Not-yet-published pieces, stories, essays, rants, and random strangenesses

My job has me writing a lot each week: weekly newsletters, press releases, editorials, forwards and introductions to books—that sort of...

I have officially achieved coffee Nirvana. A couple of years ago I stumbled upon Raven’s Brew Coffee Roasters, a marvelous coffee company...

Yesterday was my grand-niece Jillian’s first birthday. Six weeks after she was born, Mom got a visit from the whole tribe: my brother...

I have always been fascinated by maps. Not handsome, historical maps, but ones I might actually use. These days I spend an absurd amount...

I found this utterly fascinating.

The National Park Service is considering giving back the southern half, which was confiscated from the Indian tribe during World War II....

By Bill Harlan, Rapid City Journal Friday, December 21, 2007 Political activist Russell Means, a founder of the American Indian...

By Manuel Roig-Franzia Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, September 26, 2007; Page A14 SANTIAGO ATITLAN, Guatemala The shaman...

Shaman wisdom, psychology treat post-traumatic stress disorder by ALEX deMARBAN Anchorage Daily News | September 17, 2007 After a...

by Marie Ryan McMillan JuneauEmpire.com On one of my last days in Shishmaref, I heard the story of the last shaman. In it, the village’s...

The chattering classes are heading to the Amazon in search of esoteric highs. Are shamans the new shrinks? by Clover Stroud The Sunday...

A tiny Amazonian village mixes traditional healing and modern medicine by Andy Isaacson Utne Reader, September / October 2007 Issue At an...

This is a sermon I gave today. I was the guest preacher at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brevard here in Melbourne, Florida. I...

by Nick Squires in Sydney | Daily Telegraph [Just so they know: No apology will be either expected or desired for any Baptists consumed....

by Edgardo Krebs Special to The Washington Post Saturday, August 11, 2007; Page C02 After learning of the death of the Peruvian shaman...

My friend Kate lived for several years in Yuma, Arizona, and worked as an environmental lawyer on an Army base. She and her fiancé Ken...

The news report was bizarre on so many levels. First, the opening salvo: “An amusement park in China has built what it claims is the...

by Jernigan Pontiac, Seven Days It dazzles me, the commonality of message among wise-men and women the world over. From the Dalai Lama to...

Kunuk documents conversion of last great shaman by Mari Sasano, Canada.com Friday, September 29, 2006 Though cinema has only been around...

by Shadi Rahimi, Indian Country Today SAN FRANCISCO—They climb mountains on a quest for a vision. They beat drums and shake rattles....