Recovering From Grief & Loss

Losing someone we love, be it to death or the dissolution of a relationship, can be one of the most devastating things that we experience in this life. The profound sense of loss and sorrow that follows such events can feel crippling but is an essential part of life on this planet.

In traditional shamanic cultures, a soul retrieval ritual would be conducted for a person three days after they experience the passing of a loved one or any other form of loss. The reasoning behind this practice stems from the shamanic awareness of soul loss as our natural coping mechanism for surviving the emotional devastation of being abruptly separated from a loved one and that those soul pieces need to be brought back home in order for the bereft loved one to regain wholeness. The three days allotted in between give time to both the person left behind and in the case of separation by death, the recently departed soul to simply be with the magnitude of the experience before the healing process begins and the lost loved one can transition onward.

Unfortunately, most modern-day cultures lack this profound insight into grief and the grieving process. As a result, most people are not taught how to grieve properly, nor are they helped in any way with recovering the vital parts of their essence that splintered off from the whole. This combination of factors often leads to people either not dealing properly with their grief, which then can grow until it manifests physically, or remaining stuck, seemingly forever in a state of mourning.

Over the years I’ve helped many people heal and move on from profound loss and grief. Enabling them to remember fully the person or persons that they have lost in this life, maintaining and nurturing the loving connection to them, without being burdened by the heartrending grief that occurred at the time of separation. If you feel that you might benefit from receiving that same assistance, then please feel free to contact me via my contact page, or call today at (503) 757-9842 and we’ll go from there.

Healing Depression

Depression is a very common, yet potentially debilitating condition that can wreak havoc on the natural flow of someone’s life. 

Signs or manifestations of depression can include deep sadness not linked to loss or other understandable cause, loss of interest in life, being unable to enjoy the things that once brought pleasure to our lives and extreme fatigue, to name but a few.

Those that suffer from chronic depression also tend to struggle with feelings of low self-worth, of being easily overwhelmed by life’s challenges and a persistent feeling of unease. The saddest part of all this being the amount of precious time lost to the symptoms of depression that could have been spent fully engaging in and enjoying life.

THE SHAMANIC PERSPECTIVE

Chronic depression is considered by most shamanic practitioners to be a key indicator of soul loss, which involves a piece of one’s essence or soul splitting off from the whole in order to survive a traumatic event. In traditional shamanic cultures, the practice is to retrieve this missing piece and restore it to its rightful place, thus returning one to a state of wholeness, happiness, and wellbeing. Unfortunately, most people today don’t live in a shamanic culture and as a result, soul retrieval is not widely practiced.

If you or someone you love has been suffering from depression, feel free to reach out to me via my contact page, or call today at (503) 757-9842 and we can discuss in greater depth the shamanic approach to healing the root cause of depression, so that you and your loved ones can get back to the business of fully living your lives.

Healing Across Distances

While James does regularly perform shamanic rituals and healing practices in-person for area clients, the vast majority of his clients receive healing at a distance. Distance healing does not require the client to be present with James, meaning all treatments are location-independent.

One of the many advantages of working with energy medicine is that time and distance have no bearing on the effectiveness of the treatment. Although this is difficult for many to grasp, energy medicine – whether Shamanism or Reiki – operates in the spirit world, also known as non-ordinary reality where time and space are transcended. While most people tend to see the world from a linear, one-dimensional perspective, Shamanic Practitioners and Reiki Masters operate from a multi-dimensional framework wherein our illusory state of separateness, from others as well as life itself, falls away. From this perspective, the interconnectedness of all beings allows for the miraculous transference of energy, whether in person or over a great distance.

Shamanic Depossession

In cases of extreme soul loss incurred through severe trauma, the space left behind may be filled by the soul of a deceased person whose transition process was disrupted, thus leaving them disoriented and subsequently drawn to the light or essence of the fragmented person in question. In such cases, the host body is forced to share its resources with the intruding spirit, leading to further breakdown of the host body's system. During a depossession ritual, a practitioner will compassionately remove the intruding spirit and help it to complete its transition to the spirit world. This process provides healing and relief to both the host body and the newly liberated spirit.

Shamanic Extractions

As mentioned in the section on Soul Retrieval, in cases of prolonged soul loss a void is left within a person's energy field. As nature abhors a void, it is only a matter of time until that hole is filled by an external energy that is not in harmony with that person's essence. When this occurs, it places a strain on the person's entire system, potentially resulting in illness or disruption on multiple levels. Some examples of this include depression, anxiety, dementia, chronic physical pain and even more life threatening conditions such as cancer. Because of this, prior to a soul retrieval ritual, a practitioner will thoroughly extract any and all misplaced energies, disposing of them in an appropriate manner, in order to clear space for newly returned soul pieces. Another vital function of the extraction process is the removal of negative belief systems, karma and thought forms that can inhibit one from moving forward and creating the life that one truly desires.

What is Soul Retrieval?

Whenever a person experiences loss or trauma of any kind, a piece of their essence or soul will separate itself from the whole in an attempt to survive the experience. This process is commonly referred to in psychological terms as dissociation and is a natural coping mechanism for surviving trauma experienced while in a human body. Unfortunately, if a soul piece isn't returned to a person shortly after a traumatic experience, it may continue to move further away from its true home and leave a void that will eventually be filled by energy that is not congruous with that person's energy field. This combination of events can lead to a host of ailments on either the physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual level. A primary function of the Shamanic Practitioner is to identify soul loss and to perform a soul retrieval ritual in order to track the lost soul pieces and return them to their proper home, thus restoring health and well being to the afflicted person, as well as helping to reconnect said person to their true self and purpose in this life.