Healing the Spirits of Trauma

[Eva]

Thank you for sharing this, Psyche.

Olga Kharitidi's book "Entering the Circle: Ancient Secrets of Siberian Wisdom Discovered by a Russian Psychiatrist" was a gift I received years ago and made quite an impact on my thinking. I lent it away back then and it was lost. The past couple of days I was trying to remember the title of that book or even Olga's full name with no luck.

At the same time, but without thinking the two might be connected, I realised it was time to look into SRT but it is a subject that unnerves me so I've been putting it off for over a month now.

It was very interesting to find both the name of the author I've been trying to remember and a mention on SRT in the same thread.

Many thanks.

 

[Ca.]

Thank You Psyche. There is so much Truth from Olga Kharitidi's book, "Entering the Circle: Ancient Secrets of Siberian Wisdom Discovered by a Russian Psychiatrist". It becomes obvious its the way to blow the lock off the blocks to move forward. Incredible timing of this post, as i have been discussing some of the very principle's with family, and firends of the recipe for success in dealing with this dilemma, that there struggling with as well as i.

Mother - John Lennon (High Quality)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkOoZDK7Rz8

 

[Elwing]

"The main reason for feeling scared is giving up the power of yourself. People won't give it up by their free will, but they do it all the time when they have been hurt. When they don't want the hurt to be a part of their personal memory, they, reject the traumatic experience altogether. They don't accept it as a completed part of themselves so a memory demon catches it and states, 'This is mine.' The memory demon gets the energy; the self loses it.

"The gap in one's personal story has been created and it is always experienced thereafter as fear. When we feel fear, we feel this gap between what we know as our accepted memory and what belongs to some dark corner inside us. The fear returns again and again to hurt us. And through us it hurts others, and through this it feeds its secret memory.

"It is true that when a person is filled with fears, he becomes vulnerable to any type of psychic influence because he has lost a connection with himself, the connection being the ultimate protection. [...]

If your memory gaps are not healed, if you reject your past, then you let the spirits of trauma in. Sooner or later, no matter how great you are, they come to torture you and to torture others through your actions.[/b] [...]

"The gap in the psyche I told you about before is a seat for a memory demon to anchor in to and grow. It is a parasite which tries endlessly to deceive you into believing II is an innermost part of you while it sucks your energy and makes you feed it with more fears. The gap is created any time something traumatic happens and the personality is not strong enough to accept it as a part of itself. The psyche takes it in as something foreign to itself. Then, when many of those experiences have accumulated, they become a nourishing substrate for another subject. Because it is brought up by trauma, one can call it the spirit of trauma. Everyone has it.

"More or less, we all carry these detached memories which become taken over by memory demons. They are inherited as the fears and traumas of our parents and ancestors. The spirits of traumas create yet more traumatic circumstances, again and again. They help people make excuses to avoid seeing them in the full light of day. They make people suddenly tired, uninterested, wanting to change the subject before the trauma's nature is uncov¬ered. Like your wanting to return to the hotel now."

"These are the physical 'islands of memories,' parts of the body which memory demons used to live in. Your cul¬ture would call it punishment for sins. The main attribute of sin, if we are to use this term at all, is not its moral characteristic, but its ability to stop further development, to block further movement. All 'great' sinners, as essen-tially the personifications of the memory demons and whatever wrong deeds they did, had one thing in common: their awareness was fixed on the subject of their sin, be it greed, lust, jealousy, or anger.

"These different qualities served as a dam built up against their development and transformation. And this is what started the process of segregation and involution. When they died and disintegration began, their awareness was stuck with only their sin and trauma, and they died a second death, losing their individual awareness eventually. Their individual selves ceased their existence after the second death."

Having seen what happens with rejected, unacknowledged fear and trauma both in myself and my family (both immediate and extended), how the abuse and mistreatment is carried forward into the next generation despite a desire to be nothing like the abuser, reading through this whole thread has been very enlightening. I have gotten to the point of identifying some of the patterns of destructive behavior, but have run up against blocks I haven't been able to get past in order to move forward and grow. The excerpts posted have been very helpful in determining how to move forward from here.

Thank you for sharing this, Psyche. I will be ordering the book soon.

 

[Ollie]

I’ve now had the opportunity to read both books and offer some excerpts from the first of Olga Kharitidi’s books Entering the Circle. This may help as a primer for the excerpts Psyche has given. Again, some of the concepts may be familiar, other not. Highlights in bold are mine.

The story starts in her clinic.

[…] The sections set apart in italics (written in the present tense) are taken directly from my journals. […]
[…]
[… ]I didn’t hurry him but simply waited for him to tell his story. […]

[… ]I know his story didn’t fit together yet, but I didn’t question or interrupt. My job for now was just to listen and let him continue his story in his own way.

I finally decided to interrupt him, in an attempt to bring him back to the reason he had come here. […]
[… ]
“We can start now, Nicolai, I need you to answer my questions honestly and as accurately as possible. If you don’t have and answer, don’t try to think one up. Our success does not depend on the number of questions you answer. It depends on a different quality. And we don’t have to discuss what that is but only trust it, knowing that it is already present and true for us and that we may be guided by it.” My words were deliberately obscure, because I wanted to confuse his mind in order to create an opening for my words to enter his unconscious.

I continued, “Nicolai, in the past there have been many times when I have tried to recall an important memory but found it impossible to do so. The more I focused the more unavailable my memory became. I tried again and again, until I became absolutely exhausted. Then I gave up and relaxed. Shortly thereafter, the image I sort came to me from my unconscious. This phenomenon was what first led me to understand the power of the unconscious mind and to realize that it can help us immensely if we learn how to communicate with it.

I’ve found that true, too.

The story moves now to a new location in the mountains of Siberia, and meets the shaman Umai.

Although I had been among the people of Altai only a short time. I had an intuitive sense that they were mainly centered in the present. They did not live in the past. They did not dream of the future. Umai was focused completely in the “now,” and at this moment “now” meant making a fire.

“Now you are in your inner space, the place of the Spirit Lake. This is your first conscious time here. Each of us has this inner space but during the lives of most people, it becomes smaller and smaller. As we go through life, the world around us tries to fill up and kill this inner space, your Sprit Lake. Many people lose it entirely. Their space is occupied by legions of foreign soldiers, and it dies.

“Now you have experienced this space within yourself. Now you know it. You will no longer be afraid of the world around you. Your space will never be filled up with anything but yourself, because now that you have experienced it, you recognize its feeling and its pulse. You will continue to explore it. Later you will also learn that there is an important Inner Being who lives there. You will need to meet and understand this Spirit Being. I will help you do this when you are ready.”

Umai’s voice is soothing and I hang onto every word as she continues. The next thing is the greatest secret I could tell you. We have the task of building two things while we are in our physical lives. Our first task is the destruction of the physical reality in which we live. The second task is the creation of ourselves – of that very self that lives within this outer reality.

“Both tasks require equal attention. Keeping the balance between them is a very sacred and demanding art. As soon as we forget one task, the other can capture us and make us its slave forever. This is why the place of the Spirit Lake, the home of the Inner Being becomes empty and dead for so many people. They come to truly believe that the other world is the only one worth their attention. Sooner or later they will realize their mistake.

“For you, the main danger is not this but only in exploring your inner self. This is why you were already so interested in other people’s minds. You were using that information to try to understand your own psyche. You must learn how to accept the importance of creating your own reality. Believe me that your work with the outer world has an absolute and equal power and ability to satisfy. Don’t be afraid of the shore around you now. Everything you see is of your own manifestation, and it is ridiculous t be afraid of your own creation. I will help you.”
[…]
I am safely transported into a dark forest. At some deep point within myself I am calm and accepting of what is happening. I am not afraid. I feel changed. Although some of my recent experiences have been terrifying, they have been teachers. They have made it possible for me to detach myself and be an observer in a way I would never have been before.
[…]
“Listen to me carefully. You are in the middle of an immense struggle. Your conscious mind couldn’t absorb even a thousand part of what is at stake, so I am counting on your understanding. I ask only for your belief.

“Be attentive and listen,” she continued. “This struggle began so long ago that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you a date. Time is not as simple as you think it is. For now, you need to hear only that time has spirals, and that when two spirals come together humanity will go through a great change. This is happening now.”

“Close your eyes now, and follow my story. We are not bound to the earth. Your breathing is a gateway to places far beyond this land, and even beyond this body you inhabit for the moment. Don’t allow yourself to be caught up in your fear of losing yourself. Let your breathing be its own life, and let it be free. Trust me, follow my story, and I will follow you. You are protected.

Kind of reminds me of the Eiriu Eolas breathing programme.

Resuming the quote a little further on.

Then, from out of nowhere, a simple understanding comes into my mind. This place and the men surrounding me are all creatures of my own fears. All the images in the dream are my own. I am in control and can do anything I want with them. This knowledge makes me feel very powerful, and I step confidently toward the drunken men. The red flames fade away, and the men first shrink into small amorphous shapes and then disappear entirely. I walk through the empty room and out of the door.

But there is no stopping me. “You are wrong! It is impossible! I insist, realizing that I am now able to manage reality. I know how to focus my whole being to bring Umai here. I do this, and suddenly, she is standing in front of me.

“I wish to know more about how we create ourselves. I am beginning to understand about creating my own reality. Now I want to learn what you meant about creating the being who lives in this reality.”

“Look at yourself and the other people around you. The one and only thing everyone is doing all the time is trying to make their self. Everyone speaks to this changing, growing being all the time, trying to shape it.

“People have three main processes for doing this. They speak inside their heads about the past, reconstructing it by changing or erasing the things that don’t fit the being they are trying to create and by expanding the things that help them along. They also think of the future, imaging what they will do, how they will look, what their possessions will be, and how they will be accepted by others.

”The third thing people do is what connects them with the present. Unconsciously, they are always aware of other people’s perception of who they are and what they are doing, and they ultimately react to this. Some of these reactions support their sense of Self while others tear it down. They see that some people are attracted to them and others are not. Most of the time, when they are around people who don’t support their sense of Self, they experience what would be called a dislike for those people. Conversely, when they experience support of themselves from those around them, they create the feeling of liking those particular people. In this way, people combine the past, present, and future to create themselves. If you are attentive, you will find this happening in any person and any situation. Look around. You will notice many interesting examples of it.

“But when you have realized all you can about this process, then you will come to the existence of the other Self, which is aware of all this and independent of it. This is your Heart Self, and it is where real freedom and magic start. It is the Source of the great art of making a choice. But this is enough for you now.
[…]
”The next step will be one you are already taking, which is to realize that there is another self that creates one’s personal reality. Your Heart Self, your genuine self, is the one responsible for this creation. Each person must experience it to understand.

“… Your society will be able to recognize and integrate with others only by finding and entering its Heart Self. Ego is not a helper any more.”

“Now I will tell you the First Rule. It is extremely important, and you must remember it. The First Rule is that every choice you make in your life, from the most important ones to the smallest everyday decisions, must be tested by conscious questioning. For each decision you face, you must ask yourself if the choice you make will satisfy five necessary attributes. If even one of them is absent, you must look for another direction. In this way, you will always find the right path. These five attributes are truth, beauty, health, happiness and light.

“When you make a decision in this manner, you can always be certain it is the right one. You will be more in touch with your genuine self, your Heart Self, and you will create for yourself an invincible power of will. This is the first lesson. Live by it, and very quickly your life will be changed. Then, when you are ready, you will be told the Second Rule. […]
[…]
[…] I didn’t fully understand everything that had happened, but one important realization was that while shamans hold one key to the door of knowledge […[ the knowledge itself was universal and could be reached in different ways. […]

[…] At first I was consumed only by the need to create a record of the outward details of the strange events I had experienced, but gradually I began to realize that the frustration, confusion, and tension I had felt during and after the trip were directly connected to my insistence on seeing everything superficially.

My first direct experience with Umai, when she had led me to the discovery of the space of the Spirit Lake, had been the true starting point of my journey. I realized I hadn’t yet fully learned the sacred and demanding art of keeping the balance between outer and inner tasks. The more I forced myself to interpret my experiences in terms of their underlying meaning to my inner self, the more evident the hidden levels of my journey became. Everything Umai had done had been another lesson to help me explore a different dimension of this inner space.

I understood the concept of the Spirit Lake and saw that for most people this space had been invaded and consumed by their preoccupation with the material world. I understood the importance of accepting that we have both the ability and the responsibility to create not only our own reality, but also the self that lives within the reality. I understood the process of inner dialogue through which we form personality. I saw that the First Rule was a powerful tool for creating a metaposition in any situation, a position independent of one’s environmental influences, reflecting only the pure essence of the internal observer.

Each of these concepts became fascinating additions to my psychiatric training. I saw how exactly the concepts incorporated and even developed some of the most modern theories dealing with the structure of the human psyche. The most intriguing idea of all to me was the existence of the other self, which I referred to in my journal as the ontological or core self, which can be connected to the great art of making a choice. I felt I that this concept held within it a huge potential for a new understanding of the intriguing questions surrounding human nature, evolution and purpose.
[…]
”Diseases of the mind have only two causes, and they are totally opposite of each other. One way people become crazy is if their soul, or part of their soul, has been lost. This usually happens because their soul has been stolen from them, but sometimes they may even decide unconsciously to give it away, perhaps in exchange for something else they want. The second way people can become crazy is if they are overwhelmed and occupied by a foreign power.

“There are only these two reasons; nothing more. It sounds simple, but it may take as much time to learn how to distinguish the source of disease correctly and heal it. If you re mistaken in the cause, then your attempt to heal will actually feed the disease and make it worse. You must be prepared to learn much more before you become a good healer.

“This is why the lesson of the space of Spirit Lake was given to you at almost at the very beginning. The power to heal lies in that space. It is the house of the Healer inside all of us. At the same time, this space is also your road to Belovodia. The more you explore your inner water of life, the closer you will become to Belovodia. […]

“You are wondering if Belovodia is a real country or not. You will learn more about this later, but it does not really matter right now. The important thing to remember is that nobody will ever find Belovodia either in this world or any other, except through exploring the inner self. The only road to Belovodia leads through your inner space, through expanding your self knowledge.

“By this, I don’t mean the empty theorizing with which so many people like to feed themselves. This is totally separate from the space of their Spirit Lake. These entities exist within their inner space, waiting at the entrance to Belovodia. I call this entity the Spirit Twin, but its name could also be Spirit Helper, Shadow Watcher, Spirit Guide, or Inner Guardian. They are really many different things.

“To begin with, they are intimately connected with the ultimate purpose given to each person at birth. They are also pure observers, set apart and invulnerable to the influences of the outer world. They watch and silently consider everything we do. They are the holders of the primal essence of our natal being. If called upon in the proper way and circumstances, they can be important helpers to us in performing actions that move us in the direction of our correct purpose. And finally, they can be our guides to Belovodia.

“There are seven different kinds of these Spirit Twins. Just seven, and no more. The seven types of Spirit Twins that exist for people are these: Healer, Magus, Teacher, Messenger, Protector, Warrior and Executor. Understand that the last that the last is not a person who kills, but one that makes things happen.

“One of our tasks is to learn the identity of our Spirit Twin and then to integrate ourselves fully with it. In this way come into unity with the ultimate purpose of our being. When our lives have finally been illuminated by the pure light of our inner observer, everything we do becomes much easier. Only by discovering the nature of one’s Spirit Twin, and then by coming into total association with it, can one really find and open the gate to Belovodia.

“You, Olga, are destined to be a Healer. The operation you just went through was a first step, because unless you have healed yourself, you will never be good at helping others. […]

”… This gift is to tell you that you are now ready to communicate directly with the Healer who is your Spirit Twin. If you need help in healing, ask your Healer to come out and do the work for you. Don’t be surprised by your actions then, even if they seem strange or even foolish. Try it tomorrow and see for yourself.
[…]
Feeling slightly silly, I dared to pronounce the words only silently, inside my head: “I ask the Healer inside me to come out and heal this woman.”

For a brief moment there was a strange interruption in my perception. It felt as if my face, my identity moved downward from its usual position on my head and stopped in the place of my heart. For a few seconds I actually seemed to see the world from the central part of my body, as if my heart had grown eyes and had the ability to see. This was accompanied by a strong wave of heat and excitement that went like a flash through my chest and then quickly disappeared. When it passed, my usual therapeutic machine started working.

“I want to emphasize one very important thing for you. Even though your disease once created something useful for you, your agreement with it was temporary. The problem is that you have forgotten this. You still expect your disease to accomplish something for you. But this is totally wrong, because the need for it has passed. It has no further value, and now it is only destructive.”

“You don’t have to pay such a high price. Your disease has deceived you. It is a monster that will destroy you, your family, and your entire life. Do you know what is going to happen to you? No, you do not. I will tell you what is going to happen to you. I am certain of it. I have already seen your future, and I will tell how you can see it too!” I was almost screaming, and I held her hand tightly.
[…]

The patient replies.

“I didn’t see when Larisa left the ward, I was still standing near the wall, feeling stunned. I finally understood whom you meant and why you had used the daughter’s name instead of the mother’s. It was just your trick to confuse me, to give me a little piece of something outside of myself to hang onto.

“Something happened to me at the very moment that I realized this. I felt as if someone had literally grabbed hold of my hair and pulled me out of my disease. I was overwhelmed by thoughts about my husband and sons and how they must have felt about my sickness. It was as if a dam had suddenly burst, and the huge energy it released entered my body and filled it up again. I felt entirely healed in just a few moments, while I stood motionless near the wall.

I listened to her in astonishment. My mistake in referring to “Larisa” Chernenko had been a completely unconscious slip of the tongue. Never would my conscious mind have been able to concoct such a strange healing strategy. But somehow it happened, and it worked. Luba was proof She was sitting in front of me, healthy and beautiful. […]

I can confirm that something like this happens, in my case it was by accessing my Teaching Self whilst coaching people, by saying something totally out of character, ‘a completely unconscious slip of the tongue. Never would my conscious mind have been able to concoct such a strange [teach]ing strategy. But somehow it happened, and it worked.’ The reaction it produced in people was just what they needed to hear to give them proof that they had achieved what they set out to achieve. It was far more effective than me pointing it out to them directly.

[…]
I began studying native rituals and healing ceremonies and applying them to my practice along with conventional treatment, creating new forms of therapy. The native Siberian belief in total animation – that everything in existence is alive, has its own spirit, and can be communicated with – became one of my most useful psychiatric tools. I learned what the shaman meant when they said that each disease has its own spirit.
[…]
Then, as I learned more and more about alternative healing methods, my practice gradually expanded beyond working with mental patients into the healing of serious physical illnesses.
[…]
It struck me that this metaphore perfectly fitted the situation I was in. I was now the driver in charge of steering the direction for my own life. I could choose where to go and which direction to explore, now that Umai had freed me from the tiny cell of reality I had been locked within.
[…]
The more I observed, the more convinced I became that everyone had an individual road to Belovodia. It was imply a question of being awakened in us. Unfortunately for the vast majority it remained totally beyond the sphere on which their daily attention was focused. The place of their Spirit Lake was completely consumed by outer needs. This seemed to burn up their life energy completely, not leaving space for even the smallest amount of inner exploration.

I became aware that this caused great suffering. Through the eyes of my own Spirit Twin, I saw how many mental problems and diseases resulted from the body’s unconscious but nonetheless powerful attempts to shift its attention toward its inner needs. Unfortunately, most people continue to fight against this important transfer of energy, even in the face if serious distress, stubbornly resisting it in order to maintain their old, incomplete patterns of living.

Sometimes it took a tremendous shock to the system to move people deeply enough to upset their flawed equilibrium and steer them back to a balanced state of health. I realized that this was how Umai had treated Anna. Although Anna never showed much interest afterwards in reflecting on what had happened to her, her physical health had been completely restored.

My own healing work differed for each person, but I began to organize it in a direction of opening up my patients’ minds to the inner space that existed within each of them. For many, this eventually opened a door to new powers that not only healed them but also sometimes gave them the ability to help others.
[…]

Olga visits the director, Dimitri, of a laboratory, and reads some notes he has givesn her about Belovodia; notes that had come about from an experiment he made within a mirrored tube.

“Theirs had not been a technological culture, like yours. Their main achievements had been in developing the inner dimensions of the mind. Before the catastrophe, their entire society possessed a beautiful spiritual intensity that in your materialistic culture is experienced by only a few. They possessed incredible psychological wisdom. They were able to control their personal experience of time, and they had learned to communicate telepathically over great distances. They had great skills in projecting the future, and their social structure was the most effective that ever existed.
[…]

Dimitri continues to talk to Olga about a conversation he had had with an anthropologist friend about the territory around Altai.

”It was particularly fascinating to trace the connection between the name of the principal goddess of the Altai region, Umai, and other deities such as the Indian Kali and Buddhism’s Tara. I came to the conclusion that they were all one and the same. Umai was embodied in Uma, the ancient Indian female spirit, who as a Shakti of Shiva is the power of light that makes perception possible. Uma is manifested as Kali in the Kalavada sstem and in the Kalachakra Tantra.

“Both systems were connected with the belief in a time wheel. The most sacred aspects of their rituals were the ceremonial doorways opening into the roots of time, through which the initiated ones were able to reach Shambala, or Belovodia, and to touch the mystery of immortality. There also are striking similarities with the Zervanit tradition of ancient Persia, where the ability to understand and manipulate time was the essence of their spiritual practice.

“There are some fascinating parallels in Sufism. For many years my good friend, Mr Vasiliev, has led a group of scholars studying the work of Gurdjieff and his predecessors. He told me just recently that in the part of Gurdjieff’s work most essentially connected to the Sufi masters, he discovered the same idea of a time wheel that could be entered and used as a passageway to the mystical gate guarding the sacred land of Hurgalya. The name Hurgalya can be considered as the Sufi equivalent of Belovodia.

“Vasiliev learned that Gurdjieff also found among the Sufi masters the knowledge that the time wheel represents a stable primordial law, which could be grsped and understood through many different modalities of perception. For example, the practitioner who touches this law through meditation on mandalas opens the eyes of the heart with the assistance of the visual sense. The one who listens to the music of circles, especially in the way Gurdjieff taught this, reaches the same mystical experience assisted by the auditory senses. The same state can also be reached through dance, in which the seeker’s entire body becomes the instrument leading to the sacred gates.

“The group of Gurdjieff’s students who remained in Russia explored this concept further. They confirmed that whatever the mechanism that is used, if it is done correctly, the time wheel will begin to spin. And it will inevitably bring us to the final point of our destination, the mystical country of Belovodia. All of this is most interesting, is it not?
[…]
I felt as if I had finally connected the ends of a very complicated circle in my life. Later, I would learn that the search for understanding actually follows a series of circles joined together to form an ascending spiral. As soon as we have completed each turn and it has become whole in us, forming an integral part of our experience, we are immediately exposed to the outer boundary of the next circle. Then we are ready to take the spiral path leading to the next level.
[…]

In the Epilogue of the book, Olga talks, a year later, of her plans to travel into central Asia in search of further knowledge. In preparation for this she returns to Altai to seek advice from Umai. It is here that she meets a teacher known as the Master of Lucid Dreams. He reads, and takes her into an hypnotic trance, and places a snake in her hands – which is a metaphor for learning.

I have tried to remember and use this lesson in writing this book. Many people are looking for power, searching for new qualities to develop in themselves, seeking to open up their own inner magic. Some will learn how to contact this inner power, sometimes very successfully. But lacking the foundation to manage and control it, they will hold it too tightly and it will bite them. Its strength will overcome them, and instead of using it they will become its servant.

People who are unbalanced in the opposing way may be capable of using their power for a while, but they will not be able to hold it and it will get away. If I have been able to transfer an understanding of the proper balance to those who read this, then one of my tasks will have been accomplished.

Edit: added missing paragraph re “… Your society will be able to recognize and integrate with others only by finding and entering its Heart Self. Ego is not a helper any more.”

 

[ana]

Entering the Circle seems a very interesting book too, thanks for sharing Trevrizent :)

 

[Rose]

I remember reading these books many years ago and being fascinated by them, although at the time I didn't have enough knowledge to really understand what it was about. It makes me want to read them again.

The internal psychic process, often extended throughout generations by the inheritance of patterns of trauma formed, perhaps long, long ago, when one of your ancestors went through an unbearable hurt.

"Human genes are much more flexible than we think. They perceive as much as they act. When a hurt reaches
the level of genes, it makes them behave differently and distort the memory, preventing the memory from becoming complete. The gap in memory is created, and a spirit of trauma houses itself in this gap, hidden from our awareness. ...

They learn to hide them from themselves and their children. They play hide-and-seek with spirits of trauma, and guess what? Most often they lose, because even when they don't remember, their genes—those unfailing memory units—do, and the hurt stays there until you heal it. ...

"The same mechanism works with smaller things. We start to gather up more personal hurts in the basket of our memory soon after coming into this world.

Every creature tries to survive. It is true for the spirits of trauma as well. They need to 'eat.' They are always hungry. They create 'food' for themselves by generating more hurt. Why does the 'Paradox exist, that victims of abuse become the worst abusers themselves? It is not logical, but it is perfectly reasonable for the spirits of trauma to grow in abuse victims through their hurts and feed themselves by re-creating those hurts. You may know this from your own experiences.

This passage is very interesting for me, as it gives many clues to the origin of many of my own traumas and how they relate to my family in a way that I hadn't understood before. Lots to think about. Many thanks for sharing.

 

[Elly Kay]

Thanks for the excerpts. From what it is describing, it sounds similar to EMDR therapy.

 

[Breo]

Thank you, Psyche for posting these enlightening excerpts. I have long ago read one of Olga Kharitidis books. It seems that only now I am able to take these concepts in. They are very helpful to my learning and healing. What I take with me for now - and I ordered the books for further study - is another view on all that is is alive, has a spirit or life of its own. To know that the Spirit of Trauma exists, can be observed, if I search for it, that I can learn to communicate with it, make it a helper to my task of gathering all the fragmented parts of my consciousness is such an empowering and exciting realization. :)

 

[wisehealing]

i hope that this thread is not entirely dead, since the last post was 7 years ago. But maybe my post can still of some relevance as i really want to comment on Olga Kharitidi's book and the quite revolutionary healing techniques she was taught.

What strikes me first is how exactly true and accurate is the concept of "spirits of trauma" (SoT), aka "memory demons." People labeled schizophrenic due to the voices they perceive are obviously at the tertiary stage of this situation w the gaps in their memory flow caused by unhealed trauma -- where the SoTs have now entirely taken over the mental sphere of the person -- and have become autonomous. Everyone, (unless they are at a highly spiritually advanced level and have healed all these rifts), has SoTs, but at the "average human" condition means we experience these "voices" as "our own internal dialogue." However this dialogue is still not really acting in our interest, but is diverting our attention from the unhealed memory region where the SoT is making its "abode." Only when the voice becomes clearly autonomous, and not recognized as the person's own, does it clinically become a schizophrenic diagnosis.

Makes me consider how what we call psychiatry today is really regressing instead of advancing when in previous times there was a quite appropriate understanding of "evil spirits" possessing a person in a case like this. Just like using leaches to drain bad blood was thought to be archaic but is now an accepted medical procedure again, so it seems it should be the case w the SoT concept too.

OK, the issue around "spirits" in this "enlightened" age where we are concerned only w the physical and scientific domain, is that they are deemed to be imaginary or even delusional in their own situation. However, psychoanalysts are still permitted to "locate" all kinds of "conceptual entities" in "psychic space," ie. the ego, id, libido. The traditional healers are not backwards or ignorant -- they know exactly where the physical and the psychic each have their place. Psychic (or in most uses, psychological) space is really 4D -- the astral -- the realm of spirits and dreamtime in alternative understanding.

The real issue though comes w the attribution of "autonomy" to any psychic process (in psychiatry) or SoT (in ancient or indigenous healing). Psychiatry has no means of accepting that a separate psychic process (ie. "the voice") would act w an independent or autonomous intent different than some inherent psychic process of the patient. The only way they can theoretically explain the situation is that it is the voice of the patient, has become dissociated from their conscious awareness. A malevolent intent expressed by the voice is explained as originating from some repressed feeling of the patient, but it is still considered theirs.

On the other hand, the current "alternative spiritual" perspective adheres to a quite intrinsic principle that because individual consciousness is separate from the body -- it is eternal -- and thus this view also has issues w the idea of "spirits" (or autonomous psychic processes) just popping up out of thin air even if it might be 4D air. So there are explanations entertained of the spirits of actual dead people being the ones occupying the gaps in the subject's memory.

i don't believe we need to resort to those explanations, even if in some cases they may find justification. There are examples in the literature of entities being created by mental procedures which then become autonomous and which come to also act or exist on the physical. Duncan Cameron, the main psychic operative of the Montauk Project, created "the Monster" through only his thought (which was actualized by the technology he was hooked up to), which then went on to wreak havoc to buildings and attack people. There is also the case of the "Tulpa" described by Alexandra David Neel, in her book Magic and Mystery in Tibet, which she created solely through esoteric rituals and which then took on an autonomous existence w/o her control or even awareness, and which other people, who were not even aware of what she was doing, also reported.

Perhaps the function of these SoTs can be tied to the transdimensional presence of some ET species ie. Dracos, which many have now identified as operating to enslave the human race and, as exemplified in the Matrix movies, feed off our essence (which in reality is negative emotions, esp. fear and anger). Could they be responsible for orchestrating the Matrix illusion where time is perceived as linear, instead of as its true multidimensional nature, and which thus requires memory to be linear as well -- enabling the possibility of gaps to form due to unhealed trauma at those junctures.

This would bring in the part of Khartidi's book where Michael relates the story about "Golden Time" preexisting before conflict and duality came into being. Golden Time would be a multidimensional perception realm, precluding the possibility of any separation -- no gaps, temporal, emotional etc. Once primordial conflict began -- like the Original Sin concept -- duality came into being, linearity reined over time, and, as described in the book, the patterns of pain and suffering were passed through family lines as well as embedded in the ancestral land.

When i was in uni i took a whole undergrad course on the ideas of revolutionary Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, and one of the quite amazing revelations of his, as well as his colleagues, was how the patterns of trauma and resultant psychological issues were repeated through generations, w/o major alteration. This can be explained by the perpetrator-victim-perpetrator chain on the physical/psychological level, but Khartidi's book brings in a more poignant understanding -- that it is at the spiritual level as well, where, like a soul agreement, the incoming soul agrees to take on the ancestral burden due to its own karma and the patten just keeps repeating (and/or the trauma is genetically passed). For a time, until the establishment closed him down, Laing ran a special acute psychosis treatment clinic in London where patients, most young, were supported w/o drugs under the understanding that the "psychotic state" was understandable and meaningful and that it was a process, and that the way to heal was to go through it to the other end instead of blocking the process through massive pharmaceutical intervention. This approach is reflected in the book where Olga is encouraged to speed up the movement through her traumatic memory spaces by Michael, instead of blocking them.

The other thing that quite struck me in the book was how collective memory was tied to the land and how it was important to tell the stories of those who were traumatically tied to the land. Modern civilization has certainly lost its connection to Mother earth, whereas in earlier times bards would travel the land and maintain the line of communication at the mythic/landscape level. (Similar to the Australian Aborigonies who walk their Roundabouts and sing the Songlines.) People like Machaelle Small Wright and Richard Leviton can actually sense or see the energetic imprints at sites of collective trauma, while Lucia Rene has written (Unplugging the Patriarchy) about dismantling energetic structures strategically and deliberately embedded by agents of the cabal to energetically support their dark agenda.

In Khartidi's account i was struck though, by the extreme brutality and tragic nature of stories relating to Afrasiab. My own interest in this area of cultural mythology, is with ancient Celtic myth. There is a very interesting account relating to the great battle between the Welsh and Irish battle and also the site of the Tower of London -- The Story of the Assembly of the Head, originally recorded in the old text, The Mobinogian, and related by Lynne Sinclair-Wood in her book Creating Form from the Mist.

After the [battle] [only] seven surviving Welsh warriors returned to Britain, following Bran's [the Welsh leader who had been killed] instructions. They removed Bran's head, to find that he could still converse with them and join in their feasting and drinking. First they returned with the head to Harlech, where they spent 7 years feasting and recounting their exploits. . . After seven years they moved to a castle on the island of Gwales in the south west of Wales, where they stayed for 80 years forgetting the brutal war in Ireland. Bran had warned them not to open the third of three doors which faced Cornwall. However, one of their number, Heiiyn, son of Gwyn, could not resist the temptation and the door was opened. This made them remember the battle and all their sorrow, so they continued their journey to London, accompanied by the ravens of Rhiannon.

When they reached the White Mound in London (now site of the Tower of London), they buried Bran's head as he had instructed, facing the coast of France. Bran had told them that this would prevent any invasions of Britain in the future, as long as the ravens remained as guardians. The ravens still remain at the Tower of London, although, according to legend, the Saxon invasions occurred, because King Arthur dug up Bran's head believing that his military prowess alone would stop the invasion rather than this magical head.

But at least we know why there are talking heads in London. ;)