Shamanic Soul Retrievals
Shamanism
Around 80,000 years ago, humanity was facing change, as happened many times before. The 3-dimensional depth awareness of their art started shifting into a more 2-dimensional way of representing life. Shamanism is the most ancient spiritual practice known to humans. It was practiced globally in very similar ways across the various cultures.
A few migrations of Shamanic cultures took place from the Altai mountains worldwide. The first wave of migrations is thought to have occurred around 40,000 years ago with a second migration following approximately 11,000 years ago. Recent DNA studies have attempted to track and trace the migration patterns of these early shamanic cultures through specific markers.
The variations in environments encountered, resulting from those migrations, brought with it variability in the type of power animals introduced within the shamanic practices globally. The depth of multi-dimensional spiritual awareness of those ancient ones was reflected in their ancient art across the globe. Striking similarities in art can be found between ancient and seemingly unrelated cultures. Despite the differences in shamanic power animals used in their descriptions, the world views as well as practices of ancient shamanic cultures were remarkably similar globally.
As humanity developed, a more 2-dimensional way of describing life replaced a more conceptual way of understanding life. Script and then the written word replaced the old systems, which were recognised and understood globally. There seemed to be a gradual move away from conceptual understanding into more linear thinking.
As humanity got involved into its more modern life, the ancient ways disappeared in the background by various means. This also meant that around 6000 years ago, this more multidimensional, conceptual, feminine, matriarchal knowledge of the flow of life shifted gradually towards the more masculine, fiery, rational, linear, scriptural, structured religions. As the different religions evolved over time, they no longer saw themselves as globally similar but became locally competitive, argumentative and divisive in their stance towards one another. Those religious differences were never quite resolved, the rejection and attempted eradication of ancient shamanic ways never stopped either.
Humanity's complexity and sophistication in very recent times seems to also show a further distancing from the matriarchal, shamanic ways and the patriarchal, religious ways towards more presumed freedom. In this drive towards freedom, science was adopted as the new 'faith' to be followed and the media became the new focussing point as well as the IT industry in even more recent times. In some parts of the world, science has all but replaced religions and shamanism.
The more humanity subscribed to a more narrow view of a pure materialistic existence, the more humanity cornered itself on the path of self-destruction. The modern humans - a large part of which are now so strongly conditioned and blinded to a pure materialistic belief system - are at a loss to see a way out of that which was created; their own trap in which they find themselves locked in. Having cut the ties with a Spiritual Life foundation and knowledge, a lot of people are now struggling to make sense of life or even struggle with what's happening to them in their lives. It becomes difficult to discern that which is beneficial when there is just one view of life and not three combined.
Shamanism is not a religion. It is not dangerous and it's not about drugs. It's ancient, it holds profound knowledge as well as the possibility of experiencing 4 dimensional Time-Space. This experiencing of four dimensional enfolded Time-Space is commonly called Hollow Bones in the shamanic tradition.
And here lies the tragedy of humanity. In its scientific endeavours, Einstein's discovered 4-dimensional Time-Space. Since his findings, proof has been found in outer space to confirm his theories. However, scientists are at a loss to figure out how Time-Space applies to human life, just as much as they struggle to understand how in humans quantum mechanics interphases with 'gross', solid reality. What is true for the Universe is true for us and yet scientists cannot make the link as yet. In the rejection of the ancient spiritual knowledge, understanding of the individual experience of 4-dimensional enfolded Time-Space is denied. Knowledge of something is one thing, experiencing and embodying this knowledge is another. There is nothing dangerous about shamanism and it can be learnt through the seeking the Truth; feeling and finding one's way from within the sanctity of one's own heart. That's the entry point. It is no different to praying.
Three Worlds
It is said in ancient Indian scriptures that everything can be explained with the 3 elements earth-water and fire. I'll be attempting a brief version of this in this section on humanity.
Shamanism
Religions
Scientific Realism
WATER element. Ice Age - Floods - Scarcity of food (earth), importance of fire. Water/Ice dominant. A gradual shift from hunter gatherer groups to civilisations around 11000- 6000 BC
FIRE element:
Starting around 2200BC, there was an intense aridification event, which was one of the most severe climatic events marking the beginning of the current age and lasted a century. It marked the collapse of ancient civilisations. After this catastrophic, natural event, ancient shamanic, matriarchal ways were gradually replaced by religions. There was a move away from the 'supernatural' and incomprehensible to differently described, more logical system of understanding. This was seen for example in China too, with the emergence first of the Yin-Yang Theory, followed by the theory of the 5 elements at a later date.
The fire of the logic and structure of faith was replacing the fluidity of understanding of Great Spirit.
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EARTH element: It is difficult to know when exactly this shift happened. What makes most sense from a trauma point of view is the Great Famine of 1315-1317 in European history. That event alone wiped out 7.5m Europeans. At the time, this was roughly 2% of the estimated world population. This event in the West set the scene for things to come and had consequences for the Church's authority. At the time of the famine, prayers proved to be futile in face of the catastrophic events experienced by the population. As had happened before, when faced with catastrophic events, the prevailing belief systems were put into question. Within a Century of that event, Europeans started exploring new shores. In the 16th Century, the split between science and church started crystallising with the model of a heliocentric Universe by Copernicus. The scene was set for the next millennium, one in which matter became all that seemed to matter.
Soul Retrievals
"Where does it go when it's gone?" With Soul Loss, there can be a sense by the experiencer that something is irretrievably lost. In the experience of trauma, it is not unheard of that it feels like a part of oneself disappears into a black hole and may be seen as someone 'dissociating'. With trauma, the integrity of the inner experiences risk getting warped in time, the lightness of life might get sucked into this black hole which can get bigger as the gravity of the situation increases. There is a good chance that this experience feels disabling in life and upsets the person experiencing it. Aside from that, it may also feel infuriating to those who are trying to help the traumatised person. Here there is also a good chance that those wanting to help the traumatised person perceive them as 'unwilling' to change or just a hopeless case when they give up trying to help. When the traumatised person is already feeling the disabling effects of this trauma, the additional reflections and reactions of those not understanding or realising that there is trauma at work adds to the isolation and hopelessness felt by the sufferer.
Someone having experienced trauma in life and remembering the trauma may possibly recognise this description.
Another practical metaphor used by my teacher Patricia White Buffalo is that with Soul Loss, life can end up looking like in the film Groundhog Day. A sense of hopelessness may creep into the way one feels when witnessing the same cycle over and over again in similar ways yet different at the same time. Something may feel to be missing and there may seem to be an inability to cut through the vicious cycle no matter how hard one tries and no matter what methodology one uses.
A shamanic practitioner attempts during healing work to find this sealed off, trapped, closed trauma part of the client still experiencing the event as happening now. For that one part of the self which is sealed off in Time-Space, time stands still and something is unresolved. It make take some time to get to the core issues if there are layers of trauma to work through. That depends on when the deepest trauma occurred.
The shamanic practitioners and their power animals & guides are akin to an expert, spiritual 'seal team' going into the experience of Groundhog Day to extract the person in the trauma experience loop of this experience. Once that part has been retrieved, healing work around this extraction helps integration.
In ancient shamanic cultures, rituals and ceremonies were custom at the transition points in life. Healings were seen as an important part of this so that none of the old traumas of one stage of life would spill over in the new phase of life.
Within the current belief system of a linear time and a 3 dimensional space model, it seems just surreal that someone would be capable of experiencing enfolded 4-dimensional Time-Space.
Shamanic ways of working and perceiving life aren't weird, it's not evil, it is just something very natural which gradually got closed off and forgotten as humanity as a whole preferred one way of experiencing reality over another.
"In the fullness of life, emptiness can be felt
In the experience of emptiness, the Fullness of Life can reveal itself
In the simultaneous moving towards life and the moving away from Life lies the crux of most inner conflicts and unhappiness
(N. Declunder 28 December 2021)"