Spirit Bear Dreaming

There are two general usages of “soul retrieval” as I’ve encountered the term, so it helps to try to delineate the different usages. First, within the practice of shamanism there is a process called a soul retrieval. Secondly, there is the notion of healing of the soul through whatever means the psyche uses, by itself or with the action of another person or group, spontaneously or by intent.

So, we can talk about the healing process or the process that is intended by a shamanic practitioner. I’ve experienced many of these permutations and the outcomes seem similar but the process is different. The feelings and experience vary and the results are hard to explain clearly, other than to say that some missing part returned and that I feel more like myself.

A spontaneous soul retrieval “just happens” and it is hard to pin down exactly how it happens. My experience is that it takes place over time and may be related to sincere efforts to improve one’s inner life through something like meditation or study of sacred or mystical topics, or through efforts at self healing. Or perhaps not, the actions of the deep parts of the self can be mysterious and trying to turn them into a recipe seems like a mistake to me.

I’m sure other people have different experiences, but for me the process just built up like water behind a dam, and then overflowed and it was hard to say why, exactly.

A soul retrieval mediated through the efforts of a shamanic practitioner is usually worked out through some ritual or process, according to the training and experience of the shamanic practitioner. I’ve done this many times and each one was unique and I had a different response each time.

The most intense one was conducted by my physician of that time, who had a lot of “alternative modalities” training and used this technique when required. She drummed and watched over me while I went back in time and relived an accident from when I was a small child. It was intensely emotional, and freeing, and I returned with a part of myself that had been “lost” in that accident. I returned streaming tears and in joy and strength. That was an amazing experience and I think it was because I was so ready to heal that part at some deep level.

I’ve also worked with shamanic practitioners who use a very specific ritual form. My involvement was to basically sit in attention and let them do all the work, and wait for them to bring back the missing part and install it back in me. This was a bit more subtle and involved a lot more ritual and overt actions and expressions on my part. Not as intense as returning to the accident, but also very effective. It lacked big drama and took a while to understand.

Finally, I’ve done a number of soul retrievals as part of a group where most of us were using the instructions of the teacher to do the work. We had specific instructions on what to do and just got on with it. I don’t know why, but when you are ready the soul or psyche just seems to do it.

In all of these cases, the personal experience was not the same, nor was the practice or form of the ritual. What was common was that there was something wounded or broken that was healed. The feeling was different for each and the impact was different for each.

I have a vague notion that the more fundamental the wound, the stronger is the feeling of the healing. But that might not be true, and I’ve had a few retrievals that were just vague and unclear. I've had some experiences that suggest I was healing a wound that resulted in my death. I'm not sure what to make of that, could it be some other life, some past life or alternative life? How can I confirm a thing like that? But it seems to have happened a few times and I now just assume they are symbolically powerful images. And that's fine, the healing is the major impact.

This is a complicated subject and coming to grips with it is not trivial, it took me years. I think that there is the process, and the results, and then the understanding that develops from a successful undertaking. The missing part has to be integrated back into the whole, and requires that we pay attention and act appropriately for the formerly missing part.

Finally, sometimes the retrieval fails to bring back the missing part. That could be caused by a variety of reasons, but if it happens we have to build support to fill the gap left by the missing part. I've not had to address this problem very often and don't have much to offer on this aspect, except to say that if you seek out a shamanic practitioner, seek one with as much experience as possible.

There much to this aspect of shamanic practice. Here's wishing you Sweet Soul Wholeness!

✢

~~fran

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