The Urban Shaman

As the Western consciousness of shamanism increases there is an increasing interest and discussion around the concepts of shamanism. Within that discussion there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding, confusion, and disagreement about what a shaman is, what…

SPOILER ALERT! THIS REVIEW OFFERS SIGNIFICANT DETAIL OF THE STORYLINE OF FROZEN II. 

There’s a running joke in my family about how I see everything as “shamanic.” Perhaps there is some validity to this, as we do tend to see…

TRIGGER WARNING! IF YOU’RE HIGHLY SENSITIVE OR MINDFUL ABOUT SUBJECT MATTER PERTAINING TO TRAUMA, ABUSE, VIOLENCE, THIS ARTICLE OFFERS COVETED DETAILS ABOUT SUCH EXPERIENCES. WHILE THERE IS A SPECIFIC CONTEXT AND CERTAIN DETAILS HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY WOVEN IN TO…

Conversion of St. Paul by Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio)

Shamanic initiation is perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects of the shamanic path. Information on it is either closely guarded, or accounts of it are so individualized…

When I first watched The Work I was profoundly moved. Without giving any spoilers (The Urban Shaman reviewed The Work, if you’re not familiar with it), I’ll just say that there’s one scene in particular that is noteworthy and offers…

I got turned onto The Departure by a colleague who told me about the screening and following panel discussion in Austin, Texas. The entire theater was filled with psychotherapists, primarily because that’s the audience the screening was promoted to….

Perhaps it is my rebellious spirit warrior nature that questions everything. I don’t know if this is an asset or a detriment, but I do know that it often puts me out of the status quo of whatever circle…

Embrace of the Serpent is fictionalized biography, but if you’ve seen the film then you came to know the starring shaman, Karamakate, as an angry, suspicious, impatient, racist, and sometimes petty man who withheld healing on the basis of…