Elen Sentier

Biographical Information
"I’m a writer and awenydd, teaching the British native shamanic tradition through my novels, stories and the courses and workshops I enable. Born in 1948 with a Leo sun, Virgo moon and Sagittarius rising, I come from a family of awenyddion. My mother’s mother was a witch from the Isle of Mann, and my father a somewhat reluctant spirit keeper and engineer. One of my uncles was a gardener who talked to his plants and did lots of biodynamic-like things. Another was a farmer who could talk with animals; I’ve seen him call a wild hawk to his wrist and, many times, sat all night by his side under a tree watching foxes and dormice, weasels and rabbits, badgers and hunting owls, and all the other night denizens of the wild woods. So I grew up in an environment full of everyday magic.

"Always living with otherworld, I’ve explored all sorts of magical paths and been fortunate to meet and work with some amazing people … like C. Maxwell Cade; Hamish Miller; Tom Graves; Colin Bloy and Lilla Bek. Meeting and working with Caitlin & John Matthews was a wonderful moment for me, they helped me come out as a shaman and still encourage me in the work. Emma Restall Orr (Bobcat) is another person who has strongly influenced my life.

"I’ve done all sorts of things in my current incarnation. I started out as a teacher, trained to teach Rudolph Laban Modern Educational Dance but went on to do contemporary dance, partly with Robert Cohen at The Place in London. Then I took a big step sideways and joined the Ministry of Defence, carrying on dancing as “demonstrator” for a friend who taught for Arlene Phillips at the London Pineapple Dance Studio. I enjoyed my time with the services and finished up as project manager designing a networked computer system for Defence Sales. After leaving the MoD I met Ian Gordon-Brown and Barbara Somers and trained with them in transpersonal psychology and had a practice, working especially with dreams, until I moved out of London in 1999. The transpersonal is a part of me, informs everything in my life. I’m also an artist and gardener. Biodynamic gardening is another passion, our land here is Demeter certified."