My Thoughts about Soul Retrievals

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Spiritwind
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My Thoughts about Soul Retrievals

Post by Spiritwind »

So, I'm writing this now in response to a recent post that came across on the EE (Earth Empaths) Facebook group of which I am a moderator. I'm not that invested in the FB group, but occasionally peek in and approve a few posts just to take the load off of Christine who is quite busy with real life at the moment. I haven't heard back from her yet on this, but feel a response is needed, so will try my best to elucidate my thoughts and experiences. The person who posted this is someone I actually know personally, and so it is very important that I explain my position as clearly as possible.

The article in question can be found here:
https://wakeup-world.com/2018/05/14/sou ... etresponse" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The commentary posted with this article to which I will be responding to is this:

"I'M CALLING THIS OUT AS A FRAUD.
Yes, we humans suffer trauma, disappointments and all kinds of harm. It is a proven fact that minds can become broken and split off, but SOULS FRAGMENTING??? We are WHOLE souls and powerful spiritual beings, regardless of how we allow our emotions and experiences to dominate and confuse our minds. It is one thing to try to help bring a person's focus back to understanding their mental and emotional expressions and needs, but to actually convince them that their souls are so poorly constructed that parts can be "lost”? That in itself is trauma-based mind control! I view "soul retrieval" as an arrogant, potentially harmful and even nefarious way to capitalize on people's confusion and fears, and I would advise that we not only steer clear of it but warn others of its disempowering misconception."

Okay, here goes. If you've gotten this far and intend to keep reading, you might want to get comfy, as it's probably going to be a long one. My personal experience with soul retrieval is as follows. Some of this I've written about before. In 1995 I joined a women's shamanic drumming circle, which I attended for a couple years, and we experimented with a lot of things, me being fairly naive and trusting about many things I just didn't know about then. It was my first experience with sharing openly and honestly from the heart as we passed around the talking stick. It was truly life changing, in a positive way. None of us were claiming to be shamans, and although the facilitator went on to teach Reiki, that was a completely separate thing. It was a group effort, and we did far more than drumming and shamanic journeying.

I have mentioned that I had a challenging childhood, and had memories of going out my bedroom window on a white horse, to a high inaccessible mountain cave. I didn't know what I did there, but I know I went there often. At least, that is what I remembered. I had told no one about this, not knowing what it really was that I experienced. I remember the cave well though. It was dark and musty, smelling of moist dirt. I was about 4 - 6 years old. When we did my group soul retrieval, (at least that's what we called it, and I will come back to this point later), the person doing the journey to the spirit world on my behalf came back with the following report. She didn't know what to think, and simply chose to share what she saw and experienced. She found a little girl, about 4 - 6 years old, in dirty tattered clothes, in a dark and damp cave. She said she looked like she had been there a long time. She took her up in her arms and after explaining that she was there to take her home made the journey back from the spirit world. She did not know about my childhood memories. To top it off, when I questioned and prayed about it, the very next day I went to the state park. As I was walking a little trail near the beach I came across a dead tree trunk that had split in two that you had to walk through to stay on the trail. At the base of the trunk lay a red handkerchief. When you travel to the spirit world you tie a red handkerchief on the person's wrist so as to be able to identify them in the spirit world. I still have that red handkerchief. That was a good enough confirmation for me.

Fast forward to the spring of 2015. I had a long period leading up to my next experience where both my husband and I had been having a fairly non stop period of intensely challenging events taking place. I couldn't shake it, and nothing I did seemed to make a lasting and positive difference. I am a rather pragmatic person, at least in some ways, and have to see results. No amount of energy work on myself, positive thinking and inner pep talks, or any other actions I took during this time seemed to make a difference. It was as if some dark cloud had descended and decided to stay, indefinitely. Now, I'm a firm believer that anything we experience can be interpreted a multitude of different ways. I tend to feel that there is no one size fits all, or answer to life's challenges, that works for everyone. So when I say I began to feel there was an energetic component to this that was not within the range of normally understood phenomena, that doesn't mean that it is the only interpretation. I do not need to be right in this. What I can say is I finally did reach out to someone I trusted and I received at long last some real, long lasting, and positive results. And I did indeed receive what can be called a shamanic type of energy clearing session. What really happens when you get a shamanic clearing, or say, a soul retrieval, or maybe even an extraction of something that is not serving your highest good anymore and needs to be released? Is it really a "soul retrieval"?

That I cannot answer. For in reality, the question of what is a soul cannot even be definitely and for all time answered. There are a multitude of different interpretations. How about our spirit? And, what is the difference between our spirit and our soul? You see, I grew up arguing these very questions from a religious point of view for many years. I have my own answer, and you have yours. I, personally, feel that our soul is what allows us to have a sense of linear memories, among other things. It is what allows for what appears to be an opportunity to evolve and grow, from one state to another, over what appears to be linear time. But even that can be an illusion, or only a partial truth. You see, I don't feel anyone has the full answer to who and what we are. Maybe the words just don't exist yet.

My personal experiences would seem to put me in the camp of not being in full agreement with the idea that shamanic soul retrieval is a complete fraud, and ALWAYS, IN EVERY CASE, being dangerous and a bad idea. Is this the only way to interpret those who have experienced trauma, or find themselves unable to move past a certain place in their lives, that they have experienced soul loss? Of course not. And, are those who are practitioners of some method that falls in this category all arrogant and capitalizing on people's confusion and fears? My experience tells me no. And, at the same time, I would also agree that we are indeed powerful spiritual beings. But, from my own personal experience I see many who are not living this truth. Powerful spiritual beings who have their whole selves intact and have recovered, by whatever method, the parts of their psyches that took a hike during traumatic events, do not behave in what can be clearly seen as disempowering ways. The world would not be as it is if we were all truly living this truth. Even if a substantial portion of us did it would be noticeably a better world.

So, in my most humble opinion I feel we all have a long ways to go. And the pitfalls grow ever greater by the day. Because of this, I would indeed have to say that even for those considering such a method of healing a word, or two, of caution is due. The enemy is always trying to subvert us, and so I have noticed there are many traveling to distant places even, and they are trying to cash in on the growing interest in these types of modalities. Not that they are necessarily bad or wrong. But, much like Reiki, I don't think you can pay for a weekend, or even a week long workshop, and come away with the credentials and experience to claim you are now a shaman. It just doesn't work that way. I am fortunate that I have not had any bad experiences in this area, but I do know of others who have went for various types of alternative healing sessions of one kind or another, and have been harmed, or ended up worse off than they were before. There are, in my experience, forces who would be delighted for you to give permission to open up your energy field, so they can gain access to you. And I am finding this can happen in a multitude of ways. We have to be more careful than ever.

There are only a handful of people who I trust with giving this type of permission, and I can count them on one hand. If, as the person above is claiming, you feel something is not for you, then certainly don't do it. But I hesitate to make sweeping statements without looking at the elephant from as many angles as possible. I cannot claim to know what is right for another. Yes, I have made recommendations, but hope to god they know when I do so that it is only out of a desire to help, but never should anyone feel pushed into anything. The healing journey is fraught with enough pitfalls and learning experiences as it is. Go with your gut. But also, don't discount something out of hand simply because you are unfamiliar either. For me, my experiences are enough. I do not need to convince anyone else. I hope I have not lost a friend in this, but have to speak my truth. I would like to know why this person has arrived at this conclusion, as I somehow suspect there is more to the story. I know there are many of us who have had, and are still having, experiences that fall way out of the norm. It's uncharted territory for the most part.

Anyway, this is my best shot at providing an answer to my feelings about the original assertions as stated above. I hope it makes some sense and is at least understandable, even if not agreed with. From my point of view, we don't all have to agree with one another to at least recognize we are on the side of wanting to move in a more life affirming manner that honors and recognizes the sacredness of all life. Maybe we are "whole souls", and the problem really lies in our minds. But there are many ways to achieve a state of experiencing life with a greater sense of self than we did before. I would just go with whatever actually works.
I see your love shining out from my furry friends faces, when I look into their eyes. I see you in the flower’s smile, the rainbow, and the wind in the trees....
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