What happened to Shamanism Canada & Canadian Centre for Shamanic Studies?
Since 1996, we have offered a variety of basic & advanced shamanic workshops and trainings, nature adventures, and healing retreats, as “Shamanism Canada”, and later the “Canadian Centre for Shamanic Studies”. We’ve hosted experiences with medicine people, peace-makers, and wisdom-keepers from Finland, South Africa, Peru, Tibet, and more.
We are now the Way of the Circle Centre:
Shamanic practice is a valued element of our centre’s roots – and in 2018 we embraced the opportunity to evolve our expression in a way that would help our language to become even more universal and limitless. We are based in Canada, where colonization continues to affect the First Nations people who are the rightful stewards of this land, whose power, language, traditions and spiritual practices were taken away in living memory. We don’t wish to perpetuate old systems of oppression or appropriate the culture or practices of First Nations communities – and the umbrella use of the Tungusic Siberian word ‘Shaman’ was defined by colonizers.
The language and methodology we share is that of the Way of the Circle, a strong and flexible framework for collective leadership that inspired our updated name, the Way of the Circle Centre. Connecting with nature, the heart, and the circle, within this framework we continue to:
- Connect deeply with our inner wisdom and natural senses to find answers through listening to our daytime and nighttime dreams.
- Return to our roots through our natural surroundings, reflecting what we experience in nature to co-create inspired ceremony that is authentic to ourselves.
- Follow the thread of intention & inspiration to create the lives and experiences we are dreaming of.
- Communicate with the the spirits of the seasons, the elements, the nature beings, and many others that are seen or unseen.
- Explore transformational tools and shared practices such as sound baths, chi gong, yoga, sound healing, and more.
Our circle community is comprised of a diverse group of heart-centered individuals from a variety of cultural and spiritual backgrounds, including some First Nations members. Through our collective leadership practice, circle members are welcome to share their authentic personal practices with the group.
Many Westerners also lost our ancestral heart-centered, nature-based, circle practices. This is a story many of us carry in our bloodlines rather than in recent memory like the First Nations people. From the ancient Mediterranean world, to the Norse, Irish & Scottish, Polynesian, Mayan and Aztec peoples, and others, we all have traditions and forms of connection that have been lost to colonization. If you feel a strong calling to reclaim your heart-centered, nature-based spiritual practices, but don’t know where to begin, our circle programming may be for you:
Learn More about our spiritual retreats:
- The Way of the Circle Centre
- Heart Foundations Retreats
- What is the ‘Way of the Circle’?
- Read Circle Stories from the Heart
Some words from our guests :
- "Nature has a way of creating a deep play for young ones, but also for adults too. At the Edge, I was able to dream, create, and become mindful at the moment, leading by my heart centre. My heart had been broken, my sense of identity lost. Coming to the circle, an ancient community practice, at the Edge, helped me understand what my new normal would become."
-Jennifer Casement Buttineau, Barrie, September 2018
Read Original Post - "I was welcomed with open arms, love and so much faith and support. To be here exactly as I am, without the need to validate my existence or justify myself in any way. To just, be. I could feel myself gaining a small piece of my heart back, with the realization that I do have something to offer, that my story is worth sharing and that I am capable of teaching and guiding others. To understand that I have the answers to my questions and I don’t need to constantly seek out validation for them is completely empowering and motivating to keep looking deeper within myself."
-Amanda Urbanski, May 2016
Read Original Post - "Heart Flow was without a doubt the most deeply extraordinary experience that I've ever had which provided me with clarity and assurance that nature knows the way, when we are truly connected within ourselves and are brave and willing -- deep down we know the way, and that when we hold a dream within a community we can co-create the way. The way to love, to peace, to acceptance, to balance, to harmony, to beauty --- I'm on my way."
-Courtney Sinclair, May 2016
Read Original Post - "I feel so grateful to write a second review for this unique and authentic facility, its programs, its values and its spiritual grounding. Once again, the physical setting was so ideal for this [Heart Blossom] retreat. We drummed, danced, dined like kings and played in the water to reconnect with our inner selves and our collective power to support and care for one another. All the superlative adjectives in the world would barely scratch the surface of how special this place is in so many ways. Make time for it, if it calls to you. You won't be disappointed."
-Tanya Marwitz, August 2018
Read Original Post
We’re working on fresh materials that reflect our updated language. In the meantime, the essence of the program is still reflected in this 2011 video: