Brian 'Ben' Mackenzie

"Brian 'Ben' Mackenzie (AKA Aneuon Shadielf, King of the Sylphs) has been actively interested in ancient and modern spiritual practices since his early teens (he was fascinated with Norse and Egyptian mythology as a tot, and shop-lifted a pack of tarot cards in public school). He was initiated into Tantric Buddhism when he was eighteen, at which time he had already been practicing mantra meditation and hatha yoga for one year under the instruction of "qualified" teachers. He has been blessed with teachings from such notable Lamas as Sogyal Rinpoche, Namkai Norbu, and the Twelfth Tai Situ-pa, and has received Milarepa, Medicine Buddha, Guru Rinpoche and other empowerments. While currently having the view that "truth is a pathless land," Brian has found much of value in Eastern and Western techniques of insight and self-development which he is eager to share with anyone sincerely interested. He is particularly keen on breathing, mantra and ecstatic dance, and following the commandment 'Thou shalt fall in love AT LEAST three times a day.'

Besides Rebalancing Integrative Bodywork (which Brian has been certified to practice since 1993) and various forms of meditation, Brian has received formal instruction in the following healing arts: Therapeutic Touch (Level 1), Reiki (levels I and II), Jin Shin Do (Basic), and Process-Oriented Psychotherapy (ongoing, since 1995). Brian has been a peer health educator and community organizer for many years, and has presented on his work to international audiences in Canada and overseas. He has also travelled to numerous intentional communities and spiritual retreat centres in North America, Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. He is an alumni of Starwood Festivals 13-15.

He lives with his Anam Cara (life partner) Kenn 'Snail' Quayle (Queen of the Gnomes) in Gibsons, at the foot of Mount Elphinstone, on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada, where they enjoy having an authentic 'wishing well' and lots of lovely flora and fauna in their faerie sanctuary."

Followers of martin-pell