I'm going to cover the basics of Soul Retrievals. If you've been thinking about getting a Soul Retrieval and want a solid foundation, here you go.
What exactly is a Soul Retrieval?
It's a process to recover soul pieces/fragments that you're missing and have them put back where they belong, generally performed by a REAL shaman. From a yin/yang perspective, this process is "yin" because you have to accept and integrate the piece back into yourself (I may decide to cover the "yang" process in a future article). Soul pieces are generally retrieved for your current incarnation, but they can also be retrieved for your other incarnations as well.
How do I know if I have pieces/fragments missing?
Generally, you'll feel that something is...well..."missing". You can also feel incomplete, sad, irritated, angry, lost, "not right", empty, or a combination of all of these. You may notice that your personality is just not what it used to be. You could also experience a unique "fatigue", malaise, or difficulties using a particular skillset that you know you possessed at one time, but aren't able to access any more (because someone stole the piece that contained the essence of that particular skill).
What happens if my soul pieces/fragments aren't recovered?
Usually you'll just continue to feel the same way as you do. Most people have lived that way for so long that they usually don't notice how crappy they actually feel until a piece (or pieces) are returned and integrated, then they're usually pleasantly surprised at how they feel afterwards. Sometimes, a little guilt and disappointment can accompany this pleasant surprise only because they've put it off for so long and they weren't aware that they could have felt so much better the entire time.
In a worst-case scenario, your physical, emotional, and mental health can decline and manifest into more serious issues. Think of it like owning a car and missing things like an air filter, fuel filter, fuel tank cap, some lug nuts, etc. Can you continue to drive the car? Yep. Will it perform optimally or last a long time? Nope.
Why do soul pieces go missing?
There are three primary ways that a soul piece can dislodge and that should be enough for the purposes of this article. I'm currently investigating a couple other ways that few people are aware of and will update my findings here once I have enough data.
You can "give" them to another person/entity. Think about the phrase "selling your soul". If you've been working at your "dream" job and regularly work 10-12hr days plus weekends and being a "slave" to your boss without batting an eyelash, you've given a piece of your soul away to him/her. Also, making any oath, pact, or promise to any person, entity/tulpa, or group gives a piece away because of the very nature of the agreement. Years ago, when my ex was slowly dying from cancer, I left a piece of my soul with her in the house where we were living at the time as a form of support, due to my devotion to helping her through that god-awful suffering (but I later retrieved it many months after having sufficiently recovered enough from her passing).
A person can unconsciously "steal" a piece from you if their actions, intentions, and sentiments towards you are "powerful" enough. On a conscious level, shamans, witches, witch doctors, etc. aligned with the dark side quite often steal soul pieces from unsuspecting people to bolster their own power and skillset. This is especially prevalent with the Ayahuasca ceremony boom in the past decade+.
Soul pieces can leave you without any involvement from another person if you suffer a sufficient trauma. The shock from being involved in a major car accident, experiencing a natural disaster (such as an earthquake), surgery, having a serious illness, or the death of a pet are some examples.
It's possible to dislodge them yourself with enough intent (consciously or unconsciously). For example, if you despise an aspect of yourself, that piece may just feel "unwelcome" enough to vacate the premises.
You have actions/behaviors (addictions, not speaking your truth, giving your power away, etc.) and/or societal/cultural/familial "programming" that are not in alignment with who you are and who you're destined to become.
How do I know where my pieces/fragments are?
Most people won't consciously know where their pieces are unless they possess the skill to sense soul pieces and navigate non-physical realms. Usually though, a person can tell you the time/place when something "shifted" in their life which could indicate when/where the piece fragmented and might be, but in some cases, the fragment goes elsewhere.
Sometimes you might have an intense feeling/reaction about a certain individual because unconsciously, you know that this individual possesses a piece that belongs to you.
Where do soul pieces go if a person hasn't taken them?
It varies, but soul pieces can "hide" somewhere if they need to feel "safe" as a result of the trauma that broke them loose to begin with. Because this particular trauma has a specific frequency, pieces often end up in areas that have the same frequency, often a less-than-desirable place, and those places sometimes have less-than-desirable inhabitants skulking about.
Where do soul pieces go if a person stole them or if you gave it to them?
Usually, the shaman will see/sense these pieces in or around the thief during the retrieval process. I have heard about pieces being "locked up" and/or guarded, but I have yet to come across these situations personally.
Can a shaman perform a soul retrieval for someone close to me? If the shaman gets permission from the actual person who needs the soul retrieval, then "yes". If you're looking to "help" someone and you're expecting the shaman to work in the background on this other person, then the answer is an emphatic "NO". Doing any type of "work" for another person without their approval is a violation of Spiritual Ethics and the Law of Allowance. The Law of Allowance can be summed up as letting people have their own experiences without interference from others who think they know better. Lightsiders are notorious violators of this law and they often justify their actions by saying things such as "This is for your own good", "I'm doing this because I love you", "I'm just trying to help", "I have your best interests at heart", or "You'll thank me later".
How do you perform a soul retrieval?
Let's get this out of the way first. A "normal" person does not have the requisite knowledge, training, skillset, or experience to safely and successfully retrieve a soul piece for themselves (or anyone else for that matter), let alone "fight" to get their piece back from a person if needed. Read my previous article on doing soul retrieval for yourself. And for the love of all creatures great and small, please avoid having a soul retrieval performed by a shamanic "practitioner" unless you really just want an amateur to attempt serious work that should be done by a fucking professional.
Shamans will journey to retrieve soul pieces as they're adept at navigating non-physical realms and dealing with any entities in the area. In the event that a shaman has to retrieve a soul piece from a person, the shaman must be prepared for combat (just in case) in the event the other person doesn't willingly give the piece up. Usually, a "normal" person in possession of a soul piece won't put up a fight, but if that person has had training in dark arts or has had many incarnations involved in the occult, they will most likely stand their ground and welcome the challenge regardless of how they may appear or act in their normal, day-to-day "meat suit" (physical body) - a relatively "nice guy" in the physical can be raging dickhead in shamanic space because their true nature and essence comes through at the soul-level and there is no hiding it "there" like there is down "here".
Not all shamans are adept at battling in non-physical realms, so don't be afraid to ask if the shaman has had any training/experience in shamanic combative arts. If they tell you that they've never been attacked or had to "fight" anything on the other side, they're probably not the best choice to assist you. There's a lot more nastiness in non-physical realms than most people would want to accept.
For example, during a shamanic journey a couple years ago, my wife (also a shaman), made me aware that one of my close "friends" had stolen a piece from me. In 3-D waking life, he was a very likeable guy working a normal job with normal friends. I knew him from other incarnations where he had favored lives as black magicians/dark sorcerers, so he definitely had acquired the skill to do this. For whatever reason though, I had been oblivious to the theft of my own piece. I immediately popped into his space to happily rectify the situation. I observed that he had stolen pieces from other people as well. He exuded an aura of pride about these thefts coupled with an arrogant grin on his face. Without hesitation, I took my piece back and this punk-ass laughed at me because I had been unaware that he had stolen it. It's one thing to get caught red-handed with stolen property, but it's an entirely different situation when the offender is proud of it and blatantly mocks the person that he/she stole from to add further insult to injury. My rage welled up inside of me because this guy had it coming. Without going into detail, I'll just say that I taught him a very hard lesson.
Continue on with Part 2 - Preparation and Integration.