Susan Opie

Susan Opie, MSW

I grew up in North Wales near sea and mountains, and then in Canada on the Canadian Shield of lakes and boreal forest in Manitoba. As far back as I can remember, I have felt a deep personal and spiritual connection to the natural world. This connection has grounded me through difficult times in my life and given me a solid grounding for my shamanic work.

As a child I had powerful dreams and later as a young adult spontaneous experiences with spirits. I explored various spiritual and shamanic traditions over the years, working closely with power animals to support me through my higher education. After I completed a Basic Workshop in Western Canada with FSS faculty member Gizelle Rhyon-Berry, I felt a deep and profound sense of coming home.

The Earth on which we all live and its inhabitants face many challenges at this point in time. I feel strongly that core shamanism provides powerful tools for learning, reflecting and healing that combine to assist in the difficulties that people encounter on their own personal paths and in understanding their relationship to the Earth. I am deeply grateful to the Foundation for the training I have had the opportunity to experience, and now the opportunity to pass this knowledge on to others.

Susan's students say:

Susan is a wonderful teacher who is calm and has great knowledge. She explains things very well with lots of examples.

Susan had an amazing/knowledgeable answer for every question. You can easily see how well she knows/lives the shamanic topic.

Well organized — apparent understandings and knowledge beyond what was presented.

I have a degree in conflict resolution studies from the University of Winnipeg, and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in social work from the University of Manitoba. Over the last two decades I have worked providing community social work, individual counselling, family therapy and group therapy. I maintain a shamanic practice working with individuals and groups to provide a variety of shamanic healing services (extraction, soul retrieval, psychopomp, depossession, and work with land and houses). In addition to healing work, I am a drum and rattle maker, and enjoy creating ritual objects using fabric arts.