Hummingbird Group
Hummingbird Group is community project that connects people suffering from Moral Injury (MI) with highly trained traditional / Indigenous spiritual care practitioners with mastery-level expertise in treating soul loss for the purposes of long lasting spiritual psychosocial-emotional healing.
Moral Injury is a soul-level wound
What is Moral Injury (MI)?
Moral Injury (MI) occurs when we perpetrate or fail to prevent or bear witness to acts that transgress against deeply held moral beliefs and expectations which leaves harmful, long-lasting emotional, psychological, behavioural and spiritual impacts.
What kind of treatment is needed?
Traditional Spiritual Care Cultures teach us that MI is a soul-level wound, where a part of the metaphysical soul has fractured or fled in an attempt to protect the greater whole. It requires unique spiritual healing interventions by expert level practitioners followed by psycho-spiritual support efforts.
How is treatment conducted?
Spiritual healing is carried out largely in ceremonies conducted by certain Indigenous / Native or Shamanic spiritual care cultures that have been effectively treating Moral Injury for thousands of years. This treatment is not well understood by Western models because it utilizes non-ordinary states of consciousness and spiritual practice.
Moral Injury through the eyes of traditional spiritual care cultures
What our NA culture is experiencing and defining as Moral Injury, other traditional spiritual care cultures from around the world know as “soul loss.” Listen to this clip from our recent seminar “Moral Injury, Insights from Traditional Spiritual Care Cultures” where Benjaman Sullivan, an experienced Spiritual Support Counsellor, describes this helpful perspective in understanding Moral Injury at a deeper level.
A clip from our seminar on Moral Injury & Soul Loss, 2024.
Help us reach our goal
Support our mission by contributing a donation at our GoFundMe page.
We’re trying to raise $25,000 in 2025
For 10 people to receive traditional spiritual care treatment from Indigenous / traditional spiritual care cultures with expertise in Moral Injury (MI) and soul loss. Learn more about our partnerships and integrated care plan on GoFundMe.
Why is it called Hummingbird Group?
Hummingbirds represent a personal quest for healing that requires overcoming immense obstacles and journeying far from home. They travel from South America to Canada every year in a quest that is almost incomprehensibly far given their size. They leave cold climates in search of warmth, sweetness and beauty. The hummingbird represents our journey of healing. Their feathers glow and shimmer in the sun and their agile wings beat more than 50 times per second.
The bird is known to Indigenous people of South America as a sacred teacher of beauty and rebirth named Q’inti (Quechua). It has been depicted in ancient spiritual artwork for millennia and traditional people still have a close working relationship with the spirit of the bird to this day. If you are fortunate, you may hear a ceremonial song that breathes life into the sacred gifts of the hummingbird.
How to get involved
-
Donate
The Hummingbird Group operates entirely on donations from community members and those who have experienced the profound impact of spiritual healing on Moral Injury. We need donors and fundraisers to reach our goal of $25,000 CAD in 2025 to help 10 participants get spiritual care for MI within 12 months time.
-
Research Partners
We are seeking experienced research partners and the support of their scientific / academic institutions to capture the transformational activity that occurs throughout the treatment process. If you wish to partner with us please contact us to request an information session.
-
Become a Participant
If you are suffering with Moral Injury and you wish to be considered for a spot in an upcoming ceremony, please submit a brief application below. Participants will be contacted to offer support, conduct a proper intake process and receive further information around preparation, good fit and readiness.
Submit a request to get involved as a researcher, patient or supporter. We appreciate your interest.