a Modern Practitioner for Today's World

THE Uncommon Shaman

There are some events in life that don't just shake us to the core, they can be devastating. We feel as if our heart is truly broken. And, that's not always far from the truth. In extraordinary and extreme circumstances such as abuse or physical/emotional trauma, a piece of our spirit can actually fracture off in an attempt to protect the whole. This is different from the psychological definition of "split personality" in that the person has an intact psyche, can almost always remember the event in detail, and has probably even undergone many months or years of psychotherapy and/or medications in an effort to mend the tear.

Symptoms that might be present in the case of fractured soul might include (but are not limited to):

• Feelings that one is not making the expected emotional progress despite a great deal of time in talk therapy working through a known issue
• The sense that "something is missing" when defining ones' individuality
  
• Dreams of a time in ones' life in which they are perceived as a piece of a whole. For instance, dreams of self in which the person sees themself as a 10-year-old
  
• Dreams of feeling lost or dreams of looking for something that's missing even if the person is not aware of what it is they are looking for

The Fractured Soul

In shamanism, it is possible to retrieve this missing part from where it has gone to protect itself or the whole and reintegrate it back into the Self. This is generally done alongside traditional talk therapy as the reintegration generally brings up any remaining unresolved issues that might exist.

As with power or spirit animal retrieval, the shaman -- always with the assistance of her guides -- journeys on behalf of the client in search of the missing soul pieces individually and then returns them to the client with ongoing assistance in helping the client integrate these pieces back into the whole. The shaman will work closely with the client during the time of reintegration helping them to welcome back that piece or pieces of themselves that saw fit to break away from the whole in an attempt to find safe haven.