Foundation for Shamanic Studies
Core Shamanic Training
Catherine Hughes is guest faculty for the Foundation for Shamanic Studies offering core shamanic training online and in-person in Ontario and Atlantic Canada.
In-person Workshops
The Foundation for Shamanic Studies has been offering in-person workshops in core Shamanism since the early 1980s. This trusted organization has taught 1000s of students around the world safe and ethical core shamanic practices. During Covid, we switched our teachings to an online format. We are now ready to offer in-person teaching once again while maintaining our online workshops. Both teaching streams are very effective. Please reach out with questions you might have.
If you would like more information and the listings of in-person offerings taught by Catherine Hughes, please click on the button.
Online Workshop Offerings
The Shamanic Journey:
Pathway to Knowledge & Power™
*Introductory Course*
The shamanic journey is a remarkable visionary method for entering into another reality with discipline and purpose. Using classic drumming techniques to alter consciousness, participants will be introduced to the shamanic journey to awaken one’s soul and dormant spiritual power. Travel outside of time and space into another reality and make contact with compassionate helping spirits, such as teachers and power animals, for personal wisdom and to gain knowledge to help create a better world.
The workshop offered by Catherine, on Zoom is 7 hrs. The cost of this workshop is $170 CDN, $158 for members.
Note: This workshop does not replace the Basic in-person Way of the Shaman Workshop as a prerequisite for advanced in-person training.
You can register via Paypal or Etransfer to Catherine@wayfindingspirit.com. Email me if you wish to write a cheque for payment.
June
17and 18
2023
The Shamanic Journey: Pathway to Knowledge and Power
Online Workshop
12:00- 4:00 PM Eastern
1:00- 5:00 PM Atlantic
Divination in Practice
The skilled practice of shamanic divination, the process of consulting the spirits for knowledge, is an essential aspect of shamanic healing and of bringing the wisdom of the helping spirits to bear on personal, local, and global issues. This workshop offers students opportunities to practice journeying to contact their compassionate spirit helpers and to enhance their abilities to form on-topic questions and interpret the messages received. Participants will also experience classic shamanic ways to build and nurture strong relationships with their own spirits. This is an excellent follow-up workshop from the Way of the Shaman or the new online Shamanic Journey workshop. This is not the same workshop as the in-person Divination workshop
The workshop offered by Catherine Hughes is a 7-hour course. The cost of this workshop is $160 CDN, $148 for FSS members.
PREREQUISITES:
Either the in-person Way of the Shaman or the online The Shamanic Journey: Pathway to Power and Knowledge.
You can register through this Paypal link or Etransfer to Catherine@wayfindingspirit.com
Fall
TBD
2023
Divination in Practice
Online Workshop
10:00 – 2:00 PM Eastern
11:00-3:00 PM Atlantic
The Shamanic Worldview: Everything is Alive™
The shamanic worldview underpins the ethical and effective practice of shamanism. Experiential knowledge of this worldview leads to a profound awareness of the sacred nature of our world and an awakening of compassion—resulting in a deep desire to relieve pain and suffering and restore balance and harmony. Using journeying and experiential shamanic methods, in this online workshop you will have the
opportunity to personally explore and experience the fundamental aspects of the shaman’s worldview:
Everything is alive and has spirit.
- Unity: We are part of, connected with, the totality of nature
- Independent spirituality—the shaman as “one who knows”
- The implications of these principles related to permission when doing shamanic healing and divination
The workshop offered by Catherine Hughes consists of 7 hours of training. The cost of this workshop is $160 CDN or $148 for Foundation members.
PREREQUISITES:
The Shamanic Journey: Pathway to Knowledge & Power (online) AND, Shamanic Divination in Practice (online)OR the in-person Basic Workshop, The Way of the Shaman.
You can register through the Paypal link or by Etransfer to catherine@wayfindingspirit.com. Please email Catherine if you wish to pay by cheque.
Fall
TBD
2023
The Shamanic Worldview: Everything is Alive
Online Workshop
10:00-2:00 PM Eastern
11:00-3:00 PM Atlantic
*New* Shamanism and Personal Transformation
Shamanism has much to offer those seeking personal knowledge and emotional and spiritual maturity. Shamanism & Personal Transformation teaches us how to work with our spirit helpers and in ordinary reality to transform personal attitudes, emotions, and blocks to living a fulfilled and inspired life. Exercises are provided to help participants see and move beyond personal limitations to a centered and compassionate state of being. In so doing, we bring these qualities into the world to the benefit and ultimate transformation of our Earth and its inhabitants.
This workshop offers practical methods to gain and apply wisdom from the spirits to your personal life:
- Reconnect with your soul’s purpose and discover your role in the larger context of our world
- Practice applying shamanic divination/journeying methods to personal issues using a standard problem-solving process
- Uncover personal attitudes and emotions that block and limit personal growth and wholeness
- Use shamanic divination to discover how to move beyond your limitations to live a compassionate and transformative life
PREREQUISITES
NOTE: Participants must be able to successfully journey to contact at least one helping spirit from the Upper or Lower Worlds.
- The Basic Workshop: The Way of the Shaman (in-person workshop)
- OR The Shamanic Journey: Pathway to Knowledge & Power AND Shamanic Divination in Practice
This workshop is 10.5 hours in length and has a fee of $225 CDN, and $207 for FSS members. You may register through the PayPal link or Etransfer Catherine@wayfindingspirit.com. If paying through Paypal, members will receive a refund of the membership discount through Paypal after registration, just make me aware that you are a member.
October
TBD
2023
Shamanism and Personal Transformation
Online Workshop
10:00-2:00 PM Eastern
11:00-3:00 PM Atlantic
Shamanism, Spirits, and Healing™
Effective shamanic practice depends upon knowledge of the spirit realms and how to access them to build strong relationships with the compassionate helping spirits. Powerful shamanic healing requires training, discipline, and experience.
In this experiential workshop, which sets the context for the Shamanic Healing Online Training Program, you will have the opportunity to personally explore:
- The three worlds of the shaman (Upper, Lower, and Middle Worlds) and the qualities of ordinary and non-ordinary reality;
- The nature of the spirits of the three worlds;
- Middle World non-ordinary reality spiritual aspects and their relationship to illness and wholeness.
Primary shamanic healing methods will be described, including shamanic extraction healing, psychopomp to help the spirits of the deceased, and soul retrieval. You will learn and practice power animal retrieval, with the chance to work with another participant to both retrieve and receive a power animal. In these challenging times, shamanic work, when combined with ordinary reality knowledge and action, can make an immense contribution toward an effective long-term solution. The Workshop is 7 hrs of training and the fee is $160 CDN, $148 for FSS members.
You can register through the Paypal link or by Etransfer to catherine@wayfindingspirit.com. Please email Catherine if you wish to pay by cheque.
PREREQUISITES:
- The Basic, Way of the Shaman (in-person workshop)
- OR The Shamanic Journey: Pathway to Knowledge & Power AND Shamanic Divination in Practice
- Recommended The Shamanic Worldview: Everything is Alive (available online only)
TBD
2023
Shamanism, Spirits, and Healing
Online Workshop
10:00- 2:00 PM Eastern
11:00-3:00 PM Atlantic
Shaman as Psychopomp
Shamans are concerned with the human soul, with healing during life and assisting the soul’s passage out of the Middle World after death. Familiar with the realms of the dead, a shaman can act as a psychopomp—a conductor of souls. A trained shamanic practitioner is able to guide the soul of a deceased person out of the Middle World to a place where the soul can receive help in taking the next step on its path. The focus of this training is on learning and practicing the psychopomp method.
In this fully experiential workshop, you will have the opportunity to:
- Explore what happens for human souls from a core shamanic perspective after they leave the body—the “destiny of human souls” in the Upper, Lower, and Middle Worlds
- Learn and practice the psychopomp method to help the souls of the deceased out of the Middle World to a better place
- How to locate a soul in the Middle World that may be stuck and in need of help
- How to obtain the soul’s permission to offer shamanic assistance
- How to guide the soul to a place in the Upper or Lower World where it will be helped to
continue on its journey
PREREQUISITES:
- The Basic, Way of the Shaman (in-person workshop)
- OR The Shamanic Journey: Pathway to Knowledge & Power AND Shamanic Divination in Practice
- The Shamanic Worldview: Everything is Alive (available online only) AND
- Shamanism, Spirits, and Healing
This workshop is 10.5 hours in length and has a fee of $225 CDN, $207 for FSS members. You may register through the PayPal link cheque, or Etransfer Catherine@wayfindingspirit.com
TBD
2023
Shaman as Psychopomp
Online Workshop
9:30-3:30 PM Eastern
10:30-4:30 PM Atlantic
Shamanic Extraction Healing Method
Shamanic extraction healing is a powerful practice for treating localized pain and illness resulting from spiritual factors. “The shaman works to remove things that interfere with the health of the body, such as spiritual intrusions, and extract them. This is not done through journeying. It’s done through working here in the Middle World in an altered state of consciousness.” Michael Harner, Shamanic Healing
In this fully experiential online workshop, you will have the opportunity to:
- Learn methods to build spiritual power to prepare for extraction practice
- Sense and see spiritual intrusions, which may be causing localized illness
- Practice with other participants to safely extract (remove) spiritual intrusions
- Re-empower a client after a shamanic extraction to fully restore health and well-being
This workshop is 10.5 hours in length and has a fee of $225 CDN, $207 for FSS members. You may register through the PayPal link or Etransfer Catherine@wayfindingspirit.com. The membership discount will be refunded back to if you wish to use Paypal and send me an email indicating you are a member.
PREREQUISITES:
- The Basic, Way of the Shaman (in-person workshop)
- OR The Shamanic Journey: Pathway to Knowledge & Power AND Shamanic Divination in Practice
- The Shamanic Worldview: Everything is Alive (available online only) AND
- Shamanism, Spirits, and Healing AND
- Shaman as Psychopomp in person or online
January
14 and 15
2023
Shamanic Extraction Healing Method
Online Workshop
9:30-3:30 PM Eastern
10:30-4:30 PM Atlantic
Power Soul Retrieval Method
February
25 and 26
2023
Power Soul Retrieval Method
Online Workshop
9:30-3:30 PM Eastern
10:30-4:30 PM Atlantic
Inspired Shamanic Practice: Essentials of Effective & Principled Shamanic Healing™
An effective shamanic healing practice depends on a combination of factors, including authentic and rigorous training in methods and direct experience with clients. As a spiritual healing method, the pragmatic aspects of the profession may be easily overlooked, and yet can make the difference between a valuable experience and a profoundly healing one from the client’s viewpoint.
Purpose of the workshop:
- To help you develop an ethical, effective shamanic practice that has integrity and is based on respect for all beings;
- To offer you guidelines and ways of deciding for yourself regarding ethical issues – such as whether there is permission to do shamanic healing work in a specific situation – rather than “one size fits all” rules or answers;
- To increase the professionalism of the practice by helping you create a supportive “container” that enhances your practice, including appropriate boundaries, safety, and freedom to practice within that container.
The Workshop is 7 hrs of training and the fee is $160 CDN, $148 for FSS members. You may register through the PayPal link or etransfer Catherine@wayfindingspirit.com
March
18
2023
Inspired Shamanic Practice
Online Workshop
9:30-5:00 PM Eastern
10:30-6:00 PM Atlantic
Core Shamanism Healing Practice
This online workshop will provide students with advanced FSS training and the chance to review and practice the fundamental core shamanic healing methods in a session with a participant client. Those who are beginning a shamanic healing practice, as well as seasoned practitioners seeking to increase their proficiency, can benefit from this training.
The workshop includes:
- General parameters of a shamanic healing session, as well as important ethical considerations.
- Review and practice of the primary methods, as taught in the in-person weekend workshops and the Online Shamanic Healing series: extraction healing, power animal retrieval, psychopomp work, and power soul retrieval.
- The opportunity to “put it all together” by applying multiple core shamanic healing methods in a solo session for another participant in the role of the client.
- Discussion, Q&A, and information exchange afterwards with other shamanic practitioners to clarify the methods and address issues that may arise during a healing session.
This is a 14-hour workshop and is $295 CDN for non-members, and $271 CDN for members. You can send a payment for the workshop via Etransfer to catherine@wayfindingspirit.com or through Paypal. For questions please contact me at catherine@wayfindingspirit.com. Paypal will automatically bill your credit card in your home currency. For questions please contact me at catherine@wayfindingspirit.com.
April
15 and 16
2023
Core Shamanism Healing Practice
Online Workshop
9:30-5:00 PM Eastern
10:30-6:00 PM Atlantic

Workshop Registration and Policies
Payment can be made by cheque, by E-transfer to catherine@wayfindingspirit.com, or by using your credit or debit card with PayPal. You do not need to have a PayPal account. Please contact me if you are a member and the discount will be applied. The Foundation for Shamanic Studies has taken a decision to make online workshops uniform in price across regions and therefore some of my workshop fees have been adjusted in respect of this decision. The Foundation is offering workshop discounts for members, you can find out more about this by visiting their website https://shamanism.org/join/index.html
Refund Policy: A full refund is given up to 14 days before the workshop, after the 2 weeks your fee may be applied to a future workshop.
The Foundation for Shamanic Studies has a policy the workshop participants must be 18 years of age or older.