Disclaimer: Although this article is about modern-day shamanic practitioners, the owners of Southwest Arts and Design do not necessarily approve of their practices and treatment. This is for informational purposes only.
The word, “shaman” did not originate with Native Americans, although there is a high association with many Native American tribes. Shaman is a Mongolian language word which means “he or she who knows.” What a Shaman knows is how the unseen affects the world of the seen.
Shamanism is the study of the earth’s wisdom. Every culture has their own methods and processes that are shamanic in nature which brings the wisdom of the earth into the group through the vehicle of the shamanic practitioner.
There are many commonalities to the wisdom that emerges through the different cultural lineages across many shamanic cultures across the globe.
What Shaman Practitioners Do
Shamans are best known as healing practitioners, particularly when their tribe or community has problems with sickness.
Shaman practitioners have developed systems of listening to the earth through the individual and cultural sets of rituals and processes involved in bringing forth this wisdom. Shaman cultures believe that the earth’s wisdom belongs to all of us, even in our modern culture.
Applied Shamanism
Applied Shamanism teaches modern peoples about the principles behind the shamanic healer and how to apply these principles to everyday life that are common to the general cultural beliefs regarding shamanism. These are:
- Shamanic journey
- Power retrieval
- Soul retrieval
- Energetic interference
Shamanic Journey
The journey is an essential aspect of many shamanic practices. The shamanic journey is similar to the way that meditation works. It is a form of interactive meditation. The way that the state of consciousness is altered in the journey is a little different than the altered states in meditation. The goal is the same, which is greater self knowledge and greater connection with inner guidance.
In the journey, the state of consciousness is altered through repetitive sounds, such as drums, rattles, or chants. These sounds create a focus for the usual state of consciousness to shift. As this state of consciousness shifts, the individual begins to perceive and understand the phenomena rising internally and may block out the normal consciousness state.
Shamans have worked with the processes of the shamanic journey by working with sounds to alter their state of consciousness in order to connect to a helping spirit. This helping spirit is a compassionate field of energy and becomes a teacher to the shaman in how to do these other processes: power retrieval, soul retrieval, and removal of energetic interference.
Through the shamanic journey, the practitioner steps into a relationship through these forms of universal power so that the modern person learns how to step into a place of self-empowerment. People can learn how to take their own place in working with the forces of nature in a modern context.
Power Retrieval
Power loss is about imbalance that is found in many different cultural contexts.
Power loss is where someone has been exposed to a form of negativity. This could be a negative voice within them, outside of them, or a condition outside the home, such as work. In any case, the person is not able to reach their potential. It could be something that an individual cannot escape from, where they are losing power. This could be happening over a period of time.
When power loss occurs, a person will often experience a kind of oppression, anxiety, or lack of motivation. The remedy for power loss is through power retrieval. A shaman will then ask the person to focus on that place of power loss, however they experience it. The shaman will then go outside of time with their helping spirits and will look for the power that will be the anecdote to the power loss.
The shaman is acting as a conduit for this universal power and channeling this power into the affairs of affected people. The shamanic practitioner brings that source of power back from non-ordinary reality and blows it into the energy system of the sufferer. The shaman then offers guided meditation where they bring contact with that source of power to the sufferer. The person can then develop a greater sense of empowerment through applied shamanic practicing.
Soul Retrieval
Soul loss happens in a slightly different way than power loss. Soul loss usually happens as a result of trauma. A part of the self that can get away from the trauma, does get away. This means there is a soul part leaving. People that are in a state of shock because of a sudden loss, such as a severe car accident, house fire, or sudden loss of a loved one, go into a different state.
Sometimes the person comes out of the shock and everything is alright, but sometimes the soul part gets stuck outside of time. So, the Shaman practitioner needs to go again with their spirit guides to find the soul parts and bring them back to the person so that they can remedy the sense of soul lost.
The symptoms people have with soul lost are attention problems, post-traumatic stress, auto-immune problems, and deep depression. Not everyone who manifests these symptoms has soul lost, but these are the most likely symptoms.
When the soul retrieval is accomplished, the person feels a shift in these symptoms. That shift may be immediate or may come back over time.
Energetic Interference
In classic shamanic terms energetic interference is characterized by what is often called “possession.” In this case a person can become affected and even overcome by energy which is not their own. This can manifest itself as a possessing entity or spirit energy which does not have a physical body.
In Depth Hypnosis, energetic interference can refer to spirit possession, but it also refers to foreign energies such as introjects. Introjects are aspects of another person’s personality which a person can adopt or which a person can be overrun by. This occurs frequently in parent-child relationships.
The remedy for energetic interference is to remove and restore the part of the soul or power that was lost. But, not necessarily in that order. Often, with the shaman’s help, a person must be restored to their power or soul first so they will have the power or energy required to eliminate the cause of the energetic interference.