Working with Spirit of Company: being inspired to co-create happy companies!

Meeting with Liliane van der Velde
Interview by Claire Eggermont for Sacrée Planète

Liliane van der Velde is the founder of the Nature Conscience and Shamanism school. Initiated into shamanic journeying in 1983 by Michael Harner, she has been transmitting the ancestral systemic vision, according to which everything is interconnected and animated by a creative intelligence, for over thirty years.

For several years now, she has been helping professionals and companies to connect with the spirit of their organization and their projects, so that they can rediscover meaning, flourish and make the best possible contribution to collective evolution.

Sacrée Planète: You offer systemic constellation and shamanic journeying to professionals and companies, enabling them to connect and cooperate with the underlying spirit of their project. How did you come to develop these tools?

Liliane van der Velde: When I was a child, I had a strong experience of human suffering, and was soon inspired to help alleviate it. I initially turned to conventional medicine, before realizing that it was ill-suited to treat the loss of meaning from which so many humans suffer today.

I moved to the United States, where I met the Hopi Indians and was introduced by Michael Harner to shamanic journeying, an ancient method of communicating with the invisible dimension which animates all living things. Thanks to this encounter, I experienced that everything that exists is energy, or, more precisely, is made up of energy fields. Fields are, in the deepest sense of the word, the essence of matter. They are invisible structures, endowed with intelligence, memory and consciousness, called "spirits" by shamans and which some scientists today recognize as "quantum fields", "morphic fields" or "morphogenetic fields".

I discovered that a large number of blockages and illnesses stem from the loss of connection with these "spirits", principles of life and evolution, and above all that we could enter into communication with them, encounter their qualities, functions, language, etc.

This was proven by Dr. Gary Schwartz. He demonstrated that everything is surrounded and ordered by an intelligence contained in morphogenetic
fields. If called upon with benevolent intent, these fields or spirits can become our allies and collaborate with us.

From these insights, I developed another way of healing, which I called the ACT "Shamanic Approach to Therapy", based on connection to those allied healing fields. Many of the people who came to see me were suffering at  work or were wondering about a change of direction. Ten years ago, while on a shamanic journey for a director in this situation, I encountered the Spirit of a company for the first time. What a surprise! This spirit had a lot to say about what was wrong with the company, what was needed. It showed how humans were damaging it and no longer knew its true function, its potential... Everything he told me was later confirmed by this manager.

That's how I came to develop specific tools to connect with Spirit of companies. This new-found relationship enables people to rediscover their place and meaning within their organization, and to make the best possible contribution to the environment they belong to.

S. P.: In the light of your experience, what is your vision of the company today?

L. vdV: My experience has taught me that the universe is intelligent and always seeks to bring different vibratory fields together, so that they collaborate and help the Whole to grow. The company is no exception: it's a living, evolving organism, generated by a convergence of fields and circumstances. In a particular context, needs emerge, and the universe tries to meet them through the creativity of individuals and their encounters. The emerging spirit is strong enough for the company to take shape. It's a powerful energy which manifests itself to meet the needs of a company, and, in the same time, to enable the project's collaborators to express their potential. The ideal situation is for the meaning of the company to support the expression of the personal meaning of the employees, and vice versa.

Companies thus have a decisive role to play, not only at the economic level: that of making the best possible contribution to collective evolution. In any case, that's what they should do, but our over-materialist, hyper-specialized society has lost sight of the bigger picture and the link with the living world. The result in many companies is a lack of motivation and energy, absences, unease, illness, depression, etc., all of which stem from the fact that the link with the goal, the very purpose of the project, has been severed. The team has drawn away from the source, so far as no longer knowing what unites it and why it is working.

S.P.: Can you tell us more about the spirit of a company?

L. vdV : Spirit of a company or a project arrises in a particular context, which is its "ground", to respond to a need or to bring more richness or evolution to this context. This spirit is also rooted in the encounter with the company's founders. It includes their history, identity, personality, intentions and particular values. Like everything else, it is born from the invisible, from a creative force, which then materializes through human beings and their projects. Like any quantum field, it is a kind of intelligence, and it evolves thanks to the other fields with which it interacts: the historical context, the founders, the various collaborators, the locality, the customers, etc.
 For some companies, this Spirit also includes their own ideals, language and communication. We can distinguish between the specific Spirit of a company and the overall Spirit of a profession: just as a tree has different branches, leaves, flowers and fruit, but all connected to the same trunk, each project has a specific Spirit that must be in tune with the common trunk.

What you need to know is that the more you call on it, the more it grows. It's like a force that grows and supports the company's development. Conversely, if it doesn't get attention, it withers away, leading to a drop in team motivation and a loss of customers. If the spirit is not taken into account, it may even leave the company to find fulfillment elsewhere!

S.P.: How can connecting with their spirit help companies today?

L. vdV: The loss of meaning at work and the ensuing depression affect all sectors of activity and are true diseases of civilization. They obviously lead to a drop in efficiency, and even threaten the sustainability of companies that have degenerated from their original purpose. I suggest professionals I work with to connect with the spirit of their company, because it is this spirit that gives energy and meaning to the work, in terms of direction-orientation as much as in terms of intention or philosophy. Getting to know it well and working with it to give it the right shape and framework is worth the pain.

For example, we'll be looking if the spirit of the project is consistent with that of the region, the country, the customers, the values or abilities of the employees, etc., so that all the parameters for the project's success can be brought together as effectively as possible. It's a real partner to rely on. He points out knots and inconsistencies, but also untapped potential and resources. Connecting with him inspires creativity, brings internal coherence, and boosts the company's efficiency and vitality. It also increases the flow of positive exchanges with external partners.

In this work, many blocks disappear on their own. They often are the consequence of distancing from this intelligence . By reconnecting to it through shamanic journeys or systemic constellations, people can quickly and easily find solutions that benefit both parties.

S.P.: Can you tell us about the specific nature of the constellation work you teach?

L. vdV: One of the first principles of shamanism is that any visible effect is merely the materialization of intentions emerging from the invisible sphere. To generate a result, we therefore need to work on the root, of the various dynamics. According to this approach, company constellations enable us to perceive and modify the underlying dynamics of a professional situation. They show what is actually at play in a company: the relationships between departments or between different levels of management, the interactions between the company, products, customers and points of view, and above all the possible presence of unused potential in the system.

The specificity of my work is to always add the Spirit of the company or project to the constellation, in order to check that it is recognized and in line with the other forces at play. Its presence stimulates intelligence and creativity, but also reveals inconsistencies and knots in the system.

S.P.: In concrete terms, how does a professional constellation work?

The idea is to dramatize a work situation by asking attendees to play a role and express how they feel in that position.
 Let's take a concrete example. A professional contacts me to find out how to optimize the chances of success for one of his projects. With my help, he clarifies which elements are involved in his question (people, functions, concepts, etc.): the project manager, the director, the client, the goal of the project... These various elements are then represented by symbolic objects, sheets of paper or people present, chosen "at random" by the consultant. This is the constellation of the situation. This representation mobilizes the innate intelligence of the physical body, which instinctively knows where and how to position itself for survival and adaptation to the context. This configuration in space allows us to perceive the interactions between the various elements of the system: some of the players naturally position themselves close together, others far apart, some spontaneously turn their backs, others clash, some feel at peace, others exhausted... Each of these signs shows the dynamics at play in reality and reveals the links, obstacles and possibilities of the system.
 By modifying the positions of the "players", adding missing elements, sometimes clarifying the relationships between elements, we see appropriate solutions for the theme at hand. The suitable solutions are obvious: they bring strength and vitality to the system as a whole, and new points of view to the requesting professional. It's a win-win situation for all parties, who can once again collaborate and contribute to each other's enrichment.

In this way, you can experience how contact with Spirit of the company gives rise to the most creative ideas for names, slogans and communications, revealing and illustrating the purpose of the company. We can also create a constellation to compare the choices to be made in terms of projects, investments, strategies, recruitment, locations, etc. with the spirit of the company, and see if they are coherent and reinforcing each other. In the event of major changes within a company, a constellation can also help to see what is realistic in terms of the resources of each person or department concerned.

S.P.: Does the spirit of a company always tend towards greater harmony and cooperation?

L. vdV: Of course, it can also reveal a lack of coherence in the system! People sometimes dismiss from the company after this work, especially when it becomes clear that they're not in the right place or not in tune with the corporate mindset!

As soon as we start listening again to the natural movements that underlie life, we realize that all systems naturally want to collaborate, to exchange with each other to reveal their potential and evolve to improve the Whole. They are interrelated and aware of each other. In this way, the universe is cooperative, seeking growth, creation and harmony. From this point of view, there is no conflict, only forgotten links or capacities. I've experienced many times over the last few years how fruitful the mutual recognition of two entreprising minds can be. Let's take the example of a professional who respects the spirit of his own company and gets to know the spirit of his client's company. The latter shows him what he needs and how to meet it. And this triggers a benevolent and direct way for both systems to collaborate on the basis of a common understanding. 

S. P.: Are these tools suitable for all companies? Can't they be "hijacked" for commercial purposes?

L. vdV: Of course, it's a very popular approach to marketing. Companies which fabricate false needs to sell their products for anti-ecological enrichment have no commercial interest in doing this in-depth work. They are, however, a systemic symptom of society's unrecognized needs and shortcomings, and of the neglect of some vital principles. And these empty spaces are reclaimed by those who want to make a profit from them instead of caring for them.

It would be interesting to work precisely on the shortcomings and inconsistencies in society that these companies seeks to reveal... but then, when these shortcomings are recognized and remedied, these companies will lose their purpose...