Shamanic offerings are one of the most ancient, most universal, and most misunderstood practices in Earth-based spirituality — yet in modern Western practice they're often reduced to a vague sense of "leaving something nice outside." This complete guide covers the three types of offerings every practitioner should know (gratitude, votive, and feasting), when to make them, what to offer, and a simple practice you can begin today.
Spirit communication is not a mysterious gift available only to a select few — it is a skill, with clear principles and learnable techniques. In this guide I walk you through the nature of communication with the spirit realm, what gets in the way, the three types of spirit relationships, and how to receive messages through both inner perception and outer signs.
Algol is one of the most powerful — and most misunderstood — fixed stars in Shamanic astrology. Feared for centuries and associated with Medusa's severed head, Algol's true medicine is something far more beautiful: primal feminine power, starseed wisdom, and transformation at the root of a pattern. Here's what it means to work with Algol's stargate portal for healing and galactic transmission.
One of the most distinctive aspects of Shamanic practice is the ability to hold awareness in more than one place, more than one realm, or more than one perspective simultaneously. In Shamanic journeying, healing work, and soul retrieval, this capacity — called bilocation — is not a mystical power but a trainable skill. Here's what it is, why it matters, and how to begin developing it.
Beltane is one of the most alive and potent holy days in the Celtic Wheel of the Year — a fire festival devoted to fertility, abundance, and the sacred creative power of life in full bloom. In Shamanic practice, Beltane is a time to align with the Earth's most generative frequencies and activate what is ready to bloom within you. Here's what Beltane is, why it holds such potent magic, and how I work with it in ceremony.
"How do I know if what I'm experiencing is real, or if I'm just making it up?" This is the question almost every beginning Shamanic practitioner asks — and it points to something essential: the cultivation of energetic fluency. Your ability to sense, feel, project, and direct energy is not a mysterious gift. It's a skill. Here are three practices I teach in the Foundations of Shamanism course to help you develop it.
Energetic mastery is one of the most essential — and most overlooked — foundations of Shamanic practice. Whether you are a healer, bodyworker, therapist, or someone navigating a spiritual awakening, your ability to work consciously with energy determines your safety, effectiveness, and longevity in this work. Here is the six-layer framework I teach — and why protection comes last, not first.
Ethical Shamanic practice is built on relationship, not technique. Over years of practice and teaching, I've distilled the qualities that make this relationship healthy into three core principles: Context, Consent, and Collaboration. These aren't rules imposed from outside — they are the natural expression of genuine, respectful relationship with the living world.
One of the most common wounds I see in my Shamanic healing and mentorship clients is a deep, unnamed homesickness — not for a place they've lived, but for a way of living in relationship with the land. I believe what's missing is our indigeneity: our original, Earth-rooted belonging. And I believe it can be healed.
Land and nature spirits are among the most important — and most overlooked — allies in Shamanic practice. In animistic traditions worldwide, every tree, stone, watershed and animal carries both a physical and an etheric presence. Here's what land and nature spirits actually are, why these relationships matter, and how to begin building them where you live right now.
Last week, my partner and I lost our 20-year-old cat, Chandra. Her crossing brought me back to one of the most significant experiences of my life as a healer — supporting my childhood dog Ginger through her death — and to the role that Shamanic healing plays in the sacred threshold of dying. A personal reflection on death work, animal teachers, and the grace of a good crossing.
The terms "Shaman" and "Shamanic practitioner" are often used interchangeably — but they carry meaningfully different implications around lineage, training, initiation, and accountability. Understanding this distinction matters whether you're exploring Shamanism for the first time, deepening your personal practice, or considering how to describe your own work in the world.
For years, connecting with animals and spirits came easily in my Shamanic practice — but plant mediumship eluded me entirely, no matter how hard I tried. Then in 2019, Stinging Nettle and Hawthorn intervened to wake me up. Here's the story of ancestral remembrance, wildcrafting, and learning to communicate with plant spirits as old, beloved friends.
Before there were temples, before there were texts, before there were organized religions, there was animism: the belief that everything is alive. It is the original worldview of human beings everywhere on Earth, and it is the foundation upon which all Shamanic practice stands. Here's what animism actually is, where it comes from, and why it matters more now than ever.
Practitioners! Healers, coaches, therapists, bodyworkers — Today’s article is personalized for you.
(Non-practitioners — your personalized article went out the other day. Did you see it?)
“I’ve been practicing for a long time but I know there are more intuitive or Shamanic gifts that I need to explore and incorporate into my work.”
“I’ve taken so many trainings, courses and workshops in spirituality and healing modalities, but I feel like there’s something missing. I still don’t feel like I’m fully embodying my personal magic and I need help figuring out what that is.”
“I feel called to be a healer or spiritual practitioner because I want to help people, but I’m not sure where to start.”
These are just a few of the common themes I hear from people coming to me for support.
Do any of these sound like you?
Hi! I’m Michelle Hawk — Shamanic mentor and teacher. I’ve been studying and practicing Shamanism and other modalities since 2003.
There were so many times, particularly during the beginning of my journey, where I felt confused, frustrated and as though I was fumbling around in the dark. I was going through intuitive healership initiations and mediumship awakening. The thing that made the biggest difference for me was the personal guidance and mentorship of powerful teachers and healers.
Instead of feeling lost and alone, I felt seen and supported.
Instead of feeling like I was totally crazy and making things up as I went along, I felt validated and empowered.
I have been so blessed to receive support from some fantastic mentors over the last 20+ years. I know how essential it is to have someone in your corner who understands what it means to go through spiritual initiations and guide you through deep transformation into grounded mastery.
Do you need that kind of support?
Do you want it right now?
I am opening spaces for new clients to come into 1:1 Shamanic mentorship work with me!
***There are no prerequisites for working 1:1 with me. I work with advanced practitioners who have years of training and study and want personalized support for themselves and their work. I also work with new and aspiring healers and practitioners who want support in foundational skill development and processing their awakening.***
You’ve been studying energy healing or various modalities for a long time but it feels like something’s missing. You want to go beyond the certifications and modalities to anchor into your personal gifts and authentic magic.
You have taken lots of online classes, read lots of books and want practical, personal support that goes beyond a generic “Spiritual 101” curriculum.
You have a gift for intuitive practice, channeling and mediumship, and you want to explore it safely with support and guidance to discover the authentic expression of your intuitive gifts.
You feel the presence of spirit guides and you know you are going through powerful spiritual initiations. You want help anchoring the codes and transmissions that you are receiving so you can integrate them fully into your life and your practice.
You have been “on the path” for a while, but you feel like you’re not growing past a beginner or intermediate level, and you want to source your practice from deep knowing and mastery, and refined spiritual skill development.
You feel stuck or blocked in your continued development, or like you’ve reached a plateau, and you’re looking for some fresh energy and perspective to help you renew your transformation and growth.
You have a professional spiritual or healing practice and you are tired of trying to make it fit in a box that was never meant for you. You want someone to help you structure your programs, offerings and business practices in a way that actually aligns with your sacred work and your lifestyle.
You are a practitioner, healer, therapist, coach or medical provider. You have been “in the closet” about your Shamanic, intuitive or magical self, and you are ready to stop hiding and start sharing this aspect of your practice.
You have a “normal” job or career that is making you miserable and you are finally ready to shift out of it and explore your soul-aligned service.
You want support from a grounded spiritual mentor who has been on this path for a long time, who can help you see what you might be missing and give you specific tools, teachings and guidance that is aligned for you as you grow and transform.
Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:
Shamanic and energy healing work.
Teaching and instruction about specific principles and tools of spiritual practice from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages.
Shamanic journeying, intuitive and mediumship practice to connect with the spirits for guidance and healing.
Personal ritual or ceremony.
Learning and practicing embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques.
Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.
Working with your spiritual business or soul-aligned practice, planning and strategy.
With 1:1 Shamanic Mentorship, you get me in your corner for 3 months of personal support. 3 sessions x 3 months = 9 sessions of powerful work.
If you’re ready to work deeply with a mentor who gets it —
If Spirit is beckoning you to step into mastery and you want support while you do —
If you’re aching to express your personal magic and higher service and you want a guide in your corner to help you —
>>>Book a call with me to discuss if this work is right for you!
Many blessings,
Are you going through a deep transformation or healing journey? Are you looking for Shamanic and spiritual support? — Today’s email is personalized for you. (Practitioners — your personalized email is coming on Wednesday. Stay tuned!)
“I feel disconnected from my power, joy and purpose, and I need help finding my way back to myself.”
“I feel like there are energetic blockages and karmic / ancestral / past life wounds I need to heal, but I want someone to guide and support me.”
“I want to connect with my spirit guides for healing and messages — I feel them trying to get my attention but I don’t know where to start.”
“I feel totally alone on this path and I need help from someone who gets it.”
These are just a few of the common themes I hear from people coming to me for support.
Do any of these sound like you?
Hi! I’m Michelle Hawk— healer and Shamanic mentor. I’ve been studying and practicing Shamanism and other modalities since 2003.
There were so many times, particularly during the beginning of my journey, where I felt confused, frustrated and as though I was fumbling around in the dark. I was going through deep healing initiations and underworld transformation cycles. The thing that made the biggest difference for me was the personal guidance and mentorship of powerful teachers and healers.
Instead of feeling lost and alone, I felt seen and supported.
Instead of feeling like I was totally crazy and making things up as I went along, I felt validated and empowered.
I have been so blessed to receive support from some fantastic mentors over the last 20+ years. I know how essential it is to have someone in your corner who understands what it means to go through spiritual initiations and guide you through deep transformation into grounded empowerment.
Do you need that kind of support?
Do you want it right now?
I am opening spaces for new clients to come into 1:1 Shamanic Healing and Mentorship work with me!
***There are no prerequisites for working 1:1 with me. I work with spiritual seekers who want powerful tools for their healing and transformation. I also work with aspiring, new and established spiritual practitioners for their growth and skill development.***
You are committed to your personal growth and development. You want practical spiritual tools in your personal tool kit that are more than guided meditations.
You are going through a big life transformation and you want practical support to help you process, stay grounded and feel present/connected to your inner wisdom through the transition.
You are going through a deep personal healing journey. You want support with trauma healing and nervous system regulation, relationship challenges, childhood wounds, energetic blocks, beliefs and conditioning, or physical symptoms that “don’t make sense.”
You want to reconcile ancestral and karmic wounds in order to heal and clear karma and rewrite soul contracts and patterns.
You want support with soul retrieval, integrating the wisdom and lessons of past lives and coming into full expression of your Higher Self knowing.
You have a gift for intuitive practice, channeling and mediumship, and you want to explore it safely with support and guidance to discover the authentic expression of your intuitive gifts.
You feel the presence of spirit guides and you know you are going through powerful spiritual initiations. You want help anchoring the codes and transmissions that you are receiving so you can integrate and live them fully.
You feel stuck or blocked in your continued development, disconnected from your purpose or like you’ve reached a plateau, and you’re looking for some fresh energy and perspective to help you renew your transformation and growth.
You feel alone on your path, you don’t have any spiritual community and you want to be able to talk and process with someone who doesn’t think you’re bonkers.
You are participating in sacred plant medicine work and want help processing, integrating and anchoring your experiences and translating them into aligned shifts and healing in your life.
You want support from a grounded spiritual healer / mentor who has been on this path for a long time, who can help you see what you might be missing and give you specific tools, guidance and healing support that is aligned for you as you grow and transform.
Our sessions together may include some combination of the following:
Shamanic and energy healing work.
Teaching and instruction about specific principles and tools of spiritual practice from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages.
Shamanic journeying, intuitive and mediumship practice to connect with the spirits for guidance and healing.
Personal ritual or ceremony.
Learning and practicing embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques.
Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.
With 1:1 Shamanic Healing and Mentorship Work, you get me in your corner for 3 months of personal support. 3 sessions x 3 months = 9 sessions of powerful transformation.
If you’re ready to work deeply with a healer who gets it —
If Spirit is beckoning you to step into your transformational healing journey and you want support while you do —
If you’re aching to resolve old wounds and reconnect with your joyful purpose and you want a guide in your corner to help you —
>>>Book a call with me to discuss if this work is right for you!
Many blessings,
Are you called to develop your intuitive and Shamanic gifts? Do you feel Spirit beckoning you into your soul-aligned path, but you want support from a mentor who gets it?
“I’ve been practicing for a long time but I know there are more intuitive or Shamanic gifts that I need to explore and incorporate into my work.”
“I’ve taken so many trainings, courses and workshops in spirituality and healing modalities, but I feel like there’s something missing. I still don’t feel like I’m connecting to my personal magic and I need help figuring out what that is.”
“I feel called to be a healer or spiritual practitioner because I want to help people, but I’m not sure where to start.”
These are just a few of the common themes I hear from people coming to me for support.
Do any of these sound like you?
If you’re here, you're ready to:
Awaken your authentic gifts and inner knowing.
Release blockages, old structures and everything holding you back.
Develop powerful spiritual skills to transform your life and the world.
I’m pleased to offer you:
After a decade of offering 6-month 1:1 Shamanic mentorship containers, my guidance is nudging me to offer a shorter time commitment.
While 6 months offers extra spaciousness for gradual integration, I’m aware that the time commitment may be a barrier for some, and I want to do my best to help you receive the support you need in a way that fits your lifestyle and capacity.
The world feels like it’s moving extra fast these days. My existing clients are noticing huge shifts from one session to the next and it feels like we’re collectively moving through a very accelerated process.
Are you called to receive Shamanic support from a mentor with 23 years of practice?
With Shamanic Mentorship, you get me in your corner for 3 months of personal support.
If you’re ready to work deeply with a mentor who gets it —
If Spirit is beckoning you to step into transformation and you want support while you do —
If you’re aching to explore your personal magic and sacred path and you want a guide in your corner to help you —
>>>Book a call with me to discuss if this work is right for you!
Many blessings,
Do you desire spiritual mentorship and Shamanic support, but 6 months just feels like a long time?
What if you could receive powerful transformational support in a concentrated dose?
I’m pleased to offer you:
After a decade of offering 6-month 1:1 Shamanic mentorship containers, my guidance is nudging me to offer a shorter time commitment.
While 6 months offers extra spaciousness for gradual integration, I’m aware that the time commitment may be a barrier for some, and I want to do my best to help you receive the support you need in a way that fits your lifestyle and capacity.
The world feels like it’s moving extra fast these days. My existing clients are noticing huge shifts from one session to the next and it feels like we’re collectively moving through a very accelerated process.
Are you called to receive Shamanic support from a mentor who gets it?
New clients always ask, “What is your process for 1:1 mentorship? What do you do with your clients?”
There is no standard answer to that because every client is on a unique path, but there is a general method and process to my mentorship style. I draw upon a vast array of tools, techniques and decades of training to support each client in their individual journey.
Each 1:1 Shamanic Mentorship client process includes:
I help you understand your unique path, your initiations and yourself.
When you’re in a transformational portal and you’re not even sure what’s going on, it can seem impossible to make sense of anything, let alone formulate a coherent action plan. With my 20+ years of training and practice, I can help you sort out and understand your spiritual process. We’ll evaluate your primary needs and chart the course for our work together in healing, practice and spiritual skill development.
I help you clear obstacles and bring in healing energies.
According to your unique needs, we may work with Shamanic and energy healing techniques, intuitive mediumship practice to invite in healing spirits, Shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, past life and karmic clearing. We may also work with nervous system regulation, trauma release techniques and movement practices. If appropriate, I can help guide you in a personal healing ritual or ceremony.
I give you spiritual teachings and practices that you can immediately apply in your life.
According to your needs, I’ll share teaching and instruction about specific principles and tools of spiritual practice from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages. You’ll learn relevant embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques. Every session includes integration and action steps so you can apply this work in your life every day.
I help you talk it out and make sense of it all.
Being on a spiritual journey can feel lonely and isolating if you don’t have anyone in your life who gets it. Believe me, I get it. Our work is a safe place to process all the “weird” spiritual stuff you can’t share with anyone else. This is also a space for personal inquiry, guidance, support and reflection. I’ll help you understand exactly how these particular spiritual forces are working in your life, and perspective to grow from that understanding. We may also work with your spiritual business or soul-aligned practice (designing your new program, making a retreat budget, updating your website and your intake forms), or discuss other projects and processes in your life.
With Shamanic Mentorship, you get me in your corner for 3 months of personal support.
If you’re ready to work deeply with a mentor who gets it —
If Spirit is beckoning you to step into transformation and you want support while you do —
If you’re aching to explore your personal magic and sacred path and you want a guide in your corner to help you —
Many blessings,
I was awake for a long time on Saturday night following the murder of Alex Pretti and the continued escalation of reprehensible violence by ICE.
As I lay there in the middle of the night, I offered prayers for Alex’s crossing, and prayers for healing, liberation and peace for all those who have been murdered, tortured, traumatized or harmed by ICE, and all their loved ones. I cried and cried.
I’ve been thinking a lot about our country’s situation through the lens of Shamanic healing and Alchemical transformation. Not as an escapist light-washing or spiritual bypassing, but from a sincere desire to understand the powerful transpersonal energetic currents at play and how they are rippling out through specific events and the actions of individual people.
It’s been a potent exercise, but this is the Shamanic path — to maintain one foot in both worlds. To feel deeply the suffering and pain and feel my heart break with compassion and anguish for the wrongs inflicted on my brothers and sisters. And simultaneously, to interface with the Spirit world, to see beyond the material reality into the energetic dynamics and to work with the currents of creation itself for healing and transformation.
And what’s going on right now feels just like an extremely amplified Shamanic entity extraction.
I have performed my fair share of Shamanic extraction work over my 22 years of practice, usually with individual people and a handful of times on behalf of a group (<30 people). Shamanic extractions are often intense but go smoothly, and result in the client’s feeling of profound catharsis and relief.
Only once have I ever performed an extraction where I had an “Oh fuck” moment that really scared me — was I capable of helping this person? Was the energy spiraling out of control? Was this entity that much more powerful than my spirit allies?
(In the end, that extraction was successful and one of the most potent healing sessions I have ever offered. The client’s transformation was like night and day. I will remember it for the rest of my life, and I am so humbly grateful to my spirit team for their extraordinary support.)
In the many Shamanic extractions I have offered over the years, there is a consistent pattern that seems to mirror what we’re seeing now on a huge scale. Once an energy or entity is identified for removal, it often begins to vocalize and lash out. This sometimes expresses as hateful/bizarre words and sounds coming out of my mouth (I warn my clients about this ahead of time), sounds expressing through my client, gagging/coughing, twitches and jerky movements, shaking, nausea, chills, strong visions and emotions.
I have had entities speak the most horrible things through my voice while they are on their way out, and create tremendous physical discomfort for myself and my clients.
To anyone who didn’t know what was happening and didn’t have the tools to move through it skillfully, it would no doubt be terrifying.
And when people are terrified, they can behave in irrational, harmful and violent ways to ensure their survival.
In my contemplation about our collective Shamanic extraction process, I’m wondering about the soul contracts and karma of the individual people who are playing out these collective patterns. Are the ICE agents and fascist sociopaths in government playing out their own trauma and inner shadow in a very hateful way? Have they been consumed by the shadow egregore (a collective thought form that takes on a life force of its own through the energy/participation of many people) of our collective wounding and history of oppression and violence? Is this horrible behavior actually part of some dark service, where they’re giving a voice to the collective shadow that is being liberated on its way out?
I don’t pretend to have definitive answers about any of this. All I have is my 22 years of Shamanic practice and spiritual training, my empathy and my own agency to participate in our collective liberation and healing in the best way I can.
You’ve heard the list by now: call your reps, be a menace, take care of yourself and your community, go protest, stay grounded.
And even though I really hate to tie all of this to selling you something, I genuinely believe the Foundations of Shamanism course is must-have knowledge and practice for everyone (especially in this time of our collective Shamanic extraction).
Are you called to Shamanic practice?
In this course, you’ll learn:
Practical skills and easy tools for impeccable energetic hygiene and safety.
Foundational Shamanic practices to connect with Earth and the Spirit realm.
How to anchor your healing, ceremonial or spiritual work into the powerful foundation of your local Earth grid and energetic ecosystem.
Steps and tools to heal and reclaim your own indigeneity.
Shamanic journeying: safety, best practices, tools and instruction.
How to communicate clearly and confidently with Spirit guides and the unseen realms for the purpose of guidance, illumination and healing.
If this work calls to you, email me to get on the First Dibs List and secure the best price for this course!
First Dibs List: $947
Early Bird: $997
Regular Price: $1197 or three payments of $467
First Dibs List is open through February 2. Let me know if your name should be on it.
Many blessings,
Pssssst! Come closer! I have a juicy sneak peek to share with you.
Early Bird enrollment for the Foundations of Shamanism course starts on February 3!
But if you know this work is for you, send me an email and I’ll make sure you’re on the First Dibs list. (First Dibs List gets an even better discount than Early Bird!)
We are almost done with our fall/winter cohort and it has been SO potent. Here are a few of the great things students have to say:
“I have been doing the practices and I am noticing a huge difference in energy at the end of the day!”
“I had a tremendous meditation over the weekend and met a guardian spirit whom I’m excited to get to know better.”
“I did our most recent practice this morning at my meditation spot and a great horned owl came and sang to me right after I finished! What a treat!”
“I love making offerings back to the land. I felt so held and received by the spirits.”
Returning this spring:
In this course, you’ll learn:
Practical skills and easy tools for impeccable energetic hygiene and safety.
Foundational Shamanic practices to connect with Earth and the Spirit realm.
How to anchor your healing, ceremonial or spiritual work into the powerful foundation of your local Earth grid and energetic ecosystem.
Steps and tools to heal and reclaim your own indigeneity.
Shamanic journeying: safety, best practices, tools and instruction.
How to communicate clearly and confidently with Spirit guides and the unseen realms for the purpose of guidance, illumination and healing.
If this work calls to you, send me an email to get on the First Dibs List and secure the best price for this course!
First Dibs List: $947
Early Bird: $997
Regular Price: $1197 or three payments of $ 467
First Dibs List is open through February 2. Let me know if your name should be on it!
Many blessings,
