Shamanic Traditions

#shaman-in-las-vegas-jaclyn-costello

Cosmic Vision artwork during Shamanic Journey in Las Vegas

Cosmic Vision, by František Kobliha

Shamanic Black Bird in Red Rock Mountain during Shamanic Ceremony in Las Vegas

Shamanic traditions exist within a range of ancient, cross-cultural practices that have historically served psychological, relational, and spiritual purposes within communities. This page offers an introduction to these practices, alongside a description of the Shamanic Healings I Offer.

What is Shamanism?

#shamanic-ceremonies-las-vegas

The English word shaman is derived from the Tungusic word samān, used by the Evenki people of Siberia and Mongolia. Roughly translated, a samān is 'one who knows' or 'one who sees in the dark.' In Amazonian Brazil, the Yawanawá use the word pajé to refer to shamanic healers who work in deep relationship with plant medicines and are responsible for maintaining spiritual and communal balance. In Norse tradition, a female shaman is known as a Völva or Vølve—a seeress, a 'wise woman,' a staff-bearer, and a keeper of ritual knowledge. Historically, Völvas maintained close relationships with clan leaders, who sought their guidance. In Norse mythology, even Odin is said to have sought their counsel, returning to them for visions and insight.

Although cultures around the world use different words for shamans, many of the core roles associated with shamanic practitioners recur across traditions: the shaman is a doctor of the soul. In many traditions, the shaman blends the functions of priest or priestess, healer, mystic, prophet, and sacred storyteller. Religious scholar Mircea Eliade described shamans as figures capable of moving between cosmological planes—between seen and unseen worlds. He writes: "The shaman is the great specialist in the human soul; he alone 'sees' it, for he knows its 'form' and its destiny."

Many shamanic traditions hold that all things have a spirit: rocks, trees, rivers, animals, people, and more—and that spirit can become ill, fragmented, or lost for many reasons. Throughout this page, I'll use the words spirit and soul interchangeably to refer to an aspect of being understood as existing beyond the purely physical or psychological, and which many believe continues on after death, whether through rebirth or an afterlife.

Just as a medical doctor tends to the body, and a psychiatrist tends to the mind, the shaman tends to the spirit. And because these dimensions of the human being are inseparably woven, the healing of the spirit often supports psychological, emotional, relational, and physical well-being.

Shamanic Practitioner Jaclyn Costello in the forest

Buddhist thangka offering Spiritual Guidance

Origins and Historical Threads

#what-is-shamanism

There is no single, specific place in the world where shamanism first arose. The Lascaux caves in southwest France contain prehistoric paintings that have been interpreted by some scholars as depicting visionary or altered states of consciousness. In the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, myths surrounding Inanna, the great goddess of Sumer, contain symbolic motifs—such as the axis mundi (Tree of Life)—that also appear across shamanic cosmologies . In Crete, sacred sites reveal remnants of ritual and initiatory traditions that some historians and religious scholars believe influenced, and later converged with, the pre-Christian mystery schools of ancient Greece and Rome.

In the book Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas, anthropologist and art historian Claudia Müller-Ebeling & her co-authors document the contribution of pre-Buddhist shamanic cultures to the development of Vajrayana Buddhism. Many of the symbols found in Vajrayana thangkas are described by the authors as emerging from Nepalese shamans' accounts of journeys to non-ordinary realms.

Heavenly Meeting, by Boris Olshansky

#shamanic-cleansing-las-vegas

The Shaman's Way of Working

A defining trait of the shamanic path is the practitioner's ability to enter non-ordinary states or realms to acquire insight, power, and healing tools in service of the patient or community. In these vast, mysterious realms, the shaman may work with spirit allies, ancestors, deities, protectors, psychopumps, and other-than-human intelligences to address spiritual imbalance and to help restore a sense of wholeness to the individual.

Depending on the culture and particular gifts of the shaman, a variety of techniques may be used during shamanic healing, including drumming, chanting, sacred songs, dialogue, dance, journeying, plant medicines, energy transmission, and communication with spirits or ancestors.

Most shamans hold a deep connection to the land and spend much of their lives in communion with the natural world. In many traditional cultures, the shaman occupies a liminal position within society—close enough to serve the community, yet set apart enough to maintain connection with the spiritual world. The shaman is not removed from communal life in the same way as a hermit or monastic might be; rather, they are often participants in the life of the community.

That said, shamanism is not traditionally centered on psychological interpretation in the way modern therapy often is. While the interpersonal relationship between practitioner and patient may be important, it is secondary to the shaman's primary relationship with the unseen forces, spirits, energies, or realms involved in the healing process—including the unseen realms within the patient. The patient may not always immediately understand or emotionally process what arises during the healing experience, though some forms of shamanic work are certainly more visceral than others.

In some cases, healing may initially bring discomfort, as something hidden or long-buried is brought into awareness from the depths of the spirit or psyche. A shaman's role is not always to eradicate a problem entirely; sometimes, it is to illuminate what has remained unseen, allowing the patient to continue the healing process on their own. Either way, trust is considered an essential element—both in the practitioner and in the process itself.

There are many different kinds of specialized shamans. Some work with the dying process, guiding the soul from the Middleworld (Earth) into a heavenly realm during the great transition of death. Others, such as shamanic doulas, support mothers during the birthing process. Some shamans serve as storytellers—guardians and creators of sacred stories and myths that help maintain the spiritual health of a culture. In this sense, the shaman may also act as a sacred scribe.

Mythologist Martin Shaw once recounted his meeting with a Lakota medicine man who said that sacred stories "release a sort of oxygen." The power of words is not to be underestimated in shamanic work; when a powerful storyteller writes or speaks a story, something vital can move through language itself, nourishing the soul and psyche in ways that are difficult to explain rationally.

Given its rich history, i t is important to remember that shamanism is not solely an ancient practice, but a living system of healing arts, still practiced in many forms throughout the world today. While ancient traditions continue to address timeless human struggles, they have also evolved to meet modern forms of psychological, emotional, and spiritual suffering.

#spiritual-guidance-las-vegas

Through the Veil, by Daniel Mirante

Are Shamans Born or Made?

Across many shamanic traditions, shamans are believed to possess an unusual sensitivity to inner, symbolic, and spiritual dimensions of experience—a capacity often understood not as something entirely acquired, but as an innate disposition recognized and refined over time. In many cultures, this sensitivity is associated with the ability to perceive beyond ordinary states of consciousness, navigate non-ordinary realms, or communicate with spirits, ancestors, or other-than-human intelligences.

Depending on the culture, a variety of trainings, teachings, quests, dietas, apprenticeships, periods of abstinence or isolation, and initiatory tests may play a role in the shaman's preparation. In some cultures, elders or practicing shamans recognize unusual intuitive aptitude and the capacity to enter and navigate non-ordinary states in a controlled or functional way within certain young people in the community, and begin training them in healing practices and spiritual disciplines. The individual may also undergo profound psychological, spiritual, or physical initiatory passages—sometimes described as shamanic initiations or symbolic death-and-rebirth experiences—as part of their path.

Shamans often describe receiving guidance through dreams, visions, ceremonies, and encounters with spirits or ancestors. These experiences are understood as part of the shaman’s unfolding sense of sacred responsibility and vocation. Many shamans initially resist the path altogether, understanding that true shamanic service demands sacrifice, discipline, integrity, and lifelong devotion. The role is rarely viewed as easy, but as a significant responsibility carried in service to the community.

Power, Ethics, and Discernment

As in any field, there are varying degrees of proficiency, ethical alignment, discernment, and psychological maturity found within shamanic work. Shamanic traditions have long acknowledged the presence of both benevolent, loving, sincere shamans—and practitioners who misuse their power and position to exploit others or cause harm. Many forms of abuse (sexual, emotional, psychological, spiritual, or financial) can emerge when a practitioner is driven primarily by ego, control, financial gain, or unresolved psychological issues.

Indeed, such abuses are increasingly present in modern "healing" communities including coaching groups, online programs, plant medicine circles, and retreats. Oftentimes, oppressive behaviors, ego-driven dynamics, and old-world patriarchal perspectives are cunningly cloaked in trending modalities.

When evaluating the integrity, safety, and maturity of a healer, it's essential to draw on both your critical discernment and your intuition. A trustworthy healer will have done substantial work on their own psychological wounds and patterns, be living a life you respect, carry a grounded, coherent, and trustworthy presence, leave you feeling safe, respected, and empowered, and never make you dependent on them. The healing space itself should feel protective and sacred—offering a sense of peace, and supporting your inner work.

And remember: healers come in many external forms and personality types. While some dress quite ceremonially and speak in calm, measured tones, others do not. I know several very powerful shamans who are unassuming folks in t-shirts and track pants.

At the same time, ceremonial attire holds deep meaning in many Indigenous and lineage-based traditions. It may mark ritual role or responsibility within a given context, and serves to honor rites and moments when the ordinary world gives way to sacred time.

#spiritual-healer-in-las-vegas

Full orange moon during Shamanic Ceremony in Las Vegas

An Important Note on Psychological Distress vs. Spiritual/Energetic Ailments

Before I introduce the shamanic work I offer, I'd like to make something clear. In the vast majority of cases where someone believes that they or a loved one are experiencing a condition believed to fall within the domain of spiritual or shamanic healing—such as perceived spirit attachments, invasive entities, curses, or other forms of spiritual disturbance—the underlying dynamics are psychological, emotional, or trauma-related. The person may have a mental health disorder, be unconsciously battling with unresolved trauma, be in a dissociative state, or have, in some way, relinquished a sense of sovereignty over their inner world.

In these cases, what may feel like a curse, spirit attachment, or possession, may be more appropriately understood as emotional fragmentation, chronic anxiety, disorientation, invasive/obsessive thoughts, lingering trauma, or mental illness—none of which can be resolved by shamanic intervention alone.

In other instances, experiences understood within shamanic traditions as spiritual disturbances may also be present—but even then, they are rarely the whole story. Such situations often involve a complex interplay of contributing factors including lifestyle choices (e.g. prolonged exposure to psychologically or spiritually destabilizing environments), unhealed psychological wounds, addictions, or ongoing interpersonal entanglements, such as becoming deeply entangled in another person’s psychological distress or unresolved trauma. In my experience, it is extremely rare for someone to be dealing with something that is solely a spiritual ailment.

I am aware of the differences between experiences that may be understood through a shamanic framework and those rooted primarily in psychological distress, mental illness, or destructive lifestyle patterns. I mention this here because I will not take on a client for shamanic healing unless they are also receiving appropriate psychological support from a therapist, a psychiatrist, myself, or another qualified counselor.

I take this work seriously, and I only offer it within the framework of holistic care because healing that doesn’t include the whole person rarely endures.

#las-vegas-shaman-jaclyn-costello

Tudigong Taoist Deity in Shamanic Healer Jaclyn Costello's Meditation Room

Jaclyn Costello from Las Vegas -on Isle of Skye_edited.jpg

Cactus in Bloom during hapé - rapé - ceremony in Las Vegas

#shamanic-healings-I-offer

Shamanic Healings I Offer

Depending on what you're working through, I offer a range of shamanic healings to help you return to a greater sense of peace, clarity, embodiment, and empowerment.

Hapé Ceremonies

You'll find an abundance of information on hapé ceremonies on this page. I won't go into depth here, except to say that I’ve developed a deep relationship with the spirit of hapé, have worked with this medicine for many years, and hold deep respect for the Indigenous traditions and lineages from which it comes. Ceremonies may be private, shared with a partner or close friend, or held in small, trusted groups.

Medicinal Sound Ceremonies

Similarly, there is a separate page devoted solely to medicinal sound ceremonies which explores this offering in greater depth. As with hapé, these healings can be private, shared in pairs, or experienced within a small group of people you know.

Energy Cleansings

Many spiritual and healing traditions hold that the human spirit, psyche, and nervous system are deeply affected by the environments, relationships, emotions, and energies they move through. Just as a child playing outdoors accumulates dirt without trying, many people feel they unconsciously accumulate emotional or energetic residue through daily life and interaction with others. Most of this energy is not inherently negative; it is simply not ours, and many healing traditions hold that clearing these accumulations can help restore a greater sense of clarity, grounding, and energetic sovereignty.

In some cases, people describe feeling deeply entangled in draining relational or energetic dynamics that leave them depleted, fragmented, emotionally overwhelmed, or disconnected from themselves. Within certain spiritual frameworks, these experiences may be understood as energetic attachments, intrusive presences, or parasitic influences; within psychological frameworks, they may be understood through the lenses of trauma, emotional enmeshment, chronic dysregulation, manipulation, coercive relationships, or nervous system overwhelm.

Some people experience these dynamics symbolically or viscerally—as though another person’s emotional, psychological, or energetic needs are continually pulling on their attention, vitality, boundaries, or sense of self, gradually separating them from sources of grounding, joy, empowerment, love, or community support. People may describe the experience as feeling progressively separated from the people, practices, or environments that once helped them feel grounded, clear, and inwardly steady.

Many clients who come to me describing “life-force loss,” energetic depletion, or soul loss eventually recognize that the deeper issue is not solely spiritual, but intertwined with relational wounds, chronic stress, unhealthy dynamics, unresolved emotional pain, or destabilizing environments. At the same time, many still experience these struggles meaningfully through spiritual or energetic frameworks, and I do not see those perspectives as inherently incompatible.

Another common imprint I help clients work with stems from unresolved emotional experiences that remain held within the body or psyche. Some people describe this as energetic blockage along a chakra or meridian line; others speak in terms of somatic healing, nervous system regulation, or psychological processing. There are many different ways to describe these experiences depending on one’s spiritual background, worldview, or relationship to healing. The framework you bring—whether spiritual, psychological, symbolic, or somatic—matters less to me than the process of restoring greater coherence, clarity, and connection within the individual.

It’s also important to understand the limits of this work. A shamanic clearing does not erase memory, trauma, psychological conditioning, or physical injury. Those dimensions often require additional forms of care and support. Rather, energetic or shamanic healing is best understood as one part of a larger healing process—one that may unfold alongside therapy, medical care, spiritual practice, relational repair, lifestyle change, or other forms of integration.

Examples of Energy Cleansings

Clients describe their healing experiences using many different languages—spiritual, psychological, symbolic, somatic, or relational—depending on their background, belief system, and inner landscape. The examples below reflect how individuals have made sense of the work they experienced.

In shamanic traditions, these experiences are often understood as encounters with unseen or non-ordinary dimensions of life. At the same time, for those who orient more toward psychological or relational frameworks, the experiences may also be understood as the healing and integration of deeply held emotional patterns, trauma resolution, the restoration of boundaries, and the reclaiming of personal agency.

A former police detective released multiple traumas he'd been carrying in his body from years of high-stress work on the force. During his session, he also described experiencing the release of what he understood as a longstanding familial curse originating in childhood.
A woman worked through long-held emotional and energetic imprints related to a sexual assault, including deeply rooted shame that had become intertwined with her body and sense of self.
Another client described the release of lingering emotional and energetic ties connected to an abusive former partner—an entanglement that continued to affect her sense of autonomy and emotional well-being long after the relationship had ended.
Another client released long-suppressed anger toward a relative who had abused him as a child—a charge he felt had remained held within his body for years and had continued to affect his ability to form healthy relationships.
One man, reflecting on years spent in environments he experienced as sexually exploitative, psychologically destabilizing, and spiritually harmful, interpreted his session as helping him release deeply draining influences that had become intertwined with his relationships, emotional life, and sense of self.

During another session, a client interpreted the experience as the dissolution of what she described as a constraining “soul contract” or shadow pattern connected to self-betrayal and disempowerment. She later described the session as feeling like a release from “a lifelong sense of bondage and self-betrayal.” The experience marked a turning point in her capacity for self-trust and agency.
Another client reported a significant reduction in his compulsive reliance on cannabis following his work. While I make no promises that addiction can be resolved through shamanic work alone, in this case the client experienced a meaningful shift in his relationship to the substance.
A woman released longstanding emotional identification with trauma rooted in childhood dynamics with her mother, reporting a greater sense of emotional freedom and an increased capacity for self-compassion.

#space-clearings-and-land-permissions

Space Clearings & Land Permissions

Similar to the way human beings can pick up and retain unwanted energies, so too can spaces—homes, offices, or land—absorb and hold subtle energetic imprints. This is especially true in places marked by emotionally charged events such as a death, violence, suicide, betrayal, or sustained distress. However, it's not only negative energies that people seek to clear from their spaces; many people simply wish to remove residual energies that aren't their own. A common example is when someone moves into a new home and can still sense the energy or emotional residue of former inhabitants lingering in the space.

A thorough space or land clearing involves far more than lighting sage and offering a blessing. After my assistant, Estefania, and I hold an initial ceremony on the property, I provide clients with a detailed set of guidance outlining specific actions needed to complete—and maintain—the clearing. In some cases, I may return to the site once these steps have been carried out. These actions differ, depending on the situation, but may include removing certain objects, restoring neglected areas, introducing protective or meaningful objects into the space, engaging in spoken prayers or meditations in particular rooms or locations on the land, or changing behaviors or patterns of use within the property. There is no single formula for this work; I rely on intuition, direct engagement with the space, and the guidance that emerges during the clearing itself.

It is important to keep realistic expectations when working with land or long-inhabited places. In some cases, particularly with land, there may be nature spirits or ancestral presences that have dwelled there for centuries, and they may not wish to leave—nor would it be appropriate or compassionate to expect them to. In such situations, the work shifts from releasing to relationship: learning how to coexist respectfully with what is already there.

Soul Delivery

#soul-delivery-las-vegas

Within many shamanic traditions, it is understood that when a person, animal, or other sentient being passes away, the soul does not always transition onward immediately. It is believed there are times when the soul lingers near the earthly plane due to confusion, attachment, or the absence of guidance during the crossing. At other times, a soul may remain intentionally for benevolent or purposeful reasons, requiring no assistance. Soul delivery is the practice of helping the soul move peacefully onward.

In Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, a related practice exists in the form of Phowa, or transference of consciousness, in which prayers, mantra, and ritual are used at the time of death to guide consciousness onward to a pure land. Long before meeting me, my boyfriend lived for years as a Vajrayana monk in a temple in the mountains, where soul delivery was among the practices in which he was trained. Though the cosmology and methods differ from those within my own lineage and training, the underlying intention of compassionate guidance is much the same. I'm still moved watching him pause beside a dead bird or insect in our yard, quietly chanting mantras and offering prayers and mudras before returning its body gently to the earth.

I was once asked to clear a house before its sale. A man had taken his own life in the home, and the space carried what both the family and I experienced as a palpable lingering sense of unresolved heaviness connected to the man who had died there. During the ceremony, as Estefania and I worked to clear layers of heaviness from the house, I became aware of the man’s presence. He conveyed several meaningful messages for his family, and then, with the aid of what I experienced as a powerful psychopomp presence, I guided his soul onward so he could rest.

During the same clearing, Estefania became aware of the mountain behind the house, which had silently witnessed the suffering that had occurred in the house over many years. She later described sensing that the mountain itself carried that suffering and required tending as part of the clearing. In much shamanic work, land is understood as living and responsive to human experience. In this case, the work extended beyond the house itself and included the surrounding land.

Beautiful cardinal on snowy tree during Guided Meditation with Jaclyn Costello

Las Vegas Shaman Jaclyn Costello in the forest

#energy-healer-las-vegas

Working with Myth & Symbol

Some experiences resist ordinary language. States of profound psychological, relational, spiritual, or emotional entanglement—especially those unfolding over long periods of time—may come to be understood through larger mythic or archetypal narratives expressed through the language of enchantment, curses, psychic attack, parasitic influence, or dark energetic forces. At times, these experiences arise through trauma, coercive relationships, spiritual crisis, or forms of suffering that overwhelm a person’s existing framework for understanding themselves and the world around them.

In my work, approaching these experiences through mythic or symbolic language is never imposed, but may emerge naturally when a client already relates to their experience in those terms or finds meaning within symbolic ways of understanding. What matters most is deep respect for the meaning the experience holds for the individual. Drawing at times from mythic, Jungian, and narrative frameworks, the work may unfold through imaginal landscapes that allow overwhelming experiences to be approached gradually, safely, and with greater clarity. Rather than dismissing these symbolic realities—or reducing them to fixed literal explanations—we engage them as a living language through which the psyche, spirit, and deeper unconscious may reveal patterns, process suffering, restore meaning, and reclaim lost aspects of the self.

The following case offers one example of how mythic and symbolic frameworks may help restore discernment, agency, grounding, and a renewed relationship to self.

A Life Under Dark Enchantment

When this client first came to me, he had been living for many years in a severe and destabilizing situation—one he understood as a dark enchantment. Complicating matters, the predatory person wielding power over him was still actively present in his life, engaging in ongoing psychological coercion that left him manipulated, disoriented, and persistently emotionally and psychologically depleted. He believed, with clarity and conviction, that had he not reached out for help when he did, the condition he was living within would have continued to deteriorate in ways he felt were genuinely life-threatening.

This story is shared with his full permission, in the hope that it may offer recognition and reassurance to others navigating similarly complex terrain—that they are not alone, and that movement toward freedom is possible.

This was a case of unusual scope and complexity that did not fall neatly into any single category. Multiple interwoven forces were at play: experiences he understood as curses, spells, parasitic influences and ongoing psychic attacks that deeply affected his sense of psychological and spiritual integrity, alongside severely destabilizing and entangled relational dynamics, entrenched psychological distortions, and unresolved childhood trauma that had profoundly undermined his ability to trust himself or recognize his own worth, leaving him susceptible to exploitation and the repeated surrender of his personal authority.

This was not the kind of healing that involved a few ceremonies or a handful of conversations. The work unfolded over the course of two years and required sustained psychological care, spiritual discernment, deep shamanic work, and a great deal of patience and compassion—held within ongoing intuitive guidance, careful listening, and forms of wisdom that revealed themselves gradually over time.

Because the truth of his circumstances was initially too overwhelming for my client to approach directly, we entered the work through a shared mythic narrative. He described himself as being trapped for years within a dark, enchanted forest, bound by thick, poisonous vines and dense thorns. We spoke of swords of light slicing through the brambles that ensnared him; of heroines and hidden gods, of sorcerers, of enslaved awakened beings, the long struggle to reclaim what had become lost within him, and a grotesque demon mole rat with no soul (a figure whose revolting absurdity brought needed moments of levity, while also carrying unmistakable symbolic meaning within the landscape we were navigating). We spoke of his life as a myth—as a twisted fairy tale—one in which each figure represented a force in the archetypal battle between good and evil as he was living it, both inwardly and outwardly.

This was not fantasy or avoidance. It was a symbolic landscape, very much in the Jungian sense, that allowed us to engage with his lived experience without exceeding his ability to remain present or collapsing into raw trauma. The myth served as a container: a way to see clearly, to orient, and to intervene, while slowly restoring his capacity for discernment and self-authority. Over time, as the work progressed, the symbolic imagery loosened, and a more direct understanding of what had been happening psychologically, relationally, and spiritually became possible.

At one point, I sought counsel from a trusted teacher and found myself describing how disturbingly, beautifully, poetically, unmistakably mythical my patient's story was. My teacher listened quietly and then said, "Well, all those great myths did come from somewhere."

Today, this client is no longer living within that tormented landscape. He is clear, grounded, and free from the binding forces that once dominated his life. He maintains strong boundaries, trusts his own perception, and looks back on that period with disbelief that it was ever his reality. What once felt inescapable now feels distant and resolved. His life has resumed its own forward motion—no longer governed by distortion, coercion, self-doubt, or forces that once felt overwhelming and inescapable, but guided instead by discernment, self-trust, and a reclaimed sense of sovereignty.

#compassionate-depossession-las-vegas

Shamanic Mexican art pieces on altar in Las Vegas

Beautiful waterfall in forest during Spiritual Retreat

Golden orchids on altar during Spiritual Retreat in Las Vegas

Compassionate Depossession

Experiences interpreted as possession or spirit attachment have been understood through many different lenses across cultures, spiritual traditions, and psychological frameworks. Some people experience these states symbolically, spiritually, energetically, or psychologically, while others move between several interpretations at once. My approach is not rooted in fear or rigid dogma, but in careful listening, discernment, compassion, and respect for the meaning these experiences hold for the individual.

Also known as "spirit removal," depossessions remain among the most misunderstood forms of shamanic healing. Contemporary perceptions of possession have been shaped largely by horror films and exorcism narratives, which often portray the inhabiting spirit as inherently evil and removal as violent or adversarial. These depictions are rooted in fear and rarely reflect the reality of the work.

Within many shamanic traditions, depossessions are not understood as battles against evil forces, but as attempts to help a lost, distressed, or confused spirit move toward an appropriate place of rest. In most cases, the spirit involved does not carry malicious intent; it is simply lost, confused, or seeking connection—it may not even realize it has attached itself to another being. In other cases, the spirit is understood as having initially entered the person out of an attempt to help or comfort them, such as to provide protection or solace during a time of trauma in the person's life; the spirit may not realize they were only meant to provide temporary protection—or protection from outside of the person's body.

Some traditions also hold that spirits may be drawn to a person’s openness or spiritual sensitivity rather than moving toward their own place of rest. There are also situations in which a person may have been especially vulnerable when the attachment occurred, such as during childhood trauma, grief, illness, or altered states induced through ceremony or plant medicines.

It is important to recognize that the belief system of both the practitioner and the person seeking help significantly shapes how the process unfolds. A spirit approached with fear, hostility, or the assumption of evil may respond very differently than one approached with calmness, clarity, and compassion.

Another misconception is that the spirit does not want to leave. While this can occasionally be true, it is far more common for the spirit to experience relief when offered guidance toward an appropriate place of rest. Even in difficult cases, the work does not need to become dramatic or adversarial. In my experience—and in the experiences of my teachers—most depossessions unfold quietly, respectfully, and without spectacle. When approached with compassion, strength, and skill, the process is often calm and dignified.

My Training in Compassionate Depossession Work

"Compassionate Depossession" is a gentle and respectful approach to spirit release that prioritizes the well-being of both the client and the spirit involved. I was formally trained in Compassionate Depossession in the UK by Simon Buxton, a longtime shamanic practitioner who has studied and practiced within multiple traditions for over thirty years. He is an elected Fellow of The Royal Anthropological Institute and a member of the Oxford University Anthropological Society.

In addition to my training with Simon, I have learned other, equally respectful approaches to spirit removal through over fourteen years of immersive study with my primary shamanic teacher—a curandero and ayahuasquero whose integrity, care, and depth of experience profoundly shaped my understanding of this work. His example became a quiet standard I carry into every healing I offer.

Approaching this Work

I do not list symptoms or causes of possession here, as they often overlap with other forms of spiritual, emotional, or psychological distress. It is not necessary—for you or for me—to arrive with a fixed diagnosis. We begin instead with a grounded, exploratory conversation that allows me to listen carefully, observe what is present, and discern what is actually needed. From there, the nature of the situation begins to reveal itself naturally.I do not introduce or impose the label of “possession” onto another person.

Distressing internal experiences can be interpreted through spiritual, emotional, symbolic, or psychological frameworks, and I approach them with care rather than assumption. My role is not to create fear or reinforce fragmentation, but to support greater clarity, grounding, and healing.Ultimately, the name of the healing is not important—the healing itself is.

Examples of Compassionate Depossession Work

The following examples reflect a small range of experiences that may be interpreted through a shamanic perspective as forms of spirit attachment. They include encounters understood as involving human spirits, ancestral presences, elemental forces, and other non-physical intelligences. These experiences may also be understood symbolically or psychologically—and each case was approached with care, consent, and respect for all involved.

In one case, the spirit of an elderly woman who had recently passed away emerged through my client during a session after he visited his ill mother in the hospital. Through my client, the woman expressed the loneliness and neglect she had experienced during her final days. No one had come to visit her in the hospital, the staff had been rude and dismissive of her needs, and after her death, a nurse complained about the smell in her room. Having felt unseen in life and unsettled in death, the woman's presence appeared to have remained attached to my client for several months until our session. Then, through a compassionate process of acknowledgment, communication, and release, the presence was guided onward to a place of peace.
In another session, a client described carrying what she experienced as an elemental or earth-based presence within her. Through dialogue with the presence during the session, the spirit described having originally entered my client's mother when her family disturbed land on a slate hill to build their home, later passing to the daughter in utero.
In one particularly sensitive case, a woman sought healing related to longstanding trauma stemming from severe childhood sexual abuse. During the session, what emerged was experienced as a lingering spirit who understood her own presence as a form of protection—remaining close and bearing witness in order to help the child survive what she could not escape. Decades later, during the healing session, the spirit was initially hesitant to leave, believing her protection was still needed, but over the course of the healing, the presence gradually recognized that the child had grown into an adult capable of protecting herself, and the attachment released peacefully.
Some clients arrive carrying internal presences or symbolic figures shaped by intense emotional or religious conditioning within their ancestral lineage. In one such case, a client experienced the presence of an oppressive religious authority figure that was understood as having entered her lineage generations ago to repress the power of the women in her bloodline. During a careful exchange with the figure, which communicated through the client during the session, it described its role in repressing the voices and autonomy of the women within the lineage. By the end of the work, the figure agreed to leave, and the client reported feeling freer to reclaim her voice, personal agency, and connection to a deeper sense of feminine power.

In another healing, a client understood the distress she was feeling as an “angry demon” or hostile presence within her psyche or energetic field. Rather than approaching the session through fear or confrontation, the work focused on compassionate engagement, grounding, and release, after which the client reported considerable emotional relief and a deep sense of inner calm.
I have also worked with individuals who, following intensive engagement with plant medicines, felt they had encountered presences or attachments they later wished to release, including a woman who sought support in releasing what she experienced as several spirit attachments encountered during her years serving Ayahuasca.

Across all of this work, the intention is never force or confrontation, but resolution—restoring right relationship so that both the person and the spirit or presence involved may continue forward in greater peace and without entanglement.

#shamanic-practitioner-in-las-vegas

*Please Read Before Contacting*

I do not offer long-distance shamanic healing; all shamanic work is conducted in person. If you feel strongly drawn to working with me specifically, rather than seeking someone local to your area, please know that I only work with clients who are willing to travel to Las Vegas following an initial Zoom consultation. The consultation is not confirmation that we will move forward together, but an opportunity for us to determine whether the connection and approach feel genuinely aligned with your circumstances, and for me to better understand what you are navigating. If it becomes clear that I am not the right fit for your situation, I will share my perspective and, when possible, offer guidance toward what may be an appropriate path of support.

Return to Homepage

Home • Couples Counseling • Existential Inquiry & Spiritual Thought • Sound & Ceremony • Yoga Nidra Meditations • Leadership & Presence

Shamanic Ceremonies • Hapé Ceremonies • Professor Page • Testimonials • Literary Speculative Fiction Site

Please contact me before sharing images from site; most are personal photos, clients, or pictures of professional art in my home. Thank you!

Spirituality

Spirituality

Spirituality

Healing

Shamanic Traditions

What is Shamanism?

Origins and Historical Threads

The Shaman's Way of Working

Are Shamans Born or Made?

Power, Ethics, and Discernment

An Important Note on Psychological Distress vs. Spiritual/Energetic Ailments