From the shamanic perspective, physical and emotional illnesses are created by spiritual disharmony. There is an imbalance on a spiritual level that is manifesting on a physical and emotional level.
Shamanic healing looks at what needs to be brought back into balance, how did it get out of balance, and where is the imbalance?
Healing is therefore, a return to balance, to wholeness.
Below are a few common diagnosis. I categorise them separately here for the ease of understanding, but they all relate and connect and cannot really be separated.
Power Loss
In the shamanic point of view, everyone is born with a guardian spirit, an ally who watches over us through life. In modern cultures we tend to forget and disconnect from our guardian spirit as we grow up, or we behave in ways that cause the guardian spirit to leave. When we are without our guardian spirit, we are without power, there is a power loss and we easily give our power away, not knowing how to retain or stand in our power. This power loss can manifest into chronic conditions in life, eg. chronic depression, chronic suicidal tendency, chronic misfortune (seemingly endless bad luck), chronic immune deficiency (always catching a cold/flu).
To restore power, the shaman will perform a power animal retrieval. The shaman will travel with his/her guardian spirits to find a helping spirit who is willing to return to help and protect us. This helping spirit will come in all forms, usually as an animal, to bring us the qualities we need to be in our power and to learn to live true to ourselves, so that we can live life empowered.
Soul Loss
(soul = our essence, our life force, the part of ourselves that keep us alive)
Soul loss is seen in many shamanic cultures as the major cause of illness. When we suffer from trauma, any kind of trauma, a piece of our soul essence separates and enters the transcendent realms where it is safe. (Note: this is not our wounded self, but the unharmed, unwounded part of us.)
All kinds of abuse — physical, emotional, sexual — can cause soul loss.
Anything that shocks the psyche — accidents, war, surgery, drugs, grief — can cause soul loss.
Our psyche does not want to, and often is not able to, handle the trauma. It is too much and the last place we want to be is in our body, so our psyche implements a self protection mechanism where a part of us “goes away” while the trauma is occurring. (Modern psychology calls this disassociation.) In the shamanic point of view, the part of us that left does not come back on its own. We live “out of body” not fully embodied; observing life but not able to fully participate in life. Part of our essence disassociated and we need to bring it back in order to live life fully. The shaman will perform a soul retrieval by journeying into the transcendent realms to find where the soul essence has gone and physically bring it back to return it.
Disassociation is often a symptom of soul loss. As can chronic depression, chronic suicidal tendency, and immune deficiency problems. Addiction is also often a symptom of soul loss, we are always trying to fill ourselves up with something from the outside, because something is missing inside.
Spiritual Intrusion
When we are missing some of our power or some of our soul essence, a spiritual intrusion can enter into our body and cause localised pain or illness eg. cancer, chronic physical pain, chronic fatigue, chronic anger or depression. These spiritual intrusions are not evil, they usually come from negative thought forms from ourselves, others and the collective.
The shaman will perform an extraction to remove the intrusion and return the misplaced energy to the elements. It is important to then work with our emotions on a healthy level after an extraction, to strengthen our power/force field so future intrusions do not occur, and to be mindful not to send out spiritual arrows and darts in the form of negative thoughts to others and the world.
Possession
Sometimes when we are not filled with our power or our soul essence, a deceased spirit that has not crossed over may see our body as a vacant apartment and decide to move in to share our body, causing disharmonious energy in the body that can lead to illness.
In the shamanic perspective, accidents or suicides can leave a deceased spirit confused, they do not know they have died or they do not want to leave this realm, they become lost wandering spirits stuck in this world and are not able to cross over. They will look for a home in an empty house or in a body that is not filled up with power or soul essence.
The shaman will preform a depossession to convince the deceased spirit that its time here in this world has passed and it is time to go home to the spirit world, and assist the spirit to return home.
To Heal is to be Whole again.
In shamanic healing, the shaman looks at the client as a whole, checking to see if there is power loss, soul loss, spiritual intrusion or possession, and perform ceremonies and healing to bring balance back, to empower and reconnect the client with their own power and soul essence, so the physical and emotional illness or symptoms do not manifest.
It is the shaman’s role to perform the ceremonies, but it is the client’s responsibility to do their own healing work. What changes in life is needed that would bring back harmony? The goal is to create long term healing, not just pop a spiritual aspirin.
Hilsue Wong 