The Archetypal representation of the wounded healer is the Ancient Greek myth of Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing. According to some sources, Asclepius, by recognising his own wounds, is able to cure the wounds of others. Chiron, the centaur who raised Asclepius and taught him the art of healing, is also a representation of the wounded healer. Chiron was accidentally shot with a poison arrow by Herecles. He chose to give up his immortality, and begged the gods to allow him to die of his wound. In astrology, the tiny planet, Chiron, at the outer edges of our solar system, represents the overcoming of personal issues, and healing and helping others through the lessons learned.

In psychotherapeutic practice, Carl Jung identifies the Wounded Healer as a representation of an archetypal dynamic that may exist between an analyst and patient. If the patient’s wounds are similar to those of the analyst, they may re-open the analyst’s wounds. In turn, the analyst may consciously or unconsciously pass his or her awareness of this back to the patient (counter-transference). Jung felt this type of transference to be extremely dangerous.

In healing terms, Wounded Healer has a different implication. Most healers begin their journey with serious illness, injury or emotional trauma, which can include addiction or mental health problems. The journey that leads them from illness to health will also give them insight into themselves, and how people heal.

In ancient shamanic practice, whatever the culture, initiates were expected to go through a near-death experience before they were fully ready to take on the mantle of the shaman. This experience could be drug induced through a local hallucinatory poison, involve sensory deprivation for prolonged periods, or in some cases, the shaman would be identified within the community as someone who had recovered from serious illness. “The shaman’s initiation – whether in a cave, on a mountain, atop a tree, or on the terrain of the psyche – embraces the experience of death, resurrection, and realisation of illumination. Variations on the fundamental theme of death and rebirth are found in all mythological traditions, and an encounter with death and release into rebirth are immutable dimensions of most personal religious experiences. The initiatory crisis of the shaman must therefore be designated as a religious experience, one that has persisted since at least Paleolithic times and is probably as old as human consciousness, when the first feelings of awe and wonder were awakened in primates.” (Shamanic Voices, a survey of visionary narratives, by Joan Halifax, PhD). Modern shamanic practice does not require such extremes, but good practice requires acknowledging old wounds, and the implementation of ‘soul retrieval’ implies collecting the elements of the soul lost when the personality was shattered though trauma.

Another aspect of the Wounded Healer is the Fisher King or Wounded King from Arthurian legend. The Fisher King was the latest in a dynasty that had been charged with the keeping and protection of the Holy Grail. There are many stories, which vary greatly, and probably have their roots in Celtic mythology. In every case, the king had been wounded in the legs or groin (representing masculine fertility), and is unable to heal. As he is wounded, so is his kingdom, and his impotence is mirrored in the devastation of the land around him, turning it into a wasteland. He is immobile, and unable to do anything but sit at the riverside and catch fish, hence the name Fisher King. Many knights make the journey to his kingdom, in order to heal him, but the only one able to do so is Percival, the chosen one. Mallory’s Le Morte d”Arthur includes the Fisher King in a much more elaborate plot.

The Fisher King analogy represents the wounds that affect the whole of our lives, touching everything around us – literally blighting the land. When the king is healed, he is no longer surrounded by wasteland. The land becomes fertile once more.
Personal Experience

This archetype has personal implications for me. I have a congenital autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome known as Schmidt syndrome. My body forms auto-antibodies, which target specific endocrine organs. Without going into too much detail, it affected my growth and sexual development, and caused a premature menopause at 16, which has meant I have been on HRT since I was 20. My thyroid stopped functioning when I was 45, and my pancreas is under attack from two different antibodies, so I must be tested every three months for type 1 diabetes. I also have a number of secondary issues, as a result of this illness

Thankfully, all the medical problems are treated through management. I am mentioning this to help me to articulate the affect this has had on me as a person, a healer and a teacher. In spite of everything, I live a full and relatively healthy life, but my life has been punctuated by periods of illness, and this is intimately involved with how I define myself.

Implications as a Healer

Chronic or critical illness raises many questions, as well as factions, in the healing and complementary medical field, not the least of which is, “what is healing?”.

In order to give even an incomplete answer, it is necessary to look at belief systems. Virtually every religion allows for some form of healing, and I have personally known Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist and Sufi Muslim healers. If a healer does not align him- or herself with a specific religion, often the belief system will be eclectic, drawing from many religions, and taking what resonates with the individual. This has led to a somewhat generic spirituality amongst healers, which usually includes reincarnation. I am very careful with students regarding my own beliefs, as I feel part of their learning is to form their own ideas on the subject, but it is interesting to note that, almost without exception, my students believe in reincarnation. This includes one student who came from a very strict Catholic upbringing, followed by marrying a Jehovah’s Witness.

Taking this a step further, most healers who believe in reincarnation, myself amongst them, also believe that, before coming into the next life, we choose lessons for our soul’s journey, and situations to do with upbringing and relationships, not to mention illness, that will aid in that learning (Your Soul’s Plan by Robert Schwartz; Hands of Light by Barbara Ann Brennan). This implies that we choose some illness, especially congenital illness, beforehand, to aid our life’s lesson.

There is also a school of thought amongst the majority of healers that illness can be symbolic of an emotional or energetic block. Edward Bach originally created his Bach Flower Remedies to treat the underlying emotional causes of disease. Caroline Myss, PhD goes into great detail of the psychology of energy blocks in her book Anatomy of the Spirit. Viewing illness, injury and disease in this way can be very helpful, but it can also be dangerous, and must be treated with respect. Louis L Hay, in her book, You Can Heal Your Life, approaches this with what I believe to be over-simplicity. She gives an example of an illness, followed by the emotional attitude creating the illness, and an affirmation to change the thought pattern. Although some of her insights are very useful, by over-simplifying, the healer is in danger of missing the real root cause. For example, under AIDS, her probable cause is “Feeling defenceless and hopeless, Nobody cares. A strong belief in not being good enough. Denial of the self. Sexual guilt.” I lost three close friends to AIDS in the 1980s, and I would say that her brief assessment, assuming that AIDS is sexually contracted, probably summed up two of them, but not the third, who was already firmly on his spiritual path. It also does not allow for the thousands of babies born with the disease every year, or those who have contracted it through blood transfusions or needle stick injuries.

Taking this even further, recent advances in scientific understanding over the few decades have made us more aware of the power of our intentions, and cellular memory. Quantum physics has come out of its box, and is now applied to all areas of science. Being able to see how particles can affect one another from a distance, we have a microcosmic example of how distant healing can work when the healer is withdrawn from the electromagnetic field of the client (The Field by Lynn McTaggart, The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden).

Healers often refer to “cellular memory”, and healing on a “cellular level”, without truly understanding what this means. Bruce Lipton believes cells are liquid crystals. Following the definition of a crystal, a crystal is a structure with molecules that are arranged in a regular and repeated pattern. This also defines cells. Cell membranes have gates and channels that allow nutrients to pass into the cell, and waste products to be removed. A simple definition of a commuter chip is a crystal semi-conductor with gates and channels (The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles by Bruce H Lipton, PhD). This was born out in a study by R A Cornell (Nature, 1997), in which he demonstrated that a cell membrane could be used as a semi-conductor. This implies that cells can be programmed. The impact of this on both allopathic and complementary medicine is enormous. It exhibits that we respond to our environment, demonstrates the value of the Placebo Effect, and shows that some diseases may be caused by incorrect programming, as in cancer, or a signal not being turned off, as in depression.

There are a number of belief systems and healing modalities, such as craniosacral therapy, that hold the opinion that we are capable of total and complete healing and regeneration of damaged tissue, and if we hold on to illness, it is due to fear. Others believe illness is Karmic retribution, although in that case, I would argue that they do not understand the nature of Karma.

I have briefly outlined above a few different beliefs around the nature of healing:

1. We come into this world having chosen life’s lessons through upbringing, illness, disability, and relationships
2. Disease or injury is an outward manifestation of emotional or psychological imbalance
3. The body is capable of complete regeneration, and holding on to illness represents a fear of “letting go” and becoming a whole person

Which of these assumptions is correct? I would argue that all three are correct in different circumstances.

I can look at the first position from my own personal experience. I came into this life with an incurable, progressive disease. I fully believe that I have chosen this path, and that the illness plays an integral part in my development and making me the person I am.

In another example, one of my workshop students has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. She is high functioning, and most wouldn’t recognise it in conversation. Her career involves teaching children with severe autism. She feels that she could be “cured”, but without the Asperger’s, she would lose sensitivity and understanding of the children she works with. This leads to another question: What is illness? She doesn’t see her condition as a handicap, and although possibly perceived by others as a little eccentric, I would say that the outward symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome are intrinsically linked with who she is. I believe that in being “cured”, she would lose part of herself, and what defines her as an individual. The same could be said of myself, and this will apply to other people born with congenital problems, or a severe disability.

Regarding Statement 2, so long as we keep an open mind and don’t make assumptions as a result, this statement is also true. Sometimes the client with neck and shoulder stiffness, like Atlas, really is “carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders”, the person with chronic pain in his/her big toe is inert and unable to propel him/herself forward, and sometimes a heart condition does mean the person is unable to give or receive love. Bear in mind that emotional blocks can manifest illness, but may not be the only cause. As stated above, it is dangerous to be too simplistic when declaring a reason for illness, and you may not be helping your client by doing so.

Finally, touching on cellular regeneration, I am fascinated with quantum physics and epigenetics. To me, there is no doubt that complete and total cellular regeneration is possible. But I also believe that it’s not always meant to happen.

When studying Craniosacral therapy, my teacher was convinced that, with regular treatment, I could be “cured”. For several weeks I had short daily treatments. I’m certain the treatments did me a great deal of good, but no regeneration of failed tissue took place. I don’t believe this was due to my own fear, or inability of my teacher. These treatments took place prior to the failure of my thyroid. However unpleasant that episode of critical illness in my life may have been, it was another huge learning experience for me, and it is my feeling that I needed to go through it.

This again demonstrates another potential danger. Many years ago, patients at the Bristol Cancer Clinic (now the Penny Brohn Centre) were encouraged to try complementary techniques to treat their cancer. Many techniques, such as meditation, were designed or chosen to reduce stress levels, and assist the patient’s mental outlook. The approach proved to be highly successful, and is still in use at the Penny Brohn Centre. However, a small number of patients experienced extreme disappointment when they didn’t improve, and felt (whether true or not) that they were being judged for not having the correct mental attitude. I have no proof of this, and am not aware of any study. A friend was treated at the Clinic at this time, and got on very well with the approach. At the same time, a colleague was treating a number of cancer patients. Some of them had attended the Bristol Cancer Clinic, and gave her the alternative insight. I am using this as an illustration that you must approach each individual situation with awareness and an open mind. What is right for one person, what reflects his or her own true path, will not necessarily be right for another. It is not our place to judge what that path should be.

My personal definition of healing describes a restoration of balance, whether it is physical, emotional, mental, energetic, hormonal or chemical balance. As healers, we are not doing the healing as such, but acting as facilitators to remind the body how to be in balance. There are a number of modalities, such as cranial osteopathy, Shiatsu and craniosacral therapy, which do not broadcast energy into the body of the client. Instead, attention and awareness is drawn to certain areas, igniting a process. The body instigates its own change.

In Conclusion

When I am going through a bad patch, I am not able to treat others, but the illness empowers me with insight to help others when I am well. Experiencing illness ourselves makes us more empathic with the illness of others. Healing may, in some instances, mean a complete cure, but it should be remembered that healing is far more than that. “It is illegal to claim an ability to ‘cure’. Healers must disclaim any ability to ‘cure’, but offer an attempt to heal in some measure. Do not promise recovery. Sometimes healers are easing the transition to death, rather than restoring physical health.” (ATH Code of Conduct and Ethics). Healing can assist those with chronic illness to live a more symptom free and pain free life. … “It is an added spiritual dimension, which can help a person, on every level, to come through a process.” (Alchemy and the Grail, The True Healing Path, by Tareth). Healing supports clients through illness and other treatments. For example, many cancer patients seek treatment to help them deal with the affects of chemo- and radiotherapy.

As facilitators of healing, it is not up to us to judge the journey of another, but to give support to that journey when it is needed. Someone once asked me where my illness leaves the crystals and my own work as a practitioner. My answer was, without them, I probably wouldn’t be here. Healing and complementary therapies have supported me physically and emotionally through my lifelong illness.

Chronic illness has had a profound influence on me in every perspective, as a person, healer, and teacher. Chiron is strong in my chart.

©Janelle Scialla
This article is an excerpt from a longer article written October 2009.
It appeared in this form in the Spring Edition of the ATH Journal

Native Gold, Eagle's Nest Mine, CA

As healers, most of us are familiar with the analogy of the onion, where the first step on our spiritual path is likened to removing the dry skin to reveal the soft white flesh beneath. During the course of our lives, we grow through the challenges we are faced with, often the same challenge repeating in different contexts, and the experience it brings, no matter how negative. Thus, another layer of the onion is peeled away. Better still is the analogy of the spiral: each time we come round the circle to the repeating pattern, we are dealing with it on a higher level. Every time we go through the process it is like a small death and rebirth.

If my students, clients and colleagues are anything to go by, we have all been experiencing particularly challenging times over the past few months, or even the last few years, many of us facing a major crisis and rising to it, only to be confronted by another immediately after. I often hear the phrase “I thought I’d dealt with that”. Of course we have dealt with it, but from a less evolved place than where we are now. My personal experience informs me that these challenges are coming thicker and faster than before, and my interpretation is that, with new and higher energies coming in, we need to clear what remains of old fear and anger, to allow us to be clear channels for whatever is coming next.

I like to think of this process as ‘panning for gold’. Gold panning involves using a flat, wide-brimmed pan to take up mud and silt, along with water, from a riverbed. Through careful swishing and swirling about of the water, the lighter mud and debris begins to rise to the surface to be poured away. Fresh water is continually added, and the heavier debris begins to clear, until eventually, all that’s left in the bottom of the pan is clear water and the gold, which is heavier than anything else in the silt.

Looking at alchemy as a spiritual practice, the process of turning base metal into gold represents clearing away the debris and impurities within us to allow the true light of our soul, or the gold, to shine through, literally turning ourselves into gold. In practical terms, gold is a useless metal. It is too soft and pliable for making tools or weapons. Yet since its discovery, humankind has valued it beyond measure, both for its rarity and for its resistance to dulling and tarnish, and it is used almost exclusively for ornamentation, embellishment and the warmth and beauty it brings into the world.

The element gold is not formed on earth, but in the dying hearts of giant stars. Only in the last 15 seconds of a star’s life, as it goes supernova, is enough heat generated for the nuclear fission needed for gold to form. It is a cosmic death and rebirth on the grandest scale.

Janelle Scialla
Inspired by Prof Brian Cox
This article first appeared the Journal of the Association for Therapeutic Healers in March 2011

Each of us has our own Rainbow Path, where the many facets of our lives blend to create a kaleidoscope of light and colour. When our individual paths touch one another, our lives are enhanced by the connection.

I invite you to share this through the experience I have to offer: treatments, educational guidance and reading.