Tending Fire

09/03/2026

Sometimes, I feel like the luckiest damn person in the world!

Sure, I have my moments of complaining: About the world situation, my aches and pains, financial challenges, and the fact that my wife loves me so much that she calls me on ‘my stuff.’ You name it, I can complain. I mean, I was raised in a Jewish family after all!

But…for reasons that are far too mysterious to fathom, I have been called to the Wixárika (Huichol) traditional path that has been walked been walked by the ancestors for many thousands of years. I have elders and Divine Teachers who show me the path of wisdom—even as I can sometimes stray or stumble. I have the opportunity to devote my life to the teaching and healing of others.

And I get to come to places like this! (See photos—all taken just before sunrise). This morning was my first in Tepoztlán, Mexico—only about 32 miles south of Mexico City as the crow flies, but anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours or more of driving to get out of that metro area that is home to some 22 million people.

Tepoztlán is the home of Grupo Tatewarí (‘Grandfather Fire’) medicine group and we gather at a place called Casa Xiuhtecuhtli (House of Fire in the local Nuahtl language). Casa Xiuhtecuhtli is unique in being a home for two living, ancestrally-related traditions: Wixárika and Nahua.

The focal point for Nahua ceremony at Casa Xiuhtecuhtli is the rather ornate Mayoria–which includes a large gilded sun disk and walls with exquisite murals.

Much more humble is the thatched Wixárika ceremonial structure, known as a ‘Tuki.’ It has a fire pit in the middle, with open doorways to the north, south, and east and a steeply pitched roof with air vents to the north and south.

Like most indigenous peoples (and even those of European ancestry before the increasingly materialistic focus of what we now think of as the Western philosophical tradition), the Nahua and the Wixárika see all of creation as alive and aware.

That means that a tuki is not just a structure, but a live being that must be ‘fed’ with constant ceremony.

That ceremony is called a ‘Tuki Fiesta,’ and that is why I am in Mexico right now.

Once the ceremony begins on Saturday, I will be off-line for at least three days. ‘Virtual reality’ and sacred reality don’t mix too well. But I may be able to report a bit more before then, or after.

For now, signing off by expressing deep gratitude to the gods and the ancestors for the path that has brought me here. And also to my beautiful wife Jessica, without whom I would not be able to do what I do. Thanks to all of you who are family and friends who may not understand what I do, but nonetheless support me with your love and care.

I mean, what could be better than all of this?!

09/01/2026

Catching up on sleep after providing ritual support for a most amazing Fire Speaks event held at the Wanocksett Boy Scouts camp near the base of Mt. Monadnock in Dublin, NH. Nearly 40 of us began the weekend schedule with a sweat lodge on Friday night so that would be ritually prepared to view an enactment of the Mountain’s sacred story from the local Pennacook peoples. Seeing this ancient drama acted out was thrilling!

Still feeling a 'buzz' from it all. Here are some still images of the area as well as a video shot my first morning. A very full weekend of ceremony for all who attended!

08/26/2026

The hunger for transcendent experiences and transformational healing is creating a demand that is being exploited by poorly trained and unscrupulous practitioners leading to bad trips, r**e, and even death.

Not even discussed in this article is the understanding that traditions using what we call psychedelic "substances" relate to them as powerful spirits that must be dealt with respectfully. That means participating in ritual by people who are authorized/initiated to do so in those traditions. Without the former, the most scientific and ethical of standards will yield some improvement, but longer-term, such treatments will be of little benefit--and still potentially great harm--to those who receive them.

See:

Participants, often in vulnerable states, have little recourse if mistreated or injured.

08/22/2026

A momentous day begins in Olympia, WA. I arrived two days ago to support a Sacred Fire 'Fire Speaks' event hosted by my old (We all seem to be showing our age these days!) friends Peter and Sharon Brown. Tonight, we have an audience with Grandfather Fire or 'Tatewari' in the Wirárika (Huichol) tradition that I follow.

Some shots that include a glimpse of Mt. Rainier as we made our approach to Sea-Tac on Thursday evening. Peter and Sharon have done extensive work to cultivate a good relationship with that great Divine Being that watches over this area–including a shrine on their property that allows ceremony to be 'telegraphed' from their land to Rainier.

Shots also include the land down to the council house that will be the site of tonight's event. A very auspicious sign as I approached the council house this morning: I saw three deer moving just beyond the opening to the woods--including a beautiful fawn that kept staring at me for the longest time. In the Wixárika tradition, the deer happens to be the most sacred animal!

Peter and Sharon have been delightful hosts, but I was a little sad not to be with Jessica and other loved ones for my birthday yesterday (and thanks again to all who honored me with their good wishes here). But it is a great honor to be able to support my mentor, Don David Wiley (Don David Wiley's Consultorio) and Grandfather Fire. Not likely to get much sleep tonight and so I am all the more grateful that one of the great virtues of the Northwest is lots of good coffee!

08/21/2026

"The map is not the territory." Coined by philosopher Alfred Korzybski in 1931, (and referred to me here before), it's an elegant insight that is even more critical to acknowledge nearly 100 years later.

What does it mean? Simply that our mental 'maps' of the world are not the world itself. And as we increasingly rely on digital technologies to form those maps, our conception of reality becomes all the more abstract and removed from the complexity of the "blooming, buzzing confusion" of nature–to borrow a phrase from the psychologist William James.

Where the mental maps become even more simplistic and distorted is when we engage in "self-diagnosis." As Tanya Byron and other psycho-therapists are attesting (Coincidentally there is a very similar perspective in a current New York Times piece–albeit more about young women), people are being influenced by social media to self-diagnose themselves as being traumatized, having autism, being anxious, depressed--you name it.

Everyone seems to be searching for a diagnostic label to justify...well, that life can be tough sometimes.

While Tanya Byron seems to be 'triggered' by the overuse of the word 'trigger,' (!) my pet peeve is trauma. It seems that everyone who is offering any kind of workshop about self-improvement has to organize it around the 'T word.'

As Byron points out in this interview, it's not that there aren't real mental health issues to deal with in modern life. Indeed, as we are less connected to our bodies, our emotions, other people, or the natural world–in general, more isolated–we are showing signs of less resilience and some very real signs of dysfunction. This has impact on people of all ages, but it seems to be most devastating for younger generations brought up on devices.

When we sit around a sacred fire, we get beyond the mental maps (and the digital 'ghosts' of the mental maps) to the felt experience of being with other people. We bear witness to each other as we share our joys and sorrows. As we let go of or at least soften our ideas of ourselves and others, we begin to experience our common humanity.

It’s simple practice and yet quite profound. And it has a good track record–at least about 800,000 years!

When suffering, we should always seek help. But sometimes the help is as simple as gathering with others, and bearing witness as we share what matters. That’s ‘thinking out of the box.’ Or more aptly, getting beyond the mental boxes that are often the very source of our suffering.

See:

The clinical psychologist has had enough of people adopting mental health labels to describe normal feelings such as grief, disappointment and sadness

08/16/2026

Talk about 'gallows' (chopping block?!) humor...

08/14/2026

Happy to be hosting a community fire in Carrollton on Saturday at the very same time as our brothers and sisters in Asheville. See:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19emcUJjUZ/

Sacred Fire Asheville - Firekeepers

08/10/2026

Modern life is characterized by the "atomization" described in this New York Times article–an accelerating phenomenon in the U.S., but also being experienced to some degree throughout the world. The good news is that Fire, heart, and connection are at the core of the traditional healing work that I offer. To see what's we're up against these days, see:

A nation of us versus them and them and them.

07/27/2026

Nature is alive, aware, and there are some locations–considered particularly sacred–that can support healing. Over the next week or so, I will be part of support staff for a healing intensive at one such place: The Blue Deer Center. Running through the land is the river that was known to the native Mohawk and Oneida people as the ‘River of Peace’ or ‘Saskawhihiwine.’

Here some images from that river yesterday morning just after I made offerings to the River to thank it for its gifts.

07/25/2026

I wasn't able to make it 'across the pond' this year, but I was fortunate to attend the last two Fire Speaks events in that region of the world. This is a wonderful effort to raised funds for next year's Fire Speaks in the U.K.– an amazing experience of wisdom, tradition, and transformation.

See: https://gofund.me/f2edaa091