What Came Through the Gate
Lion’s Gate Oracle Deck and Guidebook Last year, during our Lion’s Gate gathering, we worked with an oracle deck created by one of my teachers
The Day Out of Time
The Day Between Before the Lions Gate Opens July 25 is known as the Day Out of Time, a pause between cycles where we are
The Rest of the Story
The Rest of the Story When I was growing up, my parents loved listening to The Paul Harvey Show on the radio. One of his
The Smallwood Armadillo
Armadillo Medicine Recently, armadillo medicine was introduced to me when I pulled the card from an oracle deck that I use for guidance. An armadillo
What the Painting Awakened
The Painting I first encountered The Meeting on the Turret Stairs while scrolling through Facebook. Something about it stopped me. I couldn’t have told you
Deep Dive
A River Runs Through It There’s a scene in A River Runs Through It that has stayed with me for years. Not because I’m a
That’s Not True
I No Longer Soften the Truth “And the biggest difference between then and now is this: I no longer soften the truth. Not for other
The Tide of Unfinished Conversations
Finding Resolution Without the Conversation Some of the most important conversations in my life are the ones I never got to have. Not because I
The Illusion of Intimacy
On Secrecy, Speech, and the Fire of Truth I grew up in a large family, one of nine children, five sisters, a house full of
The Magic of Santa
The Santa That Never Left: On Believing, Not-Believing, and Believing Again On Christmas, community, and the magic that outlives belief For Faith Mark, who taught
Breaking the Spell of Hope
✨ HOPE-FREE: The Freedom I’m Still Learning to Trust I need to begin with this truth:I am not fully hope-free.Not yet.Maybe not ever, not entirely.
✨ Awakened By Shakti
There are moments in a spiritual life when something arrives that is not simply interesting, not simply useful, not even simply beautiful. There are those
🦃 Thanksgiving: The Thread That Still Holds Me
Holy Chaos Thanksgiving has always been a sensory holiday for me, food, noise, warmth, hands passing plates, children running, and the unmistakable smell of turkey
The Prayer Wheel
✨ My father has been gone for over ten years now. Lately, he has been visiting me in the spaces between my thoughts — in
Does this Couch Make Me Look Fat?
Does This Couch Make Me Look Fat? Growing up in a big family meant two things: there was always noise, and there was always food.
Moments in Time
Some people come into our lives and stay for years.Others brush by for a moment — a single crossing of paths, a fleeting exchange —
The Power of Our Story
The Power of Our Stories: Remembering, Healing, and Reclaiming Ourselves It’s been 42 years since my life split in two—the day the girl I had
Learning to Listen
Ganesha and the Elephants of Gonarezhou I’ve been studying Tantra for fifteen years, and I’ve learned that its deepest teachings don’t just live in books
The Audacity of Longing
Longing Claimed Most of my life before studying Tantra, I thought of longing as something secret—something to be hidden away. It lived unnamed in the shadows, something
Why Pleasure Isn’t a Luxury — It’s the Key to Living Fully
The 5 Levels of Pleasure: How a Workshop on Joy Became a Journey Through Grief, Healing, and Wholeness I still remember the moment I hesitated
Love Remains
The Past Is Just a Story We Tell As I get older, I’m realizing something quietly profound: the past isn’t a fixed place we can
The Ripple of a Gentle Giant: Remembering Jane Goodall
The Difference We Make Jane Goodall died this week, and I found myself feeling the deep impact of someone who had quietly shaped me for
Breath As a Practice
Everything Begins and Ends with the Breath A little over twelve years ago, I began studying Tantra. Tantra is a Sanskrit word that is often
I Don’t Know You
Happy Birthday, Mom I woke up this morning thinking of you and longing to know more about you. That longing stayed with me throughout the
Faith
Faith Williams Mark July 26, 1932-September 3, 1984 Faith Leads the Way Home The Last Time You Stroked My Hair Today is another anniversary of
Christina-Dancing in the Mystery
My Whole Life Led Me There I went to my first Shalom retreat in February 2023. A friend told me about it, but the deeper
Rebekah-Always Curious
Still Beginning I like to ask people a question: If you didn’t know how old you were, how old would you think you are? For
Charlie-Walking the Camino with Shalom
My name is Charlie Hammerslough. I’ve been coming to Shalom Mountain since June 9, 2011. In the winter of 2019, I walked the last seventy
Barb-All of You is Welcome Here
What’s Cooking? What’s cooking? That’s how the mat trips always began. What’s cooking? When I think about my Shalom story, I have to start with
Kori-Coming Home to Love. Again and Again
Coming to Shalom I first came to Shalom when I was twenty-two years old. My uncle Doug had gone first, and when he came home,
Carol-Trust the Unfolding
The Beginning I first came to Shalom in 1977. My therapist suggested a retreat at Kirkridge led by protégés of Jerry and Elizabeth, and something