Shamanic Soul Retrieval Ceremony

At its core, the soul retrieval ceremony embodies the shaman’s greatest objective: to bring medicine to their people that facilitates the integration of soul, mind, body, and right relationship to the environment.

Using prayer and sacred healing tools while accompanied by drumming—and with the assistance of spirit helpers, ancestors and power animals—the shaman journeys to non-ordinary reality to gather and return the fragmented portions of our souls, thereby restoring us to wholeness. It is believed that in this way each one of us can become complete and able to live to our full potential as human beings.

“Soul retrieval is the definitive healing modality in spirit medicine because it affords a reunion of dissociated soul part(s) with the person’s life essence, thereby allowing individuals to have more of themselves available to live their lives in the present moment.”

— Hank Wesselman PhD & Jill Kuykendall RPT Spirit Medicine

  • Emotional or physical trauma can cause a piece of our soul essence to break off, or fragment, in order to continue living — this is referred to as soul loss. Psychology calls this dissociation (or disassociation) and it is considered a survival response. It happens for our protection by allowing the trauma to be experienced indirectly, or even to be forgotten.

  • Soul loss symptoms

    • feelings of being fragmented, of not being all here

    • blocked memory—an inability to remember parts of one’s life

    • being unable to feel love or receive love from another

    • emotional remoteness

    • sudden onset of apathy or listnessness

    • a lack of initiative, enthusiasm or joy

    • a failure to thrive

    • an inability to make decisions or discriminate

    • chronic negativity

    • addictions

    • suicidal tendencies

    • melancholy or despair

    • chronic depression

    [from Hank Wesselman PhD & Jill Kuykendall RPT, Spirit Medicine]

  • Questions to ask when considering a soul retrieval

    • Do you ever have a difficult time staying “present” in your body?

    • Do you sometimes feel as if you’re outside your body observing it as you would a movie?

    • Do you ever feel numb, apathetic or deadened?

    • Do you suffer from chronic depression?

    • Do you have problems with your immune system?

    • Were you chronically ill as a child?

    • Do you have gaps in your memory of your life after age five?

    • Do you sense that you may have blocked out significant traumas in your life?

    • Do you struggle with addictions to, for example, alcohol, drugs, food, sex, or gambling?

    • Do you find yourself looking to external things to fill up an internal void or emptiness?

    • Have you had difficulty moving on with your life after divorce or death of a loved one?

    [from Sandra Ingerman MA, Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self]

  • Soul retrieval ceremony may incorporate additional forms of vibrational medicine if indicated. This provides further opportunities for deep healing and powerful transformation. Examples of these are: energy extraction work, power animal retrieval, psychopomp work, and ancestral or environmental healings.

    Within the medicine wheel, Meaghan facilitates this time-honored practice and is assisted by a shamanically-trained drummer and an ally (this is your support person who holds space and helps with grounding). The complete ceremony lasts up to four hours.

    You're supported throughout the entire process with a 30-minute preparation phone session 2-3 weeks prior to your ceremony, plus a follow-up 60-minute integration session 4-6 weeks afterward (both included with no additional cost). Ceremonies are scheduled on Sundays in Meaghan's Seattle office and typically book about two months in advance.

“We may think that we want to confront these lost parts of our soul...in psychology, we’re taught to analyze those aspects of ourselves, but in soul retrieval, we neither dissect nor deny these lost soul parts — instead, we acknowledge and heal them, and integrate them back into the whole of our being. Once that part of your soul is recovered, you need to help her mature and grow up feeling safe. You need to attend to her, nurture her, and make room for her in your life.”

— Alberto Villoldo PhD Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval