From this expanded perspective, ‘anything which has ever happened to anybody, anywhere; is still happening somewhere’. If a traumatic event occurred ten, twenty or so years ago, it is still happening for that person somewhere in the matrix of the eternal reality of ‘now’ and is likely to be still influencing that person’s life.

Shamanism does not dwell on ‘past’ events; there is only this vast awesome ever-moving great moment of ‘now’ where there is no separate past, present, or future.

It is possible for a practitioner to journey outside of linear time and go to the place where that energetic event is still occurring and find and bring back that person’s trapped life force. When this has been carried out, the therapeutic healing of the event and its consequences can truly begin.

The lost life-force, known as soul-loss, can take place when we have an accident, experience overly strong emotional exchanges with a loved one, separation from a partner, death of a loved one or go through a pervasive period of difficult circumstances.

When we undergo a severe trauma typically a part of our vital nature goes away, so that we can survive what ever is happening to us. Problems develop when the soul part or fragment does not return. It may not want to come back, or may not be able to return due to the nature of the trauma.

There are a number of symptoms of soul-loss. For example, when people feel that they are observing life as an outsider rather than engaging and being fully involved or when feeling ‘spaced’ out a lot of the time, not really here.

Other symptoms are life-themes such as a pervasive fear, inability to trust people. Severe depression can also be a symptom as can chronic illness, ME and lack of energy symptoms, This directly relates to Personal Power. In the shamanic worldview, power and maintaining health go hand in hand. If the body is power-full, there is no room for illness or disease, which are regarded as an invasive force.

The Medicine Wheel

The Medicine wheel is Circle of Knowledge. It is the Universe and it is the individual. As above, so below – the greater is reflected in the lesser and the lesser in the greater.

The East of the Wheel is where the sun rises. It is the place of beginnings and endings, of vision and inspiration – where spirit comes intomatter and where matter touches spirit – the place that is beyond the confines of linear time.

The South of the Wheel is the place of trust and innocence, the time of childhood. It is the place of emotion, energy-motion, of water, of passion and the heart. We learn to touch and be touched, to feel and to be moved by beauty and magic.

The West is the place of the setting sun where we draw ourselves inwards to do inner work. This is woman’s place, the deep, the dark, the inner, the womb where new creation is nurtured, the place of introspection.

The North is the place of winter when the ground is frozen and we have to learn to co-operate to survive. It is where we learn to achieve adulthood with maturity and to giveaway to one another, and that the survival of the tribe, group, village, country, planet is more important than that of any one individual.

The Medicine Wheel as a therapeutic tool

How useful is it to have a map when you travel? Are you happy travelling blind or would you rather have a map of the territory?

The Medicine Wheel is a stunningly wonderful multi-dimensional map of the territory of life. Once we understand and integrate the wheel and its meanings into our subtle body, we can place any issue on it and feel the forces at work, the challenges brought and the solutions possible.

The Twenty Count teaches of the relationship of humans to the cosmos and the Star Maiden’s Circle is a profound tool for understanding the psyche and unravelling life issues. It is our human process in a circle and as we traverse around the circle we gain illumination and understanding of our lives and compassion for our self in our daily challenges.

Leo Rutherford is also available for individual sessions.