Shamanism, Dying, and Beyond

From a shamanic point of view, physical death does not represent the end of life, but is a major transition, a transformation in the best sense of the word. Coming to terms with one’s own dying and death enables shamans to support other people in dealing with these fundamental experiences. Shamans mediate between the living in ordinary reality and the souls of the deceased in non-ordinary reality. Furthermore, if the deceased cannot find their way onwards by themselves and need assistance (psychopomp work), then shamans guide these souls to a good place.

Participants in this workshop deal with shamanic cosmology in depth. They become familiar with the process of dying from a shamanic point of view and develop an understanding of what happens to the essence of the human being – the soul – after death. Finally, they learn how the shamanic accompaniment of processes of death and grief can look in practice and how to do psychopomp work.