“It is believed that whenever we suffer an emotional or physical trauma a part of our soul flees the body in order to survive the experience. The definition of soul that I am using is soul is our essence, life force, the part of our vitality that keeps us alive and thriving.” – Sandra Ingerman, author of Soul Retrieval

Most shamanic cultures around the world believe that illness is due to the loss of the soul. Soul loss is an adaptive mechanism that allows us to cope, and in some situations survive a terrible experience, in which the dissociated soul parts depart, carrying the pain or an extreme emotion which may be unbearable to the sufferer when it occured.

This survival area cannot be tapped ordinarily and only under the intervention of a shaman, who can tap this non-ordinary reality, the soul can be facilitated back into the body. Traditionally, a shaman would conduct a soul retrieval within three days of someone experiencing soul loss.

According to Ingerman, “It is important to understand that soul loss is a good thing that happens to us. It is how we survive pain.” Many of us feel like we are missing an important part of ourselves or feel like we are not quite whole.

Sometimes we also experience soul loss as a chronic illness or face debilitating emotions such as sadness, anger, depression etc.

According to Jung, the only way to address the deep loss of connection to the soul that we are experiencing as a species is to reestablish our connection to the sacred.

The soul is what connects you not only to your own value and essence, but to the value and essence of every other living being. The inevitability of soul loss in modern times cannot be overruled.

Most of us do not know that we have disconnected from our soul and have come to accept as normal a numbness and lack of meaning in our lives.

What are the causes of Soul Loss?

Apart some of the obvious causes of Soul loss like serious surgery, accident, shock etc. here is a short list of causes for soul loss:

Any form of abuse from sexual to emotional to mental

An event of prolonged grief, pain and fear that made you feel trapped without any possibility of escape

When you feel shameful enough that you would like to shun ourselves from the world for quite some time.

Giving a part of your soul unconsciously in a dependent relationship to another just like giving away your power to the other person.

A sudden, shocking incident traps a part of our soul in that time or situation like a ghost.

An event where we are rejected, bullied, insulted or are unsupported

Under the spell of addiction we sign a part of our soul to that thing

Constantly suppressing the intuition until the part of intuition leaves the body

Self-inflicted soul loss is another vital reason. By blocking the part of our personality that is socially unacceptable, we shun the part of our soul. Gradually the shunned part splits and goes into hiding where it is revered.

For instance, as a child, we are constantly reminded of the do’s and dont’s. So if a child is noisy or naughty, he is constantly reprimanded & asked to suppress this emotion. A constant suppression blocks a vital part of his personality, thereby facilitating fragmentation of that part.

Are you suffering from Soul Loss?

Modern man, lost in the circle of creation and victimization of the dog-eat-dog ideology, has lost an integral part of their soul, without doubt. Here are symptoms that indicate soul loss:

A sensation of fragmentation and feeling incomplete like a part is missing

The flat, indifferent attitude towards development in life.

The feeling of low self esteem and considering oneself as unimportant or not worthy.

Depression or panic attacks

Inability to decide and a feeling of being aimless & lost.

Fearful attitude before doing anything.

Lost in a bad relationship, situations or places.

A sense of non-recovery from a past traumatic event.

Anger management issues and the helpless feeling on the inability to shake off anger, stress, fear or grief.

A constant desire to go back in the past and make things good.

Most importantly, if you feel soul retrieval is the answer to your worries.



The last one is significant to our understanding because generations ago each & every person practiced Shamanism.

This central way of living required them to perform soul retrieval each time a trauma occurred. This vital knowledge of our ancestors still remains in some part of our unconscious mind.

And if an ardent need is experienced to get a soul retrieval performed on oneself, it is highly likely that your ancestral wisdom is guiding you.

What happens in Soul Retrieval?

The first obstacle in soul retrieval is to actually find the lost soul piece/s. Since, we’ve drifted away from the connections we once had with our soul, the shamanic healer has to drift into the past.

“Today, as we have not been practicing soul retrieval, modern day practitioners are going back ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years or even more looking for lost soul parts.”, says Ingerman.

Earlier individuals knew the real reason for illness and recovered by spiritually practicing soul retrieval on their own.

With the help of drumming, rattling, crystals, the shamanic practitioner connects himself with the patient. The shaman relies on the assistance of his or her spirit guides and power animal allies to aid her/him in this process.

Journeying into inner and outer realms, the healer persuades the missing pieces of the soul to return back and removes the obstacles as well. Upon completion of the journey, the healer returns the missing soul parts by blowing them into the heart chakra, and into the the crown of the head.

The reaction to the process can be felt immediately or after some time when analysed in retrospect. The ability to receive and store on the part of the patient, is a great factor that determines the impact of the process.

Sometimes more than one session can be necessary, if the lost piece requires more attention, persuasion or more than one piece is lost. Some related therapies of shamanism like power retrieval, shamanic extraction or body re-patterning might be performed simultaneously to achieve enhanced results.

Mother Earth demands her children to return back to their natural state of happiness, wholeness and harmony within themselves and externally too. Imagine a world where all souls are whole and complete; each day would be a celebration.

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Healing by Case & Draper, Alaska

Soul retrieval

Soul retrieval