What is Shamanic Extraction?
Shamanic extraction is the removal of displaced energy, sometimes called intrusions. This is energy that does not belong in the body and may cause illness.
Shamans work with the spirit or the soul and they work with energy. In the case of shamanic extraction they are working with misplaced energy. No energy is truly bad from a shamanic perspective. If energy is misplaced or it isn't in accord with the environment (the human body, or the body of land...) it will bring illness.
Where does misplaced energy come from?
We all are aware that emotional states can effect health. Stress is acknowledged to cause backaches and ulcers. Shamans believe that your emotion takes the form of energy and can be stored throughout the body and eventually lead to illness. So you store your stress or anger in your stomach, or you get angry and send your anger out at someone. We can see this if can remember a time when someone's anger or sadness seemed to have an effect on a room: "her anger hit me like a blow" "you could cut the tension with a knife."
The energy that can be stored in the body does not have to be from anger but could be from other reasons as well. In the shamanic mind there is no distinction made based on where the energy came from. The shaman sees that the energy does not belong there and removes it.
Other types of misplaced energy could be the energy left behind from an injury. Someone sprains his/her ankle and an energetic injury may remain which could perpetuate weakness in that location. Organ transplants is sometimes an instance where shamanic extraction is needed. Shamanically everything has a soul, so the heart transplanted from another may still contain energy from the organ donor. This energy may or may not be compatible with the heart transplant recipient. If its not, the shaman would remove the 'displaced' energy that is adding to the body's rejection of the heart so that the rejection will be less severe.
As you can see in the organ donor example, misplaced energy is not good or bad, it simply does not belong there. Because it does not belong there it causes illness or weakness in the body.
The Extraction: Finding and Removing the Misplaced Energy
The shaman will first enter a shamanic state of consciousness to diagnose and find where misplaced energy might be in the body. This change in consciousness allows the shaman to see in a different way, to see what is going on energetically. The shaman will perceive the energy in some way that will indicate to her or to him that it needs to be removed. It may appear to shaman as black sludge, or as an attacking snake, have a smell, or be felt as heaviness. The way each shaman perceives that there is misplaced energy varies, but there is always a signal of some kind which says 'this does not belong here.'
Once the shaman has located the misplaced energy, he or she will then merge fully with their guardian spirits or power animals. This increases the shaman's power and allows them to remove the energy. It also protects the shaman from taking the energy into her or his own body during the shamanic extraction. This increase of power allows the shaman to pull the energy out, as if he or she has a stronger magnet to pull with. If the shaman increases the power of his or her magnet sufficiently to overcome the displaced energy's hold on the body, it can be removed.
Depending on the shamanic practitioner and the nature of the displaced energy this can be a very quiet process, or some practitioners and especially in native societies the extraction can be quite a show. The shamanic practitioner merged with a power animal may move similarly as his or her power animal, or may make the sounds of her or his animal. For instance if the animal is a snake the practitioner may hiss while removing the energy block. If you are interested in having an extraction you can discuss this with your shamanic practitioner, and they can perform the extraction in a way that you feel comfortable with.
In addition, sound instruments may be used, such as a rattle or a drum, to increase the power or the energy of the "magnet." The shamanic practitioner may sing to maintain her or his shamanic state, or to increase her/his power during the process.
The shamanic practitioner will dispose of the removed energy in various ways. She may transmute (transform) the energy into a more positive life enhancing energy. He may place it in water and have the water neutralize it.
Once the extraction is performed the shamanic practitioner will fill the void that is created by the vacated energy in the person's body. The practitioner may replace it with healing energy, perform a power animal retrieval or perform a soul retrieval. The shaman will not leave a void for other energy to fill.