DISCOVER THE KNOWLEDGE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WHO HAVE THROUGHOUT THE AGES MAINTAINED HEALTH, WELLNESS AND SUSTAINABILITY

At a time when institutions and ecosystems are collapsing, Blue Deer Center: A Healing Retreat Center and Home for Ancestral Traditions houses native teachings and practices that provide balance and sustainability. These ancient health and wellness methods recognize that the support of human life is the natural world: the plants, animals, sun, air, earth, and water. The world they teach of is alive and aware. When we relate to it with respect and love, the world responds. It brings healing, purpose and fulfillment to ourselves, our families and our communities.

Blue Deer Center (BDC), is a 501(c)3 non-profit retreat center, founded by Eliot Cowan, a noted author (Plant Spirit Medicine: The Healing Power of Plants) and esteemed healer in the Huichol Indian tradition. BDC mission is to provide an important setting for teachings and practices that promote balanced relationship with the natural world. BDC is nestled on a ninety-acre rural and peaceful setting, cradled by the tranquil mountains of the Catskills and adjacent to the cleansing waters of the Plattekill River in New York. In times past, the indigenous peoples held council fires on this land. Here they resolved conflicts and found healing.

When European man came to North America this land was clean, the waters were clear. In 500 years Modern man has nearly destroyed our planet, our animals, our plants and air. Genocide and war has escalated. Indigenous people knew how to get along in the world. They knew (and still know) what it took to sustain good health, harmonious communities and a peaceful and prosperous world at large. Their wisdom is not lost. Today their wisdom speaks again through the many programs led by internationally acclaimed healers and teachers who share and preserve their native wisdom though workshops, seminars, music, dance and community gatherings held at the Blue Deer Center.

Michael J. Fox, in an interview on the David Letterman show, spoke of his experience with the indigenous people of Bhutan. While in the Himalayan Mountains he found the Bhutanese government measured something they called the “Gross National Happiness,” whereby they make government decisions with an eye towards whether or not the decision will increase the happiness of their people. Community connection and a sense of purpose are important values to the Bhutanese as they are to BDC, whose mission is to provide a home for indigenous teachings and practices that promote balanced relationship with the natural world that can easily be integrated into the modern world.

About Blue Deer Center’s Founder Eliot Cowan:

Eliot Cowan, acclaimed author of Plant Spirit Medicine: The Healing Power of Plants, teacher, healer and shaman, works both in the U.S. and with the Huichol people of Mexico, having studied and practiced under the late Don Guadalupe Gonzalez Rios, a gifted Huichol Indian Healer.

For more information or to interview Eliot Cowan contact: Stephen McCrory 818-848-3213 thebusinessmuse@gmail.com

For a full calendar of programs, please visit: Blue Deer Center at: www.bluedeer.org or call 845-586-3225

Poten Story/Interview Ideas:

USEFUL NATIVE PRACTICES FOR IMPROVED HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Eliot Cowan, Founder of Blue Deer Center can share teachings and practices of selected native teachings that bridge the gap between nature and the Western world. These teachings, which (are practiced at Blue Deer Center) include the connection with fire, the connection to plants, nature and community will improve our health and quality of life while creating a sustainable environment for ourselves and our descendants.

“Give the world respect and gratitude and it gives back what we need for a good life.” states Cowan.

LEARN WHY NATIVE WISDOM OFFERS THE SECRET TO A QUALITY LIFE

Indigenous wisdom sees the natural world as sacred. It says, “Give the world respect and gratitude and it gives back what we need for a good life.” This simple yet profound concept is too often overlooked in Western society. The indigenous people have lived a good life for many thousands of years in their mountainous homeland in Northwestern Mexico. Never conquered, never converted to foreign religion, they continue to thrive today thanks to the wisdom teachings and healing practices of their elders.

Eliot Cowan, an anglo-American now in his sixties and founder of Blue Deer Center: A home for Ancestral Traditions, has completed a rigorous twelve-year apprenticeship with the indigenous elders of N. Mexico and will share from native perspectives how individuals, colleagues and co-workers can thrive in the world and live not from fear but from heart, which is what is taught at Blue Deer Center.

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