Introduction to the Philosophy of Clinical Pictures, Meaning - Interpretation and Evaluation

The expression "Illness as a Way" can lead to some misunderstandings.

It is meant literally and without judgement. Illness is a path to take, not in itself good or bad. It depends entirely on the person concerned what they make of it. With a number of patients I was able to witness how they consciously followed this path and were able to retrospectively realize that "their obesity", "their heart attack" or even "their cancer" had become a great opportunity. In the case of Saint Teresa of Ávila, one must assume today that her heart attack set her on her future path.

We know from Hildegard von Bingen how closely her visions were related to her migraines. These two outstanding women have obviously accepted the messages of their clinical pictures and implemented them in their lives in an exemplary manner. That is exactly what »Illness as a Path« demands: to learn and grow from your own symptoms.

To misuse this concept and the philosophy behind it for evaluations is a big misunderstanding.

Esotericism has nothing to do with apportioning guilt, as it assumes that every human being is fundamentally guilty because he is cut off from unity. Being guilty is not a question of small or big mistakes in everyday life, but a fundamental question. Human original guilt lies in leaving the unity of paradise. Life in this world of opposites is necessarily full of mistakes and serves to find the way back to unity. Every mistake and every clinical picture thus illustrates missing elements to perfection and thus becomes an opportunity for development.

Misusing interpretations of illness to evaluate other people is a misunderstanding in several respects. On the one hand, there is no reason to apportion blame, since the original guilt has long since been apportioned and no human cooperation is required for this. One could just as well congratulate those affected on their illness because of the development and learning opportunities it offers. So-called »primitives« are ahead of us in this regard, since they value symptoms of illness as interventions of fate in their lives and willingly accept them as tests.

In many tribes, the prospective shaman longs for his initiation disease, which alone can introduce him to new areas of experience. This thought is sometimes pursued so consistently that a healer is only allowed to treat those clinical pictures that he himself has already experienced body and soul. If the healer sees himself as a soul guide through the inner worlds, this attitude is mandatory, after all, a travel guide should have got to know the country through which he leads beforehand.

With us, this thought is only present in traces. In the word destiny, for example, the "skillful salvation" (from the Latin salus = salvation) can be recognized. The remedy provings of homeopaths should also be considered. Here the doctor voluntarily enters the field of experience of the disease in order to get to know the pattern of his remedy. Finally, we rightly expect a psychotherapist to have traveled extensively through his own and the collective mental landscape and to know where he is taking his patients.

To accuse a person of being ill, a fundamental fact that binds us all, on the occasion of a difficult learning period with corresponding growth opportunities, makes no sense. In any case, this has nothing to do with the concept of “disease as a path”, but rather with the desire to bully someone.

Whoever uses his index finger as a weapon and accuses others of their clinical pictures in an "interpretative" way or blames himself in this respect also reveals that he has misunderstood the whole approach. By misusing the interpretation as an accusation along the lines of "You're constipated because you're such a cheapskate!" he misjudges the shadow character in every symptom of the disease.

Shadow is by definition unconscious to the person concerned. In this respect, the person accused in this way will not be able to accept the interpretation anyway. If he knew he was stingy, there would be no reason at all to be constipated.

Shadow is not suitable as a reproach. On the contrary, this most difficult issue of our existence requires a particularly cautious approach. The affected person needs all his strength and a lot of space from the environment to discover his connection to the topic expressed in the clinical picture in small steps of his own. Valuation proves to be just as obstructive as interpretation makes sense. 

Those who blame themselves in this way also fail to recognize the growth potential of illness. Looking through a clinical picture down to the mental level changes neither the basic guilt nor the concrete facts of the problem at hand. 

It doesn't make you a better or worse person, just more knowledgeable and responsible. If you ignore this knowledge and the responsibility that goes with it, little changes, everything stays the same. On the other hand, if you take responsibility for your own destiny, illness becomes an opportunity and makes it possible to respond to the cues of your own pattern.

The process is not even difficult. On the physical level, everyone can point, namely with a finger on the spot that is causing them problems. Bringing this experience into connection with the soul level is the goal of my future articles. This used to be just as natural as pointing with a finger is to this day. It's about putting your finger on the wound, figuratively speaking.
That requires courage, but again not that much, because the wound is already there. It doesn't arise when you put your finger in it, it just makes it more conscious. 

In the long term, this courageous step gives the opportunity to heal.