Parts Work Gets Weird
Shamanism, navigating the spirit world, and the eternal question — is it all in my mind? Part 2.
In the last essay on parts work, we explored some of the more traditional pathways into the psyche — Internal Family Systems, working with archetypes, and general coachy-type approaches.
Now, as promised, we get weird. We bring in the shamanic, the spiritual, and even the supernatural. Because without the full picture of what our parts really are and where they stem from, our work won’t reach its true potential.
And stay tuned…the final essay in this series will delve a bit more into actual techniques used to illuminate and communicate with your parts.
Past Life Influences on Our Parts
So often, modern parts work focuses on early childhood — and for good reason, of course. We are little sponges as we grow up, internalizing all sorts of beliefs and rules based on our experiences. And since humans are humans, even the luckiest among us still have a shitload of baggage to piece apart as adults. Yay.
But not all of our patterning comes from this lifetime. We are influenced by our ancestral lines and lineage, collective energies and belief systems, and — our past lives.
Unresolved trauma from beyond this lifetime can manifest as parts within the psyche. Even the very experiences you can trace your challenges back to in this lifetime may actually have origins in past lives.
So, if you were hung for speaking out against injustice in a past life, you might have some issues with speaking up in this one — not to mention the potential for chronic sore throats (at least, that’s been my experience). If your husband died, leaving you with no agency to take care of yourself and your children in a past life, then yes, this might reappear as some attachment issues in this life.
In this context, some of your “parts” may actually have roots beyond current time — which is why I think being able to navigate both contexts is invaluable for true healing.
But. And this is a big but (I laugh, sorry). Skipping over present life influences in favor of past life healing is a big, fat, ruby red flag for spiritual bypassing. You absolutely must work with the here and now, with who you are in this lifetime, in order for past life work to have any meaningful impact on your well-being.
Do the work you need to do to heal the you who exists here and now, in this lifetime. And, open yourself to the possibility that some of what you face may have even deeper roots.
Shamanism: What’s Really at Play?
I’m a big proponent of shamanic approaches not only because of their efficacy, but because they bring awareness to some pieces that parts work can skip over* — namely, the influences that arise from beyond our own psyches.
Shamanic healing addresses many factors that affect our well-being (I give a more complete breakdown of this here). When it comes to parts work, however, there are a few ways shamanism is uniquely suited to meet with the parts that actually aren’t ours.
*Again, more mainstream parts work practitioners might skip over this, but IFS actually does address foreign influences.
Possession & Spirit Entanglement
You can try to integrate the wounded part within until the cows come home — but if it’s not actually your part, you will not heal.
Just about every culture throughout the world acknowledges the existence of possession — from the shamans of Africa to the Catholic Church.
This isn’t something a lot of people like to think about because possession is a scary word. It implies that we lose all agency, get taken over by some malevolent spirit, start acting crazy, and perhaps even lose our souls.
In reality, possession is a lot more mundane — which is why I, like many modern shamanic practitioners, will often use the less scary-sounding term “spirit entanglement” with my clients (and possession with my shamanic peeps).
Whatever language you use, here’s the gist: Sometimes, when people pass over, they stick around on the astral plane instead of crossing into the light. And if this happens, they can kind of get stuck or forget where they are (or not even realize that they’re dead). These spirits are drawn to the living, and, for a variety of reasons, can get enmeshed with us.
Once this enmeshment happens, the spirit starts to influence the living — you.
At first, this is usually subtle: You might feel a bit sad and aren’t sure why. This tends to grow stronger the longer it lasts: You might pick up habits this spirit had when they were alive, like overeating or getting angry easily. Overtime, the characteristics of this being can slowly take over your own personality unless you actively address what’s happening.
Also — this is a suuuper basic description of possession. It’s really, really normal to pick up a “hitchhiker” now and then, and possession is much more complex than what I’ve described here. (I mean, what about the non-human beings that can possess us?) It warrants a whole article, which I’ll put on my list! Add your questions in the comments here and I’ll try to work them into the next piece ;)
If this happens, you usually don’t realize there’s a spirit attached to you. You think that these thoughts you're having, this pattern or tendency, is stemming from a part of you.
A less-informed parts work approach would try to integrate this part — which is the worst thing you can do. It’s not healthy to integrate something that’s not yourself. Instead, you need to compassionately release (I’m not a fan of straight out banishing, though it can work…temporarily) the spirit from your being.
This is tricky, of course. It takes experience and training to really learn to distinguish what’s a part of you and what’s not. It takes even more experience and training to safely depossess or disentangle the spirit from your energy field.
To make things even more complex, a spirit will often be attracted to a part of you because they have a lot in common with that part, so working with the “part” will actually be a multi-step process.
And this is why I’m so grateful to have experience with both parts work and depossession.
If you at all suspect that one of your parts might not actually be yours, find a trained shamanic practitioner for support (or perhaps an advanced IFS therapist who’s familiar with spirit release). I’ll be opening slots for new clients later in the fall, so stay in touch if you’re interested in grabbing one.
Taoist Shamanism: Our Own Parts Can Possess Us, Too
One of my most beloved mentors is a master Taoist shaman, acupuncturist, and aromatherapist — and many of our most fascinating lessons have been on the concept of possession.
I love love love the Taoist approach to parts work and depossession because it’s such a beautifully integrated system.
And you guys. It’s thousands of years old. We might think we’re all fancy pants with our modern therapeutic parts works techniques, but this stuff has been around forever.
From Taoist shamanic perspectives, we can be possessed by either a foreign entity or ourselves — and we treat both in just about the same way.
I’ve alluded to this perspective in earlier sections: We could have a possession in the traditional sense, where a spirit becomes entangled with us. Or, we could have a possession by one of our parts.
What does this mean, exactly? It means that one of our parts becomes so strong, and takes over so much of our daily thought processes, beliefs, and patterns, that it begins to act like a possession. This possessing part both blocks out our other parts and makes connecting with our true Self very difficult. Eventually, it almost takes on a life of its own and really functions as a possession.
In the Taoist tradition I apprenticed in, both cases of possession would be treated, at least in part, the same way: As you shift the energy of the body, the part or possessing spirit begins to shift in response. (We do this with both energy points and essential oils — more on this in the techniques essay.)
Archetypes & Shamanism
So far we’ve talked about the parts that are ours and the parts that aren’t ours when it comes to shamanism. But what about archetypes?
Archetypes are universal in their nature. They exist beyond the individual and both influence and are influenced by the collective unconscious. And, from a shamanic lens, archetypes can also be animated, or inspirited.
This means that when archetypal imagery arises within a journey, there are many overlapping pathways to explore:
Is the archetype part of the symbolic language of the journey — there to communicate a message?
Is the archetype part of your psyche in the more traditional “parts” sense — a facet of your unique blueprint in this lifetime, with both shadows and gifts to explore?
Is the archetype signifying a place where you're tied into the collective — whether you are being influenced for better (as though you can tune into gifts beyond your individual existence) or for worse (as though you are suffering under a collective curse)?
Is the archetype a helping spirit or guide — a true spirit being representative of the archetypal energy involved, and one that you can communicate and receive from?
And is the archetype a bit of all of the above?
In this sense, the key to working with archetypes in shamanic approaches to parts work is simply to keep an open mind.
One note when it comes to the archetypes that are part of our psyches: They don’t develop as a trauma response — but trauma can contribute to how each archetype is expressed.
Every archetype within our spiritual DNA has both a shadow and a light side. The shadow side might appear as a protector who manifests as the Warrior archetype, bursting into anger and lashing out at others. Yet when brought to the light, the gifts of the Warrior can be integrated — healthy boundaries, catalyzing needed change, and fully pursuing your heartfelt desires.
This is true for all archetypes, no matter how benefic or malefic they may at first seem: In the light, a desirable archetype such as the Mystic channels divinity to Earth and accesses sacred wisdom through the ethers. Yet in shadow, the Mystic might renounce physical life for the spiritual, turning away from the embodied integration they are here to experience.
The shamanic journey is one of the most powerful tools I’ve found for moving towards integration and personal empowerment in partnership with the archetypes — and in the coming weeks, I’ll be offering a free mini course to get you started with your own practice, so stick around!
Has all this talk about archetypes got you wondering whether everything is simply a facet of your own psyche? Then you’re on the right track — let’s dive in.
Aspect of Psyche or Spirit Helper?
Time for a slight deviation from parts work, but an essential piece for understanding shamanic practice: spirit helpers.
One of the core components of shamanism is the recognition that we coexist with spirit beings — these might manifest as angels, deities, ancestors, animals, and infinite other forms depending on your particular background and tradition. You might hear these beings referred to collectively as guides, helping spirits, spirit beings, and other such spirit-helper-guide-being combos.
During a shamanic journey, or any intentional practice to connect with the spirit realms and your inner worlds, you can meet with these spirit guides. And you can meet with your parts.
This can become a bit complex for those who bring therapeutic backgrounds to their shamanic studies, bringing up by far one of the most common questions that arises when anyone steps into the world of journeying: “Is this a real spirit, or a manifestation of my own psyche?”
There are a few ways we can approach answering this question.
On one hand, in the grand scheme of things we are all one. The power animals who share gifts with us are parts of ourselves. The archetypal deities who guide and mentor us are facets of our own divinity. Even the physical humans around us are reflections of shared wholeness.
In this sense, all we encounter is a part of our own being. Everything is a part.
On the other hand, in our day-to-day existence we are very much separate people, living our lives, going on our own journeys, and growing in our own ways.
Here we bring in the idea that we are individual spirits, living in individual bodies. I find the view that spirits only inhabit human bodies to be a bit homosapien-centric — why wouldn’t there be many more spirits who simply aren’t in human form?
From this perspective, we meet with divine beings who are not part of our own psyches but are benefic helpers, choosing to offer us their wisdom, healing, and guidance.
And yet, when it comes to the healing impact of shamanic parts work — it doesn’t really matter whether you see everything as your own psyche or not.
In a coaching training call I recently participated in, the facilitator guided a student through the process of meeting a fear. At a certain point, a more wise and loving part of the self was invited to come in — this part took the form of a priestess.
Afterwards, the woman channeling the priestess commented that she felt like a part of her, ancestral, past life, and connected to all women’s healing.
So was this priestess a part? A past life? An ancestor? An archetype?
It simply doesn’t matter. While the participant could certainly return to a journey space for further exploration, the truth is that further defining this “being” would not change the impact she’s already had. A healing took place, and that’s what matters.
So far, we’ve looked at the what, the why, and the who: what parts work is, why we work with our parts, and who our parts actually are.
With the final essay of this series, we’ll take a look at the how — and how no matter what tradition you come from, you can relax into certain timeless techniques.
What’s resonating so far? What questions are arising? Please let me know in the comments and share :)