The Ara Tradition is a core shamanic Wiccan tradition that was founded in 1983 by author and activist H.Ps. Phyllis Curott with the birth of the Circle of Ara. The Ara Tradition traces its roots to the Minoan and Gardnerian traditions in New York City; at the same time that she was training in the Minoan Sisterhood, Phyllis was studying core shamanism and actively participating in the first shamanic drumming circle based on the work of Dr. Michael Harner. As high priestess of the Circle of Ara, one of the oldest and longest running Wiccan congregations in the United States, Phyllis deconstructed traditional and often patriarchal Wiccan teachings to a system of core practices and principles, and blended these with core shamanic practices. It is this model of teachings, referred to as core s