The statement, "I was never the same again after that happened," is an indicator of the soul loss experience. Any trauma that alters one permanently and leaves one feeling that he or she is forever changed may signal the need for a soul retrieval. Such incidents may include a car wreck, divorce, major illness, loss of a loved one, combat, rape, childhood abuse, spousal abuse, being the victim of a crime, or even the loss of a job!
A Soul retrieval is a form of shamanism. Interest in shamanism has been revived in the past few decades by several persons, most notably the anthropologist, Dr. Michael Harner, author of The Way of the Shaman.
Baby Travel Bassinet
Shamanism is the practice of spiritual healing, which dates back tens of thousands of years. Indigenous people all over the planet have practiced shamanism, and in surprisingly similar ways. He or she has usually had some kind of experience to set the stage for shamanic training such as a near death experience or a serious illness. It seems necessary in many people for the ego to have a shock out of the ordinary experience of reality in order to be open to shamanism. This kind of experience seems to make it easier for most people to go into altered states of consciousness at will. It is almost always necessary to have a "vehicle" to get there, such as the use of a slow, steady drum beat as used by North American Indians. The drumbeat seems to help the practitioner to "journey" to non-ordinary reality. In some indigenous cultures a "teacher plant" is ingested to achieve altered states.
During a soul retrieval, the shaman and his/her power animal travel into non-ordinary reality and view events which have occurred in the client's past. These are events which the shaman usually has no way of knowing about prior to the journey. When the shaman relates what she/he has seen the client often remembers the event exactly as seen in the soul retrieval with the details corroborated even to the clothing worn by the parties involved. Sometimes the client remembers the event immediately, other times much later. If the client was too young or too traumatized at the time of the incident, it is possible that there will be no memory of it ever. But the memory is not crucial to the soul retrieval process. During this experience often several soul parts are ready to come back and help the client in her/his life. The following is an example of a single soul part retrieved for a client.
Carol came for soul retrieval. I asked her nothing about her past, as it is better not to be burdened with too much information. We talked for a while, to establish rapport. I explained to her what she might see and hear during the process. Then I called the spirits and began my journey . I was taken to an isolated locale in the upper world, a place where the ground is covered with clouds. There I found a new-born Carol inside a glass building in a clear plastic box. The baby just lay there inert, looking blankly at the ceiling. My power animal and I lifted her gently and massaged her limbs and bathed her, singing softly all the while. Soon she began to revive and be aware in the way normal babies are, kicking and gurgling and making at attempt at eye contact. I was told that this was the only part Carol needed at that time, as it would be plenty for her to integrate. My power animal also told me that Carol needed to promise to get body work and not spend so much time alone for this soul part to remain with her.
I returned to ordinary reality with the baby soul part and returned it to Carol. Then I welcomed her soul part home, told her what I had seen, and what the power animal had said. She began to sob, as people sometimes do after a soul part comes home. She said that she had been adopted as a baby and was taken from her mother without ever seeing her. She was then placed in a bassinet and kept in an orphanage for six months before being adopted, as was the practice at that time. The orphanages were overcrowded and babies were not held much. Carol felt that this was an important turn of events, having this part of herself back.
As I asked her to do, Carol called me again in a couple of weeks. She said she was getting regular massages, and had begun to go out with friends more than ever before, realizing how isolated she had always felt. I have heard from her many times over the past couple of years. Carol got married and has had a baby of her own, whom she touches as much as she possibly can.
My own life has been profoundly changed by both the experience of doing Soul Retrievals for others and by having received them myself. Each of us are on a spiritual path whether we are aware of it or not. A Soul Retrieval can be a deeply significant part of that journey.