an interview with Heather Ash
Heather Ash has experienced much in this lifetime. She was featured in a National Geographic article for leading workshops on fire walking. She has taught everything from tarot to Wicca, Buddhism, the Christian mystery school, and many forms of shamanism. She is an apprentice of don Miguel Ruiz, M.D., and is very well versed in teaching the practical shamanic tradition that he shares. She has her own organization, SpiritWeavers, and she travels around sharing tools to allow us to awaken to our fullest potential, release our fears and learn to live in love. Lately, she has been coming to the Puget Sound region on a regular basis to teach Toltec shamanism and help establish a Toltec community in this region.
Tasha: Please tell us about your personal history. How did you come to be raised in Asia? Heather Ash: I was blessed to spend most of my childhood living in Asia and traveling around the world with my family. Due to my father's job and my parents’ love of travel, we moved every two to three years, and every summer visited Europe or India. Even though I was raised in an American family, I was constantly surrounded by new religions, cultures, and ways of perceiving. While I disliked moving so many times, it served me well by forcing me to keep my belief systems fluid. There was never really anything to hold on to, so I learned to love where I was, knowing that it would soon all change again. Tasha: You have studied many different spiritual traditions; would you trace your spiritual development? Heather: When I moved to the United States to attend college, I was shocked at how disconnected Americans seemed from a sense of spirit and community. I didn't recognize it at the time, but Asian cultures are imbued with a deep understanding of the sacred in the mundane. I longed for this connection again, even though I wasn't exactly sure what I was longing for. While I studied many of the world's religions growing up, I did not follow a specific spiritual path, so my quest began to find a sense of belonging and community. I planned and plotted how to get myself back to the third world, which felt more like home to me than the United States. I became very politically active, which served my desire for community for a while, but soon I felt myself becoming more isolated as I recognized the anger so much of our political actions stemmed from. I saw myself and my friends burning out and becoming bitter. I knew something had to change. Following my intuition, I left my political community with the intent to bring balance back into my life. I found support in a powerful women's circle, which met once a week to explore ritual and energy work. This foundation led me to study with a number of shamans and to deepen my own connection with Spirit. I began facilitating classes on ritual and the cycles of nature when I was 22 years old. I felt absolutely called to share what I was learning. Through teaching and apprenticing with shamans and healers from different traditions, and drawing on my innate connection to Buddhism from my childhood, I began to weave tools and practices to help support myself and my community in healing the separation that comes from being raised in modern society. Tasha: How did you get involved with fire walking? Heather: I was studying shamanism at the MotherPeace Institute with Vicki Noble, who one day said, "Who wants to go to a fire walk next weekend?" I had no idea what a fire walk was, but I raised my hand. It didn't really occur to me what I had gotten myself into until we were raking out the bed of coals — and it was hot! Standing around the coals in a circle of forty women and watching people walk across the coals snapped something inside of me. I recognized at a cellular level that anything is possible; we are not just our physical bodies. I remember feeling myself very calmly kick off my shoes and walk towards the coals, while my mind said, "What are you doing? That is fire!" The freedom of doing the "impossible" even if my mind thought I was crazy left me absolutely open and trusting for months. When I received a brochure about leading fire walks, I knew I wanted to share the power of the fire with others. The fire is a profound teacher. I've been teaching fire walking for almost ten years now, and each time I learn something new from the fire, whether I walk or not. Tasha: How did you connect with shamanism? Heather: I actually started studying shamanism on a trip I took to Nepal in1987. I brought one book with me: Starhawk's The Spiral Dance. During the day I hiked and sat in the temples, breathing in the energy and history, and at night I immersed myself in learning about European shamanism. I wanted to understand my pre-Christian ancestors. Surrounded by temples and the familiar rhythms of the third world, I opened to connecting with everything around me on an energetic level rather than simply through the mind. I began to get in touch with the cycles of the earth and sun, and to learn how to communicate with the people and elements around me in different ways. I've been aided on my journey by many fabulous friends and teachers. For me it has been more a process of remembering rather than learning. I believe shamanism is innate in humans; it is our connection to nature and the natural forces that surround us. Western culture and thinking takes us away from our sources of energy and vitality: the earth and the sun. Shamanism brings us back into the cycles of life, into the now rather than in the past or the present. Tasha: With which shamanic tradition do you resonate the most, and why? The roots of all religions trace back to shamanism, to an earth-based spirituality. Because of this I love and embrace all religions and spiritual practices. Whether I am in a Catholic church or doing ritual in the desert of Mexico, I embrace and honor the continuous thread of humans connecting to the divine in their own way. One of the shamanic traditions that is most important to me is that of the Toltec. With the insight and vision of don Miguel Ruiz [author of The Four Agreements], the ancient practices of the Toltec have been honed to support humans living in the modern world. The Toltec path offers some of the most powerful shamanic tools available to help people reclaim and increase their energy. Learning to work with and increase one's energy is vital, as this allows us to direct and change our lives in alliance with the divine. The practices of stalking, dreaming, and recapitulation are incredibly powerful means to uncover and transform the beliefs and agreements we hold that keep us from living from our true, natural integrity. Tasha: How do you recommend that individuals use ritual in their everyday lives? Heather: When we bring our awareness to our actions, they become ritual. Ritual honors transition, and invites us to bring the sacred into the present moment. Why wait? You can do ritual in your car, in the elevator, while making love, while cooking dinner. Use each transition in your life as an opportunity to connect with the divine, to bring the sacred into the present. Ritual can be as simple as saying a prayer each time you get behind the steering wheel, blessing everyone in the elevator with you, or lighting a candle while you cook dinner, or it can be elaborate and ornate and filled with props and intent for a specific purpose. I see ritual as art in motion. When we bring ritual into our everyday lives, we guide ourselves back into our own spiritual and physical center. Tasha: Please describe the focus behind your organization, SpiritWeavers, and the work it offers. Heather: My passion has always been to help people break limiting belief systems and to create spiritual community in their lives. This passion was the inspiration for SpiritWeavers, and our newly formed church in Berkeley, California, The Toltec Center of Creative Intent. The SpiritWeavers path focuses on supporting people in finding their own spiritual connection by healing and integrating the mind, spirit, emotions, and physical body. We are a community dedicated to serving humans in becoming artists of their own lives. Tasha: How do you integrate your spirituality into your everyday life? Heather: Shamans were the people within their communities who traveled to the spirit realm to get information and healing, and to bring it back to benefit those around them. Modern shamans are also messengers and visionaries, exploring new ways of perceiving and working with energy for the benefit of the greater community. For me, the dance is to be vibrantly and fully in this world and in deep connection with Spirit, to weave the two together. Every act then becomes one based in love and joy and gratitude for the divine presence. Cleaning the house links to cleaning my own physical and spiritual temple to allow more room for Spirit. Getting stuck in traffic reminds me to slow down and enjoy my breath. Even in the busyness of the modern world, when we commit to opening to the spiritual realms, we can find guidance and magic in each moment. We become the weavers of our own lives, connecting all of our experiences, mundane and spiritual, into our own creative tapestry. Heather Ash will be speaking at East West Books on August 16 and at Stargazers in Bellevue on August 17. Please contact Michelle at (206) 729-0646 for more information or to learn more about the Toltec path, and visit Heather’s Web site at <http://www.spiritweavers.com/>. Tasha Taylor is a freelance writer who also works at the University of Washington. |
This diminutive woman with her long ash-blond hair, delicate features, and soft voice is femininity in its perfection. She is full of surprises and great energy when she shares her life experiences and vision of spirituality in this modern age. She was raised in a rich spiritual tradition that combines the essence of all great religions, and she brings that knowledge and awareness to her work. When she speaks, you want to absorb every nugget of wisdom she shares.