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.
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.
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.
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,
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,
I took my very first Shamanic class in 2003, at age 15.
And one of my strongest memories of this experience was my feeling of profound relief —
Relief that I was finally given a vocabulary to explain the concepts that my heart already knew to be true.
Relief that I wasn’t “just making things up” and that other people shared my connection with nature and the spirit realm.
Relief that I wasn’t alone in my psychic abilities and reverence for life.
Relief that there were practical tools and skills I could develop to shape and strengthen the intuitive and energy work I was already doing naturally.
This day-long class in Shamanic journeying changed my life. In addition to giving me skills and tools that began my Shamanic practice, it gave me a sense of belonging and trust that I didn’t have before.
This introduction to Shamanism opened my eyes to humanity’s ancient and powerful animistic origins. It helped me understand why I felt so alien and clumsy in “normal” teenage pursuits and helped me feel at home in myself. It gave me refuge during university when my peers literally laughed in my face for talking about energy, consciousness and the spiritual aspect of nature in connection with biological research and medicine.
This same sense of relief and belonging is something I often hear from incoming clients and students:
“I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this, I’m so glad I found this [Shamanism] course.”
“I feel so isolated and I’m so grateful for community with other people who get it.”
“Thank you so much for telling me I’m not making this up/crazy!”
Are you called to Shamanism and longing for a like-hearted community?
Do you feel relief and excitement at the idea of not only gaining Shamanic tools, but also connecting with other people who get it?
Is your inner teenager jumping up and down at the opportunity to make friends as weird as you are while also learning powerful Shamanic practices?
If you are ready for that kind of relief and belonging —
The Foundations of Shamanism course begins on November 17!
Classes are live, on Zoom, Monday evenings, 5 - 6:30pm PT. (No class on December 22.) All classes will be recorded. No prior experience is necessary for this course.
>>>Check out all the details and register here.
Practice Shamanic journeys to connect with spirit allies and learn how to integrate their medicine into your life and spiritual practice.
Anchor your healing, ceremonial or spiritual work into the powerful foundation of your local Earth grid and energetic ecosystem, for the purpose of grounding, protection and amplification.
Learn how to clear, ground and protect your energy so you can confidently and safely navigating the unseen realms.
Make offerings and prayers to connect with spirit guides and Shamanic allies, and build your connection with these guides.
Learn how to communicate with the spirit realm so that you may receive their messages, signs and teachings.
Master basic concepts of ecology so that your Earth-based spiritual practice is informed by a practical understanding of your local ecosystem.
Take steps to heal and reclaim your own indigeneity as you connect to Gaia in a new way.
Connect with like-hearted seekers and build community with others who get it.
The Foundations of Shamanism course begins on Monday, so if you’ve been thinking about signing up, now is the time!
Are you ready to answer your Shamanic calling?
What do galloping horses and astral travel have in common?
It’s not a riddle. Read on and find out!
I recently had a very powerful experience with a mustang stallion. Like, wow.
I have always loved horses. I was fortunate to spend several years as a kid going to horse camp and receiving riding lessons. In my early 20s, I reconnected with the horse world through animal communication and energy healing work.
In 2018, I became connected with a local wild mustang rescue ranch. In order to volunteer at this ranch, I received some training in natural horsemanship, which is all about connecting with the horse, learning from equine sign language and leadership.
But the biggest component of natural horsemanship that they don’t actually spell out for you is what I call principles of Energetic Mastery. (This is one of the topics I’m teaching about in my upcoming Foundations of Shamanism course, where I definitely spell it out for you because it’s super important and useful.)
Energetic Mastery is a practical set of spiritual skills that you can learn to strengthen and develop, just like any other skill. It is not some mysterious, woo-woo thing that some people have and others don’t. These skills are essential components of healthy relationship dynamics, leadership, healing and patient care, parenting, astral travel and psychic practice, and so much more.
Energetic Mastery is also a vitally important skill set when it comes to working with horses.
Let me tell you about my new friend, Elsu (the mustang stallion) and the powerful experience I received from him.
I recently attended a rewilding leadership retreat in Central Oregon, where our group got to dip our toes into natural horsemanship.
This ranch owner talked about leadership within a herd, communication between horses and how any group of horses will immediately sort out leadership dynamics when they’re put together.
To illustrate this, she turned out five horses together in an arena and we watched their dynamics and communication as they galloped around. My eyes immediately picked out the feisty kid, the troublemaker, two pacifists and the clear leader — the only mustang in the herd, whose energy powerfully moved the other horses around the arena like a mighty wave.
Our group split into pairs, my partner and I worked with the mustang. I rooted deeply into my feet, and as I took his lead rope, I reached out from my heart to his and extended an invitation to connect. I felt him take a deep breath and we both sighed, relaxing into each others’ presence.
This simple connection called upon my skill development of Energetic Mastery: making sure I was grounded and centered in myself, then sensing and attuning to his energy in order to connect.
After taking a moment to simply tune in, we practiced an exercise: leading our horse across the arena and back using our energy (the first time while holding a lead rope, the second time “on liberty,” meaning no rope / without any physical connection to the horse).
When I unclipped Elsu’s rope, I took a moment to still my mind. I gathered my energy to feel myself brimming with radiance, gave a gentle tug on our energetic cord, and silently told him, “Walk.” I started walking, and he fell into place behind me. We practiced stopping, starting, and turning without a physical attachment of any kind. I felt like I was in a glowing trance.
This exercise used my Energetic Mastery skills of staying clear and cultivated in my energy, then projecting and directing him to move with my energy body. This was just like what he had been doing earlier: as the lead horse, he had been using his powerful presence to move the other horses around the arena.
I lead him back to my partner waiting at the end of the arena, still feeling that glowing trance. I handed her the rope, gave Elsu a scritch and wished them well with the exercise, then turned to walk away.
And instead of staying with the person holding the rope, he started to follow me.
I immediately realized that I had neglected to close our energetic connection, and he was still following me as the leader.
I stopped and deliberately released our energetic tether. I thanked him and told him that we were complete. He blinked and turned away.
I stood there for a moment, coming out of my trance, and was struck with the power of what had just happened.
In working with Elsu, I had (without consciously intending to do so) dropped into the same state of consciousness that I feel during Shamanic journeys or energy healing work.
The principles of Energetic Mastery are so ingrained in me through years of training and practice that they allowed me to easily drop into a deep connection with this powerful stallion, the lead horse of his herd.
This attunement was so powerful, in fact, that he followed the energy instead of the rope.
Horses are incredibly sensitive. They communicate with each other through subtle signs and respond to presence. A horse has no ego — Elsu didn’t “decide” to follow our energetic connection instead of staying with the person holding the rope (the physical symbol of connection and leadership). He simply felt the presence, so he responded to the presence.
The principles of Energetic Mastery are fundamental skills that support every other skill. I’m not exaggerating even a little bit. The Foundations of Energetic Mastery are like basic conditioning for any athlete — there is a foundation level of fitness, strength and mobility that is necessary for playing any sport. Energetic Mastery skills are the basic conditioning of spiritual practitioners.
Energetic Mastery is universally applicable. The same skills I use in my Shamanic healing work and psychic practice are exactly the same skills I used with this horse, and they’re the same skills I use in my personal energetic hygiene, communication and relationships, ceremonial facilitation and daily presence.
Learn foundational principles of how to work with energy.
Develop skill and confidence in your intuition, cultivate your sensitivity and learn how to purposefully direct energy in your body and your field.
Learn skills to support your trance state and Shamanic journey practice.
Receive messages, signs and communication from spirits.
Learn techniques to clear your energy field on all levels and layers.
Learn how to ground into your body, into the Earth grid and into full presence.
Learn practices to center and reclaim all parts of your energy and consciousness. (Prerequisite for Soul Retrieval.)
Learn how to cultivate your energy field, amplify your energy body, and expand your capacity to hold life force.
Tools for working with high-vibration and powerful spirit guides.
Learn how to protect your energy body.
Do you want those skills of Energetic Mastery?
Are you ready to develop these skills and feel their power in your life?
Registration is open for this upcoming course:
This course is live, on Zoom, and all modules will be recorded.
Classes are on Monday evenings, 5-6:30pm PT (every Monday except December 22).
Pssssst! Come closer! I have a juicy sneak peek to share with you.
It’s been almost two years since I’ve offered this training as an open enrollment course, and Spirit is (loudly) telling me it’s time to bring it back, with a few tweaks and updates to make it even more potent!
Early Bird enrollment starts next week on September 22!
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!)
I am delighted to re-introduce:
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: $797
Early Bird: $847
Regular Price: $997 or three payments of $397
First Dibs List is open through September 21. Let me know if your name should be on it!
Many blessings,
Did you see that article where I told you that bookings are open for 1:1 immersive retreats?
The opportunity is still open, but things are filling up! So far there are six 1:1 retreats booked on my calendar for the summer, but I do have space for you if you’re called to dive deep.
Last year I hosted 13 retreats for clients who were called to come experience deep healing and personalized support.
In the words of one retreat client:
“The 1 on 1 shamanic healing retreat I did with Michelle was sublime and powerful. The flow and balance of work sessions with rest and integration time gave the space needed for deep healing. After every session I had profound experiences of revelation, recognition and peace. The underlying current throughout the 3 day process was a deep connection within and coming home to my soul.”
There is depth and potency in the immersive experience that you just can’t find anywhere else.
Do you crave in-person magic and connection with nature?
Do you desire deep spiritual practice, healing and initiation work in the forest?
Do you want to get out of your daily grind and spend a few days in a temple with a master healer and teacher?
Book your one-day, two-day or three-day intensive retreat now!
Here are the remaining available summer and early fall retreat dates:
June 22-24
July 6-8
July 10-12
July 15-18
July 24-26
August 14-17
August 25-28
September 11-13
September 18-20
Are any of those dates calling your name?
>>>Book a call with me to schedule your retreat.
Do you want to book a retreat, but don’t see a date that works for you?
>>>Book a call with me anyway and we’ll look at the calendar.
Optional glamping in the Lotus Belle Tent.
1-3 days, including temple lodging and nourishing meals.
Deep Shamanic and energy healing work.
Shamanic journeying, intuitive and mediumship practice to connect with the spirits for guidance and healing.
Teaching and instruction from Shamanism, Alchemy, and other lineages.
Personal ritual or ceremony.
Embodiment and movement work, consciousness practices, energetic techniques.
Personal guidance, processing, support and reflection.
Coaching and strategy, visioning, working with your spiritual business or soul-aligned practice, writing your book.
Hiking, forest-bathing and relaxation time in beautiful nature.
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More words from retreat clients:
“This retreat showed me how powerful I am without plant medicine and that deep spiritual experiences can happen without plant medicine. I feel like I reclaimed more of my authentic true self and feel more connected to spirit. I am remembering that I am the medicine and my clairvoyance is very strong. Michelle, I really appreciate you welcoming me into your sanctuary and sharing your wisdom and love. I felt safe, seen and heard.”
“I wanted to thank you again for such a fun retreat! It really was important and powerful to mark this point in my journey.”
"Well, shit! That [retreat] had far greater implications than I was able to predict. I have felt a deep shift in my approach to relationships and life. It was a wonderful energy that put my life into balance. On the heels of that energy came a flood of transformative energies that are continuing to break me open."
People often ask me for recommendations of books about Shamanism, so I thought I would share a roundup of my favorites with you.
… just kidding! I don’t have any favorite books *about* Shamanism. Here’s why:
Books *about* Shamanism are most often written from either an academic perspective (anthropological analysis, descriptions and observations of practices), or a how-to perspective (step by step instructions of how to “do” a Shamanic practice). In both cases, there is usually a strong flavor of intellectualizing, logicking, as well as a degree of separation that places the reader in the role of observer or recipe-follower.
Reading a book *about* Shamanism is like reading a book about how to learn to ride a bike. Maybe you would learn some interesting history and background about bikes and study the theory of physics. But it would be kind of useless to you in the practicality of actually riding a bike.
Reading a book about Shamanism might be intellectually interesting, but it’s kind of useless to you in practicality.
Shamanism as a practice is all about relationship. It’s about immediacy, intimacy and immersion.
Shamanism is an animistic practice (the belief that all things are alive and connected through that universal aliveness) and a mediumistic practice (active communication and relationship with the spiritual forces all around us).
A book can’t teach you about being in relationship with the life force in all things. A book won’t prepare you for what it feels like to connect with powerful spirits. You must experience those things directly to truly know and understand.
While I don’t have any favorite books *about* Shamanism, I do have some other recommendations:
When I was a child, my favorite books were all folktales about talking animals, magical plants, sacred springs of healing water, elemental spirits and deities. I loved stories where a young person went on some kind of journey or quest, and met wise allies to guide them on their path. The humans in these stories who showed disrespect or disregard for the wisdom of nature always suffered the consequences, and those humans who listened and respected the Earth and her children were supported.
I read creation myths such as How Raven Stole the Sun and the legend of Quetzalcoatl. I read stories of gods and goddesses from around the world, these personified forces of nature with magical powers and unique wisdoms. I read fictional stories set in our world about young people who lived closely in nature, such as Julie of the Wolves and My Side of the Mountain.
Stories and folktales like this help us access our own mythopoetic consciousness. They help us enter into the liminal spaces through imagination, beyond the confines of logic. They help us readily accept a reality where animals talk and the unseen realms are very real. They teach us about principles of respect, right relation, and honoring the laws and wisdom of Earth and non-human consciousness. They teach us energetic dynamics of creation and destruction, destiny and sovereignty, agreements and contracts, death and rebirth, wounding and healing, wisdom, initiation and actualization.
These are all Shamanic principles.
This is the traditional style of wisdom transmission: storytelling and direct experience. Receiving wisdom teachings through stories invites us to imagine ourselves as the protagonist, to see ourselves in the myth, and opens the door to our subconscious wisdom and connection. And direct experience and contact with the mysteries is how we anchor that wisdom into our embodied consciousness.
So instead of reading books *about* Shamanism, I always invite people to go out in nature. Talk to the trees. Allow yourself to daydream and imagine. Read animistic folktales. And if you really want more information related to Shamanism and related topics, check out my podcast, Shaman Sister Sessions. There are currently 138 episodes full of great stuff. Find it on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
And of course, if you’re interested in exploring Shamanism through receiving healing work or developing your own Shamanic practice, please reach out to me and we can talk about what kind of support is right for you: >>>Book a call with me here.
Do you have favorite books about Shamanism, or animistic folktales or stories? Comment and let me know!
Why do I practice Shamanism?
(And why you may want to, if you are called to it.)
I don’t practice Shamanism for my clients. I practice it first and foremost for Life.
I practice Shamanism because I love Life. By that I don’t only mean my life specifically, I mean capital-L Life itself. I love that Life exists.
I love that consciousness has manifested in the incarnate. I love that so many different bioforms have evolved over millennia to cooperate and live in concert with each other. I love that plants eat sunlight and trees sing to each other through the mycelial network. I love that elephant matriarchs remember for decades where to find water and pass this knowledge down to their daughters and granddaughters. I love the song of the red-winged blackbird. I love that hawthorn thorns eventually grow into branches, and what starts out as sharp and protective evolves into a flowering wand that bears abundant fruit.
I love that Life exists, and I am so grateful that I get to be a part of it.
I practice Shamanism to be awake in my life, to celebrate Life and to collaborate with this grand symphony of aliveness all around me every day.
I practice Shamanism as a student and steward of Life. I study the cycles. I study the darkness, hibernation and death. I study decay, rotting logs, and bones left after a cougar kill and scavenging coyotes. I study the explosion of budding flowers, eagles flirting, squirrels fortifying their nests. I study the rise and fall of the river. I study the movement of the stars and the planets, and the pattern of wheeling vultures.
I study Life so that I may collaborate with it, move in alignment with the flow of creation and be a harmonious contribution to something so, so much bigger than me: Spirit. The Great Unknowable. Thou. Life.
By studying Life, we learn its flow and rhythm. We learn what expands and supports and generates Life, and what contracts or restricts it. We learn to feel and collaborate with this flow of Life in our bodies, our health, our relationships, our daily experience. Healing and growth is the study and practice of Life-generating worldview and behaviors, and of course that offers a huge personal benefit to us.
But that’s only a tiny fraction of the whole. And the longer I practice Shamanism (now over 20 years), the more I feel absolutely certain that it’s not about us and our personal experience at all.
Something beautiful comes from de-centering the self. This inherently goes against all of the conditioning and foundation of modern, western culture (especially in the US) which is based on individualism and, to be brutally honest, this weird fetishization of selfishness. My rights. Look out for #1. Selfies. If it’s not on social media, it didn’t happen. Endless navel-gazing and pathologizing and self-diagnosing and therapizing and making it all about me, me, me.
How lonely. How small. How inherently blind.
But what happens when we de-center ourselves? What happens when we truly embrace that if I am sovereign, it means that all beings are sovereign? What happens when we remember that if I am a unique and special expression of consciousness, it means that all beings are unique and special expressions of consciousness? What happens when we believe that if I am devoted to cultivating life in myself, it means I am devoted to cultivating life for all beings? What happens when we make our Earthwalk into a prayer of gratitude and generosity to Life?
How connected we become. How expansive. How loving.
De-centering the Self helps us remember that consciousness is living itself through us. Life is living through us, just as it is living through all things. It helps us to take responsibility for what we are personally accountable for and to surrender burdens that do not belong to us. It helps us to be generous. It helps us to remember that we belong. You belong to Life, and Life loves you.
I practice Shamanism because I love Life, and I love that I get to be a part of Life, but even more than that, I want Life to thrive. I want so deeply with every part of my being to devote every day to honoring and advocating for the sovereignty of all beings. I am so excited to live in this world and cultivate relationships with forms of Life–people, plants, animals, mountains, elements–so that I can know Spirit in as many ways as possible. I practice Shamanism because I know truly that by devoting myself to Life, and collaborating with Life, and studying Life, it benefits me, and everyone around me, and all beings on Earth, and the Earth herself.
I practice Shamanism because it is the best way I know how to love myself, and you, and Thou, Life.
I cannot give you your why. I cannot make you fall in love with Life. I cannot give you the key that will make you excited to wake up every day and participate in this gorgeous symphony. That is for you to discover, if you haven’t already.
But I can help you learn how to listen. I can teach you Shamanic practices. I can guide you through Shamanic journeys, mediumship cultivation and help you connect with the spirits. I can give you the best tools that I know of to study Life, to awaken to your animistic consciousness and mediumistic gifts, to honor the spirits, to connect with something bigger than yourself.
Are you called to Shamanism?
Have you experienced a Shamanic awakening, but aren’t sure where or how to begin developing your practice?
Do you already have a Shamanic practice but are looking for deeper support, personal mentorship or healing work?
