Introduction

This book is the result of my doctoral/PhD research into the mechanics of the shamanic soul retrieval (and soul restoration) procedure. Of course, at the energy level of shamanic healing modalities – in the realm of spirits, of consciousness – we do not find operational mechanics influencing physical parts. Mechanics refers to the Newtonian world of matter, where things bump into each other and where happenings follow a one-dimensional trajectory on the timeline from past to present to future: phenomena we encounter on the macro level of existence. In the quantum world of existence, on the level of consciousness (where the present can influence the past, the future can alter the present, and the past can be affected by the future, all being contained in the ever now), next to our whole-brain faculties, the mental powers of imagination, intention, and decree become operative. These mental powers also guide the shaman's operational thrust and the aiming force of purposive intervention on behalf of a fellow human being. On this level, we find quantum relationships, and the shaman understands (and takes into account) that everything is relational and behaves relationally.

Because they were so intimately connected with the surrounding ecosystem, indigenous shamans, seers, and wise ones intuitively sensed that life is interactive and interconnected, that it is a production of seen and unseen forces; of possibilities and actualities; of intent, of desire, and creation, all geared towards manifestation for the sake of expression from thought to form. They understood that physical life is not only infused with spirit, but that it has been engendered by spirit. These millennia-old insights (also detailed in the Indian Vedas) are now corroborated by modern science, expressed so eloquently nearly a century ago by the English physicist and mathematician Sir James Jeans:

The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter, we ought to rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter. Get over it and accept the inarguable conclusion. The universe is immaterial-mental and spiritual.

Of course, there is the existential conundrum: the physical body is quite resilient, yet it is also rather fragile. The dual make-up of our suchness – spirit housed in flesh; transcendence cloaked in immanence; the monad (God) expressed in the dyad (matter) – carries the risk of breaking apart: body failing, spirit leaving. Meaning that the soul, our indwelling spiritual component, which leaves its physical residence at death, can even partially move out at the chance of the body being maimed and potentially dying.

Shamans, as the original doctors and psychologists, had to come up with methods to remedy such incidents. Returning an injured body to physical health was, and is, always the first order of intervention; bringing back the possibly lost soul parts, the second. Only then can a person continue to live the life of a fully restored being. The shamans understood that.

Flashing forward to our modern world view and the mostly material understanding of life; with its resulting contemporary healthcare, we resigned ourselves to the mechanical maintenance of the body and the replacement of parts. Notwithstanding great advancements in today's medical procedures, we chose – speaking generally – to neglect that each body is souled, that the impermanent physical form is partnered with permanent spirit. And shamans always maintained that every physical illness has a spiritual component.

Through my studies and my shamanic work with clients, I became ever more intrigued by the how and the why of the shamanic modality's effects, and I got interested in the mechanics of soul retrieval work. The question was, what mechanisms are at work when shamans collect lost soul parts in non-ordinary reality and returns them to ordinary reality; when they operate outside of space-time and facilitate healing in space-time?

Simplified, one explanation comes via quantum physics' insight into the nature of existence, proving that consciousness is part of the equation. In the words of one of my professors, quantum physicist Dr. Amit Goswami, "Consciousness is the ground of all being." Biologist Dr. Rupert Sheldrake added another important piece to the puzzle with his proposal of morphic resonance and morphogenesis and their respective fields of consciousness, which are specific to each species and guide how their forms unfold. And from ancient India comes akasha, a Sanskrit word for the understanding of higher spheres of life and existence, of a universe filled with energies and information. Ervin Laszlo talks about the akashic cosmic memory fields, and frontier scientists are discovering deeper dimensions of the universe, surpassing what had been accepted by classical science. Indigenous shamans intuited (without using the same terms) nature's mysterious, multilayered depth. They sensed those fields of virtual existence (virtual reality: an augmented understanding of existence, where beyond-space-time-reality informs actuality) and, outcome-oriented, they acted on their knowing. For the sake of a client's body mind spirit health, the shaman would enter those transcendental realms to find and return to the individual the soul essence that had left due to a traumatic event; thus, shamans restore people, in toto, to their original homeostasis.

My book offers the reader insight into shamanic work and into my research. To probe into the subtle happenings during soul retrieval, I utilized two established scientific methods: brain mapping and dark field microscopy (DFM). Each – independently of the other – provides insight into the shaman/client connection during an actual soul retrieval procedure. The results of my work attest to the relational holism of shaman body-mind total and client body-mind total, and they give evidence of their quantum entanglement during the process. These are novel findings, and I hope that more research into these phenomena can be done.

Even though we do not have all the answers yet (and might never have them), I think it is safe to conclude that we exist in a universe of living energy...