About June
Following a childhood when she 'saw and talked to people that were not there' June has followed an active path of spiritual development and training mostly Guide led since around 1993.
When she started her training June had never heard the term ‘Shaman’ and wasn’t particularly previously inclined to read books on related theories. In fact June’s Guide advised against reading until ‘after’. ‘After’ came many years after the training began and following having met Nelly Moon and discovered that the two of them shared many experiences within the Otherworld. Around this time June 'dabbled in Druidry', became a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and began their training course.
After being told she was a Shaman* with June’s initial Tutor Guide being Irish and knowing she had English and Welsh ancestors she assumed her Shamanism may ancestrally be Celtic. However she was given the name Motuckquas Cwningen during a Journey which caused lots of confusion and initial embarrassment until she realised the honour of being given the name and in fact of listening and learning from both her Celtic ancestors and those of some tribes of Turtle Island.
Motuckquas is Wampanoag and Cwningen Welsh, both words meaning Rabbit. June’s spirit guides at this time being Panther and Wolf she spent some time wondering over the message from Rabbit until her Guide took pity on her and said "What do the words mean to you?". Rabbit Rabbit was then easily worked out as "Talk! Talk!" However at this point June was still unsure from her research into Shamanism how her beliefs and practice fitted into any particular culture of Shamanism. While many aspects of a culture may have rung within her spirit it was like a piece was still missing and while that piece was missing the whole answer of what she was supposed to do wasn’t clear.
Alongside her spiritual development and as a later part of what she thought was purely personal development June developed a keen interest in family history. Due to personal circumstances she quickly took a particular interest in trying to discover more about her unknown paternal great grandmother. This led to a growth in both personal and spiritual development when she discovered her Romany ancestors and the fact that in actuality she was half Romany (a posh rat). She realised one of her Guides who had been with her all along, appearing initially with support and giving her the message ‘Don’t worry you are one of ours’ during a particularly difficult time in her life, was a direct Ancestor.
June realised where this had been leading. Discovering mixed Romany and Welsh heritage didn’t make her Shamanism Celtic nor Romany, listening to the Ancestors of Turtle Island was an honour a British woman could accept. More than that she was not alone in her confusion. The modern world is no longer tribal. Many of us now are of mixed heritage. Many of us have no direct connection in the physical world to our cultural ancestors. However this is the point in time when we need to encourage Shamanism more than ever if the Land is to survive, if our Ancestors are to continue to have a voice and people able to listen to their wisdom.
It was at this point June started receiving inspiration and ideas for Indie Shaman from her Guides, through Journeying, from other people and sometimes through sheer synchronicity.
* June is aware of the controvosy surrounding a Western woman calling herself a Shaman. She has tried debating this point with her Guides and Spiritual Ancestors but they remain insistant. She can therefore only apologise if she causes anyone any unintentional offence.
Biography
Born in Shropshire June Kent lives in the South West of England with some of her family, a dog, 2 cats and a goldfish. June is married with 3 ‘children’ aged 16 – 24. Professionally June is a qualified Community worker with over 20 years experience of advice and community work, who is also a qualified Adult and Further Education Tutor. June was until recently a Parish Councillor and has also had experience of being a Director on many Boards including a Credit Union and Homeless Charity, but now dedicates all her time to Indie Shaman as well as working for her own company, JMK Mentors Limited. June is the Founder of Indie Shaman and a Director of Indie Shaman Limited.