Gaylen Ariel is a teacher, a student, a journeywoman, a citizen of the Universe, and a Grandmother wisdom-keeper. She also keeps track of {and protects from wayward developers) an eagle’s nest on the edge of a busy highway near her home.

Amy Belanger is a professional conservation leader, presently serving as campaign director for Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition and formerly heading The Green Party, Student Environmental Action Coalition, and Gulf Coast Environmental Defense, the group successfully battling offshore drilling in Florida. She was raised in the backwoods of North Florida (aka Southern Alabama) and has made it her mission to bring better environmental protection to the Southern United States, a region whose economic hardship and political conservativism attracts destructive industries. 

Kara Ciel Black was born and raised just over the border from Chicago, IL and has enjoyed many outdoor travel adventures including climbing, long bike trips and long backpacks in various states and countries. Most of her volunteer work is as an "ally" to parents and young people. With degrees in education, management and psychology, she works in human services management, is married, and lives in co-housing in Seattle, WA.

 Maya Trace Borhani, a writer, dancer and gardener, comes from the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, where coyote, flicker, fox, bobcat, puma, and bear infused her consciousness, and experience of the world around her, for many years. Now residing in the San Juan Island archipelago of Washington state, she still looks to the natural world for inspiration, guidance, and renewal. The art of ritual, cultivating sacred awareness, climbing trees, and swimming in wild rivers are a few of her favorite passions in life. 

Antoinette Botsford works as a professional storyteller, freelance writer, and is Children’s Editor for The Napra ReView. Much of her story work is drawn from her native Canadian (First Nations) heritage. She’s an enthusiastic gardener, an indifferent housekeeper, loves cats and rain, kayaking, singing with the local chorale, listening to classical music, and traveling in the Southwestern United States. She is hard at work on several books and creates workshops in story-related activities for people of all ages.

Kimball C. Brooks lives with her husband live in Charlotte, NC. She is mother of three and grandmother of six children. She is enjoying fifteen years of sobriety and is gratefully active in a twelve-step program.


Judith Christy has always lived and worked close to nature. She has worked with wildlife rehabilitation, as a cook, nutritionist, and shopkeeper. She is both a Master Gardener and a Master Composter and most recently creator of a children’s garden and learning center. She lives in a hundred year-old house with her husband, Bob Mann, and other members of an intentional community called Hearthaven.

Phil Crabtree grew up in western Kentucky but moved to Nashville, TN to become involved in the music industry. He has pursued a career in songwriting and playing guitar, has worked for a major record label, and has independently released two CD’s with his own songs. He states: “Music has always been part of my soul and life, so my heart was driven to pursue it.” 

Cate M. Cummings is President of Cate Cummings Publicity & Promotion Group, specializing in alternative health and healing, metaphysical, new age, spiritual, and visionary books. You may contact her at www.bookpublicity.com

Janet Cunningham, Ph.D. is an internationally known board certified specialist in regression therapy, a transpersonal counselor, seminar leader, and author. She is past president of the International Association for Regression Research and Therapies, Inc. and associate director of the International Board of Regression Therapy. Dr. Cunningham is owner of Breakthroughs to the Unconscious, a private practice in Columbia, MD and has authored three books: A Tribe Returned; Inner Selves: The Feminine* Path to Weight Loss (*for men and women who value their intuitive nature); and Caution: Soul Mate Ahead! She can be contacted at PO Box 55, Columbia, MD 21045, telephone 410-404-2007, email: janetcunningham@usa.net, www.JanetCunningham.com.

Will Davis was born into a large family in Indian River City, Florida (now part of Titusville, Florida) and has lived there most of his life. He is an artist, counselor and teacher. He is of American Indian descent, is a traditional dancer and active in the Indian community where he is also known as “Talking Wolf,” and attends as many pow wows as he can. He also enjoys gardening, running, hiking, bicycling, camping, and ice cream.

Kellie Jo Dunlap is a professional bassoonist, licensed massage therapist, Reiki master, and sound healer. She currently lives in Naples, Florida.

Carolyn Elizabeth Dyche is a designer who enjoys creating harmonious and beautiful spaces which reflect conscious living. She is a mother of two, an active 
Hospice volunteer, and writer. Carolyn is currently attending "The Society of Souls," an Integrated Kabbalistic Healing School in Princeton, New Jersey. 

Aweisle Epstein is an intuitive psychic recluse who prefers to keep her biography to herself. You may write to her in care of her sister, Antoinette Botsford, also published in this work.

Toby Evans is an artist, musician, and spiritual healer. She facilitates transpersonal, experiential workshops using Native American and Incan Medicine Wheel teachings. She constructed and maintains the Prairie Labyrinth near Sibley, Missouri, and is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society.

Since beginning her “path with feathers,” Anna Belle Fore has become a Reiki Master, a Certified Spiritual Counselor, and has extensively studied energy medicine with Donna Eden. She has recently begun studying shamanism as taught by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and has incorporated shamanic practices into her daily life and teaching. You may contact her at anabel4@angelfire.com

Robert Gass has been known for leading edge work in human consciousness for over 25 years. Over 200,000 people have participated in seminars with Robert at corporations, universities, educational centers and conferences. He consults at the highest levels to organizations ranging from Chase Manhattan to Greenpeace, and serves as a personal coach to business, political and spiritual leaders. Also a musical recording artist, he has released 20 albums with the group On Wings of Song and is co-author of CHANTING: Discovering Spirit in Sound.

Laura Giess is an artist and human resources specialist who lives and works in the western Kansas city of Hays. She describes herself as “a believer always seeking the beauty and the balance within the universe, a lover of life, and a true friend.”

Nancy Gifford (MUMTAZ) has exhibited on both coasts and throughout the U.S. Her assemblages (works that combine found objects with painting and sculpting techniques) have won many awards over a span of two decades. MUMTAZ is the name given to her by a fortune teller when she lived in Morocco. In Persian it means “exquisite” or “delicious.” Mumtaz was also the wife of Shah Jahan Mahal, who built the Taj Mahal in her honor. Nancy believes she has received many blessings from her namesake.

Linda Hogan, a Chickasaw poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and activist, is widely considered to be one of the most influential Native American figures in the contemporary American literary landscape. Her writings include six volumes of poetry, Calling Myself Home, Daughters, I Love You, Eclipse, Seeing Through the Sun, Savings, and The Book of Medicines. Her fiction includes two volumes of short stories and two novels, Mean Spirit and Solar Storms. Her collection of essays, Dwellings: Reflections on the Natural World, describes her attempts to "relearn the tribal knowings of thousands of years." 

Debra Hooper lives in England with her husband and son, and works as a clairvoyant and Reiki practitioner. She first discovered her psychic ability in early childhood . She also believes “in fairies and angels and happy endings.”

Chicago native Greg Eric “Skip” Hultman is a former news reporter and writer. A graduate of John Schultz’s Story Workshop, he has authored many articles as both a commercial and freelance writer. As a professional Naturalist, environmental writer and illustrator, he wrote a book about native plants of the Midwest. Now living in northwestern Michigan, he is currently working on a novel that focuses on “the connections between wolves and spirituality” and a collection of short stories.

Victoria Rose Impallomeni is a native of Key West and a charter boat guide for the last 25 years. She teaches environmental marine science to people who want to learn more about nature by being in nature, taking people into salt flats and mangrove habitats (“God's jungle gym”) to see wildlife at play in their natural world. The area is home to heron, tern, osprey, pelican, hawks, eagles, cormorants, sea turtles, wild dolphins, and many other species. Her commitment to teaching people about how humanity has affected these birds and other wild creatures is demonstrated by her dedication and respect for their natural, undisturbed habitat. She can be contacted at www.captvictoria.com or 888-822-7366.

K. M. Jordan grew up in Oak Park, Illinois with her younger brother and has since lived in Wisconsin, Florida, New Mexico and California. Her search for meaning over the past twenty years has taken her to an inner spiritual quest which has been most gratifying. 

Mary-Lane Kamberg is a professional writer, author of five nonfiction books, and an award-winning poet. She is co-leader of the Kansas City Writers Group. She has a quill pen poised atop her computer desk. 

Carolyn Lewis King is full blood Muscogee Creek Indian, married, with five children and four grandchildren. She is a project associate at the Haskell Indian Nations University's Youth Extension program. She comes from a family of Medicine People on her father’s side of the family. On her mother’s side, “we have a lot of stompdancers.” She is currently enrolled as a junior at the university and plans to get a BS in Elementary Education. She says, “I love life and try to live it as if I were in ceremony at all times. I want to walk a good road and leave good thoughts behind.”

Raven Lamoureux-Dodd began a passion for personal coaching in 1991. She contributes to a process that allows people to invest in themselves and she finds reward in the transformation of their personal and professional lives. She has been a health care practitioner for 17 years and traveled internationally for seven years leading seminars on personal transformation and shamanism. Raven is the director of COACH FORCE, Giving You the Edge, and lives with her husband on the edge of the Everglades where she can hear the owls at night. 

Li-Young Lee is the author of three books of poems, Book of My Nights (BOA Editions), Rose (BOA Editions), and The City in Which I Love You (BOA Editions), and a book-length prose poem, The Winged Seed (Simon and Schuster, cloth; Ruminator Books, paperback). He has been the recipient of many literary awards, most recently The Lannan Foundation Literary Award, The American Book Award of the Before Columbus Foundation, and The PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award. He lives with his wife and two sons in Chicago. 

Lee Lessard-Tapager is an acupuncture physician and yoga instructor who dedicates her practice to meeting people where they are, with honor. She believes that there are no coincidences, and that everything we encounter in life teaches us about our own divinity. Spending time in nature everyday is a life sustaining meditation for her.

Denise Linn began her spiritual journey as a result of a traumatic experience that occurred when she was 17 years old. Shot by a sniper and left for dead, Denise had a vivid near-death experience which activated a life-long quest to understand more about the spiritual dimension. She explored her Cherokee heritage, lived in a Zen Buddhist monastery for over two years, and spent time in many native cultures throughout the world learning healing traditions. She teaches in 19 countries and is the author of eleven books, including Sacred Space, Feng Shui for the Soul, Sacred Legacies and Altars. She can be contacted at P. O. Box 75657, Seattle WA, 98125.

Virginia Lore is a Safe Nester and sometime-psychic who shares her home with her life partner Kevin and her strongly intuitive daughter Penelope.

Carole Louie is a spiritual consultant specializing in teachings of reincarnation and Feng Shui. She facilitates workshops and classes on interior design and Feng Shui, reincarnation, and spiritual growth. She can be reached at CaroleLouie@compuserve.com.

Sheelagh G. Manheim, Ph.D. is a Jungian psychoanalyst. She has lived in the Kansas City area most of her professional life. Having grown up in the impressive natural environment of British Columbia, she has always felt like a “child of Nature” and finds renewal there. She enjoys using music, dance and storytelling to help people express their soul. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 5852, Kansas City,MO 64171, (816) 753-8585.

Rev. Fern Moreland has been an icon in Kansas City’s dowsing and metaphysical community for many years. She is a skilled dowser, psychic reader, ghost investigator, astrologer, palmist, numerologist, teacher, ordained Spiritualist minister, and metaphysician. She has worked tirelessly to promote knowledge and understanding of the psychic arts, appearing on radio talk shows and speaking at schools, churches, and organizations. She is founder of God’s Circle of Love Metaphysical Center and owner-editor of The Good News Paper, a local newspaper. She may be contacted at Fmoreland1@juno.com

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 25 years. As a cancer survivor, he remains committed to the usefulness of daily inner life. He has written several books which focus on the work of inner transformation. His most recent book is The Book of Awakening. A collection of Mark’s essays, Unlearning Back to God, will be published in London (Fall, 2002) as well as a new book, The Gift of Attention (Conari Press, Fall 2003). Mark currently serves as Program Officer and Poet-in-Residence for the Fetzer Institute.

Gina Ogden is a grandmother and long-time feather enthusiast. She is also the author of Women Who Love Sex: An Inquiry into the Expanding Spirit of Women’s Erotic Experience, and is writing a book on the results of her nationwide survey, the first to investigate the emotional, spiritual, and cultural dimensions of sexual relationships. She would love to hear from you via her website: www.womanspirit.net. 

Pam Owens currently works as a case manager/sign language interpreter in Johnson County, Kansas. Previously she worked with deaf alcohol and drug abusers, and established Missouri's state program substance abuse treatment for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, where she currently serves as a consultant. She also does demonstration cooking for renaissance festivals as “Mother Pockets.” Her feather story was told to her by her own mother, who is full of wonderful stories! 

Marty Peach is a lifelong resident of New England and leads a blessed life as the caretaker and guardian of two cockatoos and an African Gray parrot.

Terrill Petri is co-founder and guiding spirit of Women Vision International, a not-for-profit organization founded to “improve the quality of life for women and children throughout the world by empowering women to be economically self sufficient.”
WVI’s efforts have included rural, grass-roots initiatives with women in Ghana, the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Zimbabwe, and the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Lakota Nation. She may be contacted at www.womenvision.org, or 913-432-2883.

Terry Podgornik is a registered nurse who believes in the importance of caring for people as a whole, both body and spirit. She sees herself as “a small part of something much larger” and believes that “when you present yourself as spirit, wonderful connections happen.” She also finds comfort and solace in nature, music, and good books.

Josie RavenWing, MA, MFCC, has made the study of multi-cultural healing systems and spiritual paths her life's work. An internationally known workshop presenter, ceremonial leader, poet, songwriter, and author (The Return of Spirit: A Woman's Call to Spiritual Action and A Season of Eagles), Josie leads week-long Desert Visions shamanic retreats, and also leads groups to Brazil several times a year to experience the work of trance medium healer Joao de Deus. She may be contacted at: 954-922-1596; email jravenwing@aol.com; website www.healingjourneys.net

Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., is the author of the best-selling Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings, where this story first appeared. She is renowned for her work with the seriously and terminally ill.

Carol Rydell is the creator of Earth Wisdom Journeys, an organization committed to teaching and supporting individuals who long for deeper meaning and purpose in their life. Through ceremony, ritual and group experiences, Carol assists others in opening to their inner wisdom and in remembering all of who they are. She uses her love of sound and rhythm to nurture community. Carol facilitates workshops locally and internationally, gently communicating powerful messages regarding relationships to our self, each other, and Mother Earth. You may contact her at crydell@aol.com

Orazio Salati is an established artist and art educator living in Endicott, NY. His earlier work dealt with a specific theme, the massacre of a Native American tribe, illustrations of which are included in the book A Tribe Returned. Abstractions are his current expression. He may be contacted at Buffst72@aol.com

Jeanne Scoville is a holistic R.N. who has devoted over 30 years of her adult life to studying multi-cultural healing methodologies. She is a world traveler, a student of indigenous teachings, and deeply resonates with the elders who share their sacred oral traditions. She says, “I am at home wherever I am throughout the world, and I am personally convinced in a very organic way that we, indeed, are ALL family!” 

Nancy Sena now devotes time to her main love of short story writing, after more than thirty years as a counselor for adults. She has been published in the Miami Herald’s Tropic Magazine and The Writers’ Journal. She is active in four writing groups in the Naples, FL area where she and her husband make their home.

Deborah Shouse is a creativity coach, editor, teacher and dreamer. She is fascinated by possibilities. Her work has appeared in MS, Woman’s Day. Family Circle, Tikkun, Reader’s Digest, and other national magazines. She is author of a number of nonfiction books and the co-author of Working Woman’s Communications Guide and Antiquing for Dummies. Her work has also been published in anthologies such as In Loving Testimony, I Am Becoming the Woman I’ve Wanted, and Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul.

Rod C. Skenandore, Ph.D., Elk Chief, Oneida/Blackfeet, is a scholar, writer, a Sun Dance chief of long standing, and an artist who believes that all of life is an art. As a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather he stresses the importance of the future and is concerned with what we, world-wide, are doing in the present. He states: “We are each other’s medicine, put here to take care of the sacred Mother Earth. This includes all the races. The sacred powers are our tools. We have used them for ourselves rather than for Creation. Wake up, world family, the circle is ‘way out of round.’ Aho.”

Eleanor K. Sommer is a writer and editor who lives in Gainesville, Florida. She is also an Artist-in-Residence with the Shands Arts in Medicine program where she works bedside with heart transplant patients. Her most relaxing moments are spent in her garden where she grows herbs and vegetables. 

Starfeather is founder and owner of Starfeather's Gallery of Sacred Art & Provisions for the Journey in Edmonds, Washington. She is a spiritual leader, visionary artist, healer, ceremonialist, writer, and teacher of creative and sacred arts. Her life is dedicated to re-establishing the Sacred Feminine on the planet, restoring balance, harmony, and respect for the Earth. Starfeather facilitates several on-going Circles and spiritually focused retreats throughout the year. She created and performs in "In Honor of Trees," ceremonial theater. She can be contacted at: strfther@speakeasy.org

Kenneth Ray Stubbs, Ph.D., is a certified sexologist and a certified masseur. He has given trainings in massage and sexuality throughout North America and Europe. He has also taught as an adjunct faculty member at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco and is the author of The Essential Tantra, Women of the Light: The Sacred Prostitute, and five other books on sexuality, as presented on his website: www.sexandspirit.com

Stumbling Deer is an artist and shaman. Chanting, singing, and playing Native American flute, he has led sweats, ceremonies, and vision quests for over twenty years. His pottery also reflects a Native American influence. He can be contacted at Stonesthrow Pottery, 7110 Antioch, Merriam, Ks 66204, telephone 913-362-0904.

Bobby Rae Sullivan was raised by her parents, Mary and Joseph Sullivan, on their ranch in western South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She graduated from Oglala Community School in 1972 and currently works for the Environmental Protection Agency’s program of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Her parents are no longer living, and she currently lives on the original ranch east of Buffalo Gap, South Dakota, with her three daughters, three nieces, nephew, grandson and son-in-law.

Mark E. Tannenbaum is an avid watcher of nature and believes that God’s creations speak to all of us. He sees feathers as keys that unlock the doorways of the universe and provide knowledge that he shares an optimum world of peace and harmony with 
every creature.

Don Alberto Taxo, through his translator, gave the following instructions for using feathers in a healing ritual. His website (www.donalberto.org) states that he is “a Master Iachag Birdperson residing in the High Andes Mountains, named after the local taxo flower. In 1990 Don Alberto was appointed the highest honor by the Shamanic Council of South America and is a teacher and healer of the Cotopaxi Quichua tribe in Ecuador.”

Vickie Thompson’s metaphysical path is a stark contrast to her career as an executive in the administration field. In her personal time, Vickie designs workshops that help women rediscover their herstory through the study of ancient goddess religions and the cultural shifts that have influenced women’s lives since the advent of patriarchy. She has been writing and leading women-centered rituals for eight years. Vickie and her husband, Gary, a Reiki Master and hypnotherapist, live in Massachusetts. 

Gerald Wagner was born in Portland Oregon, but grew up in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from Indian Heritage High School he received an Associate Studies degree from Little Big Horn College and a Bachelor’s degree from Montana State University. After working as a project coordinator for the Blackfeet Tribes Wetlands Protection program, he became Director of the Tribe’s Environmental Programs. His work oversees all major environmental concerns for the Blackfeet Reservations. He is also a member of the Regional and National Tribal Operations Committee. He is married, has two sons and a daughter, and states: “My family is the most important thing to me. This land is all we have and we have to do what we can to make our land a clean and healthy environment in which to raise our children.” 

Vicki Wagoner is an area certified hypnotherapist and a Reiki Master. She lives with her husband, Rick, and two sons, Alexander and Clinton, in Naples, Florida.

Penny Wigglesworth heads The Penny Bear Company, Inc., a nonprofit all-volunteer company that spreads messages of love, healing, and hope through gifts of teddy bears to seriously ill children and adults. She is also a hospice volunteer, wife, mother of four and grandmother of seven.

Ron Yeomans, M.D., lives in Kansas, “the land of Oz,” and says, “I seem to be wandering around in the wilderness with assorted witches, gargoyles, good fairies and munchkins. Like the scarecrow, I have a degree and, I hope, a brain. Like the lion, I have at least had the courage to begin my quest, but I’m not always sure where I am. Like the Tin Man, I know I have a heart because sometimes I can feel it breaking; and sometimes I can even feel love in it. Like Dorothy, I sometimes don’t feel like I’m in Kansas anymore. Now and then, another feather drops into my life to show me that I’m really meant to fly, if I have the courage, the insight, and open my heart to the possibility.”