Symbolism And Health - Pondering Around Native American Healer Traditions and Jungian Psychology

Symbolism And Health - Pondering Around Native American Healer Traditions and Jungian Psychology

They say that to give a Name to Something is to have Power over it.

But is this exactly True?

I have been reading some literature about theology, psychology, philosophy, and history recently which has had me thinking about this Idea.

Specifically, I have been reading about Native American Healer Traditions and Jungian Psychology.

What is fascinating is that these traditions have come from "Vastly" different worlds.

Jungian Psychology is a product of Western Thinking, with Inspirational ties to Symbolism from Judaic Gnosticism and Medieval Alchemy.

Native American Healer Traditions are a multitude of Indigenous Traditions that come from the Americas, but my readings have mainly come from the Northern Tribes which often include Deep Symbolism from Nature.

Despite these vastly different traditions, they came to a similar conclusion as to Why we have many Problems in the Western World of Health and Medicine.

What they both seem to agree on, in a "very" similar way, is that most Healthcare Systems are Not Holistic, or you could say that they are "Narrow-Minded".

This is not exactly a "New" Problem, but what is interesting is how both Jung and Native American Healers approached the Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Aspects of People's Lives.

(Spiritual in this sense does Not necessarily mean "Religious", but rather more a Sense of "Purpose", "Belonging", "Understanding", etc.)

Both of these Traditions believed that with the use of Symbolism, you could not only Understand Many Conditions but could Further Use Symbolism to "Heal" People.

Indeed, there is a Growing body of Research that is showing "Exactly" how Dis-Stress, Emotions, Mindset, and More "Can" and "Do" cause Physical Ailments in the Body.

Not only this, but the Research is also showing how when these are Improved Individuals can be Healed of those Ailments.

Which brought me to my Pondering Today.

If you Give Something a Name, Do you Have Power over it?

Well, if we look at Western Medicine, we have given "Many" Names to all sorts of Conditions and Ailments that we see in the world.

Some would argue that we've given "Too Many" Names to some of these "Things" and that some Scientists are simply trying to Slap their Name or Mark on Something, but that's a topic for another time.

Yet, when we look at "Health" as a Whole, it seems to be getting Significantly Worse.

Why is that?

Well, perhaps "Symbolism" is the Problem.

What do I mean?

Well, when you look at a lot of Medical Terminology, what does it bring to mind for you?

Mitochondria.

Adrenocortical Carcinoma.

Ceruloplasmin.

Neolixticoltine.

Borborygmus.

Onychophagy.

What do any of these mean to you?

For most people, these mean nothing of Use.

Are they Good or Bad?

Or maybe Neither, perhaps they are actually just Weird?

Could you even tell that I completely made one of these up?

Unless you are a Medical Doctor, or study these types of things regularly (which most of us don't), these are Meaningless.

They have Names but do not tell us "Anything".

Something Common for most humans is whatever we do Not Understand, we Fear.

So you see terms like these and are not sure what they are, and begin to Fear them.

This naturally creates a form of Dis-Stress, which both can put us into a State of Dis-Stress and creates Stress Damage.

The More Frequently we are in a State of Dis-Stress, and the more Stress Damage we accumulate, the more likely we Become Sick in one way or another.

Simply because we do not really "Know" what these things are.

But what if I said that inside of us, there are small trees that produce Fruit which gives the Body Energy.

Now, we all Know we Do Not have "Small Trees" inside of us, this is simply Symbolism, but this also describes what Mitochondria are - "Little Trees" that give "Energy" to the rest of the Body.

But that Symbolism means So Much "More" to Us than the Medical Term alone.

Or if I say that within us, there is sometimes a battle that happens in our Stomach between Bad Food Spirits and our Spiritual Protectors, where we "Feel" the Rumbling of Battle...

This Rumbling tells us that we must Release Foul Smelling Air from the Death of the Bad Spirits that are within us Soon, "that" is Borborygmus.

But "Borborygmus" itself sounds so much worse than the Rumblies we get in our Tummies from Gas.

Now, we can take this Further because I think we have Lost Something in Health over the years because of the Microfixation on Creating these Names that Mean Nothing to Most.

I believe that People have "Lost" the ability to Identify their Own Health Challenges because they do not have the Language and Symbolism to Explain Them.

As the Medical Profession has gotten into tinier and tinier details about Health, they have simultaneously removed Symbolic Language that allowed the "Uninitiated" to Explain their Problems.

See, the Symbolism that is Created within both Jungian Psychology and Native American Healer Traditions gave "Both" Parties Access to a Way of Understanding Each Other.

See, different Symbols held different meanings, and knowing the Symbolism allowed Both the Patient and the Practitioner to Understand Each Other.

But in Western Medicine, this Communication Cannot Exist.

Doctors have a Language that Patients Do Not Understand.

Patients Do Not have Symbols to Explain their Challenges.

Patients try to "Explain" what is happening, with their "Limited" Dictionary of Terms that they Do Not Understand.

Doctors then Attempt to Interpret the Thousands of Things that Limited Dictionary could potentially be, and it becomes a Guessing Game.

No One Wins, and Simultaneously So Much Is "Missed" in people's Health.

Everything the Doctor says Causes Dis-Stress, making things worse, and Doctors Undergo Dis-Stress trying to Figure Out What to Do!

It creates a Vicious Circle of Problems, which Continuously Spiral Down.

I say all of this because I wonder if we Need to Start creating a New Language around Health - one that gives Everyone Access to Understanding through Symbolism, while also allowing Doctors to Identify the Problems more Quickly.

Perhaps Meaningful Symbolism is a Major Key to Improving Our Health.

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