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WHAT IS THE SOUL?
By Maryphyllis Horn |
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| In order to understand
what soul retrieval is, it is important to know what "soul" is,
in regard to this process. There are divergent views of the nature of the
soul. For the sake of clarity, here are various definitions. Shamans define the soul as: "that vital essence without which we can not live." We can be functional with at least half of the soul in body. If more than half leaves, we experience a major mental illness or lapse into a coma. When all of the soul leaves, we die. Some people say that we can lose over half the soul and still be very functional in life; but if we lose most of our spirit, we die. Some people see the soul as synonymous with Spirit. Others say the soul is the path between Spirit and the personality, or that it is the individuality or consciousness within the body. A few believe it is merely the repository for emotions. Some people affirm that the Soul (note the capital "S") is our True Self, i.e., that which is uncorrupted by the personality. These same individuals view spirit (with a small "s") as a creative energy that is common to all. In this sense, spirit is not a sentient, individual, God aspect; it is purely an energy to be used. "Chi" and "Mana" and "Prana" are not the soul. They are pure spiritual energy that the body and being use for life. They do not involve personality and individuality, as in the shamanic definition of the soul. In the psychological field, a person's individuality is defined as psyche or personality. The Greek word "psyche" means the "soul" and that is synonymous with the conscious self or what psychologists call personality. The Greek word "pneuma" means "spirit" and that correlates with the term High Self as found in Huna, the Hawaiian shamanism path. The Huna definition of the High Self is: "the highest we can conceptualize as a personal God who answers our prayers and watches over our evolution. It is the purest part of us that is always in communion with our Divine Creator." In light of these definitions, soul and spirit are not the same. Some believe the soul to be an invisible, yet extremely impressionable, fabric on which both the personality and the Spirit can record themselves. In this sense, the soul has no consciousness. Instead, it carries the consciousness of the Spirit and the personality, in a balance chosen by the person. Energy, or essence, then comes from the Spirit, not from the soul. Each of us is unique. We are assigned an essence from Spirit which is ours alone. It is what we think of when we think of ourselves, our awareness and sense of self. Nothing can take its place; other people's soul parts can not. Spiritual healing can help. But since it is universal energy, it can not permanently take the place of the soul essence, any more than a blood transfusion can take the place of blood our own bone marrow can manufacture. As one client said, "I was astounded to notice the multi-dimensionality of each of my soul parts! I expected a block of something inanimate or impersonal, not the multi-dimensional sense of self that each of my soul parts conveyed to me!" Does it not make sense that if we have a sense of self, that each of our soul parts would also hold that same sense of self, that same unique "me-ness"? After all they ARE us! That unique sense of self is what this article refers to with the term "soul." The "unique self" is what distinguishes soul essence from other forms of energy work, in which the energy carries no sense of individuality. If your definition of soul differs from the shamanic description or what is written in the paragraph directly above, please insert a different word (perhaps "self" or "intelligent energy"?) in place of "soul" each time you see or hear it used in reference to soul retrieval. What is important here is the conceptual substance, not the word we pair with it. Maryphyllis Horn, MEd, CMHt, CTFT, Rev., is
a Shamanic Practitioner from Pittsboro, NC. She has a private practice
in soul retrieval, shamanic counseling and healing, spirit releasing,
spiritual hypnotherapy and Thought Field Therapy. She may be reached at
919-542-0260 or by email at: soulshaman@aol.com
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