Animals have always had a profound influence in the shaping of my personal identity and social consciousness. Since I was a little boy, animals of many different species have touched my heart, lifted my spirits, and helped heal my wounds. They have been a blessing! I want to honor those dearest to me by mentioning them: Riptide, a deaf cocker spaniel I had as a pet when I was 3 or 4 years old; Poopsie, an orphaned baby squirrel I found in the woods when I was 9 years old; Harold, a cross-eyed duck who followed me to the baseball field on those endless sunny summer days; and a boxer dog named Roxy who graced my family and my life for fifteen years. Each of these creatures came into my life at a time when their guidance and vision were essential to the development of my very being.

Animals have been good medicine for me. “Medicine is anything that will aide the seeker in feeling more connected and in harmony with nature and all life-forms. Anything that is healing to the body, mind and/or spirit is medicine.”1 Animals provide nourishment to the deepest parts of our souls. And it is for this reason, I want to share a tale of self discovery with you about healing and the spiritual aspects of animal medicine.

Animal medicine is rooted in Shamanism. Susan Sedden Boulet provides the following working definition of Shamanism, “In shamanism, all existence is viewed as highly integrated. Literally whatever exists has soul. There is no division into organic or inorganic. And any of us who have been blessed by the presence of animals in our lives knows animals have souls and bring nourishment to our spirits.”2

Keeping that definition in mind, I invite you to accompany me into the world of the domesticated and undomesticated, the spirited ones who have been an important transformational bridge in my life over the past 48 years.

I take seriously the challenge Joseph Campbell gave us in his book “The Mythic Image,” that there are underlying mythologies shaping our lives and we had best understand them so we can use them to help us live more consciously.

In service of that, I answered the call to better understand the underlying mythologies governing my life by participation in a men's quest. It was this experience combined with two spirit-dreams and the mysterious synchronicity of life that have led me to my present place – a place I wish to share with you.

My particular journey began five summers ago when I answered this call by participating in Men's Quest X – a contemporary rite of passage.

Rites of passage have been the traditional means of guiding us through the many transitions we face in life. They ask us to, as our quest leader Joseph Jastrab said so eloquently, “turn ourselves over to the high adventure of being, rather than the continued pursuit of knowing. In short, you will be asked to face the mortality of yourself as you have known yourself.”3 We were asked to face the many transitions of our lives: birth, boyhood to manhood, marriages, separations, career changes and deaths. All of this taking place in the back country of a wilderness base camp deep in the forest of the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York. For me, this was indeed a call to adventure. (Although I have always liked the outdoors and have kept myself in good physical condition, this was a primitive camping experience to be executed by a man who never camped, pitched a tent or tied a square knot. A challenge indeed!) The quest would prove to be a life changing experience for me, and I am forever grateful for it. The heart of the quest holds that when one is in harmony with nature, one is in harmony with oneself, a good place to begin a spiritual journey.

As surely as all events in the universe are interconnected pieces of a cosmic and mysterious puzzle, so were the sequence of events that led from my vision quest to the first of my dream experiences and beyond. The men’s quest had ended and I was staying at a bed and breakfast, The Trails End, in Keene, New York. I had gone out to dinner with fellow questers to celebrate and bring closure to our twelve days together. We had returned to the Inn, said our farewells, and I had retired for the evening. As I was lying in bed, I was thinking about the past twelve days and wondering what effect this experience would have, if any, on my life. As I drifted to sleep, little did I know what was about to unfold.

I was awakened by what seemed to be a dream, yet did not. I heard the roar of thunder accompanied by lightening illuminating the night sky; I saw a bright flash of light and emerging from that light was the face of a coyote the color of the rising sun, no further than three inches from my face, staring an me. I was fascinated, startled, and stunned. I got up, went over to the window, and looked out to see if it was thundering and lightening outside. It was not. I lay back down, knowing I had just experienced something profound, and yet had no idea what the image of this coyote meant to me. This was unlike any other dream or experience I had ever had. This was the beginning of a journey that since has led me to a mentor and a three year training program concentrating on the teaching and preservation of Native American healing traditions. The rest of my story involves answering the coyotes call, following the less traveled path, and finding myself on a track that has always been there waiting for me. This has been about my willingness to embrace the unknown and follow a wiser, yet, less conventional path to personal growth and self discovery.

About six months after returning from my vision quest, I experienced a second dream-phenomenon, this time in the form of a voice. I was awakened during the night by the sound of a voice that said “OMEGA”, and that is all. I was again startled and also curious. Within a six month period, I had been visited, in my dreams, by a coyote the color of the rising sun, and heard a voice saying “OMEGA”. (All very interesting and unnerving to a man who had spent his life being skeptical about such occurrences.)

A few days after hearing the voice in my dream, I received a catalog from the Omega Institute in New York. (The Omega Institute is a holistic organization that provides personal growth experiences of an esoteric nature.) And, as I was glancing through the catalog, a workshop titled pointedly came to my attention. The workshop was entitled “Coyote Dance” and was facilitated by Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., a clinician and anthropologist who had dedicated the past twenty years of his life to both preserving and teaching Native American healing traditions to people worldwide. (Needless to say, I was struck by the synchronicity of the events of the past six months.) The next day, I registered for the three-day workshop.

The “Coyote Dance” workshop focused on the healing aspects of the Inca Medicine Wheel, which teaches one how to reconcile himself with his future and craft a destiny for himself, rather than to continue to take refuge in the drama in his personal past. As Villoldo says, these teachings “help us assume full responsibility for who we are becoming and influence our destiny by envisioning the possible.” This is accomplished by traveling through the Four Directions on the medicine wheel. The South, where one sheds his past like a serpent sheds its skin, recovers lost parts of himself, sets them in place and begins to heal. The West, where one faces his fears, dances with death, and is then claimed by life. The North, the home of the wisdom keepers; the place where one learns mastery and uses the ancient ways to step more fully into who he is becoming. Finally, the East, the place of illumination and vision, where transformation take place. Each one of the directions is represented archetypally by a totem animal. The South by the serpent; the West by the Jaguar; the North by the Great White Buffalo; and the East by the Eagle. The process fascinated me and seemed to be a way for me to reconnect with the healing aspects of the animal world that have nourished my spirit throughout my entire life.

The previously mentioned archetype of the North was to prove to be a very significant part of my journey. About a month after I completed the workshop with Villoldo, I was visited by a third dream – the dream of the white buffalo. Early on a pre-dawn morning in August of 1993, I dreamed of a white buffalo being carried on a burial pallet to be returned to the Great One above. This buffalo was a grand specimen, huge with a well muscled body and a distinctive look on its face. I was humbled by this latest vision and felt there was something sacred about this experience. (As I later learned, the White Buffalo is the most sacred animal in many Native American traditions. ) The appearance of the White Buffalo is a sign that prayers are being answered and that the promises of the prophecy are being fulfilled. It was becoming clear to me that I was receiving wise counsel and would need to listen carefully to my visitors from the spirit world. I knew I had been graced and needed to treat this magnificent beast with reverence.

A few months later, my wife and I were visiting my mother in Florida. One day, my mother came out into the back yard where we were sitting in the sun and handed me a mailing from an art gallery in Gainesville, Florida. As I was reviewing the prints, I came across a print of a huge White Buffalo painted by Lee Cabell. There he was... standing there as though he were saying “Here I am!” I immediately got up, went to the phone and called to order this limited edition print. This magnificent and divine presence now hangs in my office. Again, the synchronicity of events was astounding to me. Here appeared a physical manifestation of my dream and I was intrigued by the magic and mystery of it all. Quite an adventure was unfolding in front of my eyes.

Little did I know that on August 20, 1994, the day my family and I entered Chaco Canyon in the great southwest to explore and camp in the home of the Anasazi, a White Buffalo calf was born in Wisconsin... the first White Buffalo calf born this century. At the time, all I knew was that something big was happening. The trip was planned as a result of my wanting to explore a relationship with Villoldo, whom I met at the Omega Institute the previous summer, and to spend some meaningful time with my family.

While trekking through the desert, one day I approached Villoldo and told him I wanted to talk with him about the work he was doing and my ongoing search for a mentor and teacher.

I began to share my process of the past three years and how I came to this expedition. Part of what I told him included my dream of the White Buffalo. As we sat in the wash of what once was a river and talked of the possibility of him working with me, he told me the reason he would work with me was due to the dream of the White Buffalo and its significance to him. As it turns out, he has become my teacher and I his student – all because I have followed and explored thoughts, images, impressions, and messages I have received over the past five years.

Neither of us knew of the birth of the White Buffalo the day we talked in the desert. If I had not created a covenant with the animals, followed their wisdom, and answered their call, I would not be directly connected to the spiritual resources of their healing, wisdom, and compassion. And most importantly, I would not have found a mentor to provide me with guidance and direction.

This entire experience has been seeded by the vision quest which opened me to the wilderness of my own heart and has allowed me to take seriously the challenge Joseph Campbell gave to us: “that there are underlying mythologies shaping our lives, and that we have best better understand them so we can use them to help us live more consciously.”

The river of life that flows beneath my everyday life has raised the white water of my psyche and fueled a voyage that will continue to lead me deeper into my own heart and carry me on to my truth and allow me to become a steward of the world I want my daughter to inherit.

Will Heindel, M.A. currently maintains a private practice in Mt. Lebanon, PA. In addition, he has a strong interest in bridging the seemingly wide gaps among psychology, spirituality, the body’s physical process and meaningful living. In this regard, he is participating in a long term training program steeped in ancient healing traditions. Will can be reached at (412) 341-8222.

1 Jamie Sams and David Carson, Medicine Cards (New Mexico: Bear and Co., 1988)
2 Susan Seddon Boulet, Shaman: The Painting of Susan Seddon Boulet (California: Pomegranate Calendars and Books, 1989)
3 Joseph Jastrab and Rom Schaumburg, Sacred Manhood, Sacred Earth (New York: Harper Collins Inc. , 1994