Hello!
In this video, I will address your questions about the upcoming Finding Your Wild Soul Course, which starts on November 4th. I’ll begin by discussing general aspects of our courses before delving into specific details about the Wild course.
I hope it helps!
… or if you prefer to jump right to a specific question, simply click on it:
- The need to find your Soul.
- Ongoing access and free course repeats.
- Done the Next Steps 4? Get a discount.
- When will the course run again?
- Payment in three instalments
- What if I cannot join the live sessions?
- The curriculum
- What are the benefits of connecting with our authentic Wild Soul in our daily lives?
The need to find your Soul.
Hunter-gatherers really understood that in childhood, you go through the process of socialization, where you learn all the things you need to learn to fit into a society in the middle world.
It’s a birth of your Middle-World identity, which has nothing necessarily to do with your soul in terms of your true, authentic, Lower-World Soul. It’s perfectly possible just to carry on living from that Middle-World ego, self-identity construct of things for the rest of your life and then die. And actually, in reality, that’s what most people in this culture do.
In contrast, animists believed that discovering one’s Lower-World Soul required conscious effort, a deliberate intervention. This was a pivotal rite of passage into adulthood within their cultures, underpinning the importance of Soul-finding.
The abandonment of this practice, coupled with the perpetual state of childhood, is linked to modern societal issues such as mental health problems, inequality, and ecological devastation. Finding our Soul connects us with nature, our rightful place in the web of life, enhancing the depth and richness of our existence. It’s perfectly possible to live a decent life without Soul, but it’s like living in black and white rather than colour. Just so much of the true depth and richness of life will remain forever blind to you, forever unseen or unheard by you without deliberately finding your Soul. And that means knowing how to do it.
Ongoing access and free course repeats
Ongoing access to the course
When you sign up for the courses, and this includes the Wild Soul Course, you have access to the recordings and the other teacher materials for life – life, of course, meaning for the life of the college. So as long as there’s a college running, and as long as the internet exists, you’ll have access to the recordings. So you can take as long as you want to work your way through a course, and you can come back to it and revise any bits of it as often as you want. It’s sort of like buying a book – once you bought the materials, you know, they’re yours and for as long as you want.
Free revisions
When we (re)run any course that you have done previously, you can sign up for the new version for free!
I've previously done Next Steps 4. Does this count as a free repeat for the Finding Your Wild Soul Course?
The Wild Soul Course is based on the old Next Steps four course. When it comes to offering free repeats, it becomes somewhat complex to distinguish between repeated and new material. The old Next Steps four consisted of four modules, while the new course comprises six modules in recordings, along with four live sessions. Some of the content will be repeated, and some will be new.
So, if you have completed Next Steps four and are interested in enrolling in the Wild Soul Course, please contact me directly, and we can discuss a discount. Similarly, if you have already signed up for the Wild Soul Course after completing Next Steps four and would like a discount, please contact me, and I will arrange a partial refund for you
When will the course run again?
Considering the number of courses available and the constraints of the number of weeks in a year, as well as the time and energy we have, courses are typically repeated, at best, on a two-year cycle. More often, it’s on a three or four-year cycle. So, if you don’t sign up for Wild Soul now, you’ll probably have to wait another three years, possibly even four, before it’s offered again.
Another thing to consider when signing up for it now is that I can’t guarantee it will run again. I mean, living with an awareness of death is a central theme in shamanism. Shamans are deeply connected to the cycle of nature, and death is an integral part of that. I’m not being morbid; it’s a reality. I’m not getting any younger, and I don’t know how long I’ll continue teaching. So, don’t assume the courses will be available indefinitely. Please seize the day and take the opportunity to sign up when the courses become available.
Payment in three instalments
Money, of course, can be a challenge. We try to keep the courses as low-cost as we possibly can, and all of us involved in the college live quite modestly. Remember that in terms of signing up for the courses, our website gives you the option of paying for courses in three monthly instalments at no extra interest. For the Wild Soul course, for instance, you can pay 150 pounds upfront or in three instalments of 50 pounds each over the next three months. I hope that helps.
What if I cannot join the live sessions?
You do not have to be able to attend the live sessions to sign up for the course, and to get a huge amount out of doing it. At the moment, probably around 50% of our students don’t attend live at all and of the 50% that do, probably half of those only attend some of the live sessions, so you do not have to attend the live sessions, to sign up for the course.
Having said that, obviously, the live sessions add even more and the people that do attend them tend to really value them and love them, which is why we keep doing, offering them really the live sessions. The feedback we get is that people love the experience of journeying together. They love the sharing of journeys. they learn a huge amount from listening to other people’s journeys, but more than anything, they value the discussion time and the sense of community and support and things that come with that. So the live sessions are great and they do add a lot. On the other hand, we have loads of people who don’t attend the live sessions and still keep booking on our courses, and still, we get fantastic feedback from them too. So don’t let not being able to attend the live sessions put you off.
The curriculum
What is Soul?
In our first session, we will explore the concept of the Soul. In modern culture, knowledge of the Soul has been largely lost, with many people confusing it with the Spirit or using the terms interchangeably. Our goal is to reintroduce the animistic perspective of the Soul, which is deeply connected to the Lower-World and nature. We will differentiate the Soul from Spirit and the Middle-World self, aiming for precise usage of the term.
We’ll also discuss how the Soul serves as a template for one’s unique individuality and achieving true Adulthood. In contemporary culture, genuine Adulthood, as understood in animism, is rare. We will explore what animism teaches us about growing into an Adult and the initiation processes. While traditional hunter-gatherer tribes had collective initiation ceremonies, we will discuss alternative ways to grow into the adults we are meant to be in the absence of such tribal rituals.
what it means to be human
We will delve into a detailed exploration of how Soul is an integral part of nature, mainly focusing on what it means to be human from an animistic perspective. To truly comprehend what it means to be human in an animistic framework, we must also understand both the similarities and differences between humans and other People – Animals, Standing People, Plants and Stones. This examination will help shed light on our unique human nature and what it means to be a healthy, interconnected human from an animistic perspective.
FIND YOUR TRIBE & healthy human relationships
In the third module, we will explore the animist template, often referred to as the original instructions, for healthy human relationships, particularly within human groups. This applies not only to tribal groups but also to modern human groups like families and work environments. We will highlight the challenges in today’s human groups and provide a blueprint for improvement and healthier relationships with other humans.
stages of life: childhood
In the fourth module, we’ll explore animist ideas related to child-rearing. This topic may interest parents or grandparents, but it’s relevant to everyone. By comparing how hunter-gatherer societies raise children with our own childhood experiences in the modern era, we can identify dysfunctional aspects and learn how to address and heal these wounds. This will involve examining concepts like the mother wound and the father wound, which reflects a broken and dysfunctional understanding of parent-child relationships. We’ll also explore how these dynamics impact our adult relationships and our connection to the sacred masculine and feminine. The module will provide insights into the challenges of the modern era and offer solutions to address these issues.
adulthood & living a soul-full life
In the fifth module, we will transition to a practical exploration of applying these principles in our everyday lives, focusing on the practical ethics from an animistic perspective. This section will address the fundamental question of what authentic animist ethics truly look like. We’ll examine how these ethics guide our actions and choices, offering insights into how to live in alignment with the original instructions, fostering a deeper understanding of how our behavior and decisions impact our interconnectedness with the world around us.
stages of life: elderhood
In the last module, we will explore the transition from Adulthood to Elderhood. Healthy elders, from an animistic perspective, are rare in our culture because elderhood is not solely determined by biological ageing. We will delve into the concept of Eldership, which is relevant not only to those who are already elders but also to everyone, as it offers a model and template for a healthy path in animistic terms. We will discuss what it means to grow into an elder, a stage that often involves reflecting on life as it nears its end. Additionally, we’ll address an age-old question: ‘What is the meaning of life?’ Or perhaps a more fitting question, ‘How shall I live my life?’
What are the benefits of connecting with our authentic Wild Soul in our daily lives?
In all of our courses, the aim is to provide you with enough knowledge and tools to explore and experience the material independently. Courses are designed to be experiential, with teachings and guidance provided. Your journey and self-discovery then become a lifelong practice. After completing a course, you can revisit the material, gaining deeper insights with each return, forming a lifelong practice.
Specifically, connecting with your wild Soul addresses a common sense of feeling lost in this culture. Many attempt to fill this void with temporary solutions like high-powered jobs or material wealth, but it doesn’t address the deeper sense of something missing. People often struggle to understand themselves and how to live in a consumer-driven culture. Discovering your soul is an ongoing journey that provides a sense of wholeness, meaning, authenticity, contentment, and connection with yourself and the world. The course equips you with the tools and knowledge to begin this lifelong process, with the understanding that it’s an ongoing journey of growth and self-discovery.