Shamanic Healing
By Katie Weatherup, Shamanic Practitioner
This article was first published at handsoverheart.com and reprinted with permission in the June 2009 issue of Fusion.
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As the recession continues, divorce rates soar, and Generation “Y” continues to keep parents up late at night, many are turning to holistic practices rooted in tradition to heal emotional, spiritual, and physical disconnections. Shamanic healing is a healing modality aimed at doing precisely that. Wondering whether shamanic healing techniques can become a part of your healing journey? See what Katie Weatherup, a Shamanic Practitioner with a unique approach to healing, has to say about her work and why it may help you.
What is Shamanic Healing?
Shamanic healing works with your essence energy, which can be described as
your soul or spiritual self. It encompasses the intangible aspects of your
being, including gifts, qualities, and aspects of who you are. In creating a
healing opportunity, it is useful to do healing work on the soul level first.
The soul or essence is the blueprint that tells the other levels of your being
(your life force energy, mind, emotions and body) how to be. It informs the
universe and world around you what type of relationships and experiences to
manifest. Shamanic healing and soul retrieval are very effective tools for
working on this level.
Life's traumas can cause portions of one's vital life force to become
separated, creating imbalances in our lives. Symptoms such as depression,
fatigue, memory gaps or general dis-ease can receive profound healing
through soul retrieval. When performing soul retrieval, I journey into the
shamanic world and retrieve these separated soul parts and return them to
my client. This is one of my favorite healing techniques and one of the most
powerful.
In a shamanic healing and soul retrieval session, I start with a Power Animal
Discovery to identify and connect my client with two power animals. Power
animals are spirit guides in animal form that provide a connection to primal
life forces, protecting and guiding us in the physical and spiritual world.
Discovering and forming a relationship with your power animal may alleviate
conditions such as lack of energy, tendency towards mishaps, or feelings of
vulnerability. A relationship with your power animal can provide support and
guidance through major life transitions.
Next I look at the overview of my client's soul or essence and consult with
the guides about anything that is out of alignment besides soul loss. Often
the guides have me heal contracts, past life wounds, or realign the energy
field. If there has been past trauma, I go back to those events and work to
release the energy to remove the energetic anchor of that painful experience.
I also do extraction work as needed, removing spiritual and energetic
intrusions. Then I do the soul retrieval work, bringing back the pieces that
my client has lost. Finally, I consult with my guides for information about
whatever specific issues my client has mentioned- relationship, career,
money, soul purpose, etc. Because the work is occurring on the soul level,
how this experience translates to the conscious human level varies from
person to person. It’s not unusual for these sessions to be described as life
changing.
Do I have to believe in shamanic healing for it to work?
No. You need to make a conscious choice to work with me and give me permission. But you don’t have to believe
in or accept my framework for the unseen world. You don’t need to believe in past lives, energy healing, or spirit
guides for the work to be effective. These things are just a framework for our conscious minds. If understanding
my understanding of the unseen world doesn’t add value for you, feel free to ignore it.
I’m nervous about shamanic journey. Is it safe?
Yes. I teach a very gentle form of shamanic journey. It can feel as mild as a daydream or a guided meditation. You
can end a shamanic journey instantly if you ever need or want to. When journeying with the techniques I teach,
you travel to safe and protected places in the shamanic world and meet with guides who will protect and support
you in all your journeys.
Don’t you find it depressing and sad to hear about people’s pain so much?
Quite the contrary. I get to see people at this wonderful moment when they’ve committed themselves to their own
healing. I get to see the potential people have buried under wounds and trauma and offer them tools and support
to heal those wounds. Working at the soul level, I can see the gifts and beauty and meaning within painful
experiences.
I have this problem. Can you help?
I don’t know. I can do exactly the same thing for two clients and one will find it life changing and the other will
not feel much of an impact. Metaphysical healing techniques can support someone committed to doing their work
to heal and grow at a phenomenally accelerated rate, with grace and ease. However, if there are important lessons
associated with a situation or illness, our work together will illuminate those lessons and provide information about
them, but may not make the illness or situation go away.
Everything in my life is falling apart- I lost my job, I’m being attacked my entities, my lover left me. I
think someone put a curse on me. Are you powerful enough to help me?
This really isn’t what I do. If you feel that the source of your problems is something outside yourself, I won’t be
able to help very much. I can clear entities, provide good energetic protection, offer insight and healing around
relationship issues. But, generally when everything is going wrong like this it is a strong call from the universe to
get you to grow and change. The universe is very good at making things just uncomfortable enough that it is more
uncomfortable to stay stuck in old patterns or addictions than it is to heal, grow and change. If you’re looking for
some very powerful individual to make the problems go away, that’s not me.
I’m feeling desperate and suicidal. Can you help me?
Not right now. My strengths are not in the area of crisis intervention. I see many clients who’s lives are changing
quickly and who are feeling unsettled by the changes. But someone who is completely overwhelmed, desperate,
and/or a danger to themselves is not a good match for my skills. I recommend you seek out more conventional
forms of help before you contact me.
For more information, visit handsoverheart.com
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Also in the June 2009 issue of Fusion:
Writing for your Life: How to Begin Healing through Words
Shamanic Healing with Katie Weatherup
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