We'd Love to Meet You.
We currently have public meetups for our monthly Journey Group and Men’s Circle. The Women’s Circle is by invite only. We also have sacred days, holidays, and ceremonies that are sometimes public. You can use our Facebook events feed to keep up to date on anything we do that’s open to the public (whether you’re on Facebook or not). Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/AFMPublic
There are also several Facebook groups if you happen to be on the site. The public one, which has lots of educational materials and social support, can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/allfaithscommunity Please note this is not a platform where sales and self-promotion is permitted.
If you’re interested in joining the women’s weekly meeting or their monthly River Blessing ceremony, the best thing to do is to come to a few journey groups so the women involved can get to know you, then ask to come.
Here’s more info on our two regular public meetups:
JOURNEY GROUP:
Journey group is a place where we go to practice journeying together. It is not a class and is not a place to learn to journey. Rather it’s a gathering of people who already know how to journey to practice together and support one another. It’s useful for community building, getting support, and growing spiritually together. We also sometimes have advanced practitioners come in if they think they will need help with a particular journey. If you’d like to learn to journey, we sometimes offer 101 classes. If you’re interested in a class or would like to host one, mention it at the meetup to whoever is facilitating. We also recommend the book Map to Otherworld: The Guide the Meditative Shamanic Journeying for beginners. It is the only book on the topic we know of which discusses dangers of journeying and how to avoid them. Journey Group is by donation. You’re welcome to attend if you can’t donate, but donations help us keep the lights on so if you can please do. We always meet on a Thursday.
MEN’S CIRCLE:
We have the longest running men’s circle in Pittsburgh (to our knowledge!) that started in 2016 and went public in 2018. We have a core group of guys who have each other’s backs and are able to welcome and support outsiders because of the strong heart they form. Our intention with the men's group is to (1) participate in one another's stories in a healing way and to (2) compassionately hold one another accountable to becoming our best selves and living our best possible lives. This has historically been a place of healing and encouragement over enablement.
Our meetings are simple. We open with a brief ceremony. If we meet in person, we drum about twenty minutes to a half hour (we have a few drums but you’re welcome to bring your own) as we’ve found it helps us process the day, be more present, and get in the space of listening to each other and working together. Then we talk. Sometimes a facilitator opens with a topic. Other times they simply ask what’s needed. We close with a brief ceremony that is the reverse of the first ceremony to close the space.
We are inclusive- that means we welcome all races, sexualities, religions, and anyone primarily identifying in a masculine role in society, and our heart group actually reflects that with varied identities in all these respects. It’s by donation, again you’re welcome if you can’t give, but giving is a part of your commitment and demonstration of valuing your own work, so please do if you can. We always meet on a Wednesday.
There are also several Facebook groups if you happen to be on the site. The public one, which has lots of educational materials and social support, can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/allfaithscommunity Please note this is not a platform where sales and self-promotion is permitted.
If you’re interested in joining the women’s weekly meeting or their monthly River Blessing ceremony, the best thing to do is to come to a few journey groups so the women involved can get to know you, then ask to come.
Here’s more info on our two regular public meetups:
JOURNEY GROUP:
Journey group is a place where we go to practice journeying together. It is not a class and is not a place to learn to journey. Rather it’s a gathering of people who already know how to journey to practice together and support one another. It’s useful for community building, getting support, and growing spiritually together. We also sometimes have advanced practitioners come in if they think they will need help with a particular journey. If you’d like to learn to journey, we sometimes offer 101 classes. If you’re interested in a class or would like to host one, mention it at the meetup to whoever is facilitating. We also recommend the book Map to Otherworld: The Guide the Meditative Shamanic Journeying for beginners. It is the only book on the topic we know of which discusses dangers of journeying and how to avoid them. Journey Group is by donation. You’re welcome to attend if you can’t donate, but donations help us keep the lights on so if you can please do. We always meet on a Thursday.
MEN’S CIRCLE:
We have the longest running men’s circle in Pittsburgh (to our knowledge!) that started in 2016 and went public in 2018. We have a core group of guys who have each other’s backs and are able to welcome and support outsiders because of the strong heart they form. Our intention with the men's group is to (1) participate in one another's stories in a healing way and to (2) compassionately hold one another accountable to becoming our best selves and living our best possible lives. This has historically been a place of healing and encouragement over enablement.
Our meetings are simple. We open with a brief ceremony. If we meet in person, we drum about twenty minutes to a half hour (we have a few drums but you’re welcome to bring your own) as we’ve found it helps us process the day, be more present, and get in the space of listening to each other and working together. Then we talk. Sometimes a facilitator opens with a topic. Other times they simply ask what’s needed. We close with a brief ceremony that is the reverse of the first ceremony to close the space.
We are inclusive- that means we welcome all races, sexualities, religions, and anyone primarily identifying in a masculine role in society, and our heart group actually reflects that with varied identities in all these respects. It’s by donation, again you’re welcome if you can’t give, but giving is a part of your commitment and demonstration of valuing your own work, so please do if you can. We always meet on a Wednesday.
Current Facilitators
Coming to an event the first time can be intimidating, especially if you're alone. Here are some friendly faces to get you started.
Amy Lohr, MSW, LCSW
This is Amy being a drill babe building on the land in West Virginia with her assistant farm cat who, as you see, clearly runs the show. ^^
Amy was raised a “hillbilly Christian” but always had direct clairvoyant spiritual experiences, the management of which led to her joining our organization to learn how to use her gifts to heal others. She now identifies herself as a practitioner of Celtic Christianity. She has also worked extensively as a community resource in the Jewish and Pagan communities, especially concerning trauma care and recovery including during and after the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. Amy has a background in psychotherapy in which she ran her own successful business for 12 years. She left the field as she became aware of how the structure of the field perpetuates abuse of clients and now uses her license to do client advocacy work. Amy also does energy work, nature-based coaching, and works with essential oils. She is an initiate of the All Faiths Movement and facilitates our Women’s Group and monthly River Blessing. Amy has a website you can see here: www.amylohr.com |
David Gamble-Moore, MDiv, HP, Herbalist
This is David at a Trauma Healing event sponsored by the local Jewish Community Center. They presented on the science of holism. ^^
David practices Celtic Christianity as a personally, but also serves in Interfaith, Pagan, Native American, African, Taoist, and other communities. David is the All Faiths Movement’s founder and sits on the board. They are intersex (a true hermaphrodite) and biracial. They are happily but busily married, run multiple businesses, write and publish books, and travel to teach and provide holistic health care. Activist projects David has been involved in since 2002 have included environmental issues, elder care, assisting women in domestic violence recovery groups, preventing and ending medical abuse, expanding intersex and trans rights, and fighting human trafficking. David has been ordained clergy since 1995. They’ve been practicing in healthcare since 2008 and have been running their own health care company since 2015. David facilitates our Journey Group, does many of our ceremonies, and co-facilitates the men’s circle. David has a website you can see here: www.strange-and-wonderful.com |
Norman Papernick, aka Hakan!
This is Norm, er, Hakan! performing sword belly dance, well, somewhere? We think Ohio? ^^
Norm is Jewish and joined our community specifically to support and co-facilitate the men’s circle, but he’s also helped extensively with our community clean ups, ceremonies and other events. He played a major part in developing our events at different locations in Frick Park and in enabling the All Faiths Movement's growth as an independent entity. He has expressed that he’s the community squirrel who knows where all the food is hidden. He is a robotics engineer by day and a story teller, walking fire sword danger show, and belly dancer by night. What's more interesting- teaching robots to think or dancing with fire? Norm's a good one to ask. Hakan, which is his stage name, has been performing and enabling the performance communities in Pittsburgh and elsewhere for more than a decade. He has a website for his storytelling and belly dance here: www.hakandances.com |