Medicine

Something I often observe in the health and wellness industry, is the fact that somehow, it can be presented as an all “safety”, flowers, no offence, love and light, yoga pants and green tea, type of escape from the reality or misery that people face in their life. No mention of push back, obstacles, energy exchange, mirroring, introspection and self reflection or even self responsibility! It’s all just: “come to us, we have the solutions to all your problems”. If you pay us, we can fix all your problems. We can make all your discomforts, comfortable and make it GO AWAY without your inclusion in the process. Basically – we can make all the consequences of your poor choices go away. Off course – life doesn’t work like that!

Here is a number of traps or myths about healing I’ve come across in my practice over the years:

MYTH NO.1: The healer/practitioner can not disagree with you

People are often just looking for someone to affirm their illusion and someone to tell them that they are right and someone else is wrong. They don’t want to be challenged in their view point, because they believe just that only their viewpoint or judgement is true. Nothing exists outside of their reality. No one else is allowed to speak from another experience. Why? Because that would invalidate their world view or the excuses they’ve been giving themselves for not growing. Super big red flag when you are starting to work with someone who simply claims they are seeking empowerment, but they are not willing to accept responsibility for their part in the process. As example: if you have been a victim of a terrible injustice in the past, but you figured out that playing the victim card got you special privileges by engaging people’s pity for you and you use it repeatedly, you are capitalising on your pain. Then you are no longer a victim, but an opportunist. This behaviour is not of someone who stands in their power. A good practitioner will very quickly figure this out and in a nice way call you out on it. This will trigger a tremendous response in most people! One that very few souls are humble enough to own and sit down with and own. Yes, your practitioner can and SHOULD disagree with you in my opinion! Otherwise, how will you create change if you can’t see the illusion and manipulation on your own part? This is why inner work is so difficult!

MYTH NO.2: Everyone who comes for healing and empowerment, is ready for it

I say claim, because I’ve seen people who put in a lot of effort, trying to show that they’ve done “everything to heal”, but “it just doesn’t work” and “no one has been able to help me”. Huge red flag. And I often ask those clients if they really are ready to release and let go. A person coming to a practitioner, to receive only – for the healer to fix the individual’s problem, is a recipe for disaster. Worse even, is the fix it “because I paid you to”. If that is the way someone approaches their healing journey, the road is paved for achieving limiting results and often ends in the blame and persecution of the practitioner.

Why? Because it places the burden of change on someone else’s shoulders. Healing is an inner journey which can be catalysed, hastened, ignited, propagated or nourished by the healer or shaman using different tools, BUT at the end of the day, you are the one that heals yourself and you are really in fact only contracting, the healer in their capacity as a guide (kind of a tour guide, a reflection, a mirror or a voice of reason). Because trust me, the path gets slippery and messy! If you want to do healing right – at some point you go through the jungle (aka the jungle of your emotions, trauma, heart break, disappointments, disillusions etc). There is no getting around it. When you are in that place, having a good guide and healer (doctor if it’s your physical body) is priceless.

MYTH NO.3: I can heal myself, I don’t need anybody’s help

Healing is not a one man job. It’s possible (nothing is impossible), but it’s highly unlikely. Only rare individuals can find their way out of the jungle alone. It takes longer, it’s not for sissies and you are kidding yourself, if you think you will be able to get through it alone and in tact. There is simply too many traps, of which the ego trap is the biggest. At the end of the day, it’s you against yourself in the ring – and that’s when you want a good coach, who’s walked the path with you and who knows you. That’s the person you want to whisper in your ear, when they punches of life has knocked you silly! Trust me – I’ve been there!

MYTH NO.4: If I pay you, my healing is your responsibility

The reality is that our thoughts, conscious and subconscious, creates our reality. Our lives are exactly and quite literally how we “think” it out to be – whether conscious or subconscious thoughts. WE CREATE IT. So if there is something in your life, that you don’t like, you have to take responsibility for it! The creation, as well as the uncreation of that thing you wish to transmute (change), is YOUR responsibility. If one can not, or simply won’t face that reality, one can not change it.

Why is this important? In ancient mystery schools the creed of “know thyself” has echoed for centuries. That truly is our human quest. You must get to know you, by looking into the mirror. The guide or healer just holds the mirror.

MYTH NO.5: I can change without facing my current reality

But how can we know ourselves, if we are not willing to face the parts of us that is mere illusion? How can we grow into a glorious, flowing and abundant life, if we can not see that which is inauthentic to our true nature? What if you don’t even know your true nature?

For the physical body, we notice some physical ailment, and we go to the doctor. The doctor will often ask a couple of diagnostic questions, before pinpointing your condition. The doctor will make recommendations as to what lifestyle changes, treatments, diet, exercise and related change you should make to deal with the cause of the disease.

In the same way – for your spiritual body, you will go to a healer, shaman, medicine man, priest, psychologist or such alike. Off course, like with your physical body, you have many options of treatments and practitioners to choose from. In my view – everything (including us) is Spirit. Everything around us manifests from Spirit. So naturally, it just makes sense for the root of all our manifestations (good and bad) to come from Spirit. THUS, my only conclusion can be that anything and everything can be treated from Spirit. And if it’s not treated from Spirit, in my view it’s a very superficial treatment and it will, at some other point, require another intervention. I also believe it is for this reason that the medical field struggles to pinpoint the origin of all cancers. But that is a whole nother discussion for another day.

What I find interesting is the fact that people can get very defensive with a spiritual healer, when the healer suggests some “medicine” for their ailments.

This quote explains some of it:

Poisons and medicine are oftentimes the same substance given with different intents. Peter Latham

MYTH NO.6: Healing is all about feeling more warm, fuzzy, comfortable, safe and light

Everything you do with a healer, psychologist, pastor or mentor will not be all love, light and flowers. I often see people use: “oh I didn’t feel safe with so and so” as a way to self sabotage. It’s such an old strategy of the ego to blame those who want to help from having an ulterior motive that’s working against you. Remember that the client approaches the healer, seeking help with an ailment, in the same way, as with a doctor. The client shares the challenges they face in their life (usually relational and circumstantial), upon which the healer continues to make suggestions that will improve the condition for the client. Most of the time, the client’s first response is to go into complete resistance. Then, the obstacles (or excuses) starts to come up. Quite often, these challenges are transformed to the tools of self sabotage. Because see, it’s easier to blame and project to the exterior, than to take responsibility and own up for our avoidances and illusions on the inside. Instead of doing the inner work and face the situations with someone who knows your patterns and defaults, the client start to “healer hop” and start speaking ill of the previous healer. This cycle is repeated over and over, ultimately a “clever” ploy from the negative ego, in order to keep the person from seeing themselves for who they truly are. This often happens when the client feels that the practitioner came too close to the truth of what they are not ready to face. Every energy worker has a different method or style and the effectiveness of each modality, can off course be questioned. But you chose this healer and method!

Yes – an insult from someone, can be medicine! If you are constantly questioning your healer or doctor’s methods, you will not heal. It’s your responsibility to make sure you go to a reputable, accredited, professional doctor. In the same way, it’s your responsibility to source a reputable, qualified, accredited healer. But once you made up your mind – let them get on with it! Otherwise you will get into the way of your own healing!

Reality is – very few people feel safe with anyone they are asking for help. Trauma makes people feel unsafe with people. It’s not your healer’s job to make you feel “safe'”! It’s yours! You need to trust yourself again and feel safe with YOU It is your job to learn to trust yourself for safe keeping this time round! You have been hurt, you’ve learned from the experience, now use your discernment. It’s not easy to ask for help, it’s not easy to bear your soul, it’s not easy to admit to yourself that you are not perfect, or no merely as in control, as you believe yourself to be.

I believe it is time that we start to get serious about our own self growth and self responsibility. Everyone brings something you can learn from – everyone can be your teacher – they don’t have to be a professional healer. However, do know that when you approach a healer to help you with a certain situation in your life, know that this is a person who has seen a lot of people (and a lot of toxic self sabotaging patterns). Chances are, they’ve already identified yours. This is someone who studied hard, sacrificed a lot and who worked hard to make it their life’s calling to help people who are experiencing pain, like you. Fact is, they probably started being a healer because they themselves have felt tremendous hurt and they decided to do something about it in the world. They decided to help make the world (and your life) a better place!

The medicine this practitioner will recommend to you, may taste well on your palette, or it may repulse you, but it’s still medicine! It’s still meant to heal you! But be very careful of medicine that tastes only good! Highly likely that you have a practitioner that is more interested in agreeing with you to avoid conflict, than what they are in helping you see the truth. Healing is not just light and love, it can be, but it can also take the form of conflict, disagreements, boundary setting, straight talk, provoking, nurturing, challenging, keeping accountable!

Your guide is someone who will walk with you into your darkness – after they have walked into theirs! They will only go there with you, if you are willing to go there. If not, you are still dealing with denial and they can’t do the work for you. But trust me, once they’ve walked a path through their darkness and then extended a hand to help you with yours, there is no judgement about your darkness, they REALLY want to help you with your state of pain! You only perceive their suggestions as judgement because your negative ego (past trauma) is not healed.

Bottom line is this: find a practitioner of your choice, get out of your own way, and let them get on with what they are qualified to do. I promise you, practitioner hopping, will not get you the results you want in life! Most healers and practitioners I know in the industry, I can tell you, is there for YOU, they want to help YOU, they are not there for themselves, otherwise they would have taken up a customer service job in the matrix. It’s not always “they” and “them”, sometimes it’s “me”. And in my experience – most of the time it’s “me”.

Love and Moonlight,

Leonie