In my first article, “What Is a Shaman/Medicine Man,” I noted that the shaman, among his many functions, conducts something called soul retrieval. Logically, this brings us to a discussion regarding this construct called soul. This then guides us to consider the proposition, as espoused by peoples throughout the world and ages, that we humans are, in fact, spiritual beings having human experiences and are comprised of spirit/soul, mind/awareness, and body.
To proceed, we would do well to first consider the meanings of the terms soul, Spirit, mind, and awareness as used by me. There are a multitude of meanings that people ascribe to each of these words/constructs. Some people hold negative interpretations to any or all of these terms, in part, due to religious biases. Certain writers have coined their own terms in an attempt to avoid raising the readers’ biases. For example, Poncelet uses the term authentic being instead of soul. Some use certain terms synonymously such as soul/spirit/Spirit. You, the reader, are encouraged to interpret any or all of these terms in ways that abide your particular religious, philosophical and theological perspectives.
When I refer to humans as spiritual beings, I am saying we are souls incarnate. Soul and spirit are used interchangeably. Spirit, with a capital “S,” is used herein to refer to the Divine, by whatever name you yourself refer to It. If I speak of a person’s High Self, I am referring to that aspect of us that is Divine and untouched, and unchanged by human world, astral world and causal world experiences. Our souls/spirits, on the other hand are affected by these world experiences and are often traumatized by them. For the purposes of this article, let us consider as true, the proposition that our souls are subject to the cosmic law of karma, both good and bad. (Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi)
When speaking of the soul, I am referring to that part of us that has a certain/specific level of consciousness. The term consciousness is used in the manner that Dr. David R. Hawkins used it, (Hawkins, 1995, 2001, 2003 to name but a few of his writings). In my understanding, it refers to the individual’s level of awareness of the Divine. Hawkins’ arbitrary scale ranges from 0 to 1,000 and it is logarithmic. A bacterium may have a consciousness level of 1, whereas a fully enlightened, embodied being has a level of 1,000. Individuals such a Jesus, Buddha, and Krishna are examples of the enlightened ones. Souls incarnate into the physical, astral and causal worlds for the purpose of clearing their karma and returning to full realization of Divine Consciousness, which some refer to as the state of enlightenment. The shaman’s work can help facilitate the raising of a person’s level of consciousness by helping to clear some of a person’s karmic proclivities/attachments. In light of the above mentioned, I shall now address the practical applications of a shaman’s work in light of the proposition that we are beings comprised of spirit/soul, mind, and body. First, the indigenous, energy medicine practitioners view symptoms from a four level perspective:
literal symptom or problem
symbolic aspect of the problem
mythic/metaphoric aspect
energetic source(s) of the problem.
Shamans consider the energetic level the true source that causes and perpetuates the problem state and as such, shamans’ interventions are designed to remove those energetic sources. This is very different than the typical allopathic/contemporary medicine approaches that typically address the symptom. Consider a weed you want to remove from your garden. It will regrow if you only remove its leaves. It will not regrow if you remove its root. Modern medicine typically addresses the leaves (the symptoms), whereas the shaman addresses the roots. Of course, it is beneficial, at times, to use conventional medicine interventions such as angioplasty, knee replacements, appendectomies, etc. Such procedures then buy the person time, so to speak, during which he/she can address the energetic sources that caused the symptom(s) in the first place. So the theory goes. Fortunately, both the medicine man and the patient are more interested in and concerned about the results of the interventions than the theories. My teacher, Alberto Villoldo, was fond of saying this about a theory, “Does it grow corn?” In other words, “Show me the results.”
The soul/spirit is comprised of the energetic body. This includes phenomena known as the Luminous Energy Field (LEF), chakras, and meridians. The soul also abides by programs, sometimes called contracts or belief systems. All these phenomena then inform the mind (both consciously and unconsciously) in turn, drives the course of the body. It works, ultimately, as Descartes’ age-old theory of a finite body inside an infinite mind. The shamans’ interventions clear, repair, and reprogram the LEF, chakras, and meridians. As mentioned, medicine men also retrieve soul parts that have split off, so to speak. Essentially, this is my understanding of what is referred to as energy medicine. Of course, there are many variations of energy medicine and a variety of procedures which are often culturally influenced.
Among the indigenous peoples it is often said, “When you heal the spirit, the body follows.” Consequently, it is relatively common to observe significant improvements in a person’s health and behaviors as a result of these energetic interventions. For example, I conducted an energetic intervention referred to as the illumination process (Villoldo, 2000) for a woman whose symptom was hemorrhages during her menstrual cycles. These began with the onset of her menses and continued to the time of our work together when she was 37 years of age. Her physician was using, with moderate success, medications to help stem the degree of her blood loss. (Treating the symptom.)
The Illumination included the removal of an imprint, which in this case, was a kind of energetic memory of a past life experience in which her unborn child was cut from her womb by an enemy who attacked her village. Both she and her child died. During one of our session I saw an image of the sword (the imprint) which was contained in her Luminous Energy Field (LEF). Part of the energetic healing included the removal of this sword from her LEF. Within a period of two months, she had observed a significant decrease in bleeding and her physician eventually weaned her off the medication regimen. This is an example of what is meant by the saying: “When you heal the spirit the body follows.” To repeat, we are spiritual beings in human form, comprised of spirit, mind, and body.
To summarize, the purpose of this article was to introduce the proposition that we humans are truly spiritual beings having human experiences and are comprised of spirit, mind, and body. The shamans address the spirit/soul part of the person, and the soul is an energetic entity. Therefore, the shaman focuses her attention and interventions at the energetic level of symptoms.
As a result, it is then easier for the person to affect changes in his/her emotional, behavioral and physical selves. I have introduced the reader to a number of concepts, such as Luminous Energy Field, chakras, meridians, and imprints, with which he/she might be unfamiliar. I shall define and describe these constructs in greater detail in forthcoming articles.