June 2019
Hello and Welcome Again to another Featured Article about Spiritual Care and It’s Role In Restoration and Recovery from childhood abuse. This article is going to bring more into focus for the reader and listener and a closer look at Spiritual Care and It’s Role as a equal partner in healing professions for those abused in childhood.
In the helping professions which are educated and trained to help people of all ages to be healed and restored back to wellness, the one area that is almost 100% of the time left out and off the team of helping broken and abused children, teens and adults, is spiritual care ministry for the spirit.
Spiritual Care, what exactly is it? Who can do it? What kind of training does one need to have? Can anyone provide it? Can all Faiths provide it? What use is it? Where does it fit in with the other helping professions?
Why has it been left out as an equal partner in helping people who have been abused as a child?
These are valid and important questions to ask and more important to answer.
In the latest article in a special magazine devoted to mental health entitled, Mental Health, A New Understanding. This magazine is an updated reissue of Time’s Special Edition about many wonderful helping professions, treatments procedures and therapies for mental health issues, but the role of Spiritual Care as a Full Professional Equal was not fully talked about in the article. Even the illness and disease of mental health problems was not even looked at from the viewpoint of a whole person with an illness/disease that includes the spirit. In the world of Mental Health and it’s world wide understanding, Spiritual Care to the spirit was not considered nor discussed in great detail. To the world view of mental health illness and disease this is mainly a biological illness/disease/disorder that effects the biological brain which effects ones soul/self, emotions, feelings, decisions, view points, character, memory, and other areas effected by this biological brain disease/illness.
Even in this wonderful and well respected Magazine, Spiritual Care and it’s Role in the Helping Professions with those who have been effected by the trauma of childhood abuse is left out almost entirely and placed on the side lines of helping even if it is allowed in the game at all. There is probably many very good reasons for this and most of them are probably correct. But Spiritual Care is now beginning to speak out about itself and the realm of it’s work and that it is to be added to the entire team of helping professions in this fight and battle of mental illnesses and disorders against humanity.
Spiritual Care seems to be accepted as a helping profession in the field of substance abuse and other addictions through the 12 Steps Recovery Support Programs. Through the many years of applying the 12 steps of A.A. to other areas of substance abuse and addictions, the value of a Higher Power and one’s surrender to It to help solve and restore a person has been accepted. Yet, in the area of a mental health disease, illness, childhood trauma, sexual assault trauma, human trafficking and domestic violence and many other areas of abuse and trauma, Spiritual Care is not in the minds of the helping professions as an equal partner to help diagnosis, treat and bring healing, education, wellness, recovery and health to individuals and families.
Has Spiritual Care always been left out as an equal partner to bring healing and wellness to a human?
Was Spiritual Care ever considered an equal partner along side the other professions in healing the human from these attacks/vexations/disorders by something that really can’t be seen or understood?
Where in history can we look back to that could shine some light on this subject of the history of The Role of Spiritual Care to a human spirit.
Throughout many many years of human civilization, a Higher Power/A Great Spirit/A God Of Creation has been apart of humanity’s life here on earth in every area of a human’s life, even in illness, sickness and the diseases that have afflicted humanity since the dawning of time of humanity on the earth.
Far back into humanity’s history of civilization, Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome Spiritual Care, the belief that there was even a Higher Power and It’s Interaction with humanity and the Role of The Higher Power in the lives of humanity was always believed in, accepted and considered to be the Source of Healing and Wellness, Protection and Support of humanity. Then from this deep belief of the Role of A Higher Power in the lives of humanity, this belief included that there were UNSEEN other beings that were evil/demonic and they were the cause of many of the sicknesses and illnesses of humanity.
Ancient civilizations believed in the Spiritual Realm and it’s effects on humanity. Spiritual Care was considered mainstream and even provided the doctors called Priests who were educated and learned in this realm of healing, had spiritual connection with the Higher Power and would be considered the one to go to for help with these illnesses and diseases. Oh there were Physicians of the biological body as well and yet they were partners together in this battle against the enemies of the health and wellness of humanity.
There is a wonderful old movie entitled, The Egyptian. It is about an ancient Egyptian Physician who lived during the time of the Pharaoh Amenhotep IV/ Akhenaten. It can be seen on YouTube. It takes one through the life a physician in ancient Egypt and his entwined life with The Pharaoh Amenhotep/ Akhenaten. It is a good place to begin to see the role of A Higher Power in the life of people and how this concept began in humanity and goes on to even the days Of Moses of the Hebrew Bible and beyond.
It is very important to have an understanding of spirituality and it’s place in the lives of a nation, of one’s health and well being and the purpose of the role of a Higher Power in an individuals life on earth.
This brief history lesson will begin to help all to understand just a little bit more of the role of Spiritual Care as a vital part of a human’s life in all areas of that life even in the health and wellness of it.
The Pharaoh, Amenhotep IV of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt is noted in history as the Pharaoh for abandoning the traditional Egyptian polytheism ( belief in many gods including gods for every family, city and tribe as well as over every aspect of life, every good thing or bad thing, or life and even death itself ). The Pharaoh, Amenhotep IV was ruler of Egypt for about 5 years during which time he followed the policies of his father and the religious traditions of Egypt. But in his 5th year, he underwent a dramatic religious transformation that caused him to change his life and the nation.
The Pharaoh, Amenhotep IV’s religious transformation was so powerful Amenhotep changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten, and the object of his religious/spiritual devotion from the cult following of poly gods with the center of those deities was AMUN, the ancient god of the sun and the air a very important god of ancient Egypt to another, Aten.
The god AMUN was usually depicted as a bearded man wearing a headdress with a double plume or as a Ram Headed man or simply a ram symbolizing fertility in his role as AMUN-MM. His name means – The Hidden One, Invisible, Mysterious Form. He was considered Lord/Owner of all who encompassed every aspect of creation.
Amenhotep IV became Akhenaten. Amenhotep IV seem to have a spiritual awakening/a vision/a deep spiritual belief that caused his life in it’s spiritual life to change. A powerful spiritual event, a discovery, a spiritual revelation happened to Amenhotep IV to cause him to abandoned his birth name, and the ancient system of religion and spirituality of his nation. Amenhotep IV went from belief in poly gods to a belief in JUST ONE GOD!
From this spiritual awakening to THERE JUST BEING ONE GOD of all, Amenhotep IV had a new birth, and gave himself a new name to go with that birth, ANKHETATEN. Then Pharaoh Ankhetaten abolished the old ancient traditional religious system of Egypt, and their religious rites, it’s priests and healers, it’s center of worship and instituted the first known MONOTHESISTIC STATE RELIGION in the known world.
The SUN GOD, the ATEN was not new to the Pharaoh of Egypt or the ancient Egyptians, he was simply just another god with a following, a cult, a group of disciples, students, worshipers, believers of a god of Egypt to worship and serve. A cult of ancient Egypt carried the same meaning as a community of believers today designated by different Christian or faith denominations, religious sects and groups. Cults of faithful believers are not anything new and a follower can be following not only a god, but a belief system, a governmental system, a philosophy of views, cultural and family traditions, race and gender beliefs, family traditions, or just following a group of people called a gang.
Yet, in ancient Egypt all the known gods represented the same end,
Eternal Harmony and Balance
Amenhotep The IV’s spiritual conversion to JUST ONE GOD affected all of Egypt. He moved the capital from the traditional palace at Thebes to a new city he would built, called Akhetaten, after himself. He continued to enforce new religions reforms. These reforms were ancient humanity’s expression of monotheism, the belief in only one god of all the world.
A spiritual belief system of monotheism was foreign and alien to the ancient Egyptians. For it said that there was no longer many/poly gods to believe in, but just one! This went against every tradition, against all the systems of control of the people and against the way of the fathers.
All the Pharaoh’s before Amenhotep IV, the Nation’s leader of his people identified themselves as a servant of the gods and usually identified with a certain god ( mostly after the god of Horus).
But before Akhetaten, no Pharaoh had proclaimed himself an actual GOD INCARNATE ( god within man )
This spiritual belief caused Akhetaten to withdrawn from his National duties as a Diplomat and Warrior King against the Nations. Akhetaten ignored things outside of Egypt.
Don’t get tired of history for it is valuable for the formation and inclusion of spiritual care as a viable profession that needs to be included as a team member with a seat at every table that helps people from the effects and damage from childhood abuse or any other trauma that brought the entire 3 part system into sickness, disease, illnesses, post traumatic disorders, anxiety, suicide, addictions and substance abuse, and then produce crimes against others and others things.
Akhenaten’s new spiritual beliefs consisted of that Aten’s image was an all-powerful ( Sun ), an all loving deity, supreme creator and sustainer of the universe.
Akhenaten seemed to be the first in humanity’s records of civilization to envision a single supreme deity who cared for the individual lives and fates of human beings.
Akhenaten’s elevation of the Aten ( the Sun/the one god of all ) to supremacy, this one concept changed not only that ancient nation of Egypt and it’s history, but the entire course of humanity itself and the civilizations to come.
Aten was seen as the Sun with it’s rays shinning down on humanity and touching them all. Aten, the One True God who presided over all and infused all living things with His rays of life touching and caressing all on earth.
Coming forward in time to another ancient civilization, Ancient Greece. The Greek Philosopher, Xenophanes ( 570 -c. 478 BCE) would also later experience a similar vision/spiritual awaking, re-discovery as did the Pharaoh Amenhotep had had. That the many gods of the Greek city-states were vanity/fruitless/empty/hollow imaginations and there was only one true god and though he shared this vision through his poetry, he never established the belief as a revolutionary new way of understanding oneself, and the universe.
Now we will look at some ancient views about mental health and it’s causes and remedies.
Humanity’s greatest thinkers and philosophers desired themselves to find the elusive answers to the hidden world of illnesses and diseases.
Back in time we travel to a man named, Hippocrates. He believed that man’s awareness and who he was, his identity were housed/centered in the brain. But he had no factual knowledge of this, so he had to conclude that it really was just the fluids of the body called humors that were the area of the problems of humanity. Hippocrates believed that one’s mind was governed by the four humors or fluids of a body. The four fluids were the blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. It was in Hippocrates’s viewpoint that one’s character or temperament was linked to the particular mix of one’s 4 humors in their body. Also, there was still one more connection. link that had to be considered how the 4 humors/fluids lined up with the four elements that governed astrology which were air, fire, earth and water.
If everything lined up in harmony, one’s mind would be quiet and peaceful. If there was any misalignments the person’s mind may have some areas of disturbed thinking and not be able to focus on daily tasks. So, at this point in time, the leading healing authorities believed the mind had moods and they were looking for the reasons.
Aristotle believed that it was the heart of man that housed man’s intelligence, his emotions and consciousness. To Aristotle, because you could feel and hear the heart beating it just had to be the center of everything for when someone died it stopped. But the brain was not so important to Aristotle as the heart was.
Then moving forward again in time, coming into the medieval times, the times of the dark ages of western civilizations an ancient belief resurfaced from out of the long forgotten past that madness of the mind was caused by evil spirits that took over one’s mind. Even though this seemed like a unlikely cause, but it had a good side to it because now there was something or someone that was causing this madness of a mind and those bad guys could be expelled by what was called trepanning – which is the drilling of holes in the skull and believing that the bad stuff now had an doorway to leave the brain and the mind would get well again. But this healing embraced an concept, an idea that this something that was behind the madness of the mind was of a Divine nature and was the result of punishment or because of the desire of the Divine spirit to possess the mind of a human. So, from this viewpoint, a healing would be found in what is called exorcism or casting out of the bad spirits and this form of medicine and treatment would be administered by a Minister of the Faith Community.
But through out time and the centuries to follow, no answers to the problem or the problems of the mind came. So, man in his great wisdom, could not solve this problem or even find the cause of these mental health problems of society. So, in the 17th century came the creation of prisons that became warehouses for society with mental health problems. If one had money, the family would send the person away to hide them from the community. But if one had no money, lunatic asylums were built to warehouse people for there was no treatment that worked.
Oh, the medical community tried so many treatments that included things like immobilizing the body in many different ways, spinning people in chairs , inducing vomiting and releasing other bodily fluids. Drugs came into the treatment to keep people quiet and peaceful, then came the lobotomies which where done up through the nasal passages to destroy the frontal lobe/part of the brain to bring about an mind that had no emotions, no feelings of anything.
Hippocrates believed that the brain of man was troubled and sorrowful but now the medical community just ruined the brain by any means possible to stop the mental issues that seemed to have no cause, no treatment to solve the problem.
Now moving forward in time, Dr. Sigmund Freud, known as the Father of modern Psychiatry and Psychology knew that The Pharaoh Akhenaten/Amenhotep added a component unknown previously in spiritual religious beliefs – the doctrine of a universal god; the quality of thus exclusiveness.
Dr. Freud began to bring in science into the mix of trying to solve the problems of humanity such as the problems women were having, sexual problems and dream interpretations. But, Dr. Freud believed that there was a deep complex sub-conscious mind hiding deep in the conscious mind, out of site, beneath the conscious mind of every human. Dr. Freud believe that he could learn more if the trouble person would talk, and talk. Then during this time more drugs became available to use that were believed to re-balance the chemicals of the mind and thus cause the mind to come into balance.
Coming forward into the modern time, more talk therapies developed, behavioral therapies came to the fore-front to control and re-train the human brain for it was widely believed that man was just only an animal and could be trained by pain, punishment or pleasure to learn the desired behaviors society wanted and therefore behavioral training therapies were developed. Then more science came forth and the doctors and scientists could actually see the brain work through many different scans. Then the brain’s genes and the genetic codes of the brain can be looked at and looked at to see the infected gene codes of the mental illnesses and disorders of the biological brain.
So, healing arts were created, schools were developed and trained those who desired to help people with a brain disease. Yet, through all these years of civilizations humanity seemed to be no closer to the answers of why, and how to bring restoration and recovery to a brain or mind that is suffering and being vexed by some elusive illness and disorders that still continue to attack and do battle against humanity. This war seems to ebb and flow, and yet it never is beaten or eradicated.
So, now let’s look at another viewpoint that was apart of human civilization at one time, and has been lost in the tombs of the ancient times and locked away and hidden from the world of today.
Long ago humanity believed that the ancient gods or a one supreme god of the Unseen and Seen Worlds were apart of humanity’s life on earth and were to help guide us, heal us, protect us, watch over us, bring their unseen rays of life to us to touch us and bring us healing and restoration and recovery. Ancient cultures and even many today still believe this and seek out this all supreme god or it’s servants during times of sickness, illness, famine, war, for peace from all enemies, for balance and finally for help to be reborn into another life form after death.
Yet at the same time, man tried to solve it’s problems of illness, sickness and diseases with cures from nature for their was a belief that sickness and disease was not only a biological problem but a spiritual one and they both needed to be applied from the appropriate sources to bring the health and wellness that humans desired.
To help humanity from a spiritual side, with spiritual help, one had to go to be trained and educated as an professional that could provide this deep, unseen spiritual care for one’s eternal being, the spirit. So, Priests were the first Drs. of the spiritual care for humanity. The ones who were spiritually studied and educated in the spiritual realm and it’s gods of healing, restoration, recovery. The Priests knew that most of the sickness and diseases of humanity were based in the spiritual realm and needed the appropriate spiritual treatment to heal the sickness and disease.
Ancient humanity included a Higher Power and it’s benefits into their lives. The Priests who would now be called Pastors/Shepherds of people are suppose to be the as the ancients were, educated and learned in the spiritual realm and the benefits of spiritually being in connection to a Supreme God/Being and He would Speak to the Priest/Pastor the spiritual cause for the sickness, the disease, the illness and the treatment needed to heal all 3 parts of a human.
In many cultures, these spiritual healers are still accepted and sought out, but in other cultures of the western world that prides itself on science and technology, these humans do not include spirituality and it’s spiritual care into the team of professionals who are seeking to diagnosis, treat and cure/heal those who had been abused in childhood from any kind of abuse or trauma. Most of modern healing professions have taken the Higher Power out of their team of acceptable professional to help people with mental health and substance abuse illnesses, diseases, and trauma related disorders. Modern health care professionals do not believe that spiritual care and it’s spiritual area of expertise has any place in helping people. Science and biology seems to rule the diagnosis, treatment and support for those who have experienced a child hood abuse of any kind, or a trauma from being a First Responder, or from being in battles and war, or from just living in a toxic family or neighborhood and spiritual care has no place and no role in the restoration, recovery and healing of humanity.
Even during the long hours of the dark of night, when the spirit seems alone, yet dark visions of the night seem to be real and scary, attacks occur, feelings of sexual rape, being taken out of one’s body, flying and running, being attacked by night creatures, fear of death and smells of sulfur exist, but only in the nightmares and dreams. Flashback come with the memories of trauma, personality change and time is lost, Spiritual Care is left out, not apart of this healing and recovery.
Modern health care professionals and insurance companies have dominated and controlled what they consider to be the appropriate ones to diagnosis and provide treatment of mental health illness and diseases to humanity.
But, Spiritual Care for the Spirit is not apart of the helping professions that can provide a level of healing that only it can to the hidden spirit and is not able to be accomplished by those who only treat the soul and the physical body of humanity.
This article is to hoped to begin presenting to you the reader with some concepts that you need to explore deeper, discuss with others and do research on for yourself. One needs to begin conversations about this topic, talk with health care professionals and ask them questions about this concept of spiritual care as a equal partner with them in treating the whole person.
Spiritual Care, needs to become an equal partner along with all the other healing professions and be seen as an educated and highly trained professional Spiritual Care Ministers of All Faiths to provide spiritual care healing and ministry to the deeply hidden part of humanity, the spirit who is the real eternal self that everyone needs to discover that it also has been abused in every way just as the physical body and soul have been in childhood.
Ask yourself a few questions and who would be the helping professional who you could talk to about this
1 . Leaving one’s body/separating/dissociating from oneself and one’s physical body even now?
2 . Do believe you may be many others yet one?
3 . Do you have night dreams, experiences, attacks, sexual experiences while you sleep?
4 . Have you had near death experiences?
5 . Do you hear voices of others, other things, ugly voices, voices that tell you to do things you do not want to do?
6. Do you see things that others do not see? Do you feel like you are flying?
7. Did you know that we have open doors to the occult, witchcraft, voodoo, the spiritual realm from our ancient long forgotten ancestors?
8. Are you aware of the Ancient Words of Curses and Sickness that have been said against your life from the long forgotten past of your ancestors?
9. Participated in any occult activities, drugs, learned astro-travel, have witchcraft or new age in the ancestors of your life?
10. Do sickness and illnesses run in the family?
11. Had any trauma in the womb, in childhood, through drugs and alcohol, through domestic violence, sexual assault, fear and bullying, a toxin home life, war and battle, being a First Responders, Being a Law Enforcement Officer, Correctional Officer, in one’s family of origin, in prison, in gangs, in cults?
12. What was your ancient ancestors spiritual role in humanity?
These are just a few questions to ask yourself about yourself that is hidden to help you discover that you have a spirit and the real you is a spirit that lives in hidden realm, the realm of the spirit and it too needs to be healed, restored and recovered from the abuse and trauma of childhood.
This article is to get you to begin to explore this concept for yourself. Most of the professional helpers in the areas of helping you to be restored, recovered and healed from these horrible traumas and abuse of early childhood do not believe in nor want to talk about this area of spiritual care for they are dependent on their belief and education and training that mental health illness is a biological disease and illness and that if they can get the brain fixed, a biological part of the physical body, then the brain can recover and learn and stabilize itself to be able to live in society, go to work, have relationship without any troubles. In that world of mental health professions, they believe as long as you can go to work and hold the job, have somewhat normal family relationships, do no crimes and follow the law, you are not mentally ill!
This article is to ask you very important questions
Has Humanity Descended Away From The Need and Assistance of A Higher Power to help one be healed, restored and recovered from any childhood abuse or trauma?
Or Has Humanity Ascended Into The Realm Where A Higher Power Is Not Needed For Healing from Sickness and Disease and Trauma which are only the results of a Biological Disorder, a Chemical Imbalance in a Brain, the effects of Thoughts and Ideas of The Soul?
It is hoped that this article will bring much to the forefront for discussion, to research, to think about and eventually find the answers to the questions that have been presented in this article.
There Is A Wise Old Saying Of The Days Of The Long Lost Times,
It says, that people are destroyed for lack of knowledge/truth and because of this, the children also will be lacking in knowledge and be destroyed.
Begin to ponder the role of Spiritual Care for your precious spirit, the real you and know that there are some out here that can help bring healing, wholeness, restoration and recovery to that part of you, the eternal you.
The Spiritual Being Hidden Underneath the Veil of Flesh of The Soul, living in the Physical Body of Dirt of the earth.
Love Always and Forever
Pastor Deborah