2022

Merzouga, Sahara Desert, Marrocco

 

INTRODUCTION

 

In ordinary life and plain scientific and practical conceptions existential crises, depressions, near-death and death-like states of mind used to be considered as destructive, harmful, and needless. Modern psychotherapy encountering these states and phenomena in its practice, have now idea how to deal with them and – in vain and in damage for clients – trying to exclude them from the life of personality.

Transpersonal worldview is regarding life-death and death-life transitions as universal elements of natural and cognitive processes, evolution and development of the world and personality – and existential crises, depressions, near-death and death-like states of mind – as a challenge and a stimulus to a spiritual breakthrough. Transpersonal psychotherapy, as distinct from other modalities, moving beyond trivial experience and reflections, is using these states and phenomena as parts and means of therapeutic treatment, both, newest and originating from thousand years old shamanic traditions and spiritual practices.

 

In this Module you will get the essence of the sacred teachings of indigenous peoples and make them directly relevant to how we understand and act our lives and find the sources of our strength.

 

Shamanism connects you with the pillars of humanity and is a subject or topic that is required and unavoidable by the student if he or she is a transpersonal psychotherapist.

Shamanism is at the base at the origin, is the root of all studies of all religions and even scientific knowledge.

Examining the history of mankind in search of good models, we find the mysterious figure of the shaman still active in very remote and distant communities and in the writings of Eliade, Castaneda, Campbell, Halifax, Harner Sánchez Grof, Mindell. We can find his presence in Paleolithic caves that are 30,000 years old.

The services of a mediator between the luminous world and the current reality correspond to this shaman which shaman is the basic creative response of today’s man.

The shaman is present in the great moments and mysteries being on watch since our existence in the great topics of transcultural mythology birth, death, the hero, the love and human suffering, involving the invocation and use of dreams and visions to solve problems.

Cultivating inner life is central to the healer’s mission; this aspect has been completely lost in modern medicine.

For a shaman to work is not enough with its technical capacity as modern doctors do, it is necessary to involve the inner world that includes the knowledge that he has acquired following the spiritual paths of other shamans and guides and listening to the inner voices that always speak to those who want to hear.

 

Mircea Eliade defines Shamanism as the technique of ecstasy, the shaman is the manipulator of the sacred

The trainees of the fourth module of “The Healing Fields” course will:

• get experimentally, scientifically and historically based knowledge of existential crises, depressions, near-death and after-death-like states of mind – as essential, inevitable and fruitful parts of evolution and development of personality.
• obtain and master profound intelligence, approaches, tools, skills and meta-skills, necessary for productive transiting or accompanying through these crucial sections of life path
• taste and deeply experience incomparable transformative processes, inspired and brought about by the nature of the Sahara Desert.

 

 

(9 DAYS, 6-8 HOURS EACH)

• 1. Death with multiple faces.

Death and after-death experience in science, culture, mass-media, mythology, spiritual and shamanic traditions, psychology and psychotherapy

• «The Initiation»

The spiritual awakening which often comes through an intuition about the existence of something transcendent, which is beyond oneself is the first stage of the Journey of the Shaman: The Tonal

• Death as transition.

Existential crises, depressions, near-death and death-like states of mind. The approaches, methods and tools of moving towards and through these states and phenomena.

• «The door between two worlds».

Somatic, psychological and / or spiritual crises will occupy this phase or stage.

• Death from inside.

Theory and practice of therapeutic implementation of near-death states and experience. Rituals, events, worldviews, conceptions and psychotechnics of positive, productive accepting of death and death-like states. The vision quest – as the form of the symbolic death and re-birth experience. Opening of the physical and spiritual centers to the universe.

• «The separate reality»

A visit to the parallel world of shamans, in other words, the dream world, the hell, the power animals, Nierika, the Nahual, will occupy the third stage.

• Integration: death and ecstatic states of consciousness – going beyond and uniting the seeming opposites.
• Shamanic Activation

The return and the ability of shamans to shift between the different parallel realities opens up topics such as the inner healer, the capacity to serve others. Towards Integration and embodied Spirituality in a Sacred World, making sense the experience. The integration of all the contents, works and processes that the student will have achieved during this 8 sessions of healing field, in order to apply them to the profession of psychotherapist and to life.

 

 

Theoretical studies

• Understanding of existential crises, depressions, near-death and death-like states of mind in various mythological systems, spiritual traditions and psychological exploration.
• Relationship and mutual enrichment of transpersonal and existential therapy.
• Altered and extended states of consciousness, productivity, psychological explanation and necessity.
• Review of Shamanistic Bibliography. Main authors.
• Pre-history and history of shamanism. Transcultural vision overworld of shamanism.
• Symbols and myths of death and after-death experience in transpersonal practices.
• Near-death experiences and their effect on personality.
• Death: a challenge and a call. Death and spiritual crisis.
• “Partial” death: death of ego, transitions rituals, death and resurrection.
• Techniques of work with terminally ill patients and their relatives.
• Shamanism is at the base at the origin, is the root of all studies of all religions and even scientific knowledge.

 

Methods and techniques

• Lectures and sharing.
• Mindfullness techniques: Buddhist and samurai mind trainings with respect to death.
• Shamanistic and Sufi rituals of transition.
• Empagenia – extraordinary metha-skill of the profound power of the therapist, shaman and healer
• Active dreaming
• Vision quest
• Mythodrama, spontaneous theatre, theatre psychotechnics.
• Body-expression
• Voice technics
• Meditations.
• Breathing technics.
• Drum Journey

 

Holding Space of the Healing field.

Creating and supporting the psychological atmosphere of internal discoveries, openness and love, morphic field energy on the spiritual level. “Opening door Between the Worlds”

From a viewpoint of psychology Magda and Jaume will maintain the coherence of the group dynamics and from spiritual view they are representing the spiritual energy of the field which is unconditional acceptance not witnessing not judge mentality.

They will show to the trainees that always somebody is there supporting them.

The ravishing context: The magic of the Sahara Desert

The desert is a place of unbeatable mirages, of arid delusions, and the occasional oasis that becomes true. It is a space that does not presuppose anything, and only getting lost in it is how it can be known. Space where Man brings meaning and transcendence to the universe. The ability to develop goals and fight for their fulfillment saves us from the absurd, evidencing our spiritual dimension.

Antoine de Saint Exupéry once wrote: «The beauty of the desert is that everywhere it hides a well.» Something transformative happens when you enter the Sahara Desert. Nature and the dunes take over, but it is not the kind of nature that one’s imagination can invent, the nature of the desert is vast, ethereal and practically psychedelic. Look closely and you will see that life is thriving. Look more closely and you will find the healing field to heal.