The Foundation for Gaian Studies

[Smart Mule]

http://www.gaianstudies.org/

Vision Quests for $700, sweats @ $200 for the weekend, advanced sweat training for $2,000.

Here's what Stephen Harrod Buhner, one of their ceremony sellers, says about Arvol - "I quote Arvol Looking Horse in some detail about his support for people of any blood or ethnic group being allowed to use the sacred pipe for prayer. Regrettably, he has altered his opinion on this and is now ethnically exclusive on the issue. "  Regrettably?  For Stephen maybe.

[critter - a white non-ndn person]

Ethnically? Maybe he meant Ethically.

[educatedindian]

Basically it's three people, a white writer on botany, Stephen Buhner, and two disciples of Sunbear/Laduke, who claim some ancestry.

"Trishuwa" is the only name one leader gives. I left out the nauseating self serving ego trip parts.

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Trishuwa works with...Sweat Lodge, Sacred Pipe, Vision Quest and the Medicine Wheel.  She is Ceremonial Director of the Church of Gaia and founding member of Foundation for Gaian Studies.  As a young child she lived near San Juan Pueblo in New Mexico, along the Rio Grande.  While living there she had her first visions...She is of mixed blood; Irish, Cherokee, African American and English....

She has taught at...the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanic Studies in Boulder, Colorado; Dry Creek Herb Farm in California; Brietenbush Herb Conference in Oregon, the International Herb Symposium outside Boston, MA, Green Nations Gathering and The New England Women's Herbal Conference.  She continues to travel and teach nationally each year.

Working many of her later years as a psychotherapist with those diagnosed with borderline personality disorder or schizophrenia, she utilized Nuero Linguistic Programming, Milton Erickson hypnosis and regressive treatment to help her clients...

Trishuwa's apprenticeship with Sun Bear...included working with Vision Quest, Sacred Pipe, Sweat Lodge, the Medicine Wheel....Her teaching partnership with Stephen Buhner expanded these ceremonies to include inner-council work...

The astrological combination of The Medicine Wheel and the Zodiac is unique.  Trishuwa brings the two ancient Wheels together in her Earth Astrology chart readings.  Her studies in western mysticism led to her discovery of Tarot which she includes...

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African-American? Really?
Basically she seems to claim distant Cherokee ancestry and is a member of the Bear Tribe cult, combining it with Euro tarot nonsense and some common cult techniques like NLP and some discredited psychotherapy techniques like regressive (hypnotizing people to get them to "remember" past lives).

The other leader of the FGS.

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Julie McIntyre is an Earth ceremonialist and metis of Norwegian and Mohawk/Blackfeet decent. She is the director for the Center for Earth Relations and for the past decade has worked with the Sacred Pipe, Medicine Wheel, and Vision Quests... An ordained practitioner of the Church of Gaia, Julie recently directed a state ceremonial program for Native men in prison and also works with young women with ceremonial rites of transition into womanhood. A double-degree graduate in Political Science and Public Communications Julie has completed postgraduate training in sacred plant medicine, Ayurveda, Reiki, medical herbalism, Huichol shamanism, and wilderness survival.

For six years she wrote a monthly column for Tapestry Magazine (Lansing, IA) on Earth relationship and ceremony, the sacredness and ecology of the Mississippi River system, raptor ecology, and the healing of human disease through the use of Earth medicine.

For four years she worked as a Holistic Health Practitioner in an integrative medical clinic in Wisconsin, providing herbal and nutritional counseling, colonic hydrotherapy, laser acupuncture detox, lymphatic drainage therapy, and patient education and support.

Devoted to helping people reclaim their ecological identity, Julie has taught adults, young adults and children on the sacredness of Earth relations, the heart as the organ of perception, the ecstatic path, healing shame, medical herbology, and the Medicine Wheel. For six years she had a private Holistic Health practice working with Herbal medicine, sacred Plant Medicine, and spiritual mentoring.

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I have no idea why a commmunications and poli sci major thinks that qualifies her to be a healer. The fact that she calls herself "Blackfeet" and metis suggests to me she has little to no contact or upbringing in her cultures. Or why a Blackfoot would turn to alleged Huichol traditions.

"Laser acupuncture detox"? Using lasers to do acupuncture is supposed to sober someone up?
"Colonic hydroptherapy" is pretty discredited. Basically it's a lot of enemas as a scam to lose weight quickly. Doesn't work, once you drink water again you'd gain it right back. And it has risks, dehydration and weakening your immune system.
She looks fairly young, maybe late 20s, so it seems like she's bouncing around from one loopy idea to the next trying to figure things out.

[educatedindian]

Laser acupuncture detox apparently has a lot of ethical problems with their claims. Type in a search and the first thing you get are ads for people offering to sell DIY kits for a few hundreds dollars. A doctor put out this warning. Apparently what McIntyre was doing can get you in legal trouble.

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http://www.devicewatch.org/reg/cpg7133.21.shtml
Sec. 393.200 Laser(s) as Medical Devices for Facelift,
Wrinkle Removal, Acupuncture, Auricular Stimulation, etc.
FDA Compliance Policy Guide 7133.21
Issued: 12/1/82
Revised: 3/95
Background:
Some practitioners, mainly chiropractors and facial care establishments, have been advertising laser treatments for facelifts, acupuncture, wrinkle removal and other nonsurgical procedures. In surgical facelifts or wrinkle removal treatment, the laser beam is directed to certain points on the face or is scanned across the parts of the face to be treated. At present the effectiveness of these treatment procedures remains unproven. To date only low power lasers (class II under 21 CFR 1040.10 and 1040.11) with outputs of approximately one-half milliwatt have been used for treatments. At this level of output there does not appear to be any direct health hazard from the use of these devices provided that they are not directed into a person's eye. Chronic exposure of the eye to light from low powered lasers can cause eye injury; however, this condition is unlikely if appropriate safety procedures are followed and the eye is protected against direct exposure from laser light.

Laser devices for these uses have been identified as investigational devices and are therefore classified into class III and are regulated by the Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) Regulation under the Medical Device Amendments. The commercial distribution or sale of such investigational devices is prohibited. The devices may not be used on human subjects unless an investigational protocol is approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and satisfies the requirements of 21 CFR 812.2(b)(2) for non-significant risk devices. At this time the agency has no reason to believe that these devices pose significant risk. (All laser devices must also comply with the radiation safety performance standard, 21 CFR 1040.10, under the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act.)

Through discussions with professional and medical groups the *Center for Devices and Radiological Health* has found that these groups are concerned about the improper use and questionable claims made by some users of these devices. They have expressed a willingness to inform members of their professions of the regulatory status of such devices.

The *Center* has also informed all state licensing boards about the Agency's position.

Policy
At the present time no information has been submitted to FDA, nor is FDA aware of any studies that could constitute valid scientific evidence of the safety and effectiveness of medical laser devices for facelift, wrinkle removal, acupuncture, auricular stimulation therapy, biostimulation, or other related uses. Therefore, all such laser devices are considered to be class III Investigational Devices limited to use in accordance with the IDE regulation.

The commercial promotion, distribution, sale, or use of these investigational devices without IRB approval for non-significant risk devices, or without FDA approval of an IDE application for a significant risk device is considered a violation of 501(f)(1) and/or 502(f) of the FD&C Act.

Extensive investigations into the use by health professionals is not warranted since these laser devices are not of significant risk.

*Warning* letter or seizure recommendations may be submitted if devices are found to be in use by non-health professionals with medical claims that are clearly without basis.

This page was posted on September 3, 2009.