As mentioned in the prior article, Understanding Your Energetic Self, I mentioned that two central interventions used in my energy medicine practice include the Illumination Process and the Extraction Process (Villoldo, 2000). This article will be dedicated to describing a variation of the Illumination Process that I use in my practice and which I refer to as the Illumination Protocol.
The Illumination Process that I learned from Medical Anthropologist, Psychologist, and shaman Dr. Alberto Villoldo, is beautifully explicated in his seminal book entitled, Shaman, Healer, Sage (2000). I highly recommend this reference for the interested reader. There are times when I conduct this process as it is described by Dr. Villoldo. Before I describe the Protocol, as I refer to it with my patients, I believe it would be helpful for the reader to understand the educational context in which we students were taught the variety of shamanic practices, rites, and rituals as presented by the Four Winds Society (Dr. Villoldo’s institute).
Over the course of 2 years of study, students were required to perform each process, rite and ritual taught, approximately 100 times during the six months in between our week-long gatherings. We were then asked to write 3 case studies in which we described the client, his/her presenting problem(s), and the specific procedure we employed.
It was during the first six-month period that I became aware of eight beings who were present to guide and assist me in this energy medicine practice. Some writers refer to them as spirit guides. Others call them Master Guides, while others call them allies or guardian angels. More important than the moniker is, in my opinion, their purpose, which is to assist the practitioner in functioning as a tool for the Holy Spirit in the service of helping others.
These eight guides present themselves as flamed-shaped forms with specific colors and functions. I see them in an upper corner in my consulting room. The upper layer contains the four guides who specifically address and assist with issues that are psychological, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual in nature. They present as Ruby Red, Gold, Royal Blue, and Violet. The lower row of guides primarily assist with issues of a physical/biological nature. They present as Crimson, Orange-Red (as the color of a rising sun), Aqua-Marine Blue, and Lavender. To say I was rather perplexed might be an understatement. However, I intuitively felt at peace, supported, and reassured that they were there in support of the highest good for all concerned.
I share this information with you for the following reason: these guides began to speak to me telepathically, suggesting alternate ways of conducting the specific procedures I had been taught, including, but not limited to, the Illumination Process. Being relatively skeptical and left-brained, I conducted research on all the instructions I was receiving, that is, I used a procedure called muscle-testing (the Kinesiology Response) to ascertain the veracity/truth of each instruction and, more importantly, my understanding/interpretation of the specific instruction.
I tested each instruction I received and recorded the data. By the second week of our instruction, I had submitted a total of six case studies including an additional six case studies of the same cases in which I iterated the alterations. Included in my narratives were apologies to the instructors for any missteps I might have been committing. The teaching shaman who was charged with reading my case studies approached me and suggested first that I stop apologizing and then offered what I considered a remarkable gift. She asked if I would privately conduct the alternative procedures I had described with five other teaching shamans (herself included) who were present among us. She then said they would hold council, compare their experiences, and then offer me feedback regarding their opinions about the soundness (or lack thereof) of each procedure. I was honored that they were so eager to assist me in this manner.
Their conclusions were, in a word, validating. They said it was their opinion that I was remembering ancient procedures they believed I had learned in past lives and was collating them into the new energetics of our modern times. They also encouraged me to continue doing what [I] was doing and again offered to experience any variations I might come across. So it is from these processes of intuiting data and having the data checked by the teachers, that I came to develop what I refer to as the Protocol.
The core of the Protocol includes the following: The first piece of datum that is assessed is the soul part of the individual that is eventually to be retrieved. To date (14 years of this form of practice) the soul part presents as a geometric form (e.g., 4-sided pyramid, sphere, octahedron, etc.) of a particular color, in a specific location in the person’s Luminous Energy Field, and rotating in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The guides advise that it is “not useful” at this time for me to understand the import of the specific geometric pattern. The color signifies the level of consciousness of the soul part. The location in the LEF indicates whether the issue being addressed is of a spirit (causal), soul (psychic/etheric), psychologic (mental-emotional), or physical nature. The direction of the energy rotation offers a gross, preliminary determination of where on earth the traumatic event occurred (i.e., a clockwise direction indicates the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise indicates the Southern).
The second step of the Protocol indicates the number of other peoples’ soul parts that are attached to the persons LEF. For people who have not had an Illumination in this incarnation that number can range from hundreds to thousands.
The third level of information includes which chakra is to be Illuminated (cleansed, repaired, reprogrammed), the number of cords of energy that emerge from the back of that chakra, and the location of the entities (one attached to each cord) in the person’s LEF.
The fourth piece of datum is the number of fluid entities that visually present in the person’s body. These are other peoples’ soul parts with whom the person had some form of intimate relationship in prior lifetimes and that had, in a sense, been “invited” to take up residence within the person. This number also ranges from the hundreds to thousands. These data are then checked for accuracy by using muscle- testing. The energy medicine interventions are then conducted.
The first intervention is the clearing of the souls parts in the person’s LEF. They are released to any of the four cardinal directions as well as to above and below, whichever direction is correct for each particular soul.
The second step involves cutting/clearing the energetic cords, clearing the entities that were attached to those cords, cleansing, repairing, and re-programming the chakra, extracting the fluid entities, and returning them to the Light by once again addressing the four cardinal directions and the above and below directions. Muscle-testing is used all throughout these processes to make certain that all clearings were fully effected.
The final step is to ascertain, via muscle-testing, whether or not the person’s guides (guards, guardian angels) want us to conduct research regarding the details and or gist of the person’s soul part’s experiences (typically from a past life) that accounted for that soul part splitting off. Finally, that soul part is reintegrated into the person’s LEF/soul. The clients and I then process their experiences and we field any questions and comments the person might have.
Often times, additional interventions are recommended by the person’s or my guides, which complement the Illumination Protocol. For example, a decoupling and/or the 3 Bath Ritual might be prescribed. (These will be described in future articles.)
In closing, it is important to note that prior to implementing any energy medicine intervention, the client and I will use muscle-testing to determine the specific intervention we are being guided to utilize, when we are to utilize it, and for which problem it is being used. As I often tell the clients, “It is your soul and your guides who are the experts about you and your needs. Not I. Therefore, let us let Them direct our work.”