Embarking on a journey that intertwines spirituality and nature, Omanisa Ross has embraced the path of a modern shaman like not many others have. With a deep-rooted love for the Earth and an innate connection to the realms beyond, Omanisa has cultivated a unique approach to spirit medicine and healing. Join us in the newest edition of MysticMag interviews, as we discuss the beginnings of her spiritual journey, her current work, and more.
How did you become a Shaman and how did you develop your love for nature?
I had the privilege of being born into an amazing family, in a very sacred and powerful place, at an incredible time in history. A flower child of the flower children! My elders raised me to have a deep love and respect for Nature, a spiritual reverence for Nature. They taught me to see Nature as a person rather than a thing. Mum raised me to honour Mother Nature, Gaia, the Earth, as my goddess. My shamanic training has primarily come from being immersed in Nature and having conversations with Her (Gaia). My aunt Maggie had me reading famous shamanic writers in my early teenage years, like Carlos Casteneda and Lynn V Andrews. And when I was 16, she took me along with her on a vision quest hosted by a visiting American First Nations elder. Significant also, was the psychic and spiritual development course I attended in my early 20s, led by a local First Nations woman here in Darwin. She introduced me to my spirit guides, especially Gaia, and these guides managed the rest of my training from there.
Can you explain to our readers what exactly Spirit Medicine is?
Spirit Medicine is spiritual medicine. It’s the use of spiritual therapies, practises and philosophies applied in a therapeutic way. That’s it in a nutshell, explained simply, but let me take you deeper. Spirit Medicine is a way of honouring the deep wisdom of First Nations people and their instinctual connection with Nature and Spirit. We have so much to learn from our ancestral roots and the cultures/people around us who haven’t lost their connection with Nature. Spirit Medicine is about looking up at that kookaburra who just landed on the tree above you and regarding her as a sister you can talk to who might have something wise to share with you. She isn’t just a photo opportunity. Maybe she’s reminding you to slow down, come out of your head right now and be in the moment. Maybe she’s reminding you to lighten up and laugh, to reconnect with your inner child and stop taking everything so seriously. Spirit Medicine is definitely about harnessing the creativity and imagination of your inner child and using a bit of “make-believe” to enchant yourself into better mind-body states.
Your primary services are related to auras. Can you tell me more about that part of your work?
There is something invisible and indivisible that infuses and connects all of Life together as one. In spiritual traditions this is loosely referred to as “energy”, and many of us have been kindly adopted in and taken under the wing of cultural practises that might describe this energy using words like Chi, Ki, Prana, Mana and so on. This is what the aura is – it’s your personal collection of Ki. When I began learning how to be a channel for Ki and releasing Ki-blockages within other people, I saw the Ki in my mind’s eye as streams of different coloured light. So I began drawing my healings and someone told me I was drawing the aura. I’ve been sketching, healing and reading people’s aura colours since 1996. My aura services include Aura Card readings, Aura Sketches, and Aura Healing. I recognise over 100 different aura colours which tell me about people’s feelings, personalities, health and so on. And I feature 88 of these colours on my Aura Cards. In an Aura Healing, I might be lifting out a blockage of Anxiety Yellow, revitalising an area that is drained as indicated by the presence of Depression Grey, or untangling knotted energy lines that can no longer properly convey Ki throughout our body and being, between us and others, between us and our larger body (Nature). These are just a few examples of aura healing.
What other consults do you offer?
Well, I’m actually a naturopath, it’s just that I do naturopathy a little differently! I love working with herbal medicine and often incorporate this into my aura consults, but I do have a herbal medicine-only consult for people who don’t want healing or counselling. I do spirit guide readings, where I tell you who’s working with you and pass messages from your guides, and I’m a fairly talented artist so I also offer spirit guide portraits. One of my favourite services is the Gaian Healing, a shamanic, Nature-based approach to Aura Healing. In a Gaian Healing, I’m not handling aura colours directly with my hands and my psychic mind/intent the way I would in an aura healing. In a Gaian, I use Nature therapy and story-telling through guided imagery, with the spirit of Nature as my guide, collaborator and source of healing. In a Gaian, I teach people how to use classic Spirit Medicine tools to connect with the spiritual medicine of Nature. I just finished running a Visionary Nature Retreat during which I helped a student reconnect with her heart using a range of Gaian Healing methods. She had felt nothing in her heart for a long time, and after meditating with a tree and receiving a healing from the spirit of the tree, after meditating with the sun and breathing sunlight Ki into an “imaginary” ball of light pressed up against her chest, she finally found herself again.
What can people expect from Gaian Healing Workshop and the Darwin Retreat With Om?
This year, the Gaian Healing Workshop was embedded into the Darwin Retreat (we call it the “Visionary Nature Retreat”). Retreaters came for the long weekend and soaked up sunset beach walks, evening fire-dancing and music-making. During a Gaian Healing Workshop, students are taught about four different levels of reality. My apprentices and I help them be more mindfully present in the first level of reality, inviting them to come out of their heads and re-engage with their physical senses. We teach them how to body-scan, self-soothe and harness the power of their attention and intuition. We show them how to work with wild Ki, the Ki of Nature, and Light-breathing. Light is another way of saying Ki, and breath-work is a powerful way to connect with and move your Ki. Students learn how to access their inner sanctuary, their safe-place in Nature, and how to connect with spirit guides. If the tree you were meditating with were to appear in your imagination in human-like form, would it be easier for you to think of the tree as a person you can hug and have a conversation with? We teach people how to access their inner wisdom by connecting with Nature, their imagination and their sense of creative play.
Do you have any special messages for our readers?
Be present in your body and the moment. Don’t be afraid to feel your feelings and breathe through them without needing to numb yourself with busyness, work, drugs, alcohol, and all the other clever ways we have to avoid being here now. Please don’t forget that you aren’t separate from the rest of Nature. Gaia (Nature) is your larger body. Loving yourself means loving Her. Stay connected and you will never feel alone. Be playful and have fun. Connect with your inner child and use your imagination to bring your inner world to life in ways that can help you lift your mood, recharge your batteries, and change the way you are feeling and seeing yourself and the world around you.
To learn more about Omanasia and her work, you can visit her website at omanisa.com
