Contemporary-style Shamanic Healing and Journeying is similar to Soulful Journeying and Visualization.

 

Josephine has a rich cultural heritage and spiritual practices that some have associated with the blend of her ethnic and racial background. She may be considered one who walks a Shamanic path and works with contemporary shamanism principles, with similarities to Filipino practitioners. Josephine is a Society for Shamanic Practice - Shamanism Without Borders member.

 

Similar to Filipino indigenous communities recognizing an individual as a Babaylan, or describing various healers/spiritual practitioners with a word that is not Filipino the closest term would be a 'shaman' or 'shaman/priestess.' Primarily it is a person who may also know about various healing therapies such as working with herbs, spirit guides, massage or manipulation of the body, and relaying messages from the spirit world or the Great Spirit.​

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It is answering an internal calling, by other traditions, that a person knows, feels, or experiences through many life challenges, near-death experiences, spiritually transformative experiences, vivid dreams or visions that guided or taught them similarly to being an apprentice. One may demonstrate strong leadership through advocacy, teaching, healing, spirituality, vision, healing, and/or deeply connected to the Earth, nature, or wildlife.

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Within the Spanish culture, a curandero or 'healer' (shaman) has individualized approaches to healing for mind, body, or spirit. Often this comprised of the knowledge of working with herbs, food as medicine, prayer, holy (blessed) water, smoke (smudging), or energy 'surgery' (moving perceived 'stuck' energy patterns from the energy field of the patient). Similar to modern psychology where the suffering or "dis-ease" is frequently associated with past trauma that causes fragmenting of the perceived self due to unconscious patterns repeating until identified and the neuro-system being reset, traditional shamanism is various cultures believed similarly, but called it retrieving the soul or aspects of the soul or spirit.

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Josephine's approach is similar to some of the traditional understandings of practice. However, having respect for the cultures, she has mindfully acknowledged that her experience and ongoing training have been through a myriad of venues and various mentors, not through traditional apprenticeship within an Indigenous tribal environment.

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She has been called a shaman, or woman on a "medicine path". With her blend of experience, and education - formal and informal training, in modern society, her approach and knowledge are known as contemporary-style shamanism.

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What is Shamanic Healing and Journeying, or soulful journeying and visualization?

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In simple terms, it is a guided journey into oneself. If a person is not skilled at seeing (the human) self from a broader perspective while being fully present in one's physical experience simultaneously, then the purpose of being guided through an "inward journey" is of value. Even skilled practitioners will ask for another to guide them, especially because they understand how to monitor the human body if it is not integrating well to being deliberately exposed to higher vibrationally frequencies for a while, or if some [trauma - old belief] patterns feel difficult to navigate.

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The shaman or healer in many indigenous cultures has been charged with interceding with the spirit world on behalf of another person. This intercession generally involves a request for assistance in healing on a physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual level. To act as an agent or channel for healing, the shaman spends many hours developing relationships with compassionate spirits, understood to be available in non-ordinary reality. The shaman develops these relationships by journeying in non-ordinary reality. The medicine man or woman also journeys in non-ordinary reality (spirit world or nonphysical realm) to seek help from these spirits when asked to provide healing and higher or Divine guidance over a concern or circumstance.

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It is not common for everyone in most indigenous cultures to have access to the knowledge contained in the spiritual realm. However, anyone with good intentions and dedication who understands the nature of the shamanic journey and our nonphysical realm can have this access. Anyone with strong intent, presence of mind, and expanded consciousness can develop a relationship to at least some of the knowledge contained in the nonphysical realm.

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​Drumming, and other instruments - rattles, flutes, and vocalization (singing, chanting, humming), are commonly used as tools for this spiritual practice. Josephine uses a shamanic buffalo drum when working with you. Learn more about Shamanic Drum Healing, here. She has developed a blended method of mindfulness, meditation, and guided somatic energy center healing that is an aspect of her contemporary-style shamanic practice, which you may find, here.

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Similarities between Shamanism and Natural or Holistic Health care and services:

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• The premise of integrative medicine and therapies

• The use of natural remedies and a holistic understanding of health

• The treatment of the body is complex and includes spiritual and material aspects; considering emotional states, attitudes, and spiritual beliefs

• The merging and taking into account of the whole client; lifestyle, belief systems, mind, body, and spirit

• Medicine today is recommending and offering alternative modalities such as reiki, reflexology, massage, acupuncture, and more

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It is understood more than ever before, that being the soulful awareness that we are, will allow the flawed premises to fall away. It's not about healing yourself, or someone else being your healer. It's about realizing that you are the space in the present moment, emanating the well-being life force energy that you are. We all forget sometimes. As a practitioner, I am here to remind you and walk with you as you rediscover how to light your path by shining your light even brighter. Ask yourself, "When was the last time I danced?" ~ Josephine

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Want to find out if this is for you? Let's discuss your concerns and answer your questions, and we'll decide from there. Click the button below to schedule a consultation.