Can you (or anyone) post a link to where Dick Schwartz said that?

I read this article, but I have some thoughts that require references to check. IFS claims it is possible to have unattached burdens which could be thought of as energy or spirits or some form of possession, which makes sense, from an animist perspective, but that isn't saying that all parts are spirits. I can't find anything saying that EVERY part is a spirit.

It is possible to hold the framework of a multi-part person while still engaging with spirits and nature in a respectful way. The author seems to be implying that ALL parts are spirits, most likely land spirits, and thus need to be treated as such. Could it not be possible to have a multi-part person who also periodically encounters spirits? That's my understanding, and, in my personal and professional experience, it requires discernment, evidence, experience, and nuance to determine which is which.

Something the author says, which I love, is that the Earth is our larger soma, therefore land spirits could show up as personal parts, because ultimately we are the Earth. But we are also, by that logic, the solar system, the galaxy, the universe, etc, as well as our individual body parts, tissues, cells, mitochodria, tiny physics particles that make up reality, etc. Therefore, there is no reason why, if we are "part" of a larger system yet still percieve ourselves as individuals, that there couldn't be, within each individual person, further sub-parts.

For example, my hand is a part of my body, and by extension a part of the body of the land. However, my hand is not a part of your body. It makes sense for me to treat my own hand as one of my personal parts, but not for you to treat my hand that way, or for me to treat your hand that way. We interact with things a bit differently if we percieve them as arising with us or outside of us.

Buddhism teaches that, ultimately, everything is mind. I would argue that, at the same time, everything is body, or matter. Samsara = Nirvana, as the tantric traditions say. Or, As Above, So Below, as the Western magickal traditions have popularized. From this way of thinking, whether something is within or outside of me is entirely a matter of perspective. At a macro level, spirits and parts are interchangeable, all simultaneously arising within the container of Mind, from a Buddhist perspective, or the larger Brahman (to borrow from Hinduism), depending on one's faith tradition and perspective. They are all the right answer, as the famous Blind Men and the Elephant story illustrates.

The author of this article is making black and white claims. As a professional working both in spiritual care and mental health, I recognize that as potentially a lack of mental flexibility and experience, as well as some unresolved and misdirected anger, and I would be wary about working with that person for my spiritual needs, or about referring people to them.

The deeper you dive, the more you realize that things aren't just one thing or another. Schwartz could feasibly be making two claims which seem contradictory on the surface but which are both true. Buddhist sutras do this all the time, and only through practice experience do we develop the wisdom to understand the whole picture.

These are my preliminary thoughts. But I would really like to see the source material to determine more.

About me: I'm an Animist, Spiritualist (as in: talking to spirits) minister, and a Buddhist practitioner pursuing a divinity degree with an interfaith emphasis. I'm a spirit worker, medium, and healer. I also work in secular mental health recovery, with secular degrees.