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Shamanism

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Urban shamans retrieve soul parts through trance journeying. Sometimes the practitioner journeys for the client and at other times the shaman guides the client in doing his or her own journeying. In group settings, participants may be paired, each taking a turn in journeying for the other. In the example at the beginning of this article, I was led to journey for Joan, but in many cases I will encourage the client to do the journeying if s/he has had some previous successful journeying experiences. Whether it is I or the client who is journeying, the soul parts willing to return at that time may appear in literal or symbolic form. Mickey Mouse was obviously representational, but there have been times when the journeyer sees a factual scene from life replayed in the trance, for example a three-year-old child crying after she has been raped by her older brother. In such an instance, the journeyer would go into a void to look for the part lost in the rape and negotiate its return.

Indigenous shamans, on the other hand, view soul loss as having one's vitality stolen through sorcery. The symptoms are listlessness and depression and in the world view of the indigenous shaman, the patient is in danger of dying. Because indigenous cultures take this more seriously than do modern cultures and because time in these ancient societies is more available and free-flowing, the treatment is often an extended one. My mentor, a Peruvian medicine man, teaches that the shaman is to visit the sick person in his or her home in the company of the individual's family and friends. The patient is to lie with the crown of the head pointing toward the front door and then a red string is stretched from the crown out the door. Standing at the feet of the patient, the practitioner rattles and then calls out loudly for the soul to return. The string is then knotted around the patient's neck, where it is to remain for seven days while the patient ceases all regular activities and concentrates on convalescing. At the end of that time, the shaman severs the string with a magic knife and burns it. The ashes are painted in a cross formation on the patient's forehead and then rubbed onto the rest of the body, especially the feet.

Whether the soul is retrieved via modern or ancient methods, the recovery rate is typically high... and it's definitely faster and more efficient than traditional psychotherapy!

Judy Winters practices Peruvian-based urban shamanism. For soul retrievals or other shamanic services, contact her at 770-391-0991 or singingshaman@aol.com

Edgewood College of Georgia

Oriental Body Therapy & Acupuncture Clinic.

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