The
Making of a Healer…A Fable Retold
By
Jennifer Morse, MS PhD
I’ve
learned the hard way healing does not always mean the cessation or
disappearance of symptoms. I’ve spent decades searching through
holistic healing, studying the paths where the mind and body meet
trying to unravel the pain in my body and the pains of the past. Some
people heal into life and others heal into death. Patients follow
treatments and reduce or cure their symptoms. Other patients follow
the same treatments and remain ill. And yet they may be healed.
I
was twenty plus years on my quest and in my forties when I realized
maybe I wasn’t going to find the key to resolve my symptoms. Could
I find a way to soften and buffer the erosive effects of chronic
pain?
Is
it through acts of compassion we heal ourselves and the world? Is
compassion the missing element in a world that glorifies science?
Let’s not forget the influence of the Sacred Mystery. A portion of
life operates beyond our ability to comprehend its scope. It is known
by many names: The Great Unknown, The Sacred Mystery.
Here
is a story of a healer and how he came to dwell in The Great
Mystery…..
Our
healer began the study of healing as a child learning from his father
the community shaman. Eventually he grew in his abilities and wanted
to live beyond his father’s shadow. He wanted to push beyond the
boundaries of what he knew and venture into the unknown. He left on a
day when the clouds thundered and lightening split the sky. He left
his home and friends. It was a heart break. The rain poured in
straight lines. The storm masked the weeping of his mother and the
roar of his father’s disappointment. Yet something was pushing him
beyond his comforts, beyond the pleasures of the familiar.
He
was hungry for healing. He had lived too long, invisible, within his
father’s shadow. He was ashamed of his unspoken agreements to
remain invisible. He allowed his loyalty to his father, his
teachings, the family and even the greater community to subvert his
personal strengths. Now he must reclaim himself.
He
was hungry to define himself on his own terms. He longed to test his
skills without looking over his shoulder for approval. He traveled
until he was far beyond the reputation and influence of his father.
He found a community looking for an apprentice to assist their
healer. Within the forest of tall pine trees he studied the paths of
mind, body and spirit. First traveling the geography of each
dimension individually, next he studied their interactions and
relationships. It seemed an eternity before he understood the effects
of interventions on one level interwoven with all levels. Long story
short when he attempted to heal the body it affected the mind and
spirit.
And
as much as he loved his teacher they had a falling out. On another
stormy afternoon with the thunder at his back he moved on once again.
Traveling into different lands he studied the ways of medicine. He
hungered for both traditional medicine and esoteric or holistic
medicine. He began his studies with the different bodies that live
within the skin of one man.
The
brain was one control center with its powers of observation. The
heart’s wisdom held within its power the drumbeat of life. When the
heart is filled with love it beats steady and strong. Even when
weakened with illness the heart can sometimes transcend itself with
love. We call this a peaceful death.
Our
healer found the gut is the third control station of the body. It is
lined with antennae. Each filament is designed to read truth. When he
learned the truths of the gut he came to live within his personal
power. But there is more….
He
learned blood, the rivers of life, carried hormones and other
messages throughout the body. The bones of each body form a
structure. The muscles hold the bones in place. To support this
knowledge our healer learned massage and adjusting the body so the
components, the power stations of the body, could work together in
alignment and harmony.
To
give the body strength he studied healing with herbs. Discovering
energy fields resonating beyond the skin’s surface, he learned the
healing properties of gems and minerals. And eventually as a healer
he was able to hold a patient’s hand and listen to the pulse of
health and perceive the shadows of illness.
Using
himself as the laboratory he practiced the tools of health and
vitality. He found engaging personal strengths, in conjunction with
purpose for a greater good, created vitality. To tone his body he
walked in the hills and the ripple of wind flowing over his skin
called him into attunement with the forest. He practiced yoga until
the movement became a prayer. Engaging strengths, at one with the
forest, in prayer with yoga made him happy.
One
day a yoga teacher said, “The purpose of yoga is to prepare the
body for meditation.” He turned his attention to meditation. There
were breathing meditations, sitting in stillness, guided imagery. He
tried them all. He cultivated an openness to hear the quiet stillness
within. Beginning with intentional rest he learned the pathways of
meditation. He traveled the dimensions of dreaming. He magnetized the
powers of healing.
When
his teacher retired he decided to move on. He did not want the
responsibility of becoming a community healer. His next teacher
initiated him, by blowing power through the top of his head, into the
hands of healing. A channel of cosmic light opened. This fueled the
health passing through his hands freely. Wellness was transmitted to
the patient he touched.
This
time when it was time to leave he was able to make his goodbyes with
thanks. He left gifts. He told his teachers how they changed his
life. He left with a light heart on a sunny day. He traveled to the
city where he studied a long time and learned to heal with his words.
This required he first listen with his full presence. Sometimes just
listening with care was enough. He became attuned when to speak and
when to listen. It was if his studies in meditation had changed his
ability to hear with the mind, the heart and the gut. They fueled his
words and contained his silence.
He
moved to a monastery along the cliffs of the sea, where through
prayer he cast out illness and encouraged health. They taught with
prayer to release his agreements, his ties, to negativity. Continuing
in prayer he petitioned Infinite Intelligence to fill the void. His
greatest prayer was to be at one with the Divine. The Sacred in the
silence began to fill him. This was a new kind of prayer. It
revolutionized his perceptions.
At
the monastery he learned to set bones and sew up cuts. He learned the
secrets of nutrition as medicine. Fish oil in conjunction with
primrose oil reduced the body’s inflammation. Magnesium malate
calmed and soothed muscles. Potassium rich diets increased heart
health. Dandelion root is a blood cleanser. Cinnamon reduces and
stabilizes the blood sugar. The list grew longer and longer.
Eventually
he combined all he knew of healing methodologies into complex
treatment regimes. It would be easy to say he had integrated the
diverse modalities and had been transformed. But it was more than a
transformation. He no longer practiced the elements of healing.
Through cohesion the dimensions of healing were ingrained on his DNA.
The essence of his cellular replication was imprinted with the
essence of healing. He was at one with healing. Healing was at one
with him. He had undergone a radical transmutation within the essence
of life.
Hopelessly
ill patients were waiting at his door each morning. He became well
known and successful. People crowded together waiting for an
appointment. Day after day he treated patients. He worked long into
evenings. Absorbed in the needs of others he had little life beyond
illness.
Toxicity
began to crowd out his health and vitality. Even when he wanted to
stop and walk in the forest his gift insisted on its expressions. He
could not turn away from the need. He gave of himself until there was
no more to give and then he left to become a wandering healer. Life
pulled him. He surrendered into life and was reborn.
When
there was no where else to go, when he embodied the art and science
of healing in its totality, he surrendered again and no longer called
himself a healer. He simply traveled the world.
Eventually
he returned to his village arriving on a cold winter’s day. The
trees had lost their leaves. The branches stood stark against a grey
sky. The mountains in the distance were covered in snow. A hawk flew
around him in a full circle. The forest rushed a greeting to him on
the rustle of evergreen trees. Walking at the center of his knowledge
long ago translated into wisdom; warm within the glow of self
illumination, as he walked past the Cherry tree, the flowers blossom.
Author’s
note: When I hear this story I understand the healer transcended the
methodology of healing. He was dwelling within the Great Mystery. His
presence was Grace itself. Is Grace the dimension of life that
transcends healing and is born of the Great Mystery?
Jennifer
Morse is the author of a motivational book: The Way of the Fairy
Godmother. A fictional book: Letters from the Land of Midlife Dating.
Together with her husband, William Mortimer, they co-authored the
young adult book: Redemption’s Warrior.
A
short story: Awaiting the Fairy Godmother is awaiting publication
this fall. Also coming soon is a full length book: The Fairy
Godmother’s of the Four Directions.
You
can find all of Jennifer’s book on AmazonKindle
