Benefits of Learning Shamanism Online

Shamanism Blog by Scott Silverston

I am often asked by people who want to learn Shamanism to help them choose between our Online Shamanism Course and our face to face Fundamentals of Shamanism Workshop in Hawaii.   

When I first started teaching Shamanism; I was teaching exclusively in person, in a one on one private setting.  As more and more people came forward to request Shamanism Training our waiting list grew and I adapted my scheduling to meet the needs of the people who felt called to study with me.  

It was just a matter of time before someone asked me if we could work at a distance by video conference.   At first I was unsure if what I was doing with my students face to face would be replicated effectively online.  I soon found out that not only is it effective to Learn Shamanism Online; there are also many benefits for the student that I had not envisioned.   

 After the first class we realized that learning Shamanism online is easier than either of us expected. Shamanism is about answering a call from the Spirit World to be of service.  The Benevolent Spirits of the Upper and Lower worlds are the Ultimate Teachers of Shamanism; and these Helping Spirits are not constrained by the boundaries of space and time that we are as humans.  Learning Shamanism at a physical distance from the human teacher was not an issue as long as we were able to dialog about the experiences of the student which we could do both in real time on the video conference and by email in between calls to answer questions that came up during her journey work.  

 As we proceeded developing the protocol for the Online Shamanism Course; the benefits of online learning became even more apparent.   In addition to the substantial cost saving of being able to study from home, students with families and other obligations can join the program while simultaneously meeting all their other worldly commitments.  Hosting our courses online makes the study of Shamanism available to a range of people who would otherwise be unable to participate because of their life circumstances.  Often times, there are no qualified Shamanic Practitioners or Teachers near someone’s community; without the Online Shamanism Training, these people would need to travel great distances to study.

Other practical benefits include an increased proficiency in distance work derived from working remotely and the ability to review all the classes on video.  Since all our online classes are video recorded; students who live in time zones where they cannot join us live are able to watch the recorded classes at their own convenience and dialog via email; thereby receiving the same personalized attention as the live students.

The process of learning Shamanism, whether it is online or face to face, takes time.   Through the years of working together with students I have a developed and refined a step by step curriculum that simultaneously allows each person to develop their own unique gifts while following best practices for client well-being and personal self-care.   

I discovered that by learning online, my students are better able take action to re-balance situations in their life at home that could easily have been glossed over in a retreat type setting.  Too often, we go on retreat, feel inspired, and then find ourselves unable to maintain our lofty expectations of ourselves in day to day life when we return to our home.   By integrating Online Shamanic Study into our daily life; we integrate the practice deeply as something that becomes a regular part of our daily existence and therefore creates a much deeper level of embodiment and ownership of the art.  

Integrating shamanism into our daily life is a huge priority for me.   It is vitally important that we normalize the shamanic state of consciousness as equally valid to ordinary reality so as to balance human conditioning that overly emphasizes the material and mental aspects of life.  

Our Intermediate Training focuses on this integration process; on normalizing a shamanic practice as a part of our daily life.  What I discovered with my first online student is that this aspect of the shamanic work is so deep and transformative that each class requires a minimum of one full week for the student to process the work.  For this reason, we offer our Intermediate Shamanism Training Online as a 3 month course.

One of my primary intentions in teaching is to help people receive grounded and authentic Shamanism training that will allow them to practice safely, sustainably and effectively for many years.   When we practice sustainably, our positive impact on the Web of Life is broader and more enduring.  

Part of our responsibility as Custodians of the Earth is that we bring the Web of Life back into balance through right action.  We can only re-balance the Web of Life by working together to change the consciousness of separation that is so prevalent in today's world.   Our online classes help students of shamanism to join together in a community that spans the world.  Often times, if we live in small or conservative communities, we can feel isolated in our shamanic practice.  If we are forced to leave our communities to find like-minded friends; the feelings of isolation can become more intense when we return.

Learning Shamanism Online helps us build a strong network of friends across the world; a global community that normalizes Shamanic Consciousness, intuitive awareness, and a desire to act in right relationship to bring healing and balance to the Web of Life.