CERTIFICATE AND DIPLOMA IN SHAMANISM AND TRANSFORMATIONAL MASK

A Contemporary Shamanic Course

This cutting edge course introduces shamanic practice and traditional healing systems relevant to contemporary living. It develops the ability to work with individuals, groups and communities in a healing way.

The power of mask to change people's life is well known throughout the world. You will experience your own transformation and learn the skills to facilitate others to live a more authentic life.

Masks have a universal language and thus are a wonderful medium to work with groups and communities. They may be used in a myriad of ways including:

•   celebrations 

•   healing

•   rites of passage and rituals

•   community and sacred theatre

•   parades and special events

•   conflict resolution

The Certificate and Diploma in Mask and Traditional Healing are available at our Sydney campus only.

To find Transpersonal courses available in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, please click on the link below.
Transpersonal courses available in other states

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is designed anyone wishing to develop a greater sense of connection to themselves, the land, spirit and others.   It is an introductory course to learn to navigate altered states of consciousness and journey into alternate realms, in order to heal and develop ones gifts and talents.  Tools and techniques are provided to enable people to access their inner resource, develop their ability to navigate and embody their full potential.

Students of Shamanism and Transformational Mask will develop the ability to:

•        embody ones medicine in order to live powerfully in the world

•        use practical tools in a therapeutic setting to facilitate personal well being

•        draw upon shamanic practice and traditional healing systems

•       facilitate  ritual, ceremony and celebration with individuals and community groups

•        create sacred art and craft and facilitate these process with others
  

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Course Content and Structure                      

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The course is taught in residential units of three day duration. There is one tutorial at Yarramalong on the Central Coast of NSW between each unit. During each unit  students will create a sacred art piece to use in their practice  for example medicine mask, carved amulet etc.

After successfully completing the first five units the students may be awarded a Certificate of Shamanism and Transformational Mask. After successfully completing the 10 units and a community placement students may be awarded a Diploma in Mask and Traditional Healing Systems. This course is a prerequisite for the Diploma of Mask and Traditional Healing.  All units will qualify as recognised prior learning.

CERTIFICATE IN SHAMANISM AND TRANSFORMATIONAL MASK

The Certificate course covers the first five units

UNIT 1:   Unmasking the shaman

Shamanism is an ancient healing method that has been recognised throughout recorded history in indigenous cultures around the world and is still practiced in many places today.  The Shaman enters into the realms of the imaginal accessing the mythic imagination. S/he travels into these alternate worlds to heal or seek information, new ideas or technologies. The Shaman performs rituals, healing and mentorship for the well being of the individual and community. Masks are an integral part of many of the rituals and healings.

The aim of this unit is to introduce Earth based teachings and Shamanic Practice as the underpinning philosophy and practice of the course. There is a revival of these practices known as neo shamanism, in contemporary society, as a response to the current planetary crisis. To be healthy in ones own body, psychology and spirituality is intimately connected to ones relationship to the earth. 

During Unit one students will be introduced to the intelligence and weave of the course including: 

•        Neutral mask  and the  expressive body

•        Drama and games to access spontaneity and the imaginal realms

•       The shamanic journey and navigation in metaphorical landscapes

•        Different masks the Shaman embodies, for example ceremonial facilitator, artist, trickster, storyteller. 

•        Safely accessing and navigating alternate states of consciousness

•        Connecting with one’s medicine  (often referred to as totemic being or power animal)

UNIT 2: Dadirri – a deep listening

During this unit you will open and deepen your relationship to the sacred,  attuning  your being to the song of land and spirit    Through  mask and other techniques we will connect with the power of nature – the land, the animals, the winds and  the rocks.  They whisper to us so we can learn the wisdom of the ages and embody it in our life.

Energetically the circle is a sacred symbol across all cultures in all times.  Many spiritual teachings are based on the circle for example the medicine wheel and the labyrinth.  The lore and stories of the circle (Circalore) teach us about  the seasons, the elements and the cycles of life. .

Circalore  is a development tool, a mythological landscape and a container for spiritual practice, ritual and healing.  There are different qualities, including a totemic being,  at each compass point of the circle and through movement and mask work we can access these resources to heal, enrich and inform our lives.  

UNIT 3:  Circalore Divination

Divination  means to look beyond appearances, to see behind the overt manifestation into the intricacies and unseen of the situation. 

 Before the Shaman acts in the community or in an individual healing, they use a divination technique to establish the most effective strategy to employ.  Students will learn divination techniques to inform their healing and ritual practices.

The chakras are an energetic circular system within our body which determine our health and well being.  During this unit students will practice divination techniques to determine the state of the chakras and methods to rebalance and heal them.  

UNIT 4: Ceremony and Ritual Part One

Traditionally ritual has been pivotal to the health and well-being of communities. For millennia ritual and ceremonies have been used to celebrate life, grieve, heal, connect to spirit, land, community and self.  In modern society many rituals have lost meaning and been relegated to a place of fear and suspicion.  This unit develops the skills to reintroduce ritual and ceremony in a safe structured environment, to use in your personal life, in groups and in community settings.

The symbolic language of ritual will be introduced and the relationship between symbol myth and ritual will be explored.   

UNIT 5: Embodying the dream

Many indigenous cultures come together to share their dreams.  They recognise that these realms are as authentic as ordinary waking state.  We will draw from this wisdom and work with dreams so we can access another level of knowing.  Often an individual will have a dream that speaks of the whole community.  Exploring these dreams in the mask and enacting them enables a community to deepen their story, the unconscious becomes part of the community fabric.

Students will develop the skills to listen to the voice of dream, to access healing power and wisdom and facilitate these processes with individuals, groups and communities.

DIPLOMA IN SHAMANISM & TRANSFORMATIONAL MASK

UNIT 6: Breakthrough 

More than one in three people will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime. Currently psychology and psychiatry does not address the spiritual implications of these conditions. In today's society many people are seeking alternate ways of viewing themselves and their place in the universe.

The new age movement has proliferated and there are many people using techniques involving altered states of consciousness without adequate understanding or framework. This is leading to a significant number of people experiencing spiritual crisis. To all intents and purposes these episodes may resemble mental health issues. This can lead to a lifetime of dependence as a mental heath patient. This course develops the skills to recognise the distinguishing factors between a mental health condition and a crisis of a spiritual nature and how to work with each. In the case of the former this would be done in consultation with a multi disciplinary team including their psychiatrist, psychologist etc. 

UNIT 7: Ceremony and Ritual Part Two

This unit extends and broadens Unit 4. Traditional rituals will be enacted as well as the development of skills to design and facilitate rituals specific to individuals, groups or a community. The symbolic language of ritual will be explored though the enactment of pivotal myths: for example, the story of Persephone who is abducted into the underworld by Pluto and although she returns, she has eaten the seeds of the pomegranate and thus she is compelled to return each year. This myth is cited frequently to elucidate our own need to enter into our depths as well as explaining natural processes, for example, the change of seasons as the Goddess spends a third of her year in the underworld.

UNIT 8: Shadowmask

This unit will examine the shadow and its context in today's world. For individuals the shadow includes those aspects that are unknown, or repressed. Working with the shadow is an alchemical process opening the potential to turn the unowned parts of our self (the lead) into a new potential (the gold) The shadow comprises not only those aspects of us that are unsavoury to our egoic state but also some of our unrealised natural abilities or gifts. In neoshamanism the aim is for us to be in full possession of ourself.

In contemporary terms sorcery may manifest as scapegoating, bigotry, alienation and marginalisation.
In Shamanic practice working with the shadow is essential. By befriending the enemy it becomes a powerful ally and a potential to draw upon. Practical methods to work with individuals and communities will be explored to express, heal and harness these resources.

UNIT 9: Labyrinth of Being

This unit looks at healing from a soul perspective. Shamanic healing includes clearing, extraction of energy, bodywork and soul retrieval. Traditionally all illness can be viewed in the context of the spirit and soul. When an individual experiences a trauma they may lose their animation for life, termed as soul loss or damage. The Shaman travels into the client's mythical world to restore harmony balance and heal. This may include the need for extraction that is, clearing energy blocked within the body.


In contemporary shamanism the question is how do I live a fully animate life, how do I sing my soul home. A range of techniques, informed by traditional shamanism, will be introduced and practiced. Students will learn to journey into the client's mythical landscape and select from a variety of practices, the most effective to facilitate healing.


UNIT 10:  Community and Sacred Theatre 

In Greek culture sacred theatre was called Therapia because it was considered to be a form of consciously exploring the evolution of the soul or community spirit. In community and sacred theatre the ceremonial director facilitates the exploration of the mythology of the individual or group to create a unique and inspiring enactment.

Masks can transcend boundaries such as culture, time, language and place making them a vital tool in working with communities and individuals. Students will learn to create and develop events and theatre with community groups

UNIT 11: Weaving the Threads into Professional Practice

Through out this unit students explore taking their work into the world, whether in private practice, their family or community life or within their existing workplace. The masks of the Shaman will be further explored to enable student to take this work practically into different career paths.

This unit will address ethics and issue that can arise when working with healing and ritual with individuals, groups and the community.

EARTH BASED COMMUNITY PRACTICUM

This unit provides a bridge between the skills and knowledge developed throughout the course and taking the work into a chosen field or career. Students complete a 40 hour community based project in an organisation. This will be negotiated with each student according to their envisioned future direction. Support will be given at the college to assist the student to locate a suitable placement and approach the organisation.

Students may take on a variety of projects for example: run a dream group, facilitate a community event, work with healing with individual in an institution, take a specific group through an exploration culminating in a healing ritual etc.