Journeying
to wholeness through soul retrieval
By Roz Brown
If
you've seen the movie What the Bleep Do We Know? it's likely that you
are at least partially convinced that energy and emotions affect our
lives. One of the most fascinating aspects of this ever-compelling film
is the series of experiments conducted on water by Dr. Masaru Emoto.
Using a high-speed photography
technique under cold temperatures, Emoto discovered that crystals that
form in frozen water change when intentions are directed toward them.
Emoto published the photographs in
his books, Messages from Water
1 and 2, and The Hidden Messages in Water. For instance, clean spring
water exposed to loving words produced colorful, snowflake patterns.
Water exposed to negative thoughts, however, formed muted, irregular
patterns. The film's website notes, "The implications of this research
create a new awareness of how we positively impact... our personal health."
Is it any wonder some of us feel
we lose our soul, or portions of it, over the course of our life? Think
of just one source of negative thoughts - your own stream of never-ending
self-talk. If a living organism like water can be affected so dramatically,
it makes sense we would be too.
"When we say that a soul
is 'lost,' 'runs away' or 'hides,' we are using a metaphor," says
Elena Avila, author of Woman Who Glows in the Dark (Jeremy P. Tarcher,
2000). "If our soul truly leaves our body, we die. What we really
mean is that the part of our soul that went through injury, violation,
or trauma has become repressed." Recovering that essence is at
the heart of soul retrieval.
A local practitioner describes
soul loss as a sense of emptiness, depletion, alienation or lack of
purpose. Other symptoms might include depression, lack of energy, memory
loss and numbness - a sort of constant
state of dissociation. In addition,
states of codependency, extreme shame and addiction often suggest soul
loss. To get to that point, one would likely have experienced some kind
of physical, psychological or spiritual trauma, such as abuse, a serious
automobile accident or a life-threatening event. Dissociated people
may have been a witness to death or destruction, suffered a major illness,
experienced a debilitating divorce or grown up in an exceptionally dysfunctional
family.
If the pain of trauma threatens
one's physical, spiritual or mental survival, a part of the soul is
said to "leave," leaving the person feeling less than whole. To recover
from "susto," or loss of the soul as it is called by Avila,
a shaman or master of soul retrieval can be enlisted to help.
Shamanism is often associated
with Native American spirituality, but it is prevalent in many other
cultures from South America all the way to Siberia. A shaman would work
to return lost parts of a person's soul so that vitality and well-being
can be restored. To do that, shamans and healers in other indigenous
cultures have long relied on "power animals" or spirit allies. A shaman
would likely begin by helping the client identify his or her power animal
through meditations, journeys or dreams. "A power animal is just that:
an animal guide that will empower you and help you deal with both the
spiritual and the earthly realms," says Dr. Steve Farmer, author of
Power Animals (Hay House, 2004).
A shaman journeys on behalf of
the client to a non-ordinary reality in order to perform a healing or
provide advice and teaching. Tools and techniques used in a shamanic
ceremony can include anything from simply lighting a candle, to drumming,
burning sage, using a dance rattle, singing or using herbs from a medicine
bag. Many shamanic practices common to diverse cultures are today referred
to as "core" shamanism, a term popularized by anthropologist
Michael Harner's pioneering book, The Way of the Shaman (HarperSanFrancisco,
1990). Harner says that in addition to journeying to the world of spirits
and connecting with allies for healing work, a secondary shamanic healing
technique he calls "extraction" is central to core shamanism.
"Extraction involves removing
a spiritual intrusion," says Harner. By that he doesn't mean an
evil spirit; rather, he likens it to having termites in a wooden house.
"If you've got termites in your house, you wouldn't say the termites
are evil," he says. "You'd say, 'I'd just like to get them out of the
house.' In this same way, the shaman works to remove things that interfere
with the health of the body... this is not done through journeying but
rather by working in the Middle World in an altered state of consciousness."
Harner's protégé,
Sandra Ingerman - now a leading practitioner of soul retrieval who conducts
retreats and workshops around the world, says one will often find a
part of the soul at the age that it was lost. But it's also common to
give a part of your soul to another person and not realize you've done
so.
"It's possible that your
soul was stolen by a mother or a father who tried to use your energy
or your power in some way," says Ingerman. Ingerman, author of
Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self (HarperSanFranciso, 1991),
says if that has happened, then as an adult, you will probably keep
attracting relationships where you again have your soul taken by the
other person. "On the other hand," she says, "you may have taken
other people's essences because yours was taken as a child. Unresolved
patterns can show up with us acting out either side of the old situation."
That was true for a Boulder practitioner
who had a client living in constant terror. "It turned out that
he had a brother who had been murdered," she says. "At the time of the
brother's death, he reached for his sibling and the terror my client
felt at that instant - a feeling of being suffocated - had been imprinted
on him. We helped his brother cross over, and his constant terror was
gone."
Enlisting a shaman is not the
only way to do soul retrieval; there are also psychotherapists who successfully
use guided visualization or hypnosis. In fact, some therapists feel
that a less-than-genuine shaman can do more harm than good by journeying
on your behalf. How well a shaman "reads" another person depends on
how clear the shaman is; if he or she isn't experienced, qualified and
wholly benevolent, the results could range from worthless to devastating.
Avila agrees that it's difficult
to heal others if you are missing parts of yourself. "While it
is unrealistic to ask healers to be perfect, since all of us carry sustos
in our hearts, we need to work on ourselves consistently," she says.
"To be of service to others, we need to have a strong sense of self."
If you decide to pursue soul
retrieval, find someone whose techniques you feel comfortable with,
since a practitioner's approach can range from the very traditional,
indigenous style, to something so modern it might not be recognized
by traditionalists.
Seattle-based counselor and psychologist
Cat Saunders describes her own soul retrieval performed by Ingerman:
"We lit candles and burned some sage, then she spread her blanket on
the floor asking me to lie down on one side of it. Next, Sandy (Ingerman)
began to call the spirits by using her rattle and singing her shamanic
song. When she was ready, she lay down beside me, our bodies touching
along one side. At that point, Sandy put on headphones to listen to
a shamanic drumming tape during her journey. She had explained previously
that she would journey to her own power animal first, to receive assistance
in the retrieval. Her power animal would guide her to find the lost
parts of my soul, and it would also instruct her as to how many parts
should be returned at that time. When Sandy was finished journeying,
she sat up and Œblew' the soul parts back into me, first into my
heart and then, after helping me to sit up, she blew them into the top
of my head. She blew four times each into my heart and my head, then
looked deeply into my eyes and said ŒWelcome home.'"
If you're feeling like you're
not quite "home," soul retrieval may be able to help. It's not an ongoing,
long-term therapy - one or two sessions, or "retrievals," allow most
people to move toward wholeness. Whatever form of soul retrieval you
investigate, be aware that costs can vary from $55 to $150 per hour.
"If we are totally home, we can
no longer repeat behaviors that are not life supportive," says Ingerman.
"It's that simple."
Resources, local and beyond
For more information on soul
retrieval, see the following
resources:
-
Mending the Past and Healing
tthe Future With Soul Retrieval, by Alberto Villoldo (Hay House,
2005)
-
Soul Retrieval: Mending the
Fragmented Self, by Sandra Ingerman
(HarperSanFrancisco, 1991)
The following are Nexus advertisers
who offer soul retrieval:
-
Linda Backman, PhD, The Ravenheart
Center, 303-938-0292
-
Sue Evans, Sunpower Healing
Arts, 303-661-0358
-
Edie Stone, MA, LPC; 303-415-3755
-
Gwilda Wiyaka, DD, CSP, True
Nature Spiritual Healing Center & Shamanic Arts School; 303-775-3431
See also the Nexus Calendar and
Classifieds.
JULY/AUGUST 2008 FEATURE ARTICLES
