oil pastel and clay on paper
I want to explore how patriarchal belief systems get into our nervous systems / psyches / energy bodies as spirits of sickness, and what we can do to remove them. In this article I’ll look at what spirits of sickness are, and how they’re related to our inner saboteurs and exiled vulnerable parts of us. Then I’ll explore the power that awareness of them brings, and some ways of releasing their power over us. Some of this might sound strange, so I invite you to open your mind, and listen with your heart. Here we go!
What are spirits of sickness?
My teacher, Jez Hughes, states this about spirits of sickness:
Spirits of sickness are thought forms attached to an emotional charge. Each thought form by itself has some power but not lots. When they’re locked in they have a lot of power.
Thought forms that have a lot of power tend to be beliefs or systems of belief. They permeate the culture and can get into us when we are weak. They feed off strong emotions and point perception through their filter. All the isms are spirits of sickness; for example: racism, sexism, ableism.
Pigment pen and colour pencils on paper
16 x 16 cm
Patriarchal belief systems as spirits of sickness
Patriarchal belief systems are spirits of sickness. They operate from mind alone, not heart, although they might reside anywhere in the nervous system / psyche / energy body of the person. They create and feed off emotions formed from power imbalances. The feelings they create could be labelled ‘paternalism’.
Paternalism is when we see something as little, vulnerable, wild, authentic and we either love it in a benevolent, condescending, head-patting way or we feel judgmental and possibly aggressive towards it. For example, I sometimes, unconsciously, do it with more-than-human nature. I’m thinking of dogs, cats, birds, squirrels… It’s any time I go, “Awww cute!” I stop seeing the mystery, and, therefore, stop respecting the other creature. I look down on it in a ‘loving’ way.
How spirits of sickness attach themselves to us
Is it actually loving to perceive another being as cute or little? Or is it that my perception triggers a sense of my own smallness and vulnerability? In that moment, exiled vulnerable parts of the self become activated. Internal saboteurs leap into action to try to keep the exiled vulnerability hidden.
In this instance, the saboteur projects my vulnerability onto the other and I treat that other as vulnerable / little / cute. This avoidance of my own vulnerability creates a ‘crack’ in my psyche. The crack allows the spirits of sickness in.
Exiled vulnerable parts of us may hold stories of events that were traumatic at some point in our lives, and they are held away for good reason. The psyche does not want to re-experience that trauma. Or maybe the exiled vulnerable parts of us are hiding gifts or talents that we did not feel safe enough to share or were ridiculed for them. Maybe they hold both and more.
39 x 39 x 4 cm
Found object, string and acrylic on canvas
The relationship of exiled parts and saboteurs
Inner saboteurs do a really good job of protecting our consciousness against the awareness of the exiled vulnerable parts of us. They often do this in outmoded ways that are actually less helpful now but were created as coping mechanisms that worked initially. For more on saboteurs and the sage part(s) that can hold them and the exiled parts with compassion, read my book.
The relationship of saboteurs and spirits of sickness
Saboteurs distract us by avoiding, or overworking, or being hyper rational, to name just 3 ways. They create bad feelings and thoughts about ourselves, like shame or doubt. These feelings, if not expressed safely, grow as thoughts create stories about them that whirl round and round in our heads, gathering more strength. Spirits of sickness latch onto and feed these feelings and thoughts.
Saboteurs are parts of us, but spirits of sickness are not. Saboteurs are parts of the self, created to protect exiled vulnerable parts and can be transformed/welcomed along with the vulnerable parts. Spirits of sickness are not parts of the self, and they attach themselves to us to feed off negative emotions. They create rigid belief systems and roles that we subconsciously believe we have to conform to.
12 x 12 in
Found object, trash, thread and acrylic on canvas
An example of a spirit of sickness: benevolent sexism
Patriarchal belief systems create behaviours in individuals that are associated with roles. For example, a male might behave as a benevolent ‘father’ towards a woman he perceives as vulnerable and childlike. He might see her as cute, and less than, in a ‘loving’ way. It may be that the woman’s ability to be authentically vulnerable has triggered exiled vulnerable parts of his self.
His protective saboteurs jump into action to keep those exiled parts hidden. Unconscious behaviours (or ‘micro aggressions’) occur, like giving unsolicited advice, or touching without consent, or talking over the other person, to name just 3.
Benevolent sexism is as harmful as aggressive sexism. This is because one person is unconsciously belittling another person. Many people find it hard to accept that they may be doing sexism or other isms. People in ‘western’ culture tend to feel they are responsible for all their behaviour all the time. This is just not true when spirits of sickness are at work.
Unconscious behaviours can be carried out by anyone caught up by the paternalism created by spirits of sickness. For example:
- A human towards ‘his’ garden
- A global majority person towards a global majority person
- A CIS woman towards her trans woman friend
- A person of faith towards someone of different faith / no faith
- A teacher towards a child in their class
- A white person towards a global majority person
- A human towards her ‘pet’ dog
- A board of shareholders towards oil
- A child towards their sibling
- A person with a disability towards someone they see as ‘more disabled’
- A supervisor towards a shop floor worker
- A daughter towards her elderly mother
Basically, anyone can look down on anyone else. We can also encounter the other with awareness and presence. We can choose to do the work of creating awareness within our psyches.
Chalk pastel on paper
A4
Why your awareness matters
Awareness can create enough pause to stop the spirits of sickness from creating these power dynamics.
There are many ways to become aware, such as:
- Journaling reflectively on recent interactions with curiosity and discernment, without judgement. Judgement feeds the spirits of sickness even more.
- Psychotherapy with someone who is highly compassionate and person-centred (me, for example. Book an initial chat, if you’d like to).
- Shamanic healing to extract the spirits of sickness and install more loving power.
- Making collages or other creative-based methods to externalise what’s inside and to make connections.
- Being compassionately mindful in future interactions: it might feel okay for you, but is that the case for the other person? Have you been given explicit consent? Is the person able to give consent? How can you tell?
We are all affected by spirits of sickness. We are all in this together. I wish you love and compassion and many, many moments of heart to hearts connection and presence.
Love, Julia.
P. S. If you are contemplating the possibility of working with me to release ways of being that no longer work for you, here’s a way to book an initial chat: