Reading: What a Shaman Sees in A Mental Hospital
In my experience, sexuality has been a taboo topic in Asian culture, as something that would be slightly referenced or suggested delicately; however, mental health wasn't even a topic to be known. One line in the article really struck me. It said, "What those in the West view as mental illness, the Dagara people regard as 'good news from the other world.'" Although I don't know of any cases of mental illnesses being treated with spiritual healing, people have shared with me their spiritual experiences that sound like disorders with medical terms the Western world. For example, one friend of mine described facing several circumstances that sounded like sleep paralysis, but she referred to it as "being visited by ghosts." The term she used to describe the experience translates directly to "being pushed down by ghosts" or "a ghost applying pressure on your body." The name gave me an ominous feeling, but she reassured me that nothing dangerous happened to her, and that the ghosts that visited her were friendly, such as one being her cat that passed away right before her experience. Although I do believe Western societies, especially the US, have ruled out the spiritual realm's existence too early, I do not see mental issues as a positive connection with energies of both worlds. I believe most connections with spirits are dangerous, which would explain why most patients describe their sufferings and struggles with mental health as issues that they want help for, or issues they wish will be solved and to be relieved from. If these patients are simply bridges between the two worlds, why do they end up jumping off bridges? Would one really be arguing that they realized the terrors of this world and wish to join the other? The article notes briefly that dangerous spirits do exist, but seems to imply that majority are safe and beneficial. It's interesting how the article ends with Dr. Somé presenting the idea that people must heal their ancestors in order to receive help, guidance and blessings instead of disturbance, chaos, and curses in their lives. As much as this seems plausible given the idea that the spirit and living world are connected and can be travelled through, it's difficult to reintroduce such ideas without proof. Even if a person testifies to being healed by spirits, or multiple cases suggest this, Western worlds would explain such testimonies through the placebo effect, coincidence, or simply superstition. As spiritual and religion-heavy lives occurred in The Middle Ages, people have come to believe they have progressed forward and any recollection would be moving backwards to an age of chaos and time that could not last, as it was not sustainable.
Question: How can one reintroduce the spirit realm's existence when such ideas would damage the influence of large corporations and most likely oppressed by said people?
Work Cited:
Biologos (January 29, 2019). Belief in God in an Age of Science. Retrieved from: https://biologos.org/articles/belief-in-god-in-an-age-of-science-john-polkinghorne-part-5
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