Shamanism

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.

Shaman Michelle Hawk in Portland, Oregon. Animal guide intuitive messages from barred owl feather.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are you ready for practical support for your spiritual journey?

Get Support:

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

BOOK A CALL

Discounted Shamanic Healing Sessions Ends January 31

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

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

Here are the three options for the session packages:

Discover Your Animal Guide

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

With these 3 sessions, you will:

  • Discover the identity of your Animal Guide.

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

  • Build a powerful magical relationship with your Animal Guide.

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

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

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

Book this package with 1 payment of 750

OR 2 payments of 397.

Past Life Healing and Integration

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

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

Past Life Healing can help you:

  • Completely heal inexplicable pains, fears or patterns.

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

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

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

  • Release phobias, addiction or unhealthy behavior patterns.

Book this package with 1 payment of 850

OR 2 payments of 447.

Soul Retrieval Shamanic Healing

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

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

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

  • Immediate relief from chronic pain

  • Sleeping well after years of insomnia

  • Reconnecting with inspiration and creativity

  • Feeling excited and awakened, on-purpose

  • Feeling peace and forgiveness with challenging family relationships

  • Being able to eat foods that had previously caused reactions

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

  • Influx of money from various sources

  • Feeling empowered to set healthy boundaries

  • Releasing old fears and limiting beliefs

  • Ending substance dependencies

Book this package with 1 payment of 950

OR 2 payments of 497.

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

Embrace Your Transformation: A Journey Beyond the Ordinary

Dear Seeker,

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

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

You might be:

  • An energy healer seeking to unlock your authentic gifts

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

  • Going through a major life transformation or deep healing journey

  • Seeking to reconcile ancestral and karmic wounds

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

  • An experienced spiritual seeker feeling stuck or plateaued

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

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

  • Involved in sacred plant medicine work

  • Feeling isolated on your spiritual path and seeking community

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

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

Through our work together, you'll receive:

  • Personalized guidance to anchor your unique spiritual gifts

  • Practical support for processing life transitions

  • Tools for trauma healing and energetic block removal

  • Assistance with soul retrieval and past life integration

  • Safe exploration of your intuitive and channeling abilities

  • Support in receiving and integrating spiritual initiations

  • Fresh perspectives to renew your growth

  • Help aligning your practice or business with your authentic self

  • Guidance in integrating spirituality into your career

  • Activation of your natural gifts and intuitive channel

  • Assistance in making sense of your various trainings

  • Support in rewriting energetic codes and healing ancestral trauma

  • Empowerment to embody your mastery and creative potential

  • Guidance in awakening to your Sovereign Self and Personal Power

  • Support in discovering and living your unique Sacred Purpose

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

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

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

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

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

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

Neon Blue Snake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To whom and to what are we accountable?

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

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

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

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

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

Healers, I call you.

Teachers, I call you.

Social workers, I call you.

Counselors, I call you.

Advocates, I call you.

Doctors, I call you.

Scientists, I call you.

Animal protectors, I call you.

Earth tenders, I call you.

Grant writers, I call you.

Activists, I call you.

Neighborhood organizers, I call you.

Farmers, I call you.

Permaculturists, I call you.

Naturalists, I call you.

Parents, I call you.

Youth mentors, I call you.

Artists, I call you.

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

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

I invite you to ask yourself:

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

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

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

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

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

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

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

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

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

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

  • Shamanic and energy healing work.

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

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

  • Personal ritual or ceremony.

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

  • Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Beauty and Opportunity of Being Triggered

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do you want some help with that?

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

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

This work is for you if:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

  • Shamanic and energy healing work.

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

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

  • Personal ritual or ceremony.

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

  • Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

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

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

BOOK A CALL WITH MICHELLE

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

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

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

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

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Integrity and Multi-Lineage Practice

Good medicine travels. It always has.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Are you a multi-lineage practitioner?

Are you going through a Shamanic awakening?

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

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

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

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

This work is for you if:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

  • Shamanic and energy healing work.

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

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

  • Personal ritual or ceremony.

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

  • Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

2 Dogs and My Faith in Humanity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s break it down into these four parts:

  1. Taking Inspired Action

  2. Opens Doors

  3. Prayers

  4. Answered [Prayers]

…We’ll start with #3: Prayers.

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

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

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

Prayer = Intention + Asking for help from Spirit

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

#1: Taking Inspired Action

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

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

#2: Open Doors

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

#4: Answered Prayers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, friend, I ask you…

What are your prayers?

What inspired actions are you taking?

What doors are opening for you?

How are your prayers being answered?

…Do you want some help with that?

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

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

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

This work is for you if:

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

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

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

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

  • You are going through a deep personal healing journey.

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

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

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

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

Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:

  • Shamanic and energy healing work.

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

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

  • Personal ritual or ceremony.

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

  • Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use this link to put yourself on my calendar.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Many blessings,

Michelle Hawk

Freedom Through Commitment

What are you committed to this year?


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As an Alchemist, I commit...


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

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

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

As an Alchemist, I commit to being an instrument and steward of this body of knowledge, to ensuring its path in the modern world, and to honoring and participating in this cycle, always. I commit to holding the torch so that those who are ready may find the path. I commit to listening always to this work, and offering teachings in alignment with the instruction I receive.

 
If you are ready to step into your own commitments to the path, then I AM Alchemy is right for you. If you are ready to answer your deep soul calling to live your purpose... If you are ready to step into fulfillment of your Soul Contract and commitments... If you are ready to remember who you truly are, claim your I AM and inspire others to do the same... If you are ready to walk the Earth as a Divine Embodied Being...
 
...submit your application for I AM Alchemy now.

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

Journal prompts:


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

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

Your Spiritual Growth and Education in 2024

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

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

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

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

Here are some helpful things to consider. Ask yourself:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is working with me on your radar for 2024?


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

1:1 Transformational Mentorship

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

  • Prerequisites and preparation: None required.

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

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

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

 

I AM Alchemy

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

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

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

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

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

 

Dragon Initiation

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

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

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

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

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

 

Sacred Ecology

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

  • Prerequisites and preparation: None required.

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

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

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

Personal Retreat

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

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

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

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

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


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

I cried a little bit when I read this.

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

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

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

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

"Does this course actually help people?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Early Bird ends TODAY.

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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


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

  1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

  2. Book a consultation with me.

  3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

Why do you need Alchemy?

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

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

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

– The Emerald Tablet (text of Alchemy)

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

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

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

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

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

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

You, with your empathy and generosity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

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

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

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

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

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

  1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

  2. Book a consultation with me.

  3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

 

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

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

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

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

Let’s break down some of the common misconceptions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

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

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

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

  1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

  2. Book a consultation with me.

  3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

I AM Alchemy:

Study the Mystery

Practice Transformation

Actualize your Radiance

Is I AM Alchemy “too much?”

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

If so, this is for you.

Is I AM Alchemy “too much?”


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But as far as I'm concerned...

Fuck “too much.”

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

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

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

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

Is that "too much?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do you feel a calling to the mysteries?

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

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

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

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

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

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

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

$200 off Student Path!
$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

  1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

  2. Book a consultation with me.

  3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.

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

Study the Mystery. Practice Transformation. Actualize Your Radiance.

Study the Mystery.

Practice Transformation.

Actualize Your Radiance.

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

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

1. Study the Mystery

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

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

  • Which stage of Alchemy the person is in

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Stage of Alchemy: Dissolution

  • Levels of support: All levels

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

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

From this diagnostic assessment, we form our recommendations.

2. Practice Transformation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Actualize Your Radiance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I AM Alchemy begins March 2024.

As one course graduate shared:

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

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

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

$200 off Student Path!

$400 off Apprentice Path!

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

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

  1. Submit your application for I AM Alchemy.

  2. Book a consultation with me.

  3. Pay your deposit to hold your spot.