I believe, in a modern context, the power of shamanic healing comes from empowering the client to find their own point of power and heal on the level of Spirit. Shamanic healing is a process of developing relationships with helping and compassionate spirits/guides/unseen beings that become our teachers so we can become empowered and self-healing. Through drumming or rattling, we are able to enter into an altered state of consciousness, less dominated by our conscious minds. In that place we experience our deeper nature and can partner with the powers of the natural world. When we connect to this innate and developing source of wisdom, insights are available that can profoundly shift how we view ourselves, others, community, situations, solutions, animals, plants, the earth-- basically, everything. These insights lead to wholeness, belonging, and a sense of well-being.

Power and soul loss are pervasive in our deficit-driven society. As a teacher I see the symptoms in my students consistently. Our conditioning, schooling, religions and other institutions have stripped us of our own intuition and knowing. It is a balance we need to regain. There are innumerable vehicles that can lead to power or soul loss: childhood experiences, relationships, employers, technology, war, one’s living environment, the political landscape and so forth. As an example, schools historically (and many still) only measure ‘success’ through test-taking. Thus over time, many people feel disempowered, as tests privilege a certain kind of learner and sense of knowing. Judging ourselves through this narrow lens can create power loss, which over time, can become soul loss. Students may experience this as anxiety or depression, or other signs of imbalance. Spirit has all but been ‘erased’ within modern curricula. In many cases, we have lost touch with our vital relationships to each other and the earth. Addiction to technology has left people feeling alone and isolated. Many have forgotten they are part of a larger collective that include the trees, stones, animals, sky--leading egocentric, not eco-centric lives. Shamanic counseling supports people in regaining a mind/body/spirit balance through healing on a Spirit level. It acts as a powerful and wise guide that accesses parts of the psyche often clouded or shut down by our conscious, strategic mind. To fully engage with the world, this stable footing is fundamental.

Shamanic healing also involves power and soul retrieval for animals

I feel the nature of shamanic healing is to support people in their healing process in a myriad of ways. Overall this entails fostering a sense of connection to our deeper, divine self, as well as with universal power. For some, that may mean helping them understand they have support, are not alone, and guide them to learn the tools necessary to reclaim a sense of authentic belonging, wholeness and well-being. For others, it may be a specific symptom related to power or soul loss that brings them to the work. Journeying, as one resource, helps ground our energy and questions. It allows us to be in more integrity, hold more power, and do ‘more good’ in the world. Guides are with us all the time, and provide organizing principles that shape our energy and behavior. When we are in alignment with Spirit we stand a better chance of maintaining our integrity when conditions get ‘messy’ and holding the container for others. All of these skills are valuable aspects of shamanic healing. I think every person is different--some folks might need more direct counseling and support along this journey. There may be trajectories where a person, after learning particular tools, such as journeying, makes great strides in healing on their own. There may be other times, when a deeper sense of support and additional tools are accessed by a practitioner. There may be karmic patterns that need untangling and I appreciate that the client is a vital piece of their own healing. We want to create independence for the client in terms of their healing. In feeling more whole ourselves as practitioners, we are better able to manage the suffering we feel as ‘awake’ people.

World events and our exposure to them have escalated such that we are consistently working with trauma. Psycho-pomp work is a time-tested way to help those souls who have suffered and remain in non-ordinary middle world, move along. Shamanic healing has the power to energetically shift places where entities need not remain (space-clearing) and has the power through energy and intention to help heal places and beings on the planet that are suffering. As practitioners it feels vital to balance our energy so we can be a conduit for universal power. In this way we can channel that energy and support others in their healing. Their healing will lead to the healing of others and the planet. There is so much more to say regarding the nature of shamanic healing. Ceremony, ritual, art, creative expression, death, dying, sound/light/, transforming energy—there are countless ways for us to incorporate shamanic healing for the sake of fostering healthier people, communities and environments.

Residency note #3: Shamanic Healing