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| Nature Spirit Shrine |
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the intrepid trio
searches for the bits of Voldemort’s soul that he has hidden in the landscape
of England and the lives of those surrounding the individual formerly named Tom
Riddle. The book talks about
how damaged he had become by splitting off bits of his soul, twisting himself
until he was completely amoral and savage.
In the real world things aren’t that simple, and souls can be broken.
In the real world bad things happen, all the time, every
day. War and death continue
onward. Pain is real and unfair
and unbiased. Pain breaks us. Trauma is the thing that shaves off
bits and pieces of a soul.
We all have lost a bit from time to time. Some have lost more than
others. Occasionally we give some
away to a beloved person or place.
Our soul is our self: our energy, time, and psyche all rolled into
one. It’s both a particle and a
wave. It is real and imaginary, and can function in both the world of science
and magic.
I’ve been doing trancework for over two decades now. I didn’t even know this spacing out and
seeing stuff that I was doing had a name when I started. Many years later I do. I’ve been around the block, read the
books, and tried the things. I
know exactly how little I actually know. But in all this self-exploration and
pondering of the cosmos I’ve learned a few things. Along the way I learned I was broken. Most people who have had
traumatic stuff happen to them know this about themselves, but I’m
stubborn. I figured it out
though, and realized that surprisingly, being broken is helpful. At least it’s helpful for a
spiritworker! I use pieces of my
soul to do things. I send them off
with tasks. I am my own team!
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| Huginn and Muninn (private collection) |
A fetch is a piece of a soul in the shape of an animal that a spiritworker sends off to do his or her bidding. I happen to have a fetch shaped as a bird. Turns out, this is totally normal for shamans and spirit workers. In the lore, the soul is often described as a bird. Odin has his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn. Their names are translated as Thought and
Memory. Just like how a fetch functions, he sends them out, they do his bidding and when they come back he knows all that they know.
So I am my own Voldemort. I use my soul as a tool to heal, to guide, to watch over
people. I use the pain that
I have felt to transform my self, and my community. I think that’s what they mean when they talk about the
Wounded Healer Archetype. It’s not
such a bad place to be. I kinda like it. But it’s definitely not
something I would suggest anybody go and do to themselves. Busting off pieces of soul right and
left is a bad plan.
Take a moment
and remember something really bad that happened to you. Just for a moment, and eat some
chocolate or laugh at something funny afterwards. But for a moment, remember it. That feeling of emptiness and pain? That’s the kind of thing that causes soul loss. It sucks.
Everyone has the potential to have horcruxes. None of us are an island, rising out
of an ocean of nothingness. We are connected by our relationships and our energy and thoughts are part of that. Our souls interact. Pieces get stuck in
corners or fall off like a rusty muffler. Funny thing about souls, you can grow them back. If a soul is energy and time and our
thoughts and memories then we are constantly creating soul. All the time. Every minute. Even
Voldemort. It’s what you do with
your soul that counts, not how many pieces it’s in.
While I feel for you, having a past that caused so much trauma; I applaud your use if it in your spiritual work. This is a very beautiful concept here and you've given me inspiration to try this in my own work. I have worked a lot with an entity that I call "Wolfmother". She often comes into my dreams and I go on adventures with her, but always in the shape of a wolf. Your post resonated with me because when I do my wolf trances, I feel like only a part of me transforms as a wolf in the spirit world and there is a separation from the rest of me. What you said explains the disconnect I've felt in such work and it's kind of a relief to know that I'm not alone in this.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you for sharing. I wish you many blessings on your growth.
I'm really glad you found it helpful. I really admire the work you have been doing diving into the lore on your blog. I felt kind of weird being clergy and not talking about lore stuff. I've been getting such positive feedback I feel like this work is useful. Thank you.
DeleteAs I've often said: I'm PROUD of my scars, especially the ones that make others cringe. The toughest animal isn't necessarily the lion, tiger, bear or elephant. I see the honey badger as a good lesson for the determined soul, especially that of a warrior archetype......-Surt
ReplyDeletePart of deep shamanic work and healing lays in soul retrieval - going off and finding those pieces that broke off due to trauma, life events, etc. Find them, clean them up, re-integrate them, so one can eventually become whole again. Another part is helping others do it. Most people don't even realize they aren't whole. And it's hard work, seeing that, admitting that, and doing something about that - - it can cross-pollinate with shadow work. I applaud you for recognizing that, and for the work you have been and are doing. This was a WONDERFUL analogy you drew here which explains the concept in a way more accessible and understandable for most folks (well, anyone who is familiar with Harry Potter, anyway.). :) It gives me a way to explain this concept now to others, where my explanations have failed before. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIts very brave of you to speak of these things on a blog. I find it admirable that young people are so open about so much of their lives, I'm old school and I know I wouldn't be able to share like this, in my generation it just didn't happen. Thank you for your openness.
ReplyDelete