moonvoice (ravenari)

I completely forgot I wrote this, I haven't been cross-posting the articles I'm getting published in Axis Mundi atm, but this one has finished its publication rotation, so...here it is.

( Soul healing and the shaman. )

Due to an exchange on another journal, I got thinking about possession, and decided to throw together some of my thoughts on it. One day, it may even become an article, but as it's early in the morning and I'm tired, this is what you get.

Also in my typical lackadaisical 'early morning fuck I'm tired' style.

( or, why possession is far more common than you'd actually think )

A description of the soul, and the concept of soul-healing.

In my personal practice in shamanism, the soul is not a singular object. In many contemporary religions, it is thought that we have one soul, a fixed, indelible energy imprint which is distinctively us. In this philosophy, it endures through all things. In shamanism, the soul is transient and can be as easily injured as the body and mind. And in many forms of shamanism, including my own, the belief persists that we have more than one soul.

So, in the practices of wildspeak, people, animals, plants, rocks and so on, have multiple souls. Each soul has a function. Some continue on once we die, others disperse with the body and simply rejoin the spirit, or ether, or whatever you want to call the energy that surrounds and makes us all. In wildspeak, some souls are actually 'acquired' through the training to become an Ilkara'te or an Oraite (sky shaman and shaman respectively).

Not only do we have multiple souls, but these souls are transient. Damage to the soul through fragmentation caused by life experiences, trauma and so on, are thought to contribute directly to our mental, emotional and physical health. A broken leg may impact our mental wellbeing, a mental illness like severe depression may impact someone's physical wellbeing, in the shamanism I practice, it is a logical step to see how a soul illness may impact the wellbeing of the person in other areas.

It is the purpose of the shaman and shamanist within wildspeak - and indeed, in many other contemporary and Indigenous forms of shamanism - to make journeys in both this world and the otherworlds in order to conduct soul-healing. This may involve locating fragmented or 'lost' pieces of soul that have split off. It may involve withdrawing harmful energies from the ill person, or simply energies that don't belong. This soul healing is not confined to humans only, a shaman / shamanist may also be drawn or compelled to heal animals, plants, rocks, wights and land spirits in this manner. I feel that - alongside acting as psychopomp - this is one of the primary reasons for the shamanist's need for comprehensive skills in navigating the otherworlds and the spirits within.

In wildspeak, the souls can be described as such:

1. Urt (pron. urd) - The urt, also known as the ur'd or ur'da is the soul that is most easily injured and the soul that most commonly reflects our personality and state of being at any one time. When our urt is damaged, we become sick. When our urt is very fragmented, we develop mental illness until it is 'put together' again. The urt is that which fragments most easily due to trauma, but it is also one of the most malleable and adaptable parts of us and our distinct energy. It makes us 'us,' which is why when the urt is damaged, people frequently say things like 'I feel lost,' or 'I feel like I'll never be the same again,' or 'I haven't been myself ever since X.' The urt is able to stay behind in this world after death as a ghost, or ghost-fragment that repeats the same actions over and over again.

The urt is also the house of strength, or the tumugut. The strength that we are given from birth, which varies from lifetime to lifetime, and determines the integrity of people and their ability to hold strong to personal honour and ethics.

2. A'vun (pron. ah-VUHN) - This is the part of the soul that disperses when we die, and becomes a part of the energy around us again. It makes us 'alive' and gives us the animating substance that turns us from a combination of molecules and cells into a functioning human being. When a person clinically dies or experiences death, they experience a time where the A'vun is absent from the body. It is very difficult to harm the A'vun; but it can be damaged through terminal illness, chronic physical pain, and physical trauma such as amputation and mutilation. Eating disorders can affect the integrity of the A'vun.

3. T'yamjien (pron: ti-yah-me-yen) - The T'yamjien is the internal repository we all have that connects us to our ancestors. It is the source of genetic memory, and allows us to feel (if we search for it) a primordial connection to the animals, elements, plants from which we came. The T'yamjien reminds us that we all share a common ancestor, and common elements for the most part and provides a sense of connectivity to the world around us. Shamanism training in wildspeak will at some stage involve learning how to specifically access the T'yamjien, and potentially locate ancestral shamanic and general cultural knowledge and lore. People who are not very engaged with their T'yamjien may feel disconnected from the world around them, or feel as though they are completely isolated from anything else around them.

4. Czu'czur (pron: chu'chur) - This is the general usage name for this soul, though it has a different name for shamans who have acquired it. The Czu'czur is the soul that the shaman attains during their training; and distinguishes them from a shamanist. The Czu'czur is a fragile soul and can be revoked or removed if the spirits feel that the shaman is not serving the community / spirits / the self etc. with integrity and respect. The Czu'czur has a personality of its own, separate to the Urt, and could almost be considered a separate 'higher self.' It is the Czu'czur that will elect to stay behind in the otherworlds to act as ancestral shaman spirits for those drawn to the path. It tends to alter the energy signature of the shaman; in more new age terms, it changes the vibrational energy of the shaman's aura.

5. Afcze (pron: AHF-chey) - A soul only given to Ilkara'te (sky shamans). It is a difficult soul to describe, but it could be described as 'the stones give a stone soul to a human.' In the wildspeak mythology, the secrets of the stones is what gives the sky shaman their ability to read great oracles and omens from the sky and weather patterns; the Afcze is considered a significant part of this process.

6. Urjkut (pron: UR-kut) - The Urt of the animals. It is thought that some humans are born with an Urjkut instead of an Urt, or literally, with a personality or soul that is animal instead of human. In the mythology, some animals are also born with human Urts.