MIKKAL
Welcome to this website. I am Mikkal, otherwise known as C. Michael Smith, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and author of books and publications on the interface and integration of shamanic wisdom and psychotherapy. The genre of my publications is known as ethnopsychology, yet I must tell you the inspiration has been predominantly shamanic and spiritual in origins. This website is primarily a "teaching website" for my clients and students. It is filled with many articles, interviews, and practices which may be helpful to you.
More than twenty years ago, during a Vision Quest at Lake Temagami in Northen Ontario I received into my heart a Vision for my life and work as a bridge builder between the wisdom of indigenous shamanism traditions and my own modern western culture, and particularly the profession of psychology, which has tremendous influence in this society in telling us about the human psyche [or soul] and providing us with behavioral norms for its well being. While I have found many areas of convergence between shamanism and the analytical psychology of C.G. Jung, I also found limitations in western psychology, including the Jungian, marvelous as it is, at the level of the assumptive world on which they operate, the value system in terms of which they operate [not enough earth-honoring or community building practice]. The questions that have dominated my concern in this work have been: “How can we help our people heal and become whole if we are out of balance with the Earth Mother, and if we are fragmenting socially and not building earth honoring ways of living?” and “How can we expect to become whole if we are cut off from Nature, from our own bodies, and from our hearts?”
These ideas do not arise from scholarship or theory. For more than 25 years I have been on a shamanic path, and exploring ways to bring its gifts into our culture, and trying to find ways to honor the indigenous peoples who have stewarded these traditions. I have had many good teachers along the way, including my Potowatami-Ojibway friend Tom Topash who taught me about the Good Red Road and how to walk it, and Ai Gvhdi Waya, my great Cherokee-metis teacher who initiated me into her lineage of healing and soul recovery work. The particular heart-path I walk today, is strongly influenced by the Andean tradition of the "camina del Iachak", and for 8 years I have been in apprenticeship with the curandero and Taita Iachak from Ecuador, don Alverto Taxo. This apprenticeship is ongoing and brings beauty and wisdom into my life, and into my shamanic and psychotherapeutic work and mentoring programs. It is an on going apprenticeship because don Alverto is but a portal to the true Master which is the Great Force of Life [Spirit], and I shall ever be learning. In short. I am an apprentice of the Heart. I bless all my teachers!
The healing wisdom of this Andean tradition has helped me learn how to clear my heart of unnecessary baggage, old wounds and problem patterns that are in the way of the fullness of living from the Invitations of the Great Force of Life that arise in the heart. This healing wisdom has also blessed so many of my clients and students, and it can bless your life if you let it be so. This website is dedicated to being of service to you by assisting you in this process of discovering how to open your heart and live from it, and to providing you with some helpful tips along the way.
The wisdom of this path of the Iachak, can teach us in simple and beautiful little steps how to bring the powers of the mind into right relationship with the powers of the heart. In the Andean tradition, this is known as the “Power of the Eagle” [the mind] flying together in harmony with the ‘Powers of the Condor’ [the heart].
One way my life has shifted since I began walking this path is that I am less intellect centered, much more heart open and more connected to everything. I am happier, more intuitive, more honoring of body and the non-human creatures, and more filed with joy. My written work has also shifted since I have been on this path in that I have been Invited to write a psychology for us in the Land of Eagles [modern western civilization] that brings forth much of the wisdom of the shamanic path of the Andes. It is a gift of the peoples of the Andes, to us, and is cast in terms that are more familiar in our cultural context. I call it “A Little Psychology of the Heart", and you will find its simply stated theory and its powerful practices on this website.
A word about the name Mikkal. It is pronounced ''Mee-call.'' The accent is placed on the second syllable. It wasn’t given to me by anyone but came to me as a name for my essential being, or Ushai...When I am plugged into That I am plugged into the Heart and the Great Force of Life. I created the spelling because I felt it more beautiful than Michael. I resonate with it more. The path of the Iachak is about creating more beauty in your life. We all have the power to create much beauty in the world.
ORGANIZATION OF THIS SITE
The way the web pages are organized on this site is largely in terms of what feels like you may need to know before moving to the next page. But of course you are welcome to dip in wherever you like, to any topic you feel drawn to. The links page has many personal links to individuals who are solid in their traditions and are earth honoring, and are doing excellent work. This site is and continues to be a work in progress, please excuse its rough edges. J
If you have come to this website, it is probably not by accident. You are looking for something you need, or deeply want. While this website presents my “work’”, it really isn’t mine or about me. It is the Great Force of Life who does the healing, and makes the connections we need. I pray that it be a hollow bone for you, and do not hesitate to let me know if I can be of service.
I wish you every success in your Quest
and pray that it may be so!
Mikkal
