Introduction to Shamanic Healing

Shamanism is an ancient, global spiritual practice in which all of nature is understood as living, in other words, filled with spirit.  From a shamanic perspective, the spirit of any living being may be wounded or partially lost from the effects of trauma, grief, injury or disease. Humans, as a part of this living web, are affected in this same manner. In our culture when someone close to us dies, for instance, we may say
that part of our soul went with them.  In the shamanic view, this is quite literally true.  The shaman's role is to search out the lost fragments of the self/soul and retrieve them safely back to the patient.  In this restoration of wholeness we are again able to move through life on full power!

Since nature abhors a vacuum, free floating spiritual energy that is not our own, may enter to fill the space left by our own spirit's loss. (Energy workers may feel this as a "block" in the body.)  This intrusive energy is removed by the shaman to make way for the returning spirit. This extraction work is also often done as part of a shamanic healing session.

All work is strictly determined by the spiritual teachers that work with the shaman.  This is because it is Spirit that actually has the power to heal.  The shaman is simply the facilitator for the healing work.  The shaman is a humble intermediary between this visible world and the unseen world of Spirit.

Prior to your first session it is highly recommended that you read the book, Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self by Sandra Ingerman. This book offers an excellent explanation of the work by the woman who helped to bring this ancient practice back to our contemporary western world.
 
Shamanic healing requires more than one session.  The first meeting will be an hour-long introduction when you can share what draws you to seek shamanic healing and ask any questions of Evie and Allie. This session is $80. (In certain circumstances, this first session may also be done by telephone.) At the close of that session, you can make an appointment for your ~2-hour healing session. Additional sessions are about "fastening the healing"-- that is integration.  The follow-up sessions are also about two hours in length. Each ~2 hour session will be $160,  payable at the time of the session. This payment also covers Allie and Evie's time making preparations for
your visit.  Before they work, they always journey to the spirits to ask for specific instructions. This is done days or weeks in advance of your appointment and again just before you arrive.  In addition, they spend time afterwards releasing the spirits and clearing each persons energy from the space. The spirits also often ask Evie and Allie to track your progress,  between sessions.  They also consult, as needed, with your
physician or other healthcare practitioners.

At the time of your first session, you will be greeted by Evie or Allie and lead to their healing space. In their healing room, you will be lying on massage table.  (Seating arrangements may be made for patients with special needs.)  The room is quietly lit
with candles and looks out over a patch of woods.

To begin the session,  Allie will proceed to welcome the compassionate, healing spirits that will be working on behalf of the patient.   She will be using rattles as part of this opening prayer and will in each direction, ask the spirits if they wish to give a message. You will also be given an opportunity to welcome those spirits that you
feel are your protectors.  This will be audio taped so that you may re-listen to the spirits' messages as part of integration.

When the spirits have entered, Allie and Evie will ask you to make your request for healing.  Please give this request some consideration prior to the first meeting so that you are able to communicate your needs to the spirits clearly and concisely.  (We do not always know what is in our best interest, since we can never see the whole of God's plan, but clarity of request certainly assists in clear healing.)

At this time, the work will proceed.  For the extraction of intrusive energy, the shamans, who at this time are merged with their helping spirits, may make noises, sing, drum and rattle.  These various sounds help to "un-stick" the intrusions from the body.  Allie is usually the person working on the healee's body and she will be using her hands, feathers and crystals to remove the intrusions.  (Please inform Allie and Evie if you have had surgeries or injuries that may be uncomfortable to touch.)  These energies, once removed, are placed in water to transmute them and send them on their way. Nothing in creation is ever destroyed--only changed. Possessing spirits
(suffering souls) that may have been present in or around the patient are guided into the Light after being released.

The soul retrieval or power animal retrieval usually follows next.  This ensures that you are filled with your own enlivening energy--leaving no room for intrusive spiritual energies to enter. For this part of the session, Allie or Evie will be sitting next to you.  They will be journeying, on your behalf, to find the fragments of your soul that are useful to be returned to you. Only what is beneficial will be returned. By sitting next to you and touching your arm, they will actually be bringing you with them, on the journey. So that you may have a fuller experience of this powerful journey, they will narrate what they perceive onto an audio tape. (Reviewing the tape of this journey can be a precious reminder of the healing. Many people use it to assist in their integration process.)

During this journey, accompanied by the spirits, the search for each fragment will be completed by Allie or Evie bringing the fragment to their heart or into a soul catcher.  (This is a special crystal, bone or vessel dedicated only for this purpose.)   Once all parts are gathered, the shaman will blow the soul essences into your heart and into the top of your head.  (Pay attention to the sensations you feel in this moment.  Some people may feel the fragments as they are returned, although felt or not, the parts are safe inside you!.)  At the completion of this step, they will then rattle a small bell around you, to seal the soul fragments into your body. 

The next segment of the session is a visit with Evie's teacher, who is known as "Grandma."  This is a journey for the purpose of getting a prescription for integration.  (The visit with Grandma is taped for you as well.)  Integration of the healing may take innumerable forms.  Grandma has given prescriptions as varied as shamanic journeying, journal writing, singing, daily prayer and even kite flying!  They are as individual as the many people Allie and Evie have worked with, and when these suggestions are followed faithfully...truly remarkable transformations are possible. 

You will be given only brief opportunity to speak after the work is done.  Discussion, since it is an intellectual activity, can have the effect of diluting the power of the healing.  (Many tribal shamans see any kind of talk after a healing as disrespectful to the spirits!)  By talking about things we define and limit what is actually non-linear and
limitless!   Allie and Evie believe that it is necessary to be in the mystery... to respect that which has unfolded in the realm of Spirit. 

It is our belief the actual healing continues to progress for several days and sometimes even weeks or months, after the initial session. You will be able to review your tape and any specific questions may be addressed during your first follow-up session, which is usually scheduled for a few weeks after the initial healing.

In the time between these visits with Evie and Allie, treat yourself with gentleness.  Listen to your tape again.  Follow the advice that was given and observe the changes you perceive in yourself! You may wish to read Sandra Ingerman's second book, Welcome Home: Following Your Soul's Journey Home.  It should be noted that, subsequent to the publication of her books, Sandra Ingerman now recommends that the healee learn the practice of the shamanic journey as part of the integration.  This practice allows the healee to actually dialog with the returned soul parts to build/renew a relationship and to therefore deepen the healing.  (This may be accomplished on an individual basis over several sessions or in a weekend group experience.)

After your healing, you may feel a renewal of your faith, a deeper connection to the natural world, an overall infusion of love flowing into and through you!  You may have lost memories return.  You may feel a sense of heightened awareness.  What is important is to allow your own divine process to unfold.  You are a precious part of creation!

In addition to this traditional shamanic healing work, Allie and Evie have developed a form of healing they call Shamanic Inner Body Healing. This work has evolved as a tool to access the wisdom and healing that is locked away inside us.  Whatever the issue--physical, emotional, or spiritual--for many of us, the most valuable pieces in our healing puzzles are seemingly "missing."  We may have done traditional psychotherapeutic work, worked with an osteopath, taken medication, learned how to meditate, and kept a dream journal yet still don't  feel "whole."  We become discouraged and sometimes despondent at our "lack of progress."  It is in these situations that the shamanic viewpoint, and specifically Shamanic Inner Body Healing work, is most useful. 

This practice is based on several key principles.  The first is the idea that all healing is a process.  This hearkens back to traditional, shamanic ways of perception and thought.  All of nature exists within the process paradigm.  The seasons, the weather, the many rhythms of life all flow in a constant cyclic stream.  Natural ebbs and surges are normal and expected.  More importantly, processes are never complete.  Unlike the goal-centered model that contemporary culture seems to adhere to, process
models offer the gift of focusing on the present time.  We have the freedom to savor sensations, ruminate over imagery and browse through what the mind sees as seeming irrelevant details which are, in actual fact, often the treasure of our lives.

Another foundation of the work is realizing that our symptoms are not the enemy, but instead are signposts which show us where we need to focus our attention and energy. It is our wise body speaking to us. They lead us to our next step.

Shamanic Inner Body Healing is one way to access the imagery, sensations and memories which can provide, not only necessary information and healing but also reveal the next steps in a person's unfolding life process.

Another important key to this work is the understanding that our bodies are manifestations of divine spirit which is non-local.  This means that it is not limited by either time or space.  Each of us are spiritual beings that have taken form.  Spirit is what both shapes and infuses the physical being.  In other words, the person's spirit and it's overall wellness, determine the resulting form and health of the physical body.
As part of this wondrous partnership, it is the physical form that allows the spirit to manifest itself and it's work in this life.  The physical and non-physical realms meet in he body.  This means we can access the non-local part of our being--while we are in form--and this part of ourselves can assist us in changing our physical existence.  In other words, not only are our bodies part of the divine, they can function as portals into a divine realm of wholeness and balance. 

Because of this extraordinary interrelationship, the body can act as a door to wisdom which is unlimited by the restrictions built by our conscious minds or our personalities.  Shamanic Inner Body Healing work helps to identify and eliminate unconscious, familial and generational patterns as well as those patterns that we may identify as having their roots in past lives.  Once patterns are identified, we then find out what the person needs to heal. As a result of what has been revealed by the
body, a session may also include a soul retrieval or extraction as a part of the healing.

In keeping with our other healing work, a Shamanic Inner Body Healing session usually last two hours and is audio taped.  This helps to capture the process for later review--which is especially useful since the stories that our bodies and spirits share with us, seldom unfold in a linear manner! 

(Evie and Allie are currently working on a book about Shamanic Inner Body Healing and other contemporary shamanic healing techniques.)

According to research presented by M. & S. Harner in the Textbook of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, ( W.B. Jonas and J.F. Levin, editors, Philadelphia: Lippincott, Wilkins and Williams, 2001) shamanic healing has been found to be beneficial in treating many health issues.  While there are some instances where
shamanic healing would be the primary healing approach, in most cases, shamanic healing is used as a complementary therapy.   In acute/life threatening situations it is  recommended that traditional allopathic and psychotherapeutic measures be used first.  That being stated, shamanic healing is very beneficial in cases of physical trauma (past or present), emotional or mental trauma, chronic localized pain or illness (where a spiritual intrusion is diagnosed as being present), dependency on alcohol
and other drugs, chronic depression (where spirit loss is diagnosed as being present), emotional or mental illness  (where spirit loss and or a spiritual intrusion is diagnosed as being present).

Please Note: Shamanic healing sessions with Evie & Allie are booked through True North, A Healthier Model Of Healthcare.  True North is reached by calling: (207) 781-4488.