The ancient practice of shamanism teaches that illness and injury often have a spiritual dimension that cannot be fully addressed through physical means alone. Building upon previous explorations of shamanic divination, this article examines the spiritual foundations of healing through the teachings of core shamanism, with particular emphasis on the role of compassionate helping spirits. Rooted in direct experience rather than belief, shamanism offers pathways to restore vitality, wholeness, and spiritual empowerment, even when modern medicine finds no answers.

The Spiritual Dimension of Illness and Healing
Shamanism approaches healing through the understanding that health is a reflection of spiritual power and soul integrity. Michael Harner (2013) emphasized that illnesses sometimes originate not from biological dysfunction, but from soul loss, spiritual disconnection, or intrusion by non-compassionate energies. In core shamanism, practitioners are taught to call upon compassionate helping spirits before undertaking any healing work. These spirits, accessible through altered states induced by drumming, rattling, or soul song, assist in restoring lost power and guiding the practitioner toward effective action.

A soul song—a simple hum, chant, or melody—serves as a vehicle for empowerment. As taught in the workshop, the focus is not on musical perfection but on authentic intention. Singing from the soul with a clear purpose, such as “as I sing this song, I empower myself,” invites a shift in consciousness, opening access to deeper sensitivity, connection, and spiritual alertness.

Importantly, shamanic work requires practitioners to consciously disengage from altered states after healing ceremonies. Grounding practices, such as placing hands on a tree and asking to be rooted, help reintegrate ordinary awareness, ensuring that practitioners can safely navigate the physical world after spiritual work.

Ethical Foundations and Relationship with Spirits
Central to the ethics of core shamanism is the principle of consent. Practitioners are instructed never to perform shamanic healing or divination for another person without their explicit permission. Without consent, any spiritual intervention risks becoming sorcery rather than healing. Furthermore, compassionate helping spirits from the upper and lower worlds will not support attempts to harm others. If a practitioner attempts to misuse spiritual power, the spirits simply withdraw their support, leaving the practitioner vulnerable rather than punishing them.

Shamanism, as Harner (2013) emphasized, is not a system of religious faith but a system of direct experience and knowledge. This distinction is crucial. Practitioners are encouraged to build relationships with their helping spirits over time, through consistent journeying, practice, and ethical living. Sandra Ingerman (2015) further explains that healing through spirit is not simply a technique but a way of living in alignment with spiritual energy, requiring humility, self-responsibility, and devotion to service.

Spirits encountered in the upper and lower worlds are considered purified and free from personal agendas. They exist to support healing and wisdom transmission. In contrast, spirits in the middle world—the realm corresponding to ordinary reality—may be compassionate, mischievous, or unreliable. For this reason, core shamanic practices emphasize working only with helping spirits from the upper and lower worlds.

Core Healing Techniques: Power Retrieval, Extraction, and Soul Retrieval
Among the primary healing modalities in core shamanism are power animal retrieval, extraction, and soul retrieval. Power animal retrieval is performed to restore a client’s personal power, particularly for those who experience chronic misfortune, illness, or depression. In many Indigenous traditions, a power animal is retrieved for a newborn shortly after birth to offer lifelong protection. During retrieval, the practitioner journeys into the lower world, seeking a non-insect animal spirit that appears at least four times, signaling its willingness to partner with the client. The spirit is then brought back and ceremonially transferred to the client’s energy field.

Extraction involves the removal of intrusive spiritual energies or negative thought forms that have become embedded in a person’s energy body. As highlighted during the workshop, thoughts—especially toxic self-directed thoughts—can inhabit the energy field just as vividly as external intrusions. Shamanic extraction works to remove these spiritual obstacles to healing.

Soul retrieval, another cornerstone practice, involves locating and returning lost fragments of a person’s soul essence. Soul loss can occur after trauma, heartbreak, or significant stress. According to Plotkin (2003), the process of retrieving soul parts is not simply about restoring lost vitality but about reawakening the essential potentials that have gone dormant—such as creativity, courage, or connection to spirit. In this view, soul retrieval enables individuals to reclaim their original wholeness and live more fully aligned lives.

Spiritual Journeys and Reflections
Throughout the training, experiential journeys deepened participants’ understanding of the spiritual landscapes involved in healing. In one upper world journey, I was shown that community and acceptance transcend ordinary limitations of time and judgment. The upper world offered a timeless, welcoming space where all parts of the self are honored with unconditional love.

In a journey to the lower world, my trusted turtle guide led me through vibrant landscapes of forests, rivers, and oceans, illustrating that the lower world is a place of emotional nourishment, family connection, and joy. The message was clear: healing is abundant and accessible, shaped by the willingness to immerse oneself in nature’s wisdom.

A middle world journey further revealed the complexity of spirits inhabiting ordinary reality. Guided by a turtle and an elder spirit, I observed how some middle world spirits mirror human pain and dysfunction, while others amplify healing and leadership. The spirits encountered reflected back the energies held within those they surrounded, affirming the importance of inner work and discernment in spiritual practice.

Conclusion
Shamanic healing is not about imposing will or extracting symptoms. It is about restoring the natural connection between individuals and the compassionate forces that sustain life. Through soul songs, journeys, power retrievals, and ethical relationship with spirits, practitioners help clients reconnect to their inherent vitality and wholeness.

As Harner (2013) emphasized, the shaman is a bridge between worlds, acting as a “hollow bone” through which healing flows. Through training, experience, and reverence for the unseen, the practitioner learns that true power arises not from control but from surrendering to compassionate partnership with spirit.

The ancient oral traditions of shamanism, once suppressed by forces like the Roman Empire, continue to live on today—not as relics of the past, but as living systems of direct revelation and healing. They remind us that we are not alone, that help is always available, and that our souls are capable of profound restoration when we listen deeply and walk with spirit.

Mike Bribeaux, LMFT, PhD Candidate in Integral Health, Founder, Warrior Child Healing

References

Harner, M. (2013). Cave and cosmos: Shamanic encounters with another reality. North Atlantic Books.

Ingerman, S. (2015). Walking in light: The everyday empowerment of a shamanic life. Sounds True.

Plotkin, B. (2003). Soulcraft: Crossing into the mysteries of nature and psyche. New World Library.