In most traditional cultures, one does not choose to become a healer; rather, one is called. And in most traditional cultures, one ignores that call at one's peril. In our present-day American culture, however, these calls can be harder to hear and harder to follow.

My own path appeared somewhat twisted, though in hindsight I suppose it was perfectly straight. Marked from birth, taught the beginnings of voodoo in Brazil at the age of four, and having written a master's thesis on the performative language of the Navajo Night Chant, I received the first call when I was in my twenties. I tried to follow it, but in those days teachers of shamanism were pretty thin on the ground. So I went on with my life, and it was only when my husband became extremely ill years later that I received the second call in a dream and the third call in person two weeks later.

I am a graduate of the Eye of the Eagle Two Year Program in Shamanic Studies with Leontine Hartzell and the Jewish Shamanic Healing Two Year Training Program with Rabbi Gershon Winkler and Miriam Maron. I have also studied soul retrieval with Sandra Ingerman, Tibetan soul retrieval with Larry Peters, Peruvian shamanism with Don Martín Pinedo, and Bear Medicine with the Elder Bear Clan. I am a member of the Society of Shamanic Practitioners, and I am also a Reiki Master.

I hold a Ph.D. in Medieval Comparative Literature from Columbia University and a B.A. in English from Amherst College.