A Brief History Of Healing
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One of the important things needed when really working to understand something is to know its history. To know where it came from, who started it and what they did with it to bring it to where it is today. The same is true with healing. In order to fully understand it we need to take time to explain where it came from and how it got to where it is today. For only then can we really begin to get a good idea of where it is going for the future.
Healing has been with us in one form or another since the dawn of time. As long as there has been life there has been healing. Of course what has changed is the type of healing and the way it has been used. As a result we wanted to take some time and delve back to the beginning. To expand the history of healing itself so we can see how people have used it since the beginning.
Before we begin however we need to take a moment to explain a few important things. The first being that we are not here to discuss the power of healing as it pertains to survival and life itself. We have already given you an idea about that. What we are here to look into is more about organized healing. Healing that has an intent and purpose and how people used it to better themselves and others.
To do this however we first need to delve back into the past; back to a point long before recorded history. We need to travel back to a point before people built cities or villages. Even back to a point before people had any technology beyond what they found around them. In short, we need to go to a point in human history when people first came together as a group.
At this point in history people had to struggle just to survive. It was a chore beyond anything we can imagine to day to even gather enough food just to survive. This is a time when life was cheap and people died all the time. It is however the point that we need to begin from. For it is at this point in human history that healing takes its first steps.
It is a fairly common practice when any group of people get together to elect or appoint someone a leader. This may be the bravest, strongest or even smartest person. In some cases the person may not want the job, yet it still gets thrust into their laps. This is the way it would have been with the very first healer of all time. Though they would certainly not been called that back there.
This first healer would have been chosen because they were gifted compared to the others. Not in that they could do more; it would have been more because they simply saw things others did not. Understand that this would have been a time of cave dwellers and scavengers. The mere act of survival was very unsure. This person would have been chosen as leader because they simply understood things that we may not take for granted.
Things such as bones outside a cave indicated that it was being used and thus should be avoided. Ideas like if you seen animals eating certain berries they were likely safe to eat. There are things that today we may not even give a second though. However, for these first people this alone made the difference between life and death. It was the person who understood and recognized how to read these signs that the job of leader would have been given.
Once the mantle of leadership had been passed to this person they would also have to work very hard to keep it. One slip up and the tribe could be wiped out as a whole. This very first healer had but one real purpose… to figure out what was safe and what was not. Only once that had been cared for could our leader begin to explore other aspects of the world around them. Things like what rocks made better tools and how to do it. Ideas like how to harness and use fire.
Over the course of time this first healer would of course begin to grow old and frail. To which they would have chosen a younger member of the tribe to take their place. This person in essence being the very first apprentice. Their job would have been to learn what the first leader knew and discovery how they figured it all out. After all they would also be expected to continue as the old leader did when they were gone.
Once this new leader took over they too would continue the same traditions as the first leader established. However, over time they would learn and discover new things. Things that they would add and over time their knowledge of the world around them would grow and grow. On and on this continued. One generation to the next. Each old leader showing an apprentice how to do what they knew and thus keep the cycle happening.
Over time the people grew and the world around them become better understood and defined. When this happened the role of leader would become too big for one person alone. Thus a split would occur. One side would continue to learn and discover more about the world. This becoming more of a spiritual leader or shaman. The other side would be more about the day to day operation and care of the people… or the tribal leader.
Both together now doing what the one used to do. However it is the shaman that continued the path of the healer. It was they who further defined the world around them. It was they who told the people why everything was the way it was. As a result it was the shaman that kept the people safe and secure. However, it was also the shaman that was required to tend the sick and injured.
Because of the knowledge that their ancestors gathered over many generations the shaman of this time would have known what plants did what for their people. They would have known all the knowledge and information that has been passed down through the years. It was their job to keep this sacred wisdom and use it to help heal the sick and injured.
Onwards and upwards this perpetuated. Leaders governing the people and Shamans tending the spiritual well being, the sick and injured. Each generation passing their knowledge and wisdom on to the next and each new one adding to what they knew of the world. Over and over this repeated until the people began to grow and expand even further. Until one day the very first settlement was created, the first village or town.
When this happened things began to change. Culture would begin to form in new and innovative ways. People would build temples for their religious leaders and palaces for their rulers. The people would begin to harvest food instead of hunting and foraging. They would build walls to surround what is theirs and keep is safe from those who would take it from them. In short the people began to build empires.
When this happened of course the rulers would have nothing to do with healing as that was the domain of the spiritual leaders. However with this new way of life came new ways of thinking. Leaders and Rulers had power… what they said was law and could not be challenged. As a result they used that power to better define their views and ideas. They used their power to create laws, ways of social conduct and many other such ideas.
However as the saying goes "Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely." When this began to happen, as it does in every society all throughout history, the people began to suffer for the whims and desires of their leaders. On and on this continued until one day the people had enough… at which point the leaders and rulers would be removed and new ones put in their place.
This too continued as life always does. Each generation seeing new rulers and spiritual leaders come and go. Every generation adding to their understanding of the world around them. Always growing and evolving until finally a new way of doing things came into being. A way of doing things that shared the power of these past elite few with others. A way of doing things that gave people more of a voice and made their leaders more accountable to their people. A way of doing things that would eventually evolve into the world we are more familiar with.
In this time there were councils instead of rules, and many ways of belief… not just one. This would become a time of wisdom and enlightenment. A time of thought and understanding. It was also a time of wonder and creativity. For into this time people we first given the power to choose more of their own destiny. There were centers of learning created to teach those willing to learn. There was better opportunity to obtain wealth and prosperity.
However into this world there came new people; ones that focused totally on learning and discovery. They were a new kind of healer… one dedicated to truly understanding the true depth of our world. They would later become those like the alchemist and midwife; thought at this point the may not have yet been called by these names. These were people that were respected and feared in equal measure. They were remarkable people that had a unique way of looking at the world around them.
As with all other points in human history this however did not last. As with the leaders of old these new leaders too began to crave more power. Wars and battles broke out to determine who should lead and which way of things was right or wrong. Into the world our alchemists and midwifes were outcast. They were seen as a threat by those who won the wars. They were people that could bring them down and as such we cast out of the light. Our newest healers were now seen as vile and evil in the light of these new elite.
Yet, as always life continued… new rulers came and went as too did the spiritual leaders. Over and over this cycle continued until finally a select few managed to take the upper hand in our world. This time however it would be the spiritual leaders that took over. They began to form specific belief systems that required strict obedience. They gained power over the rules and made them subservient to them. Our once proud new healers were cast even further into darkness and now labeled as being worshipers of the evil ones.
These new spiritual kings took hold of the world in a way that no other rulers in history have ever done. They did not destroy kingdoms or even take them over… the did not need to. It was as if the hand of God came down and gave these new masters of the world the power to do as they wished. For this is what these new rulers claimed and no one would dare stand up to them.
This too continued for a long time, however as is also the case of the world we live in… things again began to change. The power that these once great spiritual kings began to crumble. It was as if their time had been spent and the world was simply sweeping the away. This was a time that the rulers of the various realms once again tried to cease control and in many cases did. It was not that there spiritual kings were gone, it was just that they lost a great deal of the power over the other rulers.
This age too saw a resurgence of enlightenment and prosperity. Without the heavy yoke of the spiritual kings around the neck people ventured forth. The alchemists of old began to reclaim their place in the world. The midwifes of old again began to work in the light for the betterment of the people. New ideas began to surface and new ways of thinking began to emerge.
Yet as every other part of our tail has unfolded this too was short lived. As is always been the case in our world, when people begin to crave power the people suffer. Wars once again began to break out between one group or another. The spiritual kings found new enemies to fight to try and gain back their glory. The world was slowly being pulled apart and in the middle of it power was being seized by those who could grab it.
Before this chaos was done the world would see those new healers, now fully called alchemists, midwives and the like, be punished in ways that have never been seen before. There reached a time when the mere accusation of one of these people was enough to get one killed. This was a time a brutal fear and tyranny… unlike anything the world had seen before.
However, like all the other times of human history this too did not last. At the end of this time power was once again taken from the maniacal rule of these raw few and once again given to the people. New peoples were created in this time and new empires were established. In the middle of it all there were some few peoples that had been around for many many years. These were the people that had been there to witness much of the human saga unfold. Though like all the others they too had been changed by the events of the past.
From this point we now begin to emerge into more modern times. We begin to see a new surge of thought and enlightenment. There once again comes a time of learning and new culture. We being to again see these now old healers begin to come forth in new ways. We being to see what will evolve into modern day Doctors and Scientists begin to emerge from the rubble of all this chaos. These first few of this new breed of people were healers in the most traditional sense. They had but one real goal… to explore our world and help the people become better and more complete.
This was a time of new beginnings and new ideas. However, as every other time these people too began to want more than they had. There new healers began to lay down rules and structures. Some for the betterment of their entire group; yet others only serving the rare few that were chosen to lead them. As has happened in every age of mankind there people too began to use and abuse their power. Unlike others however we have yet to reach the time that they too come crumble down on top of the rest of us.
We now reach a point far closer to modern time. A period in our history when people seem to have become weary and tired of all this chaos. From this now almost modern age we see yet another group of healer emerge. These are people that do not have a history and tradition of healing. They are people that came from nowhere and created their own way of looking at the world. There are some in this mix that went on journeys of discovery and others that simply seem to pop into existence from nowhere. Yet the one thing they all have in common is the desire to see the world made better.
From these people we have developed and created systems of healing that we still see around us today. Some are a hundred years old, others barely past infancy. Yet in the middle of all these new systems we see a sad trend begin to emerge. Too many of these new healers seem bend on power and domination. Not in the act of healing itself; but in what they do with the healing they offer.
There are many of these new healers that seem to be bent on toppling the Doctors of our current world. They are people that seem to believe what they do and have to offer is better than anyone else in all of history. Like all the others that have come before they too are bend on power and glory. Yet, as has happened over and over in our history, we know that if they take over and bring down our world as they desire it too will again throw our world into chaos.
When we will ever learn?
Healing has been with us since the beginning. It was there with the first leader and has been used to both better and harm our world in every age of man. Healing itself does not pick sides in this world… it only provides an opportunity for change and evolution. It is we humans that direct and guide the power of healing to do what it does. We are the ones who are to blame for the destruction and credit for the greatness that has come of it all.
This is truly a time that needs healing more than any other in history. It is a time that we need to finally learn the lesson that we have failed to learn since the beginning… "The Only Way To Grow And Evolve Is To Do It Together!" We have had all this chaos and destruction because we always allow a select few to ruin it for all the others. No one person or group of people should be in control. We need to learn to work together and learn from each other. This is after all the true essence and core of what healing is all about.
Healing has never been about the acquisition of power… it is about learning to become what we are meant to become. Not out of control or ego but out of compassion and honesty. Healers have always been there in history to guide and shape our development; as can see if we just take a moment to look. It is now time to truly look at healing for what it really is… a force for evolution and change. However, at the end of the day it is still up to us how this force is used… for the betterment of our people as a whole, or the betterment of a few as individuals. Healing has the power to make the world such a wonderful place, however it can only happen if we can learn to accept one another and stop trying to control it all.
It is also important to understand that what we are talking about here is healing power in its absolute rawest form. This is not the kind of healing that we as healers will ever do. What is shown here is the total potential for healing… both good and bad. However if we learn t come together as a whole then we may well be able to tap this great and vast power to help finally shape our world in what it was meant to be.
What this all means at the end of the day, and finally answers the question of "who started it all?" The answer of course is we did… each and every last one of us. It is us even today that do nothing that add to the chaos of our world. Yet it is those who do something that help add harmony to our world too. We all have the power to make a difference. After all everything we showed has shown that it only takes a few people in the right place to make all the difference in the world… both good and bad.
Finally, we leave you with this though. Healing is all about balance and harmony. When used as a tool to offer aide to someone's life it can make a world of difference. If it is used only to gain power and glory it can only cause chaos and destruction. As we learn to become healers we need to learn to look within ourselves and see the person we really are. For only when we do this can we truly be honest in our motives to becoming a healer. If we our in it to help others as well as ourselves live a better and wonderful life then we can work towards that goal. If we are not then all we can hope to accomplish is destruction.
Let us finally learn from the past and stop ourselves being doomed to repeat it!
Copyright August 2005 - All Rights Reserved
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