Shamanic Healing
Shamanism is the oldest spiritual path on planet earth and one of the original ways that humanity has sought connection with Spirit.
It is an anthropological term used to denote the spiritual practices from Australia, the Americas, Siberia and Europe dating back to the dawn of civilization.
If you trace back into your own ancestral lineage you will find that each one of us has come from a shamanic culture where it was a way of life. Shamanism reminds us of our connection with Mother Earth and all the knowledge and wisdom of creation can be found within.
It is a path of healing, balance and harmony. A shaman knows from direct experience that all things are alive and filled with Spirit. A person walks with one foot in the physical world and the other in the Spirit world.
The world is viewed as one whole organism – the Great Mystery of Life, with all things being sacred. It’s principles honor life in all of its’ diversity and embraces the connection to all elements. Contemporary shamanism applies these ancient ways to the present, helping us to bring Spirit into matter and matter into Spirit, and what needs to be learned.
Shamanic practitioners focus on voluntarily entering altered states of consciousness. In an altered state, they can experience themselves, or their spirit, traveling into other realms to interact with other beings. They may receive messages or information to bring back in service to their community.
Shamanism can utilize drumming, movement, dance and journeying as vehicles to connect with Spirit to bring about change and manifest healing.
Journeying is a method to obtain guidance and solutions to problems to help your tribe, family, or own life. Through the journey we can enter the world of spirit and connect with the source of wisdom and healing. Journeying includes the intentional effort to develop intimate relationships with helping spirits, power animals, our ancestors and spirits who govern nature.
“If you can talk, you can sing; if you can walk, you can dance.”
(African proverb)
When journeying is combined with movement, it becomes a dynamic way to enter different altered states of consciousness.
Shamanic movement and trance dance assist in bringing us back into balance.
We can integrate our spirit with our bodies using dance with traditional methods of shamanic healing. Trance dance is an ancient healing method.
The rhythm of the drum represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth. It guides the dancer into a deep state of awareness. Trance dance evolved from the dance traditions of West Africa and Afro-Brazilian cultures, specifically Candomble, Umbanda and Gnawa Moroccan styles, but is not any of these particularly.
Trance dance adapts these movements into a healing practice to meet the needs of western people. The needs may be to mend the psyche, discover personal knowledge and expand consciousness.
Shamanic Healing: Ceremony and Ritual
Ceremony and ritual are factors, which are often lacking from our world. By reintroducing ceremony back into our lives, we can realign ourselves to our true purpose. Ceremony is a very important part of shamanic practice.
We set aside a time and place for members of our community to come together and express a common intent. By uniting our focus and energy, we transport ourselves into the sacred realms of spirit and our ancestors. Ceremony is a celebration of life. It changes the mundane into the mystical.
The healing drum holds a central spiritual role and is found in everyday community activities in Africa such as planting, fieldwork, marriages, funerals, births and initiations. Many of the rhythms have been carefully constructed for very specific purposes; certain rhythms are played for specific ancestors or spirits.
Some rhythms are healing and some are moralistic. The drum also speaks to their history. In modern times, the healing drum provides the opportunity to heal the wounds that we have received, to know our wholeness and to celebrate the joy of life with our community.
I was introduced to Shamanism at the age of eighteen when I apprenticed with a Native American herbalist.
I met Sandra Ingerman in 1996 through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and attended several of her trainings and workshops. Sandra is an author, teacher, and Shamanic practitioner.
In 1997, I moved to the UK. There, I worked with Leo Rutherford of the Eagle’s Wing Center for Contemporary Shamanism for the next 12 years.
After studying and practicing shamanism as part of my own spiritual path, I integrated this into my professional practice.
I have led workshops and trainings to teach people key shamanic elements and practices they can incorporate into their daily lives.
The methods are meant to transmute negative beliefs, attitudes and emotional energy. When we bring our consciousness into a state of harmonic balance, both human and environmental health are favorably impacted.
This is referred to as medicine for the Earth.