Shamanism and the Soul
In shamanic cultures care of the soul is very important and understood. It is understood that our soul is our vital essence, our life force. It is important to take care of our life force when we experience trauma, abuse or accidents we can lose part of our vital essence. We want to be a complete human being filled with spiritual power and when we lose parts of ourselves, being fully human is difficult to experience. When a person in traditional cultural experienced an accident or a traumatic event, it was understood that the person could have suffered soul loss and the local shaman would be consulted. If directed by his/her compassionate spirits the shaman would perform soul/power retrieval. We are fortunate to have those who still practice shamanism in our communities who can help us reclaim our vital essence to move forward in our lives filled with our spiritual power and vitality.
We are all connected
Our Celtic ancestors wrote about the Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World. The belief is that we are all connected and that there are earth spirits in nature and fairies also called shining beings.
In our busy modern world sometimes we neglect or push aside our spiritual nature as we attempt to live our lives. This way of living separate from nature and each other does not allow us to feel our full selves, to feel a sense of community with other humans and with the world of nature. The stars, trees, clouds, plants, weather and elements are often ignored all in our rush to be, to do, to become. Many indigenous elders say we are dreaming the wrong dream. This disconnect from nature, from those elements of our world keeps us from that which can feed our souls, nourish our spirits and help us remember that we are all connected to all that is.
Nurture your soul
Here are some ways we can nurture our souls, and connect with the spirits that will help us remember, help us understand and help us help ourselves and those in our lives.
Go outside and sit or stand with your back against a tree, feel the tree roots deep in the earth. Tree roots connect to other tree roots; feel that connection to the trees in your community, feel the roots as they move deep in our earth, feel yourself connecting to the earth and those in your community. Allow yourself to nourish your soul with this connection to the earth and all upon her.
Gaze into the sky, what are the cloud beings saying to you, what shapes dance across the sky? Allow yourself to understand the messages of the cloud beings.
Breathe deeply into your belly call yourself into your body, call yourself home.
Open your heart to all seen and unseen that we share with this earth. Feed our soul and you will feed the earth.
Dance your journeys; dance your dreams