A soul retrieval is a powerful spiritual practice that heals soul loss. Soul loss can occur whenever we have trauma in our life. For example, we may experience soul loss if we are in an accident, undergo a serious operation or if we suddenly lose a close friend or relative.
In shamanic practice, it is commonly believed that soul loss is the cause of illness. Traditionally, a shamanic practitioner would conduct a soul retrieval within three days of someone experiencing trauma. However, this is often difficult criteria to meet so modern shamanic practitioners seek lost soul parts that are willing to return from any point in life.
This practice known as soul retrieval is perhaps the most important level of healing in spiritual medicine because once the spiritual-energetic nature of an illness-causing disturbance has been addressed, the cause is still unresolved. For example, if you were to look into a mirror you would see a full and complete image of your soul. Now, if an illness were to cause a disturbance it would shake the mirror causing the pieces to break and scatter across the floor. Soul retrieval is like lowering yourself to gather these missing pieces and to put them back where they fit and belong to repair the soul.
If these empty spaces remain unfilled, there is no guarantee that the disturbances will not come back if given the opportunity. These holes are like open invitations and must be repaired via retrieval. So how does the process of soul retrieval work?
There are several different types of trauma that could cause soul loss. This can range from abuse—sexual, physical, or emotional—an accident, being in a war, being a victim, acting against our morals, being in a natural disaster (a fire, hurricane, earthquake, tornado, etc.), surgery, addictions, divorce, or death of a loved one, etc.
Essentially, any event that causes shock could cause soul loss. However, everyone is affected differently. Something that might cause soul loss in one person might not cause soul loss in another.
Despite soul loss happening in the case of trauma, It is very important to understand that soul loss is actually a good thing to happen; It is how we survive the pain. Another example, to in a head-on car collision the last place anyone wants the point of impact is in the physical body. The human psyche could not endure that level of pain. In exchange, the human psyches have a “self-protect” instrument where a part of our soul leaves the body so we do not feel the full impact.
In psychology, we talk about this as disassociation. But in psychology, we don’t talk about what disassociates and where that part goes. In shamanism, we know that a piece of the soul leaves the body and goes to a territory in what shamans’ call “non-ordinary reality” or “shamanic realm” where the soul waits until someone intervenes in the spiritual realm to facilitate its return.
Although soul loss is a survival mechanism the problem from a shamanic point of view is that the part of the soul that left does not come back on its own. The soul might be lost, or stolen by another person, or doesn’t know the trauma has passed and it is safe to return. the shaman, along with his helping spirits, who engage with the source of the energetic interference and moves it out of the person’s energetic sphere.
In our work together, I move you into an altered state in which “helping spirits” find the piece of soul or power which is frozen in this “non-ordinary reality”. The part of the self is usually caught amidst the trauma that created the soul loss as if the event is occurring in present time. By releasing the part of the self which is frozen outside of time by entering into the event with helping spirits, the soul or power loss can be retrieved.
Are you curious to learn more? We would love to discuss this with you. Contact Beth today!