Within shamanic healing, soul retrieval is understood as a response to what is called soul loss: the separation or fragmentation of aspects of a person’s vital essence due to trauma, shock, abuse, prolonged stress, or deep grief. This loss is not seen as metaphorical alone, but as a genuine diminishment of life-force that can manifest as emptiness, numbness, chronic fatigue, depression, addiction, recurring negative patterns, or a sense of not being fully present. The shamanic view holds that this fragmentation is initially protective, as parts of the soul withdraw from overwhelming pain or danger. Over time, however, the absence of these aspects creates spiritual and psychological imbalance, undermining a person’s sense of wholeness, purpose, and inner coherence.

In the practice of soul retrieval, a shaman or shamanic practitioner enters an altered state of consciousness—often through rhythmic drumming, rattling, chanting, or related techniques—to journey into non-ordinary reality or the spirit world. There, the practitioner seeks the missing soul parts, which may appear in symbolic forms such as younger versions of the person, animals, lights, or other images connected to specific life experiences. This phase includes diagnosis or divination, in which the practitioner discerns where and how soul loss has occurred, and which aspects are ready to return. Communication and negotiation then take place: the practitioner learns why the soul parts left and what conditions of safety, boundaries, or life changes are needed for their return.

Once the soul parts consent to come back, the practitioner brings them to the person and restores them through ritualized acts, often by blowing the retrieved essence into the heart or the crown of the head, or by placing it symbolically into the body. The healing does not end with this ceremonial moment; integration is regarded as essential. The person is encouraged to welcome the returning aspects and to live in ways that do not recreate the circumstances that led to the original fragmentation. When this process is successful, it is said to restore vitality, presence, and personal power, allowing natural healing processes to resume and bringing back qualities such as courage, joy, creativity, and other strengths that had been eclipsed by earlier suffering.