NAFPS Forum
General => Frauds => Topic started by: Barnaby_McEwan on January 26, 2005, 11:52:46 am
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Remember Frank MacEowen, the 'Celtic Shaman' from Jackson Hole, Wyoming? I don't know whether you have to be aware that what you purvey is false to qualify as a fraud: maybe this guy should be classed as sadly deluded.
He responded to the 2003 protection of ceremonies declaration by writing to Arvol Looking Horse bizarrely claiming that his 'Celtic ancestors' had ceremonies very similar his modern-day ripoffs of Native religions, so he felt the declaration didn't apply to him. Trisha had some communication with him, I think.
Here's an article about MacEowen by a Scottish neo-pagan, Jenny Blain:
http://www.sacredsites.org.uk/papers/Blain_J-perm.pdf
She's rather PO'd by his utter lack of concern for historical accuracy and for the people who he claims are his ancestors. So am I: his surname and mine are the same, though I got it through my stepfamily, and it's spelt differently. Blain exposes MacEowen's 'research' as typical of the frankly p*ss-poor standard prevailing in the 'shamanic' community:
"Oh, no, not again! Why does everything have to be labelled ‘Celtic’ or (as here) ‘Pictish’. Can’t they get anything right? I then became aware that I was not merely exasperated, but acutely, blazingly, angry. I grew up with both ‘Pictish’ symbol stones, and the much older cup and ring marks, as part of my cultural awareness, part of my heritage, my knowledge of the surrounding countryside, the construction of my consciousness. Now it seemed to me that this was being prostituted, muddled and muddied, by this strange person about whom I was now finding it hard to think politely, who thought he could claim ‘Celtic ancestry’ and thereby tramp over people’s fields at night to sleep in a bronze-age grave [...], casually lumping together millennia and cultures."
Blain goes on to make some serious points about the nature of 'shamanism':
"‘Shamanism’ in the modern West has a history of abstraction and appropriation, constructed as being something to marvel at, something exotic that ‘other’ people do; described by recourse to individual abilities (as in Eliade’s 1964 definition). As such it is a westernism, a concept drawn from 18th century travellers’ tales."
[just changed title]
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Barnaby,
I can certainly understand your anger. And thank you because as an Indian I sometimes forget that other traditions as old as ours are being ripped off, misaligned, bastardized, etc.
I have been reading this past year about ancient celtic traditions, trying to learn the real history as opposed to the malarkee put out there. I am finding the same as I do when I read about ancient Native cultures; contradictions, quick assumptions that are wrong, and most books seem to be a re-write of the previous book.
For me just to hear the word shaman makes my blood boil.
Joseph
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I read that article in Shaman's Drum/ Someone gave me that issue because they new I was interested in my mom's Scottish ancestry. They also tried to tell me that wicca was Celtic. sigh. I don't need bs.
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I can certainly understand your anger. And thank you because as an Indian I sometimes forget that other traditions as old as ours are being ripped off, misaligned, bastardized, etc.
Well, I'm probably not as cross about this as I would be if I was Scottish, or Welsh, or one of the other nationalities that are romanticised in this way. My stepfamily's name is McEwan, but they're descended from Italian immigrants to Scotland who changed their name to better fit in; all my genetic ancestors are from Yorkshire in northern England, as far as I can tell. I'm about as 'Pictish' as MacEowen is. So it's just my usual annoyance about pseudohistory made sharper by this clown and me coincidentally having the same name. I mean, people might think we're related.
I have been reading this past year about ancient celtic traditions, trying to learn the real history as opposed to the malarkee put out there.
Have you read this one?
Hutton, Ronald. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy. Oxford; Blackwell. 1991. (hbk). 1993 (pbk).
I haven't, but will get round to it. Hutton's one of my favourite writers, and I'm surprised to find that Wiccans and other 'Celtic' fantasists mostly seem to like him too, considering that his work politely but thoroughly debunks a lot of their myth-making.
For me just to hear the word shaman makes my blood boil.
Keep a soda-siphon handy if you ever come over here.
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Not just the Celts lately either. I saw a program about the Kaballah Center on the BBC a little while ago - and what those people do is just sick.
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http://www.shul.co.uk/thoughts/thought.htm
But it wasn’t until attending a funeral recently that I came to know the depths of their deception. The deceased was a wealthy man as are his family. No surprise then that the Kabbalah Centre have a keen interest. But it was still very disturbing to see one of their ‘teachers’ present at the funeral, hovering around the granddaughter of the deceased like a hawk. [...] if I wasn’t a rabbi, I would have decked him then and there.
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One of the things they mentioned on the program was that people at the KC believe the Holocaust was the fault of the Jews.
I thought that was interesting in that so many New Agers think that what the euros did to us was in some way our own fault.
"Blame the victim" and all that.
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Howdy --
If someone stole my name I'd be angry too. Youu havea every right to be upset.
Ya know I recall when youmger & dumber, in my 20s -- for a while I was a sort of a hippy -- til one day I snapped out of it. But back then, many people were interested in all this stuff, were bored with traditional religion. A few people carry it a step farther tho and look for a guru to lead them to some mythical primised land that never did exist and never will.
In those days, cults were born, and you heard of young people being "deprogrammed" out of that cult-like mentality. It seems like people interested in these things are the same people who followed the Hairy Critters (what I used to call the Hare Krishna's, may God forgive me :), that Moon cult leader Korean cult leader that made it big in the US), and others including Jim Jones and David Koresh down in Waco, Tx.
Maybe we need to learn how to do some "deprograming", some "re-educating".
vance
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Vance or anyone else, if you're interested the Freedom of Mind discussion group is at www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/freedomofmind. Steve Hassan and Cathleen Mann, the owners, study cult behavior and put out warnings on cults. Steve's an ex-Moonie, Cathleen's a psychologist.
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Thanks Al, that might be interesting.
That "cult mentality" (if that is the right phrase) seems to be one of the forces driving many people who may have a little Indian blood to go overboard and start creating bands and tribes and traditions that never existed historically.
vance
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Greetings.
I am the individual who once wrote books under the pen name Frank MacEowen; a name I selected very consciously to honor a specific ancestral line that traces back to County Tyrone, Ireland, and then to the Strathlachlan area of Scotland (Kilfinnan). Though some have suggested that this spelling is "inaccurate", the Clan MacEwen and MacDougall. recognizes nearly a hundred alternate spellings of the names associated with the name, and MacEowen is recognized by both Clan MacEwen and Clan MacDougall.
That is neither here nor there. That is not why I am here. That is not why I am writing on this forum.
In large part, I am writing to clarify some misinformation here.
Let us start with this notion of "Celtic Shaman". I have never--once--claimed to be a shaman. In fact, in dozens of talks I have given throughout the U.S. and Ireland, I have explicitly stated that I do not consider myself a shaman and that I abhor such representations of me. I have studied with and spent time with legitimate medicine people in certain cultures (such as the Lakota; people who would not use the term "shaman" themselves anyway), and I have always told people that unless you are living within a community and serving in such a role, with the sanction of elders, 24/7, then the use of the term is quite laughable. I understand why Mircea Eliade, the scholar who wrote Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, coined the term "shamanism"; he was trying to point toward a common theme he observed in a number of cultures, from Hawaii to Korea, but when we are talking about the actual practice of such a thing, I've always said I believe the cultural terms themselves are more appropriate e.g. curandero in Mesoamerican cultures, etc.
Back to the "Celtic Shaman" thing.
I have never purported to be such a thing. However, I *have* been misrepresented as such a thing by people attempting to write bios for programs, articles, and such. It is one of the key reasons I stopped teaching. I saw very quickly that there was no way for me to accomplish what I was really trying to accomplish (awaken and heal people's connection to the natural world, and kindle some living awareness of their ancestors) without *everything* I was doing being contorted, misshapen, and commercialized into a marketable commodity. It sickened me, I tried to counteract this tendency, but eventually gave up and realized I needed to go my own way.
About Jackson Hole, Wyoming: I was never "from" Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was invited to come present a talk at the Teton Wellness Festival. It was one of the last such gatherings I ever did.
About Arvol Looking Horse: The statements made below about my post to Arvol Looking Horse are somewhat mischaracterized. I was not "schooling" Arvol in my conversations with him online. I've done interviews with Arvol and wrote an article (with his participation and permission) for Shambhala Sun in the early days (old news print version, pre-syndicated magazine) about the history of Lakota spirituality, along with his commentary and concerns about the misappropriation of Lakota spirituality by people who are charging money for ceremonies. I have a great deal of respect for Arvol and his family, and his role in traditional Lakota society. I myself was welcomed in to traditional Lakota ceremonies by a Lakota family, and was a Sun Dancer in a Sun Dance with the Oglala medicine man Vernal Cross, who also had a strong connection with Arvol. The only characterization that is legitimate and true about the comments below are that the conversations between Arvol and I did, in fact, involve the sweat lodge.
The fact of the matter is, there is not only early evidence of earthen-mound sweat houses used throughout Ireland and parts of Scotland (as late as 1916 by curing doctors using them as herb-dousing houses to cure rheumatism and pneumonia), there is still contemporary use of sweat houses in Ireland today. Even a summary search on Google will pull up some articles on this from the University of Edinburgh. Of course the sweat house in Celtic lands is not and never has had anything to do with Lakota spirituality, Native American spirituality (Irish cosmology is very different), but I was simply sharing that information with Arvol and others, as it was becoming a very hot topic (pardon the pun) in Celtic circles at that time.
About Jenny Blain and her article about me: I have since had a conversation with Jenny. I have already told her this, but for the purposes of this forum I will repeat it here. I have no qualms about anything she had to say about me. I think she sizes up the New Age and neo-shamanic community pretty well. There is a deep desire of this group of people (I'm not talking about conscious abusers of native spirituality) to plug-in to a spirituality that they feel can be their own. Some gravitate to Wicca. Others gravitate to "neo-shamanism". Some feel a legitimate stirring of something within themselves and, because they do--in fact--hail from Irish, Welsh, and Scottish ancestry, there is a very powerful call to reconnect with something...let's call it a spiritual sense of ancestry.
Jenny's essay (which is excellent by the way) portrays me as a man grasping at straws to find some living, vital link to my blood ancestors, and to a perceived way of life, or perhaps a time in history, when people lived a life that was more honoring of the natural world. I still feel that, and still seek that, but I no longer attempt to do that through a self-constructed "Celtic" lens, largely cobbled together by archetypal impressions.
In my first book, I express the same thing. A man. Searching. Hurting. Seeing the world ailing. Seeing others. Grasping.At.Straws. Living in the United States of America, a largely plastic disposable culture that has no consciousness that it is dooming future generations to an existence of suffering (environmentally speaking). I had spent enough time, legitimately, with indigenous people that I know/knew another way is different. And, I had elders (West African, Native American, etc.) strongly suggest that I try to find in my own cultural background some "link up" to the natural way. THAT was what a lot of my work, writing, and journey was about. It was never about making a buck. It was never about making a name for myself. So, I am no shaman. If anything, I am a frustrated closet-anthropologist. A frustrated ecologist. A frustrated psychologist who understands the implications of a dying world, dying communities, dying cultures, and a life of modernity without a nature-honoring spirituality of some kind.
My ancestors were, in fact, of Gaelic origins. They were forced to leave Ireland during the Famine. Before that, they were run out of Scotland. Anything I ever attempted to do, however misinformed, however off-target from a scholarly point of view, had a central aim: Trying to help Americans who are a by-product of the Irish and Scottish diaspora to reconnect with the inspiration and spirit of the lands their predecessors were forced to leave, often under painful duress.
In any case, "Frank MacEowen" is dead now. So, you can take one "New Age Fraud" off of your list.
Deep Peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCjjsmcOnxs&feature=share&list=PL1708137942FFA3CC&index=1
Remember Frank MacEowen, the 'Celtic Shaman' from Jackson Hole, Wyoming? I don't know whether you have to be aware that what you purvey is false to qualify as a fraud: maybe this guy should be classed as sadly deluded.
He responded to the 2003 protection of ceremonies declaration by writing to Arvol Looking Horse bizarrely claiming that his 'Celtic ancestors' had ceremonies very similar his modern-day ripoffs of Native religions, so he felt the declaration didn't apply to him. Trisha had some communication with him, I think.
Here's an article about MacEowen by a Scottish neo-pagan, Jenny Blain:
http://www.sacredsites.org.uk/papers/Blain_J-perm.pdf
She's rather PO'd by his utter lack of concern for historical accuracy and for the people who he claims are his ancestors. So am I: his surname and mine are the same, though I got it through my stepfamily, and it's spelt differently. Blain exposes MacEowen's 'research' as typical of the frankly p*ss-poor standard prevailing in the 'shamanic' community:
"Oh, no, not again! Why does everything have to be labelled ‘Celtic’ or (as here) ‘Pictish’. Can’t they get anything right? I then became aware that I was not merely exasperated, but acutely, blazingly, angry. I grew up with both ‘Pictish’ symbol stones, and the much older cup and ring marks, as part of my cultural awareness, part of my heritage, my knowledge of the surrounding countryside, the construction of my consciousness. Now it seemed to me that this was being prostituted, muddled and muddied, by this strange person about whom I was now finding it hard to think politely, who thought he could claim ‘Celtic ancestry’ and thereby tramp over people’s fields at night to sleep in a bronze-age grave [...], casually lumping together millennia and cultures."
Blain goes on to make some serious points about the nature of 'shamanism':
"‘Shamanism’ in the modern West has a history of abstraction and appropriation, constructed as being something to marvel at, something exotic that ‘other’ people do; described by recourse to individual abilities (as in Eliade’s 1964 definition). As such it is a westernism, a concept drawn from 18th century travellers’ tales."
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I believe you were searching, and much of your search was sincere. Many of us have been there; many of us have made mistakes. But during a time when people of conscience were breaking away from the nuage and neoplaygan scenes, you made the choice to team up with nuagers and exploiters. And you threw NDNs under the bus. You also misrepresented the Celtic ancestors, and Clan MacEwan (the heads of said Clan society, my cousins, were quite surprised to hear you had claimed in the Pagan press that we're all hereditary Celtic Shamans). By misrepresenting Celtic ways the way you have, by making stuff up and misrepresenting it as traditional, you have contributed to cultural genocide, not cultural preservation.
You misled other seekers. We hear every day from people who have to unlearn and recover from the damage you set into motion.
Did you teach your idea of Lakota sweat lodge to John and Caitlin Matthews?
Did you lead your idea of Lakota sweat lodges?
Who gave you permission to do this?
When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas: You were selling "teachings" and ceremonies on the newage circuit; of course they participated in marketing you in what they thought would be the most profitable manner. You did this for quite a long while after your bios read, repeatedly and consistently, "Celtic Shaman." I think your claims of not calling yourself "A Celtic Shaman" are a red herring here, as you have consistently marketed your writing and workshops as "Celtic Shamanism."
Oh no, Vernal Cross.... That family allowed a number of non-Natives into ceremony, and have been badly screwed over. This is very sad that you're part of that group of non-Natives they let in. They've had to issue statements that they have authorized none of you to carry on Vernal's ceremonies. We have many threads on here about the abuses that have happened because Vernal and his family were too trusting. Sometimes he's been mistakenly referred to as "Vernon Cross," as well.
"On September 4th, 1997 Vernal Cross, Oglala Sioux medicine man passed away after suffering a massive heart attack at his home in South Dakota. Since that time his widow and children have learned that a number of people have come forth claiming to have inherited some part of his hochoka, or spiritual way. His widow, Darlene Cross, has asked me to post the following information. "No part of Vernal's hochoka was passed on. All of his hochoka remains with the family and when he passed away he took his power with him. Anyone who claims otherwise is
subject to arrest and imprisonment under federal law".
Arvol does not endorse you. I'm talking to his partner right now and she does not recall who you are.
In any case, "Frank MacEowen" is dead now. So, you can take one "New Age Fraud" off of your list.
If you were dead, you wouldn't be posting here.
1. Have you stopped leading fake Native ceremonies?
2. Have you apologized to the people you misled?
3. Have you paid back the people who paid you for these "teachings"?
4. Have you pulled all your misleading books and articles from publication?
I'm sorry if this comes off as harsh, but you have caused a great deal of damage, to multiple communities. If you are serious about making amends for that harm, you have a lot of work to do. That's what's going to have to happen before people believe you mean it.
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Additionally, since you appear to have been part of the same crew of non-Natives who went to Vernal Cross's Sun Dance, is there anything you want to tell us about Fraud Steve McCullough (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1245) and who all was involved in setting up his debacle at Stonehenge? (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1245.msg30986#msg30986)
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Let us start with this notion of "Celtic Shaman". I have never--once--claimed to be a shaman. In fact, in dozens of talks I have given throughout the U.S. and Ireland, I have explicitly stated that I do not consider myself a shaman and that I abhor such representations of me. I have studied with and spent time with legitimate medicine people in certain cultures (such as the Lakota; people who would not use the term "shaman" themselves anyway), and I have always told people that unless you are living within a community and serving in such a role, with the sanction of elders, 24/7, then the use of the term is quite laughable. I understand why Mircea Eliade, the scholar who wrote Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, coined the term "shamanism"; he was trying to point toward a common theme he observed in a number of cultures, from Hawaii to Korea, but when we are talking about the actual practice of such a thing, I've always said I believe the cultural terms themselves are more appropriate e.g. curandero in Mesoamerican cultures, etc.
Back to the "Celtic Shaman" thing.
I have never purported to be such a thing. However, I *have* been misrepresented as such a thing by people attempting to write bios for programs, articles, and such. It is one of the key reasons I stopped teaching. I saw very quickly that there was no way for me to accomplish what I was really trying to accomplish (awaken and heal people's connection to the natural world, and kindle some living awareness of their ancestors) without *everything* I was doing being contorted, misshapen, and commercialized into a marketable commodity. It sickened me, I tried to counteract this tendency, but eventually gave up and realized I needed to go my own way.
You might not have embraced the term "Celtic Shaman" for yourself, but the main audience your work has been aimed at is exactly that. You've published in magazines and websites that are devoted to Neo-shamanism, you've aimed workshops and whatever else at that kind of audience, and you've talked about how you've been "guided to delve into studies with indigenous shamans and medicine people." You've written about "practicing a Shamanic spirituality." (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiral-Memory-Belonging-Celtic-Kinship/dp/1577314239/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392892324&sr=1-2) Tom Cowan, an author on "shamanism," wrote a foreword for at least one of your books, and elsewhere you reference "Celtic Shamans" like Caitlin Matthews. Another of your books was written after a trip to Ireland for a "shamanic conference." (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiral-Memory-Belonging-Celtic-Kinship/dp/1577314239/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392892324&sr=1-2)
If you never claimed to be a shaman that's totally irrelevant when you consider all of that. Quack quack, right? You can't do all that and then effectively say "I didn't mean it." Or that you didn't want it.
As a Scot (an actual Scot, in Scotland), it saddens and upsets me that books like yours are out there peddling misinformation and inaccuracies about my country, my home, my ways and my ancestors. You've done them – and us – a disservice, as well as the audience you've misled and continue to mislead. I can't speak for all of the other cultures and their belief systems that you've ripped apart to put back together again as "Celtic", but as a Scot it offends me that you misrepresent our ways and our history. After everything it's even more offensive that you'd even begin to imagine that attempting to distance yourself from any of the things you've done, by making a post on a forum, means that the slate is suddenly wiped clean.
Frank MacEowan isn't "dead." Your work, your books and your name are your legacy and your history. As long as your work is out there, it's your present, too. You can't distance yourself from it.
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About the author: Frank Owen was influenced as a child by the writings of C.G. Jung, Joseph Campbell and the literature of the world's wisdom traditions. His later formative years included experiences with indigenous and shamanic peoples, Buddhist mind-training, Sufi zikirs, explorations of his ancestral Ireland, Scotland and Spain, graduate studies in comparative religions, counseling psychology, Jungian dreamwork, and organizational development. He can be reached at: nekyia.poetry [at] gmail [dot] com
http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog/nekyiathe_descent (http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog/nekyiathe_descent) This looks to be something Frank himself wrote, also seen here: http://www.blog4change.org/member/586/Nekyia.Poetry-%28Frank-Owen%29
(http://www.blog4change.org/member/586/Nekyia.Poetry-%28Frank-Owen%29)
Frank Owen has not neatly kept the shaman stuff only with his pen name of Frank MacEowen. Under both names, in his own words, he markets the shaman stuff along with supposed similarities that he "intuits" between cultures.
In societies that still bear an imprint of ‘the shamanic’, male and female shamans are a voice of the sacred. In these worlds, from bardic Ireland to the crazy wisdom ngakpas of the Himalayas, poetry is a facet of the shamanic tradition.
(from a review written by Frank Owen)
http://lmbrowning.com/contemplative-poetry-series-signed-bookstore/ (http://lmbrowning.com/contemplative-poetry-series-signed-bookstore/)
Maybe Frank wants to update his marketing plan, put a new spin on things. But as folks here have already said, his post on this forum isn't anywhere near good enough.
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In any case, "Frank MacEowen" is dead now. So, you can take one "New Age Fraud" off of your list.
Many of the ancient Irish believed so strongly in reincarnation, that they were still liable in this life for any debts incurred in their past life. Converting to Buddhism and having a funeral for your "old self" is irrelevant to the Celts. Even death doesn't clear the debt. Only right action does.
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Responses below under each quoted block.
I believe you were searching, and much of your search was sincere. Many of us have been there; many of us have made mistakes. But during a time when people of conscience were breaking away from the nuage and neoplaygan scenes, you made the choice to team up with nuagers and exploiters.
--Life is development. Spiritual growth is also evolutionary.
Clan MacEwan (the heads of said Clan society, my cousins, were quite surprised to hear you had claimed in the Pagan press that we're all hereditary Celtic Shamans).
--Some MacEwens were poets and hereditary bards. Elspeth MacEwen was also a seer. That was my specific reference. I think you must be thinking of Geo Cameron, who has openly claimed to be a Celtic shaman, and that her family are hereditary keepers of a tradition. I've never made such a claim. My ancestors were poor farmers in Tyrone and near Loch Lomond.
Did you teach your idea of Lakota sweat lodge to John and Caitlin Matthews?
--No. I have never taught people sweat lodges, and my understanding about the Matthews' writings on the subject address Gaelic sweat houses that were earth mounds used to heal rheumatism, but devoid of any specific cosmology.
Did you lead your idea of Lakota sweat lodges?
--No. When I was much younger, I assisted a native man who led them. He was a close friend of Vernal and Darlene. However, in all cases, including when I participated in the Sun Dance, I was only that; a participant under the direction of Vernal, and sponsored by his friend to be there.
That family allowed a number of non-Natives into ceremony, and have been badly screwed over. This is very sad that you're part of that group of non-Natives they let in. They've had to issue statements that they have authorized none of you to carry on Vernal's ceremonies.
--I am well aware of the tragedy there but I was not among the non-natives who did that. When some in-fighting began up there, I quit going up. Until that happened, I drove to Pine Ridge every month and took clothes and food.
Arvol does not endorse you. I'm talking to his partner right now and she does not recall who you are.
--I never said Arvol endorsed me. All I said was that I did a phone interview many years back about his vision for World Peace Day and Lakota spirituality.
1. Have you stopped leading fake Native ceremonies?
--Never did. I taught about ecopsychology, meditation, dream psychology, and ancestral trauma.
I'm sorry if this comes off as harsh, but you have caused a great deal of damage, to multiple communities.
--I really believe you have me mistaken with someone else.
I believe you were searching, and much of your search was sincere. Many of us have been there; many of us have made mistakes. But during a time when people of conscience were breaking away from the nuage and neoplaygan scenes, you made the choice to team up with nuagers and exploiters.
--Life is development. Spiritual growth is also evolutionary.
Clan MacEwan (the heads of said Clan society, my cousins, were quite surprised to hear you had claimed in the Pagan press that we're all hereditary Celtic Shamans).
--Some MacEwens were poets and hereditary bards. Elspeth MacEwen was also a seer. That was my specific reference. I think you must be thinking of Geo Cameron, who has openly claimed to be a Celtic shaman, and that her family are hereditary keepers of a tradition. I've never made such a claim. My ancestors were poor farmers in Tyrone and near Loch Lomond.
Did you teach your idea of Lakota sweat lodge to John and Caitlin Matthews?
--No. I have never taught people sweat lodges, and my understanding about the Matthews' writings on the subject address Gaelic sweat houses that were earth mounds used to heal rheumatism, but devoid of any specific cosmology.
Did you lead your idea of Lakota sweat lodges?
--No. When I was much younger, I assisted a native man who led them. He was a close friend of Vernal and Darlene. However, in all cases, including when I participated in the Sun Dance, I was only that; a participant under the direction of Vernal, and sponsored by his friend to be there.
That family allowed a number of non-Natives into ceremony, and have been badly screwed over. This is very sad that you're part of that group of non-Natives they let in. They've had to issue statements that they have authorized none of you to carry on Vernal's ceremonies.
--I am well aware of the tragedy there but I was not among the non-natives who did that. When some in-fighting began up there, I quit going up. Until that happened, I drove to Pine Ridge every month and took clothes and food.
Arvol does not endorse you. I'm talking to his partner right now and she does not recall who you are.
--I never said Arvol endorsed me. All I said was that I did a phone interview many years back about his vision for World Peace Day and Lakota spirituality.
1. Have you stopped leading fake Native ceremonies?
--Never did. I taught about ecopsychology, meditation, dream psychology, and ancestral trauma.
I'm sorry if this comes off as harsh, but you have caused a great deal of damage, to multiple communities.
--I really believe you have me mistaken with someone else.
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I have no knowledge of that, or of that person.. I was in ceremonies with Vernal about six years before what you're referring to.
Additionally, since you appear to have been part of the same crew of non-Natives who went to Vernal Cross's Sun Dance, is there anything you want to tell us about Fraud Steve McCullough (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1245) and who all was involved in setting up his debacle at Stonehenge? (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1245.msg30986#msg30986)
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My conscience is clear, Kathryn. If I had been part of this group you are describing at the end there with Vernal and his family, it would not be.
As a Buddhist, I certainly believe in the force of karma. I have seen such instances of cause-and-effect play out in the indigenous community as well. As an Irish descendent, I learned of Irish beliefs in rebirth from my maternal grandmother. That is consistent with my other beliefs as well.
All in all, I value this whole discussion, and as ironic as it may seem to you, I support what you're doing.
Ultimately, it all comes down to integrity.
As far as I'm concerned, if an individual does not agree with what I've written, I can handle that. My own process as human being and writer has continued to evolve and *I* don't even agree with everything I've written.
If an individual thinks my own investigation of Celtic spiritual themes was deluded, so be it.
If an individual thinks a modern person trying to practice a spirituality (or explore spirituality with others) that is oriented to nature and the Otherworld (spirit world) is deluded, to each their own.
My only qualm is being accused of things I did not do e.g. selling Native ceremonies for money, etc. As a singular focus, as a writer and retreat guide, I presented myself as the only thing I could be: a fellow student of consciousness. Not as "shaman", not as "healer", but as a student. In practice, Native ceremonies played a role in my own formation as a person, but Native ceremonies played no role in the work I did with people.
On the contrary, I utilized processes from the discipline of ecopsychology, meditation practice, and guided visualizations using soundscapes to explore such topics as ancestral trauma. From what I observed of people's personal experiences, this dimension of psychological and spiritual content is very real, can have an impact on multiple generations, and can be something that is shifted/resolved under the right circumstances.
New findings by the Emory School of Medicine seems to support this: http://themindunleashed.org/2014/01/scientists-found-memories-may-passed-generations-dna.html
But, at the end of the day, that was the extent of what I did with people.
quote author=Kathryn link=topic=124.msg36776#msg36776 date=1392936559]
In any case, "Frank MacEowen" is dead now. So, you can take one "New Age Fraud" off of your list.
Many of the ancient Irish believed so strongly in reincarnation, that they were still liable in this life for any debts incurred in their past life. Converting to Buddhism and having a funeral for your "old self" is irrelevant to the Celts. Even death doesn't clear the debt. Only right action does.
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Peacemaker,
for I am german I do not realy understand what you mean by your sentence:
"Point and case, my background is in psychology, with studies in consciousness, and from an anthropological and psychological point of view I have an interest in how different cultures approach the healing of trauma."
What means "background"? Interest, study, occupation? If I translate the word into german, I cannot indentify a clear meaning.
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Frank,
If your conscience is clear I suggest you get psychiatric help.
What I see here are a lot of excuses and dissembling. If you're supposedly a Buddhist now, where's the "wise remorse"? Where's the apology? Where's the attempt to make amends?
I sense from you the pseudo-Buddhism so common among white people who dabble with the tradition as adults - ego wrapped in faux humility. Lots of attempts at justification but no taking of responsibility for the harm you've done.
You are also lying about a number of things you did, hoping no one here will know. We have people on the forum who read your early writings in zines, who met you in person and remember the misinformation you sold. You can't escape your past as easily as you seem to think you can.
The people you taught fake sweats to remember it differently. We've seen the photographs.
We know the difference between the Gaelic sweathouses and a fake Inipi with a tartan blanket thrown on top.
And we're not mistaken. We know exactly who you are.
Whether or not you feel you claimed a spiritual title is less the issue than how you misrepresented Native and Celtic cultures - for profit - and how you are still profiting off harming these cultures. You betrayed your own ancestors, as well as the people who made the mistake of trusting you. White people like you who get called out always love to claim we're trying to stop them from "exploring" or from connecting with the Earth. We strongly encourage people to connect with the Earth, with their own ancestors and ancestral ways, but people like you have harmed these efforts, and harmed those seekers, by selling pretendian and psuedo-Buddhism as Celtic.
The "I was just seeking" excuse holds no water; you could have had some humility and waited till you learned something before trying to sell it on the nuage circuit. Maybe if you had held your peace till you actually learned something you would have realized your mistakes before you put them down in print and took people's money, time and energy for your mistakes. And maybe you would have realized that exploiting cultures and ceremonies this way is not a sign of integrity.
Again, when are you pulling your books from publication?
When are you making a public statement (as yourself, not under a screen name on a forum) that you were wrong?
Let us know when you've paid back all the people you ripped off.
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Still dodging, dissembling and refusing to take responsibility for the harm you've caused. Real spiritual, Frank, real spiritual.
You're still a big ole lying fraud.
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Received this defense of Owen from a follower claiming to be psychic and Cherokee. First is her email, then my response.
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I find the article about Frank MacEowen extremely offensive. Frank never claimed to be a shaman, in fact he was adamant that he was not, that he was a seeker like the rest of us. Neither did he charge a fortune for his workshops, nor was he a predator of any sort. Over and over again, I saw him help people discover their, and I repeat their, inner strengths. He helped people become their best selves, regardless of their cultural background. And he always encouraged people to follow their own cultural traditions first, before searching beyond them.
I am a hereditary clairvoyant and practitioner of magic and I am also Cherokee. I never once saw Frank take advantage of anyone or force his beliefs on anyone. What I did see was someone who was deeply intuitive, thoughtful and capable of great transformative magic. I've known many a fraud in my 60 years & I can spot them a mile away. Frank MacEowen is not one. His books are deeply valuable to the right person and the article on your website is, frankly, libelous.
M. E. Sumner-Wichmann
New Mexico
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Hello,
Your claims contradict the first hand accounts we have of Frank Owen. MacEowen is his fake exploiter's identity. That you choose to use it says you are either unaware of his lack of ethics, or choosing to ignore it.
Mr. Owen sold Native ceremonies he had no right to, and falsely claimed training and permission from a Native elder. While claiming to no longer do wrong, he has refused several times to either apologize or repay those he defrauded.
For being a supposed clairvoyant, your insight and ability to predict certainly seems very limited. And while you say you have Cherokee ancestry, it is uncertain how much you know of Cherokee tradition, or you would know that what Mr. Owen does is wrong.
Your understanding of the law is similarly false. Criticism is not libel, and truth is an absolute defense against libel. That's why in over a decade and a half we have never once been sued, or even had an attempted suit, only empty threats by people not knowing the law.
I will post your defense of Mr. Owen, and my response to it. You are certainly welcome to join the forum and post, and hopefully learn.
I certainly also hope you will urge Mr. Owen to do what is right and ethical for a change.
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Another email from the same Owen supporter, followed by my response.
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I'm not interested in joining your forum and I know plenty about my ancestral ways.
I never saw Frank sell anything to do with Native American culture and I worked with him for several years in Colorado. All his courses were taught through the Naropa Institute or Drumming Circles.
Since there were no dates listed as to events that happened in the posts on your forum, I can't speak to the things that may or may not have happened prior to his work after the millenium.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I never saw Frank as anything but a humble, true seeker of wisdom who helped a lot of people become comfortable with their own cultural backgrounds, not one he imposed on them.
I agree totally with the fact that there are a lot of fakes out their who take advantage of people, which is why I have always steered of so-called "Native" teachers. I have visited the reservation where my ancestors came from, but I have never tried to join any native group, despite my heritage having deeply affected who I am, both physically and culturally, and despite qualifying by blood quantum. [personal information deleted]
So don't make assumptions about me. You don't know me. I don't want my emails posted on your forum. I'm just sick of seeing it come up any time Frank's name is mentioned. Perhaps he started out seeking in the wrong places. Everyone is capable of making mistakes. I never saw any evidence of this in his work and he never, ever claimed to be a Shaman when I knew him. Too bad people don't understand that this terminology belongs to a specific group of people in Siberia...
Margaret Sumner-Wichmann
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If you want to defend him, angry emails to one moderator are not going to do anything. Thus the last email, your defense, was posted, as this one will be, plus any other defenses of him.
The only time an email would be confidential was if someone were disclosing personal information or feared retaliation. Thus the family information you disclosed will not be reposted.
Naropa is itself an exploiter's group. Those drumming circles are based on imitations of Native traditions. So were Owen's sweatlodges, which he falsely claimed were Irish in origin. It is possible this happened before you knew him. Again, this simply points out there is information about the man you defend you are unaware of.
Other examples of what you don't seem to realize is that the Cherokee do not have a blood quantum requirement to enroll, and that they don't have a reservation. That was taken away almost a century ago. The Eastern Band do have a reserve.
We realize as well that humans are of course only human, and fallible. The problem remains that Owen refuses repeatedly to either admit the harm he did, and more importantly to undo the harm he did. If he were to repay those he defrauded and apologize, his name would come off the Frauds list. Until then, he remains an abuser in denial of the abuse he did, and his name stays.
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If Frank Owen is living in a state of abject poverty and has no money to feed, clothe or house himself, if he is homeless and starving and in dire need of medical care he cannot afford (like many people in the communities he's harmed), I think people would be compassionate about the financial restitution part of this... if he actually apologized and tried to make amends in whatever way he could. See, it's the principles involved - that he ripped people off, spiritually and emotionally as well as financially.
He owes some sort of restitution, some commitment to making things right. Since he chose to monetize his exchanges with people who came to him seeking spiritual help, he can monetize his amends. But it's going to take more than just a fistful of dollars. To borrow from the nuage idea he employed: the money is just a symbol. He has shown no compassion for the people he misled and no remorse. Every day his books are out there he continues to mislead and do harm. All his posts here show is a man still caught up in his own ego and deceptions, who thinks he deserves better than the people and cultures he's harmed.