Soul Retrieval

	Soul loss
	Giving and taking soul parts
	Soul loss symptoms
	Soul retrieval healing

Soul Loss

Sometimes we may separate from a part of our essential self. In contemporary shamanic practice we refer to this as soul loss. This soul loss is usually a healthy natural coping response to trauma (e.g., car accident, abusive situation, a job or family in which we cannot be our full selves). When we are traumatized, it is too painful and overwhelming for us to be fully present and aware, so a part of our soul leaves to wait in non-ordinary reality. This state of soul loss is often referred to medically as shock, or psychologically as dissociation.

When we are more ready and able to cope, or when we are out of the traumatic situation, the soul part that has left can spontaneously return to us. Often in therapy, or other healing processes, a person has such a strong intention and readiness to heal that they call their own soul home. This is usually marked by breakthroughs in behaviour and thought patterns, renewed energy, and the surfacing of forgotten memories.

Sometimes the soul part does not come home on its own, though. This is usually when the traumatic situation has gone on over time, or we become so used to our state that we do not have a strong desire to return to wholeness.

When we are adult, significant trauma is often necessary for soul loss to occur. Children are more prone to soul loss because so many things, that may seem trivial to an adult, can be traumatic for a child. Most people I see as clients have had soul loss as children, or in adolescence and early adulthood.

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Giving and Taking Soul Parts

Sometimes we experience soul loss because we have given a quality of our essence to someone else, or allowed them to take it. We often give away a quality of our essence (e.g., patience, assertiveness, zest for life) to someone else because we want to help them, or they may want this quality of ours for themselves.

No one can make use of our essence but us though, and when it is with another person, they are weighed down and we feel unnaturally connected to them. We may have a feeling of overcloseness and neediness that is often labelled as co-dependency. Or we may just think about the other person more often and more intensely than is warranted.

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Soul Loss Symptoms

When we have soul loss, we feel something's missing, we have an emptiness, and we may try to fill it through addictions, compulsive behaviour, taking energy from others, or we may simply become depressed. We may look and act competent on the outside, but feel inadequate or disquieted inside. We may have done much personal growth work at the emotional and psychological level but still feel stuck, like there's something we can't get at. See healing clients' quotes and letters for personal accounts of symptoms.

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Soul Retrieval Healing

Working at the spiritual level, a shamanic healer retrieves our soul, finding and returning those lost parts of our essence. The healer will usually do a shamanic journey to her helping spirits to ask for healing for the client.

In this shamanic journey, the healer will encounter the client's soul parts and may see the traumatic incident(s) that caused the soul loss and/or another person who is holding a soul part. The healer must convince the soul part to return. Usually, as a healer, I will heal the soul part, if needed, before bringing it back. If another person is holding the soul part, the healer must convince that person to let go of the soul part. Ancient shamans used to trick the person and steal the soul back. I find it is more helpful for the long-term relationship between the two people, and for the well-being of the "soul thief," to use a gentle process of negotiation that usually involves offering healing to the thief so they will be willing to let go.

In any soul retrieval healing, the healer may bring back more than one soul part. It is important not to overwhelm the client, though, with too many new qualities of soul.

For more details see the healing process -- what to expect and stories of actual healings.

If we are open and ready, soul retrieval changes us instantly and then our work begins in integrating the essential qualities brought back into our lives. We are usually called to change our lives to reflect our wholeness. Everyone in our lives must adjust as well. The focus in follow-up, which is best guided by an experienced shamanic healer, is on using these new inner resources to create a positive future. Further counselling, reading, and calling on a support group can also help us change old habits and behaviours that no longer serve us.

Sandra Ingerman, the author of Soul Retrieval, has pioneered this practice in contemporary times. It is best to ask someone who has taken her five day training course, or my seven day training course, to perform this healing for you. In these trainings, healers learn contemporary variations of healing techniques that are extremely helpful to a gentle and successful integration of the healing.

Sandra Ingerman has also pioneered a follow-up process to help clients integrate their healing. Her book Welcome Home details this process, helpful to people going through any kind of healing. Healers who have taken her five day, or my seven day, training learn how to support clients through this process.

Contemporary shamans are pioneering new practices with soul retrieval because in traditional shamanic cultures one would only experience soul loss for a short time before the community would notice and arrange for a soul retrieval healing. We are now discovering new ways to work with people who have had soul loss for tens of years.

For more details see the healing process--what to expect and stories of actual healings.