Why Shamanism Now - A Practical Path to Authenticity

Every human has the ability to imagine, to learn from dreams, to feel insight and intuition, and to “see” at a distance. “These many forms of visioning are our birth right and they enable us to fully connect to the universe,” explains our guest Itzhak Beery, an internationally recognized shamanic healer and teacher, the founder of ShamanPortal.org, and cofounder of the New York Shamanic Circle. Itzhak joins host and shaman, Christina Pratt, this week to discuss his new book, The Gift of Shamanism: Visionary Power, Ayahuasca Dreams, and Journeys to Other Realms. Itzhak feels that the Big Shutdown of the Senses in today’s media driven, virtual world causes personal and community memory loss that results in the lost of trust in our senses and our innate selves. He feels shamanism reconnects us with nature and our deep inner experiences of wholeness.

Dying is part of life; it's that simple. When death is accepted as a natural part of our journey, an extraordinary amount of energy can be set free for you to be happy, discover your purpose, and help others. Shamanism shows us that the end of life is just as important as the beauty of birth at the beginning. Living in fear of death contorts our lives, robbing us of Death as a great ally for how to live well “It is not death but an unlived life that should terrify us,” explains host and shaman, Christina Pratt, “this becomes ever more clear with each ancestral healing.” When we understand how our unlived lives and unreconciled relationships bind us here at death, we understand what is needed to live well. Join us this week as we explore the power in shamanic work, yours or with a practitioner, to transform your fear-based beliefs about life and change the story of your life.

Shamans are made by spirit, through initiation and training, to become the answer to the prayers of the people. What could the world community of shamanic practitioners and healers, contemporary and traditional, become if they truly believed they were the medicine for the illnesses of humanity in their time? Shamans don’t just drink ayahuasca, do ceremony in workshops, and heal individual people one at a time. They restore health in communities, balance and harmony to the earth and remedy the old dream where it has, in reality, become a nightmare. Join host, Kate Smith, and her guest, Christina Pratt, as they continue their discussion of the transformations we must engage to become the New People who share the shamanic skills needed for us to create a more beautiful and sustainable New World.

What are the next steps that the world community of shamanic practitioners and healers needs to take in order effect cultural transformation on the global level? What could we do if we really believed without a doubt that we are the shamans of our time? Join host, Kate Smith, and her guest, Christina Pratt as they explore the shamanic skills necessary to become people who are able to live sustainably with our environment in deep rapport with Nature, rise to the challenge of living peacefully and intelligently heart-centered, and connected to a Greater Source that truly connects us all. Ancient shamans had the skills to shape the dreams of the people so that they were the living expression of reciprocity and gratitude. What will it take for contemporary shamans to step up to their heritage and become the medicine for our time?

What do you do when the Muse calls and the path to your creative life requires the sacrifice of all that makes you feel safe, protected, and respected in the world. What do you do when a life of deeper authenticity calls for the sacrifice of your hard won rank, priveledge, power and expertiese. When your true calling trashes the life you have been living, how do you find the grace and the footing in a life with no safety rope? Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, and her guest, Kate Smith of Journeysmith, in part five of our series on creativity. Through her shamanic art studio, Journeysmith, Kate creates finely crafted spiritual power tools— drums, rattles and other instruments that bridge ordinary and non-ordinary reality. Kate offers these tools as a way to help others stay true to themselves, re-discover their connection with the earth, and align with all that is authentic in their life's journey.

If you want to live a creative life, look at the quality of your relationship with Creativity as a spirit, not a process. For most, it’s a pretty abusive relationship. No wonder your creativity doesn’t show up when you need it with open arms. Our constant inner dialogue of worry is a misuse of creativity, our fear of failing is repeated abandonment, the stories we tell ourselves coerce our creativity to ally with the false self, and we utterly run creativity ragged “being a creative” while never full committing to creating what truly makes our hearts sing. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, in the fourth of a five part series on creativity and ways to use your shamanic practice to access your innate creativity, connect with the rising energy of springtime, and manifest the life you dream of living.

Pablo Picasso said“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” The practice of art allows our soul’s to talk to us, to be clear, and to illuminate the path of our soul’s true purpose. Our guest this week, Damini Celebre, is a fine artist, art educator, acupuncturist, a shamanic practitioner, and now, an author. In her new book Painting the Landscape of Your Soul: A journey of self discovery—a power object in and of itself—Celebre combines her two passions, creative arts and healing arts, to synthesize a unique approach to awakening your creative self. Join host, Christina Pratt, and Damini Celebre as they explore the expression and manifestation art brings to shamanic practice and the direct unfolding of the heart’s path that shamanism brings to intuitive art.

Sovereignty is the supreme power to self govern and it is the core of a life lived well. What does sovereignty mean in a time when we “follow” others, blame outside authority for what’s not working in our world, and give our power away daily to fears, anxiety, and habits generated by what we think others are thinkin? If we are to be the New People to shape a truly New World, we must reclaim and cultivate the old shamanic understanding of sovereignty as the center that is alive and connects all aspects of life. It is the place that we stand and what we stand for. If you cultivate sovereignty you can step into right relationship with your destiny which in turn gives you the freedom to choose to live the life of your true calling. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, this week as she explores how you can use your shamanic skills to become the center of your own life and co-create your destiny.

Truly new and creative ideas arise from the wellspring of our indomitable spirit. That spirit is either cultivated or crushed in our day to day choices and actions. Using shamanic skills we can engage the rising energies that define spring time to nourish our spirit and prime the pump to release the flow of our creative ability to dream and manifest. When we take steps to engage the spring season in health and balance we can bring a spark into our life, creativity to our self-expansion, and clarity to our identity. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt this week as she explores the use of shamanic skills to find the movement, flow, cultivation, and expression in our creative spirit. With our creative spirit as an ally we can renew our lust for life and passion for our purpose.

Each season has its own spirit and they all have profound influence on us, regardless of our ignorance to their presence. Modern people who live in the climate controlled illusion that they have mastered nature, wilderness, and the Unknown miss this opportunity to work with the energies of the changing seasons. “The seasons draw the unique richness from each stage of the cycle of a year on earth,” explains host and shaman, Christina Pratt, “To engage with the seasonal spirits openly and honestly is to engage in simple elegance, rich blessings, and the refinement of presence at our core.” Join us this week as we explore how to work with the energies of spring to awaken our Dreamer and engage the Manifestor without whom we cannot make the dream happen.

“Healing into death” sounds reasonable until the terminal diagnosis has been handed to someone we love, especially when that someone is young with a whole life head of them. Nonetheless, the ethics around shamanic healing force us to look at the bigger picture of a human life, particularly the parts we don’t want to see: the fact that we are not in control, that we really don’t know what’s going on in another person’s life, and the possibility that what the person really needs is that which we are least prepared to give. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, this week as she explores the common hard choices we face when we endeavor to practice the powerful art of shamanic healing with integrity and impeccability when we are desperate and afraid.

At the core of initiatory illness are the spirits who are looking for a pure heart. They can teach you all you need to know about shamanic practice and healing, but they can’t purify your heart. Only you can do that. This week host and shaman, Christina Pratt, explores the elemental heart and how we can use our work with the four elements to purify our hearts. Matters of the heart never cease to confound and confuse us when we allow our mind to lead. But when we work with elemental energies to purify our heart, the simple and courageous leadership of the heart will emerge. And we must always remember that simple doesn’t mean easy, the wisdom of the heart cannot be domesticated, and following a pure heart is not for sissies.

When we co-create our lives with Spirit and our Shadow together, we end up following the path of crazy logic. If you can use your shamanic skills to stay on that track—without panic and doubt—you will begin to unfold your inner self in ways you never expected or believed possible. With the help of your Shadow you begin to see what you have denied in yourself and with the help of spirit used skillfully, you can welcome that aspect of your true self home. Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, for this final section in the Co-Creation Series where we explore how to use shamanic skills to co-create your life today so that you bring the needed medicine of your gifts to the world tomorrow.

The everyday empowerment of shamanic life is available to all who choose to step into direct relationship with their own helping spirits. This act of power is even more accessible to us all with Sandra Ingerman’s new book Walking in Light: The Everyday Empowerment of Shamanic Life, her new CD for journeying, “Shamanic Visioning Music” with Japanese Taiko drums, and her wildly successful new work creating virtual ceremony for personal and global healing. Author, therapist, and internationally recognized teacher of shamanism, Sandra Ingerman, continues to create excellent engaging resources and experiences for contemporary parctitioners. She joins host, Christina Pratt, this week to explore how we all can use our shamanic practices to take responsibility for living a spiritual way of life, whether being the shaman is our destiny or not.

What if our Shadow is actually trying to save us from a successful and safe but un-soul-satisfying life? What if our Shadow was actually trying, in it’s messed up, self-destructive, terribly resource wasteful and energy expensive way to get us to actually co-create a life that is true to us and our soul’s purpose? If this were so—and it is—then how do we co-create our lives with Spirit and our Shadow? Join host and shaman, Christina Pratt, as she explores how to use shamanic skills to use the shadow patterns that arise along the path of co-creating your life as precisely the detour to take you directly to your truer self. There is no calling worth living that will not demand that you change yourself. That’s the adventure, the discovery, and the creation of a life worth living. And the world out there, so deeply in need of medicine and gifts, will change if you have the courage and creativity to give them.