What do shamanic healing and jigsaws have in common?

A strange title I know but this thought was gifted to me as I was doing a power gathering exercise that involved the candle in this video (with the jigsaw behind) on YouTube https://youtu.be/woXW_Nvm2KU

It is not always easy to explain to people how attending a shamanic healing session can affect them or how they might feel after the session, with the power they take into their lives. All healing sessions are different as all people are different but also for one person all soul retrievals or power retrievals are different. So let me give you a bit of a backstory about my own experiences with shamanic healing and soul retrievals. 

When I had my first soul retrieval I was surprised what soul part was bought back to me. To be honest I was slightly disappointed. I had an idea of what was most important to me to get back from my childhood and that is not what I received. However, as I continued my shamanic learning and received more soul parts back as part of my training, I looked back at that first session. I realised, with hindsight, why I had received that different part of myself back first. I needed that foundation to accept parts that were returned later including the part I initially thought I had lost. 

So whilst I was doing a power ceremony with the candle in the video I was given an analogy of shamanic healing being like doing a jigsaw!! So let me try and explain:

Imagine that you are a jigsaw puzzle but that pieces go missing through life's events and experiences. Sometimes so many pieces disappear that it is difficult to work out what the picture is anymore or how all the pieces could possibly fit together. Pieces go missing through life experiences like illness, difficult relationships, shock and trauma, moving house, changing jobs, mid-life worries, bullying at school, etc. Simply put anything that makes you feel less like yourself, unbalanced, etc can be power or soul loss (according to a shamanic practitioner.)

So with regards to the jigsaw, shamanic healing can bring those lost bits of your jigsaw back. Sometimes a session can result in a whole section of your jigsaw re-appearing such as important objects - faces, buildings, etc. Or a whole edge can be retrieved bringing with it very obvious benefits to the overall picture formation. Sometimes, however, after a shamanic session it can feel like only a few connecting pieces have been added to the jigsaw and it might not seem like a lot has changed. 

Although those 'filler' pieces seem less important they are still a vital part of the overall jigsaw. Without those in-between pieces, the picture can look distorted or just a bit weird (like this one.) They might seem unimportant but they connect the more obvious parts of the jigsaw giving the puzzle balance and more of an impact.

You might feel less impressed when you find those sky pieces between Dumbledore and Hogwarts but it is still important even if it is less exciting than finishing Hagrid's face!

So if you ever go for a shamanic healing session and, like me, feel a bit disappointed with the outcome, remember that maybe you need those less obvious bits of your power or soul returned before you are ready to receive more significant parts.

If you want to know more about my work or to book a session, book a free discovery call with me and let's get you sorted.

Why is my business called Essentially Shamanic?

When I re-launched my business on the Autumnal Equinox in 2019 (23rd September - which also happens to be my Wedding Anniversary!) I wanted a name that captured the essence of what I did. 

I had been vaguely using the name Essentially Shamanic but the re-launch gave me the chance to re-evaluate. I obviously stuck with it.

I believed that it did capture not only who I was but also what I did. Even though using the word 'shamanic' can cause confusion for those who aren't aware of shamanism as a spiritual practice or what I do, I still felt that using it would elicit curiosity, could at least lead to an interesting conversation or could lead someone down an interesting Google rabbit hole of discovery.

Learning about, experiencing the healing power of, and ultimately training as a Core Shamanic Practitioner got me to a place where I was able to comfortably accept myself. It gave me back my essential essence and I then felt able to offer that powerful healing opportunity to someone else.

So why Essentially Shamanic?

'Essentially' because: 

1. I want everyone to be essentially themselves
2. I use essential oils to enhance the spiritual healing experience of my work
3. I believe that I am essentially a spiritual being
4. Shamanic healing brought me back to the essence of who I am

'Shamanic' because

1. I am a Core Shamanic Practioner
2. I use core shamanic healing techniques with my clients
3. I am guided by my shamanic power animals and shamanic guides
4. I use dreamwork in my business which is another way in which shamans believe the soul travels to the spirit world

If you'd like to find out more about how I can help be essentially you please book a free call

Primal scream / Primal slayer - shamanic journey in poetry

I have a shamanic spirit teacher that looks to me like the first slayer, Sineya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer so that is where the slayer reference comes from.

You face me, my mirror and soul

I am broken and tired, you are strong and whole
You say "Let go, let it all out"
I hold it in but want to shout
You continue "Let go, it's been too long. 

You're an adult now, the child has gone." 

I open my mouth, the tears they well
I let out the rage, I scream and yell
It goes on and on, a timeless bubble
Snot, spit, tears, rage uncontrollable

Then the magic begins
I watch it unfold
My memories spun
Webs of stories untold

My snot is mycelium
Running forever unseen
Unground networks of food
And hallucinogenic dreams

The spit from my roars
Falls to the ground
Springs up into grasses 

Trees and plants, all around

My rage fills the air
Heated, pure power
The atmosphere forms
An impenetrable barrier

My screams punch holes
In the sky, like spears
They become stars
That shines for years and years

As I scream and rage on
My feet stomp the ground
Cracks spread out forming

Caves and tall mounds

Mountain and valley
Dale and hill
Spring up all over
Allowing rivers to spill

From my tears that fall
And flow into seas
Forming lakes en route
As clear as my dreams

When spent, I collapse
And bigs spiders scurry
Enveloped in cocooning webs
They take my old memories

Weaving them into stories 

Of power, resilience and strength
My personality and uniqueness
Forming with each thread

I watch the magic unfurl
In the haze of my dreams
The landscape morphs
Moulded from my screams

Until I am the landscape
I am everywhere
My childhood and memories
Totally laid bare

A wondrous scene
Filled with colours unfolding
One of a kind, uniqueness
In stories untold, in
Patterns, nature, magic and music

Who knew old, rage-filled memories
Could become so perfect

My slayer now shimmers
A landscape of beauty
My mirror, my soul
That landscape is me

"Visit this place,
Tap into the power
When unhelpful memories invade
Remember each flower

There is no other like you
And never will be"
My slayer turns and smiles
And that primal being is me

'Reclaiming myself' - shamanic journey in poetry

I have decided to start publishing the poems/prose that I get after going on a shamanic journey. I do not edit the poems after I receive them so they are published as given. I hope this will be the start of many such pieces of work. Enjoy and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

I am strapped to an A-frame
My life force slowly drained
Drip by drip, over time
Until nothing remains
An empty shell, I keep breathing
I am bewildered
This is my life, child to adult
So completely hindered

Skip to now
Reclaim joy, passion, power and purpose
Take my soul back, reclaim life
And run from this circus
The shadows, comparisons
My uniqueness, circle back
Time rewind and scramble
To consolidate lack

The abyss of this loss
Forgotten and black
Rewrite the story
Through lack and back to non-black

Light to show shadows
Magic to show dreams
Sleight of hand to become whole
And begin where we seem
To be now holding course
True to the game
But remember the past
no more the A-frame