Who we are
Welcome, and thank you for visiting ShamanPortal!
People have been wondering: "Who is behind ShamanPortal?" In the spirit of openness and collaboration that is at the heart of ShamanPortal, I would like to be open about my path to Shamanism and my intentions for this website.
In the summer of 1994 I experienced a moment of divine intervention. I was on my way to Kalani on the Big Island of Hawaii to teach Goals Setting and movement therapy. As the car waited to take me to the airport, I picked up Hank Wasselman's book Spirit Walkers. The book truly changed my life (Mahalo Hank!) and months later I decided to take Michael Harner's, John Perkins', and Nan & David's workshops at the NY Open Center.
In 1997 I traveled with John Perkins and Dream Change to the Andes and the Shuar tribe in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle. There I made a promise, in a vision, to the spirit of the jungle. I promised to help it survive the onslaught of the encroaching Western civilization, to help preserve its vast spiritual and medicinal knowledge and the keepers of its wisdom.
I had begun my life's work.
I have devoted most of my time over this past decade to the keeping of that promise. I co-founded the NY Shamanic Circle; I take yearly trips to visit my teachers in Ecuador, Mexico and Brazil; I teach regularly in high schools, colleges, senior centers and spiritual centers throughout North America. In 1999 I became an apprentice of don Jose Joaquin Pineda a powerful Yachak from Illuman, Ecuador.Ê I studied with him for a few years, and was initiated into his family tradition. I also want to acknowledge the teachings of Êmy mentors brother and sister, Ipupiara and his wife Claicha which are instrumental to my life. I have a private ceremonial healing practice in New York City.
This site is my latest endeavor to help strengthen the Shamanic community. It is a platform for practitioners and organizations of every Shamanic stream to share their important work with the widest audience possible.
ShamanPortal reaches thousands of people worldwide, and everyone is welcome to post, sponsor, be heard, and get new members and clients. My great hope is that ShamanPortal will inspire collaboration, mutual learning, and greater support for the preservation of traditions and practices that are now more relevant than ever.
At first I thought that building this site would be easy. I soon found out how wrong I was, and I have devoted countless hours to building and maintaining the site, as well as responding to suggestions for how to make the web service even better.Ê I am no web programmer, and it costs me a lot to do this. The modest sponsorship and posting fees are helping me to offset the mounting maintenance and programming development costs that are constantly incurring since January 2006 when we started to manifest this dream.
Thank you for taking an interest in ShamanPortal. Join me and the ShamanPortal team in creating a strong global shamanic community for the sake of our future generations.
Blessings,
Itzhak Beery
www.itzhakbeery.com
