Joan Forest Mage's Shamanic Training Program provides comprehensive instruction in a contemporary form of shamanism, an ancient form of spiritual practice and healing through connecting to one's spirit guides. It is based in the Creative Community Medicine Wheel, which Joan received as a "download" from the Universe beginning in 1985.
The Program provides training from the basics of shamanism to establishing a firm personal shamanic practice, and progressing to doing shamanic healing and teaching for others. This 12 month Program is split into four Courses: Foundations, Shamans Path, Shamanic Healers Practicum and Ritual Leaders Practicum. Each Course takes three months. Courses include both in person and online components.
In each Course, students attend one seminar a month for three months. The seminars are held on Saturdays from 9 AM - 5 PM, so students come one Saturday per month for three months to complete one course.
In addition to the three seminars, students complete assignments in between seminar meetings using online interaction with the instructor and classmates.
For further practice, Shamanic Training Program students have the option of attending Joan's 2-hour open classes for the public. They are held throughout the month.
The four Courses of the Shamanic Training Program are:
Foundations - the basics of shamanic practice, including working with energy and the energy body, shamanic journeying, and finding your individual way of accessing intuitive information. Cost: $375 for all three months.
Shamans Path -building strong relationships with your spirit guides. Cost: $375 for all three months.
Shamanic Healers Practicum - learning shamanic healing for others. Healing modalities covered include soul retrieval, power animal retrieval, extraction and sound healing. Cost: $450 for all three months.
Ritual Leaders Practicum - learning to lead healing ritual in a shamanic way. Cost: $450 for all three months.
The first two Courses, Foundations and Shamans Path, enable the student to establish a firm personal practice of shamanism. The second two Courses, Shamanic Healers Practicum and Ritual Leaders Practicum, are for those who feel called to do shamanic healing and teaching for others.
The Foundations Course is the pre-requisite for taking Shamans Path, and Shamans Path is the pre-requisite for taking Shamanic Healers Practicum and Ritual Leaders Practicum.
Tuition policy: there are no refunds, but each Course is repeated on a regular basis, so if you find you are not able to attend one of the seminars in a Course you have paid for, you can take that seminar when it is offered again.
Foundations Course
learn the basic concepts and practices of shamanism
F1: Energetic Protection
F2: Shamanic Journeying
F3: Shamanic Consciousness
The Foundations Course is three months. Each of the following seminars is held on a Saturday from 9 AM - 5 PM. Students also have assignments between classes with discussion online with the instructor and fellow students.
Foundations Course: $375 for all 3 Foundations Seminars
No pre-requisites
Foundations 1: Energetic Protection
Learn about your energetic, spirit body. You will learn to identify your etheric, emotional and astral bodies, and how to ground energy, release energy blockages, invigorate your chakras and protect your energy field. We will practice basic energy techniques such as simple yoga and tai chi exercises, sound healing, hands-of-light, power objects, crystals, and finding your power song and dance. We will align ourselves with the elements (air, earth, water, fire and ether) and experience how they help us shift energy. We will also examine the importance of intention and core beliefs in energy work. No Pre-requisite. Required reading: Mother Wit by Diane Mariechild and Maps To Ecstasy by Gabrielle Roth.
Foundations 2: Shamanic Journeying
Learn the ancient shamanic journey meditation: traveling to the spirit realm to gain wisdom and healing from angels, ancestors, totem animals and other helpful spiritual beings. To the classic shamanic drumbeat, you will journey to the three territories of non-ordinary reality to begin building relationships with your own group of spirit helpers. Learn about shamanic cosmology, the history and ethical basis of shamanism, and the ways shamanic practice applies to the modern world and to healing the web of all life. No previous experience necessary. Please bring a drum or rattle if you have one, and a pen and notebook. Required reading: Singing The Soul Back Home by Caitlin Matthews.
Foundations 3: Shamanic Consciousness
Gain greater skill in entering meditative consciousness through learning time-proven methods of quieting your mind and body, observing your intuitive impressions so you can hear Spirit’s messages more clearly. We will utilize self-expressive arts – writing, drawing, singing, dancing – as meditational and energy work practices. Learn how to interpret the visions you see in your shamanic journeys and dreams through discovering your preferred perceptual mode (seeing, hearing or feeling) for accessing intuitive information. You will further deepen your relationship with your own group of spirit helpers. No pre-requisite. Please bring a drum or rattle if you have one, and a pen and notebook. Required reading: The Open Mind by Dawna Markova.
Shaman’s Path Program
deepening shamanic practice for the student’s personal connection to the spirit realm
Shamans Path 1: Spirit Guides
Shamans Path 2: Healing Ritual
Shaman's Path 3: Shapeshifting
The Shamans Path Course is three months. Each of the following seminars is held on a Saturday from 9 AM - 5 PM. Students also have assignments between classes with discussion online with the instructor and fellow students.
Shamans Path Course: $375 for all 3 Shamans Path Seminars
Pre-requisite: Foundations Course of Shamanic Training Program
Shaman’s Path 1: Spirit Guides
Further solidify your relationship with your personal "team" of spirit guides, such as angels, ancestors, gods, goddesses and totem animals. We will particularly focus on working with nature spirits, the seasons, the Elements and the Directions. Part of the day is spent outdoors communing with Nature. You will discover various tasks your spirit guides perform for you, and gain confidence in the helping nature of the universe. Pre-requisite: Foundations Course. Required reading: Enchantment of the Faerie Realm by Ted Andrews; The Seasons of Change by Carol McClelland.
Shaman’s Path 2: Healing Ritual
In this highly experiential seminar, we will explore healing ritual, a process of transformation in sacred time and space. Learn how to design an effective ritual, using the 9 Steps of Healing Ritual and aligning with Nature and the seasons as energies for healing. We will experience charging a space with energy/spirit to create the container that makes ritual safe and effective. We will explore two approaches in shamanic healing ritual: going out of body to the spirit realm, and inviting the spiritual energies to work in the physical space we are in. Deepen your understanding of the 3 modes of auditory, visual & kinesthetic perception for accessing intuitive information. Each learner also examines the deeper meaning and mission of his/her work as a spiritual practitioner to gain personal empowerment and practice shamanism more fully. Pre-requisite: Foundations Course. Required reading: The Water of Life by Michael Meade; Ritual by Malidoma Some;Rites of Passage by Kathleen Wall & Gary Ferguson.
Shaman's Path 3: Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is the ancient shamanic practice of taking on the spiritual or physical energies of animal spirits and other helpful beings. Through this powerful practice, our spirit allies share their wisdom and strength with us to create profound healing. Learn physical and mental exercises to help us shapeshift between human and more-than-human form. We will experience channeling the energy of our guides, working with the 9 Levels of Self and the 10 Archetypes. As Tom Cowan says, "Shapeshifting might just be the essential, and only, activity of the Universe." Pre-requisite: Foundations Course. Required Reading: Deerdancer by Michele Jamal.
