The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism

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The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism is a free online event exploring an ancient way of relating to life through gratitude, courage, generosity, and wonder. Rooted in the landscapes and mythic traditions of Ireland, this session invites a slower, more attentive way of being — one that listens to the land, honors ancestry, and reconnects with inner wisdom.

Jane Burns is hosting this free Celtic Shamanism event through The Shift Network, drawing on decades of study in both Celtic and core shamanic tradition. Reserve your free spot here before reading the full breakdown below.

Who Leads This Event

Jane Burns is a writer, practitioner, and teacher of Celtic shamanism of Irish and Scottish heritage. She studied Celtic shamanism directly under Tom Cowan, a widely respected authority in the field, and studied core shamanism and soul retrieval under acclaimed teacher Sandra Ingerman.

Jane is the author of the novel Up a Tree: A Novel and Shamanic Handbook and creator of the oracle deck Portal to the Sacred Trees. She’s a longtime member of the Society for Shamanic Practice, serving on the editorial board for their journal. The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism draws on her decades of teaching experience and lifelong immersion in Celtic myth and lore.

The Call of the Celtic Landscape

Many people feel an unexplainable pull toward the green hills, stone circles, and mythic stories of Ireland. This attraction is less about nostalgia and more about genuine resonance. Celtic shamanism recognizes land as alive, conscious, and communicative — rivers, stones, trees, and wind aren’t treated as symbols, but as participants in a shared field of relationship.

The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism explores how listening to the land in this way can restore a sense of belonging that modern life often quietly erodes.

Living From Gratitude and Reciprocity

At the heart of Celtic shamanism is reciprocity — the understanding that life thrives through mutual exchange rather than one-directional taking. Gratitude, in this tradition, isn’t simply a mindset. It’s a way of relating.

Jane shares daily practices throughout The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism that help cultivate gratitude as an embodied experience rather than an abstract idea. These practices foster real awareness of what sustains a person, while encouraging respectful exchange with the natural world. Through this lens, generosity becomes natural rather than effortful or forced.

The Role of Protection and Boundaries

Celtic tradition also emphasizes sovereignty — the capacity to remain rooted in one’s own center regardless of outside pressure. Protection practices within The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism aren’t rooted in fear, but in genuine clarity.

This session introduces ways to establish energetic and emotional boundaries that allow openness without becoming overwhelmed. These practices support real steadiness, especially for people who feel deeply affected by their surrounding environment. Protection, in this context, preserves presence rather than limiting genuine connection.

Archetypes of Celtic Shamanism

The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism explores several key Celtic archetypes reflecting universal aspects of human experience. These figures aren’t distant myths — they function as mirrors for inner qualities already present in each participant.

Jane introduces the ban feasa, the intuitive wisdom keeper; the ban chaointe, who carries grief and lament; the omen hunter, skilled in recognizing signs; and the faery doctor, who works with the unseen allies of the natural world. By engaging with these archetypes, participants are invited to recognize similar qualities already present within themselves.

Journeying With Brigid

A central experiential component of The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism involves a guided journey with Brigid, the Celtic goddess associated with spring, creativity, and renewal. This journey invites participants to explore themes of rebirth and authenticity.

Rather than striving for transformation, the emphasis throughout stays on remembering what’s already present. Brigid’s presence symbolizes emergence — the natural unfolding of new life after a period of stillness.

Nature as a Teacher of Balance

Celtic shamanism views nature not as a passive backdrop, but as an active teacher. Observing cycles of growth, rest, decay, and renewal offers quiet guidance for navigating human life without force or urgency.

This ongoing relationship with the natural world, central to The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism, supports grounding and resilience, especially during periods of genuine uncertainty. Nature models steadiness through change, reminding participants that balance isn’t static — it’s responsive and alive.

Why Land-Based Practice Feels Different From Indoor Meditation

Much of contemporary spiritual practice happens indoors — a quiet room, a cushion, a controlled environment designed to minimize distraction. The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism takes a meaningfully different approach, rooting its practices directly in relationship with land, weather, and the unpredictable rhythms of the natural world rather than a carefully managed indoor setting.

This distinction matters more than it might initially seem. An indoor practice space is, by design, static and controlled — the same temperature, the same lighting, the same absence of surprise from one session to the next. The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism instead invites engagement with an environment that changes constantly and offers no such predictability. Wind shifts. Weather turns. A bird calls unexpectedly, or a particular tree looks different than it did the week before. This variability isn’t treated as a distraction from the practice in Celtic shamanic tradition — it’s treated as part of the practice itself.

Jane Burns’s teaching throughout The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism reflects this orientation directly. Rather than asking participants to tune out their surroundings in pursuit of internal stillness, this tradition asks them to tune in more fully to what’s actually present outdoors, treating the land itself as an active participant in the practice rather than a neutral backdrop. This requires a different quality of attention than indoor meditation typically demands — less about narrowing focus inward, and more about widening awareness outward to include the living environment.

This outward orientation also changes what counts as a meaningful moment within the practice. In many indoor contemplative traditions, a meaningful session is measured by internal experience alone — a particular quality of stillness, a specific realization, a felt shift in the body. The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism expands this measure to include the relationship between the practitioner and their surroundings. Noticing how a particular tree responds to wind, or how the quality of light shifts through the day, becomes part of the practice’s actual content, not simply a pleasant backdrop to something happening internally.

This land-based orientation also connects directly to the reciprocity at the heart of Celtic shamanism. An indoor practice space generally asks nothing of the room itself — a cushion doesn’t require tending, and four walls don’t need gratitude in return for their use. The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism treats the outdoor practice space entirely differently, framing the relationship with land as genuinely reciprocal. A person doesn’t simply use the land as a setting for their own inner work. They’re invited to offer something back in return — attention, gratitude, genuine care for the place itself.

For someone accustomed primarily to indoor contemplative practice, this shift can initially feel less controlled and, in some ways, more demanding. There’s no guarantee of ideal conditions, no consistent temperature or quiet to rely on. But The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism suggests that this very unpredictability is part of what makes land-based practice so valuable. Learning to find steadiness and presence amid genuine variability, rather than only within carefully controlled conditions, builds a different and arguably more resilient kind of groundedness — one that doesn’t depend on the world staying still in order to function.

Reclaiming Inner Sovereignty

The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism also explores how Celtic wisdom supports personal sovereignty. Sovereignty here isn’t isolation — it’s alignment, the ability to act from inner truth while remaining genuinely in relationship with others and with the land.

Participants learn how ancient principles embedded in Celtic cosmology can support clarity, courage, and grounded decision-making in modern, everyday life.

Who This Event Is For

The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism is well suited for people drawn to nature-based wisdom, mythic tradition, and experiential learning. It resonates with anyone seeking reconnection, grounding, and a deeper sense of meaning in daily life.

No prior knowledge is required. If you’re drawn to this kind of nature-rooted, presence-based approach to inner wisdom, Puma Medicine with don Oscar Miro-Quesada explores related territory through Andean shamanic tradition, focusing on presence and inner vision through the Puma as totem.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Gifts of Celtic Shamanism about?

It’s a free Shift Network event with Jane Burns exploring gratitude, sovereignty, and connection to the land through Celtic myth and shamanic practice.

Do I need prior knowledge of Celtic mythology to attend?

No. The event is designed to be accessible to anyone, regardless of prior familiarity with Celtic tradition or shamanic practice.

Who leads this event?

Jane Burns, a teacher of Celtic shamanism who studied directly under Tom Cowan and Sandra Ingerman.

Is this event really free?

Yes. The event itself is free to attend, with additional in-depth resources available afterward for anyone who wants to continue further.