What is Shama-k-I?
with Debbie Featherstone MSc, DHP(NC)
Shama-k-I is coming soon:
- Eagle
- Tiger
- Wolf
- Owl
More to follow in due course...
Shama-k-I is a collection of immersive narrated stories based on the "Shamanic Journey", authored and recorded by Debbie Featherstone. Each recording immerses you in the individual story a Power Animal shares with you. Each Power Animal - sometimes referred to as a Spirit Animal - represents its own intrinsic qualities that you can experience and learn from, as you merge in to the narrative.
If you'd like to be notified when these are available, leave a Tawk message (bottom right of screen) with your email address and I'll happily let you know!
Scroll down the page for short extracts from transcripts below.
Extract from Eagle transcript:
"And as you drift, you find yourself among the clouds... all around you is blue, blue sky... and the gentle mists of the skies that – from the ground below... the ground of the earth... you have seen these mists that appear to you as clouds... drifting... drifting... in glory and abundance..... white, quiet... peaceful..... no sound... other than the constant purr of the wind... all around you.... it is in your ears.... calming and beautiful...... you feel…. free........ FREE as the wind all around you.... and you realise that it is the wind.... the very air around you that is allowing you to soar.... SOAR HIGH.... as high as you happen to want to go..... and when you wish to dive..... you can do so..... the FREEDOM is ECSTASY!
Look around you.... there is nothing around you other than the air... you see its energy that is holding you and yet... it is allowing you to move so freely.... you have the strength in your wings and your body to fly.... you are flying..... high above the Earth...."
Extract from Tiger transcript
"See just ahead of you a great lake..... the full moon is shining down upon the expanse of the lake, making the still peaceful waters glisten.... and with each step you take, you can feel a great power in your shoulders.... and that power is in your neck as well as throughout the great muscles in every part of your body... and you now step up to the edge of the lake..... look down into its waters and in the light of the moon above, you see before you who you are. The beautiful face..... alert and yet soft pools of beauty are your eyes...... you are experiencing Tiger...... and as ancient knowledge pervades all your knowing.... you are.... “In the Now”......
Tiger is calm. Tiger is aware. Tiger is... present. Tiger knows he is connected to all things. He is an intrinsic link in, within and without all matters in the Universe. This is what he is - there is nothing else. His wisdom is core intelligence - there is no peripheral knowledge or understanding required. Tiger.... is.
To mere mortals on the Earth, Tiger is the epitome of all they wish. He does not know un-happiness. He does not know misery. His experience is that of quiet calm. He understands he is a creature of the Earth and the Universe. He is at one with both..."
Extract from Wolf transcript
"You are seeing your reflection in the eyes of another of your kind....you are a Guardian and have wisdom to teach..... you see.... you are a Wolf.
Today is a glorious day...... you are high in the mountains... making a journey with your family and other families of your community. The path across this mountain is known to you..... you have travelled it many times...... you know the true path that leads over the great mountain to the plains below. You are taking great care of all those with you... constantly aware .... so should any stray from the path... you are gently guiding them back to the safe path that is true.
You are honoured and respected by all.... the young cubs that are of your own blood... by those of the blood of others in your pack..... who also honour and respect you, just as you honour and respect them. Loyalty courses through your very being....... you know no other way..... just as the others know no other way. Your intuition is astounding....... as is theirs for knowing to trust in you....
Up here, high in the mountains, the path is treacherous for those unfamiliar with the terrain. There are others of your number who have made this journey before, some of the elders having made the crossing many more times than they care to remember. It takes two suns and a moon to travel from one side of the mountain to the other, though the moon always means a welcome rest.... until the next sun awakes the pack, and they can complete the journey down the mountain.
You recall a previous journey, many seasons ago, when you were younger and the elements were not as kind as they were being on this occasion. Then, it took three suns and two moons to reach the safety of the plains for which you are now headed. The elements were fierce...... the Great Winds constant ..... "
Extract from Owl transcript
"I have fathered many a young one of my kind over the many moons of life. I am alone these nights now though .. to wit..... I have a peaceful and calming end to my time on this beautiful earthbound plane of existence..... that is not yet over though. I have the time to embrace the luxury of simply “being” ..... I feel ever closer to the ebb and flow of the Moon’s influence ... at one in her kindly peace.
Ah.... I hear the tiny rustling movements below...... others venture out in the deep of night also; we are aware of the cycle of life and cannot undo what is meant. That is for greater powers than mine alone.... I have borne witness to experiencing hunger on occasions through my lifetime here.... I have allowed my presence to be less than it ought.... I have learned though, that this has been a part of the learning from this life.... and what is important IS the learning.... so much more so than the physical pangs of either hunger or voracious greed.
Humankind has likened my kind to wisdom...... I find that.... amusing.
I have no recall of when I was too small to feed myself..... I remember though the warmth of “being” with my once partner and our young ones..... the Moon cycles then passed so swiftly by..... Now, the cycles are different..... but..... cycles they remain and I know I am afforded the time to be part of them by Nature herself..... and as each season passes..... I find myself as I am meant to..... I fulfil my part in this wonderful cycle we are gifted with whilst in this one... of many.... of Nature’s planes of existence."
Shamanic Exploration and Psychotherapy
with Debbie Featherstone, MSc DHP(NC)
with Debbie Featherstone, MSc DHP(NC)
Times Gone By
Shamanic Exploration & Psychotherapy became a new addition to my psychotherapy clinic back in December 2012. Having worked extensively as a psychotherapist, combining cognitive and existential psychotherapeutic approaches, I was keen to examine the efficacy (value / benefit) of integrating Shamanic practice in to work with my clients.
Prior to this, in 2008, I began training as a Shamanic practitioner over four years, and used a variety of Shamanic work to help clients who specifically asked for it. As a registered psychotherapist, however, I wanted to assure myself of peer reviewed evidence of its benefits before moving forward and making it available in my clinic.
MSc in Psychotherapy Studies (Dissertation)
To that end, I conducted extensive research of peer reviewed literature for my MSc in Psychotherapy final dissertation. The results of the research enabled me to include Shamanic work in to my clinical practice.
The title of my dissertation was “What are the psychotherapeutic effects of Shamanic Journeying in modern western psychotherapy practice?”
There is a wealth of literature published about Shamanism, and much about the experiences of western anthropologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists reporting on their findings. In the West, there has been a surge of interest in it over the past two decades, and a number of formal research studies have been conducted that evidence the enormous benefit to individuals helped through Shamanic Journeying and other Shamanic practices, such as soul retrieval. In fact, one of the most extensive research trials undertaken has been on the benefit outcomes for TMD (Temperomandibular Joint Disorder, also known as TMJ) (Vuckovic et al, 2010)
The research reports:
“In addition to having physical symptoms of TMD, study participants also shared other characteristics. They had a great deal of stress in their lives and often indicated a sense of being dispirited – commonly described as not feeling “present in their bodies” or that something was missing. These symptoms are consistent with soul loss, a condition treatable within the paradigm of Shamanic healing."
Significant Long Term Outcomes
The outcomes for people participating in the trial include not just short term but long term “significant reduction in pain, functional impairment due to pain, and depression” following just 5 sessions of various Shamanic treatments including soul retrieval
Other outcomes include:
- Improvements in sleep
- Increased energy levels
- Increased self-confidence and self-worth
- Increased capacity to cope or learn new coping skills to deal with stress, anxiety, depression
- Making profound changes in many aspects of their lives – in their career, relationships and values
Nowadays, a wide body of research confirms similar outcomes