Peter Clark, M.A., M.S.

When you are in the middle of a path, you usually can’t see where you are headed, but looking back, you can see how you got to where you are today. It was October 2001 when I attended my first shamanic drumming circle. By the middle of the evening, I knew that I had found something that felt so perfect, so right for me. I was hooked. But it seems my shamanic path started much earlier in life. It’s hard to say exactly when, but the unique experience of living in Japan between the ages of 9 and 11 feels like a strong part of the starting.

Exposure to the many threads and streams of Shintoism embedded in the fabric of Japan taught me at an early age that Spirits indeed are everywhere. In the teenage years, I became increasingly aware of and connected to Nature Spirits. I would walk in the park near my home, lean against the trees, talk, and listen. Or hike in the woods of the Adirondacks, feeling such a full presence all around. No fear in the dark.

In the 1980s, I began an informal study of nutrition and its effects on our bodies, and then in the early 90s, I began to meditate and practice yoga. All along the way my awareness grew of the ubiquitous presence of a vast intelligence that permeated all of creation. I strove to become aware of any “box” that I might find myself in, and continually worked at pushing the boundaries out further.

A parallel path to this philosophical/spiritual/consciousness focus was a great interest in science, logic, mathematics, and the scientific view of the universe. My attraction to space science and cosmology started in childhood – I wanted to travel the stars as an astronaut. In college I studied Computer Science and Mathematics. I went on to get a masters degree in Mathematics Education and another in Computer Science. Throughout all this study, I was keenly focused on what I could know, on the nature of reality, and the expansion of consciousness through scientific inquiry. In these realms, I initially liked the rules – I liked the predictable nature of a system with pre-defined operators. As time went on and I grew in awareness of how little I really understood, my appreciation for systems with a limited rule set waned. I noted that really interesting systems couldn’t be boxed in – the more you investigated them, the more you found that you couldn’t really properly explore them without continually broadening your perspective.

What I found in Core Shamanism was a set of tools that did not box me in, but rather gave me the ability to discover the nature of things for myself. This appealed greatly to my scientific background and tendencies. Everything I had experienced previously seemed to have led up to this. What I learned easily at my first shamanic drum circle in 2001 was how to interact with various spiritual forces through the shamanic journey process - a way to have direct revelatory experiences – relationships – with aspects of the Divine beyond physical reality. Since then I’ve had some amazing teachers – both human and spirit. The Two Week Shamanic Healing Intensive and the Three Year Program in Advanced Initiations in Shamanism and Shamanic Healing were key arenas in a learning process that continues to this day. I am honored to count Nan Moss and David Corbin among the fine teachers who have helped me find my path and learn the ways of healing. Among other things, I work with clients in a private shamanic healing and divination practice in north central Vermont.

Peter Clark holds an M.A. in mathematics education from Ohio State University, and an M.S. in computer science from Rutgers University. He has taught in high school, university, corporate, and circle settings since 1984.