Happy Winter Solstice and Christmas

Hi everyone

Just a quick blog to wish you all a Very Happy Winter Solstice (or Summer Solstice if you are on the other side of the world from me!). I've been chatting to my friend Indi who live with Indie Shaman in England and thought you might like to see the card she sent me. She wishes everyone a very Happy Solstice too.

I have the best present ever. Not only am I getting to stay with my new friend's in Texas over the festive period but I now have my own Facebook page, Shaman Sham. Do join me there. I will be posting all the pictures on there from all the lovely places I have stayed and all the lovely people I have met on my travels.

Talk to you all in the New Year. I am looking for new people and places to visit in 2011 so if you are interested in having me to stay do let me know. I am now quite a mature hedgehog (about 30 in human years) so a fully house trained guest and very well behaved, I promise!

You can contact me via Indie Shaman or my Facebook page. I usually only visit Indie Shaman members but if we know you and you are doing something interesting do send me a message.

In the meantime I wish everyone a Very Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2011!

Many blessings to one and all.
Shaman Sham x

A big hi to y'all from Texas.

Here I am sitting having a rest in one of the old oak trees in the pasture. There are lots of wonderfully wise trees here who have lived a lot longer than me so know much more than I do.

Not that you get much time for a rest round here. Sherry sure is busy! I've been helping and I thought I'd make a start by sorting out her work bench. It needed a lot of sorting - I think Sherry is too busy to be tidy.

This is Taj Chicken. There are lots of chickens and they were sharing a home with the horses but everyone will be much happier with their own homes so Sherry has been busy building them one.


This is a photo of the chicken beds I helped Sherry build. They don't look that comfy as beds but apparently chickens like them. I think I've got a bit spoiled by all the human beds I've 'borrowed'. Humans like their beds well padded!

Here I am telling the chickens all about their new home and how I helped. They found me very interesting as you can see. There were rather a lot of them so I'm afraid I can't remember who was who. I do know there are a lot of Debbie's who are all Buff Orpingtons. There was also a Penelope but now he's grown he's changed his name to Pete. I don't blame him - Penelope doesn't seem quite right for a rooster of his size!

Talk to ya all again soon

Hi everyone

Oooo I didn’t realise how long it had been since I last posted on my blog. Very sorry! It was such a long way to Texas so when I first got here I had a good rest. Here I am sitting on the back porch of my new home-for-a-while. I needed quite a long rest because its a long way to the United States of America and I got a bit over excited because I've never been here before.

This is a picture of what I was looking at. What a wonderful view to have from your back porch!

I am staying with Sherry and she is always pretty busy. She's very good at building things and said I can help her. I'm sure I'll be good at building things too when I've learned how. She also likes taking photos so I should have plenty to share with you. Here I am sat on a wall they built for the flower beds. I'm glad this job was finished because those bricks look a bit heavy for me.

There is plenty of space here for me to stretch my legs so I have been exploring. Here is a new friend I found in the garden. I tried talking to him but I think he was too busy to talk back.

I found these enormous piles of ... something ... too. It took me ages to climb to the top. I asked Sherry about them and she said they were food for the horses. Those horses must be pretty big! I wasn't at all sure I wanted to meet them after that!

While Sherry was brushing the hay from me she explained that the horses didn't eat all the hay bales in one go. It was an easy mistake for a hedgehog to make I think. So we went to meet the horses.Niessa (on the left) and Heidi were very nice. In fact I liked them so much I climbed back onto some hay and as you can see they didn't even try to eat me. Hay makes a very comfy seat but I don't like the taste much.

I promise not to leave it so long before my next blog! June always posts on the Indie Shaman Facebook page when I update my blog so do join us there if you want to know when to visit me again.

p.s. Are you an Indie Shaman member living in the US? If so I would love to stay with you if you would like me to visit? Contact details can be found at indieshaman.co.uk. Thanks :)

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Hi again!

Here I am at Barmouth. Its a very lovely beach with lots of dunes and then a large stretch of sand down to the sea. Indi got very excited as she has never seen the sea before. I have, of course, but I didn't ruin her fun by telling her. It was more enjoyable to watch her running here and there and in and out of the water. Then we had to go back to the car because she got overtired and cried for a sleep. Puppies are so sweet at that age. I can remember when I was only a hoglet and used to need a sleep when I got over excited as well.



Isn't this lovely? Its Llangollen. There is lots you can do at Llangollen including a steam train and a horse drawn boat down the canal. It was very busy when we visited as it was a Saturday so we just went for a walk around the town and spent most of our time by the river. This is the River Dee and you can get right down to the edge of it to. I had read that salmon go down this river so this was a good opportunity to have a look for the Wise Salmon!



First though a photo opportunity as you could get right down onto the rocks. There were some young lads down there and June was giggling when they asked Simon 'why are you taking photos of that teddy?' Maybe they couldn't see me that well as I think its quite obvious I'm a rather handsome specimen of hedgehog. Simon told them I had a blog on the internet. Actually Simon and I had quite an audience of people watching him take the photos, which I'm sure he enjoyed as much as I did.



Indi saw some ducks and said she would go and ask them if they had seen any salmon. They wouldn't speak to her. I think it might have helped communication if she had put her tongue away and stopped licking her lips!



So I decided to have a look for myself. The ducks seemed to let me closer than they let Indi. I could see some very small fish so I sat very still and waited until some came close enough to talk to. They were all swimming about in and out of each other. I asked them where I could find Wisdom. They answered as a shoal. Their reply was:

"Wisdom
....................... is
................................. in
...looking"

I thanked them for their answer and thought about it all the way back to the caravan. The next day was time to go home ... and I've had the chance to continue looking ...

I'm off to Texas in the U.S. Yee Haw!!

Rhaeadr Ddu

Here I am at the amazing Rhaeadr Ddu (Black Waterfalls) at Ganllwyd. These waterfalls are surrounded by beautiful woodlands which we walked through to get to where I am sitting here. This is one of June's most favourite places. She found it when she was driving down the road last year and recalled a childhood memory from when she was a child. The memory was of someone picking her up to look at the double waterfall you can see from the road's edge so she must have been a very small child indeed because she's a bit big to pick up now (but don't say I told you that!).

I'd heard that salmon can jump up waterfalls so this seemed to be a very good place to look for the Wise Salmon because if I were him I would want to live here. This photo doesn't really do the Rhaeadr Ddu justice as it was taken from the bottom. It looks much bigger from the top but June didn't want to climb up there and wouldn't let me do it either in case I ended up falling in again and being swept away. So we sent Simon up instead but he said he couldn't see any salmon from the top.


He did spot an amazing seat in the rock though a bit further down which was the perfect size for a hedgehog to sit in and look into the river. So I sat down to rest for a while and looked into the river. It was very beautiful and peaceful so I think if the Salmon was there he may have been having a little sleep. Not that I had a little sleep ... I just rested my eyes while I was resting my paws after I had been looking for a while.


June and Simon then said it was time for them to rest their paws as well over a cup of coffee. So just before we went June and Indi helped me have one last look into the river for salmon.

Still no salmon but it wasn't the end of our holiday yet so I still have one more story to tell of my time in Wales so do visit my blog again soon.

The Search for Salmon

When we got to Wales I was very happy to learn that there was a river on the site we were staying at. So I got to work straight away looking for the Wise Salmon. June said she wasn't sure there were salmon in that river but nothing ventured nothing gained I say. As you can see its a very pretty river with lots of stones and things you can stand on. Its called the River Twrch. Did you know the Welsh for river is Afon (pronounced Avon with the 'a' like in apple)? So the River Avon (the 'a' is pronounced like in bay) which starts near where Indie Shaman is based must be the river River!

We were staying at the campsite at Bwch yn Uchaf, which is in Llanuwchllyn, Bala. This is in the Snowdonia National Park at the foot of the Aran and Arenig mountain range and about a mile from Bala Lake. Its very beautiful round here. There is even a little steam engine which runs near the site so you can watch that as well or go on it for a trip into Bala.


Indi is my friend now. She mostly just licks me on the nose which is much better than trying to bite my nose off. We discovered we have a lot in common as we both come from rescues. She comes from Four Paws Animal Rescue who helped her mum so Indi had lovely foster homes to be born in and live in until June and Simon found her. I of course come from Secret World Wildlife Rescue and was adopted with the help of all the Indie Shaman members and customers.

Indi was helping me look for salmon and said she might have found something near this rock. She didn't know if it was salmon or not because she is still too young to know what a salmon is yet. This was her first adventure so she isn't quite as experienced a traveller as me.

I decided to get down onto a rock to look for myself. I couldn't see any salmon so I peered a little closer and that was when .... I fell in! Luckily as you can see the water was shallow so I only got my back wet and Simon fished me out quickly before I floated away down the river.

It was a bit of a shock though and I was a bit exhausted after all that excitement so June gave me a lift on the walk back to the caravan. June and Simon promised to take me to look in another river another day after I'd had a chance to get warm and dry again so I wasn't too disappointed. I'll blog about that adventure soon.

Starting the Search for Salmon

I’m back at home with Indie Shaman. June said I needed a little rest after my travels around the UK, Ireland, Greece and Peru so that’s what I’ve been doing. Everyone was very interested to hear about my experiences in Peru. I learned so much and had a great time with Ross Heaven and hope to visit him again one day in Spain. And as you can see he gave me a wonderful wooden pendant to take home with me.

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to carry out my new cosmic purpose yet as no-one has any shrimp. I’ve talked a lot about my new cosmic purpose, all the important shaman I met and all the important ceremonies and blessings I took part in. June said I could do with a little grounding as well as a rest. I think I got the grounding when I met Indi, the new puppy, as she seemed to think I was a new ‘Mr Squeaky’! A ‘Mr Squeaky’ apparently being a cuddly toy belonging to Indi and I’ve seen what’s left of her cuddly toys!!

There have been some questions about what to call me now since my discovery that I am Ezekiel the Fish. I’ve decided not to change my name officially as I’m quite well known and Sham is the name by which everyone knows me. So you can call me by whichever name you prefer and I'll answer to both!

While I’ve been resting I’ve been looking up more about fish and have been learning about the Salmon of Wisdom. The oldest and wisest of these Salmon is the Salmon of Llyn Llyw who apparently can be found in the estuary of Afon Hafren (the River Severn). Afon Hafren starts in the Cambrian Mountains and makes its way to the sea between Wales and England. Where I am now isn’t very far from this at all and when I heard June and Si were going to Wales I got very excited and asked if I could go as well because I want to look for this Salmon!

However they are not going to mid Wales but to North Wales. At first I was disappointed but then I found out about the Welsh Dee Salmon. These swim across the Atlantic, go up the Wirral estuary marches, past Chester, Overton and Erbistock, then past the racecourse at Bangor, through the vale of Llangollen, across Corwen and Bala to swim in the pools and falls of Snowdonia. And Si and June are going to be staying at Bala and walking in Snowdonia! So I’m going too to look for these wise Welsh Salmon. In fact it might be easier to talk to one of the Dee Salmon rather than the Salmon of Llyn Llyw given as there is only one of him and he sounds incredibly old and clever so is probably very busy.

The only thing of slight concern is Indi is going too, but I’m sure we will have sorted out our slight misunderstanding by then …

p.s. June asked me to add that Indie Shaman will be closed from today until Sunday 12th September, apart from the forum which will be open as usual. Will talk to you all again when we get back!

Ezekiel the Fish in Peru

Well, my time in Peru is nearly up and Tracie says she’s going to pack me up and send me home next week. I’ve had a lovely time here at Ross’ ayahuasca healing centre.



I’ve been to lots of ayahuasca ceremonies led by about five different shamans. One of them learned my real name (Ezekiel) and I’m thinking about changing it permanently now.


Another one blessed me and Ross gave me a floral bath to bring me power and luck.

I’ve also been to San Pedro ceremonies with Ross and other shamans and, of course, I spoke at the Amazonian Shamanism Conference and was quite riveting.


In my ayahuasca journeys I saw that I am a fish not a hedgehog and that my cosmic purpose is to eat shrimp. I shall get to work on that as soon as I am home.

Ross has another healing centre in Spain (

www.thehummingbird.org) and I really hope I’ll be allowed to visit there next April when Ross gets back from Peru to run his shamanic courses.

Bye for now,Ezekiel the Fish

Sham, Ross Heaven & La Gringa in Karma Cafe Iquitos

Hola everyone! (that's Spanish for hello)

I've been having a fantastic time in Iquitos Peru hanging out with Ross & Tracie at the Hummingbird Healing Centre

.

I am finding out who I really am and at times begin to wonder if I am truly a hedgehog or perhaps some reincarnation of an ancient jungle shaman. In fact a shaman here has discovered my true name, Iziekel, but you can still call me Sham if you want.

So far I've been to 2 San Pedro ceremonies and 2 Ayahuasca ceremonies, where I learnt a lovely icaro which I shall sing for everyone at Indie Shaman when I come home.

About coming home...I miss all my friends in England but I feel very drawn to the jungle and I'm having a flirtation with a sloth called Finn.

Ross & Tracie took me to the 6th Annual Amazonian Shaman Conference, but I got very tired as it went late in to the night and I had my photo taken with all types of people who wanted to cuddle me and it was all a bit too much for a small hedgehog (if I am in fact a hedgehog). On the way home from the conference our motocaro tipped over, but don't worry, no one was hurt, some burly men tipped us right side up and we continued home.

I have also made friends with 2 lovely dogs, Felis Compleanos (a small headed, big bodied creature who isn't very bright) and Moon Vomit, who is really still only a pup and a bit silly.


Ross introduced me to a giant dung beetle called Michael at the Anaconda market and I wasn't even scared even though he tried to roll me like a peice of dung. There's to be a retreat at the centre next week and Tracie has asked me to help with the flower baths so when I come home I can show everyone how to make them.

lotsa love to everyone
Izekiel (Sham)

Going to stay with Ross Heaven in Peru!

Hi everyone. Here I am back in England at Indie Shaman. It was a pretty exciting journey back from Greece which started out with me travelling on the back of a motorbike through the streets of Athens! Here are some photos from my last look around Athens.

Here is a wonderful photo of ancient Greece in Modern Athens - The Acropolis. I will miss Cathy and her family very much and had a lovely time while I was staying with them.



Here are some apartments like the one I was staying in. Look at those lovely balconies.

Biscuit was waiting to greet me when I got back to Indie Shaman after my long journey. She told me the sad news that my dear friend Cara, the black Labrador, had passed on to the Otherworld last Friday.

She also told me something about the secret surprise. Apparently she overheard June saying something to Simon about the best way to send a hedgehog to Peru!

So after there had been cuddles all round I asked June and ...

Today I am going to start my journey again as I AM GOING TO STAY WITH ROSS HEAVEN IN PERU! (sorry about the shouting ... June said I have to calm down before I go so I may have to practice my deep breaths and meditating).

June says its a very long journey and I can't go in my box because of my weight and that stuff humans use called money. I'm not sure what's wrong with my weight although admittedly I'm quite a healthy round hedgehog. June said if I was brave enough they will wrap me up well in a bag I can sleep in for the journey. Of course I'm brave enough so I'm off today!

There may be a gap in my blogs while I travel to Peru but do check back for updates. June will also let you know when I have a new blog on our Facebook page

I am so looking forward to meeting Ross Heaven and his friends in Peru. Plus ... I'm going to be blessed by a Shipibo shaman! I must be the luckiest hedgehog in the world!

Here in Greece but where next?

Ο εξαιρετικός περιπλανόμενος σκατζόχειρος σαμάνος Σαμ
( o exeretikos periplanomenos skanjoheros samanos Sam)

Shaman the extraordinary wandering hedgehog

I think my Greek has improved .... don't you?

Cathy and June from Indie Shaman have been plotting a secret surprise. I'm not sure what is going on other than I have to start packing again as I'm going back home to Indie Shaman. But apparently I won't have time to unpack as then I'm on my way to a secret destination. Will tell you all about it as soon as I know. It's all very exciting and very mysterious.

Before I packed I got out and about to take a look at some of Athens which is the capital of Greece. I'll post some more about that soon before I go. Its got very hot here, mid 30's C (90's F) so it will be quite nice to be somewhere a bit cooler for a while .... I'm not really designed for this heat.

While it was so hot I took the opportunity to look at some of Cathy's artwork. I'm sure she won't mind. Here's the Baron and a pretty lady. I've met him and he's quite the gentleman.

Cathy takes commissions on these wonderful Spirit Guide Portraits and you can see more of them if you click on the link. I had been hoping to paint a little something myself as I have a small talent of my own you know. But I somehow never managed to get the time so I think it will have to wait until another visit.

Humm ... I think we have the same chin. How great is this painting?! Cathy also takes Portrait and Pet Portrait commissions. Incidentally don't my glasses look cool? I think someone should paint my portrait as apparently I'm pretty memorable.

Got to go now as I'm going for a last look at Athens and have some more packing to do. I'm so curious as to where I'm going next. I'm going to see if I can get Cathy to tell me. Will let you all know as soon as I do!

Shaman Sham meets Mr Yucca Tree

I’ve taken a nice long rest since my arrival in Athens. The journey had been a bit bumpy and I seemed to have caught a slight chill but Cathy had been looking after me well with plenty of bowls of hot snail soup.

But today as I opened my eyes I felt much more as a strapping young hedgehog should feel.

”Kali mera Athina!” (Good morning Athens) I said stretching my arms wide and yawning. Yes, Josephinaki the cat has become a good friend during my stay and has been teaching me a little Greek.

Through the balcony doors I could see the large yucca tree waving its leaves in welcome. So with a little hop I slipped from beneath the covers and padded out onto the balcony. As a very polite little hedgehog I had greeted the giant yucca on arrival but hadn’t yet had time to form a closer acquaintance with the illustrious green being and Dilbert the Dragon of the pot.

“Hello young fellow.” said the tree in a benevolent tone.

“Hello Mr. Yucca tree sir” I said, rather bravely I think, as I stared up at the awesome being. Slowly the great old yucca lowered its fronds to stroke me on my head.

“Oh that’s very touching.” Came a voice from the pot. “I suppose no one thought to say hello to me!”

And there sure enough was a rather grumpy looking dragon guarding not only the pot but some marbles of which he appeared to be very fond, seeing them as some kind of exotic jewel. Being a rather wise little hedgehog I decided not to enlighten him on the matter.

Instead I gave a quick little bow in the Dragon’s direction and hoped he wasn’t partial to a nice bit of hedgehog pie.

“Don’t worry about Dilbert,” said the old yucca reassuringly. He’s always a bit grumpy till he’s had a drop of dragon’s dew. “How about you climb up on my branches before I getting a crick in my neck.

“Here “said the Jessie weed, “take this golden flower it will help you to fly.”

So I clicked his heels together 3 times and holding the golden flower ever so tightly set off on my journey up the giant yucca. I spent many an hour listening to the tales of long ago and what it was like when trees walked the earth. I could see Dilbert the Dragon sitting at the bottom pretending he wasn’t listening as he polished his marbles and watered Jessie the weed.

I slept very happily in the tree that night as the large green being sang me to sleep deep into the night.

From Athens with love

It was sad to part from Oldrock and Pebbles but once I was safely tucked up in my box I soon became caught up with the excitement of the journey before me.

I was on my way to Athens. home to the gods of ancient Greece, and the thought of being able to breathe the same air and tread with my little paws where they had trod was more than a little thrilling. I wondered if Zeus would be there to meet me and hoped he wouldn’t prod me with his thunderbolt ...but then decided from what I’d heard he would probably be off somewhere chasing a nymph or two.

I slept for most of the journey and munched on my supply of wormy things ,(which I just happened to have about my person).

Even though I was inside my box it was easy to tell that I was in Greece. The air seemed warmer and I had the curious feeling that the postman danced rather than walked. There was a lot of chatter but I found I couldn’t understand what was being said. It was as they say “all Greek to me.” Fortunately one of the worms I had with me was bilingual and could translate. So I decided that in recognition of his `Outstanding Service to Hedgehogdom’ I would make him a free worm and not eat him.

Once in Athens I slept the night in the post office just up the road from where Cathy lives. The parcel department was pretty full. Now and then I was awakened by the clink of glasses and heard the sounds of ”Ooopa ... Oooopa..” and the distinctive tone of bouzouki music as the occupants of the other parcels danced and sang into the night. Being a very young hedgehog I knew I needed my rest but it was fun to peep through a hole in my box at the goings on around me.

The next day Cathy came to collect me from the post office.

Josephinaki the cat was there to greet me when she opened the box.

I think we’re going to be great friends as she could hardly wait to get into my box and was nice enough to let me sit on her back.

I’m looking forward to exploring the giant yucca. I’ve heard there may be a dragon and some fairies living in it so I’ll let you know if I find any.

Back soon with more exciting news of the Adventures of Shaman Sham.