Shamanic Healing and Soul Retrieval
by Jan Engels-Smith

Shamanism is an ancient healing art, dating back at least 40,000 years, which was used by most indigenous cultures in the world. It is a healing method that emphasizes that all experiences affect your soul and that all healing comes through the soul. The shamanic belief is that a human being is first and foremost a soul having a human experience, not the other way around. If the soul is cared for properly, or is healed through the process of soul retrieval, other healings can then manifest in the mental, emotional, and physical bodies of an individual person. 

In shamanic cultures, a soul retrieval was performed within three days after any major event in a person's life. Traumatic or other dramatic changes, such as childbirth, marriage, death of a loved one, an accident, a broken relationship, or argument, were addressed immediately by performing a soul retrieval. It was assumed that anyone going through such an event would have a high probability of soul loss, and, in order to instill proper healing, the soul was attended to first.

To me, this care of the soul is the missing link in healing. The soul must be cared for first. I believe that is why indigenous cultures were notably contented, happy, and crime-free. People who are whole or feel good about themselves handle the ups and downs of life in a wholesome way. When people feel fearful, threatened, or fragmented, their responses to life are extremely different from those who feel trustful, optimistic, whole, and complete. In our culture, we have very little experience with sustaining trust and optimism. Our cultural system is based on a win-lose hierarchy. Someone is always gaining while another is losing. In shamanic cultures this win/lose phenomenon is seen as soul stealing, or stealing away someone's personal power.

Many people purposely steal personal power from others. A person can be the victim of this theft at any stage of life, but it often happens to children, especially if they are raised with authoritarian, controlling, or needy parents. The parents actually steal power away from their children. If a person is abused in any way, emotionally, physically, sexually, or mentally, there is a resultant exchange of power. The overpowered loses energy to the abuser. Children are extremely susceptible to soul stealing.  They automatically want their parents to love them and often give of their soul in order for this to happen. This form of soul stealing at an early age often leads to feelings of unworthiness, abandonment, or not good enough.  These feelings can be felt during a person's entire life if the soul is never doctored and healed.  If there is no care of the soul built into the culture's system, the result is a society of wounded people. Feelings of unworthiness can lead to all sorts of dysfunctional behaviors and attitudes that predominate in society. These feelings of lack can take generations to heal. I have found in my own research that the core counseling issue for most people is the issue of unworthiness. People need to be genuinely loved and connected to a higher power. Once soul theft occurs, an effort must be made to recover it.

People also give away their power trying to find love or acceptance. Women have been taught to give away their personal power to the male gender. Cultural and family mores often create hierarchical gender structures, which establish male dominance. The result is socially reinforced losses of personal power for a false sense of social order. A country-western song like, "Stand by Your Man", is an example of a gender-based system of control that suggests "appropriate" positions of power in relationships. Other examples of this belief system abound in our culture, but in true love and acceptance one does not give away one's soul. The void caused by engaging in this behavior can have extremely adverse effects.

Another form of soul loss happens in relationships built on co-dependency, in which one person bases his or her worth in another person rather than in self. People manipulate in all kinds of ways trying to keep a relationship together.  Abuse is tolerated on many levels; others may have an attitude of rescue, they think, if I just help them, they will love me. This is a false love that can create soul loss on both sides. True love augments the soul and is most present when the soul is whole.

Unfortunately, in our culture there are years and years of fragmentation and soul loss that can accumulate for an individual, which creates the potential for a soul to become critically fragmented. We can see the results of this by looking at the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of our society. We have a society that is depressed, self-medicating with illegal drugs, alcohol, and over the counter or prescribed medications. Our youth have difficulty finding purpose and meaning in their lives. Relationships and families fall apart with ever-increasing frequency. The culture is not grounded in taking care of the soul.

We are plagued in our culture with people hurting-physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The issues that doctors and psychologists deal with on a daily basis are what a shaman would see as warning signs of soul loss. Warning signs of soul loss can include:

  • Anything chronic-fatigue, depression, misfortune, faulty relationships, emotional problems, suicidal tendencies.
  • The inability to release some emotional trauma from the past-such as a death, divorce, or other loss.
  • Addictions of any kind-alcohol, drugs, food.
  • Not feeling connected to the body or reality.
  • Operations or difficulty in recovering from surgery.
  • Repetitive sicknesses, colds, flu, etc.
  • Major illnesses.
  • No sense of direction.
  • Shame or feelings of guilt.
  • Feelings of unworthiness.      
  • Not feeling one's personal power.

Our culture suffers dramatically from these symptoms. It is rare to come across someone who responds and lives life from wholeness instead of from the woundedness of his or her past.

The care of the soul has many facets to it.  Soul retrieval is one component.

If a person has voids from soul loss, these voids act like magnets trying to fill up with any energy to become whole. If you are exposed to anger, fear, greed, anxiety, unhappiness and hatred repeatedly, those are the qualities that your own soul will absorb. Extracting negative energies, bringing back the lost soul energy, and then teaching a person how to stay whole will not only heal the individual and restore personal power; it will begin to restore wholeness in our society as well.

As a psychologist, wanting desperately for my clients to gain empowerment and healing, learning about shamanic healing practices and soul retrieval became imperative.  I contacted Sandra Ingerman who is responsible for bringing the concept, the training, and the healing potential of soul retrieval to the American public. In the last ten years I have changed much of my psychology practice to incorporate this amazing technique.

If you feel that you need a soul retrieval or are interested in more information, please e-mail me at jan@janengelssmith.com.

Jan Engels-Smith is the founder of LightSong Healing Center and the LightSong School of Shamanism. She has trained with the Foundation of Shamanic Studies and also with individual shamans. She conducts workshops teaching people about shamanism and how to journey for themselves.  She has performed over a thousand soul retrievals. She is a Shamanic Practitioner & Counselor, a Reiki Master, a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Chemical Dependency Specialist, a Marriage and Family Counselor and a Hypnotherapist.  Jan authored the book, Becoming Yourself the Journey from Head to Heart.  Her training and experiences have been extensive both in the traditional philosophies and metaphysical traditions.  Her personal philosophy is to assist individuals in gaining their own personal empowerment, which will in turn promote self-healing, better communities and a healthier world.

Spirit helpers and the Shamanic Journey
The Basics of Becoming Yourself
The Awakening
Soul Loss and Soul Retrieval
Shamanic Healing and Soul Retrieval
Vision Quest
The Mystery and Magic of Power Animals
Transition Blanket

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