An intrusion is something lodged in us that does not belong to us, from a persistent harmful thought to an entity. Intrusions get in because soul-lossSoul-loss. The sending-away of parts of the self in order to survive: through shock or trauma, or (the chief modern cause) exiling our own parts to fit in. With Power-loss, one of the two root causes of shamanic illness. Read the full answer and Power-lossPower-loss. Disconnection from nature, the web of life and our place in it: like being unplugged from the national grid. One of the two root causes of shamanic illness, healed by reconnection (not by soul retrieval), beginning with the Power Animal bond. Read the full answer leave holes in a weakened energy body. Extraction is the shamanic healing that removes an intrusion and then fills the hole it leaves with something healthy, and for anyone new to the work, it is best left to the GuidesGuides. The Lower-World and Upper-World beings a practitioner works with and learns from, of whom the Power Animal is the first and foremost. True Guides are ethical to their core; the shaman’s power comes from the depth of these bonds, not from the shaman. More about this, most safely in a Lower-WorldLower-World. The realm of Mother Earth: pure, unspoilt, wild nature, with no technology and no agriculture. Home of the Peoples and of our own Soul, and completely safe: feeling threatened in a journey is a reliable sign of not having reached it. Read the full answer journey.
What is an intrusion? #
Intrusions are “foreign-bodies that become lodged somewhere within us”: something inside someone, or attached to them, which does not belong to them.1
Usually, intrusions are located in a particular place in the body. Sometimes the location shows in the language people use, such as “a knife in the back, or a kick in the teeth”. Someone with the introjectIntroject. A foreign belief, message or story swallowed whole (often in childhood) and lodged inside as if it were our own; a type of intrusion. More about this “I must not speak out” might feel it as a lump in the throat.2
How do intrusions get in? #
Shamans say there are many ways of becoming ill, but underneath them all lie two: soul-loss, when part of us flees or is pushed away through trauma, bereavement or chronic illness, and Power-loss, disconnection from the wider web of life. Soul-loss and Power-loss both leave ‘holes’ in us, and leave our energy body weakened. “Much in the same way that a weakened immune system means that our physical body can become infected with viruses or other pathogens, a weakened energy body means that other things, ‘intrusions’, can get into us and cause harm.”3
The same is true of our culture as a whole: in this weakened, vulnerable state, “other things (intrusions) can then get into us, making us ill and potentially taking us over.”4
See What is soul-loss? and What is Power-loss?
What kinds of intrusion are there? #
In Paul Francis’s observation, “in our modern, domesticated world, the commonest form of intrusions are unhelpful ‘thought-formsThought-form. A human-created living being: an ideology, religion, corporation, conspiracy theory or platform that has taken on a life of its own. Genuinely alive, but soul-less in the deep sense: natural things alone are full of Soul. More about this’.” These are thoughts that become persistent and lodged in someone’s energy body, causing harm, such as “I am stupid” or “No-one could love me if they really knew me”. They can also be more complex and elaborate belief systems.5
What intrusions are understood to be varies widely between shamanic cultures, and this is one place where the common core of shamanism breaks down a little; some speak of evil spirits. In the modern middle-worldMiddle-world. Ordinary physical reality together with its energetic layers: the realm of individuality, separation and mixed intentions, and the only realm where harm is possible. “If there is a hell, then it is the middle-world.” Read the full answer far more common are unhealthy stories: that we are stupid, will never amount to anything or are unlovable, and the stories of a consumer culture, that this handbag, this car or this make-up will make us feel better. Because so many people are full of holes, and unhappy with it, such stories find easy ways in.
Introjects are a common kind. “An introject is a ‘must’ or a ‘must not’; a ‘should’ or a ‘should not’; an ‘ought’ or an ‘ought not’.” Not all of them are bad, though: “I should look both ways before crossing the road” is a good one to have.6
The intent behind an intrusion is not always to do harm. Someone may say something with good intent that we still find wounding, and we can pick up someone’s negativity, “heavy energy” or anxiety just by being around them, or pick up intrusions from places such as certain rooms.7
How is an intrusion different from a possession? #
“The dividing line between intrusions and possessions is not a firm one.” Broadly, an intrusion “is something that is in a specific place in the physical body”, whereas a possession is not localised and influences someone in a more systemic way, sometimes to the point of taking them over. See What is possession, and what is de-possession?8
What is extraction? #
“In shamanism, the principal way of working with intrusions is to do a shamanic extraction.” Briefly, it involves removing the intrusion in some way, “and then healing the hole or wound that is left behind.” However the intrusion is removed, the hole it leaves “is always filled with something healthy in its place”, so as not to leave a vulnerable space that something else could get into.9
Michael Harner found extraction to be one of the core practices common to shamanic cultures however far apart they are, with a remarkably similar underlying process. Extraction “is, after all, one of the commonest things that happens in journeys”. The full method is not given here.10
Who does the extraction, and is it safe? #
For anyone new to this work, “the safest thing is to let your Guides do the extraction rather than doing it yourself.” It was a long time before Paul’s own Guides let him do one. It was only after he had watched them do a lot of extractions that one day they turned to him and said, “You do this one.”11
The safest place is the Lower-World or the Upper-WorldUpper-World. The realm of Father Sky and of Spirit: spacious, rarefied and clear, layered in tiers, offering not escape but perspective. Not better than the Lower-World: we ascend rooted, and bring the gifts back down. Read the full answer. It is strongly advised not to do extraction in the middle-world until very experienced. Everything of the Lower-World is safe, but in an extraction “we are bringing something that is of the middle-world into the Lower-World in order to deal with it”, which is why the protocol is followed as a safety procedure. Even so, none of this is meant to alarm anyone: “Doing Lower-World extraction work is safer than driving a car.”12
What must never be extracted? #
Parts that belong to someone are parts-of-self, not intrusions. “Taking away a part of someone is to create soul-loss and leave a hole in them that an intrusion (or worse) could then get into.”13
The same difficulty arises with ‘demons’. A therapist who treats real possessing beings as disowned parts could unwittingly help them possess the client further, while a practitioner who calls disowned parts “real demons that need banishing” would “greatly compound the client’s mental health issues.” “Knowing which is the case, and responding appropriately, is of vital importance.”14
Extraction also needs the person’s consent. See What does consent mean in shamanic work?
