The medicine you need most might surprise you

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All of this to say —

The medicine we need most might surprise us.

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

Are you ready for your medicine to surprise you?

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

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

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

The Best Tools and How to Use Them

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

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

And I have to tell you —

Alchemy has the best tools for powerful transformation.

And when we apply them skillfully —

Transformation becomes not only possible, but inevitable.

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

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

One past apprentice shared:

“The I AM Alchemy course was not just a way to deepen my own magical mastery through all of the different teachings, tools, and practices, but it was a container for deep transformation.”

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

Key 1: Alchemy Fundamentals

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

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

• Learn practices and ancient wisdom foundationed in Universal Law.

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

Key 2: Alchemy of Self

• Walk the 12 Pathways of Initiation to Mastery.

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

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

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

Key 3: Embody Alchemy

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

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

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

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

Key 4: Spiritual Collaboration

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

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

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

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

Key 5: Practical Magic

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

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

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

Are you ready for the best transformational healing tools?

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

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

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

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

Here's What Your Spiritual Practice Is Missing

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

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

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

If so, you need I AM Alchemy.

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

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

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

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

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

“Through I AM Alchemy, I have learned so much about how creation, transformation, and magic works on both a practical and spiritual level. This course helped me to incorporate all of the different teachings and modalities that I had learned before into a strong foundation that I can continue to use over and over again.”

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

“I joined I AM Alchemy because I had been on a spiritual and magical journey for several years, but I desired something deeper to truly integrate all that I was learning. I knew I needed something with structure that was not just about completing modules or participating in calls, but something that I was able to immerse myself in while still living my day to day life.”

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

The I AM Alchemy course begins March 17!

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

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

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

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

Alchemy for Healing and Transformation: The Physics of Soulcraft

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

Let’s talk about the Physics of Soulcraft.

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

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

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

• What is going to happen?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. And the cycle repeats, to varying degrees.

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

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

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

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

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

The I AM Alchemy course begins in March!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alchemy for Chaotic Times: from Theory to Practice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Element of fire.

• Emotion of anger/rage.

• Connected with root chakra.

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

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

Fire Element

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

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

Anger and Rage

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

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

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

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

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

Root Chakra

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

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

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

Fire as a Regenerative Force

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

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

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

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

Work with Anger

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

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

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

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

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

Stabilize Your Root

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

Practices to stabilize your root include:

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

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

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

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

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

Here are some things to keep in mind:

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

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy course begins in March!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are You Stuck in the Cycle of Transformation?

Are you feeling stuck or blocked in your life?

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

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

I’ve got you covered.

Let’s talk about:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do any of those sound familiar?

If so, Alchemy is the answer.

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

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

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

You need the I AM Alchemy 200 hour practitioner training.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

The Cutest Transformational Love Story

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

(Shared with their enthusiastic permission. Yay love!)

The Cutest Transformational Love Story

She and He met in kindergarten. (Awwwww!)

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

And then He got engaged to someone else.

But it didn’t work out.

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

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

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

And that REALLY didn’t work out.

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

And no surprise --

They fell in love and are getting married this weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do you need help coming into alignment?

Are you going through a challenging transformation cycle right now?

Do you want some help with that?

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

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

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

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

You need I AM Alchemy Mystery School.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s some of what that included:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s the other very important part:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Direct Contact with the Mysteries Will Change You

Direct contact with the Mysteries will fundamentally change you.

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

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

1. Materials (modules, textbook, practices)

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

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

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

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

This direct contact with the Mysteries is where we transform.

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

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

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

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

But the teachings are only the beginning.

Are you ready to be changed by the Mysteries?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

Devotion Begins Where Inspiration Ends

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why am I telling you this story?

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

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

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

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

Devotion begins where inspiration ends.

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

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

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

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

Get Support:

Are you ready for practical support for your spiritual journey?

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

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

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

I almost stepped on this feather.

Spirit is always communicating with us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are you ready for practical support for your spiritual journey?

Get Support:

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

BOOK A CALL

Discounted Shamanic Healing Sessions Ends January 31

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

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

Here are the three options for the session packages:

Discover Your Animal Guide

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

With these 3 sessions, you will:

• Discover the identity of your Animal Guide.

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

• Build a powerful magical relationship with your Animal Guide.

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

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

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

Book this package with 1 payment of 750

OR 2 payments of 397.

Past Life Healing and Integration

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

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

Past Life Healing can help you:

• Completely heal inexplicable pains, fears or patterns.

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

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

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

• Release phobias, addiction or unhealthy behavior patterns.

Book this package with 1 payment of 850

OR 2 payments of 447.

Soul Retrieval Shamanic Healing

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

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

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

• Immediate relief from chronic pain

• Sleeping well after years of insomnia

• Reconnecting with inspiration and creativity

• Feeling excited and awakened, on-purpose

• Feeling peace and forgiveness with challenging family relationships

• Being able to eat foods that had previously caused reactions

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

• Influx of money from various sources

• Feeling empowered to set healthy boundaries

• Releasing old fears and limiting beliefs

• Ending substance dependencies

Book this package with 1 payment of 950

OR 2 payments of 497.

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

Embrace Your Transformation: A Journey Beyond the Ordinary

Dear Seeker,

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

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

You might be:

• An energy healer seeking to unlock your authentic gifts

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

• Going through a major life transformation or deep healing journey

• Seeking to reconcile ancestral and karmic wounds

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

• An experienced spiritual seeker feeling stuck or plateaued

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

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

• Involved in sacred plant medicine work

• Feeling isolated on your spiritual path and seeking community

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

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

Through our work together, you'll receive:

• Personalized guidance to anchor your unique spiritual gifts

• Practical support for processing life transitions

• Tools for trauma healing and energetic block removal

• Assistance with soul retrieval and past life integration

• Safe exploration of your intuitive and channeling abilities

• Support in receiving and integrating spiritual initiations

• Fresh perspectives to renew your growth

• Help aligning your practice or business with your authentic self

• Guidance in integrating spirituality into your career

• Activation of your natural gifts and intuitive channel

• Assistance in making sense of your various trainings

• Support in rewriting energetic codes and healing ancestral trauma

• Empowerment to embody your mastery and creative potential

• Guidance in awakening to your Sovereign Self and Personal Power

• Support in discovering and living your unique Sacred Purpose

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

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

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

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

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

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

The Beauty and Opportunity of Being Triggered

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do you want some help with that?

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

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

This work is for you if:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

• Shamanic and energy healing work.

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

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

• Personal ritual or ceremony.

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

• Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

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

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

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

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

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

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

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

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Integrity and Multi-Lineage Practice

Good medicine travels. It always has.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are you a multi-lineage practitioner?

Are you going through a Shamanic awakening?

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

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

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

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

This work is for you if:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

• Shamanic and energy healing work.

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

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

• Personal ritual or ceremony.

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

• Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

2 Dogs and My Faith in Humanity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s break it down into these four parts:

1. Taking Inspired Action

2. Opens Doors

3. Prayers

4. Answered [Prayers]

…We’ll start with #3: Prayers.

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

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

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

Prayer = Intention + Asking for help from Spirit

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

#1: Taking Inspired Action

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

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

#2: Open Doors

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

#4: Answered Prayers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, friend, I ask you…

What are your prayers?

What inspired actions are you taking?

What doors are opening for you?

How are your prayers being answered?

…Do you want some help with that?

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

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

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

This work is for you if:

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

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

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

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

• You are going through a deep personal healing journey.

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

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

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

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

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

• Shamanic and energy healing work.

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

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

• Personal ritual or ceremony.

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

• Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

Freedom Through Commitment

What are you committed to this year?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As an Alchemist, I commit...

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

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

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

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

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

Journal prompts:

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

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

Your Spiritual Growth and Education in 2024

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

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

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

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

Here are some helpful things to consider. Ask yourself:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is working with me on your radar for 2024?

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

1:1 Transformational Mentorship

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

• Prerequisites and preparation: None required.

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy

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

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

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

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

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

Dragon Initiation

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

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

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

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

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

Sacred Ecology

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

• Prerequisites and preparation: None required.

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

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

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

Personal Retreat

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

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

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

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

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

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

I cried a little bit when I read this.

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

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

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

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

"Does this course actually help people?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Early Bird ends TODAY.

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

2. Book a consultation with me.

3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

Safety and Protection in Home and Temple Space

If you don’t have active, working relationships with local land and nature spirits, you are missing a big component of safety and protection in your home, temple, and ceremonial space.

You know that energetic safety and psychic protection are important in healing and ceremonial work. You probably have some great tools for clearing energy, invoking angels and casting a circle of light. Maybe you have some nice altars set up with salt and tourmaline.

But did you know that your biggest, most immediate allies in safety and protection are the local land and nature spirits?

There are plenty of yucky entities and energies that can be drawn to your home or temple space, particularly if you’re doing deep healing or shadow work, hosting medicine ceremonies or practicing channeling and mediumship. Mocking spirits, parasitic entities, vicious spirits, walk-ins, hungry ghosts, soul fragments, vampiric energies, distortion fields, egregores, unprocessed trauma, or even psychic attacks from another person: we know these entities exist in the world and practicing energy work carries the inherent risk of inviting more of them into our lives. But if your protection practices aren’t 100% solid, these entities will hang out in your space and your energy field. Best case scenario, they feel sludgy and make you tired. Worst case scenario, they will f* you up, and f* up your life.

Why are land and nature spirits the best allies for protection?

• Most of the energies I listed above originate from or feed on warped human ego projections. Land and nature spirits don’t have human ego projections, so they are simply immune to these entities. Their immunity comes from innocence. Nature spirits connect us with our own, primal nature and innocence. They help us become immune.

• Even though land and nature spirits are immune, they still don’t like the harmful distortions the entities cause, so land and natures spirits may intervene to either get rid of the entities or compost them. Gaia is great at composting old, decaying or discarded energy and turning it into something fertile and healthy.

• Land and nature spirits can be more effective than angels or etheric guides for safety and protection because they are actually embodied on the physical plane. Angels and etheric guides are great, but they have no material correspondence on Earth. Land and nature spirits are anchored into bioforms, and on Earth, matter matters.

• Having active, working relationships with land and nature spirits and anchoring your home or temple space into the Earth grid means that you are less likely to attract harmful entities in the first place. Gaia is a living temple planet, and when your sacred space is integrated with hers, you are under her protection.

But here’s the thing: in order to receive the safety and protection of the land and nature spirits, you have to ask for help. They won’t just automatically protect you. You must have an active, working relationship with the land and nature spirits, and you must invoke them as allies.

Do you want to collaborate with the living temple of Gaia to create sacred space in your home and ceremonial circles?

Do you want to communicate with powerful allies so you can learn from their wisdom and receive their support and protection?

Do you want to learn how 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