Andy Rodriguez AKA "Walks With Thunder"

[frederica]

LOL, hang on, I emailed him or his Web Mistress to see what they say. If they reply at all. frederica

[frederica]

Got a reply. And he is typical Nuage and he is clever. Can't cure, but manages. States: "I transfer energy that I gather and give it to a person. This energy feels like searing hot hands. after 20 seconds or so the pain you had dissipates. No faith about it. I don't call on a deity to heal you I just use the free energy around us. Its easy and anyone can do it. Check out my class descriptions' of energy body one and two. Go to my forums areas and the testimonials, you can see what i do and what folks think about it".  That's all he wrote. I don't know what the State laws are there. You would have to check the State Medical Board. Here the University Hospital was actually using some of these people for "pain management". But they were nurses with PhD's in communication. There were calling it Holistic Medicine and Therupetic Touch. It didn't go over well, and eventually disappeared. It does make it harder to deal with though. frederica                                                                                   PS I did ask about his putting his hands on people in the photos, and he didn't address it directly. I told him it looked like "faith healing".  That's what the statement about "faith" is about.

[Chutwood]

He could be pontificating. He has a massive ego. I had the unfortunate experience of being in ceremony with him. He behaved in an inappropriate manner towards one woman in that ceremony and sppent time bragging. I had been invited by a friend, and Andy (his real name) had also been invited. He is a real creep. The people who go to him seem to be very needy and he gives the illusion of filling that need. Oh, and while he claims to be a Caddo, he cannot pronounce it correctly and places the tribe in Texas. They are in Oklahoma.

Deb..just an FYI.  There are Caddo in Texas.  Discovered that when I was in Alvardo, TX a few years ago.  The town was built on a Caddo village and the town's historical records mention that 'suddenly the Caddo decided to leave, but no one knows why'.  
Another 'oh barf' moment.

[Defend the Sacred]

The older pages are gone, but he's still active online: http://www.walkswiththunder.com/

His "Buy Now!" page: http://www.walkswiththunder.com/newsite/class_registration.htm

including "Monthly Apprentice Fees $416.00" and "Phone a Shaman Consultation (60 Minute Phone Consultation $200.00) BUY NOW"

His current classes sound uber-nuage, or just downright odd: http://www.walkswiththunder.com/blog/shamanism/classes/

"Prosperity Blessing Class" & "Create Your Life Weekend!"
...
"We all want to be prosperous and successful, but many
people feel blocked from their success in life. Join nontraditional
shaman WALKS WITH THUNDER in an ancient
Native American calling ceremony to attract what you need.
Prosperity can come in many forms: health, wealth, emotional
wholeness etc. Bring a bottle of water, a small flat
stone, a permanent ink marker, and a bottle of shampoo,
body wash or lotion. And come prepared to have fun!"

Other sites include:

http://www.myspace.com/walkswiththunder

http://walkswiththunder.ning.com/

http://www.meetup.com/WalksWithThunder/

Along the lines of the racist Dudesons: Cowboys and Findians  MTV show, he was on a somewhat similar stunt show on MTV. They set up a tipi in a warehouse. "Walks with Thunder"/Rodriguez entered the tipi with three non-Native men and helped them "find their power animals". He shut his eyes briefly then told one guy his power animal was a crocodile and the other that he was an Orca. The guys then decorated scooters like the animals and crashed around the warehouse.

He mentions it here: http://www.keen.com/CommunityServer/UserBlogs/Walks_With_Thunder/Welcome-to-my-World--Walks-With-Thunder/default.aspx?p=2

"For starters I am going to be on MTV on a show called Fantasy Factory, what used to be the Rob and Big show."

And here: http://www.walkswiththunder.com/blog/2009/02/fantasy-factory/

"Walks With Thunder on Fantasy Factory

Here is a copy of Walks With Thunder on Fantasy Factory.  Giving the boys their power animals.

You can check out the video here http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/341906/get-with-it.jhtml#id=1604293 "


http://www.freebase.com/view/m/05k6nt4

Get With Your Power Animal

Rob asks over the PA system for Big Cat to "roll on" into his office. Rob explains to Big Cat and Drama that he is bringing in a shaman to find his power animal to channel that power for the jump. Of course, Rob feels he needs a teepee built for the shaman. Before the guys leave, Rob tells him that they're all going to get a scooter that will represent their power animal.

Walks With Thunder, a shaman meets with Rob and the boys in the newly constructed teepee to discover their inner power animal. Drama has a hard to finding his animal, so the Shaman feels that the crocodile is a right fit for Drama. Big Cat claims he could only see Penguins. The Shaman feels that the orca or killer whale best fits Rob. Later on, Rob researches what each animal signifies. The orca represents a creator and protector of human kind; while the crocodile is best know for its "crocodile tears." The guys waste no time in customizing/jumping their new power animal themed scooters.

Out in the desert, Rob and Ken prepare for the big jump. It turns out that the jump needs to be 100 feet, not the 50 feet that was originally anticipated. Rob and Drama strap themselves into the rally car and begin flying around the course. Finally it's the moment of truth, Rob asks Drama to get his crocodile out while begins to make orca "sounds." The guys take off for the jump while pumping themselves up with the power animals, which must have worked since they landed the jump unharmed. Rob and the guys begin to celebrate the successful jump with an oversized bottle of champagne.

Original air date:     * Feb 15, 2009
Season:     * Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory Season 1
Episode number:    * 2

Here he claims MTV is considering giving him his own show: http://walkswiththunder.ning.com/profiles/blogs/follow-your-dreams-dont-give

"I follow my visions, dreams even when they seem impossible. Yet here I am on MTV again last Wednesday. Two hollwood producers asking me if I want to make a pilot for my TV show. I follow my heart and sometimes that gets it broken, even if the vision says its where I am supposed to be. What else can one do, but belive and trust in the vision. To do otherwise would say that the creator lies and that cannot be so."

If you haven't yet signed the petition and joined the boycott of MTV, may I suggest: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/boycottmtv

[debbieredbear]

He told a friend of mine that he was going to use his heritage to get rich. Now how spirtual can you get. Ick. Having met him, double ick.  Having been in ceremony (someone else's, that I was invited to attend) triple ick. He is arrogant and clueless.  I hope he doesn't harm anyone.

[RayoDeSol]

He is that kind to help us to understand why money is being charged by linking to an explanation of a fellow shaman
http://www.shamanic.net/index.php/articles/49-article-spirituality-and-money

"So, when you see that there is a fee placed upon a ceremony, it is because, for the most part, Americans do not have the culturally designed knowledge of how to appropriately recompense a valuable service."

"There are some who have a belief that any kind of monetary exchange for a spiritual service is somehow unethical. I am curious when presented with this particular world view. I ask of the person what they themselves do to earn an income. And, if this occupation of theirs is not the expression of their spiritual service in the world, then why are they wasting their time doing something, merely for money, which is NOT their Spirit's Calling? Personally, I cannot conceive of spending a significant portion of my waking life in the pursuit of money, let alone doing something which has no relevance to the purpose of my Being!"

So, now I know their problem, maybe these frauds should get a real job instead of feeding of people??

[educatedindian]

He's still around. Very long but often amusing article about him. NAFPS is mentioned at length too.
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/litjourn/publications/writing/Bojana_Sandic_Vainglorious_Adventures_in_Metaphysics.pdf

Some parts are deeply disturbing, like his hustling of a woman being beaten by her husband.

Also worth noting, his claim is to be 1/4 Caddo, still selling energy claims supposedly learned from unnamed Lakota.

[Epiphany]

He's still around. Very long but often amusing article about him. NAFPS is mentioned at length too.
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/litjourn/publications/writing/Bojana_Sandic_Vainglorious_Adventures_in_Metaphysics.pdf

Some parts are deeply disturbing, like his hustling of a woman being beaten by her husband.

Also worth noting, his claim is to be 1/4 Caddo, still selling energy claims supposedly learned from unnamed Lakota.

Andy claims he saw tiny thunderbolt shapes randomly for awhile and that he continues to see small glowing shapes. If he actually did see this, he most likely was just experiencing a migraine, not all migraines have to involve head pain. Many migraine light shows are in zig zag, fortification, waterfall, or related shimmering patterns. I've experienced them a few times myself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scintillating_scotoma

A former apprentice Irma also reported seeing flashing and flickering stars. This also easily could have been migraine related. 

Not spirits, not fairies, nothing spiritual - just a migraine. People experiencing the flickering light shows should get checked out medically (by a physician who knows about migraines) to make sure nothing else physically is going on - otherwise they can try lifestyle changes to see if they can prevent some migraine triggers.

If a lot of his women clients see these flickering lights, a lot of them have migraines.

[debbieredbear]

Ugh. Same ol arrogant jerk. I know who he is talking about on page 12. Sent the info to the woman that he mentioned. The Lakota man he mentioned, passed away. I was in ceremony with that man and he was the real deal, unlike mister greedy guts andy. The man did a healing for several people and Andy took credit for it all. Ugly, ugly man.

Another thing about "thunderbolts." I have them a lot. My eye doctor explained that as we get older, things happen to our eyes. Andy bragged to my friend that he was going to use his native heritage to get rich. Sounds like prostitution to me. Another friend told me he did not even have the correct pronunciation of his tribe. And Andy, if you are reading this, I have met you. You are as phony as they come.

He named the "unnamed Lakota" to a few people I know. One person really laughed and said that guy was married to a Lakota woman but he was white. ALso, a friend was shown that guys house. No basement, no yard. Imagine that. Well, it was Pine Ridge after all.

[educatedindian]

Rodriguez talked his way onto TV. Biography channel has a pretty terrible show, Cursed. People come on it claiming to be victims of curses.

There was a Latina woman who claimed a "full blooded Native American" employee cursed her for firing him. The man said something bad would happen and she'd regret it. So she took it to be an NDN curse when her business failed and she heard noises at night and something rattling her door.

Rodriguez was there as a supposed expert making incredibly vague claims. "The man may have told a spirit to stalk you". No tribe was ever named. The program even called medicine people "witch doctors."

[Hadanancestor]

I dated one of his apprentices. It's hard to read that paper above and see your name discussed. Anyhow the thing that ended it was his extremely (in my opinion) invasive demands on her time. It was just too weird.

[Defend the Sacred]

He's mentioned in a number of threads here, so am merging some of them.

[Epiphany]

I am a Shaman, You may have seen me on MTV's Fantasy Factory S1E2, or Biography's Cursed S1, E1 &E4. I removed the curse on Kitty Banks. As a Shaman I do Energy Healing, and get results in less than 5 minutes. The blessings I do change lives even if you don't believe in them. I have been able to see Paranormal energies since I was 2 years old and bi-located at age 13. I teach classes on how to do every thing, from remote viewing to energy healing. Everyone can do the magical things of legend, Its easy.

I am Shaman Born. My grandfather was a Shaman for the Caddo tribe, as was his father before him. I am not a member of the Caddo Nation nor do I want to be one. Too much politics for my simple life.

http://www.keen.com/Walks%20With%20Thunder

The Doors song "Riders on the Storm" autoloads on this page, was that Andy's choice? He seems to aim for appearing edgy & charismatic, song choice fits attempts at that goal, but really........ not all that much about anything to do with healing:

Riders on the storm, riders on the storm
Into this house we're born, into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone, an actor out on loan
Riders on the storm

There's a killer on the road, his brain is squirmin' like a toad
Take a long holiday, let your children play
If ya give this man a ride, sweet family will die
Killer on the road, yeah

Girl ya gotta love your man, girl ya gotta love your man
Take him by the hand, make him understand
The world on you depends, our life will never end
Gotta love your man, yeah

Riders on the storm, riders on the storm
Into this house we're born, into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone, an actor out on loan
Riders on the storm

Riders on the storm, riders on the storm
Riders on the storm, riders on the storm

http://www.elyrics.net/read/d/doors-lyrics/riders-on-the-storm-lyrics.html

Andy Rodriguez
@WalksWithThunde

NonTraditional Shaman, Native American, www.walkswiththunder.com

Seattle WA · http://www.walkswiththunder.ning.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalksWithThunde

Andy
55, Male, Single
Kent, Washington

http://www.meetme.com/member/33252486

http://www.meetup.com/WalksWithThunder/

Some clips from Interview with a Shaman on his web site August 2008, using Wayback Machine http://archive.org/web/web.php for access:

My first metaphysical memory was when I was one and a half years old. I was laying in bed looking out the window and I saw balls of colored lights in the trees and I wanted to go play with the fairies. I was in the process of crawling out the window to join them when my sister pulled me back in and told me I could not go. I had seen things all my life but I had no context to understand them. Raised by my hispanic mother, I was not aware that I was Native. When I was 27 I called my mother and told her that I was going to check myself into a mental institution because I was seeing so many things I felt I was going insane. She then told me the family secret - that she was the illegitimate daughter of a Shaman and that this was perhaps why I was experiencing these things. I never met my grandfather but spirits like to return to same families.

Ed Whiting is a Shaman I went to see in Pine Ridge South Dakota. It was at a turning point in my life. When I first got there, he made me very uncomfortable. His guide is Emerald Man and while we were talking, it kept turning his face sparkly and green. Ed explained why I was seeing this so I told Emerald Man it made me uncomfortable and to stop and he did. Ed explained to me that the little thunder spirit was my guardian. It was 1998 when I was at Ed’s and I had left my old world.

http://web.archive.org/web/20090106140203/http://www.walkswiththunder.com/newsite/interview.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20090106144531/http://www.walkswiththunder.com/newsite/interview2.htm