Recovering the Separated Self
Much has been written over the ages about Soul Retrieval but few people understand exactly what that means. How can we lose our soul? We see perpetrators of violence and cruelty losing their humanity, but what is it to lose one’s Soul?
As we emerge into this world we progress on journey through life that takes us through various developmental stages. In our first year of life we as the infant live in a symbiotic relationship with our mother, not fully realising that we are indeed separate and distinct. As we develop and grow older our sense of self develops we begin the process of individuation. If we have been welcomed into a family that has the ability to receive us in merging love, we then retain the innocence, vibrancy and joys of childhood leading us to feeling whole and complete as adults. However, this is rarely the case as it is the history and experiences of our families that determine whether or not our parents are able to bring us into merging love – trauma plays a major role in the disruption to this ability to take one another into merging love.
To understand our own separation from the innocent essential self we need to understand our response to trauma and also understand what trauma is. Most envisage trauma as being a specific traumatic event such as an accident, violence, illness, the death of a parent when young, sexual abuse and rape, abandonment etc. However, when not raised in an environment where our innocent essence is both nurtured and reflected back to us, the trauma can be ‘drip fed’ over a much longer period of time. Such ‘drip fed’ trauma can be experienced as a result of: critical parents, over disciplined parenting, frequent criticism, verbal or physical violence that takes place between the parents and sibling rivalry. Trauma is associated with shock, grief and fear and can be experienced at any age from birth right though to our golden years.
One of the challenges with trauma and to truly understanding it is that very often trauma occurs long before we can speak – this is called pre-verbal trauma. With pre-verbal trauma we generally have no specific memory or story to refer to, but simply a feeling. These feelings can be quite intense at times or pervasive.
When we experience intense feelings as young children they are often overwhelming creating a lot of fear. If our trauma is directly related to our relationship with our caregiver, usually a parent, then out of an act of perceived self preservation, we will then separate from the feelings. Each time we separate from such intense feelings we also ‘lose’ a part of ourselves that becomes frozen in a time capsule from our past. Slowly, over time, we begin to lose much of our contact with our essential self and can emerge into the world as adults feeling empty, lonely or separate from the world.
These separated selves often dwell within the darker places within us holding onto feelings and belief systems that can be self destructive such as rage, hatred, humiliation, shame, guilt, grief, resentment to name but a few. With Soul Retrieval work we enter the inner landscape where this separated aspects of self can be returned to wholeness. So how is retrieval of a part of us that holds onto rage help us to become more complete as a soul having a human experience?
It takes a lot of energy to hold these parts in place – to suppress, oppress and otherwise keep hidden. When this energy is released more of our pure and essential self can flow again and we begin to regain the precious innocence and vibrancy of childhood. When the separated self remains unresolved this can lead us into addictive behaviours, co-dependent relationships, feelings of emptiness, loneliness and depression to one degree or another. Soul Retrieval is a powerful Shamanic process for unifying the separated self.
To experience Soul Retrieval, consider taking a journey with me during a Skype session to start the process of recovering that which has been lost in separation.
What is involved in a private Phone or Skype session?
During private sessions I will employ my many years of experience with Ancestral Healing and Family Constellation work alongside Shamanic Healing processes and Energy Healing. No single session is the same and depending on your need will direct where a session or a series of sessions will take us. Skype and Phone allow us to work together no matter where you are in the world.