Harriet McMahon, Creative Growth & Healing (was MD Shamanic Center)

[snorks]

http://www.shawoman.org/

The vision of the Maryland Shamanic Center is to bring the knowledge and healing traditions of the Andean Medicine People to all individuals who want to learn and heal.  We have studied with a number of highly respected Medicine People from Peru and we bring to our healing work and teachings “tukuymunayniyoq??? the fully developed power of the heart.

It is important for our clients to understand that the healing knowledge of our practitioners allow each individual’s healing needs to be met in an environment that is professional, safe and nurturing.  Upon completion of a healing session our clients are relaxed and rejuvenated. 

The Maryland Shamanic Center offers a variety of services such as energy clearing and balancing, soul recovery, divination and other shamanic ceremonies, hypnotherapy, regression therapy, childbirth education as well as training programs, retreats, expeditions and workshops.
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My question is is their Andean medicine people a fraud, come on, or is it actually people who learned from various Andeans?  Does this constitute 'white priviledge' in that they are borrowing from various cultures and forming their own spirituality for consumption?

[snorks]

This is a bio of one of the people at the center:

Faye Griffith has been practicing energy medicine for 4 years.  She is a Reiki Master and Shamanic Practitioner having received rites of passage in the tradition of the Q’ero people of the Andes.  She has trained with a number of shamanic practitioners including Harriet McMahon and Jose Luis Herrera.  Faye has a Masters Degree in Women’s Studies and has done graduate work in Sociology.  She draws upon a wide variety of work experience, television/video production, window design, sales and administration in her work with individuals and groups.  She views her path as one of service as a teacher, healer and leader bringing shamanic awareness to individuals and the community.
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Is Q'ero real people?  Who is Jose Luis Herrera?

[Barnaby_McEwan]

My question is is their Andean medicine people a fraud, come on, or is it actually people who learned from various Andeans?

I hadn't heard of Herrera before. He may well be from Peru, but more important than where he's from is that everything I can find about him involves selling ceremonies or 'initiations' to Americans for large amounts of money. That's not a good sign:

http://www.thehollowbone.com/workshops.html

http://shamanic-healing.org/articles/Plant_People.htm

http://www.schoolfortheshamanicarts.com/inka_initiation.html

I wouldn't be suprised if the cosmology and mythology mentioned on those pages is unrecognisable to Peruvians, just as much of what's sold as "Native American shamanism" is similarly unknown to actual Indians.

Does this constitute 'white priviledge' in that they are borrowing from various cultures and forming their own spirituality for consumption?

We don't yet know whether they're borrowing it or just making it up. This McMahon character claims to be able to

Eliminate fatigue during labor, leaving the mother fresh, awake, and with energy for actual birthing.

A bizarrre claim which should have all sorts of alarm bells ringing: every other claim of hers should be viewed with the same suspicion.

But yes, of course white privilege is involved, as is class privilege. Picking up on points Al's made in other threads, these people and their clients aren't from a barrio in east LA or a mining township in West Virginia, or the Navajo res, or... you get the point.

[JosephSWM]

Hey, just got caught up reading different posts and saw this one.  Some of you know that I live in Maryland so this caught my interest. I'll inquire about these folks, ask about. There seem to be so many 'shamanic' schools, institutes, etc. springing up all over the Maryland area.

Not much of a website, sorta ameteurish looking in my opinion. I get a gut feeling that they are being taking in more by Herrara than they themselves taking others in.

Joseph

[Barnaby_McEwan]

I'll inquire about these folks, ask about.

Looking forward to hearing about what you find out.

Not much of a website, sorta ameteurish looking in my opinion. I get a gut feeling that they are being taking in more by Herrara than they themselves taking others in.

I think it's likely they are willing dupes. I went back and had another look at the site, and this jumped out at me:

Pamela Panneton is committed to being in service to others, creating community, and facilitating spiritual awareness.  She is a self-employed manicurist of 20+ years, a wife of 18 years, and a devoted mother of 2 teenage boys.  She is trained in the service of others, with years of experience managing over 1600 people in the Landmark Education seminar program.

Not wishing to denigrate manuicurists, but come on! That isn't a qualification for spiritual leadership! Landmark Education is a lucrative and cult-like 'self-help' organisation descended from Erhard Seminar Training.

[educatedindian]

The original site is down and the center has now changed to this.
Site founder sent an angry email. I've asked her to post a statement about who trained her etc.

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http://cgandh.com/
 Shamans are intimate with nature and have close relationships with Kawsay Pacha (the earth); Wayra Pacha (breath, wind and oxygen); Kanchay Pacha (light).  These three elements feed the senses, creation, and relationships, and are necessary for all of life.
 
 Shamanism is not only an ancient healing tradition but it is also a way of life.  It is not a religion but a spiritual practice.  It coexists with established religions in many cultures, such as in Siberia where Shamanism coexists with Buddhism and Lamaism.  One does not have to be a healer to practice Shamanism, but by embracing the shaman’s path one can learn to inhabit the earth with integrity and impeccability.

Energy Body Healing
Negative Energy Cleansing
Soul Recovery
Spiritual Counseling
House, Office, and Land Clearings

Harriet R. McMahon, Ph.D., founder of Creative Growth and Healing (formerly the Maryland Shamanic Center) is a Shamanic Practitioner who has been practicing energy medicine for over 25 years. She has studied the energy medicine traditions of a variety of shamanic cultures and has been initiated by some of the most respected spiritual teachers in Peru...She is an ordained minister and holds a Ph.D. in Pastoral Counseling. 
 
Harriet has studied with the Inner Guidance Psychotherapy Center where she earned her certifications in Hypnotherapy and Regression Therapy. She is also a Reiki Master and Life Coach...

Harriet writes:
...my personal trainer at the gym referred me to a Massage Therapist...She directed me to my first class on Core Shamanism and I was instantly hooked...When a close associate suggested I take a class in Andean Shamanism, which was being offered locally, I immediately enrolled. I began studying with several teachers here in the United States and then later during my travels to Peru to work directly with the Medicine People.

[Epiphany]

Harriet Rachel McMahon legally has the Maryland company Creative Growth and Healing, business charter is active. She also has registered the trade name Creative Growth and Healing with the State of Maryland.

In the past 1992 - 1997 she had a Maryland company Stressbusters, Inc.

She is an approved CE provider http://www.ncbtmb.org/tools/find-approved-provider/detail/451817-11 with the organization National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) .

[Epiphany]

Her story as to how she was supposedly led to become a shaman:

The word Shaman would echo in my head and appear in books or articles I would be reading.

http://web.archive.org/web/20090708171601/http://www.marylandshamaniccenter.org/

So that is how it works, you persistently think about a word, and then keep noticing it in books and articles, and then you eventually become one. Because each of us is the center of the universe.