How To Find A Shaman

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Written By Jenny Dobson

Shamanic healing is a method of spiritual medicine that predates psychology and modern religions.

In the Shaman’s worldview; depression, chronic illness or terrible luck might be due to lost power. Dissociation, PTSD, immune problems and addictions might be due to soul loss from a traumatic event. Or there might be spiritual blockages causing illness which need to be extracted and removed.

Shamans heal the living and the dead. They help lost souls cross over to the other side and they help the living cope with loss and grief.

These practitioners work with helping spirits in the unseen realms of our sleep and imagination to diagnose and advise on the best course of action.
They all have different styles of magic, but they all use intuition to sense what the client needs to heal their confounding patterns.

But even if you’re ready to heal your unseen blocks, how do you find the right help?

Once upon a time, I emailed the author of a popular self-help book for information. Her book described numerous encounters with shamans, and I wanted help on finding one. Do you know what she told me? Some BS like “when you are ready for one, they will appear”.

Let me be frank. I believe in quotes like the one below. That when you are ready for a teacher, they often do appear. But I also don’t believe in giving these stupid teasing non-answers.

“An old alchemist gave the following consolation to one of his disciples: “No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.”
— Carl Jung

Out of that frustration, I set out to curate a list of Shamans around the world. The difficult part is knowing who’s for real and who's just a heretic or some power-hungry cult leader.

For that, you will need to trust your own intuition, but I have done my best to provide you with a good starting place. Below are gatherings, practitioners, and directories I have sourced from my many of my trusted books. I can at least tell you that the books were good resources, and so I hope their content serves you well. During your search, just make sure to avoid the following:

  • An irrefutable, charismatic leader (their words are beyond question)

  • An unassailable doctrine (claims that their way is the only way)

  • Slogans and cliches (canned, repetitive answers to questions)

  • Outlandish promises (promises of secret techniques and remarkable abilities)

  • Focus on recruiting and fundraising (demand for more and more money)

  • Pressure to commit

Some of the pracitioners below have unfortunately passed on, but they have still left behind wisdom for us in their books and on their websites. Good luck in your search.

Gatherings

The Gathering of the Shamans

A weekend of mystery, healing and transformation with shamanic teachers & practitioners of many backgrounds.

https://insighteventsusa.com/gathering-of-the-shamans-sedona-2024/

 

Global Shamanic Circles

Gatherings where people can practice journey-work and drumming together.

http://shamaniccircles.org/global/listings.shtml

Shamans

José Luis Stevens

Website:
https://thepowerpath.com/

 

Sandra Ingerman

Website: https://www.sandraingerman.com/

 

Michael Harner

Website: https://www.shamanism.org/

 
 

Alberto Villodo

Website: https://thefourwinds.com/

 

Hank Wesselman

Website: https://www.sharedwisdom.com/

 
 

Directories

Shamanic Teachers Directory

https://www.shamanicteachers.com/

 
 
 

Society for Shamanic Practice Member Directory

https://shamanicpractice.org/member-directory/

Jenny Dobson

Jenny Dobson is a life coach who offers private sessions, group support, and self-paced courses for people who are lost or struggling with anxiety, creativity, toxic relationships and more. She combines her knowledge of shamanism, modern psychlogy and the nervous system to help clients live in deeper alignment with their true selves. Find out more about here services here.

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