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

Let’s break down some of the common misconceptions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

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

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

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

Study the Mystery. Practice Transformation. Actualize Your Radiance.

Study the Mystery.

Practice Transformation.

Actualize Your Radiance.

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

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

1. Study the Mystery

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

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

• Which stage of Alchemy the person is in

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Stage of Alchemy: Dissolution

• Levels of support: All levels

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

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

From this diagnostic assessment, we form our recommendations.

2. Practice Transformation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Actualize Your Radiance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

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

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

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

Here's what people are saying behind my back

Here's what people are saying behind my back.

...in the best possible way!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Study the Mystery.
Practice Transformation.
Actualize Radiance.

Get Support:

Are you ready for practical support for your spiritual journey?

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

Where does your shamanic lineage originate?

If you practice medicine work or any shamanic tradition that comes from a different region than where you live, you’re probably overlooking this vitally important foundation of your practice.

In the modern, western world, it is likely that people learning shamanism take courses online or travel to meet with teachers. Or, if you are working with a local teacher, it is possible that the lineage or the medicine you are studying came from a different part of the Earth.

Shamanism is relational. Shamanism is contextual. Since shamanism is rooted in connection with the natural world, every shamanic tradition is going to work with different energies according to its context. If you live and practice your shamanic healing work in the Southwest high desert, you would call on nature spirit allies like the juniper tree, coyote and vulture. If you live and practice your shamanic healing work in the Amazon, you would collaborate with nature spirits like chacruna, frog and snake.

Most online shamanic courses focus on techniques. They will teach you how to journey, how to make a rattle, how to do particular shamanic healing practices. But they skip the most important part: creating a foundational relationship with your local ecosystem, forming allyships with local nature spirits and receiving consent from the land where you live to practice your work. They skip this because it is difficult to "teach" this online. The only way to form these relationships is through direct experience and intimacy with your local ecosystem.

Similarly, when we travel to study with teachers, we are entering their context. We are stepping into their local ecosystem, where they have working relationships with the land and nature spirits. We get to "borrow" the power of these spirits because we step into the agreement that those teachers have with the land to do their work. That consent does not transfer when we go home. That context is unique to that specific ecosystem.

The same is true when we work with specific medicine lineages that have their own agreements with local land and nature spirits. The nature spirits of that lineage exist in that context. If you go study with ayahuasqueros in the Amazon and then take those teachings back home to New York, you are decontextualizing the medicine and removing that work from its original, most powerful land and nature spirit allyships. If you are initiated into a medicine lineage, it’s important to honor the context the medicine comes from and its nature spirit allies, but it’s also important to anchor that medicine work into your local land and nature spirit ecosystem.

What happens when we work with nature spirits out of context?

• Working with nature spirits out of context removes them from their zone of power. They are certainly still powerful and beneficial allies, but their medicine may not be as effective in your ecosystem as working with a local nature spirit.

• If you work with certain nature spirits because your teachers worked with those spirits, you cannot bypass forming an actual relationship with them. You must receive the specific consent and initiation from those spirits, which they may or may not give you.

• If you are inviting non-local nature spirits to work with you without anchoring into the local ecosystem energy, they may not integrate smoothly. The living temples and guardian spirits of the land where you live may disrupt your work or there might be disharmonious alignment in your practice.

Here are some ways to gracefully integrate local and non-local nature spirit allies from different lineages:

• Always start with the local nature spirits and living temples on the land where you reside or practice. If you do not have the consent and collaboration of the local ecosystem, it will disrupt your life and your work.

• If you are studying or receiving initiations from non-local lineages, make sure to form direct relationships with the nature spirits of those lineages. Make offerings, ask for their consent and permission to work with them, and don’t assume that their allyship comes bundled in with the teachings. Consent does not transfer.

• If you are integrating local and non-local nature spirits into your practice, make sure that the non-local spirits are welcome with the local ecosystem before you invite them in to collaborate. Ask all of your allies to stay within their zone of genius, and don’t invoke them for things that aren’t appropriate. For example, call upon the local guardians for safety, protection and anchoring the temple grid because they live and thrive in that environment. Call upon your local nature spirit allies to support the general experience of your work. Call upon the non-local nature spirit allies to support the specifics of the medicine work or healing practice that comes directly from the related lineage.

Do you want to gracefully integrate your local and non-local nature spirit allies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Register now!

How to Recognize and Integrate Nature Spirit Initiations

I was attacked by an owl in September 2017.

One week later, I was catalyzed into a major healing initiation, supported by Owl medicine.

In Shamanic tradition, attacks, stings, bites or significant encounters with animals are sometimes recognized as initiations into their medicine. The same is true for plants: stings, scratches, poisoning, reaction or significant encounters are sometimes, but not always, initiations.

I had just moved into a new home, and the first thing I do whenever I move to a new place is to walk the area and get to know the land and local nature spirits. I walked through a patch of forest behind my neighborhood and had just come out the other side when something slammed into the back of my head.

I whipped around in stunned confusion, and saw an owl flying away. It landed on a nearby tree branch and regarded me with piercing eyes. We stared at each other for a moment, and it launched itself at me again, flying right towards my face. I reflexively raised my arms and yelled something, and it flew back to the branch. I walked away, looking over my shoulder. By the time I walked a shaky lap to calm down, it had gone. I had to go back through the forest to get home, but I did not see the owl again that evening.

The following day, I returned to the patch of forest and saw several snags (standing dead trees) with holes that looked ideal for owl roosts. I made an offering to Owl at one of the snags and asked for their consent to share this land with them.

The big bump on my head remained for about a week, right at the site of my back body Third Eye. During that time, I reflected on Owl energy. I was unsure if this had merely been an introduction to a local nature spirit, or if it was an initiation into their medicine to form a deep allyship. The answer soon became obvious.

The following week, I decided to invoke my spirit team for a healing session, for what I thought was a completely unrelated issue. Something regarding my ancestral lineages had been bothering me in the back of my mind for a while, and I wanted to give it some attention to see what would emerge.

As I dove in, I saw big, black eyes rushing toward me through the darkness, and I felt a jolt of energy as I recognized the owl’s eyes. I remembered thinking at the time of the attack, “I understand why some cultures are afraid of owls.” They are silent, ghostly predators who come alive in the shadow. There are some species of owls who have bright yellow irises and their eyes look more “cute” and friendly to our human perception, but the kind of owl that attacked me has eyes that look completely black. (It was a Barred Owl. Go ahead, look up a picture and imagine it flying at your face. It was intimidating.)

As the black eyes filled my inner vision, I was surrounded in soft darkness. I felt my awareness heighten, my senses sharpened and everything seemed to go still. I heard the words, “It is safe to see.” The darkness seemed to ease, but I realized it was my perception that had changed, not the light.

And then Owl showed me a puzzle piece that I had never seen in 30 years of knowing my family history, and I felt the collective grief and pain of my ancestors come crashing down.

I ended up on the floor of my healing room, sobbing as I channeled the words and the grief of my ancestors. But even though I felt their heartbreak moving through me like a river, I felt myself held in the soft embrace of Owl wings, and I saw the black eyes reminding me that it was safe to see in the darkness.

When Owl spirit sent one of its children to strike me in the back of the head, it was not merely an introduction to the local land guardians. It was an infusion of Owl medicine directly into my Third Eye. Owl was preparing me to serve the healing of some deep, multigenerational grief in my own lineage, and also to help others navigate their darkness with more peace and comfort. Owl is one of my primary spirit allies when I support my clients in deep shadow work. When I took up painting a few years ago, my first project was an Owl portrait that now hangs in the stairwell leading up to the healing room.

I have continued to study with Owl since my initiation. I regularly see owls in that same patch of forest, but have never been attacked again. I now live on different land and there are owl guardians here as well: Barred Owls, and tiny Western Screech Owls that are not shy about flitting close to me and Athena, and could fit in the palm of my hand.

Not every encounter with a nature spirit is an initiation into their medicine. Sometimes they appear as a message or an invitation, sometimes they show up just to hang out, or sometimes they are simply living their lives as sovereign beings in our vicinity.

Here are some indicators that a nature spirit is showing up not just as an encounter, but a medicine initiation:

• A nature spirit ally is more likely to appear at a threshold moment in your life. Big shifts make space for new energy, and as you enter new life chapters and phases, you will grow with new allyships.

• Nature spirit initiations are not always dramatic. They often appear as repeat encounters, both in their embodied form and in other areas. (Maybe you start seeing rabbits in your neighborhood, and then you see rabbit stickers, toys or artwork everywhere you turn. Follow the White Rabbit!) Repeat encounters gradually introduce you to the medicine of this nature spirit and open you to receive their teachings.

• Sometimes initiations are dramatic or intense encounters, but not every dramatic encounter is an initiation. During a dramatic encounter such as an attack, there is a code transmission that integrates over a longer period of time.

• If you say yes to this ally and invite them in, they will start to show up in your life, appear in your meditations, etc. You can support this relationship by making offerings, observing them in a respectful way, and communicating with them in your personal practice.

Do you want to…

• …receive teachings and initiations from the original wisdom keepers: plants, animals, stones and nature herself?

• …create functionally purposeful allyships with local nature spirits to support your spiritual practice?

• …build lifelong partnerships with powerful natural allies and receive deep initiations into their mysteries?

• …confidently invoke the nature spirits during your meditation or ceremonial practice?

• …receive guidance and support as you establish powerful partnerships with new spirit allies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

Register now!

Attn: Solo Practitioners and Healers

If you are a solo practitioner, you need strong connections with spirit allies to do your work properly.

All healing and ceremonial work is collaborative. Sometimes we collaborate with other practitioners, like a coven or priestess circle, or co-facilitating a shamanic ceremony. But even when we’re “alone,” we’re never alone. We collaborate with our clients, we collaborate with medicines, nature spirits and guides. We collaborate with Gaia herself. Because all healing work is collaborative, strong connections with spirit allies are vitally important to healing work and magical practice.

As individuals, our knowledge and power are finite. None of us are experts in everything. Our personal energy is inherently limited by our bodies, personal practice, resilience and nutrition. Personal energy can fluctuate and be impacted by a bad night’s sleep, hormonal cycles or existential angst.

Without our spirit allies, we burn out. We are limited by our personal resources and capacity. We are more vulnerable to predatory energies. We support our clients at the expense of our own health and well-being.

The great thing about collaborating with spirit allies is that we don’t have to rely solely on our personal knowledge and power. We get to invoke the spirits that specialize in the energy we are inviting for our clients, and share their mastery. We get to call upon and channel the abundant generosity of Gaia, to resource our healing work from the continuously flowing planetary grid.

Do you want to…

• …create a functionally purposeful allyship with Gaia to support your spiritual practice?

• …receive teachings and initiations from the original wisdom keepers: plants, animals, stones and nature herself?

• …anchor your personal or professional healing practice into the powerful, amplified grid of Gaia?

• …ensure optimal safety and protection in your home, ceremonial and temple spaces?

• …receive guidance and support as you establish powerful partnerships with new spirit allies?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Early Bird pricing ends July 1. Use this code at checkout for $100 off: EB100SE

Meet Your Guide

I’m Michelle Hawk: Shamanic Alchemist, Spiritual Mentor, Master Healer.

As a child, I always felt connected to animals, nature and magic. The world felt alive to me in a way I eventually realized most people didn’t understand, so I hid and didn’t tell anyone about my conversations with animals or the spirits I saw.

When I found out about Shamanism at age 15, everything changed for me. Animistic Shamanism gave me a context and vocabulary for what I already knew: the world and all beings are alive and connected through the unseen realms, and the animals, plants and stones all have powerful wisdom and to share.

I have been studying and practicing animistic Shamanism with various teachers since 2003, and under dedicated mentorship since 2009. My core Shamanic lineages come from the Shaman clan Baksa of what is now Hungary, and the Celtic people and horse tribes who traveled across Europe. I have also studied with Turtle Island indigenous teachers.

For me, the spirituality of life and the science of life have always gone hand in hand. In university, I earned my degree in biology, specializing in animal physiology and behavior. My undergraduate research was in hummingbird foraging behavior, and I dove into tropical ecology and conservation during my research.

As a Shaman, biologist and passionate naturalist, my practice is rooted in deep reverence for life and the wisdom of Gaia, scientific principles of ecology and environmentalism, and genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for nature.

Are you ready to work with land and nature spirits?

Sacred Ecology begins July 26.

This course includes:

• 7 live online classes, each including training, hands-on exercises and integration prompts.

• Ceremonial initiation with your new nature spirit ally.

• Private online community for resources and connection.

• Upgrade option: Add three discounted 1:1 sessions with Michelle for personalized support and mentorship.

Early Bird pricing ends July 1. Use this code at checkout for $100 off: EB100SE