What is Wild Soul?
The birth of Wild Soul
I’m on the top of a mountain in a grassy field. There are many people wandering all around me. Over their heads they carry these silver platters. I don’t know what they carry on them, but I can tell that what’s on them is special and important.
Then I look down at my chest. I notice a silver thread emerging from the center of my chest where my heart is. I trace this thread with my eyes. It rises up and out of my chest, disappearing from my site as it crosses across one of those silver platters… Then another.. Then another. I realize this thread is weaving its way through whatever gifts these people carry on these silver platters! Whatever these gifts these people are presenting to the world, my heart is connected to them.
I had this dream many years ago. Some dreams seem to endure a long time. This is one of them. I haven’t forgotten the heart-thread that connects to others’ gifts. In fact, this image lives within me often.
Wild Soul is my attempt to enact and embody this dream. I believe in the gifts that you carry. It is my heart’s longing to support you in bringing them forth.
I’m Daniel
Over the past seven years, I have been earnestly committed to the Journey of Soul Initiation. Rather than pursuing conventional routes of education, I’ve sought my education from canyon, juniper, cedar, raven, and moon. I’ve enacted three vision fasts, praying for vision and clarity. I’ve written down easily 2000 different dreams encountered during the night. I’ve danced with, courted, and been broken open multiple times by the beauty of nature, the mystery of Spirit, and the potent power of mythos and dream. The guiding question for me has always been the same: how can I best serve the Earth and my people? This is where I’ve been guided.
I’ve been told, in no uncertain terms, that it’s time for we humans to begin waking up—remembering who we really are and surrendering ourselves to the Earth from which we came. The challenge of our times require it. The future ones demand it. And we are held in an intelligent Universe that will guide us back to ourselves.
Professionally, I'm trained in the trauma-healing modality of Somatic Experiencing®, which I've been offering to clients for nearly four years. In conjunction with that, I have received training from the Animas Valley Institute—learning how to support individuals to connect with the deep imagery that emerges from mythos and Soul. On top of that I've studied attachment theory, Internal Family Systems, archetypal psychology, and more.
My professional experience includes working closely with folks with severe mental illness as well as spending thousands of hours with troubled teenagers in the wilderness. In both these settings, I learned how to skillfully meet people in some of the messiest, wildest, and most confusing places.
More important than any of these, though, is my deep intimacy with the territory of grief, longing, anger, and shame. Thus, I will bring not only professional tools and experience but a deeply personal touch. I have deep faith in the capacity to heal as well as the innate aliveness that lives within you. While I may not know the precise situation you're in—I do know pain, grief, sorrow, confusion and I know the way through it. I am prepared to meet you in whatever place you're meeting. And I will do so with total acceptance, compassion, and faith. This is my promise to you.