Guest guest Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 In a message dated 10/31/2004 8:08:37 AM Central Standard Time, frances.roberts@... writes: I certainly didn't intend to offend anyone by posting about my medical condition on J-F. Dear Frances, I for one certainly didn't find your post offensive. Near as I can tell, all of life is grist for the Jungian mill. May you always have good grist. *G* Namasté Sam in Texas §(ô¿ô)§ Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside awakens. -- Carl Gustav Jung ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````` " There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other. " -- Everett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 In a message dated 10/30/2004 12:34:19 PM Central Daylight Time, frances.roberts@... writes: I am feeling angry at the cause and effect logic that belies diabetes as a symptom due to poor nutrition. Hi Frances, I can empathize with you since I crashed and burned in spite of doing the whole exercise (marathon runner and more) and diet bit. It's been a long road but I, too, see it as a metaphor. In my case, I see it as a heroine's journey as well as a shamanic initiation. My SO also was diagnosed with diabetes just about the time he experienced his own version of a crash and burn and then, a couple of years ago, he had to have his gall bladder removed, too. What these two things have in common is the chakra they're associated with, the third chakra. Without doing more research on it at the moment, what I can recall is that that's the chakra associated with personal power or, in his case, powerlessness. This might be something you could research further. Carolyn Myss has a book called Anatomy of the Spirit that addresses each chakra and its issues. Also, nearly my very first thought when he was diagnosed was that his diabetes was a metaphor for not enough " sweetness " in his life. Without going into specifics of his personal history, that's a reasonable assumption. My youngest sister also developed diabetes and in some ways that metaphor fits her, also, since she was a " change of life baby " and she had some very difficult times with my mother as she went through menopause. She carries a lot of baggage from those issues. Finally, here's what Louise Hay has to say about diabetes: A longing for what might have been (sort of my sister's unconscious emotions, I'd guess); a great need to control (applies to both my SO and my sister, I think); deep sorrow; no sweetness left. Finally, you might want to check out Sontag's book, " Illness as Metaphor, " in which she forcefully argues against illness as metaphor. I didn't particularly like the book but maybe it'll mean something to you. Here's a review and commentary on it: Sontag argues against the use of illness as metaphor. She states her main point on the first page of this long essay : " The most truthful way of regarding illness--and the healthiest way of being ill--is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking. " Tuberculosis and cancer serve as her two central examples of the human tendency to use metaphoric thinking about illness. In the 19th century, tuberculosis was considered a disease of passion, of " inward burning, " of the " consumption " of life force. Sufferers were thought to have superior sensibility; the illness purified them of the dross of everyday life. The romantic image of the TB sufferer became " the first widespread example of that distinctively modern activity, promoting the self as an image " (p. 29). Metaphoric thinking about TB declined in the early part of the 20th century as the disease succumbed to science and public health measures. Cancer has now become the predominant disease metaphor in our culture. Cancer is considered a disease of repression, or inhibited passion. The cancer sufferer characteristically suppresses emotion, which after many years emerges from the unconscious self as malignant growth. As in Auden's poem, _ " Miss Gee " _ (http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webdescrips/auden784-des\ -.html) , reproduced on page 49, (see annotation in this database): " Childless women get it, / And men when they retire . . . . " Sontag uses the 19th century view of insanity as another example of malignant metaphoric thinking, while metaphor related to syphilis was somewhat more benign. She concludes the essay with an eloquent prediction that, as we learn more about the etiology and treatment of cancer, its metaphorical system will die on the vine. (I wonder if Sontag would consider my " die on the vine " an appropriate metaphor here?) Commentary This essay is provocative and astringent. Prickly ideas and metaphors leap from every page. Sontag stimulates a careful re-evaluation of the place of metaphor in our thinking about illness. She touches upon, but doesn't do much with, metaphor intrinsic to medicine; she alludes to the " war against cancer, " but doesn't develop the general notions of physician as warrior, physician as priest, physician as engineer, etc. While very provocative, the essay has several limitations. First, the cancer metaphor that Sontag describes was much more limited than she claims. While the psychosomatic movement may have conceived of cancer as an emotional failure, this view was never as widespread in Western culture as the romantic consumptive. I'm even skeptical about the latter. While it was well-known in the 19th century that the urban poor died in droves from consumption, I doubt whether the " romantic " culture considered the poverty-stricken to be exceptionally fine or sensitive. Second, Sontag never makes the second half of her case. Why is it unhealthy to think metaphorically about illness? What harm does it do to the sufferers? Has metaphoric thinking about TB or cancer inhibited our scientific study of them as diseases? Finally, Sontag seems never to consider the obvious: metaphoric (imaginative) thinking is the way we humans discover meaning in our lives. Serious illness is an important event in a life narrative. Thinking about illness (as opposed to thinking about disease) without using metaphor is probably neither desirable nor possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 Thanks to everyone that answered off list. I had no idea this was such a sensitive subject. I certainly didn't intend to offend anyone by posting about my medical condition on J-F. I respect you all as close friends even with our differences of opinion. The fact is, I am feeling overwhelmed and scared. Frances > > pryrs going yr way! > > sounds like u are doing evthing right. the polar bear had diab 2 for eons n > did not die fr that at 86, so it can be managed..... > > love > > ao > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Dear Frances, Thinking of you, and hoping for all the best in this journey you are setting out on. Blessings, Bruce > Dear Firefolk: > > Can you assist me? I have a diagnosis of diabetes. It¹s quite a serious > health condition. > > In my quest for a cure and healing, I am trying to connect the dots and > uncover the deep metaphor at work in all this. I need to make a sacred > container for myself so I¹ve gone back into analysis and have taken over a > room in my home for the purpose of doing soul work. > > So far, I¹ve seen a doctor and gotten a prescription for some drugs ‹ > Lipidor, Altace and Metformin. These drugs have lots of side effects and I > am holding onto the prescription while I explore other options. I¹m not > keen on the whole medical model. It may be just my hang-up about the > medical profession as a woman and feminist. Or it could be that I am > reluctant to put these drugs into my body if there is another way that > involves self, soul and surrender. I am feeling angry at the cause and > effect logic that belies diabetes as a symptom due to poor nutrition. > That¹s not my story, I¹ve been a vegetarian for 20 years, a meat eater for > the past 6 years, eating mostly organic meat. Truth is I never acculturated > to a N. A. diet, in fact, I¹ve yet to eat a Big Mac or drink a coke. It¹s > annoying to be on the other end of the shadow projection as the one who has > consumed junk food. There must be another reason! > > My herbalist has given me a Billberry tea to stimulate the insulin in my > pancreas. I am also on a strict diet, no potatoes, no bread, no rice, no > soy, no raw juices and no tofu. These all have simple carbs which the body > metabolizes in much the same way as sugar. I am also working out at Curves > every other day. > > My shaman friend has dowsed and recommended a pancreatic enzyme. My > nutritional healer has recommended some emotional releasing to increase the > flow to my pancreas with a program of supplements and vitamins. He¹ll also > test the food I¹m eating to see whether it¹s healthy for me. These > treatments are closer to my values and to my intuition that I may have > somatized a trauma that is causing the disconnect between insulin and sugar. > > My astrologer-analyst tells me that I presently have Saturn conjunct my moon > in the 11th house and Pluto opposing my Sun in the 4th and 10th house, > respectively. I also did some Internet searching and discovered that Pluto > rules the Pancreas and endocrine system. Virgo and Jupiter also rule the > Pancreas. I have Jupiter in Virgo in my first house. I got my diagnosis > on the eclipse last week. This seems a fruitful path for more exploration. > > If anyone has insights, learnings and experiences to share about this > condition from a Jungian POV, that would be wonderful. > > Thanks for listening, > > In the dance, > > Frances > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.