Venus Rising Media Kit
( http://shamanicbreathwork.org/home/mediakit )
Company: Venus Rising Association for Transformation
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 486
City: Sylva
State/Province: NC
Zip/Postal Code: 28779
Street Address: 112 Isis Lane
City: Whittier
State: NC
ZIP: 28789
Country: USA
Phone: 828–631-2305
Fax: 828–586-1810
Web Site: www.shamanicbreathwork.org
Email:
Information: 828–631-2305
Co-Directors: Linda Star Wolf and Brad Collins
Media Contact: Laura Wolf
Contact Phone: 828–631-2305
Venus Rising Association for Transformation is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1996 by the acclaimed shamanic, psycho-spiritual teacher and author Linda Star Wolf. Star Wolf developed the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process as a synthesis of the shamanic stream of work throughout the ages, in conjunction with modern integrated psychological principles. Star Wolf has led and taught personal transformation workshops around the world, for over 35 years. Co-directors Brad Collins and Linda Star Wolf moved the Institute to the mountains of western North Carolina in 2003, creating Isis Cove Retreat Center and attracting a community of national shamanic healers to the center. Venus Rising is dedicated to "Awakening the Shaman Within" for all peoples. We offer a wide variety of personal transformation workshops and spiritual retreats focused on helping individuals let go of what is not working in their lives and step instead into an embodied experience of their own wholeness. We believe the 'Shaman is Within' and 'the Healing is the Teaching'. No one can lead others beyond their own limitations. Our staff consists of heart-centered individuals who continue to walk the Spiral Path of healing in their own lives.
Linda Star Wolf, has been a visionary teacher and shamanic guide to thousands of people over the last 35 years. Star Wolf is the Founder and Co-Director of Venus Rising Association for Transformation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, and the Founder and President of Venus Rising University for Shamanic Psychospiritual Studies, established in August of 2010 in the state of North Carolina. The author of several books and the creator of the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process, much of Star Wolf’s work is revelatory and comes from her own direct experience. With over 30 years of recovery from her own experience with addictions, Star Wolf has dedicated her life to helping others to release dysfunctional patterns of all kinds and to radically transform their lives. She teaches people how to awaken to the bigger picture, embody their own inner Visionary Shaman and step into a life of passionate purpose. Star Wolf’s strong personal commitment to sacred activism and visionary leadership led her to create the Shamanic Ministers Global Network, a worldwide association of Shamanic Ministers and Congregations dedicated to helping those they serve to awaken to their own sacred purpose. Star Wolf also co-founded the annual Wise Wolf Councils, a four-day gathering of spiritual leaders and lay people from around the world who come together to share their wisdom teachings and to vision for our planet. In 2003, Star Wolf and her husband, Brad Collins, Co-Founded the Isis Cove Community and Retreat Center in the beautiful Blue Mountains of western North Carolina where they reside in community with 20 other shamanic practitioners who have also made Isis Cove their home — along with several dogs, cats, chickens, goats, birds and critters of all kinds.
Starting out as a therapist in the mental health and addictions fields in the 1980’s, Star Wolf is a nationally certified alcohol and drug counselor. She holds a BA in Human Services from St. Leo College and a Doctorate of Ministry and Ph. D. in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Integrative Learning where she first conceived the idea of someday creating a shamanic psychospiritual university. Star Wolf was originally introduced to Holotropic breathwork by its founder, Stan Grof, and trained extensively with Jacquelyn Small, founder of Integrative Breathwork, becoming one of the lead trainers at Small’s Eupsychia Institute. Star Wolf also studied shamanic earth wisdom teachings with the late Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, a Seneca Wolf Clan elder and founder of the Seneca Indian Historical Society. Grandmother Twylah adopted Star Wolf as a Spiritual Granddaughter and gave her the spirit name of Star Wolf.
Star Wolf created the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process as a synthesis of her personal exploration and direct healing experiences with breathwork, shamanic wisdom, depth psychology and addictions recovery methods. The Shamanic Breathwork™ Process utilizes the breath, sound healing through chakra-attuned music, energetic bodywork, soul return and extraction, shamanic art processes, scribing and group processing. Journeyers enter an altered state of consciousness that heals trauma experienced earlier in life, creates a connection with their soul and spirit guides, and receive visions about their sacred purpose in the world.
Published by ITI / Bear and Company:
Self-published:
For a list of interviews and articles featuring Linda Star Wolf, please visit: http://www.shamanicbreathwork.org/audiovideo/interviews-articles.html
Bradford C. Collins, Ph. D., is the Co-Director of Venus Rising Association for Transformation, Vice President of Venus Rising University for Shamanic Psychospiritual Studies and Director of the Transformation House Soul Recovery Program. A certified Shamanic Minister, Shamanic Breathwork™ Teacher, Trainer and Facilitator, Brad is the Co-Director of the Shamanic Ministers’ Global Network. After a life-changing vision he received during a breathwork journey in 1994, Brad created the Shamanic Initiatory Priest Process (SIPP), a highly experiential and transformative process designed to help men step into their authentic power and Visionary Leadership. A pioneer in planetary transformation for more than three decades, part of Brad’ s mission encompasses land-stewardship.
With a background in Environmental Science and Education, Brad was a leader in the development of the natural foods movement in the United States. He helped form many of the original organic farming standards for several states and educated thousands of people in natural living and healing. Brad has held the vision of living in community ever since he was a teenager. Brad co-founded the Isis Cove Community and Retreat Center with his wife, Linda Star Wolf, in 2003. Isis Cove Community stewards over 45 beautiful acres in the magical Blue Mountains of western North Carolina. Brad has been involved with 12 step recovery programs for more than 25 years. In his private shamanic counseling practice, Brad’ s passion is to assist others in releasing self-defeating behavior patterns.
Providing safe and sacred space for those seeking his counsel, Brad offers everyone he works with, both men and women, loving kindness and acceptance. Brad believes the shaman lives within each of us and lovingly holds that vision for those he serves.
The Transformation House Soul Recovery Program provides a safe place and a supportive process for those desiring a deeper level of intensive mind-body-spirit transformation. Whether you wish to deepen your spiritual connection, move from one phase of life to another, work on self-defeating behavior patterns, process and release addictions, walk through a dark night of the soul or discover your sacred purpose, everything you experience at Transformation House is designed to re-establish your connection to your deeper Self.
Wouldn't you like to have a richer experience of life?…Better relationships, more love, peace, joy, creativity and prosperity? You know in your heart if you are ready to leave behind the patterns that have kept you from being who you want to be in the world. If you are feeling the call to do inner work for real and lasting change in your life, the Transformation House Soul Recovery Program can help you begin to realize your potential.
Come to Transformation House and practice being who you really are…
Transformation House is located at Isis Cove Community and Retreat Center in the magical blue mountains of Western North Carolina, near Asheville. Isis Cove Community stewards over 40 acres of beautiful land, which includes hiking trails, a pond and several outdoor temples and quiet meditation spots on the land. Most guests stay for two to four weeks. We ask that you plan on a two week minimum stay as our experience teaches us that time is required to take ourselves apart and put ourselves back together again. This process will give you the opportunity to practice being your authentic self so that you can take that back into your life and your relationships.
When you are ready to open the doors to your best Self ever, contact us at 828–631-2305 or and a caring member of our staff will help plan your personal retreat at Transformation House.
Ruby Falconer is the Staff Astrologer, Student Supervisor, Business Manager, a Shamanic Minister, a Shamanic Breathwork™ Master Practitioner and a Workshop Facilitator at Venus Rising. Her new book, Shamanic Egyptian Astrology: Your Planetary Relationship to the Gods, co-written with Linda Star Wolf, was released by ITI /Bear and Company in March of 2010.
Kathy "Sundance" Morrison is the Isis Cove Retreat House Resident Assistant, a Shamanic Breathwork™ Master Practitioner, a Shamanic Minister and a certified Massage Therapist.
Laura Wolf is the Publicity Manager for Venus Rising, a Shamanic Minister, a Shamanic Breathwork™ Facilitator and the Shamanic Shakti Yoga instructor at Venus Rising.
The Shamanic Breathwork™ Process is the main tool used by the staff facilitators at Venus Rising events. Shamanic Breathwork™ is a safe and powerful tool, using the breath, evocative music, energetic body work, art, and group processing to induce altered states, connect deeply to your inner Divine Source, clear out energetic blocks, and get clarity about your sacred purpose and next right actions in the world. http://shamanicbreathwork.org/shamanic-breathwork
The SHIP Program is a unique and powerful personal transformation program. It is a series of five transformative initiations designed to remove the obstacles to true growth for participants, let go of old story lines that no longer serve them and step into their sacred purpose in this lifetime.
Participants in S.H.I.P. experience powerful and healing personal transformation breakthroughs.
Each of the five workshops features the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process, a safe and powerful healing tool that uses the breath, chakra-attuned music, focused bodywork, art, and group sharing to help individuals connect to their own inner healer/Shaman and step into life as an authentic, empowered person, sharing your gifts with those you love and the world.
SHIP is currently taught at Isis Cove and in Sedona, AZ. Click HERE to learn more about our transformation and training programs.
altered state: A non-ordinary state of consciousness that supports access to one's higher self and other worlds; can provide insight into shadow, or un-owned parts of self, as well as a deeper understanding of aspects of external reality.
Aquarian shaman: One who knows that the shaman is within and lives in shamanic consciousness.
cycles of change: The alchemical map of shamanic consciousness that describes movement through five elemental pathways of death and rebirth.
personal transformation: Moving from one level of consciousness to another through the process of death and rebirth. Comprehensive change.
shamanic-psychospiritual experience: a sacred union which integrates all of our parts in all realms. This unification of the whole person results in an embodiment that gives us the strength and courage to fulfill our capacity as wise beings.
sacred marriage: The blending or unification of spirit, soul, and ego into a cohesive, harmonious state of consciousness.
shadow: The repressed, unconscious, disowned part of the psyche. The shadow must be uncovered and integrated in order to reach wholeness.
shaman: In various cultures a priest, priestess, healer, or medicine man or woman is referred to as a shaman. The shaman is the "wounded healer," one who has experienced and survived many ordeals, or "deaths," and returns to the community to share acquired healing wisdom with others.
shamanic consciousness: Having the eyes to see and the ears to hear beyond the mundane outer appearance of any situation and into higher levels of love and wisdom. A state of consciousness within which one moves continually through processes of death and rebirth.
Shamanic Reiki: A healing technique utilizing energetic symbols and vibrations transmitted to individuals during Shamanic Breathwork. Shamanic Reiki is also used to open individuals to their own capacity for transmitting healing to others.
soul return: The process of reclaiming lost soul parts, which are various aspects of self that have been lost through misuse, abuse, or trauma.
spiral path: A philosophical model explaining the orbiting evolution of our lives through our soul patterns in order to learn lessons resulting in spiritual growth. An ancient symbol representing the emerging synthesis of the linear and circular paths.
Isis Cove Community Retreat Center is both an intentional community and the home of the Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts, situated on 40+ acres of unspoiled land in the magical, mystical Blue Mountains of western North Carolina, one hour west of Asheville, near Cherokee. There are trails for walking, enjoyable nature spots and many inviting outside spaces for meditation and quiet contemplation, including a Medicine Wheel, a Fire Circle and an outdoor Spirit Temple at the top of the land with an astonishing view of the surrounding mountains. The land is alive, the spirits are active and the air is rich with magic. The Cove spins a cocoon of safety and comfort allowing all who visit to sink into their hearts and open to the call of their soul. The Isis Cove Retreat House, Sanctuary, and Art Temple are available for workshops and retreats. Call 828–631-2305 for more information. To read more about Isis Cove, please click HERE
The Shamanic Ministers' Global Network is a worldwide association of Shamanic Ministers ordained through the Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts. These ministers, trained to hold Shamanic Consciousness in Every Day Life, all share the same commitment… that of supporting those we serve, members of our congregation, friends and family in embracing one basic concept central to the shamanic perspective. This concept is that the cycle of death and re-birth is a constant and that our lives become incredibly enriched when we consciously embrace this awareness rather than fight it. While individual Shamanic Ministers within this global network may use different tools to awaken shamanic awareness within those around them, all begin with this core understanding.
The Shamanic Ministers ordained through Venus Rising have all demonstrated a desire to heal themselves of their own fear and resistance to the eternal cycles of change and to also assist others in the healing process. It is the belief of all involved in the Shamanic Ministers' Global Network that holding a deeply personal and creative relationship with these processes of change will help create a better world here on planet earth. Through right relationship with ourselves, our congregation, our friends, family and the earth itself each of us can become the change we want to see in the world. Shamanic Ministers must have competed the S.H.I.P. program in order to become ordained.
Location: Shamanic Breathwork channel on YouTube (http://youtube.com/shamanicbreathwork)
http://shamanicbreathwork.org/interviews-and-articles
Aquarian Shaman: Shamanisn for New Age, Linda Star Wolf:
http://aquarianshaman.lindastarwolf.com/
Whittier, NC, February 19, 2010 — Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts Announces Free Shamanic Breathwork™ Workshops in First Ever Breathe America Event
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts is offering four days of free Shamanic Breathwork™ workshops March 11 – 14, 2010 in its first ever Breathe America event. These personal transformation workshops will be taught by internationally acclaimed Shamanic Teachers, Facilitators, and Healers, including Linda Star Wolf, the renowned developer of the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process and founder of Venus Rising. The Breathe America event will be held at Isis Cove Retreat Center in western North Carolina, also the headquarters of Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts.
“We are so excited about Breathe America. Through the Shamanic Breathwork™ process we’ve really found a way that people can experience accelerated personal transformation. We want as many people as possible to have the experience of who they truly are by awakening the shaman within.” Says Brad Collins, Co-Director of Venus Rising.
The Breathe America event is a unique opportunity to explore and experience the shamanic healing work offered at Venus Rising Institute. Participants can experience the Shamanic Breathwork™ Process, as well as learn about other kinds of shamanic healing arts, all completely free. Participants may attend any number of workshops during the four days of Breathe America. For more information and to register for the event visit www.shamanicbreathwork.org or call Venus Rising at 828–631-2305.
March 12, 2012 – Asheville, North Carolina: Recently, Visionary Shamanism:
Activating the Imaginal Cells of the Human Energy Field, by Linda Star Wolf and Anne Dillon, catapulted onto Amazon's best-seller list, clinching the #1 spot in Shamanism and #1 in Paganism. Offering new tools for connecting to our highest vision for our own lives and for the planet and then bringing that vision into reality, Visionary Shamanism also landed #45 in Personal Transformation and #72 in Religion and Spirituality.
"This is a brave and extremely lucid vision of how we can birth our future. I recommend it with joy." Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism
The Earth is undergoing a highly transitional time as outworn structures break down and new ones are being created. Facing the highest rate of unemployment since the great depression, millions of foreclosed homes, worldwide unrest, and record levels of depression, anxiety and addiction, our planet is crying out for help. Despite these volatile times, Linda Star Wolf and Anne Dillon want us to know that there is hope, and they offer various ways to find that hope and apply it to our lives in their new book Visionary Shamanism.
“We no longer have the luxury of learning only from the past–we must also download information from the future in order to make worldwide change and reach our highest human potential as quickly as possible,” stresses Star Wolf.
“A beautiful work of wisdom and inspiration, powerful medicine for a soul-sick and frightened world.”
Allan Combs, co-author of Thomas Berry: Dreamer of the Earth
Professor of Transformative Studies — California Institute of Integral Studies
Drawing on her own direct experience of recovery from addictions, 30+ years as a mental health/ addictions counselor and spiritual teacher, wisdom teachings shared from her adopted Seneca Wolf Clan Grandmother Twylah Nitsch, and the powerful Shamanic Breathwork ™ practice which Star Wolf developed, Visionary Shamanism explains how to heal the past, learn from the future and activate the imaginal cells — seeds of the future that are downloading into our human consciousness. When we consciously choose to activate these seeds, we can manifest our most creative ideas and newest incarnations more quickly and speed up our evolutionary potential in this lifetime.
Star Wolf has helped thousands of people transform their lives.
Molly Roberts, MD, President of the American Holistic Medical Association and an Institute for Health & Healing physician, recommends Shamanic Breathwork to patients and physicians as a way to make more rapid physical, emotional, and spiritual shifts.
Combat veteran and trial attorney, Paul Henderson, uses breathwork to help combat veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Finally accepting that the medical method of treating PTSD is not working, the military and Veteran’s Association is opening up to new approaches including breathwork. The results have been astonishing.
Liz Quick, a career RN, used Shamanic Breathwork to heal her own anxiety and discovered she was then able to help patients express their concerns, thereby radically reducing their fear and anxiety. At the management level of health care, Quick uses the training from Star Wolf’s Venus Rising University to better understand human nature, group dynamics, and successful resolution of conflict.
“Visionary Shamanism reminds us to create from the future and not from the past. Through its many wonderful stories, ancient spiritual teachings are revealed and clear guidance is offered as to how we can heal our past and clear the way to be the best self we are meant to be.”
Christine R. Page, M.D., author of 2012 and The Galactic Center
Linda Star Wolf, founder of Venus Rising Association for Transformation and Venus Rising University for Shamanic Psychospiritual Studies and the Shamanic Breathwork process, (a practice using the transformative healing power of the breath) has led workshops worldwide since 1984. The author of Shamanic Breathwork and co-author of Shamanic Egyptian Astrology, Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt, and The Anubis Oracle, she and her husband live and work at their Isis Cove Retreat Center near Asheville, North Carolina.
Anne Dillon is an editor, Reiki practitioner, and student of the alternative healing arts. She lives in Waitsfield, Vermont.
Visionary Shamanism
Activating the Imaginal Cells of the Human Energy Field
By Linda Star Wolf and Anne Dillon
Foreword by Barbara Hand Clow
ISBN: 978–1-59143–131-2, December 2011. Ebook ISBN: 978–1-59143–939-4
Imrpint: Bear & Company. Paperback: $16.00, 192 pages, 6 X 9
Includes 9 B&W Illustrations
55 minute Visionary Shamanism Musical Journeys CD by Matt Venuti
Publisher Media Contact:
Olatundji Akpo-Sani
Inner Traditions * Bear & Company
Publicity/Marketing Associate
1 Park Street Rochester, VT 05767
(802) 767‑3174 ext. 141
(June 13, 2010, Cherokee, NC) “I…accept all people as human beings wherever they may be or whatever color of skin they may wear. I pray that others may come to the path of unity that will allow us to overcome the enemy of separation that is now trying to destroy all of the earth. Let us make prayers for the healing of the Earth Mother. I have spoken.” Sun Bear
These are the words of Sun Bear, an Ojibwa Medicine Chief known for reintroducing the practice of the Medicine Wheel after centuries of it being underground. In keeping with this vision, a modern Medicine Wheel ceremony is being held at Sun Bear’s Medicine Wheel Gathering near Asheville on July 23rd through 25th at Venus Rising Institute.
“In our modern times, this seem more relevant than ever,” says Linda Star Wolf, celebrated author and director of Venus Rising Institute. “With the oil spill in the Gulf Coast, wildlife dying in multitudes, and our own internal battles and struggles, we need something that can help bring greater harmony to the world.”
The original practice of the Medicine Wheel, began at least 4000 years ago, and although it had many purposes, was thought to represent the cycles and balance of life. A relatively common symbol today, Native Americans were not allowed to practice their traditional ceremonies of the Medicine Wheel and other sacred rites until the passing of the religious freedom act in 1978. Prior to that time it was illegal many of their sacred ceremonies in the United States. Sun Bear recognized the importance of reviving this ancient rite and offering its teachings to people of all faiths and colors despite controversy from within his own tribe and intense scrutiny from the main-stream public.
The upcoming Sun Bear Medicine Wheel Gathering will initiate and “open” the wheel. In addition to the Medicine Wheel Ceremony, the three-day event will include a Pipe Carriers Dance, and workshops and lectures by such well-known teachers as Freeman Olwe, Iris Bradley, Page Bryant, Brad Collins and Linda Star Wolf. Wind Daughter, who is leading the ceremony, is a nationally recognized ceremonialist trained by Sun Bear. Wind Daughter works with national and regional circles to assist others on the path of healing. She is also the founder of West Winds, a spiritual and educational center for people seeking safety of religious expression and a greater connection to earth. Since 1981, the Sun Bear Medicine Lodge has hosted over 100 Modern Medicine Wheel Gatherings, with more than 61,000 participants, throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
SUN BEAR’S MEDICINE WHEEL GATHERING
July 23, 24 & 25
at Venus Rising Institute, near Cherokee, NC
For more information contact Venus Rising at 828–631-2305,
Email:
Venus Rising Institute for Shamanic Healing Arts
PO Box 486, Sylva, NC 28779
Media Relations: Laura Wolf
Phone: 828–631-2305
(Click image to view/download full-size image.)
Visionary Shamanism
Shamanic Egyptian Astrology
30 Shamanic Questions
The Anubis Oracle
Shamanic Breathwork
Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt