Category: Applied Shamanism
Video: Shamans and Siddhas with Robert Thurman & Isa Gucciardi (Part 3)
Robert Thurman and Isa Gucciardi come together at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA, to discuss their workshop, Shamans and Siddhas: Meeting at the Crossroads of Shamanism and Tantrism. In this segment, Bob and Isa discuss the special presence at Menla and its relationship to H.H. Dalai Lama. Bob tells the story of Vimalakirti and describes a student’s experience of spontaneous healing at Menla. This workshop regularly takes place at Menla Mountain Retreat Center in Phoenicia, NY.
Video: Shamans and Siddhas with Robert Thurman & Isa Gucciardi (Part 2)
Robert Thurman and Isa Gucciardi come together at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA, to discuss their workshop, Shamans and Siddhas: Meeting at the Crossroads of Shamanism and Tantrism. In this segment, Bob and Isa share their experience of teaching together and explore the way that both shamans and Siddhas use a similar kind of transmission process for healing and teaching. This workshop regularly takes place at Menla Mountain Retreat Center in Phoenicia, NY.
Video: Shamans and Siddhas with Robert Thurman & Isa Gucciardi (Part 1)
Robert Thurman and Isa Gucciardi come together at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA, to discuss their workshop, Shamans and Siddhas: Meeting at the Crossroads of Shamanism and Tantrism. In this segment, Bob and Isa explore the role of the shaman and the role of the Siddha in ancient culture and examine the disconnect with nature that has occurred in modern society. This workshop regularly takes place at Menla Mountain Retreat Center in Phoenicia, NY.
Blog: Journey On It: More on Healing with the Journey
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
The shamanic journey works on the level of epiphany. Similar to muscle memory when we learn to hit a tennis ball or ride a bike, the realization that comes in the journey is beyond the rational mind. It is beyond thought. When we learn something at this level, it stays with us and we have the opportunity to change long held patterns of behavior, and shed ways of being that no longer serve us.
Blog: Journey On It: Journeying for Healing
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In a traditional setting, the shaman would align with the forces of the Earth in order to bring organization and guidance to human affairs. People today are so disconnected from the natural world and from their own inner worlds that the spirit of inquiry for the modern journeyer needs to focus on reconnection. In my Shamanic Journey workshops, I help students address issues of imbalance as they work with the journey to deepen their connection to their own inner guidance and personal power.
Blog: Journey On It: Inner Guidance
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In traditional shamanic practice, the journey was taken by the shaman to understand and connect with the power of the Earth. The shaman became empowered through the process of this quest and used this power to aid the community through ceremony, healing, and divination. Shamans use a repetitive sound to alter consciousness and then focus their attention inward. The most common sounds used for the shamanic journey are drums and rattles.
Blog: Journey On It: Reconnecting with the Earth’s Wisdom
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In societies whose stories and wisdom emerge from the Earth, the Earth was often understood to have two important aspects to it: the unseen and seen. This meant that every tree had its physical aspect in the form of the tree that we can see with our five senses. But it also had another, more hidden one. This aspect is often referred to as the ‘spirit’ of the tree.
Blog: Journey On It: Finding Our Way Home
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
The Journey is a process of going inward that helps us discover who we are and what our relationship is to the world around us. Seekers trying to understand the mystery of their experience can be found in every culture that has existed on the planet. Different societies have different names for these seekers – medicine men, medicine women, the ones who cure, the ones who know. Cultures with these kinds of references for their seekers tend to be cultures that exist closer to the earth.
In cultures whose traditions are closely tied to the natural rhythms and processes of the Earth, the Earth itself is the place where all inquiry begins and ends. In order to know when to plant successful crops, its rhythms must be measured. In order to measure its rhythms, seekers have looked skyward to measure the Earth’s rhythms against the patterns of the sky.
Podcast: Episode 31: Healing Beyond the Conscious Mind
Once we have become conscious of our issues, we must then go beyond our conscious understanding to truly transform them. In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses how altering states through hypnosis, meditation, and the shamanic journey can lead to deep and long lasting healing beyond the conscious mind. From this perspective, Isa offers a brief introduction to several of the programs offered by Foundation of the Sacred Stream.
Article: Depth Hypnosis: Where Fierce Compassion and the Path of the Wounded Healer Converge
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Dr. Robert Thurman, noted Buddhist scholar, has stated that the future of Buddhism in the West lies in meditational therapies. One such meditational therapy is Depth Hypnosis. Depth Hypnosis is a therapeutic model that incorporates the wisdom of two very ancient healing and spiritual modalities (Buddhism and shamanism) with two more modern approaches (hypnotherapy and transpersonal psychology) to address emotional and spiritual imbalance.
Article: An Interview with Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. on Soul Retrieval
By Gerri Ravyn Stanfield
I was introduced to Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. through a mutual student and friend who told me “You two are up to the same things.” Through our email correspondence, I came to agree, the Foundation of the Sacred Stream is a place where spiritual seekers and healers can find education and inspiration from a variety of spiritual traditions. I spoke with Isa Gucciardi in September of 2012 regarding her work in the study and practice of soul retrieval.
Podcast: Episode 25: The Intersection of Buddhism and Shamanism in Depth Hypnosis
In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses the influence of Buddhist ideas about suffering and shamanic approaches to healing in the Depth Hypnosis method.
Podcast: Episode 24: Power Loss and Addictive Behavior
Addictive behavior can often be a strategy for managing power loss. In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. describes some indicators of power loss and what can happen when addiction is used to manage power loss.
Podcast: Episode 23: The Sacred Earth
In the West, most people have lost connection with the earth. In this episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. describes a way to relate to the earth as sacred.
Podcast: Episode 20: The Shamanic Journey in a Modern Context
The Shamanic Journey can be used to develop trust in one’s own voice and guidance that comes through our inner spheres. In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses the Shamanic Journey in a modern context, its uses in traditional tribal settings, as well as its relevance to us today.