BIO

          Greetings, my given name is Melinda Abeles. My medicine name is Buffalo Heart. This name was given to me by the Buffalo Spirit Tribe, during a sacred journey into the invisible world.   Though I have no Native American blood in this current life,  my soul remembers.   Do you?

           It has been a journey of my own remembering as well,  and it is the experience of being Human on this earthwalk, that has brought me home to the Hearth of Spirit, the warm fire I sit within, the fire that is also within me.

           There were many icicles surrounding my heart that have melted and returned to the Mother Ocean to recycle there for the fishes, dolphins and whales, to be taken by the wind back to Father Sky becoming clouds and rain falling back upon the earth to nourish the seeds, that all my relations may live.

           You see? We may perceive a cold and barren world around us yet when we choose to bring the Songs and Dreams of our Heart forward all is transmuted and forever changed. Polar Bear as given me this gift. Think about it. Polar Bear lives in an Ice World and it is the Fire of her heart that burns her playful love and joy of being as she cuddles her cub in the snow. She perceives only her home and the hearth of Spirit's Fire around and within her. And there is peace.

           What I have learned is that when we know our Heart's desire we must live it into the world and Spirit will support us 100%. We must live our dream with undying passion until we are consumed, just as Moth, so attracted to the candle flame, has no choice but to eventually give her life for it. Poof!

            I had this dream of a simple life on a mountaintop, off the grid, a garden, some cats and dogs. and to bring abundance into my life through my own creativity. It has all come to pass.

           As I grew my first garden I witnessed the amazing miracle of tiny seeds birthing into physical form from the invisible; alittle water, alittle sun and Poof! I began to see as I watched them grow that they were on Fire, the infinite Heart of Spirit burning them forth. And then I ate them!, and I became them and I too was the Flaming Heart.

           There are many stories I can share. They all lead to the same place so one or two are enough for now.

           Flaming Heart is a conduit for my passion to create Beauty into the world. And it is much more than that. It is the place of connection where Spirit and I and all things become One.

           I am a Shamanic Practitioner. My shamanic awakening began as a young teen when I started reading any and all books about spirituality.  My spiritual practice finally became defined in 1994 when I attended my first Journey Circle here in Mariposa,  CA.  I had always had a primary knowing of the One Spirit manifest in its infinite diversity within all things. I had always had an affinity for nature, and understood in my cells that each creation on earth, had its own inherent spiritual power, or medicine. As I read about and experienced shamanism, I began remembering this ancient practice, and the indigenous aspects of my soul. 

           During my 20's,   I lived in the intentional collective community,  The Farm,  in Summertown, Tennessee.  It was in it's highest form,   an example of living Unity and Oneness.   We were 1500 people living together on the land,  with the higher purpose of changing and returning the world to a better place.  I experienced at a young age not only the skills of living collectively,  but also the experience of merging oneself into a common vision.   I learned to be one part within the whole of a community working together for a higher purpose.  This experience changed my life forever.  It taught me so many things.

           In my 30's I became a western medical practitioner by profession.   I soon realized that healing was far more than the pills I  prescribed and that a huge percentage of people's dis-eases were wounds of the Heart and Spirit or Soul. Thus, I trained in shamanic healing practices with a personal commitment to living simply and in close relationship with the Earth.  

           I began attending workshops with Brooke Medicine Eagle, a phenomenal teacher, who gave me a deep overall understanding of spiritual principles and practical Earth based wisdom. She taught me about gratitude and the Sacred Heart, the place of true power, the doorway between the visible and invisible worlds. I learned the sacredness of the drum and of vision quest.  I have done two 4 day-4 night quests up to this time. She taught about the joy and transformative connection with Spirit through Song and Dance. I experienced the profound practice of the Sweatlodge for prayer and purification.

           All of these things gave me a foundation to my spiritual life.   I learned how to live on this Earth and maintain my spiritual connectedness in very practical ways.    

          In 1999 I began training with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, founded by Michael Harner. Michael was a young anthropologist who experienced shamanic initiation while 'studying' a South American tribe,  the Shuar. Through his spiritual awakening, he had a vision and commitment to reawaken the practice of shamanism to all people in this modern world and began a 'school' of shamanism in the U.S. and worldwide. Most of us do not have elders to take us under their wings, and Michael's vision has helped thousands of people 'remember' our ancestral souls and our original primary connection with the Spiritual World.  He has extrapolated shamanic principles and practice from indigenous cultures around the world and created 'core' shamanic training.

           Ultimately, it is the Spirits that are the true teachers and healers. All shamanic healing work is guided by the Spirits coming through us,  the practitioners. In essence the human teachers teach us the ways of the ancestors but it is the opening of one's own Sacred Heart to the infinite power of the universe that allows the Light to come through to do the work needed. I take no credit for that. I am merely a conduit, the hands and feet, eyes and voice and beating heart of Spirit upon the Earth. 

           Shamanism is the original spiritual practice of indigenous peoples.   We all come from indigenous peoples in our far away ancestry.  The practice returns spiritual autonomy to us as we learn to contact the Spiritual World directly,  for answers and guidance.

           I hold workshops and teach core shamanic practice to groups as well as individuals. I also do shamanic healing work. Please refer to Shamanic Journeys for more details. My intent is to help you remember and bring you home to the simplicity and awareness of Spirit in your daily life and in all you do.

           So next time you do the dishes, see the rainbows in the bubbles and know that the Flaming Heart of Spirit is there all the while, surrounding you, within you and when you remember and open your own heart into connection to the unlimited potential of all there is and ever will be you become a powerful co-creator with Spirit, pouring forth Beauty into the world.

           Breathe into your Flaming Hearts dear ones, breathe deep and set the embers there ablaze and then go out the front door and see that it's not so mysterious, and yet it is!

           For more information about workshops, classes, individual shamanic journeying or healing work, custom leather or Sacred Art creations, please contact me. I am happy to speak with you.

Love,
Buffalo Heart
Melinda