Soul Rescue Versus Soul Retrieval

Sometimes soul rescue and soul retrieval are intertwined as being the same thing. There is a subtle, but key difference in my view.

In the case of soul retrieval we are finding an aspect of self and returning it back. Soul rescue refers to being of service to a spirit or soul that is temporarily lost, or needs guidance to continue its journey in non-ordinary reality, in the realm of Spirit, having left the physical plane.

In the shamanic community there is a technique known as soul retrieval which represents the fragmented self. The fragmented self is a part of us that becomes temporarily ‘disconnected’ from our etheric soul, from the context of associative memories of a time in our life.

Good for the body is the work of the body, and good for the soul is the work of the soul, and good for either is the work of the other. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Perhaps this disassociation is related to the trauma of a car accident, or perhaps a memory of a time in our life when an attribute of our soul felt threatened or fearful. Examples include physical, sexual or emotional abuse as a child; a feeling of abandonment after the death of a relative; financial ruin; nearly dying; or loss of a job.

These fragments are actually still associated with us and have a connection with us, but our conscious mind inhibits information from these parts that hold the experience. It typically results in the feeling of something missing in one’s life, a lack of memory of an experience or timeframe, since the fragment is still a part of our soul but the communication path is however inhibited.

These parts can be returned spontaneously as we evolve spiritually, or having done introspection and healing from parts of our life. The fragment not being completely connected also does not mean that there was a severe impact on the quality of life, or the ability to live a normal life. It simply means that the fragment holds key information that we currently do not have access to, analogous to a document on a computer having been saved in the wrong folder. We need to find where it is filed, by performing a search, and open that file, before its information is once again part of our computer database, and no longer a hidden file. Some call this soul rescue, as we are ‘rescuing’ it from the ‘hidden files folder,’ but I choose to see it as simply ‘retrieving’ it from the hidden files section.

Indigenous cultures and shamans have known about this process for centuries and have tools to change their state of consciousness such that they can journey out and find these parts, return them to you, and assist you in integrating them back into your etheric field, back into your essence.

I simply believe that some part of the human Self or Soul is not subject to the laws of space and time ~ Carl Jung

In today’s times there are individuals who have studied these techniques and are able to facilitate such an event of retrieval. Often when an individual is having a shamanic healing consultation, the practitioner will be balancing out the client’s energy system. During that process the client’s energy system or cell tissue will communicate aspects of importance for healing.

The healing is typically in two parts. The first part is the transmuting of energies that no longer serve the client, and removing them from the body’s energy system. The second portion of the healing typically is to journey out to non-ordinary reality, asking the client’s higher self and Spirit if there is a part ready to return back for the highest and the best for the client.

The shamanic practitioner may bring that part, and perhaps even additional power animals, back to the client to integrate. It is imperative that the practitioner not be in a place of ego, but truly connected with Spirit and their heart during this process, as we are imbuing that piece back into the energy system of the client.

The client’s experience may seem uneventful, or possibly a little dramatic, as that part comes back in, however it is all in accordance with Spirit and for the highest and best of the recipient. Clients do not typically relive the pain of the experience, rather that part simply returns and memories may come forth as that part returns and reconnects with the master database.

Shamanic healing and soul retrieval are a profound form of healing, which bypasses the conscious mind and gains access to the reptilian portion of the brain. Through the shamanic practitioner being connected with their power animal, they are able to get information direct from this part of the brain, while bypassing the analytical. It is important that the practitioner also stays available for the soul retrieval recipient and also have a network of support available for the individual as they go through the process of reintegrating this part.

If you hide things in your soul, don’t forget about them~ Terri Guillemets

In the case of soul rescue the intention would be to journey to non-ordinary reality to discern if there are individuals in the Spirit side of life who may not be aware that they have physically died. When soul rescue facilitators encounter such entities, they connect and negotiate with them, so that they become aware of the circumstances and then they are led to that place we typically call the ‘Light.’

Many individuals are called by Spirit to be facilitators of soul rescue and it is a skill where the practitioner needs to be comfortable with the vibration of all kinds of energy. By this I mean you may come across a soul who in this reality was an alcoholic, abusive, or perhaps even a felon who committed crimes, and you are required to be empathic and compassionate to help this individual on their spiritual evolution.

As a soul rescue facilitator, clarity and confidence are essential. Indigenous cultures actually have their Shaman lead the deceased soul to the lower realm, back to the ancestors, to ensure that the soul is returned back to the source of creation. This work is known as psychopomp – to be a guide of souls to the place of the dead.

Once a soul has been rescued, they are then able to recognize that they no longer live in the physical and they then have the ability to visit from the unseen realm their loved ones who are still living. They are no longer in limbo, or a stuck soul. They are complete in the new expression of life as Spirit.

Soul rescue is hence assisting those who passed on to their journey to non-ordinary reality. Soul retrieval is the process of returning a traumatized fragment back into the etheric being of someone still living, with the promise of offering healing opportunities for their spiritual evolution.