“I practice Spirit work/Shamanic work in a culture that tries to pretend that Spirit doesn’t exist. In the beginning, this was upsetting to me. At this point I feel part of my work is to really normalize the conversation. It is normal to have a conversation with your Ancestors. What I noticed was the more I was open about what I felt and heard from Spirit, the more I was open and casual about this with people that I’d talk to, they’d open up to me and tell me about their experiences. And then I wondered, how many people are having these experiences but are afraid to talk about it because we live in a culture that pretends it doesn’t exist, that tries to suppress it. So I realized it’s actually important to talk about it. And I suspect that the future generations are going to have a much easier time with this. I believe the shift is present. So, what started out as an issue has become a catalyst. For that, I’m grateful.”
~ Liv Wheeler
San Francisco CA
SOUL SISTER
I remember talking to my friend a few days ago, about how fascinated I am about the shamanic tradition, and how much I have learned from about myself from just reading and reflecting on the teachings that have been carried on from generation to generation, they are the simplest teachings too, lessons that come from Nature, and all who belong to her. Lessons from the Spirit, something that I discovered on my own, not too long ago, that led me to connect with the world at large.
I remember too, how I chanced upon this subject on a book I just read (Aleph by Paulo Coelho). Here, he mentioned that ”The first shamans were women , the source of life. Since they did not go hunting or fishing, they could devote themselves to contemplation and immerse themselves in the sacred mysteries”. This makes sense to me, since it has been said that the most ancient relics were of goddesses and figurines of women. Of course, the burden of proof always lies among those who wish to unravel the mystery, I keep an open mind on this… It’s an interesting thought to ponder on though. And as soon I read this I thought maybe one day I could interview a woman shaman. If I was luck enough to connect with someone immersed in the tradition. For days I have been searching for one.
So, I was really excited when I found out that Liv Wheeler, someone I had connected withonly through Facebook last February, told me she practiced the tradition. I sent Liv an invitation to talk about her group
Ancestor Bridge , I wanted to feature her for no other reason but that I resonate with her dream — Connecting people through the arts, and giving back to the world by nurturing the lives of our children. It’s amazing… how things just slot in perfectly when you set your intention and trust the Universe. Because not only was I connected with someone we can all truly call a “Soul Sister”, she was also the person I was looking for exactly! This feature is just a testimony of how Spirit works…. in mysterious and AWESOME ways. I embrace this mystery and I am grateful to meet such a warm soul, who blesses the earth with her light.
Who is Liv Wheeler?
I’m a woman who came into the world to be helpful to others. I’m a woman connected to Spirit for the purpose of being helpful to community. I feel like I’m also here to be a reminder of love.
Tell me about your passions.
I’m passionate about creativity. Sometimes I love designing clothing or DJ’ing. I love traveling and experiencing new cultures. I’m passionate about music and dance. I’m passionate about love. I’m passionate about growth. And I love seeing people live into their potential!
I think it’s amazing how you are connecting people through your work. How did Ancestor Bridge begin?
About a year ago Spirit starting coming strong with messages. They wanted a new website. They wanted it dedicated to community. They wanted it to be focused on the meeting space of Spirit with music and Spirit with art. And they also started speaking loudly about the importance of bringing the future generations into the dialogue. It was actually quite intense when they were bringing the visions. They kind of rode me about it. I felt like I couldn’t settle until the whole website was put together. They wanted interviews to happen. It was interesting because there wasn’t an answer to the question they were posing about the meeting space of spirit with art and Spirit with music. They just wanted the question engaged, engaged in a new way.
See, we already recognize, for the most part, that in the indigenous forms of music, dance, and arts, that Spirit is a part of it. It seems very mapped out and recognized. And it’s eloquent and it’s precise feeling. It’s beautiful and has protocol around it, often times. They wanted the modern arts and music to be addressed. So the first interview with my friend, aerosol artist, East 3, I went into the interview really going into the unknown. I asked him if he knew what was behind his aerosol can, what inspired him to paint. That really started the beautiful trail that Spirit took me on, keeping me in the dark in such an exquisite way, asking me to trust the process.
Soon after that they wanted me to join in collaboration with Anais Szabo. She and I, at this point, are involved in all aspects of Ancestor Bridge together. We facilitate rituals and workshops together and even sit together to divine from time to time. We were getting the message to work together from spirit directly as well as receiving the message through shamans in Africa. They pointed out our medicine together. We merged at Ancestor Bridge pretty early on. Ancestor Bridge has almost felt like a template for approaching older medicine with fresh eyes. And in the process of the interviews there was a turning point. In the beginning we were interviewing from the perspective of Anais or myself, Liv.
When Spirit prompted us towards interviewing Dj Qbert, the energy shifted. When he was on his way over for the interview Spirit started getting really loud. They were wanting to conduct the interview. I started laughing when I heard this and told them, I’ll pose it to him. I asked Anais as well and she was very open to it. And Q (Dj Qbert) was super open to it as well. So we pretty much went into it guided by Spirit. And they took us on really interesting twists and turns during that session! It was very exciting! At the end Anais and I recognized that we really should continue with that way. And I’ve been in awe of the process.
They (Spirit) let us know who they want us to interview and we approach the people. Which is kind of an interesting process to engage in. Because we’re really asking people to be open to anything. Which is a lot to ask of someone. Because we really have no idea what direction their Ancestors or Spirit are going to take the conversation. It asks for a great deal of trust and we’ve been very grateful that people are willing to open themselves in that way. And we always hope that it’s in benefit to community in some way. We really articulate that intention. So, Ancestor Bridge is really guided by the Ancestors. I don’t think I could ever map out something the way that they have and I feel like we’ve really only gotten a glimpse of it. They hand us a piece of the puzzle at a time it seems. And it’s very exciting when a picture starts to emerge from the puzzle!
What’s the inspiration?
My Ancestors, Spirit. I’m inspired by my friends, by community. I feel very blessed with the people that I’m able to call on for support. I’m crazy inspired when I see change emerge that’s life honoring! I become very motivated when I see people supporting each other because they care so deeply for each other. This, to me, is real beauty..
Me too… there is just so much separation, and it brings hope to see people come together in the spirit of oneness … all for the same dream. I do feel that change is here. The Occupy movement is something that is growing worldwide, so maybe it’s a good chance to talk about that too.
I find the Occupy Movement incredibly inspiring! I’ve read pieces here and there about it. I’ve been watching the posts on Facebook. I’ve looked at videos. I’ve been watching the maps of the occupy movements that are spreading. I think it’s extraordinary! I imagine that it’s very diverse in energies being expressed but overall it feels very liberated. It has the feeling to me of shackles being released. I think about power dynamics a lot. I feel like in an ideal scenario, power or energy would be evenly distributed. I’m not a fan of hierarchy. I feel like it’s mildly life oppressing. And we’ve had the extreme of that, globally. And this feels like the effect. At some point enough is enough. And so I hope that this goes well and can be non violent. I pray for that. And it feels like this needed to happen. It really feels like the overall model that modern culture perpetuates, power over, is being challenged, by mere numbers of people in the streets. I’ve heard that there are very fertile conversations happening, that people are discussing new ways of being. How exciting! And how liberated, that the recognition is present that we decide collectively. In this way I find it fantastic! My prayer is that it will lead to a life sustaining way of living, that respects all of life equally, including the ones that are in the unseen (Spirit). This may be a good time to call on our global Elders of villages that are still intact. Asking advice about how we can truly live in harmony with each other. Or maybe these Elders are among all of us, waiting for the opportunity to be seen, so they can bring their medicine in service to community.
I believe they are among us… In line with this thought, what do you feel is the major problem being faced by someone like you today? (healers, social workers, visionaries).
Well, I practice Spirit work/shamanic work in a culture that tries to pretend that Spirit doesn’t exist. In the beginning, this was upsetting to me. At this point I feel part of my work is to really normalize the conversation. It is normal to have a conversation with your Ancestors. What I noticed was the more I was open about what I felt and heard from Spirit, the more I was open and casual about this with people that I’d talk to, they’d open up to me and tell me about their experiences. And then I wondered, how many people are having these experiences but are afraid to talk about it because we live in a culture that pretends it doesn’t exist, that tries to suppress it. So I realized it’s actually important to talk about it. And I suspect that the future generations are going to have a much easier time with this. I believe the shift is present. So, what started out as an issue has become a catalyst. For that, I’m grateful.
Beautiful ! … That’s wonderful, I haven’t met any woman shaman you’re the first so far. Can you tell me more about this, what introduced you to the tradition? Was Ayahuasca a part of the experience?
Yes, it’s true that I do shamanic work. And this means so many different things to so many different people. For me, it means that I basically am in connection with my Ancestors and various other Spirits that assist me in my own life and in my healing work with others. So when I sit with a person I feel their spirit in their body, I also feel many other spirits present. Typically Ancestors and then there are additionals. And so I feel myself, sort of, in between worlds. And my intention that I hold is that this can be for the greatest service to community. So they work through me or they speak through me in order to affect positive change in this world.
A lot of people, I’ve recognized, connect shamanic work with Ayahuasca or some of the various plant medicine teachers. I’ve noticed this is very popular around the San Francisco Bay Area. It seems people have profound experiences with these medicines. I haven’t actually experienced most of the plant medicines before. It’s really because I haven’t felt the calling, personally. And I recognize that people are having profound healing with their experiences with these various nature spirits. I imagine the Shaman or the practitioner becomes very important. I have a deep respect for the rooted traditions, the ones that have spent generations in a particular location getting to know the plant spirits.
My Ancestors were calling me to remember about 11 years ago. They came through my heart and my instinct. They spoke to me through intuition. They had me spending a lot of time with children, because the children were helping me to remember. They guided me into healing work, into shamanic work, to eventually meeting my teacher, Malidoma Some. From there, the unfolding and the remembering continued. It brought me to Burkina Faso, Africa, into a culture that was so different from the one that I was raised in and yet felt so familiar. They unraveled me to the point that I finally was able to hear them. They connected me to Kontomble, who taught me how to divine with a stick. At this point Spirit talks to me through a stick. They start writing letters with it, very fast, like scribbling. While they write with the stick and while my eyes are closed, they show me the words. They come onto a screen in my mind’s eye. I’ll see the words and feel what they’re writing. I’ll hear them sometimes also and I feel their energy very strong. Sometimes they make my head tingle or my heart beat fast. They have many ways to get my attention now. And, for the most part, I’ve become a better listener and so they don’t have to talk so loud (giggling)! So, it’s the way that we communicate, mostly through a stick. I feel extraordinarily grateful that we have the lines of communication open, that they can pass their vision over without a lot of interference. I give thanks daily that I’m in a process of remembering and bow with humility to this path..
I feel, ultimately, that we have to follow where our hearts or our instincts guide us. if someone told me I had to stay exclusive to the traditions that come from my birth ancestors, i never would have discovered my path, which has so much to do with Burkina Faso, Africa. my heart aches to even think about that.
What advice will you be giving your children about life?
Well, I can’t say for certain yet that I’ll have children. In some ways I feel committed to all children. I love them immediately. I feel that children already know. I believe it’s our job to listen to them and support them and probably even take notes! I feel this is the turning tide, if we’re willing, to see I feel this is the turning tide, if we’re willing, to see that the children are our elders. To treat them with respect and kindness and see what they’re willing to teach us about Spirit and the realm of the Ancestors.They are so incredibly wise. They are the change coming. They are the change present. Our job is to keep them protected and nurtured. So I feel this is the responsibility that we face currently, as a vast community.
What’s keeping you busy? Any new projects?
This would probably be a good time to talk about Kontomble. Aside from my Ancestors, Kontomble is one of my greatest teachers from the Otherworld. Kontomble has been described as a certain kind of nature Spirit, a dwarf, a nome. In the Phillipines, I hear they’re called duende. I’ve heard them called Menehune in Hawaii. For the Dagara people of Dano in Burkina Faso, Africa, they’re called Kontomble. And I give thanks to me mentor, Malidoma Some, for helping me to remember the kontomble. The kontomble have really been loud with Anais and I. They’re talking to us a lot about newclasses, new rituals, new kinds of community. I mention kontomble now because they’ve been really pivotal in bringing the visions through for us. They seem to thrive in the cutting edge, perhaps the place of paradox as well. So, come November 2nd we’ll be putting some new workshops out there that were created by kontomble that I’m so excited about!
On 2012…
What do I feel about 2012? I feel the potency of the energy. My connection to 2012 is partly related to Venus. In 2004 I started feeling Venus very strong and started doing research around Venus and 2012. It turns out that there’s a transit that happens with Venus about every 122 years. The transits come in pairs, 8 years apart. It was most recently in June of 2004 and the next will be June of 2012. Venus gets associated with love and music, the arts, beauty, cooperation. Venus also seems to get associated with the divine feminine and the divine feminine lives in all of us. I think about the life sustaining energies that seem to be rising. We also seem to be heading into the year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac, which feels very potent. In the Dagara tradition of Burkina Faso, we’re entering into a fire year. Fire is associated with Ancestors. It feels like our Ancestors are going to get really loud in the coming year. And it seems many traditions speak to this time.
I’ve mostly heard people associating the Mayan cosmology with 2012. so, we shall see but it feels very potent. And I bow my head in respect to our ancient ancestors that were connected enough to hear the wisdom of the stars. May they continue to share that wisdom so that this transition that we find ourselves in may be as graceful as possible..
Your ONE MESSAGE to the world.
Be kind to each other.
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For more information on Liv Wheeler , visit her
www.ancestorbridge.com
or her
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A cup of warmth and wonder from a Soul like you.
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