FESTIVALS 2024

“In my therapeutic work, I am guided by the philosophy of regaining one's own power - this is the basis of all the techniques I use and teach to others. This means that anyone can learn these techniques and practice them on their own after workshops or therapy. Shamanism, Reiki, Conscious Breathing and the Personal Totem Pole process are very different techniques, but they are powerful and empowering to no longer depend on a therapist or teacher and provide the tools needed to grow, transform and reach for a life full of joy, love and freedom. I use each of these techniques as needed to help those I work with discover their own potential, experience transformation, and regain health and personal power. However, I consider myself primarily a shamanic therapist. I practice and teach all over the world and am headquartered in Barcelona, Spain.”

Arvick Baghramian

BOOK: "THE MAGIC OF SHAMANISM. THE HEALING POWER OF A SHAMANIC JOURNEY” ARVICK BAGHRAMIAN (GALAKTYKA PUBLISHING 2018):

“The healer is within each of us and when you are ready, he will surely manifest himself within you.”

This is a book about the life journey of Arvick Baghramian, her path to shamanism and the paths of many other people, but above all it is a book about the shamanic journey and its healing power. Arvick Baghramian in The Magic of Shamanism focuses on the use of shamanic practices as a strengthening and empowering tool. She considers health and healing issues from the perspective of various cultures, discusses the nature of spirits and spirituality, and, looking at various principles of shamanic practices from around the world, tries to show and explore the magic of shamanic journeys. This book also talks about contemporary forms of shamanism, in particular neoshamanism (core shamanism), a modern shamanic therapy supporting the treatment of both mental and somatic diseases. Over recent years, Arvick Baghramian has been conducting shamanism workshops in Great Britain, the United States, Israel, Spain, Poland and the Scandinavian countries. Her initial dissertation research at Newcastle University on shamanic practice evolved into the larger project that resulted in this book.

Review by Renata Arendt-Dziurdzikowska (personal development trainer, journalist, coach, book author):

Contemporary shaman Arvick Baghramian proposes a journey through the healing culture known for thousands of years - shamanism. She answers almost all the questions that come to our minds, Westerners, when we think about this tradition. How does it all work? Where does a shaman get his healing powers from? What is a shamanic journey? She analyzes the connections of shamanism with psychotherapy, medicine and the concepts of Carl Gustav Jung (in her opinion, Jung was doing shamanic journeys). But more importantly, she suggests how we can learn to travel in such a way as to discover the magic and mystery of the world beyond the agreed reality, because "the ability to travel magically is our innate ability." Thanks to Baghramian, we discover a vehicle of transformation that allows us to access the layers of wisdom and power, heal and strengthen ourselves and others.

EVENTS LEAD BY ARVICK BAGHRAMIAN AT THE “HERE AND NOW” CENTER DURING STATIONARY WORKSHOPS:

BASIC WORKSHOP "THE MAGIC OF SHAMANISM. HEALING POWER OF THE SHAMANIC JOURNEY. SHAMANIC POWER RETRIEVAL."

During this workshop, participants will learn the basic principles and techniques of shamanic practice, especially shamanic journeying. We will learn to change our state of consciousness and enter the extraordinary reality of spiritual worlds, where we can learn how to find our own power, wisdom and creativity to help ourselves and others. We will share and discuss journeys in a circle and learn how we can fully understand them and integrate them into our lives. Although we will also learn the basics of shamanic healing, this course is not focused on working with others, but on our own personal development. We will gain the opportunity to follow spiritual guides and learn how to gain power and live with a sense of fullness and joy.

Classes with Arvick involve learning shamanism from scratch, just like in a shamanic school - we will learn what a Shamanic Journey is, how to do it in a safe way for ourselves and others, and what its next stages are. What is the difference between traveling to the Upper, Middle and Lower worlds? Who can we meet there and what knowledge can we receive from Them? How to summon your Guardian and Assistant Spirits. How to formulate intentions for the Journey and ask questions of the beings/spirits we will meet there. What is a shamanic rattle and how to use it when invoking the Four Directions, before starting the Journey and during healing. Knowledge why the shamanic drum is so important to the shaman and learning shamanic drumming. What rhythms start the Journey and which ones summon us from Other Worlds. How to summon Nature Spirits and how to talk to animals, stones, trees and clouds. Not only how to see and hear the invisible, but also how to communicate with these Worlds and Beings. What do our dreams and visions mean? How to summon your Personal Spirit Guardian and Power Animal. And most importantly - what is Shamanic Healing and how you can perform it for yourself and your loved ones.

ADVANCED COURSES WITH ARVICK BAGHRAMIAN:

Practice of Shamanism: Basic Course (module I)

Shamanic counselling is a unique method of counselling, whereby the role of the counsellor is more that of a mediator than a therapist. The true counsellors in shamanic practice are always the spirit teachers. Thus, the skill of the shamanic counsellor is in assisting their client to come into direct contact with his or her own spirit teachers and deepen their relationship with them. Another important role of the counsellor is to teach the client how to formulate effective journey missions, and come to understand the language of their spirit teachers. Since the leading principle of shamanic counselling is first and foremost self-empowerment, the counsellor does not interpret the messages of the spirit teachers for the client, but rather helps them to gain their own understanding of the messages.

On this five-day intensive course, the ethics and basic techniques of shamanic counselling are covered in depth. All participants will have the opportunity to experience being counsellors as well as clients. We will learn how to understand the meaning and teachings of our journeys and to connect with the wisdom and power of the messages. On this course we also learn how to create the safe environment necessary for working with the life-changing issues presented by clients. Finally, and most importantly, we will learn how to encourage both our clients and ourselves to introduce the spirits messages into our daily lives, or, as the shaman says, walk the talk.

The course is both for people who wish to work shamanically with others as well as for people who only wish to deepen their own personal practice of shamanism. Prerequisite for participation in the course is having attended the shamanic course for beginners.

Practice of Shamanism: Advanced Course (module II)

This course is a continuation, a deepening and an expansion of the basic shamanic counselling course. The advanced shamanic counselling course aims at both deepening the theoretical understanding of shamanism as a spiritual practice, as well as expanding and developing our skills as effective counsellors and journeyers. In this course we will acquire more advanced and creative ways of working with clients, significantly deepen and develop our relationship with our spirit teachers and gain a deeper understanding of the magic of shamanic counselling and the spirit worlds. During the course, participants will also have the opportunity to observe each other while working, thus further enriching their own listening and counselling skills.

The course is not only for people who are working shamanically with others. Although it is centered on shamanic work with clients, it is aimed, first and foremost, at participants own personal growth.

Prerequisite for participation in the course: Magic of Shamanism (the shamanic course for beginners) and the basic Practice of Shamanism course (module I of advanced course).

Shamanic Extraction Healing Training

Participants are initiated into the extraction method of healing, including how to see, sense, and remove localized illness and pain connected to spiritual factors. This is an important part of the shamanic healing training, and a counterpart to the healing work of soul retrieval. The shamanic work of extraction works to remove spiritual blockages that we accumulate in our soul-body. While soul retrieval serves to bring back dissociated parts of ourselves, extraction healing is performed to remove intrusions from our soul-body, which may negatively affect our well-being on spiritual, mental and physical levels. Note that while extraction work is a necessary tool in each shamanic practitioner‘s healing practice, no previous experience or knowledge of soul retrieval healing is required of participants.

The Extraction Healing Training workshop is designed for people who want to bring shamanic healing work into their practice with others. This four day training is also designed for people looking for personal healing and deep exploration of their own state of mental and physical health. The students will be initiated to the most advanced techniques of self-discovery and self-healing.

Prerequisite for participation in the course: Magic of Shamanism (the shamanic course for beginners) and the basic Practice of Shamanism course (module I of advanced course).

Soul Retrieval: Working With Soul-Loss

In traditional shamanic cultures, most physical and psychological problems are considered to emanate from soul-loss or loss of power. Often people speak of feeling incomplete or alienated from themselves or their environment. Shamans believe that traumatic experiences in our lives may cause us to lose parts of our soul, thus diminishing our power and making us vulnerable. Most shamanic healing practices are focused primarily on the preservation, protection and nurturing of the soul. In a case where a soul part has been lost, the shaman journeys to the spirit world to retrieve the missing part. The soul retrieval helps the person to become more whole, and be able to deal with debilitating situations in his or her life, coming from a more empowered state.

On this course, the subject of soul loss in relation to our lives is fully explored. Participants will be trained to work with issues of soul loss, explore the experience of partial soul loss resulting from personal trauma and illness, and will learn how to track a person's soul and return lost essence to that individual. The course also focuses on life after soul retrieval and how to create a healthier life after healing has taken place. Individuals attending the training will perform and receive soul retrieval during the course of the week, and are given extensive instruction on how to work with clients after soul retrieval through the use of shamanic journeying, ritual and ceremony. This work results in creating long term healing.

Prerequisite for participation in the course: Magic of Shamanism (the shamanic course for beginners) and the basic Practice of Shamanism course (module I of advanced course).Participants have to be experienced in journeying and to have an established relationship with their spirit teachers.

Relationships and Shamanism: Looking at Relationships Through the Eyes of the Spirits

Relationship is our life. We are constantly relating to everything and everyone around us. On this advanced workshop, participants will learn the magic of relating, loving and living joyously, by exploring their relationships with themselves and the world around them.

Although intimate relationships are focused on, this workshop will be looking at relationships on every level of our lives (this may be with our parents, friends, children, boss, and most importantly with ourselves). By the help and wisdom of the spirits, participants will have the opportunity to clarify what it is they really want from a relationship, as well as gain deeper knowledge of themselves, their understandings and expectations.

This workshop will take participants on a journey back to where they first learned their messages about relationships and the reasons they create or don’t create them. By journeying to our spirit teachers, we will learn about our limiting belief systems that may prevent us from creating relationships, discover how to enrich our existing relationships and learn how we may be miscommunicating our love and good intentions with others.

Prerequisite for participation in the course is having attended the shamanic course for beginners Magic of Shamanism.

Shamanic Healing and the Spirits of Nature

The most important role fulfilled by the shaman is that of healing illness and helping others to maintain good health. This is achieved by either the retrieval of lost power or the extraction of harming power intrusions. On her quest for healing, the shaman would at times also call upon the help of the spirits of nature.

The course is centered on the healing arts of the shaman and her intimate relationship with nature two elements of the shaman's world which are closely intertwined. On this course we will explore the basic worldviews of both shamanic and Western health-care practices regarding illness, health and healing. We will learn to identify and remove the spiritual causes of illness and pain as well as how to communicate with the spirits of nature in search for healing. Participants on the course will also be introduced to different shamanic diagnostic and healing techniques and will learn how to use power objects and power places in their healing work. A substantial part of the course will be spent in nature, and participants will have the opportunity to sit out alone with the spirits for a whole night.

Prerequisite for participation in the course is having attended the shamanic course for beginners Magic of Shamanism. Participants should be able to journey easily and have a good relationship with their spirit helpers.

Shamanic Divination Training

The art of shamanic divination through the use of objects is 10,000 years old. One of the classic tasks of the shaman is to journey into non-ordinary reality in order to obtain answers to questions, both at the request of others and for oneself. Participants in the workshop have the opportunity to engage in divination (diagnostic) journeys and learn a variety of time-tested shamanic diagnostic tools and techniques to help for each other as well as for themselves. In the shamanic search to become persons of knowledge, they learn, as shamans have since ancient time, how to converse with plant and animal spirits, how to learn about the use of quartz crystals, and how to seek and receive revelatory knowledge from visionary sources.

Prerequisite for participation in the course is having attended the shamanic course for beginners Magic of Shamanism.

The Personal Totem Pole

A powerful process which utilizes guided imagery and deep relaxation, the Personal Totem Pole Process is a unique blend of three elements: Carl G. Jung’s technique of Active imagination, the eastern practice of understanding the human being as a system of inter-related energy centers (chakras), and the Native American Practice of speaking to and learning from animals. This process was developed by Dr. E.S. Gallegos, and is aimed at deeply exploring, understanding and healing the different aspects of our inner selves.

Visualization and guided imagery are powerful tools which have been used successfully for centuries in healing and self-development. Human beings are imaging creatures. We image actively until we are taught that it is unacceptable. We then gradually learn to trust authorities rather than our own inner voice. The personal Totem Pole process attempts to reinstate the inner voice as a trusted partner in life. It is a powerful, useful and highly adaptable tool which facilitates and enhances self-awareness, self-confidence and creativity in all areas of life.

On this two-day course, through the use of deep imagery and relaxation, participants are guided to meet the animal representation of each of their chakras, or energy centers. By learning how to effectively interact with their chakra animals – whose identity, state, and personalities represent various aspects of our own psyche – participants will acquire a highly effective tool for both self-diagnosis and self-healing. The course is the beginning of an empowering and transformative journey back to ourselves, as we learn how to walk hand in hand with our chakra animals – those aspects of our psyche we may have chosen to forget.

Two-Year Shamanic Training Program of ARVICK BAGHRAMIAN

Freedom Within's two-year shamanic training program, offered by Arvick Baghramian, is designed for those interested in deepening their shamanic practice, both as a part of personal development, as well as with the goal of incorporating shamanism into their professional practice and helping others achieve their potential through shamanic work. Through a combination of intensive workshop work and ongoing individual mentoring, the two-year shamanic training program aims to deepen participants' knowledge and engagement with shamanism and teach them how to incorporate shamanic work into their daily lives. During training workshops, students become familiar with a wide range of shamanic techniques and practices, including shamanic healing, communication with spirits and the elements of nature, soul retrieval work, divination, extraction healing, and advanced shamanic counselling.

Some of the topics that will be covered include relationships, wealth and abundance, death, life and mortality, and realizing our full potential in our professional and personal lives. Participants will learn how to work more effectively with shamanic journeys, rituals, ceremonies and practices inspired by indigenous shamanic cultures, while bringing shamanism to life with awareness, heart, responsibility and respect.

The training program will consist of 6 modules of 4.5 days each, with approximately 8-12 hours of work per day. Each meeting will cover different topics and techniques, but the exact order and content will be determined by Arvick as the course progresses to best tailor the program to the specific needs of the group. Unlike attending separate courses covering different topics of shamanic work, this program is designed to provide participants with structured continuity between workshops and ongoing personal mentoring throughout the learning process. Therefore, in addition to participating in 6 workshop modules, each participant will be assigned homework and will be required to report to Arvick on their work and progress between meetings. The total length of the program is 2 years, with 3 group meetings per year.

REPORT AFTER THE BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP "THE MAGIC OF SHAMANISM" IN THE “HERE AND NOW” CENTER:

Basic workshop entitled “The Magic of Shamanism – The Healing Power of the Shamanic Journey” with Arvick Baghramian – a contemporary shaman/therapist, was an extraordinary and totally transformative experience for me. I have participated in many shamanic workshops, we have been organizing them at our Tu i Teraz center for years, but working with Arvick in June 2019 was something completely new - extremely intensive shamanic training, hour after hour, day after day, from morning until late at night . Knowledge instantly transformed into direct experience.

It was a practical learning of shamanism from scratch, like in a shamanic school - what is a Shamanic Journey, how to do it in a safe way for yourself and others, what are its next stages. What is the difference between traveling to the Upper, Middle and Lower worlds? Who can we meet there and what knowledge can we receive from Them? How to summon your Guardian and Assistant Spirits. How to formulate the intention of the Journey and ask questions of the beings/spirits we will meet there. What is a shamanic rattle and how to use it when invoking the Four Directions, before starting the Journey, and how to use it during healing. Knowing why the shamanic drum is so important for the shaman and learning shamanic drumming. What rhythms start the Journey and which ones summon us from Other Worlds. How to summon Nature Spirits and how to talk to animals, stones, trees and clouds. Not only how to see and hear the invisible, but also how to communicate with these Worlds and Beings. What do our dreams and visions mean? How to summon your Personal Spirit Guardian and Power Animal. And most importantly - what is Shamanic Healing and how you can perform it for yourself and your loved ones... And all this during only less than four days of workshops!! Everything is presented in an orderly, logical way, perfectly appealing to our "Western, not very shamanic-mystical minds."

Intensive work with Arvick during our workshop had its specific rhythm - first knowledge, mandatory notes, and in a moment the whole group was lying on the floor with blindfolds, and Arvick was beating the rhythm on the drum to introduce us to the Shamanic Journey - where everyone, in their own He went through his own individual lessons in rhythm and time. Until he succeeded. No lesson, no stage could be missed - if someone did not succeed in something, e.g. the journey to the Lower World (even though he had already been to the Upper World without any problems and Central), he repeated the Journey until he succeeded. And then we come back and there are tears of joy in our eyes, a shared exchange of experiences, amazing stories and tales. And immediately, another stage of shamanic knowledge and another Journey...

The most amazing thing was that in ordinary life, each of us, the participants of this workshop, is a completely normal person, standing firmly on the ground, firmly rooted in work and family. People from all over Poland came to the workshop - an accountant, a doctor, a mechanic, a teacher, therapist, writer. Most of us have not even had any experience with shamanism before. And none of us could have imagined that we could experience, meet, see and heal so much in just a few days.

Each participant of our group of over 20 people has made their own Shamanic Journey to the three worlds many times and each has undergone personal Shamanic Healing. He met his Power Animal, the Guardians, and not only understood, but also felt that the Invisible World around us is as real as our earthly world. And that the Gates to it, after meeting Arvick, will remain open to us forever.” [Maja Wołosiewicz-Towalska]

WORKSHOPS

1. Introduction to the magic of the Shamanic Journey (session I)

In this workshop participants will be introduced to the most fundamental and most powerful shamanic healing technique, the Shamanic Journey. Learning to enter into an altered state of consciousness through use of the rattle and the drum, participants will journey to meet with their guardian animal spirit.

2. Introduction to the magic of the Shamanic Journey (session I)

In this workshop participants will be introduced to the most fundamental and most powerful shamanic healing technique, the Shamanic Journey. Learning to enter into an altered state of consciousness through use of the rattle and the drum, participants will journey to meet with their guardian animal spirit.

3. Learning to Listen and to work with the Spirits of Nature

Guided by the rattle, in this workshop participants will be introduced to the animistic nature of the shamanic world, specifically by learning to listen and to communicate with the Spirits of Nature that surround us.

LECTURES

1. Soul Loss and Soul Retrieval: trauma and healing from a shamanic perspective

Soul retrieval is one of the most powerful tools at the shaman’s disposal, just as soul loss is one of the most common causes of suffering for those who seek healing. In this lecture we will look at the concept of soul loss, its basis in different forms of trauma, and its broader effects on our health and wellbeing, and understand the healing power of soul retrieval.

2.Understanding the science of Shamanic Journeys and their healing power

Shamanism is humanity’s oldest spiritual and healing practice, but contemporary scientific investigation continues to shed light on the possibly mechanisms through which shamanic journeys actually heal. In this lecture we consider some of these mechanisms, synthesizing anthropological, psychological, and neuroscientific insights with our own clinical experience, to consider some of the science of the Shamanic Journey.