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​​During a sweat lodge ceremony I was leading last spring the spirit of the wind came in the first round and invited us to shapeshift into birds and see our highest potential life below us and then shapeshift back into ourselves in the fantasy as if we were fully in it. The vision I saw was a valley with a river and I was a blue heron flying over what looked like a festival but instead of a party it was a massive ceremony and I dropped into myself and I was leading a massive ceremony in the beautiful valley.

The vision of this blended two very different gatherings I've attended. First it resembled Sundance. My parents went to the Arapaho Sundance throughout my childhood, which is a huge ceremony and tribal Gathering.

Second I create interactive art and have a small Museum called The Museum of Interactive Art www.MuseumofInteractive.art, so I have created art installations at Burning Man Art festival. 

This vision was like a cross between Sundance and Burning Man.

Then a few weeks ago I actually went to the Arapahoe Sundance with my mom and brother. Last year my dad went and walked around the lodge and that was the last time he walked around before passing away a couple weeks later.

My dad was very involved at the Sundance. He was a great singer and would sing at the drum every night and morning of the ceremony. His profession was an operating room nurse so he acted as the medical response mostly spending time in the announcer stand ready to respond to medical emergencies. This time, without my dad, my brother and I found our own place in the ceremony, tending with the sacred fire and helping build the lodge. For the first time I noticed that the Sundance Lodge is really a ceremonial art installation with elaborate immersive alters and objects involving natural materials, fabric and paint. So while I was learning and helping build these altars I realized for the first time why I love creating interactive installation art, it's been imprinted in me from my childhood full of native ceremony. 

So then the question popped in my mind: how can I combine my interactive installation art and shamanic ceremonies?

Then as if the universe had to answer this question, just two days after returning from Sundance I got an email from the Wildoria music art and camping Festival asking for proposals for both art installations and ceremonies! I responded with this story I'm telling you now and a description of my idea and they got back to me immediately saying they were super inspired and even obsessed with this idea for the festival and that they were inviting me to create and lead the ceremonial center of the festival. 

I'm just bursting with inspiration for merging my two favorite activities in life, shamanic nature-based ceremony and interactive installation art that invites people to be creative and connected with spirit.

Thank you so much for reading this lengthy description and story.

I hope you are inspired to donate to make this vision come to fruition at its highest potential. And I hope to see you at the Spirit Circle art installation at the Wildoria Festival &/or in the virtual Spirit Circle online program.

Abundant inspiration, creation and blessings, Aaron