In my latest shamanism class I was asked to contemplate a very important question:
What does it mean to heal?
Believe it or not, it is something I had never pondered very deeply before. And yet, I believe that healing is what I came here to do.
So I spent an afternoon in nature, drinking in the newly awakened splendor of Spring and allowing the guidance to unfold before me. I listened intently to the heart-opening music of cooing doves and the ebullience of a bubbling creek. I felt the outstretched fingers of the wind, who today played the role of Jester, so intent was he on removing my scarf and pulling my hair. All of this set against the portentous backdrop of puffy grey clouds, swollen with the promise of rain.
And instantly, I was whisked away, back in time, to the days I spent roaming the enchanting windmills of Kinderdijk, Holland exactly one year ago. A free-spirited nomad then, a quarantine queen now. Such stark disparity laughs with acrid irony. Never in my 26 years, have I ever encountered such a looking glass, this pandemic portal, through which my curious doe eyes peer in inquisitively, to pierce the core of my very soul. Beloved, before you look, be sure you wish to see. I am hypnotized, beguiled by the ethereal visions that continue unfurling before me.
And with my heart I feel
And with my third eye I see
And with my crown I receive
Messages from spirit, synchronous signs from the divine
They tell me healing is…
⟡ Reclaiming parts of yourself
⟡ Moving towards wholeness (the mandala)
⟡ Calming the raging stream
⟡ Merging with nature
⟡ Regaining balance
And my favorite, which a wise tree shared with me: Healing is being love.
So each day I affirm, I am one with the vibration of love.
Because love is the most powerful healer of all. It is the great unifier, the language our souls speak and it is the force inside our hearts that connects us to all of existence. If you cultivate self-love you form relationships with everything around you. It opens the floodgates of life force energy that expands towards others, flows out into the Universe and returns to you in a cyclical fashion, enabling healing to occur on all levels and bringing abundance, enthusiasm and inspiration into your life.
“Love is the bridge between you and everything.” -Rumi
As the days pass, I continue to meditate on the nature of healing. And it occurs to me that it is important to make the distinction between healing and curing. My husband suggested that some people may need to heal bit by bit before they can be cured. And then there are others who are not ready or willing to be healed at all. Once you are ready to accept responsibility for everything you create in your life you gain the power to heal yourself.
The most virtuous gift we can offer as healers is to hold space for others to heal themselves. And if we wish to show up in this space, for the highest good of all involved, we must commit to doing our own inner work. Esteemed psychoanalyst Carl Jung believed that we spend our entire lives on a journey towards wholeness. To be a healing vessel for others you must first heal yourself.
