When Mora File, a teacher and heal­er with a back­ground in shaman­ic prac­tices, joined us, she shared valu­able insights about the stages of wom­an­hood. She spoke about the tran­si­tion from maid­en to moth­er and then to crone, empha­siz­ing the crone’s role in embody­ing wis­dom and life’s cycles. Mora high­light­ed the impor­tance of rec­og­niz­ing and cel­e­brat­ing the tran­si­tion into being a crone, under­scor­ing the role of elder women as keep­ers of wis­dom. “I reflect­ed on how these teach­ings pos­i­tive­ly influ­enced my fam­i­ly, par­tic­u­lar­ly in the guid­ance I offered my niece, demon­strat­ing the inter­gen­er­a­tional impact of such wis­dom.”

Our dis­cus­sion then expand­ed to acknowl­edge wom­en’s diverse roles in their com­mu­ni­ties, extend­ing beyond tra­di­tion­al moth­er­hood. We dis­cussed the many forms of care women pro­vide, includ­ing adop­tive and fos­ter moth­ers, and the role of women as wise elders or crones in their com­mu­ni­ties. We rec­og­nized the nur­tur­ing indi­vid­u­als in our soci­ety, regard­less of their gen­der iden­ti­ty, and the sig­nif­i­cance of cer­e­monies that hon­our elder women.

The con­ver­sa­tion also touched on grief cir­cles, high­light­ing the respect for elder wis­dom in times of loss. We con­sid­ered how con­tem­plat­ing life’s tem­po­rary nature can bring peace, espe­cial­ly for those well-root­ed in spir­i­tu­al under­stand­ing, as they approach life’s end. We invite every­one to join our Urban Grief Shaman’s Pod­cast and Cir­cles, where we explore loss and heal­ing through shaman­ic prac­tices. This space is designed for con­nec­tion, learn­ing, and growth, guid­ed by the wis­dom of ances­tral teach­ings and the cycle of life.

Tran­scrip­tion

Intro­duc­tion and Pur­pose (0:00 — 2:32):

Intro­duc­tion of the pod­cast and hosts, John Moir and Dr. Patri­cia Jones.
Expla­na­tion of the pod­cast’s focus on explor­ing grief as a pow­er­ful emo­tion for the soul’s vital­i­ty.
Intro­duc­tion of guest Elaine Egidio and the dis­cus­sion on soul retrieval and shaman­ic heal­ing.

Soul Retrieval and Trau­ma (2:32 — 5:53):

Dis­cus­sion on soul retrieval as a response to trau­ma, includ­ing both phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al expe­ri­ences.
Expla­na­tion of how trau­ma can lead to the frag­men­ta­tion of the soul and the need for retrieval.
Men­tion the impor­tance of work­ing with com­pas­sion­ate spir­its in shaman­ic heal­ing.

The Process of Soul Retrieval (5:53 — 8:00):

Descrip­tion of the soul retrieval process, involv­ing con­nect­ing with help­ing spir­its and restor­ing vital life force.
Empha­sis on the need for indi­vid­u­als to take it easy and engage in self-care after a soul retrieval cer­e­mo­ny.

Per­son­al Expe­ri­ences with Soul Retrieval (8:00 — 10:36):

Per­son­al accounts of expe­ri­enc­ing soul retrieval, includ­ing a pro­found sense of joy and reunion with lost aspects of one­self.
Dis­cuss how the return of frag­ment­ed soul parts can lead to greater self-worth and pur­pose.

Effects of Soul Loss (10:36 — 13:08):

Explo­ration of the effects of soul loss, includ­ing feel­ings of self-worth, shame, and a loss of pur­pose.
Men­tion how indi­vid­u­als may fill the gaps with unhealthy behav­iours or attract influ­ences that are not aligned with their true selves.

Nature’s Role in Heal­ing (13:08 — 15:13):

Dis­cuss the con­nec­tion between nature and heal­ing, includ­ing the idea that nature also expe­ri­ences soul loss.
Men­tion the impor­tance of co-cre­at­ing with nature and the poten­tial need for soul retrieval in nat­ur­al set­tings.

Metaphors and Sym­bol­ism in Soul Retrieval (15:13 — End):

Explo­ration of metaphors and sym­bol­ism in soul retrieval expe­ri­ences, such as using visu­al metaphors dur­ing the process.
Per­son­al anec­dotes about retriev­ing soul frag­ments rep­re­sent­ed by sym­bols like lilies and child­hood mem­o­ries.
Reflec­tion on how soul retrieval can empow­er indi­vid­u­als and help them make pos­i­tive life changes.

Guest Bio

Mora is a Shaman­ic Prac­ti­tion­er and fac­ul­ty mem­ber with the Foun­da­tion for Shaman­ic Stud­ies. She has been a heal­er for 38 years and facil­i­tates work­shops and heal­ing cir­cles to sup­port indi­vid­u­als on their per­son­al jour­neys of trans­for­ma­tion. Inte­grat­ing var­i­ous modal­i­ties, she is pas­sion­ate about cre­at­ing rit­u­als and cer­e­monies to hon­our the nat­ur­al world and embrac­ing the sacred through our per­son­al cycles and sea­sons of change. She has two chil­dren and works with her eight grand­chil­dren to hon­our the nat­ur­al world and to remem­ber and hold sacred the lin­eage of their ances­tors. View Mora’s web­site here.

Links to addi­tion­al resources

Foun­da­tion for Shaman­ic Stud­ies: Link to Foun­da­tion
“The Way of the Shaman” book by Michael Harn­er
Soul­ful Sor­rows: Grief Tend­ing Web­site — Vis­it Web­site

Light Through Shad­ows: Our month­ly newslet­ter, Sub­scribe here.

Explore Soul­ful Sor­rows, our grief-tend­ing web­site, and join a month­ly grief cir­cle

Cred­its

Show intro­duc­tion: One Drum: Sto­ries and Cer­e­monies for a Plan­et by Richard Wagamese
Intro: Remem­ber Back When — Josef Falken­skold, www.epidemicsound.com
Out­ro: Yel­low taxi-Del­i­cate Beats, www.premiumbeat.com