"Only the wounded healer can truly heal" - Irvin Yalom
The human experience isn't an easy one, and parts of me have questioned if man is inherently evil. The war, the greed, horrific levels of child abuse, animal cruelty, and poverty that plague the earth, would indicate so. When I witness this my heart often feels assaulted and broken. How can we treat each other like this? Why is there a Go Fund Me campaign to make the Kardashians into billionaires, while children are being trafficked around the globe on a daily basis? Why are technologies being hidden by companies while they continue to profit from human slavery? The list of how humanity has descended is deep and endless.
The question is can we use this decent to ascend? Can we use this collective pain and shadow to transform our world and where do we begin? We begin within. As a human being, it's our responsibility to heal, not just for ourselves but also for the world. I'm not excusing the psychopaths in power or a predator that has hurt you. However, what I know is that when we heal the wounds into wisdom, the cracks in our armor disappear. Allowing us to tackle these pressing issues in our inner and outer world from a more centered place. Rather than meeting them with projected anger and fear, we can meet this darkness with our powerful, courageous hearts. But first, we must meet this darkness within.
Ok, so what is a wounded healer? The term was first coined by the psychologist Carl Jung and it is based around the theory that the wounded are compelled to heal the wounded. Why you may question? Because the wounded healer has embarked on the hero's journey home, they have delved into their own darkness, they have sunk into their sadness, they have felt their fear and sat with their shame. They innerstand their inner world, and as a result, they innerstand their outer reflections. Wisdom comes from healed pain so if you are in deep suffering, please know that you hold great power and knowledge within, you just need to tap in.
This isn't a modern concept and goes way back to Greek mythology. Long ago in ancient Greece lived a Centaurus (a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse) named Chiron unlike most centaurs who were violent and savage, Chiron was known for his teaching, wisdom, and knowledge of medicine. So how did Chiron become such a wise teacher and prophet for his time? In a nutshell, he became a master of the healing arts through his own wounding.
Chiron's father was the Greek god Cronus (Saturn), and his mother was a beautiful nymph named Philyra. Cronus desired the alluring nymph, but Philyra didn't like Cronus, so she turned herself into a mare, to stop his unwanted advances. That didn't stop Cronus, and he turned himself into a stallion to mate with the pretty nymph. After giving birth to Chiron, she saw he was a Centarus and rejected him. This was Chiron first wounded, his early year's abandonment. This allowed Chiron to become a wise teacher, however like many his wounding didn't end there.
While examining his friends Hercules weapons, a poisonous arrow shot into his left foot and for nine days the master healer tried to heal himself with herbs but failed. Ironically, Chiron, the master of healing, could not heal himself and willingly gave up his immortality. His half-brother Zeus took pity on him and placed him among the stars in the sky to be honoured. The Greeks identified him as the constellation Centaurus. It's interesting to look at where Chiron sits in your natal chart, as it will often reflect what hurt needs to heal in your life. As a constellation it sits between Saturn and Uranus so holds shamanic elements and energy. This is why the shamanic path is often the path of descent and ascent.
There is a warning that Jung noted, and I have seen this over the years working with various healers and shamans, it's the ‘healer archetype.' When you are working with another's deep wounds there is somewhat of a transference that can happen and a reopening of one's own wounds. A good healer needs to have a foot in both worlds. Sincere inner work with their own unconscious mind is needed, so they don't over identity with the ‘saviour healer complex' and create an inflated ego.
Everyone on this planet at some point in their life has been wounded. It's part of the reason we are here, to learn, to grow and to transform. The wounded healer archetype isn't born that way or made that way, they create the way. They have alchemized their wounds into wisdom, and in doing so shine a light for others to do the same. They have a great purpose, and their genuine authenticity gives others a permission slip to be their authentic self. Heres a few signs that you might be a wounded healer.
WOUNDED HEALER SIGNS:
You have delved into your own darkness and appreciate the lesson and teachings it has given you.
Your life experience has shaped you and created who you are.
You have a deep connect and desire to help others.
4 You can connect to what others are feeling and have a way of helping them navigate through.
When helping others its almost like you are speaking to a part of you.
You are always working on yourself.
"Your defects are the ways that glory gets manifested. Whoever sees clearly what is diseased in himself begins to gallop on the way. There is nothing worse than thinking you are well enough”. Rumi
The greatest gift you can ever give yourself and others is to heal.
We are students, and we are all teachers. There are no masters above and slaves below, this is the path of sovereignty. The path of emotional sovereignty is when we move from victim to hero, wounds to wisdom and power to pain.
I wish you, well fellow warriors.
If you are feeling called to walk the heroes journey home and to work with me, please contact me on:
info @emotionalsovereignty.com.
Be More, Be Excellent, Be YOU!
Ana Stasia