Guy is a Ceremonial Leader and initiated shaman of the Spirit of the Earth Medicine Society (SOTEMS). 

SOTEMS is a volunteer organisation which has grown from a recognition of the value of traditional forms of knowledge and healing which have informed indigenous cultures for millennia and which are alive now, in our common humanity and they speak to us in ways which expand our minds, our medicine, and our capacity for a creative and healing social life. 

SOTEMS works extensively with medicine ways and shamanic practice as a recognition of the importance these practices play within our lives and how they serve to preserve healing traditions and to form the basis of training and guiding healers into their vocation. These are communities within communities dedicated to the healing arts and the living experiences of myth, symbol and ceremony. SOTEMS has accepted this model as a starting point for work in Australia, but it has opened its doors to the wisdom of all cultures as inspiration for creation of a healing community distinctive to Australia. 

SOTEMS has a number of offerings to the general public who wish to experience the practice of shamanic growth and unfolding.

Sweat Lodges

The Spirit of the Earth Medicine Society (SOTEMS) runs sweatlodge ceremonies at Ceres Community Village, Melbourne, every Sunday at 6pm.  The sweatlodge is a purification and spiritual ceremony that is common among many traditional cultures.  In most of these cultures, the central action is the same: heated rocks are placed in an enclosed space. Water is then poured on the rocks to produce intense waves of heat. Sometimes herbs are burned or crushed in the lodge or added to the water to produce a soothing fragrance. Some ceremonies include specific healing procedures and rituals.

SOTEMS has a fundamental goal to create a pathway to express the unique spirituality of this continent and its people, drawing on the wisdom and healing traditions from across the world.

For further details please visit http://www.sotems.com.au/sweatlodges.htm

If you are interested in sweatlodges, either in SOTEMS or elsewhere in Australia, please take note of some health and wellbeing protocols that should be taken into consideration before undergoing this ceremony.

Vision Quests

The Vision Quest is one of the most powerful and enduring experiences which is available to us in our contemporary society.

It is an opportunity to step outside of all the routines of everyday life and see one’s self and one’s life through a new set of lenses. Drawing upon the ritual and traditions of indigenous cultures from around the world, and framed by the spiritual landscape of Australia, the Spirit of the Earth Medicine Society [SOTEMS] takes each participant into the Central Desert to encounter the opening of a personal, spiritual pathway, a cleansing and renewal so that each may return regenerated.

There are few opportunities like this within our contemporary society wherein we can step out of everyday life and submit ourselves to a process which clears our horizons. It is a peerless experience.

The Vision Quest happens annually in August / September. 

For further details please visit http://www.sotems.com.au/visionquest.htm

Last modified: 21-Apr-2018