Alida Birch is a teacher of shamanism and spiritual healing in Eugene Oregon, offering introductory and advanced trainings in the shamanic journey, shamanic healing, and soul retrieval.. Trained in soul retrieval by Sandra Ingerman and certified in shamanic counseling by Michael Harner, Alida assists her clients to heal the past and to create a life of joy. She received her shamanic initiation in the 1980's, has facilitated thousands of soul retrievals, and has been training others for three decades. Her first book, The Co-Creation Handbook: A Shamanic Guide to Manifesting a Better World & a More Joyful Life, is now available as a paperback, e-book, and audiobook.
Case Studies
RETRIEVAL OF POWER CASE STUDY: ALICE*
Alice came to me for healing because her husband had left her for another woman after 25 years. Not only was she devastated emotionally and financially, but her two adult children were also experiencing difficulties.
The extraction was a bit of a surprise. I found many intrusions in her left forehead, the left brain. Later Alice told me that she had been experiencing excruciating pains in that side of her head. She had had a CAT scan 7 months ago to rule out any physical problems.
The next day, the office called to remind her of her CAT scan appointment. She had no such appointment and when she called, the receptionist could not trace the source of the appointment or the referring doctor. Alice took this synchronicity as a sign from the spirits and immediately scheduled an appointment with her referring doctor to see if she needs another CAT scan.
The power animal that I brought back for Alice turned out to already be a very important animal in your life. At the time Alice did not make any comments about the animal. It was at her follow-up session 2 weeks later that an amazing series of metaphors regarding this animal began to emerge.
Her husband's company used the animal as its logo to represent specific qualities of his business.
We felt that the spirits were telling her that the animal was now hers- a part of her identity that she had formerly seen as combined with her husband’s was now hers and hers only. She would also be stronger for this divorce trauma.
This animal is also an incredible maternal figure, carrying in gestation for 5 years and forming long relationships with her social group. When these animals are sick, they are held up by group members so they do not lie down and crush themselves with their own weight.
Also, the day before I had heard on National Public Radio the news story a disease endemic to this animal's popultation; a disease that had been killing 20-30% of the wild and captive ones. They had finally traced the disease, identified it as a virus and believed they had a cure.
Alice took all this in and felt very heartened. Every single one of these "animal" events had been positive. She also had been dreaming about her husband in his new life situation with other women, non-romantically, as if she detached from him at the heart level. We both knew this was a good sign and that her helping spirits were doing their job.
*all names are fictitious to protect privacy
SOUL RETRIEVAL CASE STUDY: JUDY
Several years ago Judy came to see me for a soul retrieval. She did not have any big issues in her life except that she wished to move forward and hopefully find a loving relationship with a man. During my journey, my power animal informed me that when Judy was three years old, her parents had left her in the charge of a babysitter for the evening. Unbeknownst to them and quite accidentally, the babysitter dropped Judy on her head when Judy slipped out of her grasp. The babysitter did not reveal this to the parents. This soul part was eager to return and I brought the soul part back to Judy. She said she never remembered the incident but thanked me for the soul retrieval. The next day, while Judy was driving in her car, she noticed that she was hearing differently. The stereo seemed louder and the sound was fuller. She went home and held a phone up to her right ear. She could hear the dial tone! She had been deaf in her right ear since age three but had never shared this information with me. When she returned in two weeks to tell me how she was doing, she shared this miraculous healing. To this day Judy retains her hearing.
SOUL RETRIEVAL CASE STUDY: MARILYN
Marion expressed feelings of bitterness and disappointment with her life. She was an attractive woman in her fifties. She could not seem to make her life work. She was financially strapped and she had unsuccessful love relationships in the past. She was lonely and in despair of ever changing. She wanted security and love. When I journeyed for Marilyn I found something very unusual. I saw darkness. Then out of the darkness, a hand appeared and I saw it slap her hard on the face. I realized that at some point she had experienced soul loss due to a slap on the face. I searched and found the missing soul part. This soul part brought back the sense of confidence and determination that Marilyn was missing. I blew the soul part back into her body. When I relayed the story to Marilyn, she told me about the time when she was in her mid-teens. She and her friends were walking past a movie theatre one evening. A crowd of girls was passing by. Out of the blue, a girl reached over and slapped her face. Marilyn was shocked and unable to respond. Nothing was ever said and she forgot the incident. Several months went by and I saw Marilyn at a Thai restaurant. She was with a gentleman her age and was very happy. She leaned over and whispered in my ear that all her goals had been met.
SHAMANIC COUNSELING:
The following quote from a former client stands on its own: "I am an incest and ritual abuse survivor. I began shamanic counseling with Alida because I was aware of a large void within myself. I knew that my connection to God and Nature used to fill that hole when I was a child. The incest and ritual abuse had taken away that connection. To fill this space I smoked, over-ate and agonized about my feelings of disconnection and loss. The shamanic counseling was a turning point in helping me to reconnect and has accelerated my healing process faster and deeper than years of therapy. I am so thankful to be once again connected with my spiritual life. My helping animals and teachers are genuine family and I have been nurtured and enlightened when I journey. Shamanic counseling has enabled me to once again live a rich and meaningful existence."
This is a good example of a person who knew she was in spiritual distress. First, I taught her the shamanic counseling method so she could develop a connection with her spirit helpers. Next I did a soul retrieval to fill her back up with herself. Several months later, despite her change in identity and covering all her tracks so she would not be found, her father tricked the Social Security office into revealing her location. Some amazingly synchronistic events occured to protect her and convince the father to leave her alone. Synchonicity is a sure sign that the spirits are involved. We are still thanking the spirits for this one!