In many shamanic traditions, soul loss—when a person’s soul has been fractured, or a part of self has split off and dissociated because of childhood and other abuse, trauma, war, conflicts, and more—is recognized as an essential reason why people develop challenges with their physical, emotional, and mental health. If soul loss isn’t treated, these problems can become chronic, undermining well-being and good relationships and even causing physical illnesses. Or they may continually find themselves drawing events and relationships into their lives that mirror the original wound.
Understanding Soul Loss
Soul loss is an epidemic in our world. For many people, it starts when they are young. Whole and healthy parts of self can break away in childhood when we are ignored, abandoned, or are subject to physical, mental, and sexual abuse. If you don’t get the care you need, your feelings aren’t acknowledged, or your authentic essence and soul aren’t seen, you may experience soul loss. There are many other sources of dissociation for children at school or by strangers. The break up of relationships, chronic stress, financial challenges, and different experiences that are overwhelming can trigger soul loss.
When we lose our soul, we lose touch with our innate authenticity and wholeness. We might feel as if we are an impostor in our own lives. We may fail to thrive in work, relationships, and health. Shamanism healing maintains that this happens because positive qualities, attributes, and creative gifts important to our emotional and psychological development have gone underground into the darkness of the subconscious. When we experience soul loss, our vital energy is literally drained by things, people, and events that happened in the past, sometimes a very long time ago.
We are literally stuck in the neural feedback loop of the limbic brain, which controls emotions, memory, and our fight-flight survival response to actual or perceived threats. Our feelings and reactions to stimuli that may be or seem to be similar to the original trauma are hyper-aroused. We may develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, anxiety, or chronic stress. Physical pain can be a symptom. In many cases, we don’t remember what the original cause was because the part of us that went through the trauma is disconnected, missing, or lost and hidden in our psyche.
The Shamanic Approach to Soul Retrieval
A shaman can help a person retrieve lost soul parts by journeying into the subconscious through the holographic matrix of their luminous energy field, or Light Body. This is a process of going into a light trance induced by drumming or rattling. The syncopated sound expands and deepens the ability of the shaman to feel, see, sense, hear, and know what the wound is causing surface symptoms. First, she extracts the wound, which is a dense cluster of heavy energy in the Light Body. Then, she travels further to find the positive soul part that went underground due to the wounding. Once she emerges from the trance, she integrates the soul part into the body-mind-soul complex by blowing it into the solar plexus. This process energetically restores one at a time an essential part of self and then leads to a sometimes subtle, sometimes dramatic shift in a person’s experience of self and the world around them.
It is the Higher Self, or our soul, that determines what is ready to be healed and what soul part is prepared to return. So, the shaman collaborates with a person’s higher self during this process. Further, the internal and external conditions must be suitable for this process to happen. A person has first to decide that they want healing and are ready to move on in their lives in a more positive direction. They also must be willing, if needed, to change their outer circumstances to facilitate the change.
For instance, if a person is in an abusive relationship, soul retrieval can give them the money to leave. But if they don’t, particularly after the shaman continues to bring back the lost part of self, eventually, it will refuse to return.
Or is it possible in a shamanic healing to have a conversation with a lost soul part? A personified aspect of it may indeed say that it cannot come back until the person loves themselves more or is in a safe place.
To ensure that the pattern of repeated trauma ends, the person needs to take what the experience has taught them from the soul loss and, at some point, use that wisdom in constructive ways in their lives. This aspect of shamanic soul retrieval is integration. When there is an agreement between the more incredible soul, or Higher Self, for a soul part to return, there is a readiness in the mind and heart to receive it with love and understanding. This will bring healing and validation that wasn’t there before.
Read this also Soul Retrieval: What are its benefits?
What Happens During Soul Retrieval?
Details of a soul retrieval ceremony can be different based on the healer you choose and your own needs. But these general things are often present in a shamanic soul retrieval.
Preparations: Praying to open Sacred Space to create a powerful and positive vibrational frequency conducive to healing. This calls in Spirit Guides and other Beings of Light who will assist.
Setting Intention: Through a conversation with the client, the shaman hones in on the clear intention for the work, as well as gets hints of the internal and past causes that led to soul loss.
The Journey: To heal the wound and retrieve lost soul parts, the shaman goes into a light trance to enter into the subconscious of the client, where she follows what she feels, sees, senses, hears, and knows in a part of the psyche called “the Chamber of Soul Parts.”
Negotiation and Retrieval: The shaman then may engage in a conversation with the soul part to negotiate if it wants to be reassured that conditions are improved and safe. Or the shaman may need to explain to the soul part the positive reasons for returning. In most cases, there is an agreement. And many times, there is no hesitation at all. There is great joy with the prospect of rejoining the whole self.
Integration into the Light Body and Psyche: Soul retrievals can be a return of trusting, creative, confident, courageous, and happy parts of self. Or of a healthy physical aspect. When the shaman returns from the journey, holding the vibrational and imaginary manifestation of the soul part, she then instals it into the Light Body by blowing it into the most affected chakra. Then she illuminates it with the light of the sun, much as one might imagine the sun nourishing a seed so it will grow. You are then remade whole once again.
Integration and Grounding: Over the next several days, weeks, or even months after the soul retrieval, you will notice ways in which the soul retrieval has brought outstanding balance and wholeness into your life. You may feel lighter and more optimistic. You may experience amazing synchronicities, such as meeting new people or having a book relevant to where you are in your present journey being revealed to you.
What Does a Soul Retrieval Feel Like?
When a person’s soul part comes back to them, they feel it in their body, their energy, and their soul. It is very magical. You can literally feel that a part of you has come back. Soul retrieval can bring significant changes to your life. The part that came back brings its unique gifts and energy. For some people, playing and having fun is easier; their artistic skills have come back, they don’t repeat harmful habits, they feel safer and loved, they have more energy, and things work out.
Conclusion
Remember that soul retrieval through shamanism is a challenging fix. Instead, it is the start or an integrated part of the road to healing. It may take time and extra help, like therapy, energy work, or artistic expression, to fully integrate the soul parts that have been recovered.
If you are considering soul retrieval, seeking a qualified and experienced practitioner is crucial. And if you’re having questions like, “How can I learn more about this ritual? Rachel Mann, PhD, is here to help you. Rachel Mann is a certified shamanic healer with over 20 years of experience in this field and many successful client stories. So, go check out her website to learn more.
