Cat Shepard

Walking the Way of the Ancestors & Ancient Ones

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In my explorations with the creative mysteries, the world's indigenous & ancestral arts, cultures & traditions, nature’s mysteries, symbolism in folklore & myth, in combination with an ever-deepening desire for wholeness & direct contact with Source, my life is continually enriched & deeply meaningful.  This has initiated a passionate, life-long path devoted to researching, learning & exploring the creative mysteries with art, nature & ritual as my guide.

I am a multidimensional, multi-faceted, curious & creative soul. I offer unusual & unique opportunities for Source Connection & Alignment, such as ecstatic ritual trance forms practices & the instruction of modern earth-honoring practices founded on ancient mystery traditions. For the past 3+ decades, I have served as a visionary artist & creativity catalyst, offering instruction, facilitation & priestessing of the Ritual Arts. I spent the decade of the 1990s attending festivals and investigating how to create a dynamically balanced state of being from my explorations into the mysteries of creativity.  During this time, I was remembering my origins & learning how to live in an impromptu community with respect & integrity. 

I am voraciously curious about how our states of being are affecting us & how to transform them through our choices to live consciously.  One of the most significant discoveries I have made is the awe-inspiring, transformatively healing power of Art, Nature, & Mystery.  I was introduced to the mysteries of the Divine Feminine as a child brought up in the Roman Catholic tradition by a matriarchal family.  In 1974 I began my quest in earnest.

My curiosity led me to the study & practice of alternative spiritual paths based on my connection with nature & the divine feminine in relationship with the divine masculine. My experiences are translated through my visionary art & embodied ritual.  This has resulted in an intentionally focused ability to access altered states of consciousness as a way to find meaning, purpose, a dynamic balance & wholeness in a fractured world. 

Permanent changes can be achieved through the experience & any creative expressions that result from these inner explorations.  Continued careful cultivation of my early ritual training, my creativity & inherited intuitive skills have allowed me to maintain a unique perception of the world around me while providing myself and others with infinite opportunities for fresh insights & new perspectives. This is something I have learned to value beyond measure.

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ABOUT CAT SHEPARD

Cat Shepard is a creative force with over 40 years of experience as an Artist.  She has cultivated her life as a creative catalyst serving in the roles of a visual artist, ritual healing arts facilitator, sacred shamanistic journey guide, sacred home & land blessing ceremonialist, mystress of re-source-fullness, energetic & intuitive healing practitioner, and curator of ancient wisdom.

In the 1970s Cat became fascinated with the ritual arts and alternative healing arts. She was introduced to shamanism in the 1980s.  At the turn of the 21st century, Cat was exposed to the work of a pioneering professor of anthropology Felicitas D. Goodman through a book written by her student & friend, Belinda Gore.  Belinda has published several books on Ecstatic Trance, including a deck of oracle cards based on Ancient Ritual Postures.  https://belindagore.com/shop/.

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Dr. Felicitas Goodman founded the Cuyamungue Institute to preserve, research, and practice the ecstatic body postures she discovered in the process of studying the ecstatic states and their effects (both short-term and long-term) achieved when altering consciousness in a ritual context.  Since that time, Cat has been creating her own unique and original path of visionary art, ecstatic trance postures, and alternative healing methods with creative expression and shamanistic rituals with rewarding & meaningful results. 

Cat has committed her life to studying, learning, and practicing the way of the Creatrix & the wisdom of the ancestors - in ritual, through nature, and with a deep trust of intuitive guidance. This space has been specially designed for students who seek enlightenment and alignment with Cat serving as an anchor for deep creative processes that will catalyze a greater capacity to tune into one's own divinity and hear from the Divine. 

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As an instructor and facilitator, Cat guides others through carefully designed creative processes and time-proven methods for confidently applying the creative, ritual tools and concepts for the client's own purposes, growth, and intent. Cat's artistic background includes education, study, and training in commercial & graphic arts, art history, drawing-still-life & landscapes, hand-lettering, calligraphy, composition & design, architecture, architectural drafting, and color theory. Cat's divinity studies include cross-cultural spiritual cosmologies, archeology, scientific breakthroughs, alternative healing modalities, and ecstatic trance ritual body postures practiced by the ancients. At the intersection of art and divinity, Cat molds the participants' experiences using her background in creative program development and instruction, women's mysteries studies, soul alchemy, experiential ritual training, and ritual journey explorations.

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Cat is a nationally and internationally-featured visionary artist, with instructional courses in the ritual arts and intuitive, ancestral & creative catalystic consultations.  She has been guiding her clients from around the globe since the 1990s.  While following the path of the visionary artist, Cat has taken up the sacred work of a creatrix - one who is in touch with nature and works with the natural rhythms of the planet & the cosmos to bring about transformation resulting in wholeness and holiness with gratifying outcomes.

Additionally, Cat has knowledge of & experience in newspaper publishing.  She has served as the sole owner/operator of a retail art gallery and gift shop, and in 1998 she founded an independent mystery school - Ancient Echoes Studios - where she offers 1-on-1 sessions, online courses, and group ritual circle work, She has collected & published research on ritual practices, mythologies, divinity, spirituality, and the mystical traditions that have emerged throughout history offering their guidance and support of human evolution. Cat has served hundreds of clients throughout the years and her work continues to stand the test of time.