What is soul retrieval? How to approach it and relate it to therapy today

Interview with Liliane van der Velde by Frédérika van Ingen

F: Can you tell us where this practice of soul retrieval comes from and what its origins are?

L: When the Ancients or the First Peoples perceive that a person is missing something vital, that their soul is not properly incarnated in their body, they will carry out practices to connect them. This can be as simple as being more in tune with one's own path, or going on a vision quest to listen to what one's soul wants, to follow it and discover its mission. Illnesses - and not only physical symptoms, but also psychological illnesses and accidents - often are indications that we need to reflect and ask ourselves: "Am I still on my path? Am I still listening to my soul? And if I'm not, then I may be in danger of falling ill.

F: Perhaps it's important to first define what this notion of soul is in the shamanic vision?

L : Yes, soul is the invisible intelligent dimension that drives us. Everything in the universe is animated by an invisible intelligence, known as the Great Spirit or by other names depending on the tradition. This intelligence also animates all species, animals, trees, places and even countries. And as human beings, we also have an invisible dimension linked to this web of Life animating us and which we call our soul.

F: Is this part individual?

L: Yes, it's individual, but at the same time, in this invisible dimension, everything is connected. The essence of shamanic vision is to perceive that there is a link between everything. This link is not visible, but its effects can be seen in nature: how everything breathes together, how everything is interrelated. Perhaps for root peoples, it's more visible... for example, they can very well perceive that someone isn't in touch with their soul. With shamanic viewing, you can ask where someone's soul is and see if it's properly associated with the body.

In fact, it's a societal problem for us: many people are not connected to their soul or to the intelligence of the Living. And this lack of connection can manifest itself, for example, in depression, psychological illness or a lack of interest in life.
These states are the expression of soul loss because, from the invisible dimension where it is located, the soul really wants to be in tune with the body and with life physically. It's as if, when we lose interest in it, it also distances itself from us, sending signals through symptoms and illnesses. The more we're connected with our soul, the more we'll be associated with our body, in good health, in our place in life, where our soul wants us to be.

The wish of this invisible impulse that animates all living things is to blossom, to materialize, to grow, to express itself, to interact, to benefit the growth of the whole. Our soul wants this too, and if we don't feel at home, if we don't have a place to express ourselves, if we're not connected to life and the earth, then it withdraws, a little like in brackets, it's a form of dissociation. "Loss of soul" is a big word, we don't lose it, it's simply that it withdraws to a place where it's safe, as if on hold. In general, it's not the soul itself that's damaged, it's our link, our relationship to it that's severed.

F: So, we come into life with a soul connected to our body and there are events in life that are going to hurt us and then the soul will, in a way, protect itself by moving away?

L: There are different causes for this distancing of the soul. There's the loss of soul linked to a brutal event: an accident, a fall, the loss of someone, being uprooted from one's country, the loss of one's job; in this case there's a major identified shock that causes the soul to dissociate from us.
But another cause can be inherited terrain: if there already was a weak connection to who we are, to what we're here for, to our environment; and this weakness of connection then increases with education, with certain societal facts (such as moral harassment at work), then the disconnect becomes chronic and can lead to lasting depression. Shamanic language speaks of "soul loss", but we're becoming more aware that it's not really a matter of losing our soul, because if we'd lost it completely, we'd no longer be alive, we'd be in a coma, or we'd function very little. There are still links with it, but they're tenuous. They are weakly maintained during the night when we sleep: then a part of our consciousness remains in this link to feed on it and continue to live.

F: During the night, is that when the soul comes into contact with us?

L: Yes, part of our consciousness and our body will keep this link with this invisible dimension. That's why we need to sleep and dream, to nurture the connection with this invisible dimension that connects everything, otherwise we become a bit like puppets no longer at all associated with our breath of life and our soul, nor with the rest of the living world. During sleep, this is done unconsciously to maintain a link.

Over time, we've come to realize, in the shamanic treatments we offer, that what we call "soul loss" can stand for the loss of any part of oneself. For example, I can lose the link with part of my heart; of course I can't lose half my heart, but I can lose the link with half my heart, if I lose my child, if I lose my spouse or someone very dear to me and with whom I've invested a lot of my heart. In the separation and confusion, a part of me may go with it. It'll be part of my heart and the abilities linked to my heart that are will be drifting away from me. For example, I may lose confidence in myself, in my feelings, confidence in others, or the ability to commit in a relationship or all the creativity that was in that cut-off part of me.

F: Can you see for yourself?

L: Yes, people who suffer from a loss of self are suffering in general. They're less present in life, less present in relationships, they're bored or compensating, and they can develop physical pathologies, meaning that the physical body, which is really very much in touch with the soul, will give signals to say that something needs to be repaired, this link needs to be rediscovered, so that the body feels whole again.

F: Are so-called traumas soul losses?

L: Trauma can lead to soul loss. Someone can be traumatized to the point of being stunned, anesthetized and unaware of their soul loss, but the others around them are well aware of it. Moreover, in serious cases such as with dying people, among the First Peoples, the Medicine Man or Woman will travel to other worlds, to invisible dimensions, to seek out this part and bring it back through space and time. He will negotiate with it, to see what it needs in order to be able to return and re-associate with the sick person's body.  

F: Is soul recovery still practiced this way today?

L: Yes, when there's an appropriate request; the medicine man or woman uses this practice with the person alone, or a whole group can collaborate, for example through the practice of "the spirit canoe": all members of the group travel into shamanic reality to accompany the healer to retrieve the lost part of the patient, bring it back and then reinstill it. But more often than not, it's several parts that have escaped, such as the patient's breath of life, his joy, his creative potential... These must also be brought back, as they are associated with this lost part.
And then the person has to take care of their new-found parts and make them a part of their daily life...

F: How does soul recovery work?

L: This practice I've just described, like spirit canoeing, applies to urgent situations, when the person is in great distress and their condition requires outside help to do the work.

But there are several ways to do soulretrieval

There's a more progressive way of working: in shamanic healing and through all sorts of activities in daily life, the person will gradually receive care to repair this link, this damaged or lost relationship with this part of him or herself. This may mean mourning, healing emotions, or performing rituals of reparation so that this part really remains.

There's a symptomatic way of healing often demanded  in our consumer society: "I'm missing this, please bring me that". Some practitionners carry out soul-recovering in this way...

As far as I'm concerned, I tell my customers: "this part of you didn't go away all of a sudden, you didn't have an example of how to do things differently, you were born almost like that, so you need to repair your terrain too, which has encouraged the loss of soulparts".

If we don't repair this ground, if we don't create a new soil, the recovered part won't stay. We'll be doing symptomatic work, which may bring relief for the moment, but won't be enough to maintain the relationship to the soul and give this part of us a firm footing. With the ACT Shamanic Approach to Therapy, it's a different way of working : we'll do several treatments, and the person will have additional work to do to nurture the intimate relationship with their part to be integrated.

A third way is through the shamanic journey method, if the person has learned to journey and communicate with the invisible, in the Other Worlds. They have met their Power Animal, which connects them not only with their instincts, but also with their soul. The  Power Animal can guide people into those other worlds to meet their missing parts and repair the links with them.

For example, if one  lost part of one’s heart as a child, one also lost the ability to become an adult woman or man, who can have an adult relationship... One  may first need a lot of resources and spirits to heal one’s own suffering, so that this soul part one is missing can approach little by little. And one may even have to resolve compensation contracts, survival habits, such as "I'll never love again", "you can never trust men or women", "anyway, as we've known for generations in the family, love isn't for us" or "success isn't for us".

This kind of thing can be worked on. It's really a matter of becoming aware and making new choices to make room for this relationship with your soul. And then, being able to communicate with it: "What do you need? What would you like me to do to keep you with me? What do you need me to do in my daily life so that you can express your talents?".

So that the soul can bring its colors and creativity, it may ask us to quit harmful habits and relationships, to do more of what we love and what's good for our health. Many harmful habits such as addictions, but also depression, are symptoms or compensations for soul loss, dissociation.

F: When you've done this practice, when you've prepared the ground to welcome this part of yourself, in any case when you've reconnected with your soul, what happens? What does the soul look like on a shamanic journey?

L: These are parts, aspects of our soul, it's not the whole of our soul that's lost, otherwise we wouldn't be here ... These are aspects that have either gone, or that haven't really been integrated.
If they've been cut off as a result of a trauma, when we approach these parts, the memory of the shocks will often resurface, along with all the compensations that have been put in place and which screen us from the soul. So we'll have to transform them, and we can't do it alone . So we ask for a lot of help, and Spirit Allies come to help us in different ways. They can be nature spirits, or qualities we've missed: support, protection from Grandmother Earth, if we haven't been pampered, and haven't received the security to welcome our soul. We'll receive these kinds of resources, we'll lift interfering patterns and, little by little, the forgotten part will come closer to us.
 It may have a shapeless appearance, like light or color. In any case, it has a link with us and we can feel what it's doing inside us. It can also take shape little by little, depending on the intention we have when we do this work.

F: Why does anyone want to get their soul back?

L: You need to have an intention, and it's important to say it. For example: "I want to have a happy relationship", "I want to blossom in my work", "I want to feel healthy and happy in my body". This part of our soul will take on the aspect we're missing. In fact, we have observed that some people's loss of soul (or self-image) is due to the loss of an organ or the amputation of a limb, and not to the end of an important relationship. Some people whose blood has been changed, for example, feel they have lost a part of themselves. These patients will realize that the part they feel cut off from also has an invisible, etheric counterpart that continues to function. If they come into contact with it on a shamanic journey, they are then able to mourn the loss of the physical part and recover the energetic part of these organs and functions.

So it can take different forms. For some, it takes the form of the heart, for others it takes the form of something they're clothed in, like a new skin or cocoon.... Suddenly, they exist as Man, Woman, Adult. And this is often linked to talents or qualities related to this new-found part.

F: So that's what the effect is going to be: we're going to rediscover something of ourselves and something that's going to awaken that we had in ourselves, but with which we'd lost the link?

L: Then there are people for whom this part is as if unknown when it comes, that is, it only becomes familiar little by little, very slowly, because it's as if they hadn't even known it since they were born. This link has been there before birth, but it hasn't had the opportunity to be seen or nurtured.

For others, it may be the spontaneous creativity that stopped at the age of four or five for example, when they were made fun of at school, saying "your drawings suck" or "stop doing that", or because it has triggered jealousy or anger on the part of the parents, and that has cut off that impetus and that "child" link with that "creative" part of oneself, the creative part of the soul. So, there are people for whom this part was already there in the beginning of life, and then there are others for whom it was there, but it was never actually integrated.

F: What can you describe as the main effects?

L : So, the first effects are often a great relief and, at the same time, all the screens that separated us from it are removed. In other words, a recovery that physically settles in the body is first of all a process, like a gestation period or an organ graft, i.e. the thing is there, and it takes time for it to engraft and for the whole system that makes us up to reorganize around it long… . I always say: when you've walked all your life with just one leg, dreaming of having two legs so you can dance, the day it's transplanted, you have to change your wardrobe, you have to change your practices, you have to change your friends, you have to change your self-image as a victim, in short, there are lots and lots of things to change. People can’t imagine the impact, so there's both a relief and a detox from the past that need to happen. That's why it really needs to be accompanied and understood, and it requires a reappropriation of that part, how to bring it back into the body and into one’s daily life. Generally speaking, one feels more whole, all the more so if he or she is able to maintain the link through practices with this part of him or herself.

F: Practices like shamanic journeying, for example?

L: Yes, there also are shamanic journeying practices where someone else fetches the part of the person and brings it back, but this will never have the same consistency as if the person is capable of doing the whole process themselves. And it's normal for someone who's ill or weakened not to be able to do it straight away themselves. It's a process, you have to prepare for it, you have to prepare the ground, you have to learn to work with allies, and it can be done in several steps. In other words, it's entirely possible for a person to be followed by someone else who prepares the process, and then to go on a shamanic journey where they themselves learn to go and meet this part, or to recover other parts of themselves. We think we're missing a part, but in fact, over the years of practice, I've seen that it's like an ongoing process: there are big chunks to recover, but over time, we realize that we can always find more of ourselves, more of our talents to embody. This path of soul recovery is very useful for continuing to grow afterwards, even if you're not ill.

F: Would it be something for everyone, and something that everyone would benefit from?

L: actually, our whole society is suffering from soul loss. We've been forbidden to have a direct link with the invisible in nature and within ourselves in the past, so it has created a kind of collective schism, which has remained. Even if you're not Catholic or anything like that, it's stuck in collective consciousness. So, yes, everyone needs to reconnect with their soul. As for the tools to use, it depends on where the person is and what they're capable of doing. Do they need to get healing first if they're too weak to learn the shamanic journey method and do all the steps themselves? That's a case-by-case question.

It's important to realize that all of us, sick or not, need to take care of the link with our soul, which nourishes us in return. To simply listen to it, by connecting with our heart, for example, which is a privileged place of connection with the soul, to feel if it is well inhabited. We can also feel our whole body and do what strengthens it, gives it energy and creativity. Creativity, too, is a sign of soul connection and, for example, practising art in all its forms will nourish the link to the soul and to the invisible in general.

F: So there are ways of nurturing this bond, apart from soul recovery?

L : Yes, art and our connection to nature resonate with our own nature. The connection to the earth, gardening, cultivating, walking, for example, will sustain the connection to the soul, given that what the soul desires above all is to be connected to a physical, material base that supports it.

F: Does that mean that having harmonious relationships with others is a way of nourishing your soul too?

L: Having relationships, yes; but whether they're harmonious is very subjective. Maybe we don't consider them harmonious but, from our soul's point of view, these relationships encourage us to evolve, to overcome challenges, to seek resources, to learn things... Life pushes us to grow and helps us to develop talents and acquire new skills.

So it's not just the soul that feeds us when we incarnate : confrontation with earthly life will inspire us to develop our potential and feed our soul in return.

The soul is enriched by all the links we forge, whether with life, nature, others or ourselves. These connections reflect where we are now. For example, realizing that "It wasn't a good decision", prompts me to try something else: "It worked well. Oh, I didn't realize it, but in fact I have such a talent that I can contribute to the garden of life".

Moreover, for the soul, work - whether it's a professional activity, a hobby, a passion, or a humanitarian activity - the way it contributes to the world, is essential! When it expresses itself, it is enriched by the effect it has and by our interaction with the world. Without interaction, there is little growth... Of course, the idea is to balance relationships through what we learn from our experiences.

F: Yes, they are not necessarily restful relationships, but nourishing ones?

L: Yes, nourishing or stimulating. The challenge, through soul losses or cuts of this kind, is to see what allied resources and qualities we need to learn, so that what was a pain can be turned into an asset or an experience, or perhaps even a know-how to share with those around us...

F: In the end, the soul is a bit like our body, but in its invisible part? We need to maintain soul hygiene?

L: Yes, to put it simply: the soul is the invisible part of our body and our whole being; soul and body are linked, and we need to nourish both.

F: Just to finish up, what effects have you noticed for the people who do this work?

L: They're more present, more consistent, suddenly more visible. Their faces change, they're more alive, more radiant; their relationships also calm down and something settles inside... It doesn't happen all at once, but as part of a process of working with this new-found part. I often see richness and creativity develop, their health improves and they feel more supported in undertaking their projects...