Three years ago in August I attended the International Primal Association's annual summer conference in Elmer, New Jersey. During a workshop with Oscar Miro-Quesada, I was introduced to shamanic journeying, visioning and trance techniques in the Inca tradition. The experience of this direct connection with spirit was so powerful and so loving that I felt I had been altered by it permanently. The feelings lasted all day and even into the night as I was preparing to leave.

"This is it!" I excitedly thought to myself. "If we can all get back to our primal roots and access this powerful spirit inside ourselves, we can save humanity! I'm going to put together a conference so a larger number of people can experience this shamanic healing and spiritual energy." In my mind's eye, I saw an egg set before me. Intuitively I knew I was being asked if I wanted to nurture and care for what was contained in the egg. I said yes. It was at that moment I believe, that Harvest Gathering was conceived.

In the following months, I slowly began to feel my way towards manifesting this vision for which I had no practical experience. Worry set in as I realized how little I knew about shamanism and indigenous healing techniques, not to mention producing the event itself. Then I received a letter from an Abenaki Indian grandmother from Vermont who alerted me to the fact that non-native people are generally disrespectful where natives people's sacred ceremonies are concerned, even to the point of making a business out of selling these healing teachings and traditions.

Her words were truly shocking to me because I had never considered these ideas before. I looked at my own situation — a non-native person dabbling in indigenous people's wisdom — and realized that I, too, was in danger of trampling on precious fruits and flowers because I was ignorant of the garden in which I was standing. I knew nothing of the people, the history or the traditions which had cultivated such spiritual abundance, only that I was inexorably drawn to the nectar of these blossoms. I re-examined my motivations in producing the conference. On one hand, I saw the opportunity to bring this healing work to lots of others who would benefit just as I had from the experience of feeling spirit move so powerfully through the body. It would help raise all of humanity to higher levels of consciousness, as one by one, we initiated ourselves into direct contact with spirit. On the other hand, I had to admit that I foresaw some financial reward for myself in producing the event since shamanism was such a popular topic. It had never occurred to me to think about the origin of these teachings or that I was planning to profit from sacred traditions, particularly ones that were not native to me.

I decided that the work of the conference should include not only sharing these shamanic healing tools and ceremonies, but also listening to what indigenous people had to say — about non-natives participating so intimately in their culture and traditions, about indigenous oppression still happening around the world today and about the prophecies which foretold of the coming together of all races and the conditions which must exist in our hearts and minds and lifestyles for that to happen. Indigenous people are known to be the keepers of this sacred wisdom, often referred to as the original instructions for humanity on this planet and the prophecies tell us that at the appointed time, native people will share their wisdom with the world. We need to be learning directly from these people at this time. I feel this is part of the fulfillment of the prophecies — that indigenous people are raised to the level of visibility and influence that will allow them to lead humanity into the next age. This cannot happen if non-native people insert themselves into these roles as leaders and teachers of these traditions instead.

We began this dialogue at the first Harvest Gathering in 1997. Since that time, I have gradually become more aware of the indigenous cultures from which these spiritual teachings and ceremonies arise, particularly through working with North American Indian elders. What I have learned most is the importance of listening. Practicing this one simple act cultivates all other essential spiritual qualities — patience, respect, faith and humility — and in time, even opens up our eyes to see. I soon realized that the true gift of Harvest Gathering was in presenting a platform from which these native voices could be heard so we could begin our education together.

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Carol Bedrosian is the Publisher and Editor of Spirit of Change Magazine which is located in Grafton, MA. To contact Carol call 508-839-2228 or fax 508-839-1173.