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Originally published in the January/February 2007 Fisique newsletter.
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Disease is a musical problem, a dissonance that must not be allowed to return to the harmony that existed before but must be resolved into the harmony that is to follow. |
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| - Novalis |
When someone falls ill, people often ask why and how it could happen. Does suffering have a purpose? Will science ever succeed in ridding us of disease?
Let's first examine our concept of disease. Western medicine understands disease and medical conditions as abnormalities or imbalances in the body. The body is seen as a mechanical system of parts, akin to an automobile. Symptoms of breakdown appear to occur random, or are at most aggravated by defective design (genes) or poor maintenance (regimen).
However, homeopathic philosophy extends this concept of disease to include an energetic disharmony, or mistunement. This dissonance is identified by the manifestation of symptoms in one's sensations and functions. Still, the question remains, where does this mistunement come from? And what is its purpose?
If we blamed only regimen, those with the same lifestyle and nutrition would fall prey to the same illnesses. We already know this to be false. For example, not all smokers develop lung cancer. Not all people with the so-called 'obesity gene' will be obese. Infectious disease may reach epidemic levels but the infection rate never reaches 100%. There's more to the picture than mechanics and immune function.
Steiner's anthroposophical medicine explains that the mistunement first appears in the spiritual sphere before moving to the mental/emotional sphere and eventually expressing itself through disturbances in the physical body. Jungian psychology further defines the mental/emotional sphere as both the conscious and unconscious mind. The latter is said to be home to our shadow side, hiding a world unknown to us but shown through occurents (happenings in our environment), dreams, and also the physical body. Our full consciousness, including the shadow side, is expressed through symptoms in the body. They act to bring something to our attention, often an experience or conflict needing resolution. Disease keeps us accountable to ourselves, with the purpose of making us take a deeper look at what is really going on.
With this understanding of disease, we can find additional direction to its origin and cure. Consider a patient complaining of indigestion. Instead of searching for a mechanical cause like an ulcer, we investigate possible disharmony like suppressed anger from a long-standing marital conflict. This simplistic reduction suggests that resolution of the conflict and associated resentment resolves the indigestion more effectively than diet and antacids. The new awareness and personal understanding of the indigestion is often a powerful experience. We feel physically better and are able to shed emotional baggage.
Questions about purpose and disease are endless. However, we can conclude that disease keeps us honest, forcing growth and change in our lives. Next time something nags at you, why not use the opportunity to take a deeper look. It's not often easy but well worth the effort.
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