Periodically I am asked if I can cure major physical illness such as cancer or diabetes. When people who never really thought about shamanism have a brush with a major illness themselves or in someone close to them, they find themselves faced with the very real limits of modern medicine. Often they begin looking for alternate forms of healing, especially if the modern medical diagnosis is grim.
Shamanism treats the spiritual aspect of illness. So, when someone asks, “Can you heal my mother’s cancer with shamanism?” My answer is much the same as that of the doctors, “Maybe. It depends on a lot of factors.”
Shamanic work can dramatically increase the odds of recovery or survival in one’s favor. I’ve seen people heal from dire diagnoses and people who didn’t heal. There is a reason the illness is there, and sometimes your soul path is better served through the experience.
In working with a physical ailment, I generally do the following: I begin with a soul retrieval. Getting all of my client’s essence back with them strengthens them immensely. Then I do an extraction to remove the disease or a re-balancing on whatever part of the body is struggling. Next I track through past lives and ancestral lines to remove imprints of the illness from the soul and energy body. I may track to a past or future version of my client’s energy body to bring back the imprint of health. I also work to move destiny paths towards health and healing. Finally I do any other specific work the guides recommend for healing, connect my client with spirit guides to support them in their journey, and bring back suggestions from the guides for how to further the healing work I’ve done. All this can be done in a single session.
To go a bit deeper into the question of how shamanism deals with illness, one of my teachers says Western medicine is about curing, shamanism is about healing. What this often means is that modern medicine goes to war against the symptom, doing everything possible to eradicate the illness or imbalance from the body. The process can create other imbalances, and it can be powerfully effective. I’m extremely grateful to live in a world with penicillin and the other wonders of modern medicine.
The limit of modern medicine is that in seeking to cure without healing, the underlying cause or imbalance in the physical, emotional or spiritual body that gave rise to the illness is never addressed. So sometimes modern medicine doesn’t work and sometimes one symptom is cured, only to have another arise.
When I work with a client, I seek healing for their whole being. I participate not only as an ally in eliminating the disease or illness, but also as an ally to their soul or higher self. I want to create healing and freedom from pain not only in this moment, but also for the journey of their soul across the ages.
So, when someone comes through my door with cancer and tells me they want to live, I do everything I can to support them in tracking in that destiny. As a result of the shamanic work, there is often greater success with western medicine and less suffering from the side effects. If I take the cancer blueprint out of their soul and the pattern of cancer out of their energy body, it’s much easier for the Western treatments to eliminate cancer from their physical body. Furthermore, with their soul parts back and their vitality increased, they just won’t be as sick from the drugs.
Meanwhile, even as I’m working towards the destiny of eliminating cancer and creating health and vitality, I’m also working on behalf of their soul, to make it strong and clear and free of pain. In Western medicine, if the patient dies, it is a failure. In my work, I know everyone will die one day. So, part of my work, whether my client dies in a month or in fifty years, is to prepare their soul for its journey. I do this by making their soul strong and whole, by clearing pain, and inviting luminosity. In other words, shamanic work supports a richer, happier, more beautiful experience in life and beyond death.
Ready for a deeper dive? Now is a great time for a soul retrieval session. Get a detailed overview of a session here: About Soul Retrieval and What to Expect After a Soul Retrieval
©2011, Katie Weatherup. All rights reserved.
