SOUL RETRIEVAL

My brother Ove Kåven har written this blogpost. I asked if he wanted to write a post for me, cause he has become very intrested in subjects like these lately, and so have I, so its perfect!

You can read one of my personal experience with loosing pieces the soul here.

Soul Retrieval
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When people experience traumatic events or losses, a part of them will sometimes try to escape or dissociate from the event, in an effort to survive, or just get away from the pain. Sometimes, these parts don't come back. The result is a person that doesn't feel whole. The person might suffer from chronic depression, be unable to feel joy, feel out of touch with the rest of the world, feel like they're seeing themselves from outside of their bodies, or even be chronically or severely ill. And there may be a gap in the memories, so that the person can't remember anything about what caused the trauma. To fill the hole in their lives, they may become addicted to things like entertainment, gambling, sex, or drugs.


Psychologists know many of the symptoms. They may use names like anhedonia, dissociative disorder, multiple personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and so on. But treating these disorders are notoriously difficult, and may take years, if it can be done at all.

But in the world of shamanism, the situation is different. To shamans, every living thing has a soul. By soul, they mean the essence of a living being. Shamans don't believe the soul is immortal, but they do believe it can separate from the body, at least for a while. Thus, when traumas happen, a piece of the soul may split off the body in order to reduce the damage taken. Often, these pieces will find their way back to the body eventually. But sometimes, they become lost in the void, or between worlds, unable to find their way back. And when that happens, even the best psychotherapists may find themselves unable to help the person.

But over thousands of years, shamans successfully developed ways of retrieving lost soul pieces. Using the shaman drum, they could travel between worlds and search for the missing soul piece. Once it has been found, they could bring it back to this world, and put it back into the body it once left. Once this is done, the person would usually almost instantly feel more complete. More in harmony with the world. able to feel joy again, or just no longer ill.

But even when successful, this is not necessarily a substitute for regular psychotherapy. After all, the soul piece left for a reason, and it may leave again if nothing improves. But, once the soul piece is in the body, it is possible for a psychotherapist to heal it and make it want to stay. Thus, shamanic soul retrieval and regular psychotherapy complement each other. The psychotherapist can't heal the missing soul piece if it isn't actually in the body, but the shaman's soul retrieval doesn't on its own heal the soul piece. Depending on the trauma, the person may still need some kind of therapy afterwards, in order to stay whole. But at least it's a new start, and who doesn't want one?

Further reading:
"Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self", Sandra Ingerman, M.A.
"Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality", Michael Harner, Ph.D.
"The Shaman Within: A Physicist's Guide to the Deeper Dimensions of Your Life, The Universe, and Everything", Claude Poncelet, Ph.D.
"The Shamanic Zone", Ailo Gaup