American Shaman

American Shaman is a feature-length documentary that follows an American-born woman who practices shamanism as a way of life on her sojourn to a small island off the coast of Siberia, the birthplace of Buryat shamanism. There she dreams of and then encounters an indigenous teacher who introduces her to the mysteries of ancient shamanic traditions.

Jonathan Skurnik has recently added a second character, his deceased ex-fiance Karen MacDowell, who died of cancer while trying to use shamanism to cure herself.

The theme of the film is now the blind spots along the spiritual path.

The film tells the story of these women, both of whom become extremely ill. His original character, Cathy, is a practicing shaman who refuses to fully embrace shamanism as a healing modality and, as a result, her illness lingers for years. Karen, on the other hand, ignores the urgent advice of her medical doctors and only uses shamanistic techniques to cure her breast cancer. The cancer metastasizes to her spine and, by the time she initiates chemotherapy, her diagnosis is terminal.

Their stories will be framed and tied together by Jonathan's narration of his personal experiences and relationships with the two women.