Lauren´s Testimonial from the February 2016 Course

How would you describe the course in one sentence?

“Reclaiming Thunder was like finding the home and community I was searching for and didn´t even know that I was searching for.”

What was your biggest challenge?

“The sweat after the mini vision quest that we did in this course. It was not only the heat that was intense, but the release of attachments was a painfully liberating experience. At one point I was tempted to leave the sweat, but Donny put his foot down and rightfully so- he knew I could make it, and eventually so did I.

And after that experience many veils lifted. That sweat was the most powerful one I have ever been part of. I thought I was dying, and to some aspect I was. A part of me was reborn that day in the sweatlodge.

Our “Mini Vision Quest” consisted of 24 hours of fasting, praying, and connecting in the Nicaraguan jungle. Insights about self-love and self-care were palpable. While isolated in my protective circle of tobacco under the tropical sun, water was very much on my mind. Multiple times I thought of getting up and breaking the fast-even a sip seemed like a sort of heaven. Every time a thought like that popped up so did a dragonfly. For a few hours that dragonfly flew around my head, landing on a leaf beside my head each time I was tempted to sip some water.

Dragonflies are born in and live near water sources. When mating, some species will latch on to one another and fall to the ground. If they are not finished mating, they will fall to the ground. To me, this represented the ultimate sacrifice of unconditional love, where death is welcomed over failure to procreate.

Unconditional love (for myself) was a large theme for me throughout that course. Sitting there with my dragonfly friend I began to remember the times I have denied myself a basic need, not wanting to cause trouble of not feeling worthy of it. Eventually, I got up and got some water- it was finally time for me to treat myself with unconditional love and respect, something I denied myself for too long.

What was the thing that surprised you the most?

“In general, many people get well in ceremonies by purging, or vomiting. I get well by crying; somehow the urge to purge bypasses my stomach and would come out of my eyes. During that first ceremony (which was also on Donny’s birthday) I cried for the majority of the night. I cried so much, and didn´t even know where that much liquid was coming from! “

Would you recommend and if, why would you recommend the course?

“Yes I would and I would add that this is not a retreat to relax, where you are spending your money on a spa or something…come prepared to dig into spirit, come ready to dig deep.” 

Would you recommend and if, why would you recommend the course?

“In this world there is so much information and at the same time a blockage in transparency. It was wonderful to be around a community that brings those topics to the surface, that tries to look through the veil. By behaving, questioning, and speaking with integrity we can come to a place of transparency within ourselves.

I have to add how awesome Donnie is. He is such a wealth of wisdom, of how to take off the rose-colored glasses and adjust your eyes to the reality before you.

There are a lot of people involved in the pop culture of spirituality, but his knowledge is passed down from elders. It´s something that he has worked for. What he teaches is not the type of pop-karmic wisdom, the YES I KNOW-because my spirit body knows. Donnie dug and continues to dig deep into the true nature of authenticity and integrity.

It was an opportunity to pause, to acknowledge and really listen and engage appropriately with the knowledge available. He helped me to identify my programming, to sift through the BS. He empowers you to empower yourself.”

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Keith´s Testimonial from the February 2016 Course

How would you describe the course in one sentence?

“I found exactly what i had been looking for, and then got a whole lot more that i didn{t know existed.”

What was your biggest challenge?

“Sharing the Q&A sessions with other people´s questions.”

What was the thing that surprised you the most?

“The infinte rabbit holes that revealed themselves, the endless doorways of inquiry that opened, and how all of the new questioning and exploring still led back to the same basic, unanserable questions of life that we all share, and how that endless questioning is in itself an answer.”

Would you recommend and if, why would you recommend the course?

“I recommend everyone in the western world takes this course. Donnie addresses the very core of the human experience, and he helps to explain the truly deperate and critical condition of our current state of being in this world, like no one else I´ve ever encounterd in person or in publication. And most importantly, he provides legitimate methods and practices for positively engaging this state of being. ”

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Scott´s Testimonial from the February 2016 Course

How would you describe the course in one sentence?

“Well it’s an opportunity to experience a very authentic transition of real knowledge that is experienced on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.”

What was your biggest challenge?

“That my whole life turned upside down and got redefined and set in a new direction. What was difficult for me on the first day was connecting with the other people, I thought these are not the right people”

What was the thing that surprised you the most?

“The fact that these connections, which were difficult on the first day of the course turned into friendships and until today are very strong. And these people that I met in this course are very close and foremost people that I really want to be the closest.

And the stories of Donnie, I know him for over 20 years and until today I learn from his stories, because every time it is a different experience, I am in a different point of my life, I discover a different aspect of his teachings.

But also because his stories are told stories, they adapt and change slightly, they are never told the same way twice and that’s the beauty, you don´t get that experience from a written story which somebody just reads from a paper.

And the same way I think about the Reclaiming Thunder Course, if you attend the course in a different year you still would learn something new and different.”

Would you recommend and if, why would you recommend the course?

“Definitely it´s the relevance of the material, that is important to the human history right now. Haha and because the spiritual growth market has been flooded with nicely packaged new age propaganda and this is not a workshop where you are sitting all day watching power point presentations and take notes. It´s hands on and you also have to suffer at some point, like in the sweatlodge.”

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Anna&Devin´s Testimonials from the February 2016 Course

How would you describe the course in one sentence?

“It´s an opportunity to take the step and make the choice of becoming stronger and more aware of your own individual abilities and get an understanding of ancestral ways and the modern day conditioning.” Devin

What was your biggest challenge?

“The sweat was strong I felt as if I couldn't breath but at the same time I did my best to remain calm by focusing on breathing slowly. There was a challenge going on inside of me, the sweat changed my bodily feelings and I felt as if needed to leave. The solution was to ask my self if this need was true or not? Or was it only the mind wanting to quit because the intesity of the enviroment was making my body suffer? In the end I completed the sweat without leaving, and was so glad to have found the will to accomplish such a difficult challange.” Anna

“I never felt forced or held against my will by staying in the sweatlodge all four doors, even though in my mind I wanted to escape. Donnie´s unique ability is that he shows you that you are here for your own good and this is what makes you turn your perception around by finding your own inner power and strength.” Devin

“It felt like I had a borderline exorcism in the final ceremony, it was a super strong medicine experience. It felt like with every song an animal was ripping me apart and in the end I died. After the ceremony I had to go back to the tipi and cry, I could still hear the songs and it felt as though they and I were still travelling. Fortunately this closing ceremony connected me to one particular song, and the blessing of this song is what healed me and my heart and allowed me to reclaim my thunder.” Devin

What was the thing that surprised you the most?

“How well I connected with Donnie and how comfortable it felt, like I had known him before…instant connection and it felt super right, which was unexpected.

Also the power of the tipi meeting was strong, I was impressed by the whole movement. It was full of details that revieled lessons that in turn changed my life for the better.” Devin

“I could hear the rambiling thoughts of others during the final ceremony and saw how these thoughts affected me and others, this made me aware of the importantce to cut off these distracting thoughts in order to remain in the prayer.” Anna

Would you recommend the course, and if so why would you recommend it?

“Yes totally, because Donnie is one of the few teachers still alive that has lived alongside of the older generation that had the knowledge preserved. He provides an accurate and as far as I can tell really authentic life of the medicine way and also the Native American understandings of life.”

Anything else you want to share:

A life restart: I gained a stronger knowing. Before in my life I was rarely sure of anything, but after all these experiences I realized my connection to these ways by how they touched my heart and made me aware of the values of life. They taught me how to be confident in my real self,  and also showed me how to pray and pay close attention.

Donnie doesn´t hand you the thunder. You are the one who has to reclaim it for yourself or you will miss it. So better to pay attention or one can miss some important changes for ones own life.

I was not sure on the first day, I expected physical work and then everything was very chill, people sitting and asking questions and listening. For the first two days it was hours of talks, lectures and stories and the discussions became very deep. Once I really connected to his teachings I got an understanding of directing attention with the power of my mind and became more focused without even trying.

The way Donnie is teaching is very respectful, I never felt like he is trying to tell me where I have to go but rather showing me a possible way; and through that he explained the mystery that all these roads in the end are one in the same.

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Emilie´s Testimonial from the February 2016 Course

How would you describe the course in one sentence?

“You have no idea of what is going to happen, but something IS going to happen.”

What was your biggest challenge?

“My biggest challenge was accepting failure and to realize that failure can be seen as a success. For me not being able to last all rounds in the sweatlodge didn´t mean that I don´t make progress it showed me where were my limits.”

What was the thing that surprised you the most?

“The morning after the Tipi-ceremony! It was everything, the feeling of being with myself and in my body, the other people, the nature… I will remember that moment my whole life; and not only the moment also its aftereffects. Because after that I felt and saw myself differently, it was my re-birth, something deep shifted.” 

Would you recommend and if, why would you recommend the course?

“For me it was mind-blowing, an information-storm that I was in, an experience that you don’t get anywhere else and there is no price for that. You get knowledge and there is no answer to your question, you are shown to find your own answer. Donnie is unique, he is not a shaman/healer that tells you what to do, he shows what’s inside of you.”

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