SOUL RETRIEVAL by Sandra Ingerman

"Shamanism is the oldest spiritual practice known to humankind. We know from the archaeological evidence that shamanism was practiced all over the world for at least 40,000 years. However many anthropologists believe that the practice dates back over 100,000 years."

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A shaman is a man or woman who interacts directly with spirits to address the spiritual aspects of illness, perform soul retrievals, divine information, help the spirits of deceased people cross over, and perform a variety of ceremonies for the community. Shamans have taken on many roles in tribal communities. They have acted as healers, doctors, priests, psychotherapists, mystics, and storytellers.

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Shamans look at the spiritual form of illness which might manifest on an emotional or physical level. When I was doing the research for my book Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self, I found that most shamanic cultures around the world believe that illness is due to the loss of the soul.

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Many believe that, whenever we suffer an emotional or physical trauma, a part of our soul flees the body in order to survive the experience. The definition of soul that I am using is soul as our essence, life force, the part of our vitality that keeps us alive and thriving.

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The types of trauma that could cause soul loss in our culture would be any kind of abuse sexual, physical, or emotional. Other causes could be an accident, being in a war, being a victim of a terrorist act, acting against our morals, being in a natural disaster (a fire, hurricane, earthquake, tornado, etc.), surgery, addictions, divorce, or death of a loved one.  Any event that causes shock could cause soul loss. And what might cause soul loss in one person might not cause soul loss in another!"

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Ingerman continues, "It's important to understand that soul loss is a good thing that happens to us. It is how we survive pain. If I was going to be in a head-on car collision, the last place I would want to be at the point of impact is in my body. My psyche could not endure that kind of pain. So our psyches have this brilliant self- protection mechanism, where a part of our essence or soul leaves the body so that we do not feel the full impact of the pain.

In psychology, we call this disassociation. But, in psychology, we don’t talk about what disassociates and where that part goes. In shamanism, we understand that a piece of the soul leaves the body and goes to a territory in what shamans call non-ordinary reality, where it waits until someone intervenes in the spiritual realms and facilitates its return." Says Sandra Ingerman

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"Although soul loss is a survival mechanism, the problem, from a shamanic point of view, is that the soul part that left usually 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.  It has always been the role of the shaman to go into an altered state of consciousness and track down where the ŕ, soul fled to in the alternate realities and return it to the body of the client.

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There are many common symptoms of soul loss. One of the more common ones is dissociation, in which a person does not feel fully in their body, alive, and engaged with life. Other symptoms include chronic depression, suicidal tendencies, post-traumatic stress syndrome, immune deficiency problems, and grief that just does not heal. Addictions are also a sign of soul loss, as we seek external sources to fill up the empty spaces inside of us, whether through substances, food, relationships, work, or buying material objects.

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Anytime someone says, “I have never been the same since …” and they don’t mean this in a good way, soul loss has probably occurred." From Sandra Ingerman

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I do soul retrieval by private appointment distantly and in person at the Amethyst Center and at some workshops. Soul retrieval and the story of how the recovered soul piece helps and heals is so very fascinating and fulfilling!

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To schedule an appointment:

Phone: 540-947-2423

Email: azuraewindwalker@gmail.com

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To purchase a session use Text/Call 540-947-2434 or email azuraewindwalker@gmail.com