TATIONpRÆSEN

20 DECEMBER, 2008

AARHUSUNIVERSITET

Re-enchanted bodies: experiences of the sacred and healing.ANN OSTENFELD-ROSENTHAL

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20 DECEMBER, 2008

AARHUSUNIVERSITET

Questions of the paper

› How do patients conceptually link body and soul/spirit?

› What is the role of the body in the construction of the spiritual experiences of the patients?

› What do their spiritual experiences mean in relation to a healing process?

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MUS patients

› Functional disorders or medically unexplained symptoms are recently defined as: complaints or physical symptoms for which no adequate physiological basis can be found (Fink et.al. 2003).

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The body/soul - sacred/profane dichotomies› The Long Reformation: 1400-

1700

› Control of access to sacred power

› Separation between magic and religion

› Involvement of bodies in religious practice and experience

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Holism and re-enchanted notions of body, Self and soul.

› Challenging the dis-enchanted core model of biomedicine: the physical, mechanical body

› The Energy field: source of all existence

› ’Balance’ – the basic metaphor

› Body and soul: expressions of the same being at different levels

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AARHUSUNIVERSITET

Karin: quotation

› ‘It was one of the experiences that really challenged my rational thought, because in order to do it I had to accept the principle that everything consists of energy. It was like surrendering to a new paradigm. I remember it very clearly, because it really was a ground-breaking experience: Actually I left the Newtonian worldview and accepted the quantum physical worldview.’

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AARHUSUNIVERSITET

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Encounters with the sacred: Karin› ‘I was meditating and feeling awful. I sensed something happening

behind me. I had a clear feeling of someone moving and I opened my eyes. And then, I simply felt and could see in my head how a full-size angel was standing behind me putting the hands on my shoulders. Then I broke down. I felt this completely blessed peace and was almost literally able to lean back, feeling that someone was holding me…that was really convincing.

› I am not religious, but because of my spiritual experiences I cannot deny the existence of something spiritual, The Power of the Universe. I don’t use the word ‘God’… Via the spiritual I find hope, insight, and purpose in life, which helps me move on. This spiritual consciousness arose from healing and the training course. But because of my own spiritual experiences, I have had to accept it.’

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AARHUSUNIVERSITET

Encounters with the sacred: Maria› ‘’…..I fell asleep crying and praying that if a higher Power exists,

then please, prove your existence to me and help me! At night, I woke up, the room was illuminated, and a male figure was standing at the end of my bed. It was Jesus – I had no doubt…my whole body vibrated, I was in ecstasy… Then I felt the energy shaking my body… and then I fell asleep. The next morning I woke up and felt totally purified. My pain had almost disappeared and I was really in high spirits, felt that my whole body had been completely put together. And then there were these flows I feel inside of me… I simply sensed its presence in my body...’ It was a very powerful experience… You know, it really got to me… I turned humble…’

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AARHUSUNIVERSITET

Encounters with the sacred: Martin› ‘The healing has been good for my depressive moods. But,

there is another thing of great value to my life: I have met a helper. One that I talk to. I have become religious. The religions I know of don’t mean anything to me. So, I’m not religious in a traditional way, but I have a clear feeling that there is a helper when I ask for help. It is a huge white-headed eagle. I met it in a shamanistic workshop. It often takes me for a ride when I meditate… I don’t believe in an alien existence making experiments with us, but there is something. I also believe in life after death… I didn’t know I knew. My healer Ella ‘woke’ me up… And if something is wrong, I say to the eagle: You just have to help me get past this hurdle… and then I get help.’

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AARHUSUNIVERSITET

Encounters with the sacred: Sarah

› ‘I have been trying very hard to find the meaning in all of this… During the first year after my accident I had many spiritual visions, and during healing sessions I have had some very strong spiritual experiences. For example, I have met my personal counsellor and I have found myself in the arms of a wonderful angel-like being… My life has simply taken a new direction. I don’t refer to it as being religious. By way of the spiritual, I have found a foothold that nothing else has been able to give me.’

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AARHUSUNIVERSITET

Bodily sensed encounters with the sacred and healing.› The body as entity for the

construction of spiritual experiences

› Illness narrative and spiritual experiences

› Suffering as a potential for personal growth

› Egalitarian access to Divine power

› ‘Imaginal performances’

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Maria

› ‘I come from a family in which spiritual topics are totally taboo. But, the spiritual dimension has played a central role in my healing. It has given me peace in relation to all that is happening around me… It has given me peace, because I never feel alone… I feel secure knowing that there is support and guidance for me. I believe there is a God… I have finally given in to that belief. Whether His name is Allah, Buddha or whatever has no importance at all. A wholeness greater than me is essential.

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Why me?

› The healer as a spiritual counsellor

› Care, support and meaning

› Succesful symbolization

› Healing as process