Soul retrieval is a powerful healing technique and the core element of my shamanic healing practice, though what it’s all about is not widely understood. In discussing it, we need to dive into some of the core aspects of shamanism and the spiritual perspective which underpins it.

What is a soul?

Our soul is usually thought of as the spiritual element of our bodies, or our life essence, consciousness or spirit.

Often assumed to be a singular being, our soul is composed of many different parts; all the differing and sometimes conflicting parts of our personality can be different soul parts.

Our personality is the key to our soul, as are our feelings, our thoughts and memories as well as our ancestral and past life heritage.

Different shamanic cultures have varying thoughts on how many soul parts there are. In my experience there are many and the number is not specific.

What is spirit?

All of us, humans and all the beings on the Earth, are made up of both spirit and physical. We could consider our souls to be our spirits, though in practice they are grounded in our physical bodies and it isn’t always easy to access our spirit selves.

All beings are connected within the web of life, part of the Earth, and we all have a place within the whole. The inter-relation of all things, this wider connection of consciousness of all of who we are – is fundamental to shamanism.

While many spiritual disciplines are focused on the spirit realm as something to aspire to attain, shamanism is a bit different in the recognition that the physical realm is where everything happens.

All physical life is created by spirit and each of us was a spirit prior to being born. Everything that spirit creates is all about the physical realm. The physical is the prize, as it were.

The goal of spirit is to make the physical, our life on Earth, the best it can possibly be, which can be hard for us to understand when our world is so difficult.

Yet we are spirit beings and connecting with our spirits does enable us to have greater awareness of the inter-relation of all beings and, with that, a greater depth of knowledge and understanding.

Life after death

We cannot live without our soul and when we die, our soul leaves our body completely.

Shamans and spirit healers can help us to die or pass on in peace, understanding that we will simply pass on to the next realm.  

Once we die, there are different places where we might go but ultimately, we go to a place where all spirit joins up together to become one big oneness… this is commonly called the “source” and is where we all come from and return to.

Many people have some knowledge of this through near death experiences, when they see their physical body as being separate from themselves – so that their consciousness and personality have completely left their body. This is the beginning process of what happens to us when we die.

What is soul loss?

We really are quite remarkable creatures and, while life can bring trauma and pain, spirit has created a strategy to help us cope. While our body’s sympathetic nervous system (or fight or flight response) is well studied, less is known or understood about the link with soul loss.

Our souls are basically elastic and can easily come in and out of our body; if a part of your soul leaves your body to help you to cope with something, then usually the soul part will return when it is safe to do so.

It’s an ancient strategy to help us survive the experience of trauma - leaving the body can be the most intelligent way to escape or numb the pain.

However sometimes, parts of our souls can sever off completely. This is often because the personality aspect of the soul part feels that it is not safe to return. These aspects of ourselves return to the spirit realm and we are lost without them.

Impact of soul loss

Every aspect of our personality is a part of our soul, including our inner child and adult, the conditioned parts of ourselves, our differing emotions and the skills and knowledge we have learned.

When a part of our soul severs off completely, it can present consequences that are challenging and make life difficult.

We might lose memories or find we are unable to feel emotion about memories we have. We may lose sight of the reason why we were interested in something and give up completely, or fall out of love with life, feeling disinterested and depressed.

While it’s possible to live and function with soul loss, if parts of us aren’t there, then we don’t have all the components needed to live properly, so we often end up living half-lives wondering what has gone wrong. Indeed many people consider this to be a part of growing up – which is incredibly sad.

Causes of soul loss

Ultimately its trauma that causes soul loss, but this can happen for many reasons: illness, accident, a challenging relationship or life experience.

Interestingly though, most soul loss occurs in childhood and this is not always due to abuse but to do with the power that adults often have over children and their life choices, which can have negative consequences. What children can experience as frightening may not be what the adults around them understand as such at the time.

Whilst soul loss is a natural process, it can have immense negative consequences. People often describe experiencing a “hole” which they feel compelled to try and fill. Addictive behaviours are very common in people who are experiencing soul loss.

When our ancestors lived in societies where soul loss was understood, soul retrievals could happen soon after soul loss occurred, as people would know how to read the signs. Nowadays though, people can live their entire lives with partial soul loss and suffer the consequences.

Soul retrieval & Integration

A soul retrieval is the shamanic practice of finding and bringing a soul part back home to a person and helping them to integrate and heal. Whilst the process of soul retrieval itself is very important, the hard work is about integration and this all happens later and takes time.

Integration is about acceptance – of the past, of our lives, of who we have become. The process of integration creates a deeper awareness of and gratitude for our physical bodies, to enable our soul parts to merge and ground.

When we integrate our soul parts then, we become whole and start to live a more embodied life, which means it’s all about valuing the physical realm and the present moment. We're more able to feel and experience and be.

We may feel more acutely aware of life and many people say they feel awake and energised for the first time in a long time. We may find clarity around decisions in life that we previously found challenging, we may rediscover aspects of ourselves, including memories, and we may find a renewed sense of respect and self-love which might bring profound changes in our life choices or directions.

For many people integration happens gently but profound change may occur in the months following a soul retrieval as the soul part fully merges and finds a voice within the whole. Sometimes life gets re-evaluated and changes come as a consequence. Often this is known beforehand but it’s the soul retrieval that gives us the strength to make the changes.

For integration to happen successfully, many people benefit from ongoing support to help them recognise and accept the soul part that has come home. It’s a process and sometimes involves ongoing dialogue with the soul parts to help them merge and integrate.

Soul retrieval and soul integration is an incredibly profound and life-changing experience. Having personally experienced both soul loss and later soul retrieval, I have been through the process myself and understand, therefore, both the value of the practice and what is needed to help the soul parts to integrate. For many people, having a soul retrieval is both a healing process and the beginning of a spiritual journey. I am happy to be your guide and help you to start this journey into self and wholeness.

Samara, December 2024