Nature's Resources help heal Soul Loss in Career and Enterprise

Excerpt from the book: Shamanic Tools, a living systems guide for professionals,
by Liliane van der Velde

Daniel had experienced a series of disappointments in his career that affected him deeply — both personally and professionally. He found it difficult to engage in a new project again.

Context:

Daniel is a 45-year-old consultant and coach in industrial performance. He has had a rich career but faced several professional disappointments that undermined his confidence.

After eighteen years in one company, a promotion promised to him went instead to a colleague — an event he experienced as a betrayal. It brought his momentum to a halt and eroded his trust, both in others and in his own abilities.

Later, he joined an ecological carpentry company that seemed perfectly aligned with his values. Yet the social and environmental ideals it displayed outwardly were not truly embodied within. The company’s financial situation was deteriorating rapidly. The leadership was chaotic, with constant shifts in strategy creating a destabilizing loss of meaning, and leading to conflicts, burnout, and departures. Eventually, the company closed, leaving pain and confusion in its wake. 

The experience shook Daniel’s professional sense of purpose as well as his confidence in his own discernment and capacities.

Daniel: “I had followed the personal Soul Retrieval process, which was truly beneficial at a personal level, allowing me to retrieve my vitality. Then I wanted to work on my wounded professional path — to clarify it, and to realign with my professional soul impulse before committing to a new enterprise. I wanted to do constellation work with Liliane to explore how to bring that same living connection I had found for myself, into my work.”

Note: before beginning the constellation work, I had invited Daniel to find and connect deeply with the natural resources around him needed for his intention, so he could feel supported by something larger than the issue itself.

Daniel's Constellation Work: revisiting his career Path

Daniel begins by naming his intention : I want to rediscover my professional impulse and contribute to developing thriving, life supporting enterprises.

Since this is individual work, Daniel has prepared symbolic objects to represent his resources. He places them carefully around him:

• Earth from his own garden, and a piece from a large linden tree that support him greatly at home: they will be his Allied resources for this work
• His Soul (a burning candle)
• His professional impulse to develop life supporting enterprises : a green plant

I invite Daniel to lay out the thread of his career in front of him—a timeline stretching from the past, (at his left), through all his significant experiences, up to the future and a new, healthier enterprise (at his right). 

The first enterprise: Facing betrayal in the enterprise

Then I ask him to position himself facing the enterprise where he worked for eighteen years.

On the thread in front of him, he places:

• The former enterprise
• His leadership capacity and his ability to assume greater responsibility — the impulse that was interrupted (he chooses a figure with wings to represent this)

Taking Perspective with the Support of Nature

Image: Daniel facing betrayal in the first enterprise

I suggest he breathe with the medicine (the qualities) of the Earth and the large Linden, to step back and draw on their natural resources.

He stands there for a moment, breathing and grounding himself. After some time, he can say : "I felt betrayed in our alliance."

He places a symbol for the betrayal in front of the enterprise (a knife).

Breathing again with the Earth and the Linden helps him transform what happened. The support of these ancient, rooted Allies allows something to shift inside him. Slowly, his vision clears. He begins to see not only the wound, but also the relational capacities he developed during those years.

He represents them too, placing them next to the enterprise. He continues:

"I see how I was able to develop my leadership skills and my capacity to assume greater responsibility."

Quietly, with intention, he now takes back these two talents — his leadership and his relational capacities — drawing them toward himself.

Daniel: "I now take them back with me, to be fully alive and to contribute to developing thriving enterprises."

This brings him density. He feels more complete, more solidly himself.

Once this episode has been digested and soothed, he gathers his rediscovered talents and carries them with him toward his next professional experience — one that was also painful.

The ecological enterprise: projecting an ideal, facing the truth

He represents further along on the thread of time:

• The ecological enterprise
• Strong human values

Image: Daniel projecting an ideal on the ecological enterprise

Liliane: "From the perspective of Earth and from your own heart impulse... when you look at that, what was missing?"

Daniel: "I myself lacked courage to really see what was there."

He places an object to represent courage.

Liliane: "And the enterprise itself, what did it lack?"

Daniel: "It lacked wisdom, rightness."

Liliane: "Was there a leader, a person in charge?"

Daniel: "There were two leaders, two founders. And it really wasn't going well between them. I think there was a moment when they kind of separated inside the enterprise. Each had their own domain, but it didn't work."

Liliane: "Look from the point of view of Earth, as if you were her. From the point of view of the Linden tree, as if you were the tree. Where is it not rooted? Where does the ground give way?"

Daniel stands quietly, breathing with the Earth beneath him, feeling into the question, his mind open and receptive.

Daniel: "I think the heart of it is the poor relationship between the two founders. This triggered so many things — things they should have seen coming but didn't. An alliance was missing. They also lacked territorial grounding, real rootsin the place."

He pauses, something else surfaces.

"There's that, and they also lacked knowing how to collaborate well together. The Spirit of the Living Family was missing. I think it was there in certain people, but not in everyone, even though we were sold the illusion that it was."

Liliane: "Represent the Spirit of the Family of the Living — not biological family. We're talking about knowing how to work together, to truly labor side by side, as in Nature."

Daniel places a large elephant on the ground.

Daniel: "It feels good to place it there. It generates emotion for me." His voice catches slightly. "It’s a positive emotion."

Liliane: "Feel what remains important for you. This Family Spirit of collaboration, and this space that allows people's capacities to be revealed, their gifts to emerge. And also notice how it allows you to see what wasn't working. You can say it out loud."

Daniel: "It's a shame you couldn't come together to look at what wasn't working."

Liliane: "If you had to step into an enterprise like that now, to help it come back to life, what would you recommend from a support perspective?"

Daniel: "To take perspective. To see what's not working."

Liliane: "Do you see money? Do you see the connection to Earth?"

Daniel places a symbol for moneyin the constellation before him, really seeing it now.

Daniel: "I see this connection to money and this connection to Earth competing. At a certain point, the economic aspect became stronger than all the ecological commitments which had been made. It won out over everything else."

Liliane: Can you say, "I saw that without money, we can't embody values in an enterprise."

Daniel: repeats, "I saw that without money, we can't embody values in an enterprise."

Liliane: It has to do with the courage to look things in the face too, as you said, to see what's not working.

Daniel: What it also taught me was to be focused on the very DNA of the enterprise. I think that at a certain point, they turned away from the primary activity, the root activity of the enterprise. They developed other things. And today, the enterprise has returned to doing what it was doing 20 years ago.

Liliane: That may have to do with the initial Spirit of the Enterprisethat was forgotten. It's important to represent it.

Daniel represents the initial Spirit of this Enterprise.

Daniel: “I see you. Thank you for the chance to work with you, and for allowing me to express and grow my leadership, and my capacity to share knowledge and expertise
“Thank you for letting me feel this Spirit of Tribe and the Family of the Living.”
“I take them with me for my project — to bring more life into my professional path, and to help enterprises become more alive.”

I suggest to Daniel that he say: “Thank you for teaching me to be courageous — to face what needs to be healed, to look at money stories directly, and to see clearly what is feasible and what is not.”

Liliane: “Breathe again with the Earth, and with all the energy of the Linden trees. There may be other understandings that nature brings. How do you feel about this past situation now?”

Daniel: “I feel clear-sighted. I also feel that I can separate what belongs to me from what doesn’t. I see that the intensity of my disillusionment was partly linked to the projections about an ideal ecological workplace I had placed onto it.”

Liliane: “Your own idealization — perhaps it would help to represent it.”

Daniel places his ideal expectation next to the enterprise.

I suggest to Daniel that he say to the enterprise: “I see you. You are not my ideal expectation.”

This frees the past situation from the projections he had placed on it, allowing him to see things as they truly are.

Liliane: “Do you see money there, in the enterprise’s situation?”

Daniel: “Yes.”

Liliane: “Feel what it does to truly see it — to really recognize it.”

Daniel says to money: “I see that you are indispensable.”

Liliane: “Breathe again with the Earth until you feel this connection to money in your body. Money here mirrors the connection to Earth — it helps root projects into reality. How will you consider it now, with the courage to look at it directly, in the face?

Take a moment to feel the decision you’re making before continuing on your path, as if making a commitment: “I will look at money, and I will also look at what is missing.”

Liliane: “If you can bring this awareness that was missing, and carry it with you as a resource, then the experience has found its full meaning.”

Daniel: “What comes to me is to see money as a creative resource.
And also the Spirit of Family — I feel deeply connected to this Spirit. The Spirit of the Family of the Living gives a place to everything — even to money. I see it as something central that watches over everything else.”

Breathing with the Earth, things settle; everything calmly finds its place. Daniel can then peacefully gather all the talents he has developed and turn toward the future with a new perspective.

Presenting Himself to the New Project, with his recovered talents

Daniel turns toward the new project — an enterprise that has shown interest in him.

Liliane: “Come closer to this enterprise and present yourself with what you have to offer — your experience, your sense of collaboration that embraces everything, even money; your leadership, your capacity to share and take on responsibility, and the courage to look at what needs to be addressed.

This isn’t your enterprise. You’re introducing yourself as you would when meeting someone for the first time. Keep a respectful distance, so you don’t step into its space without invitation.

Bring your own resources with you — your Soul, your Earth, and the Life-serving resources.

Now, you can present yourself to the enterprise by saying, 

Daniel: “Here’s where I come from, and here’s what I can bring. That matters.”
(He gestures toward the past.) “That was my ideal, but I won’t project it onto you.”

Liliane: “Now that the enterprise truly sees you, it’s important that you also see it as it really is — without projection or idealization. You can honor this enterprise and its Spirit.”

Daniel: “I feel that the veil of projection has lifted. I’m ready to see things as they are.”

Looking from the Project

Liliane: “Now come and stand in the place of the Spirit of this new Enterprise, facing Daniel. How does it perceive him, with all that he brings — and without the ideal?”

Daniel (speaking as the Spirit of the new enterprise): “It sees Daniel as determined. Rich — in the sense of being diverse, with many resources and strong support behind him.”

Daniel returns to his own place.

Liliane: “Facing this new enterprise, notice if something might still be missing for you — maybe a framework, training, or a choice to make about a new position. What feels right to bring in?”

Daniel: “The framework you mention is always essential for me when I accompany enterprises. It helps establish clarity and direction (agreements on what is to be done). I can really feel that this step is needed here.”

He places pieces of wood around the new professional space.

Daniel: “It brings back more clarity — a sense of not being in projection anymore. I feel that it holds, and it connects.”

Liliane: “Take a moment to breathe, Daniel, with the Earth — let the project mature, with all the nourishment and fertilizer you’ve brought.”

Daniel: “I can feel so strongly the energy of the Linden tree supporting and containing me. It’s breathing. There’s a sense of trust now, and patience — not wanting to go too fast, allowing the connection to unfold naturally.”

Liliane: “Yes. Just like the Earth, and like the trees — they take their time, so that things can weave themselves into reality.”

Two Months Later 

Daniel recounts: “I’ve been able to release the wounds and reclaim my strengths — the adaptability I’ve developed through change, and the managerial experience I’ve gained along the way.

I’ve learned to separate what belonged to the past enterprise from that which truly belongs to me — the disillusionment between my deepest values and that project, my commitment, and the strength I drew from it. I can see how I’ve grown, now that I've come out of it.

The constellation profoundly changed my attitude and positioning. The projections I released from the former enterprise also lifted from within myself.

When I went through recruitment for a new position, I chose to present myself honestly, grounded in my values, without trying to sell an image. I clearly showed up as who I am and who I am not and checked whether their needs genuinely aligned with mine. I received two offers and chose the one that truly fit me best.

Now, as I join this new enterprise, I approach it differently. I can better distinguish between what belongs to me and what belongs to the organization. I project less, and I take my time to build authentic connections — both with the Spirit of the new enterprise and with its people.

I feel anchored in reality — just like this enterprise itself; well rooted in its territory.”

How has your career path shaped you?
Are there talents waiting to be reclaimed, and wounds asking to be healed?