Mi-Shell Jessen

[Smart Mule]

Mi-Shell Jessen is apparently giving "shamanism" as well as First Nation's teachings in Canada.
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"Mi-Shell Jessen probably best known as a shaman / healer in Muskoka and Southern Ontario.She is a Registered Nurse and a Jungian Therapist by training, but, first and foremost, she is following in the footsteps of her grandmother, the healer-shaman of her tribe, the Urianchai, in Siberia.Mi-Shell has practiced, taught and used shamanism and shamanic healing pathways with her patients, clients, in schools, Pow Wows and the health care system.She leads circles and gatherings that focus on teaching, healing, ritual, drums and drumming, human growth and well-being."

https://www.facebook.com/mishell.jessen

"Mi-Shell Jessen is probably best known as one half of Bearpaw Jewellery, but primarily, she works as a shaman / healer in Muskoka and Southern Ontario. She is a Registered Nurse and a Jungian Therapist by training, but, first and foremost, she is following in the footsteps of her grandmother, the healer-shaman of her tribe, the Urianshai, in Siberia.

Mi-Shell has practiced, taught and used shamanism and shamanic healing pathways with her patients, clients, in schools, Pow Wows and the health care system. She leads circles and gatherings that focus on teaching, healing, ritual, drums and drumming, human growth and well-being.

Bearpaw Jewellery is a means for her to translate the mysteries experienced in trance and visions into tangible reality and to share it all with her community. Her shamanic Medicine pouches, ritual tools and other mixed media art are unique and sought after by collectors.

One of the most important tools of a Medicine Woman is the drum, the heartbeat of Mother Earth and the heartbeat and voice of our soul. Mi- Shell creates drums and leads the weekly local community drum circle as well as several frame drum circles."

"Trained as a psychiatric nurse, she first made bead jewellery as a hobby and used it in therapy for clients coming to her clinic in Germany. It was at this time she discovered she "saw things doctors didn't", premonitions which a shaman later told her gave her a special power as a medicine woman.

In some ways this did not, of course, surprise Mi-Shell. "I come from a gypsy heritage," she says simply. She grew up in a Bavarian castle. Her father survived in the underground that fought Hitler. Her mother, interned in a camp, survived the Holocaust."

http://www.bearpawjewellery.com/about.html

Mi-Shell will teach healing with BEAR Medicine and the Power of Healing on January 22nd,2012 . For more information email and see as well Shamanic Healing Bear Ceremony - Bear Medicine and the Powers of Healing:

Bear as the bringer of good health and healing around the world:

-Bear Medicine among the Neanderthals and our Paleolithic ancestors
-Bear Medicine in Siberia
-Bear Medicine among the Lakota people
-Bear Medicine among the Ojibwa People
-Bear Wisdom of the Norse and Celts

Bear and YOU:
-Personal encounters with Bear:
-Share your story
-The Bears in your life

Bear and herbalism: some healing herbs are introduced and discussed

Bear Healing Chants and drum rhythms - ->drums provided
Drums and healing:
Drums and chants:
- introducing a Siberian Power Animal calling chant
- Lakota Bear healing chants
- Apache Bear healing chant
- Navajo Nightway chant

Healing ritual for group participants
hands on practice of Healing Drum techniques

Contribution: $ 45.00

http://www.bearpawjewellery.com/news.html

The following was a free event for Aboriginal Day. Why is a Siberian gypsy who was raised in a Bavarian castle giving 'authentic' First Nations teachings?  How often does one come across buffalo outside one's castle in Bavaria?

"Celebrate the summer solstice with UNITY in downtown Huntsville. Experience and enjoy authentic teachings and activities provided by Mi-Shell Jessen, Tim Watkinson. Drumming, medicine wheel, buffalo teachings, hands-on learning and materials provided."

https://www.facebook.com/townofhuntsville/posts/449706371707804

[Defend the Sacred]

The info labelled "Celtic" on her blog is nothing of the sort. She names an alleged "Celtic" spirit and creation story that I've never heard of, with a spelling that does not fit any Celtic language:

http://shamanicdrumm.wordpress.com/

For Celtic People Liilh the Heron laid the first ever egg = the egg of creation. She is the guardian of life and incarnation as well as for secret knowledge of longevity.

Um... no. (And for what it's worth, there was no pan-Celtic culture just as there was not an historical pan-NDN one. Attempts to combine all those cultures together are pretty much a modern phenomenon.)

I see a lot of lumping together of disparate cultures, and some of the information seems taken from pop culture, inaccurate, world mythology books (or websites). Many of the meanings she gives for the animal symbolism are from Jamie Sams' "Medicine Cards" - a sort of tarot deck with animals and nuagey/pan-NDN divination meanings. I don't know how many people would actually believe this stuff is authentic... but if she's teaching children... children don't know any better. Thing is, she's representing herself (or allowing herself to be represented as) First Nations. And she lives in Canada. In Canada, First Nations means you are NDN.  But by her own admission, she's not.