ROMANIE — Healing Practitioner

 

CELEBRATING ROMANIE:

HEALING PRACTITIONER

Antoinetta DeWit

Author

Introduction

The most amazing message flashed across my screen this morning. It was a response to a message I sent nine months ago.

Romanie Spierts is the Healing Practitioner and Shaman (aka: Medicine Woman) I first noticed in Amsterdam at a Peace Tree festival last August. I could tell right away she was a bright light, a passionate, focused event organizer. I watched her scurry from one end of the event grounds to an other and all around, being sure everyone and everything was in place, and all presentations were ready as scheduled. She checked and cross checked registrations, and quietly reminded some people about workshop fees due. She caught my attention, but was clearly too busy to meet me, or talk to me there and then. But, I could tell there was something very spiritual about her. Regimented. Organized. Focused. “Slim” — Dutch for bright. Very “slim”.

Since one of my goals was to write reflective stories about the key event organizers and presenters, and also about my actual experience of being there, I decided to contact Romanie a few days after the fact. She did not reply to my message, so the final story collection sadly makes no mention of her. 

Now here we are, nine months later — a message notification from Romanie flashes on my screen. She replied! It was like water broke and the makings of a whole new story was about to be born. The analogy could not be more fitting.

As we all know, technological glitches happen. Her Messenger Account had not emboldened my message so she was unaware of not having replied. I accept that, but I also accept that something in her spirit world nudged her to check her account at this moment in time, nine months later — a moment when she had a moment to reply; a moment when I, too, had a moment to set up a call and carry my original writing mission forward. I am happy to reveal some of the outcome of our delightfully informative and entertaining two hour video conversation of June 29, 2026. As such, my labour to give birth to the Romanie-inspired story starts now.

**

The story

Romanie is a spiritual leader and spiritual healer in the Netherlands. Turns out she is a lot more than that. I saw her in Amsterdam in 2025 at a Peace Tree Festival. I was never personally introduced to her, so I only observed her from afar. Now I realize there is a lot more to her: multitalented, passionate, caring, funny and very alive internally and externally.

During the Opening ceremonies, it was her voice box that caught my initial attention. She has an incredible natural ability to make authentic animal cries and other sounds through throat chanting. I was in awe, as were the people receiving her calls. Jaws dropped. Eyes opened.

 “Wow! How does she do that? Is she Indigenous?” Those were questions at the forefront of my mind. 

Her chant set the tone for the Festival and mentally prepared all of the participants for what was to come next. It was a very powerful welcoming.

Romanie is also a learned master drummer. The pride she feels in her talents emulate through her movements, facial expressions and calm demeanor. She and her drum connect as one entity almost like they dance together, communicate together, connect with the spirit world as one, together — always with respect, honour and dignity hovering around her and her audience. It’s truly a wonderful sight to see but, also, an extraordinarily powerful mind, body and soul feeling to experience.

I really wanted to talk to her that day. But, she was so very busy as a key event organizer and participant, and a very attentive host to familiar people who came from afar. I didn’t want to interrupt her focus. I listened to my inner voice, and found other people and things to experience and enjoy. 

On that day, however, I believe a seed was planted, and here we are, nine months later, and something fabulous has become of it. A resurrection of sorts perhaps?

Romanie is not just a very passionate spiritual leader. She is a daughter, sister, wife, mother, mother in law and grandmother. But, she is also a Shaman, an actual trained and certified Shaman, a Medicine Woman, a faith healer. She felt her special gifts early in life but didn’t act on them fully until the path of marriage, children and grandchildren ran its course.  It was then that the energy (Qi) to integrate and balance her spiritual drive along side her family life began.

She set up a entrepreneurial business in Amsterdam as a practitioner healer. In lay terms she is a listener, a guide, a counsellor, analyst, and interpreter — a healing voice for people who feel lost or stuck, alone, grief stricken, confused.  She helps them listen to themselves and clear the path to get their energy flowing again. I define her work as an ancient self-healing practice, secular (non-religious), focusing not only on the human mindset, but also on the power of faith in the spiritual world. Her approach to therapy is an alternative prescription of non-mainstream and non-medicinal mental health care.

The Power of Faith

As I understand it, the process of this type of healing therapy starts with learning how to meditate, how to find and listen to the voice within. Once you get to that point, with the guidance of someone like Romanie, more intense focus goes to another level of consciousness — the spirit world — where there is a totally different dimension to the concept of faith, and a plethora of untapped energy to help you put life into perspective. It’s like a refreshing place to hang out for a while, now and then, much like prayers are for followers of traditional religions. 

As you meditate more intensely, Spirits in the spiritual world tune in, connect with you or you with them. They guide you through a type of cleansing and help bring you back to a renewed sense of inner peace. In this practice you learn that all the answers come from within. When they present themselves, the key to success is to see the answers, feel them, smell them, hear them, touch them and hold them close. Embrace them. They become your guides to salvation, clarity and peace.

Drumming

Romanie’s coveted instrument used to set the mood in her presentations is the comforting sound of the drum. A drum is a healing tool that draws the attention of spirits to our personal zone. When we open the door to our mind and soul, the spirits will guide us on our healing journey. It is a very freeing experience. The beating of the drum becomes the beating of the heart. When there is a heart beat, there is a voice and from that voice we listen and follow. We learn how to create or recreate a peaceful, calm life. 

From rhythmically slow and steady, to loud and demonstrative, the drum beat is both expressive and therapeutic. It becomes a calling to the spirits and a calling to oneself. When in a deeper level of consciousness, the movement of the drumming arm, hand and body is powered by our thoughts. I would describe it as a kind of hypnotic trance or hypnotic dance.

In drumming therapy or at a drumming ceremony, the scene is set by a soft, slow introduction of mentally opening a door, relaxing and slowly seeing whatever is inside. It is like when you want to write an essay. You sit down, relax and think about a topic. In the introduction you clarify that you have found something specific you want to focus on. In the body of your dissertation you elaborate on that point, develop a better understanding about it with the help of resources, and in the conclusion you close off with a supported theory on how to move forward. 

Similarly, in spiritual healing, when using the drum as a tool to open the introduction in your mind, you close your eyes to get into a relaxed zone, set the stage, and identify something you want to work on. From there you get mentally prepared to enter into the spirit world, become contemplative to develop a better understanding of the issue, and accept the spirits as valuable resources. As you conclude the practice, you feel enriched with a refreshed approach to moving forward. All the while the beat of the drum is the facilitator. It keeps you on track, focused and in tune with the process, beats out the anger and celebrates the joys, and leads you back to the earthly here and now,  feeling renewed and refreshed.

As the drumming ceremony ends, participants feel the calming from within. It is all very metaphorical and mystical, and definitely requires a different from the mainstream mindset; but, an effective leader of a drum circle leads people through the process and provides them with a unique personal experience that is powerful, freeing and celebrated. Romanie is such a leader.

Back in the day when religions dominated societies around the world, anything secular (non religious) was deemed evil, demonic, sinful. Most religious orders still condemn the practice of non-mainstream applications to life and living. Yet despite it all, believers of alternative approaches to spirituality, persevered; they kept a low profile, and slowly expanded their following of people seeking a different approach to understanding and handling life and living. 

The Principles of Shamanism

After years of studying and practicing Shamanism, Romanie became a Shaman. Her total heart, mind, body and soul immersed in the principles thereto associated. 

It’s a language that, like any other new language she has learned, takes time and patience, a lot of time and patience, along with determination, passion and commitment. She started the journey actively late in life, and now walks and talks it daily. It’s her passion and her profession.

So what is shamanism?

Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner interacting with the spirit world through altered levels of consciousness, such as a trance or meditative state. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world for the purpose of healing or to assist human beings in some other way. In a sense, the practice helps block out the noise of every day life, tap into our own spiritual energy, and bring that energy forward to our earthly lives.

The practice has been around for centuries. It does require a different mindset than what traditional religious orders offer or expect. It requires openmindedness and fearlessness. In other words, it requires a willingness to try something new with trust and confidence. 

If you go into it with a negative attitude, don’t waste your time — it won’t work. But, if existing religions or agnosticism have not been effective in helping your mental health, the philosophy or spirituality behind Shamanism just might be the answer.

Honouring Romanie

Observing Romanie from afar when I was at the Peace Tree Festival, and listening to her mesmerizing throat calls (beautiful chanting) and gentle drumming, peaked my curiosity about her spirituality and her obvious sense of inner peace. I was sad that the time with her there and then in Amsterdam was just a seed with no hope of germinating, no hope of becoming a creative story. But, I do believe there’s a time and a place for everything.

When, nine months later, she magically resurfaced in my orbit via a technological  glitch, it was like a seed became a zygote; the zygote became an embryo; and, the embryo broke water. It was a surprising, delightful birth of a new relationship, a new connection, a new bond. I developed a whole new definition of a person and an experience. I also developed a whole new understanding of aspects of the Festival that accentuated my ignorance.

Not only that, her story and my recent research have further relaxed me about alternative thinking. I feel myself more proudly shying further away from indoctrination, dogma and ignorance. I now feel more confident about my tendency to open boxes, open up questions and answers, get people to think logically, celebrate alternatives and show greater respect for diversity in all things.

Romanie’s spiritual work includes individual sessions, group workshops and drum circles. She is well known across the Netherlands and has even been an invited presenter at many workshops and events, one as far away as the State of Utah, in the USA. Her story has germinated well, and any sadness I felt about not initially connecting as hoped, has now dissipated.

Conclusion 

Bridging the gap between observing Romanie and actually talking with her at length for nearly two hours nine months later, was amazing for sure. She came back for a reason. I’m inclined to think she is an angel, perhaps even psychic. A voice and a drum. A Spirit in my spirit world perhaps. One thing I feel convinced about is that I’m absolutely sure the spirit world was involved. Our reconnection was definitely serendipity.

*****

Thank you Romanie, for giving my heart an extra beat … you are a beautiful voice and an effective drummer. You have enriched my special experience in Amsterdam exponentially, and I especially praise you for helping me bring this beautiful story to life.