THE “HEALERS” MEDICINE SPIRAL:
A TRAINING IN SHAMANIC ENERGY MEDICINE
and COUNSELLING

John and Karen have trained extensively in several cultures of shamanic Energy Medicine healing and shamanic counselling. Along with years of assisting people breakthrough physical, psycho-emotional and Spiritual issues to emerge into more authentic, empowered and conscious Selves, the Slí an Chroí philosophy and method has evolved. That philosophy and method hold in their core that the shamanic healer brings his/her full power to compassionately support the integrity of another. In essence, we bring our full range of skills and techniques into a sacred, safe and confidential space so that another may enter and embark on a self-healing journey.

In the Slí An Chroí approach there is considerable expansion of native Irish energy techniques for transformation by informing them with those from other cultures. Running parallel with this refinement of Energy Medicine is a model of shamanic counselling that allows the healer bring deep understanding and “ownership of the healing” to the client. By achieving this, the person is brought autonomy by their greater conscious realisation of the myth of their own Soul.

This counselling aspect brings a knowing to the client on how to integrate the full impact of the energetic shifts into the literal levels of their life. There is sustaining self practice in the client that “locks in” the healing and it provides a platform for continual holistic emergence. The Irish-Gaelic word for “healing” is “leigheas”, which also means “retrieval” and the Sli An Chroí model of shamanic healing holds dearly to the principle that we turn up fully for the healing of another, so that they may “retrieve themselves”.

The Healers Spiral is an optional continuation from the first Medicine Spiral. Whereas the first Spiral builds strong self-practice, the Healers Spiral is dedicated to training techniques for the healing of others. This comprehensive training which is closely supervised may be taken to certificate level for professional practice, or it may be taken for the intrinsic worth of holding these powerful healing techniques for loved ones.

The Healing Shaman believes that all our ailments, physical, psychological or emotional have an energetic-Spiritual root. It is on this subtle level of our being that the Healing Shaman intervenes, bringing a “clearing” or a “replenishment” which leads to superior health on the upper emotional, psychological and physical levels. The Healers Spiral trains the practitioner to identify “the energetic root” and to hold a variety of remedial techniques for positive transformation within the Light/Electro-Magnetic (LEM) field of the client. There is no deeper level of life in which healing can take place, than on the energetic-Spiritual. Our LEM fields are neither created nor ended by physical birth and death. They are manifestations of that part of our being that is eternal and they allow us to witness and engage with, the mythic journey of our souls. This is the territory in which the Healing Shaman “sees” and offers energy medicine to bring positive holistic health and growth to another.

The Healers Spiral is worth doing purely for your own growth and transformation, as you will receive considerable energy medicine healing throughout the four directions. For many practitioners it is a natural step to take this training, as the opportunity to practice healing for others (even if solely confined to the training times) brings our appreciation and connection to Shamanism to a new level. Our málas and cauldrons develop even more into extraordinary healing tools when they are used for the benefit of others, changing the way we ‘carry’ them in our lives. While the Healers Spiral is focused on imparting training in Energy Medicine and Counselling, it is also a “Medicine Spiral” in its own right, i.e. it offers a second spiral through the four directions and will push further into the territories explored by you in the North, East, South and West in the first Medicine Spiral.

If you opt for certification, you will be expected to do case studies, submit reports, accept supervision and will be guided towards working with clients. For those who wish to take the training, but not for certification, case studies, reports and supervision are not required. The Healers Spiral is also the opportunity to journey onwards with your tuatha, your sacred tribe, bringing you deeper into circle with others with whom you have bonded by taking the Slí An Chroí Shamanic path.

Dates of the Four Directions of the Healers Medicine Spiral 2012– 2013:

1. “NORTH” – Imbas; September 28th - 30th 2012
2. “EAST” – Extractions; November 30th - December 2nd 2012
3. “SOUTH” – Soul Retrieval; February 8th-10th 2013
4. “WEST” – Death Rites – Healing for the Dying; April 26th-28th 2013

Cost/Investment:
Option for Certification: Total of €1375.00, (€195.00 Booking Fee (which acts as a Deposit), plus €295.00 payable per each of the four weekends).

Option for non Certification: Total of €1195.00, (€195.00 Booking Fee (which acts as a Deposit), plus €250.00 payable per each of the four weekends).

With regard to investment/organisation of your time, by receiving your Booking Fee (deposit) we take an understanding that you have made the deepest commitment to attend all four weekends/directions of the Healers Medicine Spiral. Due to the nature of the training it is not possible to offer 'catch-up' private tuition, should you miss one of the weekends.

Venue:
The Slí an Chroí Centre, Smithfield, Dublin.

Booking:

Places are booked by participants of a current Medicine Spiral during the training or by graduates of the Medicine Spiral after the training has been completed. A student may progress from the Medicine Spiral straight into Healers Spiral in the same calendar year and graduates of the Medicine Spiral in previous years may book a place on the Healers Spiral after a gap of a year or more. A graduate student of the Medicine Spiral who wishes to book a place on the Healers Spiral must have demonstrated a deep commitment to their personal Shamanic practice during and after the Medicine Spiral. There is also a preliminary personal interview with John and Karen before a place on the Healers Spiral is awarded.

THE HEALERS SPIRAL OVERVIEW

Shamans hold that to practice Energy Medicine is to become “a master of living energy”, an epic prospect and one that is the birthright of all. We master living energy in the sense that the training brings us the abilities to see and transform the energies that inform ill health. The practitioner of Energy Medicine brings healing at the level of the Soul/Heart in the client. As imbalances are perceived and rectified in the LEM, we help another to heal from the “foundation” of themselves as a living organism. Energy Medicine allows us to enter the world of the ‘science of the Soul’ and to bring greater sacredness to the life of another as we assist them to heal from their Heart/Soul place. We come not simply to grasp the phenomenon that Spirit is seeking full realisation of Itself through each human being, but to assist that phenomenon by facilitating positive change on the energetic and mythic levels of the life of another. While esoteric, it is very real and it works. This ancient tradition for personal development is over 50,000 years old and may be as old as 100,000 years. It is deeply relevant to the lives and issues we experience today and as we individually face the globally shared “turning point” in the evolution of humanity.

The Core Elements of Energy Medicine and Counselling
The shamanic Energy Medicine practitioner is a tracker of pure energy and myth. As he/she observes the presenting symptoms (whether physical, psycho-emotional, Spiritual) as offered by the client, the practitioner is “seeing” the root of the ailment in the form of pure energy. This may suggest “a clearing” (i.e. removal) of energy that is “toxic” and a restoration of a superior energy balance within the client’s LEM. The practitioner may also identify that the presenting symptoms are caused by a prior loss of energy and the remedial course is to return this “lost” energy to the client’s LEM. In conjunction with providing interventions to restore energetic balance, the practitioner counsels the client towards awareness of how these “energetic events” can be understood on the level of the Heart/Soul. This allows the person to see their healing experience as a significant, sacred step on their personal mythic journey to wholeness and to live more a life that truly honours the lifeforce within them. The healing shamanic Energy Medicine practitioner assists the client to realise the positive health achieved on the energetic-Spiritual level into the physical, psychological and emotional levels. Thus the practitioner views the health of the individual holistically and is deeply attuned to the interweaving of the LEM into all aspects of wellbeing. If a person does not address “toxic” energies present in the LEM or significant “losses” of energy, in time these conditions can lead to chronic and acute symptoms that present as serious illness and disease.

“Imbas Forosnai” or Divine Inspiration-Illumination:
Many shamanic traditions share a system for illuminating the LEM of the client, literally a system for creating enlightenment within the person. Our Irish tradition refers to this as “Imbas Forosnai”, (literally “Divine Inspiration”). The Slí An Chroí training works from our heritage of knowing “the doors of energy” of the LEM and by bringing Light through Imbas into these doors. It also incorporates teachings and awareness from the Eastern traditions that understand these “doors of energy” as “chakras”. When a client presents their issue, certain chakras are activated and it is with these chakras the practitioner works. Dense, heavy energetic residues (referred to as “trom”) which are the energetic traces of the emotional or psychological or physical ailment presented by the client are removed. There is now “room” for the chakras to receive Imbas (illumination) and there follows the ritual as the practitioner helps place superior, lighter energy into the affected chakra(s). “Trom” is removed and with them the client’s affinities to the original “wounding” that originally informed the presence of this toxicity. The LEM is restored to a more optimum level of function, leading to superior emotional, psychological and physical responses of the client to their issue. There are many, many benefits of Imbas. Outstanding among them are consciousness expansions, overcoming unwanted repetitive behaviour or belief patterns, shedding adult legacies from negative birth and childhood experiences. Imbas becomes almost a “default” practice in Energy Medicine, so powerful is it as a tool.

Imbas is taught on the North Direction of the Healers Medicine Spiral.

Extractions:
Through the “doors” (chakras) of the LEM enter a myriad of energies and the majority of these bring positive sustenance from our relationships to loved ones, social communities, animals and the natural environment. However from these sources energies that are regarded as “trom” (i.e. heavy and toxic) can also enter. Many are due to unresolved “wounds” in those who were/are our caretakers and other individuals who were/are in a significant relationship with us. Indeed, the increasing pollution of our natural environment, along with increasing numbers of electro-magnetic fields, (internal/external electrical systems, microwave-based technology, etc.) as well as geopathically and psychically stressed landspaces all contribute to “trom” build up. Obviously, if we suffered any form of violation or abuse (even “mild” forms) on the energetic level, “trom” that may be extremely dense in nature has been placed in our LEM by the perpetrator/s. When the density of “trom” is acute, we refer to that energy as an “Intrusion” as it conspires to bring about ill-health across the mind-body-Spirit spectrum of the person.

The healing shamanic practitioner has the ability to work with the client to identify the sources of Intrusions and to offer an appropriate technique for their “Extraction''. The type of Extraction technique may vary according to the molecular structure of the Intrusion. Slí An Chroí training provides effective release techniques for all kinds of Intrusions. In Ireland, an Intrusion that is hardened is referred as a “Cruaigh” and may be Extracted by hand. The phrase being “stabbed in the back” following a negative engagement with another, accurately describes on an intuitive level how we process a Cruaigh, which is akin to a “psychic stabbing” with the “knife” being the embodiment of the Cruaigh. Other Intrusions may be what are called “Sreabhach” or “Sprid”, i.e they are watery/fluid in nature and they are often housed in the well of spinal fluid at the base of the spine. This seat of power within us is the optimum “feeding place” for these energies which literally suck from our lifeforce. Once again, the Slí An Chroí training brings together native and non-native powerful techniques to release these “Sreabhach” and “Sprid” Intrusions, bringing freedom to the client.

When some people are introduced to the phenomenon of Intrusions and Extractions, there is often an understandable response of fear and anxiety. This is not the response of the healing shaman, who calmly and safely brings about release and comfort from what is essentially a consequence of being alive. Furthermore the training brings the ability to ensure the client is no longer susceptible to a similar form of Intrusion in the future. In this way, the person lives with greater “psychic protection” following an Extraction and is assisted to emerge free of damaging negative patterns and limiting beliefs that were conspired by the departed Intrusion. Fear, guilt and shame have no place in the field of Intrusions/Extractions for the healing shaman, who works on behalf of the client with power, compassion and non-judgement - qualities also encouraged in the outlook of the client. Sorcery is a concept the practitioner also holds without fear, understanding sorcery as “abuse of power”.

Those who are the subject of self-sorcery or sorcery from others, frequently present with Intrusions. On the physical level, Intrusions can manifest as a frequent pain or ache at a site where there is no apparent tissue or bone ailment. On the psychological and emotional levels, depression, anger, chronic negative judgement (by us and/or towards us), severe mood shifts and addiction are frequently indicators of an Intrusion. If a person dies with many unresolved issues with those close to them, or when death is a result of trauma, the Spirit of the deceased may be confused and in fear of “moving on”. This may cause the Spirit (Soul) of the deceased to linger and attach to a loved one who is still alive, or to another with whom there was an “affinity” and this can also be described as an Intrusion. Extraction work is a deep act of compassion for the client and the person(s) whose energy is the source of the Intrusion. The result is a restoration of power in the patient and release for the Intrusive energy. When the Extraction is of Spirit energy of one who has died, the release of energy profoundly benefits their progress in the Afterlife. This progress is almost always felt by the client who also shares a sense of release.

Extraction of Intrusions is taught on the East direction of the Healers Medicine Spiral.

Soul Retrieval:
“Soul Loss” is a naturally occurring short term, survival mechanism in human beings. On the occasions when we undergo severe fright or shock, literally a fragment of our essence, our lifeforce or Soul splits away from our greater Soul (Spirit) body. By doing so, a diminished Self continues living/surviving after the trauma. The part of our Soul that holds the energy and greatest consciousness of the pain of the trauma separates from us, like the discarded fuel cell of a rising rocket. If this did not happen, the presence of the most wounded Soul Part within the greater Soul Body would bring to bear full consciousness of the pain arising from the trauma and we would suffer a devastating breakdown and our survival would be in question. While Soul Loss is a survival mechanism, if left unhealed in the longterm of our lives, it brings about a myriad of negative consequences. Because we are living from a less than complete lifeforce, our sense of Self is limited and our capacities for fully expressing that Self are also sabotaged. We suffer from reduced resources to deal with the challenges of everyday living and the person often becomes prematurely depleted physically and psycho-emotionally which stems from the original depletion on the energetic level, i.e. the Soul Loss. A wide range of traumas may create Soul Loss such as abuse (of all forms, including what might be regarded as “mild” forms), rape, incest, bullying, neglect, accidents, surgery, death of a loved one, separation from family/carer, relationship breakdown, divorce, breach of trust, serious illness, feelings of inadequacy, etc.