Smoke and Mirrors page 5 (or 6...)

It's funny what you can accomplish when waiting for eight hours for your car's brakes to be fixed -- This page for example. Other than some last minute touch ups, this whole page was drawn in a West Seattle coffee shop. It's amazing how exhausting waiting can be, and I was fried when I got home afterwards, but it's days like this, when I can really dig into my passion for cartooning without interruption, that reminds me how much I absolutely love what I do. Shamanism and Cartooning -- The double helix of my existence, that both shapes and is shaped by who I am and who I become; My twin divinely destined vocational callings which I can not not answer as easily as I can not not breathe. They truly are not just what I do, but who I am -- A Shaman Cartoonist. 

This particular page is the fifth in my Smoke and Mirrors series, recalling my path to becoming a Sacred Pipe Carrier after being challenged by a couple people who questioned what I was doing online. When I started this page, I failed to reference the previous one and so this may become page six because I am realizing the need for a better segue. I also need to fix the bit about my Lakota teacher. After drawing the page I contacted my teacher and, though she was trained in Lakota ways, she is not herself Lakota. To move forward with even a slight inconsistency like that would undermine the integrity of, and the whole purpose and reason for drawing this particular comic.  

To read the entire series thus far, please click on the "Smoke and Mirrors" label below. If you enjoy what you read here, please follow my blog. I do hope you enjoy my comics as much as I enjoy drawing them, and thank you for reading!

By the way, my aforementioned teacher, Kristina Bloom, is amazing and was one of my greatest teachers. You can check out her website at https://kristinabloom.com/.

Pipe Song

Another episode from my adventure attending my first Sundance this past summer.

 

Smoke and Mirrors page 4

Here is page four of my latest comic series, documenting a current onslaught of soul-searching around my spiritual path and who I am. To read the rest of the pages thus far, please click on the Smoke and Mirrors label below, and to read more comics about my relationship and lessons with White Buffalo Calf Woman, click on that label below. 

Thank you for reading! 💖

 

Smoke and Mirrors page 3

Here is the third page of my most current comic series as I do some soul-searching to sort out, through the magick of cartooning, recent events that have had a couple people calling into question my integrity around videoing my sacred pipe videos, something that I know goes counter to tradition but which I've been consistently guided to do by my helping spirits, especially White Buffalo Calf Woman.

This is not an attempt to justify or excuse myself, or to make myself the good guy and cast aspersions on others. It is an honest look at what I do and why I do it -- a seeking of the truth, and of integrity. 

To read the other pages thus far in this series, please click on the Smoke and Mirrors label below. And to read other comics where I've dealt with similar issues, please click on the White Buffalo Calf Woman label below.

 

Smoke and Mirrors page 2

Presenting the second installment of my current (well, one of my current) comic projects, as I sort out for myself, through my comics, recent challenges from outside and from within, concerning my path. 

To catch up with both pages so far in this series, please click on the Smoke and Mirrors label below, and to read other comics where I wrestled with similar issues, please click on the White Buffalo Calf Woman label below.  

And again, as always, thank you so much for reading! <3

Smoke and Mirrors page 1

There's an issue that is never far away from my conscious mind that I've been dealing with since the beginning of the pandemic, which I find necessary to revisit from time to time in order to maintain my integrity around it in what I call my "Golden Lasso" moments. That issue is the videoing of sacred ceremonies, namely the Sacred Pipe Ceremony, which, if not outright forbidden by tradition, is definitely frowned upon.

I don't want to say too much about it at this point because this blog is largely about utilizing my cartooning skills to work things out. I'll just say that recently I've had a couple people, one indigenous and one not, requesting I stop because they felt that according to tradition it was disrespectful. This comic series is not to explain or justify myself, but to honestly look at what I do and why, and to find the balance, as well as the strength and courage, to continue forward when the guidance on my Shamanic path says one thing while traditions tell me something else. 

I have written about and drawn other comics on this subject, and to see those comics you can click on the White Buffalo Calf Woman label below. Please stay tuned for the unfolding of this comic series, and, as always, thank you for reading and for sharing this journey with me! <3    

 

Rocky Roots

 

Holy Smoke

 

Shaman En-Training

Appropriate Questions

This was a difficult one for me. My world has felt a bit inside-out recently as I became aware of a number of conversations concerning cultural appropriation, especially of Native Americans, and they were striking a little uncomfortably close to home, proving rather troubling to me. My spiritual path, no matter what you may call it, is based first and foremost on seeking the Truth - THE Truth that lies beneath all things - and to live that Truth, shedding any fallacies and illusions that obscure that Truth or separates me from that Truth. 

So this called for some soul searching, contemplation, and seeking guidance from both physical and spiritual realms, and I spent many hours connecting with White Buffalo Calf Woman, who has become one of my most prominent and active Spirit Guides. This was not an exercise in rationalization or in finding excuses to keep doing something that wasn't for the highest good, but a real seeking of the Truth, to avoid complacency and to assure that my actions where in alignment with that Truth. 

Ultimately what it comes down to is that my path, the shamanic path, is rooted in Direct Revelation - Direct guidance from the unseen spiritual realms, Non-Ordinary Reality in shamanic terms, which give rise to the seen, physical realms, Ordinary Reality in shamanic terms. It is about following the bread crumbs that your Helping Spirits leave for you, surrendering your fears in an ever expanding field of trust in your Spirits' wisdom and guidance. I have spent my entire life honing these skills, knowledge, and trust through life lessons, formal training, and spiritual initiations, constantly learning, expanding, and deepening my connection and alignment with the Source of Life. 

In other words I have learned how to trust and follow my guidance in my co-creative relationship with the Universe, and this is where that guidance has led me. It is not by accident or through attempting to pretend or to claim to be something I’m not just because it would look or sound cool. I am here through deep and deliberate work, surrendering and allowing my path to unfold. To quote Jeshua, "You are where you are, and that is perfect."