The ancient healing art of shamanism has been used on every continent since the beginning of man. Proof of shamanic healing practices is evident in cave paintings and ancient burial grounds across the globe.

Traditional shamanic healing practices combine earth-based techniques with vibrational energy and guidance from unseen spirits. These techniques include energy manipulation through the use of sound vibrations, minerals, aromatic oils and prayers, and can include dietary advice, plant and herbal remedies, bodywork treatment, dream deciphering, and guidance from ancestors, benevolent entities, sacred objects and nature.

The trancelike state necessary during these practices can be induced through use of sound, such as drumming, rattling or chanting.

You’ll discover:

• When shamanic healing first came to be and who it was conceived by
• The spiritual and practical sides of shamanic healing
• It’s all about energy and we’re all One
• The cosmology of shamanic healing (the Upper, Lower and Middle Worlds)
• The 4 Elements and one more (Earth, Fire, Water, Air + Ushai)
• The 7 Directions (East, South, West, North, Above, Below and Center)
• The art of interpretation, including how to read symbols, colors, body language and poetry

You’ll experience:

• A journey to connect with one element of nature
• A journey to the Middle World to find a Huaca

All humans have the natural ability to “see” visions and to heal others. In fact, without even being aware of it, we’re practicing these gifts all the time: when we have visions in our dreams or daydreams, follow our gut feelings or intuition, experience déjà vu, have an out-of-body experience or glimpse a past life.

There are many ways shamans are chosen. In some traditional shamanic societies, the knowledge is passed on from father to son, mother to daughter, or grandparent to grandchild. Sometimes a child is chosen at birth to be a shaman because of a special birthmark or an additional finger, the way he emerged from the womb or other unique signs. Some children are chosen after a near-death experience, through sickness or some other trauma. Some discover their power at a young age; some in their midlife, as Itzhak did.

It is highly important to learn and intimately understand the scientific and metaphysical aspects of the shaman’s tools and healing ceremonies in order to work with them safely.

You’ll discover:

• The shaman’s role in society as “The Keeper of the Fire”
• Who can become a shaman?
• The different kinds of shamanic practices
• Traditional initiation ceremonies
• The process of becoming an apprentice and a shaman
• Making a living as a shaman in modern society
• How to maintain the authentic teachings
• A shaman’s impact on and responsibility to her client

You’ll experience:

• A journey to Lower World to find a power animal
• A journey to find a spiritual teacher in the Upper World

Scientific research proves without a doubt that the mind, body, spirit connection is responsible for creating demonstrable beneficial changes in our physical and emotional bodies on a cellular, DNA and hormonal level.

Shamanic healing rituals and ceremonies aspire to circumvent our skeptical, cynical, and critical logical mind — our gatekeeper — by creating a sacred non-ordinary space and reality in which our physical reality and our belief systems can be challenged and transcended.

This is achieved through the well-schooled use of music, movement and sound, and the recognition of the four elements, spirit animals and other guides in a carefully set environment as our soul connects more deeply to emotional and nonverbal symbols.

Shamanic ceremonies and rituals circumvent our limiting physical world and beliefs and help us enter into a time and space where healing is possible — a magical transformation happens and all our senses are enlivened.

You’ll discover:

• The 3 principles of shamanic healing — how to create balance within yourself, community and the environment
• The role of the placebo effect and the healing power of your mind
• The role of “theater”( ceremonies and rituals)
• Why shamanic healing is relevant today
• Love is all you need
• The role of dreams and the Dreamtime in shamanic healing
• The practice of cord cutting to break free of emotional attachments
• Drum healing

You’ll experience:

• A journey to resolve an issue in a dream
• A journey to bring balance into your life

The Quechuan of the High Andes of Ecuador believe in the apus (mountain gods), Pachamama (Mother Earth), Taita Inti (Father Sun), and Mama Killa (Grandmother Moon). In their creation story, when Taita Inti chose to help humans after the creation of the universe by Jaton Pachakamak (the Great Creator), he made them promise to never build more or grow more than what they needed and to become the guardians and protectors of Pachamama.

Father Sun also asked humans to promise to honor their connection to all things in the universe that the Great Creator had made — the plants, animals, rivers, mountains, rocks, sky and so on.

The Quechuan live in the harsh high-altitude weather of the Andes. This is why their healing system is highly practical and time-tested. The Quechua and many shamanic indigenous traditions have three core beliefs: that everything that exists is alive and contains spirit or conscious energy; that the physical world, as we know and experience it through our five senses, is illusory — as it is nature and in constant change; and that the invisible worlds, which are composed of spiritual entities in the form of teachers, deities, ancestors, and so forth, are the only permanent worlds, and they interact and impact our daily lives, actions and thought patterns.

You’ll discover:

• The Quechua cosmology and how it relates to your body
• The law of give and take
• The principle of universal duality, including the energies of the masculine and feminine
• How imbalance is at the root of all illnesses
• What energies “block” us and how to remove them
• Abundance is saying yes to life
• How what’s missing in your life may be your trust in God or flow of life

You’ll experience:

• A journey to locate energy blocks in your body and their source
• A journey to release and heal those blockages

Andean yachaks (shamans) use traditional energy cleansing techniques to help heal the sick and to mitigate bad luck or other misfortunes. Theirs is a powerful physical and spiritual purification process that can balance the energy field by extracting stale and negative energies. These gifted shamans also developed a variety of spiritual diagnostic techniques to find the root cause of a person’s physical or emotional challenges and to gain insights into their past and future.

You’ll discover:

• The art of observing nature
• The practice of gazing and hands-on energy sensing
• How to read the special meanings inherent in candles, eggs, stones and one’s palms
• How to conduct a consultation or Platica and engage with clients
• The art of providing healing using sound and music
• How to connect with Nina the Sacred Fire, the source of passion and creativity

You’ll experience:

• How to do a candle reading for yourself and others

In all cultural traditions, stories passed down through generations include accounts of individuals whose bodies and spirit were overtaken by evil spirits. Spirit possession mostly happens to people who live in deep fear, as evil feeds off of fear and dark, heavy energies.

Shamans have devised many different spiritual and physical techniques and ceremonies to de-possess and bring back balance and harmony to those affected by these intrusions, and we will discover some of them in this session.

To begin this process, it’s helpful to understand that those who live in deep fear have weakened or fractured energy field shields — the protective orb that surrounds each of us (just like the atmosphere that protects the Earth) — making them susceptible to negative energies.

A weakened protective orb can be the result of physical or emotional trauma, including violence, intentional or unintentional curses or jealousy. It can also occur in battlefields, homes where there’s been violence, or even come from the disgruntled deceased, who may attach to living beings’ energy fields or enter deeper and possess their bodies.

It’s the shaman’s work to help those whose protection has been compromised by negative energies to find balance by bringing in positive healing energies using shamanic tools and ritual. Clearing or extracting those old and negative energies brings in a new surge of positive energy, which allows for new clarity and a true healing to take place.

You’ll discover:

• The nature of evil and negative spirits
• How to spiritually diagnose negative energy
• What makes people vulnerable to evil
• How to protect yourself from evil spirits and bad luck
• Protection techniques used specifically for physical and spiritual protection

You’ll experience:

• How to create an energy shield to protect yourself

In this last module of the course, you’ll discover how to perform shamanic healing ceremonies to promote healing for yourself and others. Shamanic healing ceremonies can be performed at a client’s home, the shaman’s healing room or outdoors in nature. Those participating in La Limpia, an Inca energy cleansing ceremony, stand lie or sit down to receive the blessing.

The La Limpia ceremony has eleven distinct sections, although there is plenty of room for flexibility and the addition of other procedures, depending on a client’s needs and condition. Frequently, the shaman does not follow a described “schedule” but rather trusts her intuition and experience to lead her to do the right thing at the right time to provide the best results for her client.

You’ll discover:

• Soul mending, a retrieval, tracking and integration technique for trauma healing
• The Inca energy cleansing ceremony known as La Limpia
• How an altar is used in shamanic ceremony
• How sound, including huachas, chants and soul song are used in ceremony
• How trago (rum), agua florida (perfume), fire, smoke, tobacco, flowers, chunta (palm fronds), spears, aromas, aromatic oils and water are used in shamanic ceremony
• Energy removal techniques for enhancement, protection and harmonization
• Techniques for clearing negative energy from a dwelling
• Shamanic healing tools and how to use them, including salt, coal, sulfur, corn, flour, baths, sweating, blowing alcohol, eggs, feathers, stones, crystals, colored candles and amulets

You’ll experience a:

• Journey to receive initiation from spirit to become a healer