~One of the deeper, underlying archetypal patterns which is being constellated in the human psyche that is playing itself out collectively on the world stage is the archetype of the “wounded healer.” To quote Kerenyi, a colleague of Jung who elucidated this archetype, the wounded healer refers psychologically to the capacity “to be at home in the darkness of suffering and there to find germs of light and recovery with which, as though by enchantment, to bring forth Asclepius, the sunlike healer.” The archetype of the wounded healer reveals to us that it is only by being willing to face, consciously experience and go through our wound do we receive its blessing. To go through our wound is to embrace, assent, and say “yes” to the mysteriously painful new place in ourselves where the wound is leading us. Going through our wound, we can allow ourselves to be re-created by the wound. Our wound is not a static entity, but rather a continually unfolding dynamic process that manifests, reveals and incarnates itself through us, which is to say that our wound is teaching us something about ourselves. Going through our wound means realizing we will never again be the same when we get to the other side of this initiatory process. Going through our wound is a genuine death experience, as our old self “dies” in the process, while a new, more expansive and empowered part of ourselves is potentially born.
Going through and embracing our wound as a part of ourselves is radically different than circumnavigating and going around (avoiding), or getting stuck in and endlessly, obsessively recreating (being taken over by) our wound. The event of our wounding is simultaneously catalyzing a deeper (potential) healing process which requires our active engagement, thus “wedding” us to a deeper level of our being. Jung’s closest colleague, Marie Louise Von Franz, said “the wounded healer is the archetype of the Self [our wholeness, the God within]…and is at the bottom of all genuine healing procedures.”~
This excellent article by Paul Levy in full here
Thanks for posting the excellent article, Hille! I'm always intrigued by anything to do with Jung and archetypal patterns.
ReplyDeleteMuch metta,
Carrie
Just as I am too, Carrie! :) Much Metta!
ReplyDeleteExcellent video, thanks so much for adding this, very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI've personally become to view hurt and deep pain as the most generous of all gifts that the Universe can bestow on us, because indeed it creates an opening of empathy towards all living things, as well as widening ones heart for awareness. Thanks again! Metta!
Thanks for this wonderful post Hillie.... so true!
ReplyDeleteThis portion is especially enlightening ...
"which is to say that our wound is teaching us something about ourselves. Going through our wound means realizing we will never again be the same when we get to the other side of this initiatory process. Going through our wound is a genuine death experience, as our old self “dies” in the process, while a new, more expansive and empowered part of ourselves is potentially born."
When we realize that all things that we experience, the good as well as the bad are for our learning. We are never the same after going through them, however as stated above, it is the going through them, that brings about the process... we can't simply park and reside in them, and still "go through"!
Thanks again for a wonderful article!! :)
My pleasure Denise! Metta!
ReplyDeleteHille, we are vibrating on the same wavelength and it is wonderfully scary, haha! On my old Yahoo 360 page I post three consecutive post featuring Alex Grey, Li Po, and Paul Levy. Yes, I am very serious too! Different essays and videos, but the same men!
ReplyDeleteI am LIVING this process that Levy writes about, and I find it wonderful in an 'odd' way because I see and feel the good it is doing to me on the deepest level, but it is also very frightening, and carries pain. There is something to be said for the phrase 'no pain, no gain', which is mostly used when talking of physical conditioning, but can be readily applied to our emotional life and consciousness.
Excellent Blog(s) today Hille!
Much Metta!
Thanks so much Markus! I find it utterly amazing as well, the synchronicity of souls! Many or One? :) Much Metta as always!
ReplyDelete