The Darkness Visible ceremonial workshop was for me was an extremely significant initiation into an ancient and authentic part of myself. It felt liberating, comforting and somehow familiar to be in darkness for that length of time and as I moved through the ceremony I felt myself fall deeper and deeper into a sense of connection with myself, the spirits and the universe. I will never forget coming out of the darkness realising that this time round I had consciously chosen to be born into this world. My experience of integration after the course has been very beautiful. I feel like I am moving to a different beat of the drum… a beat that resides from deep within… one that resonates with the heart-beat of our earth. I have also found myself stepping into aspect of myself and my life that I could not quite move into before and in doing so I feel I am moving ever closer towards my sacred dream.
Anneli Juliet Stollar
Community Artist/Practitioner
I first met Simon Buxton on the opening module of the two year Professional Shamanic Practitioner Training. I had come across the word “shaman” over thirty years before whist doing an anthropology degree, and, to me at that time, it seemed to be the sort of thing only “other people” did. After decades of searching, therapy, men’s groups and the whole range of spiritual tourism, I was eventually led me to The Sacred Trust. I wasn`t ready before…and I found to my horror that I wasn`t ready yet! I have now completed this training and have since attended the truly mind blowing course The Serpent Flight of the Honeybee. Most of us now live in non traditional cultures. One of the great strengths of the core shamanic techniques taught at The Sacred Trust is that they can be applied cross culturally. Shorn of all the cultural baggage and ethnic flavouring that can make these ancient teachings so attractive, one is left with what is at the centre: powerful and transformational tools of great elasticity. Tradition is always to be respected, it is the conventions that are to be questioned, and the respect that The Sacred Trust teachers have for tradition is evident in everything they do. Somehow they manage to appear to be working effortlessly at the cutting edge of a a 50,000 year old tradition. What I feel I have gained is a deepening awareness of the interpenetration of all things; of the arbitrariness of the distinctions between real and unreal, objective and subjective, spiritual and material — and of the prosaic nature of the miraculous, and the miraculous nature of the ordinary. If I have lost anything at all, then I did not need it. On a personal level I feel that I only visit this work and am still paddling in the shallows. However Simon and the other members of the faculty I have had the privilege to work with, live there. Every action displays their impeccability, their understanding of, and deep connection with spirit. This is the real thing.
Nicholas Woodward
Masseur and Shamanic Practitioner
I’ve always been fascinated by those people who disassemble an automobile engine, laying out every single screw, flange and seal on a large white tarp. Then, as if it were simply a matter of reversing the deconstructive process, they put all the pieces back together again… invariably, however, there were few bits left over. And no matter what they did, the engine always ran differently. I always wanted them to do the process a bunch of times in succession; I was sure that sooner or later they would end up with an engine that had enough pieces left out to simply be an all-together different beast. Each aspect of the Darkness Visible workshop – each one – deserves more respect than a few simple lines can offer. Each process, each task, each journey almost demands that above all you give it the main ingredient in transformative processes: Time. Each day that passes reveals something different, something new, something that wasn’t available yesterday. That being said I believe the key moment in the Darkness Visible workshop is initiation. Without it, I cannot begin to fathom how the inner workings of our hearts, minds and spirits could begin to be understood. That moment of transition – the initiation into the dark – was, for me, the deconstruction. As if I were one of the engines I’d seen so many times on the tarp. Each piece neatly and cleanly separated from every other part, spread out through time and space, waiting for me to put it all back together again. Simon and his assistants created the most sacred space possible and I spent four days learning how to listen from – and to – my heart. As I walk my path in this life, regardless of what steps I take, I will always refer to the Darkness Visible workshop as the moment my life truly began. I cannot recommend this workshop highly enough. It’s an appointment. Keep it.
Jerome Salyers
Banker
I have had many teachers over the last 30 years and have also taught various healing methods myself during the last decade. Happily my husband John joined me on the shamanic path five years ago, bringing a joy and sharing to the work. We spent several years training with an insightful and special American shamanic teacher and we were both saddened when he went into retreat and withdrew from the world as a teacher. So it was with much thought and discussion that John and I signed up for The Way of the Shaman workshop as taught by Simon Buxton. And even though we were familiar with some of the teachings shared in that workshop, it was a good, rich weekend and we were now ready to explore some of the advanced courses. We are not easily impressed, but the next two workshops Shamanic Extraction and Death, Dying and Beyond strengthened our respect for the way Simon teaches and inspired us to go further. The Darkness Visible course with Simon and his colleagues was our first visit to The Sacred Trust centre and represented a real turning point for us both. We felt safe and looked after and found a freedom in the darkness which we now revisit on a regular basis. What we also found important was the masculine-feminine balanced way of teaching. We consider that anyone who is interested in helping the world to be a better, more equitable place should undertake this darkness course — healers, writers, artists and perhaps especially politicians! Most recently we have undertaken The Spirit of the Drum workshop which was simply exceptional. Whereas it was not just a drumming workshop, we were involved in both powerful and gentle drumming, enabling us to deepen our relationship with spirit and break down some deeper personal barriers. Our connection with our drums has deepened considerably and we now possess a strong spirit-connection with what is sometimes called the “shamans horse”. Simon has left a lasting impression on us both with his teaching, wisdom, humour and humanity. Thank you.
Louise Cheval and John Cheval
Healer, teacher, painter and decorator
The Spirit Of The Drum workshop is a deeply intimate and soul-quickening adventure to the very quiddity – the essence – of our living, and vibrantly pulsing world. The great humility and powerful integrity of it’s teachers is an immense inspiration, which encourages one to step into a beautifully vulnerable and egoless place. Each participant is given the opportunity to explore and utilise their innate call for healing, and a deepened union with spirit. In my personal awakening experience with through this work, I am embraced by the eternal heartbeat of the universe. The beat of the drum has become my perfect prayer, and through it Soul speaks.
Arianne Sheikh
Health & Fitness Professional
I cannot recommend The Sacred Trust highly enough. After three trainings I am still taken aback by the quality of care, compassion and integrity that Simon Buxton and other members of the team show their course participants. Their dedication to making this world a more sacred place, and to healing rifts that underlie the social and ecological challenges we all face, is truly beyond compare. Whether in darkness, in light or beside the fire, they are a beacon of hope and I trust them completely. I have yet to meet a dissatisfied customer.
Dr Rachel Fleming
Editor, The Source Magazine
In the Spring of 2007, I took part in the Darkness Visible course led by Simon Buxton. Before taking part, I had been very worried about all the possible, and not so likely things, that might go wrong – I was in a difficult space at the time. However I found the time spent in darkness and in silence to be a healing experience in ways I could never have imagined. I felt so much more connected to the pulse of the universe, I felt safe, loved and cared for by all present. The sighted assistants were always there to deal with my needs, both emotionally and physically. I was also miraculously caught by one of them – or so it seemed to me – just before I slipped down a couple of steps, when I wasn’t quite where I thought I was. I connected to the other people on the course on a heart level, with the greatest of ease. Since undertaking Darkness Visible my life has changed immeasurably for the better, and it continues to change. I found the real me in the darkness, and have had the courage to change my life, so that the real me dances life with the joy of who I truly am. Thank you so much Simon and all your team of helpers, I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life.
Philena Bruce
Writer, Healer and Spirit Release Practitioner
I have had the privilege of attending a number of trainings with The Sacred Trust. Without exception, all of them have been powerful experiences, inviting me to journey into my soul and embrace the fruits and seeds that await there. Simon Buxton knows how to safely hold a circle in power, how to guide one through the gateways to spirit and from there, how to go deeper – always in Sacred Trust. I feel grateful to carry within my being beautiful gifts of remembrance that I received from the places they have led me to. Simon is a bright light upon my path and has guided me to a life of greater health, abundance, happiness, beauty and, above all, spirit.
Roel Crabbé
Founder, shamanic-drums.com
The Sacred Trust’s Professional Shamanic Practitioner Training was an indescribably rich and transformative experience. Through Simon Buxton’s gift for creating sacred space, and his tremendous creativity as a teacher, I have experienced realms that I never would have been able to imagine. The challenges are huge as this new path keeps revealing itself, as I learn to let Spirit be my guide and move me towards my own manifestations of the ancient ways, into the world as we know it today. And the group that came into existence when we started the course together goes on growing together in strength and support, continuing to flow together in ways which, again, I never would have imagined.
Sarah Cunningham
Classical Musician
My participation in this work has, quite literally changed my life in the most concrete terms. In using the shamanic healing techniques we were taught I have been liberated from almost a lifetimes binding to the pain of my past and its direct and limiting impact on my life. For this alone whatever I have invested in this work has been worth it. But beyond this I have truly found my way to the magical realms where all things are possible and the greatest of teachers are to be found. I have found allies to strengthen and support me through life and have been given tools for finding my way through it’s uncertainties and complexities in the most practical terms. I have also found a deeper sense of connection and communion with this land, this Earth and all those we share it with. Simon has provided, at all times the safe and sacred space needed for our learning. His integrity and commitment to this work are profound.
Sue Evans
Administrator