THE FORCE OF THE PRIMAL # 6 LESSONS FOR US When we immerse in nature and "go primitive," it really is not primitive at all. It can be spiritually sophisticated. We are able to access some of the long forgotten powers we once had eons ago. Our dreams can be personally prophetic and we become more intuitive. We may even start to acknowledge that ... “The body is not what it seems …It is not a solid mass but a system of little particles or points of energy separated from each other by space and held in place by an electrically balanced field. When these particles are not in their proper place then disease manifests in the body. Spiritual healing is one way of bringing the particles back into harmonious relationship.”  Olgar Worrall Spontaneous remission of diseases have been reported in sacred places such as Lourdes in France but shamans, indigenous healers, medicine men and women have also been able to achieve the miraculous - usually labelled suspect or anecdotal by the medical profession. Here is a description from a woman who was cured of breast cancer in a ritual in the jungle.

My cells were alive, beating the rhythm of the cosmos. Some were spontaneously regenerating sending live signals to others beside them. The dark spots in my breast were black holes sucking energy into another sphere, one in which living cells were doomed… I cried in pain as I watched his hand magnetize the black smoke. It spread like army ants in file and followed his motion away from my body.”  M. De Wys These are some of the phenomena which can happen from common to rare: Synchronicity begins to show up for us. We become more "Coherent" with ourselves, other beings around us and with the cosmos. This has also been described as the "Maharishi Effect." The Maharishi university found that when a critical number of people in an area meditated the crime rate in that city declined. Prayers for peace can also work. We may experience "Superfluidity" also called "being in the zone." This is well described in athletes and others, when a sense of flow takes over and they perform beyond what is usual for themselves. Other more highly developed paranormal skills include; precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience or sentience, telekinesis, remote viewing or distant diagnosis and distant healing. Hunter-gatherers and indigenous peoples have mastered some of these. No single person will have all or even several of them. We are all uniquely adapted to develop our own particular spiritual talent and should not perseverate on trying to get those that were not given to us to by the Creator. Many have other non-paranormal talents instead.

 

There are also spiritual "dis-eases" unknown to western medicine or psychiatry that are well known to shamans but may have varying descriptions depending on the culture. Those that I have gleaned from sangomas and inyangas in Southern Africa can be described as follows. 

1.   Disease just happens. We really often do not know why some people get sick and others do not. someone once said; anyone who is not confused here really does not understand what is going on.

2.   The Great Spirit or the ancestors or our guides can create disease usually through omission of their protection rather than commission or malicious intent. Evil spirits can create "dis"- ease which can cause sickness.

Would be initiates can suffer the Ancestor sickness (“Thwasa” or the “ Calling” sickness) because of the presence of a spirit guide/s creating an energetic field around them. This will get the attention of the living one. This energy can be disruptive causing maladies which will defy an allopathic diagnosis.

3.   Spiritual intrusions due to hauntings can arise from various situations such as earth-bound spirits or ancestors seeking forgiveness. 

        Earth bound spirits usually result from a sudden, traumatic, confused death. When the spirit departs from the body it may not see the light or hear the ancestors calling them home. The spirit may become stuck on the wrong side of the the veil between the worlds. Many may not know they are earthbound and some may not even think they are dead. They need to be guided back across the veil by someone experienced and competent in this type of healing.  Earthbound spirits are more easily seen in dreams and visitation while others who have crossed over may have more difficulty in traversing the veil to "visit" the living.

 Spiritual intrusions can also occur because of the dead seeking forgiveness for abuses perpetrated on the living. When we go to the other side we face a spiritual tribunal and have to reconcile with our karma. If we have done something bad to another living being we are accountable unless we are forgiven. Forgiveness can release us from our karmic misfortunes. This is best done before death but can be done after, with ritual, and with the assistance of someone knowledgeable.   

  There is nothing good about being haunted either by an earthbound spirit in one's home or someone who has passed on and needs forgiveness. They may cause energetic dysfunction such as anxiety, depression, bad luck, difficulty with relationships etc. 

 Many cultures describe various non-human spirits which are believed real by some such as; trolls, elves, fairies, gnomes, goblins etc. Indigenous peoples in Southern Africa differentiate between non-human spirits; bush or terrestrial spirits, cosmic and water spirits – some good and some bad - the worst of all being the Tokolosh. The water spirit or Unzunzu is key in the initiation of a sangoma. 

Kabbalah describes Sheyds and Dybbuks which are dysfunctional human spirits. Sheyds or intrusive spirits are not necessarily evil but their energetic effects can be disruptive. Interestingly in South Africa these intrusive spirits are also called Shades. The Hebrew for Sheyd is a ghost – Sheydim – the plural form. 

A Dybbuk is a disembodied human spirit that, because of former sins, wanders restlessly until it finds a haven in the body of a living person because it has little hope of redemption and reincarnation and this is the only way it can again experience sensory pleasures. 

True spirit possession, though very rare, is real, not only to the Catholic church but also in African and Kabbalistic belief. It requires someone very skilled to remove it. The Baal Shem Tov, a Chassidic mystic and Jesus were both know to do exorcisms as do Catholic priests.

I will be taking a blog break. We will continue the blog in a mid-May and complete the other spiritual illnesses we all need to know about.

Farewell to winter - hello to spring.