What is shamanism?

Shamanism is a spiritual practice and a form of spiritual healing and guidance that dates back many thousand years and has been used by people all over the world.

Why would you use shamanism to help with pet loss?

There are several reasons why shamanism and shamanic journeying can be very useful in connection with the death of a pet.

• can help the pet owner cope with and avoid being stuck in prolonged grief by providing support and healing for the pet owner
• can help the dying pet get a peaceful and graceful transition into death and provide healing and help for the deceased pet to get settled safely in the afterlife
• enables communication between pet owner and the deceased pet, so messages can be exchanged and unfinished business taken care of
• can help the surviving pets in the household, who are grieving their dead animal companion, cope with and move through their grief.

More about shamanism

One of the main practices of shamanism is the shamanic journey. During the shamanic journey, the shaman changes his or her state of consciousness at will – for instance by drumming, rattling, or singing – in order to contact or journey to the spirit world to obtain healing or knowledge on behalf of herself or others. There are many layers in the spirit world. The 3 main ones are the Lower World, the Middle World, and the Upper World.

Together with her spirit helpers, the shaman deals with the spiritual aspect of illness and imbalance and can retrieve lost power, perform soul retrievals, remove blockages, restore harmony, and escort the soul of the deceased to where it is supposed to go in the afterlife.

Shamanism is a practice of direct revelation, which means that there are no intermediaries between the shaman and the helping spirits. The compassionate helping spirits who work with the shaman, are essential to the shaman’s work, and the most common helpers are power animals and teachers in human form.

The practice of shamanism doesn’t require any religious beliefs and can be used together with other treatments and practices.

Power animals

Power animals are spirit guardians in animal form. Power animals have many “roles”. They are the shaman’s friends, teachers, guides, protectors, and much more. Power animals provide empowerment, wisdom, and support, and they are not only accessible to the shaman, but to all people and animals.

If one of your pets has just died, retrieving a power animal for you and the surviving pets in the household, who are grieving, will provide you with the strength and support to cope with the loss. And your deceased pet might also be connected with a power animal or another guide who will help him or her in the afterlife.

Soul retrieval

Shamanism deals with the spiritual side of illness, and one of the causes of illness, seen from a shamanic point of view, is soul loss.

When we suffer a trauma of some kind, whether emotional or physical, part of our soul or life essence, flees our body. This is a survival mechanism, and it enables us to survive the pain and the trauma. Any kind of trauma could cause soul loss; it all depends on what is experienced as trauma by the individual. The loss of a loved one – whether human or animal – can sometimes cause soul loss.

When part of our soul leaves, it goes to what is generally called “non ordinary reality”, and it doesn’t always come home by itself. The reasons for that can be that the soul part is lost or the soul part doesn’t know it’s safe to come home. So the job of the shaman is to track down the soul part and bring it back again. Some of the symptoms of soul loss can be a feeling of not being fully in your body, chronic depression, grief that does not heal, and many more.

After the soul retrieval there will be a period of healing and integration of the soul part.

How shamanism can help your deceased pet

An important part of the shaman’s work is the so-called Psychopomp work. That means that the shaman will escort the soul of the deceased, in our case the soul of your beloved pet, to where he or she is supposed to go in the afterlife.

The deceased do not always need help with this, but in some cases, for instance if your pet had a sudden or violent death, his or her soul might be stuck and might need help to go where he or she is supposed to go in the afterlife.

It is also at that point that you as a pet owner have a unique possibility of not only saying your last goodbyes but tell your pet how much you love him and also get messages from him, and with this allow him to move on and get settled in the afterlife. And you’ll get a knowing that the body of your pet might be gone, but the spirit of your pet and the love you shared will never die. This work can bring deep peace and comfort to you both.

How you can get help

If you have a hard time coping with the loss of your pet, and you feel you need further help, then know that there is help available. One or few sessions of shamanic journeying can bring you the comfort and strength you need to move through this time of grieving. You can learn more and order here:
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