Online Zoom Conference: Shamanic Spirituality: Life, Death, and Transition.
Date: Sunday 8 February 2026.
Time: 5pm-9pm (UK time).
Description: This Online Zoom Conference will include presentations and discussion about Shamanic Spirituality: Life, Death, and Transition.
Each speaker will speak for 25-30 minutes, and there will be opportunities for discussion and Q & A.
Chair:
Phyllida Anam-Áire:
Phyllida Anam-Áire is a grandmother, a former Irish nun, author, poet and therapist.
She has worked extensively with the sick and dying and has just finished her 5th book.
Now at 80 years of age, she is truly in love with her beautiful life and grateful for it too.
Phyllida lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Speakers:
Dr MaryCatherine Burgess:
Title: Exploring a Shamanic Spirituality Worldview: Its Personal and Collective Roots, Evolutionary Call to Community, and Conscious Expressions in Living and Dying.
Description: Grounded in a worldview of perennial mysticism, this presentation explores the ancient origins of shamanic spirituality; how individuals and societies crossculturally have come to understand and experience the unitive spirituality of shamanism; ways in which a ‘call to community’ is embedded in a shamanic worldview; and examples of how a shamanic perspective can be expressed in personal and collective living, transitioning, and dying consciously throughout our lifespans. During this presentation, participants will be invited to reflect on how these elements have manifested in their own life experiences.
Bio: Raised in a family and a religious tradition that valued the mystic, ritual, and community dimensions of life, MaryCatherine, like many others, was drawn to Native American spiritualities of wholeness and connection at a young age. Invited by a Native American friend to explore shamanism as a way to better understand her mystical experiences, in 1986, she began shamanic training with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in the USA. Soon, she was called by individuals and communities to function as a shamanic practitioner – especially for soul retrieval and psychopomp (death/dying) work. MaryCatherine has taught courses and facilitated workshops on shamanism, life transitions, and death and dying, in addition to officiating at co-created celebrations of life. She has postgraduate Masters degrees in Religious Education, Human Relations, and Celtic & Scottish Studies, and a PhD in Religious Studies. Her book A New Paradigm of Spirituality and Religion – Contemporary Shamanic Practice in Scotland was published in 2008.
Damaris Chrystal:
Title: We Are All Still Here.
Description: "We Are All Still Here", which was a message given to me some years ago during an encounter with a hemlock tree on the land that shelters me In the elder Appalachian mountains of the United States. It would address through story the animistic perspective founded upon inspirited experience that the separation between life and death is not how we usually imagine it and that we are not separate; that in or out of physical bodies we are aspects of consciousness with agency and an unknown range of both local and non-local presence.
Bio: Approaching the age of 40, having lived mostly hypnotized by materialism and scientific rationalism and in consequent psycho/spiritual disintegration, the spirit world struck me like a lightning bolt and never let go. Through continuing anomalous experiences, the death of layered, trauma-induced personas and years of acute mystical experiences accompanied by moving to 50 remote acres of deeply inspirited mountain land I entered into direct relationship with the spirits of the earth and other helper spirits. After years of one-on-one direct teachings and guidance that were consistently tested and evaluated, I was then led to different human teachers with whom I could further hone my spirit, craft, context and language; for working with continuous rigor and accuracy with one foot in the spirit world and one in the physical does require disciplined artistry, balance and experienced oversight. This, and so much more, led me to the beautiful life and professional calling I’ve had for over 30 years of relating with these unconditionally wise, compassionate spirits and with the songs of the Earth in order to work on behalf of the land, people, animals, the dying and the dead.
If you need any more sense about how I work and from what perspective, you could go to the event listing for the recent grief ritual at this link: https://www.damarischrystal.com/events-1/2025/11/8/truth-and-reconciliation-a-grief-ritual.
Anáire:
Title: Ancient Ways.
Description: Join Anáire on a journey through her own lineage and how this informs her work and her lived experience.
Bio: Through the lens of her own life, death, and rebirth, Anáire uses her lived experiences to help her navigate her way as an Anam Áire (Soul Carer) and a Celtic Shamanic Practitioner. With her roots firmly planted in Celtic Consciousness, she draws on the wisdom of her healed Ancestors, and her deep resonance with Shamanic Spirituality, which is complemented by her 30 years of experience as a Nurse and Therapist working with the living and the dying.
Dr Elizabeth Meacham (River):
Title: Ancestral Spirits of the Land.
Description: Who are the healthy souls who stay behind to tend to various aspects of life on Earth? Since every place and her spirits are different, I will share my personal stories of encounters with ancestral spirits of the land, how I relate with them, respect and venerate them, and give them space and a wide berth when needed.
Bio: Dr Elizabeth Meacham (River), has spent decades in deep relationship with the Earth and the many beings and spirits who make up the weaving of our planetary and cosmic family. She is a teacher, healer of people and the land, and author of Earth Spirit Dreaming: Shamanic Ecotherapy Practices (Findhorn Press 2020). Learn more about her courses and healing work at: EarthSpiritDreaming.com
Andrew Steed:
Title: The Power of Pilgrimage - Life, Death, Rebirth.
Description: In the spaces between spaces of pilgrimage, if we have courage to meet ourselves, we are able to transmute and shift that which is ready to die so new life can come flowing through. Having led 81 pilgrimages in these ‘Celtic’ lands since 1999, Andrew has forged a deep relationship with the spirits of the land, with gods and goddesses from the Tuatha Dé Danann and with his own ancestral guides. Pilgrimage shapes us and within the folds medicine and magic flows to those whose hearts are open.
Bio: Andrew Steed is an international shamanic teacher, he has worked as a teacher for the Sounds True organisation, as a Pilgrimage leader to the nemetons of these Isles, he has led the Wild Hunt for the last twenty-one years, in 7 countries around the world. During his 17 years stay in the USA, he was an artist in residence working with children and youth in public schools, in the bible belt of Pennsylvania, for up to 20 days at a time. He was billed as a storyteller, however as well as weaving stories, he introduced youngsters to Amrun, trance dance, shamanic journey work, reclaiming their own stories and indigenous medicine that he has learnt along his trail. He misses working with the youth in his homeland as he is an unknown quantity here. He has also written and published nine books on a shamanic pathway and the Faerie world.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Booking: By Paypal.
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
NB: you must also email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can send you the Zoom sign-in details.
Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
Some international transfers also ask for an IBAN number:
The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
BIC:
BOFSGB21168