The Shamanic Art of Soul Retrieval

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of abuse sexual, physical, or emotional. Other causes could be an accident, being in a war, being a victim of a terrorist act, acting against our morals, being in a natural disaster (a fire, hurricane, earthquake, tornado, etc.), surgery, addictions, divorce, or death of a loved one.</p></blockquote><blockquote id="4d3f"><p>Any event that causes shock could cause soul loss. And what might cause soul loss in one person might not cause soul loss in another.</p></blockquote><blockquote id="0174"><p>It is important to understand that soul loss is a good thing that happens to us. It is how we survive pain. If I was going to be in a head on car collision the last place that I would want to be at the point of impact is in my body. My psyche could not endure that kind of pain. So our psyches have this brilliant self protect mechanism where a part of our essence or soul leaves the body so that we do not feel the full impact of the pain. <a href="http://www.sandraingerman.com/soulretrieval.html"><i>Sandra Ingerman</i></a></p></blockquote><p id="2be2">Shamanism is a type of healing modality that has been practiced in every indigenous culture in the world for at least 40,000 years and some anthropologists believe it has been around for closer to 100,000 years. Shamanism is not a religion, but more like a wisdom tradition that is highly experiential. Having a dissociated piece of yourself returned allows the client to feel more whole and more like themselves again in a way that simply talking about a difficult experience can never accomplish. It helps to clean up the old wounded place and that tough experience then becomes more a part of the fabric of our lives rather than an on-going state which is actively impacting us.</p><blockquote id="f4d5"><p>Among such people, shamanism is neither a religion nor a science, but an activity in a world that is ordinary yet spiritual. It can be viewed as a healing or helping technology — the technology of the sacred, as it has been called — acts and experiences instead of a set of beliefs or customs. <a href="https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/46-1/Shamanism%20and%20Spirit.pdf"><i>Penn Museum</i></a></p></blockquote><p id="6876">The landscape of the healing journey could look like almost anything, and it’s part of what is interesting about this work to not know exactly where in the Universe one is headed or what is going to transpire. But usually, by the end of the journey, the soul fragment is

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ready to return. Overwhelmingly, clients who have had a soul retrieval report that they feel more whole or more like themselves again. They now have more inner resources for navigating the challenges of their lives and the shocks or traumas of the past no longer hold the same power over them.</p><p id="f8f3">Soul retrieval is not the only kind of shamanic healing work, but it is one of the most powerful and the most common types. In traditional cultures, a patient would typically have a soul retrieval within 3 days of a traumatic incident. Because this is not the case in the modern Western world, most of us who live there are walking around with layer upon layer of soul loss. Even so, even one soul retrieval, particularly around a very dramatic incident or loss, can be highly beneficial.</p><p id="6243">For more about the practice of soul retrieval, read Sandra Ingerman’s classic book on the subject,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Retrieval-Mending-Fragmented-Self/dp/0061227862"> Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self.</a> I have no affiliation with Sandra Ingerman or this book and get no remuneration of any kind for suggesting it.</p><figure id="0e87"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*TNqbfEguyHFE3LaDyGWQpw.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><div id="a6c8" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/what-is-an-animal-spirit-guide-6c6d1e5b0864"> <div> <div> <h2>What Is An Animal Spirit Guide?</h2> <div><h3>And how do I know what it’s trying to tell me?</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*ILV9X1fMm2xb415_)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="7f41" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-web-of-life-c2524b8b4929"> <div> <div> <h2>The Web of Life</h2> <div><h3>Science believes the interconnected natural world is not only possible but likely</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*74O3Hdux00jCapiR)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

A path for returning to yourself

When we experience something upsetting or traumatic, a part of our essential self dissociates or fragments off as a survival mechanism. This is referred to in shamanic circles as soul loss. When you see someone who has been in an accident or heard upsetting news, they often look as if they aren’t all there, and from a shamanic perspective, it’s because they aren’t.

The part that is missing is often called a soul fragment. In order to find the missing fragment, the shamanic practitioner travels into non-ordinary reality by means of a shamanic journey, a deep meditative state which is typically facilitated by the beat of a drum or other percussion instrument, such as a rattle. Within this state, she can connect deeply with the unconscious of the client, and also get guidance from helpers, which might include Animal Spirit Guides, Ancestors or other spirit helpers. With the assistance of these compassionate helpers, the shamanic practitioner can locate the soul fragment and help to return it to the person.

Within the shamanic cosmology, everything in the Universe is connected through the Web of Life. Animal Spirit Guides are one common way that the energies of the Universe are conveyed to us, through the archetype of a particular animal. For instance, everyone knows that ants are industrious, work in groups and can carry more than their own body weight. If Ant comes into our dreams or journey space, we might be being offered the opportunity to work in cooperation, to be patient about our projects, and to persist. We are not expecting a sentient message from a particular ant, but rather a broader way to understand and make sense of the energies that are coming through from the Web of Life through its archetype.

The types of trauma that could cause soul loss in our culture would be any kind of abuse sexual, physical, or emotional. Other causes could be an accident, being in a war, being a victim of a terrorist act, acting against our morals, being in a natural disaster (a fire, hurricane, earthquake, tornado, etc.), surgery, addictions, divorce, or death of a loved one.

Any event that causes shock could cause soul loss. And what might cause soul loss in one person might not cause soul loss in another.

It is important to understand that soul loss is a good thing that happens to us. It is how we survive pain. If I was going to be in a head on car collision the last place that I would want to be at the point of impact is in my body. My psyche could not endure that kind of pain. So our psyches have this brilliant self protect mechanism where a part of our essence or soul leaves the body so that we do not feel the full impact of the pain. Sandra Ingerman

Shamanism is a type of healing modality that has been practiced in every indigenous culture in the world for at least 40,000 years and some anthropologists believe it has been around for closer to 100,000 years. Shamanism is not a religion, but more like a wisdom tradition that is highly experiential. Having a dissociated piece of yourself returned allows the client to feel more whole and more like themselves again in a way that simply talking about a difficult experience can never accomplish. It helps to clean up the old wounded place and that tough experience then becomes more a part of the fabric of our lives rather than an on-going state which is actively impacting us.

Among such people, shamanism is neither a religion nor a science, but an activity in a world that is ordinary yet spiritual. It can be viewed as a healing or helping technology — the technology of the sacred, as it has been called — acts and experiences instead of a set of beliefs or customs. Penn Museum

The landscape of the healing journey could look like almost anything, and it’s part of what is interesting about this work to not know exactly where in the Universe one is headed or what is going to transpire. But usually, by the end of the journey, the soul fragment is ready to return. Overwhelmingly, clients who have had a soul retrieval report that they feel more whole or more like themselves again. They now have more inner resources for navigating the challenges of their lives and the shocks or traumas of the past no longer hold the same power over them.

Soul retrieval is not the only kind of shamanic healing work, but it is one of the most powerful and the most common types. In traditional cultures, a patient would typically have a soul retrieval within 3 days of a traumatic incident. Because this is not the case in the modern Western world, most of us who live there are walking around with layer upon layer of soul loss. Even so, even one soul retrieval, particularly around a very dramatic incident or loss, can be highly beneficial.

For more about the practice of soul retrieval, read Sandra Ingerman’s classic book on the subject, Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self. I have no affiliation with Sandra Ingerman or this book and get no remuneration of any kind for suggesting it.