It’s becoming increasingly obvious that we are in the midst of a spiritual crisis. I was certainly in need of a “tune-up,” so I went to see Frank Wise, “Buffalo Horn Cloud,” Peacemaker of the Lakota Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Mr. Wise, from Casper, Wyoming, is staying with Steve Anderson, a mutual friend in East Hampton. And while he is here, he is offering private energy clearing and healing sessions. The two men met while “holding space” at a water ceremony, part of “In the Name of the Mother: the First Women’s Gathering with the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers,” at Montezuma Well near Sedona, Arizona, during the 2014 spring equinox.
Mr. Wise has decorated a small bedroom in a cottage off Three Mile Harbor Road with colorful Pendleton blankets with Native American designs, crystals from around the world, eagle and great horned owl feathers and all kinds of herbs, oils and potions. The purpose of the healing sessions are to “release stagnant energy and cleanse psychic and physical trauma from your system.”
He took notes on a sheet of paper and checked off a list as we went along. 1) Check energy level, 2) Check higher self connection 3) Check brain split 4) Check spirit fractures 5) Check how open the heart is.
My energy level was 18 inches. I was surprised it was that high. Mr. Wise said afterward that when I walked in I looked like a turtle, which was funny because when I had participated in a Mayan ceremony in 2012, I learned that, according to my birth date, I was a turtle.
I was 60 percent connected to my higher self, had three brain splits, three spirit fractures and my heart was open 60 percent. Mr. Wise began by offering me angelica to inhale and cleared and removed any cords that were attached to me. “Sometimes, people want to have power over you,” he said.
Standing on a rug of Native American design, with feet apart, I was brushed with great horned owl feathers and learned how to bring my own energy up with breathing exercises (a bit awkward at first) and was given a crystal to take with me. I was also given the best damn hug I’ve ever received, as our two hearts were drawn together. We actually hugged twice as part of the ceremony. Once to wrap it up and again when he received payment, in the form of a donation.
In the end, I attained one brain and had zero spiritual fractures. My higher self was brought to 100 percent, my heart was open 130 percent, and my final energy level went to 18 feet, a resounding success. Maybe I just needed a hug, but I swear, I am definitely less angry since my session and have more energy.
“I use universal energy,” he said, “Ten sessions in one day was the most I ever did. I was so energized I couldn’t sleep that night. I was going to have fun but slept the next day.”
As Mr. Wise worked on another client, I took some time to catch up with Mr. Anderson, who has had a very full year since we last spoke. “I’m on a shamanic path,” Mr. Anderson said, “I’m more of a tracker or gatherer of information. I’ve been given tools to harmonize the masculine and feminine so we can live a balanced life.”
The Reiki practitioner’s journey has led him to work with indigenous tribes in North and South America from Alaska to Peru. Last fall, he led a group of people through the sacred valley of Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and the mountains of Salkantay, Ausangate and Hatun Q’ero in Peru on horseback. During their two weeks way off the beaten path, the group worked with paqos, the priests of the Q’ero nation, direct descendants of Inca empire.
Mr. Anderson was called to John of God, a medium who performs “psychic surgery” in Abadiania, Brazil and has a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his shoulder.
He also has a new “brand” that he designed and executed himself, by shaping a wire, burning it in a fire and then holding it onto the skin on his arm until it cooled. Three triskeles above two wavy lines represent motherhood and water. Started on the evening of his mother’s death, the beautiful scar has deep personal meaning, but don’t try it at home kids.
The shaman-in-training also attended Spirit Fest in Bali, had a spiritual encounter with an oracle named Raman whose last incarnation was King Cyrus the Great and lived in a “grandmother” banyan tree in Hawaii. While there, he had visions, some graphic. “We’re accountable,” he said, “Whatever happens we’re all going to do it together.”
One of the services Mr. Anderson offers is bringing young men through rites of passage. “How to build tools, fire, shelter, feed yourself in the wildness,” he said, “How to respect female energy and use masculine energy to harmonize not dominate. Hold the container.”
Shamanic tools bring energies into harmony with each other. When that happens, balance is achieved. To that end, Mr. Anderson thinks it’s high time, our society “stops looking at them as alternative medicine and starts looking at them for what they are, complimentary medicine, that address the four reflections of the human experience, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.”
Mr. Anderson has been given permission by his indigenous mentors to offer sweat lodge ceremonies to his community. He will prepare a sweat lodge, for physical and spiritual purification, on June 20, when the full moon and the summer solstice, bring both feminine and masculine energies together.
“If I lift you up, I’m lifted,” he said, “The world is magical and wondrous.”
If you need to reboot, here’s a recipe for a “spiritual cleansing bath,” that Mr. Wise gave me: one quart apple cider vinegar, one quart Epsom salt, one-quarter cup iodized salt. “Rinse off afterward in the shower. You can also add rose or lavender oil. Scrub with soap like you are covered in grease, shampoo and condition hair also. Oil or lotion skin. Drink lots of water.”
To contact Mr. Anderson or Mr. Wise, go to http://globalspiritfamily.com.
Staff Writer on Jun 13, 2016