Shamanic Healing

The Medicine Wheel Path

The Medicine Wheel is a map of the universe and a roadmap for your healing Journey. The four directions represent aspects of yourself that you

Contemporary or Core Shamanism is not a religion, but a set of methods that allow you to access your inner resources and the wisdom of the universe.

Engaging with shamanic healing does not replace seeing a doctor if you are ill or in pain, or if you have other physical or mental problems. Western Medicine has a lot to offer, and it does not interfere with shamanic healing, which works on a different level; on the deep level of your Soul or Essence. Different healing approaches do not need to compete with each other; they support each other.

Medicine Wheel Path:
Soul Healing Sessions

Healing at the Fireside Lodge is a development process, during which you work on a deep level to reconnect to your inner wisdom and power. You will likely need several sessions to unblock and rebalance your energies.

We will work at soul-level, inspired by the methods of Core Shamanism (which is a modern collection of ancient healing techniques that come from First Nation people). This work will reaffirm your self healing capability and your ability to positively transform your life. I will function as a facilitator who opens the door for you to connect to your deep Essence and the wisdom of 'Spirit'. There is no short-cut or magical solution that comes from the outside.

On this facilitated healing journey, you will be working with your deepest essence, some call this the 'Soul'. If you don't like this term, think about it as the part in yourself that is truly you; your core, your beautiful, true, unharmed Self.

Illness has many faces, including emotional, physical, social and mental aspects. The focus of Shamanic healing is on the drivers behind your symptoms, and these drivers are grouped in three categories: Lack of inner power, soul part loss and energy blockages. Each of these can be addressed by one or several healing techniques, which are featured below.

Shamanic healing has been performed since ancient times and is thought to date back more than 40,000 years. At the Fireside Lodge, we use Contemporary Shamanic methods (also called Core Shamanism). Our work is inspired by first nation societies, but not housed in any specific culture any more. It is a safe and inspiring way of working - targeting the greatest good for everybody involved.

How we will work together

Sessions are held in person in West London, or remotely if you cannot come to the Fireside Lodge.

We will follow this process:

Exploring the issue - focussing our work

I will send you some questions to help you reflect on your issue. Once I have your answers, I will do a preparation 'journey' to the non-ordinary reality (the parallel universe), to find out whether and how we can work together, and what methods we need to prioritise. If I find on this journey that I am not the right practitioner for you, I will let you know immediately.

Getting to know each other and agreeing the session plan

In the first part of your first session, I will share the findings of my preparation journey, and I might have some additional questions about your issue or goal. I will outline how shamanic healing works, and answer any questions you might have. I also share my plan for the first session and follow up sessions. If you rather have this initial conversation in a phone call before the session, this is fine as well.

Deep Healing Work

These session(s) serve to unblock stuck energies, and give room to the parts of you that might have been hidden away or are out of balance. You will sit or lie down comfortably, and I might be drumming, rattling, or singing. There might be moments of silence. You don't have to do anything - just relax. I will always explain what I am doing, and you can give me feedback about the process.
If some work is easier done remotely (such as ancestral work), I will let you know, and I will do this work before or in-between sessions.

Personal Empowerment Work

These sessions give you some resources to support your own healing and help you create sustainable change. We may use any of the methods described here under Shamanic Counselling/Coaching. Most commonly used are guided Visualisation journeys where you might meet your True Self or Power Animal, and learn how to work with it in your everyday life. We might use ceremonial work to help you shift your energy (for example by cutting cords that hold you back, or creating a new vision for your life by using the Medicine Basket). Sometimes we also work with the Medicine Wheel and you will learn how to balance the different aspects of your life.

Number of Sessions

Please do not expect a single shamanic session to somewhat magically remove an issue you have been struggling with for years. Shamanic healing is a deep development process, and engaging with it takes time.

I usually recommend at least two or three sessions to get started. After this initial work, we will see how your energy has shifted, whether you can take it from there or need more help.
The removal of certain blockages might bring up more layers of healing needs. Or you may feel the need to adjust something in your life over the course of some months, and
decide to come for regular Guided Journeys or other Counselling/Coaching sessions.

I will be transparent, explain what is happening and give you options; and you will be able to decide step-by-step how deep you like to go.

Will there be 'Healing'?

When you engage with Shamanic healing, you work with your inner wisdom and strength, and with universal life energy. The sacred 'Grandfathers and Grandmothers' - the spirits - support the process. As a shamanic practitioner, I do not heal - I am only the 'hollow reed' who channels, focuses and unblocks healing energy.

Healing is a complex process; it means that you are getting 'whole' again. This may not happen in the exact way you expect it. We do not always understand our place in the creation. Hence, symptoms may or may not go away. Sometimes symptoms serve a purpose on your journey, which may only become clear at a later stage in the process.

However, I have never witnessed a session that did not have any benefits. Clients feel stronger, more balanced and often more peaceful. Their self-healing power has been rebooted. Their ability to co-create and transform their lives has been strengthened.
Clients who feel that they are at the end of their life often feel renewed energy to find a positive closure and a peaceful way to pass over.

Shamanic healing does not replace seeing a doctor or seeking medical advice if you are feeling unwell. Using the gifts of Western Medicine goes along just fine with the gift of Shamanic healing.
Read more about our Ethics and Working Principles

Some Core Shamanic Healing Techniques

Regain your Power

Power in a shamanic sense has nothing to do with external status or manipulating others. It is 'inner power', focused energy. It is the driving force of your Life, the petrol in your tank.
There are several reasons why you may lose part of your power, for example, external influences, such as environmental pollution, and internal reasons, such as not living your purpose.
It is quite normal to lose a bit of power every once in a while; we all can self-heal and have ways to regenerate it.
If you cannot regain your power, you may feel tired or ill all the time. The world may look grey, people seem to annoy you, and you may have no perseverance at all. It may be tempting to engage in bad habits or addictions when feeling powerless, to try to 'fill the gap', but these just dis-empower you even more.
Retrieving your power animal can help you regain your power. There are other ways - working with power songs, movement, dreams, etc. We will find the right method for you through the diagnostic journey.

Soul Retrieval

When we experience trauma, parts of our essence may leave to seek safety in the spiritual dimension of reality. The experience of trauma is always subjective - it can be anything from experiencing abuse or witnessing violence to losing a beloved teddy bear in our childhood.
It might also happen that we give away part of our soul - for example when we love 'too much' in co-dependent relationships.
Soul parts often come back of their own accord. We can help this by doing things we love to do, also by finding time for meditation and prayer, being in nature or with people who nurture us.
If soul parts do not come back, we may feel lost or torn, unable to fully engage in relationships and prone to chronical illness or addictions.
If I notice that this might be happening to you, I will journey in pursuit of the lost soul-parts and bring them back. I then will work with you to help integrate this part of your essence, and to prevent further soul loss. This work often enables other healing to happen.

Energy Balance

Our vitality and wellbeing can be disturbed when we have been exposed to negativity; our own or other people's. Blockages might build through any kind of pollution, conflict, mobbing (self-)cursing, dysfunctional thinking patterns, guilt or an unrealistic self-image.
Negative influences may also come down the ancestral lines and interfere with your natural energy balance. Maybe you picked up a behavioural or thinking pattern of your parents, which does not reflect your True Self. If your ancestors were involved in conflict, war or traumatic events, some negative echo of these tensions can still shine through.
In some very rare cases, energy disturbance can also be caused by someone who has died but could not fully transcend. For more information about this, see Peace with Death page.
If I find energy blockages in your system, I can remove and neutralise these. We will then chat about how you can build more independence of external influences and negativity.

Read more about Soul Retrieval in our blog post.

Spirit Release - Psychopomp

The purpose of this work is to re-balance energies that are in the wrong place at the wrong time. For example, people can get stuck after they die and may need a bit of extra help to find their way 'home'. They may feel that they have some unfinished business here (e.g., an unresolved conflict), or are attached to their life-style, to people they loved, or their earthly task.

If you feel that this has happened to a loved one who died, you may feel puzzled, fearful or too embarrassed to talk about your experience. Please do call; we will find a gentle way to help the wandering soul transcend.

These issues can sometimes be solved in just one session, but sometimes deeper healing of the person who initially attracted a wandering spirit is needed as well.