The Wounded Healer

This posting is from the beautiful video: The Wounded Healer

Mythology is a method to identify traits within the human psyche and use the archetypes to translate human experiences. In Greek myths, chiron was the wisest of Centaurs and the archetype of the Wounded Healer. He was accidently wounded by an arrow that had been dipped in the blood of Hydra. Because he was immortal the venom caused him eternal torment. In his search for his own cure, he discovered how to heal others. In teaching others the healing arts he found a measure of solace from his own pain.
"Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion."
---Buddha
Each of us goes through trials in life, rites of passage, physical illness and pain, mental confusion, emotional trauma, and spiritual distress. These trials help us to learn compassion. They teach us how to be a Wounded Healer.

"I'm touched by the idea that when we do things that are useful and helpful - collecting these shards of spirituality - that we may be helping to bring about a healing."
----Leonard Nimoy

There is a difference between curing someone and healing someone. Medicine is a science, but healing is an art. Science is from the mind; art is from the heart. Healing energy flows when hearts connect.

"The doctor is effective only when he himself is affected. Only the wounded physician heals."
-------Carl Jung

Jung believed that a malady of the soul could be the best possible form of training for a Healer. The pains and burdens one bears and eventually overcomes is the source of great wisdom and healing power for others. The Wounded Healer understands what the patient feels because he has gone through the same pain. The Healer's experience is what makes him a brother of the patient, rather than his master. This triggers a fundamental change in perspective. Because he has learned through experience, the Healer is able to feel empathy instead of just sympathy. The patient can sense this subconsciously. This opens a conduit between the two on the spiritual level and connects them. The suffering patient can be cared for by the Healer and be instrumental in the Healer's own healing. Each encounter between the Healer and patient can be transforming for both.

The lesson of Chiron teaches us that we can overcome pain and transcend into knowledge that each of us can become a Wounded Healer.

"When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing."
-------Rabindranath Tagore