Shamans tend to be men {Women have more of these abilities in their natural state and require less altered consciousness.}, though women also can become shamans; some women shamans are extraordinarily powerful. In some cultures, shamans are involuntarily chosen by the spirits; they realize their calling in a transformational experience, often a serious illness that brings them close to death {For example Damion Brinkley of today.} and is self-cured. In other cultures, persons with natural shamanic gifts are selected at a young age, trained and initiated.

Many of us have been taught that it is wrong to be angry. This thinking weighs heavily in both the sacred and secular domains. Is that thinking right or wrong?

Finding your faith, and making the committment....

I said something last week I haven't said in years. Where it came from, I really don't know. It's funny, you're tooling along minding your own business for weeks, maybe months at a time, and then something you haven't thought about for years pops into your noodle.

A brief study of John's rebuke to the Pharisees and Saducees in Matthew 3:7-10

A brief study of King Herod's slaughter of the young boy sin Bethlehem in Matthew 2:16-18

These were fears that I felt. The fear of the unknown. The fear of things beyond my control. The fear of venturing out of my comfort zone...

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

I was in the bank's vault. The Brink's armored truck had just delivered several million dollars in small bills. Bags of money waited, stacked in a pile on the small counter. Methodically, I opened each and proofed the total it contained by counting the wads. I then took each wad, removed the wrapper and put the bills through the counting machine. When the machine finished, I hand counted it. The air was filled with the stuffy, musty smell of money.

Last NAN I explained how to petition the female Saints with special requests. This time around I'll provide some instruction on how to ask to be put in the cosmic care of the Male Saints . These are very ancient pagan rituals, which have been popularized by the Christian Church.

Sometimes you have to see something to believe it. Like angels. Unfortunately, angels are adept at not being seen, yet many people believe in them. I saw an angel at work last year. No, I did not ...

In an exercise program, the muscle groups you concentrate on are the ones that improve. In a garden you can tell what is negelcted and what is lovingly sprayed, weeded, and enriched. Our spiritual lives are no different. Here are four ways to measure spiritual growth. Can you tell you are making progress?

Discover about alternative health through spirituality and healing prayer.

Uh, oh. I’m in trouble now. I found God. Now what do I do with Him?

Sometimes the little things can make all the difference in your stress management. Here's 18 stress relief tips you can do today to help you melt away the stress and break free from the tightness, tension, and anxiety you feel.

The five stress management strategies can be a tool for anybody who wants to master this skill. Once one can handle it well, he will be able to cope with any difficult situation in the future.

Do you grind your teeth at night? Have headaches or eye twitching? Would you like to stop the fight or flight responses that occur daily to your body? Alpaca ranching can help remove stress hormones from your body and calm overactive neurons.

There are many reasons for teenagers’ susceptibility to the symptoms and consequences of negative stress, anxiety and depression. They may need a bit more guidance from their adult role models along the way, but there is no reason why they cannot learn to effectively manage their stress, anxiety and depression symptoms effectively. Read on to learn more-

While the majority of people do at some time or another worry about something in their life whether major or trivial, there are some people who worry constantly on a day-to-day basis, week in and week out. If you are one of these people then you have what is classed as a generalized anxiety disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder is classed in those who feel anxious or fearful on the majority of days. The feelings they have with the fear are varied and the depth at which they feel the feelings can be different from one day to the next. The feelings associated with generalized anxiety disorder are the same as those anyone who suffers any anxiety disorder feels. The most common are a fast heart rate or beat, palpitations of the heart, a sick feeling in the pit of the stomach or stomachache, sweating, a dry mouth, chest pain and a feeling of not being able to get enough breathe.

The problems associated with stress and anxiety continue to run rampant. Crime, alcoholism, suicide, obesity, heart disease, drug abuse -- the list goes on and on -- can at least to some extent be traced back to the effects of stress and anxiety on individuals and communities. Unless we begin to tame the stress and anxiety beasts that exist in our own lives we cannot hope to begin to control the larger societal issues that these two killer syndromes enflame.

Learn how your body can help you deal with stress by being able to recognize a physical symptom of stress when you experience one.

What is the one thing you can do in three minutes to take control when there seems to be none? How can you possibly make decisions when there are so many competing choices? Take a moment in the busy day of a parent. The baby is crying uncontrollably, the phone is ringing, someone is at the door and needs your attention and you have to leave for the pediatrician appointment you NEED to keep. Just the day–to-day challenges of parenting offer stresses that must be juggled. Choices have to be made. How about choosing to take the next moment and take some deep breaths. Just take three deep breaths and you can begin to change your whole perspective.

Taking time out to recharge your batteries is just what you need. So, what's stopping you? Leave your chores behind, just for a little while, and give yourself permission to take a much needed time-out. Here are just a few of my favorite Stress-Busters!