Two of the central energy medicine interventions I use in shamanic practice are called the Illumination and Extraction Processes, (Villoldo, 2000). These are the processes shamans use to address the energetic sources of an individual’s problems. To better understand what these processes are (which I shall describe in greater detail in a later article), it is useful to know about the energetic parts of what I’ll call the soul.
As Dr. Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D. describes, the parts of the energetic body, he refers to “The Anatomy of the Soul” in his epic work Shaman, Healer, Sage. Basically, the soul is comprised of the following energetic systems: The Luminous Energy Field, meridians, and chakras.
According to Villoldo (2000) and his teachers, the Luminous Energy Field (LEF), sometimes referred to as the aura, “… is an invisible matrix that informs the anatomy of the body".
This (typically) invisible energy field often contains the blueprints of mental/emotional/behavioral, and physical illnesses. To get a visual image of what the LEF looks like, imagine a luminous, egg-shaped bubble of light that surrounds the physical body. Under normal functioning, this field of energy extends about an arms’ length distance from the physical body outward, above one’s head, and below one’s feet. In part, the LEF is comprised of meridians, lines of energy that run up and down the field, as they do within the physical body. Villoldo refers to the meridians of the LEF as “the veins and arteries of the Luminous Energy Field.” (In a later article I shall describe a meridian-based therapy called Thought Field Therapy, developed by Psychologist Roger Callahan, Ph.D., I incorporate Callahan’s theory into my indigenous energy medicine healing practice.)
The LEF contains the entirety of data of the soul’s experiences in all lifetimes. These records are referred to as imprints in the South American Q’ero shamanic traditions.
Imprints influence the ways in which we think, feel, act and the manners in which our physical bodies function (i.e. diseases/illnesses that the body has proclivities for). These imprints are stored in the four layers of the LEF. The outermost layer is about an arm’s-length distance from the physical body’s surface and it holds information about physical traumas/injuries. The next layer inward is the emotional-mental layer. The third inward layer is called the “psychic-etheric” layer, which represents one’s soul’s experiences. The fourth and inner most layer is called the causal layer, which Villoldo refers to as the spirit’s layer. “All imprints contain information, which inform the chakras, which then organize our physical and emotional world[s]”. It is the LEF that “contains a template of how we live, how we age, how we heal, and how we might die”.
The Illumination Process, in part, addresses the clearing of the negative information in the imprints. When we heal the spirit the physical body often follows, as well as one’s thinking, emotions, and behavioral habits.
The Illumination Process also includes procedures designed to cleanse, clear, repair, and re-program the organs of the LEF, known as chakras. Chakras are cone-shaped vortices of spinning energy (imagine the shape of a sugar cone). The word chakra comes from the Sanskirt, meaning disk, or wheel. In the Hindu paradigm, there are seven chakras connected to the physical and subtle bodies. The Q’ero tradition speaks to nine chakras; seven connected to the body and two above.
The mouth of the chakra extends about 3 inches from the front of the physical body and the tail or funnel-shaped back portion connects into the spine. In the words of Villoldo: “The chakras transmit information of past trauma and pain contained in imprints in the Luminous Energy Field into the nervous system. The chakras inform our neurophysiology, affecting our moods and influencing our emotional and physical well-being. The chakras also connect to endocrine glands that regulate all of human behavior.”
The Illumination Process cleans out energetic residues (information) that build up within chakras, thus clogging them and impairing their proper functioning. It is also important to understand that chakras have associated colors and, more importantly, have associated issues/information which they impart to one’s energetic and physical bodies. The first chakra, the root chakra, is red and holds information regarding one’s family/tribe, security and physical needs. The second is the sacral chakra, which is orange and holds procreative and creative information. The third is the solar plexus chakra. It is yellow and contains data pertaining to one’s self (apart from the tribe), and one’s personal power or self-will. The fourth chakra is called the heart chakra. It is typically considered green in color and pertains to issues of love and relationship. The fifth is the throat chakra, which is a blue color and correlates to issues of communication and self-expression. The sixth chakra is the third eye or brow chakra. It is also known as the spiritual eye. It is indigo in color and is correlated to issues regarding intuition and wisdom. The seventh chakra is the crown chakra. It is associated with the colors violet, gold or white. It addresses the core issue of spirituality.
To summarize, the soul is comprised of the Luminous Energy Field, meridians and chakras. Each of these systems contain energy/information that is often misinformation, and their flow of energy can be underactive, blocked, overactive. The Illumination Process corrects incorrect information and trauma data, balances the meridians, and cleans, repairs, and re-informs the chakras. These interventions “heal” the soul/spirit and, consequently, the person’s mind, body and behaviors demonstrate healings and cures of the symptoms.