The Foundation for Shamanic Studies
A non-profit public charitable and educational organisation

Advanced Workshops and Trainings

Shamanic Divination

One of the classic tasks of the shaman is to journey into non-ordinary reality in order to obtain answers to questions, both at the request of others and for oneself. Participants on this weekend workshop will have the opportunity to engage in divination journeys for each other as well as for themselves and to gain experience in using various time-tested shamanic divination techniques. In the shamanic search to become persons of knowledge, they learn, as shamans have from time immemorial, how to converse with plant and animal spirits, how to learn about the use of quartz crystals, and how to seek and receive revelatory knowledge from visionary sources.

Please Note: To attend this training you must have completed the weekend workshop The Way of the Shaman.

Shamanism and the Spirits of Nature

From ancient times, shamans have worked with the spirits of nature for healing, survival, and knowledge. By learning from the plants and animals, from the rocks and mountains, from the winds and waters, and from the sun, moon, and stars, shamans helped their peoples live in harmony with the universe.

In a world now out of balance, the way of the shaman can teach how again to respect nature, our Planet, and its inhabitants at a deep spiritual level. As our ancestors everywhere once knew, our survival depends on the survival of the other species. By working together intensively through shamanic journeys and other spiritual experiences, we will dedicate ourselves to working in both non-ordinary and ordinary reality to restore and maintain a living Planet.

Please Note: To attend this training you must have completed the weekend workshop The Way of the Shaman.

Shamanic Dreamwork™

In this unique experiential workshop you will have the opportunity to explore the nature, meaning, and use of dreams among shamanic peoples, with dreamwork practices from a range of cultures. Researched and developed by Dr Michael Harner, subjects to be covered include shamanic dream theory and big dreams, as well as dreams and the soul, spirits, shamanic journeys, the Dreamtime, and the vision quest. You will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge to contemporary life, including the use of dreams in divination, health, and healing.

Please Note: To attend this training you must have completed the weekend workshop The Way of the Shaman.

Shamanic Extraction Training

This is a weekend training which explores the causes of illness from a shamanic perspective. Participants will be initiated into the extraction method of shamanic healing including how to see, sense and remove localised spiritual illness and pain connected to spiritual factors. You will also learn how to work in partnership to increase the effectiveness of the work. The emphasis of the workshop will be on preparing oneself to undertake serious shamanic work; how to identify and diagnose localised spiritual illness and then how to apply a hands-on technique to accomplish spiritual healing. As part of this workshop there will be a Power Dance on the Saturday evening. This dance is a classic method of awakening our own souls and discovering our own songs and dances.

Please Note: To attend this training you must have completed the weekend workshop The Way of the Shaman.

Shamanic Soul Retrieval Training

Participants will be trained in the issues of soul loss and retrieval from a shamanic perspective. We shall learn how soul loss occurs and will experientially learn how to find or track a soul and bring it back to a person. We shall explore how this can be effective in working with survivors of abuse, accidents, people who have undergone surgery and other emotional and physical traumas, as well as people dealing with such issues as alcoholism and drug abuse. According to shamanic traditions, when soul-loss occurs, a part of the persons very essence escapes in order to survive the experience. The problem is that for most people these parts do not return, leaving feelings of dissociation from life, from the body and from relationships. Soul loss keeps the person from feeling their connection with the Earth & the joy she has to offer, and soul retrieval is a set of primal yet profound techniques to heal and overcome this problem.

As well as working with techniques and practices regarding soul retrieval, the course also focuses on ‘life after soul retrieval’; how we create healthier lives for ourselves and others after the healing has taken place. This will be accomplished through shamanic journey, ritual and ceremony.

During this five-day training each participant will act as a shaman to learn the techniques and they will also have the opportunity to have the lost parts of themselves retrieved. This training is specifically designed for those people who wish to deepen their shamanic work and bring shamanic healing work into their practice with others.

Please Note: To attend this training you must have completed the weekend workshop The Way of the Shaman.

Shamanic Counselling Training – Harner Shamanic Counselling

This five-day training provides intensive preparation in a highly effective system of personal problem-solving and guidance for those who wish to use the methods for themselves or professionally for others. Harner Shamanic Counselling (HSC) was originated in the early 1980s by Dr Michael Harner based on his earlier devised core shamanism. In essence, the clients become practitioners of shamanism for themselves, with the help and guidance in ordinary reality of the shamanic counsellor. One of the features of Harner Shamanic Counselling is that the true shamanic counsellors are based in non-ordinary reality. These are wise teachers that the clients encounter in their shamanic journey-work and who provide answers to the clients’ questions. The ordinary reality HSC counsellors, in contrast, provide instruction, orientation, and methodological advice based upon core shamanism and shamanic journeying.

HSC uses electronically provided sonic-driving to alter the state of consciousness of the client in order to go “outside of time” to utilize ancient shamanic problem-solving methods. The client is trained in the method of simultaneous narration and recording of the shamanic journey in order to amplify the quality of experience and to have an ongoing taped record. Through their experiences in the shamanic journey, clients have the opportunity to discover their own abilities to obtain extraordinary, practical and wise answers to important personal questions, overcome inhibitory fears, and to acquire self-confidence and incredible heartfelt wisdom. With this, the client commonly experiences a sense of personal empowerment and a new-found joy in existence. All five days of this course are devoted to experiential practice in question framing, journeying, and shamanic interpretation in an intimate setting. The work is intense and exciting.

As one participant observed, "The deepest journey I ever had occurred in this course." Since HSC is a spiritual rather than a psychological system, it is not necessary for an HSC counsellor to be a professional psychotherapist or other counsellor. However, what does seem to be essential is that the counsellor be well-versed in the concepts and practices of shamanism, and be a stable individual of sensitivity, intelligence, character, and compassion.

Please Note: To attend this training you must have completed the weekend workshop The Way of the Shaman.

Shamanic Death, Dying and Beyond

Participants will learn how to deal with the issue of death & dying and the destiny of souls from a shamanic perspective. This workshop is for those people who wish to understand the death process better, for themselves and for those who either from a personal or professional viewpoint, wish to help others who are facing death.

The training will include how to help a person prepare for their own death; the exploration of the cosmology of where we might travel to after death; learning how to help a dying person cross over onto the other side, as well as classic psychopomp work including how to help a person who has died who needs assistance in moving to a more comfortable place. The journey work will include meeting with deceased relatives and retrieving information from them that will be useful to us in preparing for death as well as for living our lives.

Please Note: To attend this training you must have completed the weekend workshop The Way of the Shaman.