Earth, Dream, and Healing: The Integration of Materia and Psyche in the Ancient World

Influenced by the methods and practices of Hippocrates, the Asclepius cult used herbal formulae and medicinal applications intricately connected with Asclepius cult rituals and worship. An understanding of the types of herb and medical applications surrounding their use by the cult aids understanding of the inner world and symbolism of ancient dreams.Jeffrey B. Pettis teaches in the field of New Testament Studies at Fordham University, New York City. His focus is the interpretation and use of ancient dreams in early Christianity and the Greco-Roman world. He has lived and traveled in Greece, Egypt and Turkey, studying the design and culture of ancient temples and the sanctuaries of Asclepius, the deity of the ancient dream cult. He received his Ph.D. from Union Seminary in 2004.     

SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION,HEALING, AND ALTRUISM: INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM

This essay introduces the five articles that follow, whose aim is to show how altruism emerges out of spiritual transformation and is integral to healing process in four kinds of ritual healing systems—popular, folk, an indigenous religious healing tradition, and complementary and alternative medicine represented by consciousness transformation movements. In this introduction I situate these largely marginalized religious and spiritual practices within the context of the religion‐science discourse, which has focused for the most part on the relationship between the established, mainstream religions and the dominant biomedical system. Antecedents of two of these types of religious practices, Spiritism and consciousness transformation movements, were part of the development of the psychological sciences in the nineteenth century but lost ground in the twentieth. Despite discrimination and persistent negative attitudes on the part of the established religions and biomedicine, these healing traditions have not only survived through the twentieth century but appear to have gained both followers and interest in the twenty‐first. In future decades, at least for complementary and alternative medical practices and perhaps also for spirit healing centers, there may be a reversal in status through greater acceptance of their unique combination of scientific and religious perspectives.     

DISCUSSION: ALTRUISM,SPIRITUALLY MERGING WITH A FELLOW HUMAN BEING'S SUFFERING

This discussion focuses on the details of the wellsprings of altruism. The preceding articles in this section portray how spirit figures in various cultural guises appear in human lives with the gift of altruism, in a kind of seeding of the willing healer with the spirit's presence and its accompanying power of love, altruism, and healing. The word altruism is related to the French autre and autrui, “other,” with a special meaning here implying a relationship of identification.     

超越心理健康：精神健康的追求

区别于一般心理概念的、狭义的精神概念有三个特征:终极关怀、内发自生以及自由意志。诸如精神信仰危机、生活目标迷茫等区别于传统心理问题的精神问题已经成为现代人的顽疾。现代心理健康标准开始关注并尝试吸纳精神健康。精神健康是21世纪的健康主题,现代人不应仅仅满足于生理和心理的健康,还应寻求更高层次的精神健康。     

The rise of the child's voice; the silencing of the spiritual voice

In recent years the notion of the child's voice has gained prominence, particularly influenced by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989 which outlined rights for children on an international scale. Many countries, including the UK, subsequently legislated for the child's voice to be heard in a variety of arenas including the education system. Despite the concept of the child's voice now being firmly established within schools in England, this paper argues that one aspect of their voice is not being heard: their spiritual voice. Drawing on evidence from research, this paper proposes that a variety of factors have culminated in a tendency towards a silencing of the child's spiritual voice. It argues that this silencing is an important one which should be acknowledged and rectified if educators in all schools are to treat the concept of the whole child seriously, and fully value their well‐being.     

A qualitative exploration into how the use of prayer in counselling and psychotherapy might be ethically problematic

Aim: This research article contributes to the debate on the value and limitation of the use of spiritual strategies, like prayer, in counselling (Foskett & Lynch, 2001) by disseminating the insights that were gained from a qualitative study of mainstream counsellors whose work includes prayer. Method: Participants were 19 British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)‐accredited and Churches Ministerial Counselling Service (CMCS)‐approved counsellors who use prayer in their practice. They were interviewed, and the data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: The data reveal that counsellors who use prayer are aware that ethical problems may be encountered: if prayer changes the way that the counsellor is perceived; when using prayer with issues of psychopathology; if the counsellor uses prayer to impose faith on a client; when being professionally held to account; if prayer is used for avoidance or as a defence; if prayer is used to enhance the counsellor's power; if prayer is not part of the client's agenda; if prayer is used routinely; if prayer cannot be challenged; if there is a cultural pressure to pray; and if the prayer method is not matched to the client – but that their concern over potential ethical issues is not of sufficient strength to override their therapeutic use of prayer if facilitated with due care.     

Ambiguity in Our Technical Society

The spiritual situation at the turn of the millennium can be interpreted through Paul Tillich's appropriation of modernity, by analysis of the determinative structures and decisive trends of our age. The methods and organization of industry determine modern society. Spiritually, this situation results in the proliferation of means without ends, the objectification of natural structures, and the reduction of persons to things. Extrapolating from Tillich's analysis, the spiritual situation at the turn of the millennium can be understood as a quasi-religious struggle between the movements of liberal individualism and multiculturalism, both of which lose the sense of ambiguity. The communitarian movement and related interpretations remain the minority voice offering a mediating position.     

Spatial navigation: Cognitive variables involved in route retracing among an elderly population

The cognitive processes involved in route retracing are not well known. This study aims to highlight them in an elderly population in which contradictory results have been obtained, certain studies showing specific difficulties for route retracing, others not. Thirty-nine elderly subjects performed a route-learning task (forward-backward) in a garden, then completed spatial knowledge tasks and standardised cognitive tests. Results show four factors that were predictive of route retracing performance: route repetition, the pointing task, and two standardised cognitive tests, one assessing spatial working memory, and another global cognitive efficiency. According to these results, route retracing involves route and survey knowledge (i.e., egocentric and allocentric strategy), and the integration of forward-backward perspectives is underpinned by the spatial working memory. Moreover, the subjects did not make more errors in route retracing than in the route repetition task, suggesting that a real environment could compensate for a failing allocentric strategy.     

Medical Manichaeism

Medical discourse in the contemporary United States is rife with military metaphors. These metaphors have come under vigorous criticism over the last few decades but to no avail; the militaristic tendency has proven tenacious. This essay suggests that its tenacity stems, at least in part, from a dualistic understanding of medicine unaddressed by prior criticisms. For an alternative, this essay turns to Augustine of Hippo, balancing close readings of works that deal explicitly with medical themes—The Catholic Way of Life and the Manichean Way of Life (De moribus) and The Nature of the Good (De natura boni)—with a constructive approach. By adapting Augustine's privative account of evil, we can understand disease as a condition of loss and treatment as a task of restoration. This reconfiguration shifts the focus of our interpretive discourses from malicious invaders to a fuller affirmation of the lived experiences of those who are ill.