From darkness to light: my shamanic path
Wholeness comes from within.
“Real love, care for the soul of the other, can involve what seems unloving at the time but will assist that person to awaken.” (Rutherford 2001)
I am Susanne Boerner, founder of White Owl Shamanism. I am an accredited shamanic practitioner (I.P.H.M.), wellbeing researcher (Assistant Professor, PhD), and spiritual coach. Currently based in Birmingham, I have over 20 years of experience in community-based research, education and practice focusing on emotional well-being and mental health. My passion is to support individual, community, and planetary healing by guiding others on their path to release their pain and reclaim joy in a world where so many people experience depression, anxiety, a lack of purpose, and a sense of disconnection from self, others and nature.
Over the past two decades, I have been working with Indigenous communities, traditional healers, and interdisciplinary health scientists, especially from Brazil and Mexico, to gain a deeper understanding of wellbeing and healing from an interconnected perspective and to learn from ancestral wisdom. The power of shamanic soul healing is still largely overlooked or discarded in Western society and medicine. There is still a tendency to separate body/mind/spirit and to dismiss sources of ‘dis-ease’ at soul level. Focus is often purely on the body or the mind, while treating the human as separate from nature and overlooking the importance of ancestral healing. Shamanic healing sees wellbeing as interconnected and relational with physical symptoms often having their cause in spiritual imbalances.
In the early days of my journey, at the age of 22 when I moved to Mexico after my mum had passed, little did I know that my own journey through grief, chronic anxiety, and depression would turn into a journey of healing – of myself and others. For many years, I felt like life happened to me instead of for me. Challenging life experiences of multiple loss of family members, childhood bullying, and narcissistic family relations had kept me stuck in complex grief and led me to give my power away in relationships. I struggled with boundaries and toxic relationships and was unable to release past grief to move forward. Shamanic soul healing practices have helped me reclaim my light and joy, guiding me out of the cycle of victimhood and suffering to step into my own courage, freedom, and personal power.
During my own healing journey, I had to release old stories and rewrite the narrative of the past. The healing power of shamanic wisdom has not only guided me into joy and freedom but has also helped me uncover my own unique calling and gift as a healer. It is said that the shaman walks with one foot in the spirit world and one foot in the everyday world and goes through a rigorous preparation before their shamanic initiation - often by illness or through death-related experiences (Rutherford 2001). As a sole survivor of a triplet pregnancy, I was familiar with death before I was even born and have perhaps always felt more at home in the spirit realms than in the human world.
I carry the wisdom of the healer and seer from another lifetime growing up in the Amazon as an Indigenous girl. The healing gift was passed on to me from my grandmother in that timeline. In that life, I had the vision of a Jaguar spirit as a sign of danger which warned against the impending tribal annihilation. The sacred healing gift was hidden for safeguarding by my grandmother and the Enchanted Guardians of the Amazon to be retrieved in another lifetime. In this current life, I went through a long journey of spiritual awakening, shamanic initiation and training by the spirits to remember my calling and her gifts and be of service to all worlds. I was also given the sacred songs and frequencies through my Amazonian ancestors to communicate with the enchanted worlds. This mission of healing and reconnection now needs to be carried forward so that the seed that was planted can blossom.
My professional and personal journey of (un-)becoming
Being curious and passionate about learning with other cultures, I have spent over six years researching with marginalised children and youth in Mexico and Brazil to understand how to promote youth resilience. Learning from Toltec wisdom and curanderas (traditional healers) in Mexico, Indigenous communities such as the Yawanawa from the Brazilian Amazon region and Celtic shamanic traditions in the UK, the deep connection with ancestral wisdom helped me (re-)discover my authentic self and heal my deepest wounds at soul level.
My personal and work ethics is firmly guided by the understanding that we are all teachers and learners at the same time. The magic happens when we remember the power of healing through community and nature and recognise our shared humanity. Throughout my academic career, I have taught and presented on healing human–nature relationships, ancestral wisdom and wellbeing at universities and international conferences around the world. Yet some of my most profound learning has come in times of solitude in nature, in connection with the spiritual worlds through reflection and ceremony.
I believe we are all both teachers and learners. Healing happens when we remember our interconnectedness and shared humanity. After more than 20 years of research, personal transformation, and shamanic initiations, I have found my calling as a shamanic healer. My mission is to support others on their unique healing journeys towards greater joy, freedom, and wholeness. I am especially passionate about supporting women through thresholds of change and transition to step into their courage, beauty and feminine wisdom.
Through ancestral wisdom and contemporary healing practices, I help people reconnect with themselves, their purpose, and the living web of life, from a place of love and compassion. I am deeply grateful to the teachers, communities, ancestors, and spiritual guides who have walked alongside me on this path.
Qualifications:
Diploma in Advanced Shamanic Studies by the Healing Tree in Cornwall (accredited with I.P.H.M.)
Accredited Shamanic Practitioner by the Healing Tree in Cornwall (accredited with I.P.H.M.)
International Shamanic Counselling Accreditation by Shamanism Ireland.
Assistant Professor in Human Geography at the University of Birmingham, UK, focusing on ancestral wisdom, human-nature relations, healing and wellbeing (until 2026)
Post-doctoral Marie Curie Global Fellowship in Public Health (University of Sao Paulo) & Human Geography (University of Birmingham) on emotional resilience and wellbeing of youth in times of crises
PhD in Social Sciences, Goethe University Germany; focus on environmental psychology and environmental justice, research fellowship at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM)
M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences, Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi, Mexico & Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Germany, with a focus on community health and determinants of child health
Over 20 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on sacred chants and healing frequencies, ancestral wisdom and wellbeing, climate change, mental health, and youth agency.
International podcast on the intersections of the environment and wellbeing by Fiocruz Foundation Amazonia Brazil.
Principal investigator on the international research project ‘Thinking the future creatively from traditional knowledge: participatory pedagogies for urban wellbeing and intergenerational agency’ in collaboration with the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Associated researcher on diverse research projects on Indigenous knowledge, environmental change and wellbeing, led by Fiocruz Amazonia & University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Supervision of 10 international PhD and MSc students, including research on eco-spirituality, ancestral wisdom, relational wellbeing, nature-based education, trauma and climate change, child mental health, and resilient cities in the global South.