This practice is associated with shamans (and so, possibly a Native American connection). In this context, the word soul doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing Christians mean by the soul.
One promoter (Kenn Day, “Post-Tribal Shamanism,” Whole Living Journal, Mar/Apr ’17) blames our problems (addictions, abuse, etc.) on the idea that we’ve become disconnected from “our ancestors and spirits that populate the world.” Enter the shaman: “The tribal shaman generally performs the retrieval for the client, journeying to the location of the fragment, capturing it, and ‘blowing’ it back into the client’s body.” (This smacks of Scientology’s “going clear.”)
And now, surprise! There’s Christian soul retrieval. One writer identified Jesus as a shaman who performed soul retrieval (that is, the people Jesus brought back from the dead weren’t really dead). Another writer denounces the kind of soul retrieval described above but seems to have created her own version of it. A “Christian witch” had heard that something called soul loss can happen when a person is under anesthesia. Fearing that her son might be in danger during a medical procedure, she called on her “guides” (spirits) for help.
Friends, I’m deeply troubled as desperate people try all sorts of things, thinking there’s some secret help they’re missing, when the Lord is right here.
The beautiful Psalm 23 comes to mind: “The Lord is my shepherd…. He restores my SOUL.” (emphasis added)
I started to clarify what this passage means by “soul,” but I’ve changed my mind. Any definition of soul that we can think of—the Lord has the power to “retrieve” it. Just ask him.
