Curanderismo Soul Retrieval: Ancient Shamanic Wisdom to Restore the Sacred Energy of the Soul - Erika Buenaflor M.A. J.D. 2019

Working With Animal Coessences and Guardians
Soul Retrieval Work: Animal Coessences and Animal Guardians

Like the ancient Maya and Mexica, we can have many kinds of spiritual and magical relationships with animals. For the purposes of this soul retrieval process, I focus on two types of relationships: animal coessences and animal guardians. I use the term animal coessences to refer to a sharing of similar sacred essence energy with a species of animal. Understanding and integrating our animal coessences’ instinctual ways of living and surviving can help us understand how to care for ourselves and stand in our power, which is particularly beneficial during the soul retrieval process. Animal guardians are animals with which we can also develop a strong relationship, although we may not necessarily be connected to them through the same sacred essence energy. Working with animal coessences, as well as with animal guardians, can be very healing and empowering.

Once we have developed a connection with an animal coessence or animal guardian, we can journey with and through them to gain insight into a situation and into ourselves. We can also send them to retrieve something for us, including stolen soul pieces.

Determining the Identities of Animal Coessences and Guardians

Animal coessences and guardians can be made known to us in various ways. We can encounter them in our dream states or during trance journeys (also known as vision quests). Diviners or shamans can identify them for us, or they can be assigned at birth by a shaman midwife. We tend to feel strong spiritual connections with animal coessences; they tend to appear often in our physical realms with gifts, messages, and warnings. They are typically wild animals rather than domesticated ones (although of course there are exceptions). My mentor Barbara advised me to keep the identities of my animal coessences private, and so I do. In many ancient and modern Mesoamerican traditions, it is believed that if something detrimental happens to a person’s animal coessence, something harmful can happen to the person, possibly even death. I do not necessarily adhere to this belief, but I do not think there is any reason to test these waters.

My first animal coessence came to me numerous times in dreams and vision quests induced by shamanic breathwork and drumming. It would also leave many gifts for me when I sang and called upon it. I do not feel it is one particular animal; rather I feel it is a species of animal. We developed a numerical guidance system whereby seeing a certain number of them at one time gives me a specific message. When I see just one, it is some kind of divine confirmation. Two means that I have to be discerning about something coming my way. Three means a shift. Four means divine closure, and more than four means that great fortune is coming my way. When I worked as an attorney and used to drive in Los Angeles morning traffic, we perfected this system, which for my part mostly consisted of listening and trusting. A couple of times I saw two of them, but I decided not to listen and stayed on my normal driving route. A few minutes later, I found myself in ridiculous traffic, due to an accident. This animal will also often appear to me during a soul retrieval session with a client, using the same numerical system.

My mentor told me that we normally have one animal coessence, but a person can have more than one, sometimes including domesticated animals. I have heard from other sources as well that powerful shamans can have more than one animal coessence. If powerful is being understood as having a high amount of sacred essence energy coupled with an expanded consciousness and awareness, then I would agree.

I discovered my second animal coessence during a profound ayahuasca journey in Peru. Although I do not feel that trance journeys need to be complemented with entheogens such as ayahuasca, for me it was invaluable to be working with ayahuasca’s strong grandmother/mother energy to ensure that I could get out of my own way. During my medicine journey, I felt as though my subtle bodies had been transformed into my newly revealed animal coessence. I was initially and momentarily resistant to shifting into an animal that I was not expecting. I always felt like a feline, a panther, and I was surprised to experience the animal I became. But the discipline that grandmother ayahuasca inspires helped me to immediately release resistance and expectation and simply flow. While I was journeying with my animal coessence, I saw three critical times in my life when this animal had appeared to me, making its presence known. I feel the key in connecting with an animal coessence is letting go of expectations and humbly surrendering to being taught.

Journeying to Connect with the Animal Coessence

Many soul retrieval practitioners encourage people to go to the Underworld to determine who their animal coessence is and connect with it. When I first deeply connected with my animal coessence, I was going through a dark night of the soul, my own Underworld of tests, trials, and tribulations. My journeys were often in the Underworld, and it was in this space that I bonded with my animal coessence. When I discovered my second animal coessence, I was in a transitional and ambiguous period in my life, shifting away from my role as an attorney to my role as a curandera.

Although the other nonordinary realms also contain ambiguous, transitory spaces, I would say trials, tests, and tribulations characterize the Underworld more than any other. In this space, we find whether we can truly let go of any beliefs that animals do not have souls—much less being capable of sharing souls with humans—and release any other obstacles to connecting with our animal coessence. Consequently, I feel that journeying into the Underworld can be very auspicious, requiring our ego to stand aside and understand its place as an assistant for functioning in mundane reality. Bonding with our animal coessence, possibly another test of the Underworld, requires us to be humble and grateful and use spiritual discernment.

Meeting Your Animal Coessence

To journey into the Underworld, use the recommended shamanic breathwork and/or recommended journeying tools for going into the Underworld identified in chapter 3. When you are in the Underworld, allow your consciousness to tune in and ask yourself:

Is there an animal you have always felt a connection to?

Has there been a particular animal that has appeared to you during critical moments in your life?

Is there an animal that appears to you on a regular basis, whether physically or in dreams or vision quests?

Remember to practice deep breathing as you are tuning in to these questions. After you have spent some time connecting with your animal coessence and have begun to feel its presence, ask your animal coessence to let you know what its favorite food treats and gifts are. Visualize these as materializing, then lovingly offer them to your animal coessence. Approach it with open arms and an open heart.

Next, invite your animal coessence into your body. Take its full essence into you, and change into it. Start with the feet or hands, and feel them begin to change. Where there was skin, imagine scales, fur, or feathers forming. Allow your head to be the last part of your body to change. Allow yourself to take the form of your animal coessence. This will enable you to further ascertain its skills, visions, and messages.

Once you feel that your animal coessence is inside of you, be open to experiencing its emotions. Don’t hesitate to make its cries or noises if you feel a desire to do so. See yourself as the animal and feel its energies alive within you. What emotions, visions, and sensations does it arouse? Allow yourself to journey with it. If it is a bird, fly. If it walks on four legs, allow yourself to be comfortable on all fours. If it slithers, explore the Underworld slithering, and so forth. Experience the Underworld through their senses.

After you have journeyed with your animal coessence and feel satisfied with the connection you have made, thank it and let it know you are open to receiving its guidance and aid, especially for retrieving your soul pieces. Exit the Underworld through your sacred heart, seeing yourself immersed once again in the sacred white fires of purification and resurrection and then in the violet fires. Take six deep inhales through the nose, exhaling out the mouth. Reflecting on what you saw, heard, felt, and knew, and on how the information came to you.

The connection with the animal coessence involves a sharing of sacred essence energy: once a connection is made, we tend to feel energetically stronger, revitalized, vibrant, and more alert. A soul piece of the person has returned, a part that can reside within and outside of the body. I have seen clients, for example, who were complete pushovers with their spouses or certain family members all of a sudden begin to draw self-respecting boundaries after connecting with their animal coessence.

Our animal coessence has ways of garnering and exerting power and strength as well as possessing survival habits that can greatly benefit us. When your animal coessence has been revealed, learn about its personal traits and continue to deepen the connection with it. There are numerous ways to do this. Place an image of it on your altar or in your office or home. I had a client paint a picture of their animal coessence, which resulted in many lucid dreams in which it appeared. If it leaves a gift for you—such as a snakeskin, if it is a snake, or a feather, if it is a bird—place this item on your altar or in a place you feel is sacred. If you see it in the physical, greet it and talk to it. If possible, find out what it likes to eat and leave this out for it.

The manner in which the animal adapts and survives within its environment can aid us in surviving within our own environment. Some animals are nocturnal during different seasons. Similarly, we may be more effective at nighttime during those seasons. Some animals may be prone to running with packs, or on their own, for purposes such as hunting or looking for a home. In analogous situations, we may also fare better in a community, or on our own.

For soul retrieval, a loss of an animal coessence, that is, a disconnection from it, can hinder us or put us out of balance with our own animal instincts, power, discipline, strength, and capacities for survival. As discussed, the ancient Maya likely believed if a person’s animal coessence was injured, particularly through magic, the person to whom it was connected would also be injured. A lot can be said about this type of magic or sorcery, as there are many different traditions about forming magical relationships with animals, but most of them fall outside the scope of soul retrieval. For now, I would recommend that if you are concerned about this, simply set the intention through your sacred heart to cloak and hologram the information concerning your animal coessence on all ideal levels and ways. Setting this intention is simple. Do it knowing that no instructions are needed: you just know you can do it, and do it.

Journeying to Connect with Animal Guardians

Animal guardians are a little different in that people may develop a strong bond with them but do not share a sacred essence energy with them. Consequently, connecting with an animal guardian may not increase a person’s sacred essence energy; in addition, the person may not share traits, habits, or patterns with the guardian. Even so, having an animal guardian or guardians can be very beneficial in a myriad of ways for soul retrieval as well as for many other purposes.

Animal guardians generally have advantageous instincts for journeying through the crevices of the Underworld and Middleworld to track and retrieve soul pieces. Mythical animal guardians, such as the phoenix, dragons, and Pegasus, are very skilled at traversing the Upperworld realms. Animal guardians, like animal coessences, are very adept at finding and retrieving soul pieces when there has been a soul theft. They can, for example, track the soul piece to the time or lifetime when the loss occurred. Animal guardians can also deliver messages, insight, and guidance.

Animal guardians may court us to work with them, or we can court them. Like animal coessences, they may come in dreams or vision quests or may appear in the physical. However they come, pay attention to what they are doing, particularly if they are engaged in repetitive action, and observe if they are carrying anything. They always have messages for us, and as with animal coessences, we can develop a personalized message system with them.

Animal guardians can get our attention in many diverse ways, but of course it requires us to pay attention. One of my beloved animal guardians, the crow, definitely chose me, and I humbly accepted its aid and guardianship. It always had my back when I was navigating through the world of being an attorney. On one occasion, a crow committed a kamikaze attack on the window of a junior partner at a firm after he began laughing uncontrollably at a misfortune that had befallen me.

In another instance, I had two crows blocking my way as I was going into a law firm for an interview. Although the crows were not rude, they did not get out of my way until I came within a few inches of them, and one of them left some kind of large kernel in front of me. The interview went very well, and they wanted me to start immediately. But I did not take a warning from the crows lightly. When I got home from the interview, I looked up the senior attorney on the California State Bar portal and found out that he had been disciplined twice. I did some more research on the internet and found out this law firm was definitely dirty in many areas. For soul retrieval, I always call on the crow, or it will appear, when I need its help in discerning and understanding a situation.

Connecting with an Animal Guide

If you are interested in connecting with a particular animal, including insects, engage in journeying. Pick a space where you feel comfortable. Cleanse its energy with a smudge stick of sage, rosemary, cedar grass, or some other dry herb, as all herbs have cleansing properties. You can use any of the methods to go into trance. One recommended way is to engage in shamanic dancing with the potential animal guardian.

To dance with an animal guardian, begin to engage in rhythmic breathing: 3 breaths in and 3 breaths out. Keep your eyes ¹/10 open, and gaze. Gazing helps to induce a trance state. (You know you are gazing if you can see the tip of your nose and/or your eyelashes.) While you are doing rhythmic breathing and gazing, also engage in a

Light trot, standing in one place, gently shaking the shoulders and hands

Light trot, moving clockwise 3 times in a circle; symbolic of life, death, and rebirth

Light trot, spiraling to the center; metaphorical for journeying within the sacred heart to connect with an animal guardian

While in the center of the circle, take a seat. Journey in and through the sacred heart. Prior to this, research the animal and find out what type of food treats or gifts it would like. Manifest these, call to the animal guardian, and lovingly offer these gifts to it. Once it appears, say why you feel drawn to work with it in your soul retrieval journey. If it has appeared in some way, you may already know that it has agreed or chosen to work with you before you even felt called to work with it. If appropriate, ask if it would like to work with you and be one of your animal guardians. Let it know that you are open to having it teach and guide you.

Once you feel content with your connection, exit the journey through the sacred heart, seeing yourself immersed in the sacred white fires of purification and resurrection, and then in the violet fires. Take 6 deep inhales through the nose, exhaling out the mouth.

Work with this animal guardian whenever you feel it is a good fit. The way to learn its skills and propensities is to work with it repeatedly and ask it for help.

There are many amazing animal guardians to work with. Here are three that I particularly recommend for the soul retrieval process.

The Serpent as Animal Guardian

To the Maya, serpents were the travelers of the cosmos, able to descend into the Underworld and climb up into the Upperworld. The Popol Vuh, for example, mentions the serpent’s ability to climb and descend the World Tree in the context of the beginnings of the K’iché’ people. The Yucatec Mayan word for serpent is kan, which has a similar pronunciation as the word for sky, chan. Many serpents also denote the vivifying breath spirit or soul. Serpents not only exhale life-giving breath; they embody it. Serpents were seen as the conduits and vehicles of the breath soul essence.³⁸

The gifts and wisdom of the snake are transformation, more specifically rejuvenating and preparing us for this transformation. Snakes are also seers and messengers that can bring messages from other supernatural beings and ancestors.

I typically call on my serpent guardian when I am seeking ancestral wisdom and medicine. I invite its energy to help me and my clients understand the messages of the North, especially when something is not being understood or there is resistance to looking at something. Serpents have a way of energizing transformation and facilitating the release of resistance.

The Jaguar as Animal Guardian

For high-ranking Maya individuals, the jaguar constituted the most common spirit companion. It was believed that the spirit essence of the sun deity, Kinich Ahau, would shape-shift into a jaguar at night. The jaguar’s immense prowess, ferocity, and dominance in the forest led it to be seen as the ideal power animal. As mentioned, in Classic period inscriptions, the hieroglyph signifying the word way comprised a stylized human face partially covered by a jaguar skin. Jaguars were typically associated with the night and could venture into all realms of the Middleworld. They were also identified as a lord of the night.

The gifts of the jaguar include power, strength, courage, and life. Jaguars are excellent in situations when the soul retrieval process involves debilitating power dynamics, such as when people are allowing themselves to be taken advantage of. Jaguars are also ideal companions when you are navigating into and through the Underworld.

The Macaw as Animal Guardian

For the ancient Maya, one who listened to birds could divine the future. The Yucatán Mayan word mut means both “bird” and “augury.” Birds were seen as the bridge between heaven and Earth and as reflecting a union of the conscious mind with the unconscious. As we begin to study and honor the birds we encounter, we will usually find ourselves repeatedly gifted with feathers. Breathing into feathers is a powerful way to activate their healing energy and that of the corresponding bird archetype. You can also connect with other birds through this feather.

The contemporary Maya of Izamal believe that the sun god Kinich Ahau visits the city at noon every day. He descends as a macaw and consumes prepared offerings.

The gifts of the macaw are heightened spiritual discernment, developed intuition, and creativity. The macaw is an ideal animal guardian when one is journeying into and through the Upperworld.