Soul Retrieval in the Modern Age

We cannot practice our spiritual arts as our Ancestors did because we are not our Ancestors. Time changes, the wheel moves and in kind so must we. Our techniques, our practice and our thinking changes with the times; to reflect the changes we must still hear the words of our Ancestors, however we must translate those ancient words to our modern language.

Soul Retrieval work is one of the most important healing rituals I can do for another person. I base it on the belief that we are ALL here to bring spirit into matter (ie ritual/form/dance/song/drum) and matter into spirit (voice/sound/prayers/tears). Our Ancestors, Elders, Spirits want us to be whole, fully conscious and healed.

My role as a shamanic apprentice is to bring spirit into matter by connecting the Spirit World to the mundane world. We heal old wounds from within, by finding balance and harmony and by bringing dreams (journeys) from the Spirit World alive into our lives. By bringing back a soul piece I bring back the dream/journey/spiritual reality of the soul piece, and in turn the soul piece finds expression in our physical/mundane world.

Negotiation is a large part of soul retrieval work. The Spirit World sets a price on the return of the soul piece, and sometimes that price is as simple as finding more laughter, or as hard as confronting your worst fears. The price is a part of bringing Spirit into Matter, and Matter into Spirit. Soul pieces can be very demanding of my attention in the journey or they can be very quiet and unassuming. It is my role to determine which piece is ready to return and which soul pieces are not. It is my role to talk to each soul piece to determine what is required for them to return. Our conscious souls can sometimes create a reflection or “glimmer” designed specifically to trick me, it is a protective measure set up through fear of the unknown or fear of healing or possibly even a test for me designed by the Spirits.

The journey experience after the soul retrieval is how you connect and reclaim your present soul health as well as your own Spiritual Heritage. The conscious and present soul, the one that gently nudges you to heal, is the part of you that reconnects with the soul pieces that have been missing, some for long periods of time and some for very short periods. The soul pieces that have returned have a need to communicate to you, the conscious soul, they have a need to show you, tell you or communicate in some way what they experienced, and what they need from you to stay.

Trauma is often the cause of the departure of soul pieces. Many times when we seek healing we fear reliving our trauma, however, trauma is no longer a part of your daily routine, if it were you would not be in a place to safely heal. Once a trauma has been experienced, you do not have to relive it, you have already survived it. The comfort and joy a returning piece experiences, can be absolutely beautiful and profoundly moving. Your soul piece(s) are so delighted to return to a safe, older, and more conscious you, that re-experiencing trauma rarely, if ever, occurs. It is important to know that. Fear of reliving trauma is one of the reasons we do not seek to be whole, conscious and happy, fear can stop us from healing on many different levels. Our conscious soul can, in self-protection, deny us our healing. Unlike modern therapy (which has its place) shamanic healing does not force you to return again and again to the place or the experience of the trauma. Rather I take on the role of traveling through the worlds to find and return your self back to you. I see what needs to be seen, and I experience what needs to be experienced. It is my role to be the voice and the eyes for what you have experienced. That is one of my gifts to you.

I invoke and commit myself to my spirit helpers when I journey on your behalf. I am always able to return to you tell you the dream/story your soul piece(s) has to share with you. I commit myself to your healing, and to the time that it takes to move you, and your newly returned soul pieces, to a place of wholeness and completion. I cannot heal for you, but I can and do provide, the means and the tools to enable you to find that healing on your own. Spirit gives me a deep knowing of you and your conscious self, that knowing creates a deep Compassion for you. The Compassion I feel for you and Spirit expresses for you is an integral part of your healing. It is my role to honor your need to feeling safe and aid you in your progress towards integration.

The Knowledge of the occurrence of soul loss and soul wandering is present in many global shamanic cultures. There are as many different shamanic techniques to return soul pieces as there are shamanic cultures who return them. Knowledge also is that soul loss is not a bad thing, rather it is a way for the conscious soul within you to cope. Many times soul pieces return of their own accord, it is when they do not return of their own accord that my role is enacted to enter into the Spirit World and retrieve those pieces for you.

I have been taught, mostly through a long and sometimes grueling process, to diagnose soul loss and then to track and return the soul pieces to you. Often times your soul piece is held by another being, some cultures refer to them as soul thieves others refer to them as guardians. Sometimes they are one and sometimes the other again it is my role and my task to negotiate (however the negotiation looks) to retrieve your soul parts. Spirit has never let me down I always seem to have the right object to negotiate with.

I believe, and I teach, that you can travel to places within the Spirit World that hold keys to your healing, your health and spiritual growth. Soul retrievals provide your conscious soul with new eyes, new energies and experiences previously unavailable to you. Imagine how far you can go, and how much you can learn by simply asking and accepting your soul pieces home.

My prayer for you is health, happiness and healing. My joy is to see you whole, complete and at peace with yourself. My eyes see the beauty of you and my heart holds the wonderment of you.

Blessings and Joy

Kriket

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Rattles and Healing

Tags

shamanic healing; rattle; extraction; soul retrieval

Mysticism, and psychic phenomena, are not clearly understood, or widely accepted, within the mainstream. We are all born with certain abilities, psychic or intuitive, as well as shamanic abilities.  Abilities are just like a muscle… if we don’t use it… it atrophies… work it out and it gets stronger.

We have times of waxing and waning in our “inner” life much as our “outer” life. The only inevitability is change; our resistance to it causes conflict, not the changes themselves.  Shamanism challenges us because it creates numerous opportunities for change.  We are encouraged by our spirits to grow, decay, evolve and simplify.  A path is continually opening up before us. However, our job is to find the path; an element of shamanism is path finding.

As an example I encourage my students to discover a personal relationship with a rattle. How does that rattle fit into your present path.  Through journeys, alone time and healings we will either discover, or deepen our relationship with Rattle.

Shaman’s soul flights, journeys if you will, invite us to become intrepid explorers of our inner landscape. Discovering our way through the worlds of spirits, one journey at a time, is as important as marking your way on a path when you are in unfamiliar woods. Understanding that the path of the shaman is one built on patience, awareness and passion.

Through ritual and ceremony we work here, in the Middle World.  Rattles, Drums, Song and Dance keep us centered and grounded.  The irony of shamanism is that you are grounded and centred in both the spirit world and the physical world, at the same time.  One challenge we face, is to learn to find a path that will successfully lead us to blending the worlds at the same time.  The learning, is the fun {??} part.  Know that you will be fine, even when the rudimentary parts of your mind sense something unusual and stimulate a fear reaction. Fear, like pain, can be a friend, if we can discover what about the situation is disconcerting us.  Learn what is ours and what is not, so that we can sublimate the unpleasantness yet still be capable of seeing clearly.

Our Rattles

Rattles are seen as divine gifts; markers of identity; tools of magickal intent and certainly as musical instruments. The rattle has a history of being a predominant instrument in climates that were too moist for skin drums, however they have been found to be a part of the majority of ancient cultures. Most of us remember seeing rattles in our toy boxes as children, or have given them as gifts to the children in our lives. Rattles were originally given to infants as both a toy as well as a protective spirit. Certain traditional Navajo rattles were connected to the Spirits of the Sky by having small holes drilled into the gourd representing constellations. Small gourd rattles are worn on the legs f dancers in Zimbabwe in order to underline the rhythm of the feet in counterpoint to the drums. Ewe women of Ghana, West Africa play gourd rattles called Shekeres accompanying the drummers, and while sitting perform very energetic body movements to show off a stylistic form of playing that I have read is amazing to watch.

The Bella Coola shaman generally had three types of rattles used during soul retrieval ceremonies.  One rattle has a carved face on one side, the other side is flat and painted with intricate art. The second rattle was made woven wooden hoops with crossbars from which hang many deer hooves or even puffin beaks. The third rattle, unique to Haida shaman, was a carved wooded double headed dance wand with many attached puffin beaks. {Puffins were revered because of their ability to dive and quickly disappear into the underwater cosmic zone, analogous to the shaman slipping into the spirit world.}

Rattles are voices of spirits activating the healing properties and spiritual essences of herbs, beads, stones, as well as being recognized as containers of magickal items. Shamans have long held rattles as Beings of the water.  Rattles are water streaming over the body, or rain washing over cleaning and refreshing our physical and energetic selves.

Silence is a teacher.  In our dial a day reality there are way too many distractions.  Many of us are urban dwellers living with an electronic, white noised filled world. Our rural dwellers, although have the quiet, also have many tasks and responsibilities occupying their mind.  Silence is taking the opportunity to sit quietly and listen to the whispers that surround us. 

 I encourage each of us to find stillness, and a place to sit with the intention of quieting our mind, and focus on the voice of the rattle. We can connect to the voice of the rattle in the Middle World.  The language of the rattle is not easily translated by everyone. Some of us will hear our fondest grandparent as the voice our rattle, and some of us will hear stones and peas rattling about in a cylindrical object.  Easy answers are not easy to come by.  The path of the shaman is patience, awareness, passion and a bit of free license!

 When we are walking on an unknown path in the woods, we make decisions where to go. At times, only to come to very thick underbrush and have to either turn back, or find an alternative route.  Listening to the voice of the rattle can be a hit or miss path.  We learn the language of the rattle.

I had a wonderful horse as a kid, he was a true woods horse.  I would often ride him deep into the trees, only to get myself hopelessly lost.  In complete and absolute trust I would place the reins down on his neck and he would lead us out. In time I developed confidence and experience that enabled me to find my way out of the trees.  When I listen for the voice of a rattle I have complete and absolute trust that it knows how to reach me, but I still get lost in the woods sometimes! Connecting with our Rattle know that it may not be an easy path, but it will still be an experience made with the intent of connecting.

The voice of the rattle is important to be able to connect with when we begin to perform our healings.

BUT FIRST WE MUST MEET THE SPIRIT OF OUR RATTLE

 

 

A Moment With a Movie

Tags

dreams, movie, psychology, soul

 

 

The movie “The Boy In The Striped Pyjama’s” was a fascinating story regarding awakening, duty, innocence and loss. It was a movie regarding a journey with the tribe. Three aspects of tribe were represented by the family, the military and the country. The movie is based in Germany during the second world war.

The first chapter of the movie explored the safe tribe. It was artistically filmed in a beautiful big house with contrasting colors of rich deep wood, rich colors on the walls and in the carpets, deep laughter and genuine happiness. There was one dissenting voice; the grandmother’s voice, the Crone. I reflected on how many myths and stories I had read contained the warning, or shrewd, voice of the Crone. The Grandmother in the movie looked fondly upon her grandchildren. I interpreted her worry for the loss of her grandchildren’s innocence. As I look deeper into the film I see my own reflection of safety and comfort. Innocence lives in richness. It lives with alive colors. Our innocence rests in places nothing can touch. In each of us rests a Crone or The Sage, the wise old voice shouting at us something is wrong. Often, however, we are too young, or too innocent, or too naive or unwilling to hear the words of our Elders.

The mother was innocent and, I interpreted her, as unwilling to hear what is actually happening and what danger lies ahead of her. In stories she is often cast as the young woman constantly looking into the trees, or onto the horizon, with a niggling something bad is happening, but simultaneously distracted by the goodness of the life she has. She is the part of our psyche that paces our subconscious, knowing the Crone is calling, but not quite old enough, wise enough, or willing enough to listen.

The main character is a young boy who loves his life, but appears to be born with a strong intuition. He knew he was sad to leave, and, yet we are led to believe he sensed where he was going would not be to his liking. He was very aware of his surroundings and the moods of the adults in his world. The vigilant aspect of our psyche.

Our innocence is often our saving grace. We do not see the world beyond us. Innocence is not lost to the future, rather it is preserved in the present. The little boy is playing with his friends on his last morning in the warm, rich, safe house. We see wide hallways, where they are chasing one another. Wide hallways in stories are the easy paths. The paths where there is nothing lurking. Playing with his friends the morning he leaves, interprets as the rise of innocence. The prime time of the young; the morning, when, not yet anything has marred the day. I found it to be a very ominous scene, not unlike the ominous adventure that was awaiting him.

The move to the country side is beautifully filmed. The house they move into it concrete, harsh, contrasting colors, dark floor (watch the soil of evil under your feet), high windows (best not be to seen from), cold colors, cold senses. A stark contrast to the first place the psyche dwelt. I noted that each round window has bars on it, the detail followed to even the round lights on the walls had cages around them. How would you, dear reader, interpret the symbolism to that?

Houses in stories, in our dreams, often represent where we find our soul dwelling, where we find our comforts. The deeper the house goes, generally the deeper we are asked to look into ourselves. The higher the house goes, the loftier the ideas of ourselves go. Perhaps as well, our higher consciousness is being challenged and asked to join in our spiritual and intellectual conversation. The house artistically, flawlessly, portrayed the stark, rigid reality the boy and his family were moving into.

The father, the masculine aspect of the psyche, in our movie is a rigid man. He reminded me of Bluebeard. His innocent wife was told to keep the children out of the backyard. In fact, in the movie we see the backyard as being impenetrable. Un-breach-able. The father is the German military presence. Rules, warrior, controlling, an overseer. Much like Bluebeard, he gives his wife and children a big sprawling house, no connection to the outside world (unless escorted off the property by a driver), no connection to other children. Isolated.

In our own lives our psyche is often isolated from our more conscious actions. We often act behaviourally, from our unconscious selves. The aspects of our first through third chakras. The young boy acts from a place of innocence and guilelessness. He is dismayed to be trapped in the house, in the small yard. Much like the adventurer of our own soul, it is unhappy to be locked in small places, no matter how attractive they may be. The adventurer and innocent part of us is constantly seeking stimulation outside, it looks for ways to escape.

We have another side to our innocence. It was portrayed in this movie as the twelve year old sister. She is on the praecipe of innocence lost. She was trying to break out of her innocent self. She played the part of us that wants to go along with society, finding comfort in belonging – buying into the sold, or consensus reality. There is nothing wrong with that. It is a living aspect of our collective soul. She represents the part of the story that gives us, the viewer, the listener, comfort by demonstrating safety in belonging and conformity. Even when her belief of the consensus as the ‘only’ way to live is challenged, she would not let go. It is like the complacent sister, or young captive, in any story we are told. It is the part of our psyche giving us permission to belong and be completely okay with belonging. She wanted to mature and grow up to blend into the collective personality.

The innocent, adventurer finds a way to escape the enclosed world. He used a window high up on a wall, to escape. This, to me, is again, asking the higher self, the higher consciousness, to become involved with the adventure. At the age of eight he cannot yet comprehend the world around him. He is still cocooned in fun and adventure. He ventures out of his family compound to explore and finds a German concentration camp very close to his house, where he meets his mirror, his twin psyche, behind the electric fence wearing what he believes are pyjama’s. Between them they try to find a language to understand why there is a fence between them. The trapped innocence has no ability to explain it to him. He has already been broken without the ability to question. Question often leads to misery. Many aspects of ourselves can identify with this aspect of self. The part of us told no 100 times. The part of us shunned for asking questions. The part of ourselves hidden away, knowing how cruel the consensus, over-culture can be.

It is similar to the struggle we face when we come to a place or time in our life when we need to go deeper to understand something. We have, as of yet, no language to create a different understanding. It is difficult to comprehend what we have not yet learnt about. It is the joy, and the frustration of innocence. On our path to understand ourselves more deeply, we are often challenged by our shadow side, the darker side of ourselves. The captured innocence, the innocence we have starved, beaten and thrown away, for fear of looking too closely at ourselves.  The adventure of our growth is attempting to make friends with our shadow innocence. The innocence that has been lost to us, often times through trauma.

As the story progresses the innocent wife finds the truth behind the door her husband tells her never to open. Much like Bluebeard, giving his wife all the keys, but forbidding her to use “this one” and never unlock “that door”. What is behind that door is death, decay and the deepest shadows and ugliness. Upon discovering his innocent wife has seen his true nature, Bluebeard must then, in his evil mind, kill his wife. The wife in the movie finds her loud and dissenting voice, admonishing  the overseer masculine psyche. The Feminine is Awakening. Her first instinct is the revolt in horror. To argue the emotional illogical reasoning behind locking in and killing ‘the shadow side’ of society. The final wife in Bluebeard kills her husband, although is some lesser tales the brothers rescue the sisters. However, our older stories generally acknowledged the feminine was fine and able to rescue herself.

As the story reaches its climax a horrible rain storm comes. Storms do not require an explanation. We understand them as portents to great danger and great change. The adventurous boy wants to help his friend behind the electric fence. He vows to dig under the fence and aid his friend in finding his father. Adventurous parts of us take on outlandish and risky roles and actions. Actions such as these, the fully conscious, consensus bound, aspect of our selves could never do. A vow made is made from the second chakra, the place of tribe. It is a vow that should never be broken. Ultimately, innocence pays the final price when it pays with its very life.

The tale is incredibly tragic. Not only is it tragic, it is also a reflection of the journey of our own soul, as we move through phases of innocence, adventure, loss and rebirth. The loss of the son/brother in the story is the moral lesson to each of the individuals remaining. The dark masculine, father, could not, even with his soldiers and fine dogs, rescue his son in time. The awakening feminine mother sees the hole under the fence, knowing, intuitively her son has sacrificed his life. The sister truly loses her innocence through the awareness her belief structure helped to fracture her existence, the loss of a sibling. A younger aspect of her own innocence.

We are constantly changing and constantly growing. On my shamanic path, I see this as moving around and around the medicine wheel. Awaking and putting to death different aspects of ourselves. The movie is a heavy handed reminder of blind faith couched artistically and metaphorically in a beautiful symbolic package.

This movie gave me much to ponder regarding the journey of the soul. The aspects we throw away. The aspects which overcome. The aspects wishing to remain blind and silent. The beginning of our wounding. As difficult as it can be at times, it is vital to our selves, we never stop the journey. It is painful to wake up. Much of our innocence does die. However, the benefits of knowing and understanding ourselves more deeply ~ strongly compels us to move ahead.