TWO YEAR SHAMANIC PRACTITIONER TRAINING 2017 - 2018

London, UK

When I registered for the course I felt like I was sitting in front of a million-piece jigsaw puzzle but Imelda’s wealth of knowledge and experience, well-structured training model and meticulously prepared ceremonies made me understand, feel and put the pieces together. On-going deep inner work that she required from the first day helped me grow personally and professionally, and I am truly grateful for that. I feel privileged to step into practitioners’ world with her generously shared teachings and experiences.  She became one of my guides, and the wonderful group of people that I studied with became my shamanic siblings. THANK YOU all for the amazing learning and life experience. 

-Kiymet Akcan Ozgur. 2017-2018 Intensive Shamanic Practitioner Training Graduate

 

Please note that this training is not currently scheduled. My focus has shifted to running a practitioner training in Seidr/Fornsed

and Northern Tradition material in Sweden!

 

"Imelda has an amazing ability to see the divine spark, the unique gift, in each of her students and she encourages and highlights these individual gifts"...

Imelda is a breath of fresh air in the shamanic healing arena. Her humour, intelligence and most of all, her extraordinary creative life force set her apart. At a time when we are attempting to play catch up with the healing of so much trauma plaguing individuals and society, Imelda is focusing on the CREATION of health; that is a shift in thinking, an of being, for healing humanity. Her focus is not 'what is wrong with us' and our fears but rather the creation of new healthy realities. Imelda has an amazing ability to see the divine spark, the unique gift, in each of her students and she encourages and highlights these individual gifts. This rare ability creates an atmosphere of creativity, freedom and imagination instead of "one traditional method for all". This allows for the exploration of one's truest strengths and results in a surge in one's self confidence throughout the duration of her course work. She offers a decidedly modern and feminine teaching approach to core shamanic healing techniques as well as her Sacred Art courses. - Jodi Feist King Jodi Feist King   |   2016  |   London, UK



 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is an intensive professional training in all classical aspects of shamanic healing work. This training consists of six modules (most lasting 4 days but the soul retrieval module lasting 5 days) This will give  you the widest possible range of tools and shamanic experiences and even some skills/tools not traditionally taught as part of a shamanic practitioner training (e.g. ancestral healing work, shadow work, shamanic dream work and a High Seat Ceremony). This course also includes a wide range of Sandra Ingerman's material (5-day soul retrieval taught from her own teaching notes and Healing With Spiritual Light).

By the end of the training I will issue a certificate (of completions of training) to those students who have met all the homework and inner work tasks set. You will need this certificate to apply for insurance if you set up your own shamanic practice.

DATES FOR 2017 - 2018

Module 1      1 - 4 March 2017

Module 2      7 - 10 June 2017

Module 3      5 - 9 September 2017

Module 4       6 - 9 December 2017  

Module 5       7 - 10 March 2018   

Module 6       6 - 9 June 2018

THE  SIX MODULES

Module 1   The Shaman's Journey From Wounded Healer To Wholeness

Module 2   The Shaman's Way of Healing Spirit Intrusion

Module 3   The Shaman's Soul Flight: Soul Loss, Soul Retrieval and Soul Remembering

Module 4   The Shaman As Soul Conductor

Module 5   Advanced Psycho Pomp: Ancestral Healing and Spirit Release Work

Module 6   Dream Incubation and Shamanic Divination. GRADUATION

 Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

 WHO CAN APPLY?

From the 2015 intake I can observe that many students already have considerable spiritual training and experience (meaning that they are e.g. psycho-therapists, homeopaths or yoga teachers etc.) Therefore my intention is to offer an intensive course that gives people a powerful and traditional shamanic toolkit. I also observe that many people embark on this training at a time of great change and transition in their lives. For that reason I have made this an intensive training: meaning a full immersion experience with "graduation on the horizon"! The time-line is manageable but there will be a considerable amount of homework and case studies. Budget time for this to receive the full benefit of the course!        

Previous shamanic experience or spiritual training however is NOT assumed! This course is open to anyone who has a genuine desire to study shamanism in depth and creatively. My experience is that some people do this course for reasons of self-development (and I am perfectly happy with that) and that others may become professional shamanic practitioners. Over time they will become colleagues I will continue to liaise and network with. Some of you may well find yourselves marrying shamanism to existing disciplines. This is a very exciting time to do this work and to help shamanism expand in all directions! My first group of students graduates in December and from January 2017 I will run a listing of shamanic practitioners on this website.

My current students have asked many questions about provision for life after graduation so I will address that briefly here: my intention is to offer advanced seminars to my community of graduates, with opportunities to meet in person and exchange experiences, a forum for professional communication and listing on my website for those wishing to take referrals through my site. (Criteria will be set for this).

FUTURE COURSES

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

 As with all courses I teach (and all healing work I do), I will provide a reasonable amount of after care and respond to questions that arise - but you remain responsible for your own process and your projections, unresolved material and emotions this training process will bring to the surface

This course will require a number of things: a commitment to putting your connection Spirit (or the spirits as you prefer) at the very heart of your life and a strong enough sense of self to cope with the initiations and challenges this course will bring you. For all students the deep personal work this course requires will bring up issues.

If you are new to this type of work you may need to find a psychotherapist or some counselling sessions to create safe space for exploring all those things. This is not a requirement but having a good personal support system IS! You will also need reasonable level of emotional containment for this course and you will need to be able to function well in a group, sharing time and space with others.

The classical shaman’s initiation can take the form of a physical or mental illness. I am open to applicants from a variety of backgrounds and personal histories – but I do ask for a sincere willingness to do shadow work during this training – meaning doing your inner work, reflecting on how the external world around you mirrors the world within you and the way the people in your life mirror parts of your own personality and psyche.

If you are not willing to have a critical look at yourself and work hard with all you find – this training is not for you – and doing healing work with others is probably not the right path for you either. This work requires both open-mindedness and a strong sense of self, so we can keep our own lives in sacred balance while we help others to restore balance in their lives.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Location: This training will run in SE London, UK.  One stop from London Bridge.

Tuition Fee

Cost: £450 per module, due exactly one month before the component is taught. The  tuition fee of £450 includes supervision of case studies and two 30 minute tutorials during the training in total (meaning that you can request a tutorial when you most need one). If you live outside London tutorials can be done by Skype.

As meals and accommodation are not included in this, bringing a packed lunch is a good idea. (There are many cafes and shops around the corner if you wish to go out for lunch).

Homework and Supervision

All modules will carry homework that will be supervised either me personally or my assistant teacher (f the group size requires an assistant).  I may also ask graduates from the previous training to provide some supervision and assistance, as they move Into advanced seminars and taking referrals through my website. You will be required to do case studies and write up notes, to see clients as a student practitioner and to generally put into practice everything you learn during a component. You will also need to engage in the work of soul making to arrive at a vision of how to walk your unique soul path, in a solid working relationship with the ancestors, the spirits of place, the hidden folk and all inhabitants of the other worlds.

Homework will include doing case studies, reading relevant texts, keeping journals on various things and doing a lot of shadow (or inner) work on yourself.

 Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

HOW TO APPLY?

The prerequisite for this training is competence in shamanic journeying. You can do this as a one day course (The Shaman's  Map workshop) with me or with another teacher.

If our paths haven’t crossed before and you are applying for this 2 year training, I suggest very strongly that you do your shamanic journeying workshop with me. This allows me to get to know you and it allows you to see me in the role of teacher before committing to a long and intensive training period with me!!

My intention is to offer a maximum of 12 places on every module (and this number includes people doing retakes or refreshers, so I am aiming to select  a maximum of 10 people as my Circle for this training and quite possibly a smaller group - depending on my overall number of students involved in long-term trainings on different continents).

Once the competence in shamanic journeying has been achieved, you can apply by sending me the following things:

· A completed application form (available on request)

· A recent photograph of yourself (j-peg)

· A small ‘essay’ (of about 1-2 pages, i.e. 600 – 1200 words) where you cover the following things: who you are, what your spiritual practices are, what calls you to this training, what self-development (or inner) work you have done and what you are hoping to do once you have completed this training. What is your sacred dream for yourself ? Why do you want to train as a shamanic practitioner?! What are your regrets and disappointments in life? - I will treat this information as confidential and not share it with anyone.

·Once I offer you a place on this training (by email or phone) you will have 1 month to send me the deposit that will secure your place (£150, deductible from the course fees for Module 1). If no deposit is received in that interval I will take that as a lack of commitment and cancel the offer of a place. If you then want the place anyway later on you will need to go through the application procedure all over again (if there are places left, and I am willing dance around the mulberry bush with you again!)

An interview in person or by phone/skype is the standard procedure for applicants I have never met.

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world

 MODULE 1     THE SHAMAN’S JOURNEY FROM WOUNDED HEALER TO WHOLENESS

All religions give an account of the way a Divine Creator Being created the world and all her inhabitants, including human beings. We all carry the Divine Spark within us, in our hearts and in every cell of our being, as we start our great soul journey through many worlds. We have ‘egoic consciousness’ that acts as a container for our sense of Self, our sense of being separate from the world and other beings. This is so we can reflect and learn. But ultimately our great soul journey takes us back ‘home’ to the Divine and a state of unity consciousness with the Divine.

This module maps the human Journey to Wholeness. It starts with an experience of initiation and looks at initiation as an important part of the shaman’s calling. We introduce the shaman as the ‘Walker Between Worlds’, the ‘Person Who Sees With His Eyes Closed’, the great Healer who makes it his or her mission to restore all of Creation to Wholeness and Divine Balance.

We establish a relationship with a growing team of spirit allies. We reflect on principles for safe practice, personal boundaries, and ask ourselves: how much healing do we need to do ourselves before we can heal others? Can Spirit work through us any time or can we only take clients as far as we have been ourselves?

We map the great initiations and mysteries that occur in a human life and in our own personal life. We look at the role of initiation in shamanic training. We start asking ourselves if we have a calling to hold sacred space for others as they work through their challenges, pain and initiations (i.e. doing healing and ceremonial work).

We also explore the difference between core shamanism (culturally non-specific shamanism, a set of core practices/methods distilled from indigenous cultures all over the world) and what form shamanism takes or took in your own culture/tradition/place of birth etc. As a shamanic teacher I observe how people often start by training in core shamanism and then receive the call to explore a more ancestral or personal tradition. Therefore I see it as my responsibility to get everyone to reflect on this (+ on the issue of "cultural appropriation") early on!

MODULE 2   THE SHAMAN’S WAY OF HEALING SPIRIT INTRUSION

Extraction and Healing with Spiritual Light (Sandra Ingerman’s material) 

In this component we study shamanic perspectives on illness. We step away from the way the medical profession labels illness and go in search of the spiritual causes of illness, accidents and personal misfortune.

This means engaging with the concepts of power loss and soul loss.  We look at the ways shamans have traditionally pulled spiritual intrusions out of human bodies. We then learn safe ways of removing spiritual intrusions (classical shamanic extraction work – “pull out what doesn’t belong”).

We also study Sandra Ingerman’s Healing with Spiritual Light material. We learn about transmutation and transfiguration.

Power animal retrieval is an important part of this work too and we learn who our spirit allies are for this form of shamanic healing work.

Ancestral work and spirit release will be mentioned to provide a wider context for shamanic healing but this more advanced work will be studied in Component 5.

 MODULE 3     THE SHAMAN’S SOUL FLIGHT

SOUL LOSS, SOUL RETRIEVAL & SOUL REMEMBERING

In our previous module we learned what Soul Loss is. In this module we study soul loss in more detail and learn how to retrieve essential soul essence that has become lost to us due to trauma, illness or other shocking life events.

We study Sandra Ingerman’s method for performing soul retrieval. We learn how to identify soul theft, how to protect ourselves from soul loss and we learn how to do soul remembering for a client.

Soul remembering means making a journey to the client’s Higher Self (sacred self outside space and time) to ask for a personal image or symbol to remind us of our unique calling and purpose, our soul task here on Earth.

We also learn about aftercare and integration work after soul retrieval. About personal ceremonies to welcome home soul parts and about calling or singing home soul parts when temporary soul loss occurs.

MODULE 4   THE SHAMAN AS SOUL CONDUCTOR

Psycho Pomp work & Shamanic perspectives on death and dying

In this component we study the great mysteries of death and rebirth. We look at shamanic perspectives on death. We learn how to track what happens to a person during and after death. We learn how to prepare ourselves and others for the great initiation (and healing!) that is death.

We learn that one of the shaman’s traditional tasks is to accompany the deceased person to The Land of the Dead and to the right destination in the Afterlife. We learn how and why certain souls remain earthbound and need help with the great transition.

We also learn how souls that have not crossed over can affect humans, places and houses (the phenomenon popularly known as “ghosts”). In Module 5 we will return to this subject and study more advanced forms of psycho pomp work:, such as ancestral healing work and spirit release work.

We learn how to do this work safely and compassionately. We learn how great the need is for this kind of work as the dominant Western culture has lost the art and sacred knowledge for addressing this.

There is a great need for people trained in performing psycho pomp work safely at regular intervals.

 

 

MODULE 5    Ancestral Healing Work and Spirit Release Work (“advanced psycho pomp work”)

This module follows on from the previous component and we learn how to take psycho pomp work to a more advanced level. We connect with our ancestors and learn how to do ancestral healing work. We work closely with The Council of Compassionate Ancestors (and some call them the Helping Ancestral Spirits!)

We learn how to unravel energetic imprints and long standing ancestral patterns (this is traditionally called ‘curse unraveling’ in shamanism but personally I do not like that phrase and the connotation it invokes!)

We learn how to invite the ancestors into the room and receive guidance from them on issues that may have been running in families for centuries.

I do a lot of ancestral healing work myself and I will be sharing methods received from my own spirit teachers for doing this work, in addition to more traditional shamanic methods of performing spirit release work.

MODULE 6   DREAMING AND DIVINITY

Shamanic Dream Incubation, Oracular work & Shamanic Divination

In this component we learn about the importance of dreaming in shamanism and we come face to face with gods and goddesses. We learn about allowing Spirit to speak through us (this is called doing oracular work).

We also learn how to perform a shamanic divination session to clients. Doing a shamanic journey is one way of obtaining guidance from Spirit on a burning question or life issue, but there are other ways, where Spirit guides you in assigning significance and meaning to certain sacred objects. This is the ancient art of shamanic divination. We can help people gain clarity on burning life issues or questions.

We work closely with our dreams (both night time dreams and day dreams) and explore the shamanic view that we all dream the world into being collecively. We learn about the Dreamtime of the Australian Aboriginal Peoples and we study myths and stories as ‘the language of the Dreamtime’.

We learn about merging with a god or goddess and creating a ceremonial space where others can have ‘an audience with a god, goddess or great spirit’.

One of the forms of oracular work we will study closely is taken from Norse Shamanism (Seidr). We will work with a High Seat but also doing other forms of Deity Work.

Shamanic teacher, painter and author in the UK and the world