Further Steps Course:
THE WHEEL OF LIFE
THE SHAMANIC GUIDE TO THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR AND THE STAGES OF LIFE.
Dates in 2026: Feb 1, Mar 21, May 2, Jun 20, Aug 1, Sep 20, Oct 31, Dec 20 (following the eight seasons of the year).
At the heart of the Wheel of Life course is a return to nature as the primary teacher. Much of modern shamanism has become separated from its animist roots. This course is part of a wider intention to re-establish shamanism as an essentially animist practice – one grounded in the living world, the seasons, the elements, and the wider web of life.
- A meta-model for turning back to nature and working with the Original Instructions – the teachings for how to live in right relationship with the other-than-human world, with each other, and with ourselves.
- What the ‘Medicine Wheel‘ is and how we use it as a road map for our emotional, psychological and spiritual development.
- The five elements of ether, air, fire, water and earth.
- Setting the goals (and following through!) by working along with the cyclic nature of life and understanding where we get stuck in the process
- Journeying deeply into the stages of the wheel and meeting the guardians of the wheel and helpful spirits of each stage.
The course will be a year of journeying and exploring together; of growing and changing; of living more truly and more deeply in an animist way.
Bookings open soon.
Closed
In this course
Most of us were never shown how to move through life’s cycles.
Instead, we were taught how to push forward.
How to fix problems.
How to override our instincts and keep going.
But nature does not work that way.
From a shamanic perspective, there are two fundamental ways we become ill: soul loss and Power loss. While soul loss involves losing parts of ourselves, Power loss comes from disconnection – from nature, from seasons and cycles, and from the natural flow of life. The Wheel of Life teachings work directly with this deeper disconnection, restoring relationship with natural rhythms so energy can begin to flow again where it has become blocked.
Everything that lives moves in cycles – growth and rest, expansion and contraction, emergence and letting go. The Medicine Wheel is an ancient way of remembering this. It is based around the cycle of the year. It is a subtle, profound and flexible model for working with our inner and outer lives. It’s not surprising, then, that it is used by shamanic cultures all over the world, with each culture adapting the basic model to apply it to the environment in which they live.
The basis of the Medicine Wheel is the four directions. From this follow all the other correspondences such as the seasons of the year, the times of a day, the life-cycle of a plant, the stages of human life, and the element cycle of air, fire, water and earth.
In addition, the Medicine Wheel can be used as a profoundly useful roadmap for a whole host of other things, including understanding and processing thoughts and emotions, the stages in a healing process and why we can get stuck (and what to do if this happens), why certain illnesses happen in certain parts of the body, different learning styles and much more besides.
The Wheel of Life course, and the knowledge in it, is one of the ones that students most often refer to as life-changing and life-enhancing, and one that most brings their shamanic work together.
This course is for you if you want to:
- develop a more profound connection with the natural and spiritual worlds
- change some aspect of yourself
- come to know and understand yourself more deeply
- make the positive turning point in your life
- finally put your plans into action
MEDICINE WHEEL
The central model we will draw on is the wisdom of the Medicine Wheel. Above all, it is a model that maps out how processes flow in cycles. As such, it shows us the order of things and how different elements and stages of a cycle fit together into a whole.
USEFUL ROADMAP FOR NAVIGATING LIFE
Learning this can not only be of immense help in helping us to reconnect with Nature and the natural cycles of the year, but can also provide us with a profoundly useful road map for our own emotional, psychological and spiritual development too.
IT HELPS US GET UNSTUCK
It can be used when we feel stuck with something by helping show us where we are in the cycle and what we need to do next to move on. Moreover, it can help show us what resources we can draw on when we need help and support.
SETTING THE GOALS AND FOLLOWING THROUGH
This eight-weekend course will follow 8 sabbats of the year, starting on the weekend before Imbolc, a time of planning and preparation.
Firstly, we will start the course by making our individual plans for the year. These may be things that we wish to change in the external world and things that we wish to change in our internal world too.
THE FOLLOWING MEETUPS WILL ALLOW US TO MANIFEST OUR PLANS THROUGH THE CYCLE OF THE YEAR:
- preparing and planning at Imbolc;
- planting the seeds in spring;
- being active and energised in summer;
- harvesting in autumn;
- reaping the rewards, and giving thanks in winter.
MEETING THE GUARDIANS OF THE WHEEL
Identifying and understanding our own patterns of where we get stuck, we can start to befriend and work with our processes.
To do this, through the course, we will use different shamanic practices, including:
- JOURNEYING INTO THE STAGES OF THE WHEEL
Doing this will involve meeting the Guardians of each stage. - MEETING THE DIFFICULTIES
The difficulty we have with a particular part of the wheel can be journeyed on and met, usually in the guise of some kind of adversary, scary figure or dragon. Although it may appear hostile, this adversary is actually an ally in disguise. - MEETING HELPFUL SPIRITS
As we spend the year working through the wheel we will meet animal and plant helpers specific to that stage of the wheel (usually a bird and a spring plant for air/east, a hunter and a summer plant for fire/south, a water animal and an autumn pant for water/west, a herbivore and a winter plant for earth/north). In addition, we will also explore how to work with Plant Spirit Shamanism.
… AND WHAT THAT TEACHES US ABOUT LIVING IN THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE
Although the Wheel of Life can teach us so much about our soul, emotions, psychology, and so on, it’s impoverished if it isn’t embedded in nature. Because that’s the whole point of it – to look at nature and what nature tells us about ourselves and who we are meant to be. To strip nature away and reduce the Medicine Wheel to just the Human is just more of a Fall.
practical DETAILS
The course starts on SUNDAY 1st FEBRUARY 2026 and consists of:
• 6 pre-recorded theory modules. Each module contains a video presentation of between 1 and 3 hours in length, with accompanying learning resources. They will be released in roughly six-week intervals, on each key turning points in the year, so this will be a year-long exploration:
February 1st: IMBOLC
March 21st: SPRING EQUINOX
May 1st: BELTANE
June 21st: SUMMER SOLSTICE
August 1st: LAMMAS
September 21st: AUTUMN EQUINOX
November 1st: SAMHAIN
December 21st: WINTER SOLSTICE
• As usual, a website forum and Signal group, where students can ask questions, discuss topics, share experiences and additional resources, and get support, encouragement, and a sense of community.
• Bonus recordings if and when needed.
In addition, there is the option of adding:
• 6 live shamanic journeying sessions. For each of the 8 modules, there will also be a Live Shamanic Journeying session. Dates for 2026 are: Feb 1, Mar 21, May 2, Jun 20, Aug 1, Sep 20, Oct 31, Dec 20. These are optional, so you can buy the course without these (for £200), or add all 8 live sessions for just £20 more (a saving of 50% on the usual Live Sessions price). Whilst the Live Sessions are optional, people who attend them usually find them of great benefit. The Live Sessions start at 2pm UK time and are two hours long. Click here for more details of our Live Shamanic Journeying sessions.
THE CURRICULUM
(MIGHT BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
IMBOLC - Lighten your load
IMBOLC: 1 February 2026
Imbolc opens the Wheel of Life at a threshold point, where winter is ending but spring has not yet begun. Closest to Ether, it is a time of pause, stillness, and clearing rather than new beginnings. In this part of the course, you explore why trying to move forward too soon creates problems later, and how unresolved endings quietly drain energy. The emphasis is on preparing the ground so that future movement happens with less effort and resistance.
At Imbolc, you will learn how to:
- recognise what you are still carrying from the past
- work with endings, emptiness, and pause without rushing to fill them
- understand grief as a natural part of clearing and renewal
- use grounding and burial practices to put things down properly
SPRING EQUINOX - CLARITY AND CHOICE
SPRING EQUINOX: 20 March 2026
At the Spring Equinox, the Air element comes fully into balance, bringing clarity, differentiation, and choice. This stage of the Wheel focuses on thinking, perception, and boundaries – particularly the question of who you are and who you are not. In this part of the course, you explore how imbalance in Air leads to anxiety and overthinking, and how clarity emerges through acceptance rather than control.
At the Spring Equinox, you will learn how to:
- recognise when thinking has become unbalanced
- understand anxiety as an Air issue
- work with boundaries, identity, and differentiation
- approach choice without becoming paralysed by doubt
BELTANE - COMMITMENT AND ACTION
BELTANE: 1 May 2026
Beltane marks the transition from Air into Fire, where ideas must either move into action or fade away. This is the stage where commitment becomes unavoidable. In this part of the course, you explore why waiting for certainty often leads to stagnation, and how Fire supports decision-making and movement into experience.
At Beltane, you will learn how to:
- recognise where you are avoiding commitment
- understand fear around choice and action
- work with Fire to move from possibility into lived experience
- stand behind decisions once they have been made
SUMMER SOLSTICE - POWER AND BOUNDARIES
SUMMER SOLSTICE: 22 June 2026
At the Summer Solstice, Fire reaches its strongest expression. This stage of the Wheel is concerned with power, anger, boundaries, and visibility. In this part of the course, you explore how Fire becomes damaged through people-pleasing, suppressed anger, or boundary confusion, and how unbalanced Fire shows up as either collapse or aggression.
At the Summer Solstice, you will learn how to:
- understand anger as information rather than something to suppress
- recognise weak or damaged Fire in yourself
- work with boundaries in a grounded, non-aggressive way
- develop a healthier relationship with power and visibility
LAMMAS - STAYING THE COURSE
LAMMAS: 1 August 2026
Lammas marks the first harvest and the transition from Fire into Water. This is often where enthusiasm drops and difficulties begin to appear. In this part of the course, you explore why many projects and processes falter here, and how emotional honesty and endurance are required to continue.
At Lammas, you will learn how to:
- recognise emotional fatigue and loss of momentum
- distinguish between healthy perseverance and blind pushing
- work with Water to support endurance and honesty
- reassess what is worth continuing and what is not
AUTUMN EQUINOX - EMOTIONAL TRUTH
AUTUMN EQUINOX: 22 September 2026
As Water deepens at the Autumn Equinox, the focus turns inward toward emotion, reflection, and letting go. This stage of the Wheel is concerned with feeling fully, rather than avoiding discomfort. In this part of the course, you explore how blocked Water shows up as resentment or jealousy, and how compassion is the key healing quality of this element.
At the Autumn Equinox, you will learn how to:
- recognise when emotions are being avoided or suppressed
- work with feeling without becoming overwhelmed
- cultivate compassion for yourself and others
SAMHAIN - ENDINGS AND EMOTIONAL THREADS
SAMHAIN: 1 November 2026
Samhain marks the transition from Water into Earth and is one of the most significant points on the Wheel. This stage is concerned with endings, death, unresolved grief, and ancestral influences. In this part of the course, you explore why unfinished business lingers, how unresolved dead affect the present, and how shamanism approaches completion and honouring what has been.
At Samhain, you will learn how to:
- recognise what has not been properly ended
- understand ancestral and unresolved influences
- work with grief and loss in a grounded way
- allow things to come to a true completion
WINTER SOLSTICE - REST AND RENEWAL
WINTER SOLSTICE: 21 December 2026
The Wheel closes at the Winter Solstice, the deepest Earth phase of the cycle. This is a time of stillness, rest, and realism. In this final part of the course, you explore grounding, safety, fear, and belonging, and why modern culture struggles so much with stopping.
At the Winter Solstice, you will learn how to:
- recognise disconnection from body and Earth
- understand fear as an Earth imbalance
- work with rest as an essential part of the cycle
- rebuild a sense of safety, belonging, and presence
JOIN US!
To attend the ‘Wheel of Life’ course, you need to have completed our First Steps course, and at least one Next-Steps course with us (please note, there really are no exceptions to this). There are 2 Next-Steps courses you can take before the Wheel of Life starts:
Exploring the Lower-World
The Animal, Plant, Standing (Tree) and Stone People
The closing date for enrolment for the Wheel of Life is February 1st 2026. The course is unlikely to be repeated until 2029, so please do take this opportunity to book (remember, once booked, you can always work through the recordings at your own pace, and with no time limits).
Payment by instalments. We are committed to keeping our courses as affordable as we can, and this course is way cheaper than almost any comparable one. However, please remember that (depending on what country you are from) PayPal offers the option of spreading the payment over 3 monthly instalments. There is no fee at all for this, nor any interest incurred.
£200 for the course
Or just £220 bundled with 8 live sessions
Bookings open soon.
