Articles

Shamanism: Approaching Indigenous Wisdom with Care and Respect by Ben Boomer Shamanism has grown in popularity as an idea and practice in the modern world. Shamanism is defined by the recognition of a common wisdom based on ancient or indigenous spiritual traditions. This broad definition has some advantages and disadvantages that are worth exploring. I […]

Cacophony of Chaos By Ben Boomer, CSEE Board President Coyote plays a big part in Navajo culture, and was very much a part of my childhood.  Those coyotes are an hilarious and tricky bunch with their howling cackling cacophony waiting just out of sight for any opportunity for shenanigans. Opportunities abound for the trickster as […]

Ghaajj Navajo New Year By Ben Boomer Long ago in the high desert plateau of what is now the southwestern United States, there was a tribe of people who gathered together in the cradle of four sacred mountains. They were known to the ancient Anasazi and pueblo people as “Field People” or ‘Na-bay-ho’ according to […]

The Circle People and the Square People By Ben Boomer In the mid-nineties I traveled to Zacatecas Mexico with Hopi artist and Architect Dennis Numkena. He was working on a museum exhibition that explored the relationship of the Hopi to the Mayans through his paintings. I was there to help him settle a studio space […]

Sage Advice By Ben Boomer My step son is 13 and he loves it when I Sage the house at night before bed. I had given him his own Abalone shell and a white Sage bundle a few months ago, but he just kept it on his book shelf unused. Just last week, when I […]

Joy is to be Respected and Savored By CSEE Board President Ben Boomer The steady rhythm of my heart beating as a metronome to an ancient song, sung in a language I don’t speak, but with a meaning that would heal my spirit. I sat in darkness both physical and metaphoric as my mind would […]

Grass Dance By Ben Boomer Every summer growing up I would tuck my pants into my socks and prepare myself for battle. The enemy at the time was Russian Thistle that grew relentlessly in the meadow that spread 40 acres in front of the house. They loved to grow where the soil has been disturbed. […]