Soul Retrieval by Sandra Ingerman Harper San Francisco 1991 ISBN 0-06-250406-1 Sandra Ingerman is a student of Michael Harner, a pioneer in shamanistic studies, and a member of the International Faculty of the Foundation For Shamanic Studies, founded and directed by Michael Harner. Soul Retrieval is the story of her journey through the world of the shaman/healer. Sandra Ingerman holds a Master's Degree in counseling psychology, and combines soul retrieval (shamanistic healing) with current psychological concepts. At first glance - they would seem to be incompatible. And they often are. Soul retrieval looks to bring balance and health by retrieving parts that have left us during stressful situations, while the world of psychology doesn't care about the "why" of illness - simply that the patient is brought back to a functioning level. Ingerman defines soul loss as a spiritual illness causing emotional and physical disease. Nowhere in western medicine do we have a system that address's this worldview. We can treat spiritual, emotional and physical illness's separately, but are just now coming into seeing a connection between spiritual imbalance and emotional or physical imbalance. In the world of the shaman, he/she has the responsibility of diagnosing and treating illness (bringing the patient back into balance) by communicating and interacting in the spirit world. He/she goes into an ecstatic state, with the use of drugs or the use of drums/rattles to create a vibrational change with the body of the shaman. A journey is then made into one of three worlds - the upper world, the middle world (consisting of worlds that exist in the same timeline that we are in but on a different plane) and the lower world, accessed through a tunnel into the earth (often through a hole in the earth, a cave or a tree trunk. From page one of this book, the reader is encouraged to be an active participant. To not just read the words, but to create a space within him/her self that allows the concepts presented to become a reality. Only in this way can the reader set aside their judgments and allow for an honest appraisal of this alternate reality. How many of us have said: "I left a part of myself with him/her."? We think we are speaking rhetorically, but this is in reality what has happened. Part of our souls have remained with that person. We spend a great deal of energy looking for that elusive part. The job of the shaman is to undertake the journey that will bring the broken of part(s) of the soul back into the physical body of the patient. Another type of soul loss is through trauma. When we are in an accident, or subjected to emotional and/or physical abuse (i.e. rape/incest) often a part of ourselves will leave to protect the whole. We *disconnect* so that the pain is no longer ours to bear. During a soul retrieval, the shaman brings back these parts and helps the patient to reintegrate them into their physical and emotional selves. Ingerman takes us on a journey of discovery in the shaman's world. Through her own experiences and case studies, we see where soul loss had occurred, why it occurred and how it was healed. One of the greatest gifts of this book was the exercises that the reader is given to do. On each step of the path, we are given tools to keep ourselves in harmony as we visit these alternate states (shamanic states) with her. We are actually *given* the techniques for doing a soul retrieval, although at all times Ingerman stresses the seriousness of such journey's, and the need for formal study before undertaking them. We learn how to journey to the three worlds, to find our power animal and call on them, to understand the essence of plants and their dual selves, to travel through the tunnel into the underworld and receive the knowledge that we need for the next step in our lives. I highly recommend this book - whether you are on a personal journey or whether you are considering committing to shamanistic studies. Mitakuye Oyasin - For All Of My Relations Personal Lifestyle Reading - I offer a Personal Lifestyle Reading using Tarot that looks at past, present and future influences in your life, at the energies that are currently available to help you along your path, and at those energies that are appearing as challanges. My goal is to offer you insight into your decision making process, as well as tools that you can use to both better understand your path and make conscious, choice centered decisions. Home Personal Empowerment Personal Empowerment links Personal Empowerment articles View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook Graphics by Art for the web