Articles

Christina Pratt Interview

What do you do at Last Mask Center for Shamanic Healing?

I see people for private sessions of shamanic healing, mostly soul retrieval work, but also power animal retrievals, extractions, cleansings, and divinations. This work can also be done long distance, particularly the soul retrievals. I teach classes, which are half-days to full weekends in length. They cover a range of shamanic techniques and the safe and responsible use of the techniques for self-empowerment, personal healing, and strengthening your connection with Spirit and Nature. Then there are the four week-long workshops of the Cycle of Transformation.

What is the difference between the classes and the workshops?

They each allow you work on transformation at different levels of your being. The classes teach you the skills to change your life. The workshops provide an opportunity for you to invite Spirit to change you.
In the classes the intention is for participants to use these skills to become more fully themselves and more effective change agents in their lives. The workshops are shamanic experiences. They involve authentic (and therefore powerfully healing) ritual work designed to create personal transformation.

Where do the workshops fit into the healing process after a soul retrieval?

Most people begin to see that there is so much more to life and to their own passion than they ever realized after a soul retrieval. As the parts come back and are integrated, there is a lot of the old self that needs to be released on many different levels. That kind of change is challenging. The mask making helps to make the old self more tangible and the ritual work makes the release more complete and the realization of the new self more clear. Step by step, the workshops help you to reconnect with your Authentic Self in one, to reclaim your Shadow Self and all of its power in two, to find wholeness and divinity in your new expression of self in three, and to bring your gifts out to the world in four.

The workshops can come first. You don't have to have a soul retrieval to take a workshop or a class. The experiences are deep and rich whether you are beginning or you're an advanced journeyer.

Did you develop the workshops as a way to continue to support the healing and transformation of your clients?

No, the workshops came first. I didn't design them; they are gifts to us from spirit. However, they are perfect for supporting my work with clients. I actually was leading the first two years of Masks of Illusion while I was learning core shamanism. Then the spirits took over and I began training to be a shaman.

When did the Cycle of Transformation begin?

It was a gift from spirit eight years ago. Masks of Illusion and the Authentic Self is from Owl; it's the first workshop. It helps us to slice through the illusions of our lives and see clearly in our own darkness. In this cycle, its South work - healing our personal past and moving beyond the fears we are programmed to feel by our past. All the workshops draw deeply on the shamanic practices of journeying, mask making, ritual, and dance, but they are experiences of transformation design for today. The rituals are for contemporary people with contemporary needs to heal body and soul.

It doesn't sound like the purpose of these workshops is to train shamans?

No, the spirits take care of that in other ways. These are experiences that train us-or challenge us-to be human. This is a cycle of transformation to become who you are, not necessarily who you think you want to be. It's to reveal the person your soul came here to be: your Authentic Self.

Spirit wants – needs – us to transform, to become our Authentic Self so that we can bring our gifts to the world. It's as if each gift is a piece of the puzzle, or a strand in the fabric of the universe. For each life that goes unrealized, a gift goes ungiven and the fabric is weakened. Each strand is essential, each gift must be brought to the world. That's why the cycle began – to support people in bringing their gifts to the world.

But won't that happen if we just live our lives?

You tell me...are you living out your soul's purpose with passion and an open heart? Have you offered your life and your gift to the Universe? well...

Not completely...

So come to the workshop. It's fun...intense and life changing... but joyful and meaningful for each person where ever they are in their lives.

To be honest, it sounds a bit intense, especially when I read these quotes from past participants.

Well, that's what The New Life Skills Classes are for. They are designed specifically for people who want to take the next step after their soul retrieval or after learning to journey, but they don't feel ready for Masks of Illusion and the Authentic Self. In other classes you learn to use your journeying to bring your life into alignment with the dreams of your heart and soul. It's a very inspiring to really feel your dreams begin to take shape.

But I don't know how to journey...

That's fine. We cover that in the workshop as well.

It sounds like there really is no excuses in your world.