Foundation in Shamanism
An introduction to shamanism via Zoom
(This course may be taken in conjunction with the Intermediate shamanism course–https://www.greentara.ie/intermediate-shamanism/)
Zoom Shamanism is a series of short courses which will give you a working foundation in shamanism.
“One of the best courses that I have taken. The course is an inner journey. I have learned to trust my intuition. I have reconnected with myself and with the invisible world which is so close, but so far in the same way. Thank you, I am looking forward for the next one.” – Ilona
January 14 – April 1, 2025
€295
One 2-hour class via Zoom per week every Tuesday for 12 weeks.
UK, Ireland: 7 – 9pm, CET: 20:00 – 22:00, USA 2 – 4pm Eastern
This course will bring you new shamanic perspectives and ways of living into your life.
Each class will give you a core shamanic skill.
With these core skills you will be able to guide and develop your own shamanic path. This course is the starting point for all our training to become a Shamanic Practitioner.
“Zoom shamanism it was really beautiful and amazing course for me. From first classes it changed my perception and awakened my awareness of the world around us and opened my eyes very wide. Dr Owen Roberts is an amazing teacher with enormous knowledge who shared with us with a great passion. He showed us great tools for further personal work. It’s a life changing course. I highly recommend it!!!” – Barbara P.
This path is for those want to live shamanically – in harmony with nature and your life’s path, fulfilling your highest destiny, knowing who you are and why you are here.
If you are called to become a shaman for your community, as a healer or ceremony leader, this is the foundation from which to grow your practice. However, this course will also enhance your personal lives and spiritual development, no matter how far you wish to progress in shamanism.
At the end of the training you will have built a complete foundation in shamanism.
The skills taught in this course will give you everything you need to live shamanically.
Shamanism offers many benefits, including:
Clearing your karma, allowing you to live free and by choice upon the earth. This frees the shaman to pursue their highest destiny. No longer bound by the conditions under which they incarnated, a shaman is free to negotiate with spirit for a new, power-filled, authentic life.- Freeing yourself from slavery to the fear of death. Most people are (rightly) afraid of dying. A shaman is not some super hero who has conquered their fear of death, but someone who has been to the other side and knows what death really means. This doesn’t make them eager to die or careless with their life. But it does mean they are not afraid to stare death in the face, to acknowledge its reality. This enables them to be in the right state to die consciously at any time.
- Psychic skills. A shaman has powerful psychic abilities. They know when they are under psychic attack, and are able to defend themselves psychically. A shaman can clear the energy fields of people and places, perform psychic surgery.
- Living in harmony with nature. Even in the city, nature is all around us. So much of our present world crisis is the direct result of the fact our civilization is out of harmony with nature. Shamanism teaches you how to commune with nature, to converse with it, work with it, learn from it, and heal it. Being in right relationship with nature is the essence of shamanism.
“A life-changing course which will deepen your understanding of Shamanism, as well as enhancing your own personal & spiritual development in many different ways.” – Fiona ‘O.
Course Contents
- What is Shamanism? (1 class)
- Shamanic Tools (1 class)
- Altars (1 class)
- Building a Medicine Bundle (1 class)
- Working with Nature (2 classes)
- Journeying into the Spirit Realms (2 classes)
- Acquiring Spirit Allies (2 classes)
- Working with the Ancestors (2 classes)
“A great introduction to living a shamanic life. My relationship with the natural world, with the spirit world, and with my own gifts as a healer were all deeply affected by this class.” – Monica S.
Video about the course.
A 3 minute explanation about the course, from the first lesson. This is not some fancy promo video, this is exactly what you will get in the class.
A solid foundation in Shamanism
The Foundation in Shamanism course covers the basic knowledge and skills required of every shaman.
This training enables you to live shamanically, able to develop your own shamanic path and grow into a deeper relationship with spirit and nature.
Learn essential shamanic skills
Zoom shamanism is a great way to get a feel for shamanism. It covers the essential things you need to know and provides the main skill every shaman needs – the ability to work directly with spiritual and psychic beings.
“Excellent teacher. Course was very informative & so well presented. I highly recommend it.” – Aoife
Introducing Shamanism – 1 class
This course is an essential beginning class. It will introduce the concepts which will be used throughout the other classes.
- What is shamanism – a global survey of shamanic practices. What is common to them all? Shamanism in hunting vs farming cultures.
- Shamanism and religion – what’s the difference?
- Shamanism in the modern world – Neo-shamanism, Core shamanism, Traditional Indigenous shamanism, drugs and “plant medicine,” Technoshamanism, trance dance and raves. Issues of cultural appropriation, native response to western seekers.
- Living traditional shamanism – an examination of the traditional shamanic cultures experienced by the teachers – Mongolia, Peru, South Africa, Australia. We do not attempt to review all cultures throughout the world. This section covers the cultures the class teachers have personally experienced for themselves.
“I really recommend this course as an introduction to learning about Shamanism. Owen is very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. He is also very encouraging and makes the space feels absolutely a safe one in which to start journeying for the first time.” – Eli
Shamanic Tools – 1 class
A shaman uses a number of different tools to accomplish their work. Drums are used to journey into the spirit realms and to alter states of consciousness. Rattles are used for journey work, for healing, to move psychic energy. Daggers, staffs, cloaks, hats and other items have many shamanic uses. Many shamanic traditions use medicine bundles, ranging from small bags of herbs to large bags of sacred stones. All shamanic traditions make extensive use of altars.
None of these items is merely plucked off a shelf in some store and immediately used. Shamanic tools are sacred objects, charged with their own power, and often possessing their own mind and spirit.
This class will teach you how to acquire your own shamanic tools.
- How to pick shamanic tools. How find items with your intuition. Main types of shamanic tools and their uses.
- Charging items. Charging is the process of filling an item with psychic energy and bringing it to life. Properly charged items can acquire their own spirit and become living beings in their own right, beings with whom you can form a deep and life-long relationship.
- Care and feeding of shamanic tools. Shamanic tools are not like any other objects. They need special treatment and have special storage requirements.
- Objects of Sound – drum, rattle, bell. Sound has special psychic qualities. Getting the correct sound often requires specific techniques – such as special rhythms or ways of holding them. You will not need a drum for this lesson – anything you can bang will do.
- Clothing & jewelry – shaman are renowned for special, often outlandish, clothing. This is not done because shaman like playing dress-up. Certain fabrics and colours have specific psychic effects. Other items of clothing or jewelry can be used to psychically empower or protect.
We have special discount arrangements with online stores for you to buy your shamanic tools from: Shamanic Supply Shops.
Some Youtube videos about shamanic tools
“The course was well presented and very enjoyable. The context was explained and understood clearly. Looking forward to the next steps. Time was given for all to ask questions or advice, the teacher made you feel confident and always had time.” – John B.
Altars – 1 class
Altars are special places of power. They are channels between this world and the spirit dimensions. They are places which can bring powerful spiritual energies into your life. You can use altars to charge and purify objects.
However, most people’s altars are little more than collections of sacred objects. The arrangement of objects on the altar, the shape and positioning of the altar, and the rituals associated with it, all have a powerful effect on how the altar operates in your life. Badly constructed altars can be useless, or even bring unpleasant energies into your world.
This class will bring your altar to a higher level – you will know how to construct powerful and holy altars which radiate sacred energy, and you will know why.
- How altars work – the metaphysics of altars, how psychic energy flows through and from altars.
- Sacred dimensions – the right shape and size for effective altars.
- Care and feeding of altars – preparing the space before building an altar, cleansing altars.
- Objects and altars – what should, and should not, be placed on an altar, how to cleanse and charge objects with altars, how to change out altar items.
- Building altars – ceremony and journey work to construct your altar in partnership with spirit.
- Personal use of altars – how to interact with altars, make offerings and receive blessings.
“Loved the course. Very well structured and delivered, perfect balance between relaxed inclusivity and focus, and perfectly pitched for the absolute beginner. Owen was warm, supportive and engaging. Would highly recommend this to anybody mildly curious – definitely worth doing.” – JB
Building a medicine bundle – 1 class
All shaman have sacred objects they carry most of the time, often called a “medicine bundle”. These are used in their shamanic activities and as “batteries” of psychic power they can draw from as they need. Each shamanic culture has a unique approach to building medicine bundles.
Each tradition has a unique way of doing medicine bundles, so you need to learn a specific technique from a specific culture. This class will teach the medicine bundle practices of the Q’ero. The Q’ero are the main indigenous people’s of the Andes, still practicing today the shamanic techniques of the Inca Empire. The Q’ero medicine bundle, known as a “mesa” is a powerful platform for shamanic work. In some regions mesas are called “mishas”. Q’ero mesas are extremely easy to use because they allow for the inclusion of a wide variety of objects and so do not require special things which are hard to acquire. This also means they can support a wide variety of shamanic activities.
This class will teach you how to build your own Q’ero medicine bundle, or “mesa”.
- Medicine bundles across the globe – a short survey of the different approaches of different traditions
- The structure and dynamics of the Q’ero mesa – using the four directions, cosmic orientation, wrapping time into your mesa.
- Khuyakuna – A “khuya” is a sacred object in a mesa. Most khuya’s are stones, but other objects can be used (such as religious symbols and crystals). How to introduce a new khuya into your mesa. How to cleanse and recharge khuya’s. How to remove or replace khuya’s. How to feed your mesa.
- Using the mesa – cleansing and blessing with a mesa. The “kuti” mesa ceremony to avoid death, injury and bad luck. Using individual khuya’s for personal healing.
“Well worth your time, interest, and effort. The course has much to offer to you and your current beliefs, as well beyond. It will offer you new insights and perspectives. Owen is a true professional in every sense of the word. He has a very rare talent; he has the skill of sharing gnosis! Many thanks for another great course.” – Michelle M.
Working with nature – 2 classes
A shaman is in an active co-creative relationship with nature. Nature does not have to be fancy or big – weeds and plants protrude through concrete and brick in every city. Modern society has inherited a negative and disastrous attitude to the natural world from our industrial past.
This module will teach you how to form connections with nature, how to communicate with it and learn the teachings nature has to offer – teachings known to most indigenous peoples, but lost in the modern world.
- Understanding the spirits of nature – How spirits work in nature. Different types of nature spirits. Angels and archangels in nature.
- Trees – trees are cosmic beings of immense power and wisdom. How to connect with a tree. Having a tree for a friend. Exchanging energy with a tree. Cosmic consciousness via trees. Self-healing with trees. Sacred trees.
- Water – water carries power and cleansing. Connecting with rivers and lakes. Working with spirits of water (nustas and nymphs). Chakra cleansing with water. Traditional Q’ero techniques for psychic clearing with water. Natural cleansing with streams and rain. Making holy water.
- Sacred sites – sacred sites are all around us. Many are publicly known, but many more are only discernible with the correct skills. How to approach and leave a site. Communicating with the spirits of sites. Locating “hidden” sites.
- Wind – winds and storms are great spirit beings. How to connect to a wind spirit. Purification with wind. Valkyries and other wind beings.
“Very informative and in depth course. Instructor was very knowledgeable and experienced. I would highly recommend to anyone wishing to walk the shamanic path.” – Vicki K.
We have apps you can install to help with your journey work.
Journeying into the Spirit Realms – 2 classes
A shaman is different from a priest or ordinary person because they communicate directly with spirits and other psychic beings. The most common way they do this is by travelling into the psychic (or spiritual) dimensions in which these beings live. This is called “journeying”.
This class will teach you how to journey into the spirit realms.
The first class will provide two guided journeys into the spirit realms. The second class will teach you how to travel independently through these realms, giving you the ability to come and go as you please.
- The map. If you are travelling to a new place, you need a map so you can find your way around. We will teach you the ways in and out and give you a map of these dimensions.
- Getting in and out. While journeying is a genetic ability in all humans, there are skills which make it easier and mistakes which make it harder. We will teach you the best ways to get into the spirit realms and solutions to the most common problems people encounter in their techniques.
- Talking to the locals. There are right ways and wrong ways to approach and communicate with spirit beings when you journey. We will teach you how to approach them, how to tell which are friendly and which are not, how to form relationships with them and how to work with them.
“I found this course at the perfect time in my life and I will be forever grateful for it. Taking this course provided me key insights on my spiritual path in a safe supportive atmosphere.” – Bethany S.
Acquiring a spirit ally – 2 classes
The reason a shaman communicates with spirit beings is because it is possible to work in partnership with them. Whether on the psychic planes or in this world, a shaman can use them to get information and bring about changes in the physical dimension, such as psychic healing. A shaman forms long-term working relationships with select spirit beings – known as “allies.”
This class will teach you how to acquire and work with spirit allies.
- Getting a power animal – the power animal is the shaman’s “go-to” guy in the spirit realms. Every shaman has a main spirit being with whom they work. This is almost always the first spirit ally a person acquires and will be their main guide in the spirit realms. The power animal can see you’re your soul and knows you very well. If you journey to the spirit realms with a problem, the power animal knows where to go and who to see about it.
During this session you will acquire a power animal. - Acquiring other spirit allies – sometimes you need to find a spirit ally with specific skills or knowledge. Other times you will be approached by spirits seeking to work with you. Not every spirit who approaches you is appropriate to work with, and all spirit allies require something in return from you. We will teach you how to locate new spirit allies and how to form relationships with them. We will teach you how to negotiate with potential spirit allies so as to form a productive relationship which serves both of you. We will teach you how to avoid forming burdensome or harmful relationships.
We will use this knowledge in the course so you can acquire more spirit allies to work with you.
The aim of this course is to enable you to live shamanically.
We don’t want you to be dependent on us, or anyone else, for your own spiritual development. Our aim is to give you the ability to look after yourself as quickly as possible. Of course, we would love you to return for more training, but our aim is always to empower you. The Foundation in Shamanism will give you the ability to develop shamanically under your own guidance, or to jump directly into more advanced training.
Living shamanically means:
- seeing the world from the shamanic perspective.
- having practices within your life which keep you aligned with the planet’s flow of psychic energy.
- having the ability to recognise when you should take shamanic action and the ability to do that work.
- being able to independently guide your shamanic development.
Working with the ancestors – 2 classes
The ancestors are an important part of many cultures, but have been neglected in modern western culture. The ancestors include our deceased relatives, but also the vast body of peoples who have walked this earth before us.
The class will teach you what and who the ancestors are, how to form a connection with them, and how to ensure the relationship is positive and beneficial.
- Understanding the ancestors – who are the ancestors, what is the “ancestor field”, what do the ancestors want from us.
- Connecting to your personal ancestors – your family ancestors, your cultural ancestors, the ancestors in your locality. Transference from one generation to the next – family curses and family karma.
- Working with the lineage – all the shamans who have lived before leave their wisdom in the earth’s psychic field. This body of wisdom is known as “the lineage.” A trained shaman can connect to the lineage for advice and help in their work.
- Building an ancestor altar – where to put it, how to work with it, how to keep your ancestors in the altar and out of the bedroom.
- Working with an ancestor – Journey to the spirit realms of the ancestors and acquire one of your ancestor’s as a spirit guide.
January 14 – April 1, 2025
About your teachers
Dr Owen Roberts, PhD
Originally of Welsh origin, Owen studied Core Shamanism in Australia and worked in the Aboriginal community. While in Australia he also studied Tarot, Hermeticism, Kabbalah and Jungian Psychoanalysis. He studied psychic healing at the London College of Psychic Studies. Having studied Tarot for over 35 years, Owen developed and teaches our highly successful Diploma in Professional Tarot Reading. Owen is a graduate and former employee of the USA’s Four Winds Shamanic Institute with certificates in Healing the Light Body, Soul Retrieval and Advanced Shamanism. Owen also has a PhD in Western Philosophy and a BPhil from the Pontifical University. Owen’s work has been to fuse traditional shamanism with the western traditions of Kabbalah, classical mythology and psychoanalysis.
Owen studied traditional Despacho ceremony under the Peruvian P’aqo (or shaman) Don Sebastian Succlle Apaza for 8 years and has received from him the Mosoq Karpay initiation which qualifies him as a P’aqo in the Don Sebastian’s tradition. Owen continues to study under P’aqos from that region.
“I am honored to receive the profound wisdom embedded in the Quechuan understanding of life. It is a privilege to bring this wisdom to our students. The P’aqo Nan, path of the P’aqo, is a profound approach to healing of self, community, and our relationship with nature. My aim is to make this wisdom accessible to all while staying as true to it as possible.”
Student review:
“Owen,
I will take any course you teach! You have a wealth of knowledge and your courses are taught in a clear and thorough manner while fairly priced and packed with valuable resources. I most appreciate your professionalism and approachable teaching style (your honest, no bull shit, practical approach to teaching and your openness to questions and your patience and kindness to all students).” – Sarah
Majella Fagan, BA (Drama), BSc (Psychology)
Majella is the founder of Green Tara College and Holistic Therapy Centre. Majella is a long-established and well-known teacher within the Holistic field. She has worked with energy healing for over 17 years and is trained in various branches of Shamanism (Core training for 3 years), Celtic and Inca traditions (6 years), Four Winds Certified, South American and Native American traditions. Majella has been teaching and facilitating Shamanism and ceremonies for over 11 years and is dedicated to this work.
Personal witness – Majella Fagan:
“I had studied many therapies and been in personal healing for many years. Having taken the core shamanic training twice and working with it for many years I was thirsting for something more in depth and felt I needed to know more. I didn’t feel the working techniques were adequate enough for the growing needs of the work. When I took the six years of shamanic training with initiations from the Q’ero and the training in further shamanic techniques with Alberto Villoldo and The Four Winds, I found what I had been looking for. This is the most phenomenal work I have ever done and it brought to me deep, deep healing where at a crucial time in my life I finally cleared the heaviness of past issues and moved forward into a life of peace and higher destiny, here I learned to ‘dream my world into being.’ I can only say from my heart that I urge you if it feels right or you feel drawn to it to take this training. Alongside teaching Holistic Therapies, my main work is with Reiki and shamanism. I started with traditional Reiki and have found that the combination of the two traditions is a wealth of amazement and have found that the shamanic work brought me into deeper techniques and much more grounding. There is a wealth of joy, freedom and humility in walking this path which helps give us grace to aim to be a better person. In times of crisis it is my spiritual training and practice that has kept me together. Please feel free to give me a call or if you’d like to meet up and chat about it I’d be delighted.”
Caroline Barker, BA, MBA
Caroline is a Canadian-American p’aqo (shaman). A graduate of Green Tara College’s shamanic practitioner training program, she was initiated as a p’aqo by Don Francisco Apaza and Don Ricardo Apaza from the Q’ero village of Kolpa Kuchu.
Formerly a corporate finance executive, Caroline came to shamanism after developing extensive chronic health issues and becoming bedridden. She received her B.A. from Dartmouth and her M.B.A. from Duke, and trained in coaching with the school of International Professional Excellence in Coaching school. Her spiritual training includes studies with Green Tara College in Ireland, including Quechuan and Core Shamanic techniques as well as studies of the Mayan tradition of Don Elijio through the Arvigo Institute. She is also a Master Practitioner of Shamanic Reiki. In her spiritual healing work, she draws from the wisdom and techniques of many teachers from traditions around the world. She is deeply grateful to the communities and people who are her teachers for sharing their wisdom, empowering her healing and allowing her to bring it to you.
Kamel Seklaoui
With a background rooted in the Ivory Coast of West Africa, Kamel Seklaoui has travelled extensively across Africa, Europe, and South America, immersing himself in diverse cultures and learning from various practitioners and mentors.
Kamel’s spiritual lineage comes from West Africa where he learned the way of the spirit through his adoptive grandfather and first mentor.
He has been also fully initiated as a P’aqo by two senior Q’ero P’aqo’s from the Ausangate regions of Peru.
With a scientific background studying chemistry, Kamel wanted to explore the science behind the unknown realms of the spirits.
His journey took him to explore the universe within, understanding the functions of the body on a biological level, the mind and the emotions, the energy and its frequencies, and the spirit beyond the physical world.
Kamel has honed his expertise in a range of modalities, learning though the years:
- Shamanism from the Quechuan tradition through Green Tara College with Dr Owen and Majella
- Master in Energy Healing/Reiki through Healing From The Heart with Martha
- Breathwork through Soma and Pranayama with different mentors
- Spiritual Coaching through different mentors
- Life Coaching through Rhodes Wellness College
- Clinical Counselling Hypnotherapy through Daybreak Therapy
- Guided Meditation through different mentors
Kamel has developed a deep understanding of multi-dimensional awareness, both within himself and in others.
Grateful for the knowledge and gifts he has acquired, Kamel is passionate about using his tools to support and uplift the collective consciousness. He went on a journey from city to city around the world sharing all his tools and learning more tools to develop his abilities in order to serve the great consciousness.
He is committed to helping individuals unlock their true potential and create their best lives.
Recordings
This course is a live class, not a pre-recorded online training course. Classes are recorded, so you can watch them later if you need to refresh your knowledge or miss a class. There are some classes which involve journeying into the spirit realms. You can do these via recordings, but you may need guidance to improve, or have questions about what happens, so these are best done live so you can talk to the teacher if you need to.
“I found the tutor Owen to be really helpful and his grip & knowledge about the course is incredible. He made extra effort with every student to help in their understanding which added manifold to my experience. The content of the course was quite satisfactory. The journey experiences and the discussion space with Owen, I found especially helpful in my learning shamanism & unlearning from the framework that I was entering the space from. Momina, Pakistan.
Dates & Times
Booking a place:
Shamanic Resources
Knowledge:
Some Youtube videos about shamanic tools
Shopping
We have special discount arrangements with online stores for you to buy your shamanic tools from: Shamanic Supply Shops.