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Show AggieLife Friday, Sept. 4, 2009 Page 4 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com A weekend of spiritual healing Peruvian Shaman set to visit USU over Labor-day weekend By CHELSEY GENSEL staff writer Peruvian Shaman Oscar Miro-Quesada, an internation ally known Curandero (healer) and ceremonialist, will visit Utah State University for a labor-day weekend workshop called Sacred Space, Urban Grace. The focus will include topics of community, environment and healing arts, as well as multicultural and lifestyle elements. Professor of anthropology Bonnie Glass-Coffin, who helped organize the event, said it is part of a series by the same title, which differs from Miro-Quesada’s tour in 2008 because it focuses on “our relationship to urban centers, what it means to be a citizen,” and remaining connected to that which is sacred. Last year, events were focused on “honoring, and activating sacred sites, in nature,” Glass-Coffin said. The event is sponsored by The Heart of the Healer Foundation (THOTH), a nonprofit organization that aims to preserve indigenous cultures and restore our earth. MiroQuesada founded THOTH and its regional chapters, of which there are five. The central region of which Utah is a part is called Chaupinsuyu and is the only region to host events in two locations, Glass-Coffin said. She has been on the regional council of Chaupinsuyu for two and a half years, and helped to bring Miro-Quesada and his traditional teachings to USU. Council members nominate some spaces that would be good spots, and fertile ground for this work to occur, and our region nominated Salt Lake City and Kansas City, Glass-Coffin said. “Oscar had never taught in Utah, and he chose both,” she said. Glass-Coffin said because she lives and works here, and to encourage university and student interface, she asked if the Utah event could be moved to Logan, and Miro-Quesada said yes. Miro-Quesada’s teachings and practices come from 17 years of apprenticeship with mentors in Peru, which he sought after a near-death experience at the age of 10. In addition to being ordained to the Peruvian Shamanic preisthoods, he also has studied Western psychology, medical anthropology and comparative religion. His travels and education programs and humanitarian work have been featured on television, including the Discovery Channel and CNN. Glass-Coffin became involved in THOTH and with MiroQuesada’s work after he invited her to be a keynote speaker at a 2005 international gathering of THOTH. “He invited me to speak because of my published work on Peruvian shamanism and because I am considered an expert in the tradition that his Pachakuti Mesa tradition comes from,” GlassCoffin said. Glass-Coffin has studied shamanism for over 20 years as an anthropologist, and said when asked whether she was apprenticing with the healers and shamans, she had always said no. “At that 2005 gathering,” Glass-Coffin said, “things began to change for me. I experience some of the magic Oscar brings with his presence and teachings ... I began to shift my perspective from that of just a researcher, to one of being deeply touched by the experience.” She mentions compassion, love and support that connect members of the community of people that have been changed as a result of Miro-Quesada’s teachings. After that, she worked with Miro-Quesada on several occasions. She said during one of them, she had “an intensely personal experience of the Sacred.” “I peeked behind the veil of ordinary reality for the first time,” she said. Glass-Coffin has worked more intensely with Miro-Quesada and his organization since that time, and began organizing this event in March. It is being co-sponsored by the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, USU’s Religious Studies program, Utah Bioneers and The Cosmic Nudge. Glass-Coffin said she reached out to these local partners because their work “resonates so beautifully with the work that Oscar is facilitating.” This includes principles of interconnectedness, environmental consciousness and, as Glass-Coffin put it, “waking up and engaging in life.” Those who attend the workshop – Glass-Coffin expects 50-70 for the full weekend of sessions – or the free afternoon in the park should expect “pure magic,” Glass-Coffin said, as all of Miro-Quesada’s workshops are unique. “He tailors each event to the needs of the moment, and is completely guided by his visions ... as an instrument of spirit,” she said. “Yet, he is also an extremely grounded individual, who can connect and engage with those present in very heartwarming ways. Each of these events is very much influenced by the gifts of those who show up.” Glass-Coffin explained that Miro-Quesada’s calling in life is teaching, to awaken people to the “reality that our intentions and our actions do have tremendous power to restore the earth.” Traveling and teaching, Glass-Coffin said, “as the Buddhist saying goes, is his ‘right livelihood.’” Other projects Miro-Quesada is involved in include vari- - See SHAMAN, page 5 Opening students’ eyes through the camera lens By JEN MILLET staff writer When Pat Barfuss heard someone say, “The skies in Scotland will make you weep,” she agreed. “They were so beautiful at times I found myself tearing up with joy as I watched them change constantly from one cloud formation to another,” she said. Thirteen lucky students, including Pat, who is returning to Utah State University for her second bachelor’s degree, not only saw the country of Scotland outside the normal bounds of tourism, they captured their experience in more than 100 photographs to share with Logan. Traveling in rented vans, the students stopped where and when they pleased to best discover their individual visions, with all of Scotland as a canvas. The aspiring photographers studied contemporary photographic processes and the rich cultural heritage of Scotland. As they traveled through Glasgow, Edinbrich, and the Orkney Islands, their subjects included glens, highland mountains and moors, coastal beaches and cliffs, as well as ancient ruins, castles, local celebrations and people. The breathtakingly diverse landscape had a special effect on senior photography major Taisa Thompson. “There is nothing like hiking the heather-covered highlands; one look and it is enough to take your breath away,” she said. While the students’ description of the experience is beautiful, the photographs taken by Tasia and her classmates are even more telling. A PIPER PLAYS AT a wedding in Glasgow, Scotland. The photo is one of many from the thirteen photography students who traveled to Scotland over the summer. An exhibit showcasing their work is available Sept. 2-19 in the Tippits Gallery in the Chase Fine Arts Center. photo courtesy TASIA THOMPSON - See TRAVEL, page 5 Try Our Specials! Monday: Family Night, Feed 4 for $30 Tuesday: Kids Eat FREE! Wednesday: Free Coke product with meal Thursday: USU Students get 20% off Friday: Date Night Special- 2 for $25! Saturday: Watch games on one of 3 Students always get 10% off with ID! Saturday Night on the Screen! |