Shamans have been described as technicians of the sacred, workers in the domains of the soul. This distinction is important for healing because the shaman understands that illness occurs because we forget who we are. We forget that we are body, mind, soul and spirit, the result of the union of earth and stars. We forget that we are not separate from each other, from the earth, from the Source of all that is. It is in our forgetting that we become ill, displaying physical, emotional, or spiritual symptoms that call us to return to a state of balance and harmony within our own souls. 

Shamanic healing addresses this imbalance, this forgetting, by working within a matrix of the soul, with energies that connect us with the rest of the universe. In shamanic healing our intent is to return to the natural state of balance by releasing blocks so that the energy of soul and Source can once more flow within us. Healing can then take place on the emotional, spiritual and physical levels.

The School for Shamanic Healing is based on these principles and on the combination of ancient healing traditions and contemporary systems that are compatible with this philosophy. It is also based on the belief that the ability to heal our selves and to assist others with their healing is available to all.

The School provides a three-year program that trains students in the fundamentals of shamanic healing and assists them in developing their own medicine bodies. The first year is the Sacred Path class. The second and third years focus on learning techniques for working both with life energies and in the domains of the soul. The instructor has trained in many traditions, both native and modern, and it is a combination of skills developed from all of these traditions that make up the remainder of the training. 

What you will learn:

- Working with the mythic and the sacred
- Shamanic processes for healing
- Setting the physical and energetic space for healing
- Assessing the client's needs
- Facilitating the release of blocks in the client
- Extraction of "stuck" energy blockages
- Breath work and meditation processes
- Retrieval of lost aspects of the soul and lost energies
- Healing past life and karmic issues

(Please note: the Wiracocha Institute closed in Spring 2006 because the founder and instructor, Dr. Mary Blankenship, retired.)