Healing
espírito
the perception of health and
illness seen by a mexican indian sorcerer
Pablo a Mazateca Indian and trained sorcerer
is living in the mountains of Oaxaca. When I visited him last time he agreed
to tell me about the Indian tradition and understanding of illness and
healing. He is 75 years old and has been working as a healer for more than
45 years. We are sitting on the top of a mountain watching some landworkers
working in the fields of sweetcorn some 15 km away. We are surrounded by
cacti, magueyes, organos, nopales and stones. The sun was shining the morning
was very fresh and tranquil.
Pablo is sitting in front of
me and takes a deep breath before he starts talking. "Contrary to what
most people think the world of a healer is mainly based on options and
possibilities rather than real facts. We (human beings) are linked to everything
in the universe and to one another in many different ways. There is an
exchange of information between all things and humans on all levels. We
are constantly giving and receiving information on an energetic level that
very few people suspect happening - let alone understand and use in a productive
manner.
The world around us is made
of energies. A change in a person's energetic constitution will happen
before he/she gets ill and a healer is aware of this. Energy which makes
up all sorts of things has got its own vibration. The healer can feel this
via his body awareness not with his mind. He can feel if there is a different
vibration. There are various ways in which the Spirit will communicate
with us and illness is just one of them.
You could say that when you
are starting to become ill it is in fact the Spirit trying to get through
to us telling us something about the way we lead our life. But to be able
to understand it we have to learn to listen to it and if we don't listen
to the signs we will become ill. Thus illness is just another way of making
us aware that changes will be necessary. However, being ill has nothing
to do with either guilt or having done something wrong. What happened is
that we did not pay proper attention to what really is important in our
existance as a human being and the disease makes us aware of the things
we should change. Accidents or severe illnesses are the very last attempt
of the Spirit to make us aware of necessary changes. When we do not listen
to the request for change, illness will occur but not as the result of
punishment.
The universe is made of vibrating
energies and is constantly changing. The vibrations of the universe are
never static, fixed or inflexible. Change is happening all the time at
all levels. Every species has got its own deep rhythm by which it connects
one another but there is also an underlying all encompassing rhythm that
connects us all. We are all very much preoccupied with our daily life.
When our connection to the rhythm of the universe, the Spirit is weakening
due to the activities of our daily life we are less able to perceive the
information of the continuously changing universe. And if we then ignore
the sign given to us by the Spirit we may develop illness. But this is
not to punish us but to make us aware of our weakening contact to the universal
rhythm of life. You could compare the situation to an item you use daily:
it has to be looked after, cleaned and polished.
A healer does not concentrate
on the symptoms of his patient but on the specific circumstances linked
to him/her. He does not need to know how the patient has developed the
problems, but why it happened to the patient in the first place. One thing
is absolutely certain: a healer can heal. He does that by getting the patient
to sit and listen to the Spirit in order to find the lost contact. This
will help to initiate the natural process of self-healing for the patient.
The human body has the capacity to do this. But the most difficult part
is to make our mind cooperate with the body consciousness. Healers have
to use all sorts of tricks and ploys to make the most impression on their
patients.
In a healer's universe an objective
world in space and time does not exist, so he is forced to deal with possibilities
and not facts. While tackling this universe it becomes pretty clear that
only one rule matters: it has to resonate. And it does not matter how absurd
the methods might be as long as they seem appropriate and meaningful.
Illness is an expression of
spiritual energies. Something you have to pay attention to with your body
awareness on an energy level. It is not important to understand your illness
in your mind, intellectually. No, what really matters is to give your body
the chance to feel the illness from within in order to develop a deep understanding
of the interconnections so that you can get in touch with the energies
of the universe and the Spirits.
The universe is an unreasonable
being, a different kind of intelligence expressing itself so it cannot
be understood by logic. It vibrats to a music inaudible to the individual
ear. But it is possible to feel the rhythm if one concentrates on being
rather than doing. You can only heal if you are able to pick up
the rhythm. A patient needs to stop and listen to the pulse of the rhythm
and then he has to learn to flow with it. As a healer you have to be grounded
meaning you are in touch with the rhythm before you can fly, before you
can heal. It is only through an awareness of the earth that you can reach
higher levels of consciousness.
A healer's concept of the world
is not a fixed idea about how things should work. A healer has to let go
of all the expectations a society and a patient will have of him. These
just cause unnecessary blocks in the enrgy flow and prevent the healer
from feeling the rhythm. He has to learn to let go of all outside expectations.
It does not matter how his methods might contradict any preexisting concepts
of how things should work or behave, he has to learn to let go of all preconceived
ideas and expectations that are causing an enormous mental and emotional
block.
Author's note:
In Mexican Spanish the term
Spirit has got two meanings. For most Mexicans it has something
to do with God, as in the Holy Spirit. However for the indigenous people
the term means much more, it represents everything that expresses life
and surrounds everyone, it is an all encompassing energy.
Juan Manuel Vásquez
Master of Art, University
of Oaxaca,
ITEC, freelance artist, illustrator
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