| Golden Deer Stories for Transformation, Healing and Blessing Holistic Healing and Shamanic Mentoring Joan Marie Mickelson Holistic and Shamanic Practitioner |
How do stories Heal?
The use of imagery in healing has an ancient lineage. Shamans
were storytellers; many folktales you read as a child contain
elements common to shamanic journeys. Shamans entered the
spiritual realm in search of healing for members of the community.
The story the shaman brought back gave the person for whom the
shaman journeyed a new hopeful story, and united the community in
reinforcing that new belief for health and healing. The stories they
told of their adventures in those upper or lower worlds later became
popular entertainment and part of the oral tradition of storytelling.
The shaman through the stories he or she told also defined spiritual
and cultural beliefs and values.
Our bodies respond to images, words and thoughts as if they were
the real thing, as if these things were really happening. We all have
images and we all tell ourselves stories about our lives.
When we tell ourselves negative stories and we visualize negative
images, we can become sick. If the stories and images in our
minds change, we change our mind, body and emotions. It is the
images we create and the stories we tell ourselves that create our
reality.
We know that the sites for the temples of Asclepias, the Greek god
of healing and medicine, included amphitheaters, where the
patients could hear music and see plays performed. Patients
identified with the gods, goddesses, heroes and heroines,
separating themselves from the negative labels and identifications
with their diseases.
Patients were instructed to dream of their illness and how they
would be healed. When the patients had a meaningful dream, they
would share it with the healers who interpreted it for diagnosis and
treatment.
Each day and night we give ourselves a constant stream of verbal
and visual messages. The visual images are as important as the
verbal messages, and so you could say we are constantly living
within the stream of our own messages.
With visualization, we are attempting to affect unconscious
processes through suggestion. The best way to gain understanding
of the mind/body connection is through experience.
Try this visualization:
Imagine for a moment the room you are sitting in is a garden and that
you are a flower. …
Imagine the blue sky and the sun shining on your green leaves….
Imagine your beauty and color….
Imagine your roots in the moist earth…
Now observe how your body and emotions feel, perhaps your breathing
is slow and easy, perhaps you feel relaxed and happy….
Now imagine yourself as a flower again. As the sun climbs in the sky, it
becomes more intense…
Your roots feel dry; your leaves begin to wilt…
How do your body and emotions respond….
You probably do not want to stay in this state for too long, so now
imagine clouds floating by and covering the sun…
How do you feel?
Rain begins to fall, first you feel one drop on one of your leaves, then
another and another. The rain soaks the earth, replenishing the
moisture in your roots and leaves….
Now come back to an awareness of your own body and the room you
are sitting in. Do you feel refreshed?
Our bodies respond to the images as if they were the real thing, as if
these things were really happening. We all have images and we all tell
ourselves stories about our lives. When we tell ourselves negative stories
and we visualize negative images, we can become sick.
If the stories and images in our minds change, we change our mind, body
and emotions. It is the images we create and the stories we tell ourselves
that creates our reality
Imagine for a moment the room you are sitting in is a garden and that
you are a flower. …
Imagine the blue sky and the sun shining on your green leaves….
Imagine your beauty and color….
Imagine your roots in the moist earth…
Now observe how your body and emotions feel, perhaps your breathing
is slow and easy, perhaps you feel relaxed and happy….
Now imagine yourself as a flower again. As the sun climbs in the sky, it
becomes more intense…
Your roots feel dry; your leaves begin to wilt…
How do your body and emotions respond….
You probably do not want to stay in this state for too long, so now
imagine clouds floating by and covering the sun…
How do you feel?
Rain begins to fall, first you feel one drop on one of your leaves, then
another and another. The rain soaks the earth, replenishing the
moisture in your roots and leaves….
Now come back to an awareness of your own body and the room you
are sitting in. Do you feel refreshed?
Our bodies respond to the images as if they were the real thing, as if
these things were really happening. We all have images and we all tell
ourselves stories about our lives. When we tell ourselves negative stories
and we visualize negative images, we can become sick.
If the stories and images in our minds change, we change our mind, body
and emotions. It is the images we create and the stories we tell ourselves
that creates our reality