Harald Schneider

My spiritual path

Retired detective, partnership with masseuse Susanne since 2010, lives in Villach, Radenthein and Feld am See.

I was born in May 1959 to my father from Vienna and mother from Feld am See in the moon of the returning frogs (beavers) in Gegendtal and grew up close to nature at the foot of the Mirnock at Brennsee. As a sporty but lazy student after graduating from high school in Villach in 1978, I was a patrolman in Vienna for 5 years and then trained as a criminalist. Since 1984 I have been investigating violent, robbery and sexual offences, serious deaths and suicides at the Villach police station. I therefore know from my own experience almost everything that a person can encounter in light and shadow in all areas of life on their path. I ended my active service on 31 October 2021 at Samhain. In retirement, I would now like to pass on my experiences as a criminalist and my personal experiences on my path from sportsman and police officer to sun dancer and Mirnock guardian to other people, as I have done in the past.

I plan this together with the two social workers and social pedagogues Patrick Steiner and Nikolaus Ladner (www.mantoring.at) at Mirnock to show young boys and men a way to free themselves from personal and professional life crises through my Indian ceremonies. My good contacts with the probation service and other organisations and authorities in Carinthia can help with this.

My spirituality, which had been dormant since childhood, awoke at the age of 40 on a trip to Mexico when I experienced the shadow phenomenon (feathered serpent) at the beginning of autumn at the Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen Itza/Yucatan. I read books about the Mayas and their calendar and the SUN BEAR medicine wheel. I also learnt about yoga and meditation through my wife at the time.

Witnessing the death of my father from cancer at home with my family in 2003 helped me to lose my fear of death and to understand dying as the transition of the immortal soul to another dimension or level of consciousness.

In 2004 I experienced with the Lakota shaman WAMBLI MONI my first Indian sweat lodge in the centre of Villach, became his Firekeeper and since then I have accompanied him in the construction and the Inipi healing ceremonies in Carinthia (Finkenstein, Gerlitzen, Amberg, Wolfsberg, Gschriet).

That same year, at a concert at the Finkenstein ruins, I met the Inca shaman INTI CESAR MALASQUEZ with his family and he became my teacher. As a helper at annual seminars in Himmelberg as an Inipi fire keeper, INTI taught me the knowledge of the Incas and shamans from America, yoga, mantras and meditations of the Indian Brahmins. Pilgrimages with INTI to Peru (Amazon and Andes) in 2006 and to Mustang/Nepal in 2008 introduced me to the magical powers and medicine of the jungle and the powerful energy and spirit world of the mountains.

In February 2008, during a winter hike, I was guided by the spirit of the Mirnock to the place of power above the Bergfried inn, as I had seen in a vision during an ayahuasca ceremony in the Amazon jungle in 2006. There I built our first sweat lodge with WAMBLI MONI and friends at the Bergfriedhütte in 2009. Then in 2010 we built a new one with WAMBLI MONI. Sweat lodge with 7 rings for the time of change until 2012 and for the summer solstice 2010 according to his sun dance vision the great powerful Medicine wheelto easily visualise the cycles of Mother Earth and the cosmos and thus be able to hold ceremonies and earth healings with the harmonious energies of the Mirnock. Since 2008, the curandero and master shaman JOVEN MURAYARI from Peru, whose family and father Ladimiro I visited in the Amazon in 2006.

In May 2009, during my vision quest for my 50th birthday on the Mirnock, WAMBLI MONI accompanied me and then initiated me to the Guardian of the power place at the keep with the sweat lodge and the medicine wheel. I was also given the task of leading the sweat lodge ceremonies by INTI and JOVEN. My friend Red snake (Heinz Peter) gave me a Lakota whistle.