As the last quote I'd like to introduce from Robert Johson, the Jungian analyst, for now, it's a passage about a type of altar seen among "primitive" peoples in Peru, who often carry this altar with them, the better to address spirituality wherever they are. I've made a botch-up of the illustration, because I wasn't able to find a "perfect" representation of the mesa, so it's a combination of several that I saw. Here is Johnson's quote. Once again, it's part of the ongoing "conversation" we're having, about whether one side has to "win out" in our natures in order to heal. Johnson and the curanderos of South America would seem to say, "no." Healing is what takes place in the space between...
"A particularly powerful form of (overlap between darkness and light, or the self and its shadow side) can be seen in the customs of South American curanderos, who are a curious mixture of primitive shaman and Catholic priest. Their mesa (table) is an altar where they say Mass for the healing of their patients. They divide this altar into three distinct sections. The right is made up of inspiring elements such as a statue of a saint, a flower, a magic talisman; the left contains very dark and forbidding elements such as weapons, knives or other instruments of destruction. The space between these two opposing elements is a place of healing. The message is unmistakable: our own healing proceeds from that overlap of what we call good and evil, light and dark. It is not that the light element alone does the healing; the place where light and dark begin to touch is where miracles arise." -- Robert A. Johnson, Jungian analyst, author of "Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche."
For more on the topic of the "Tao of Healing," click here. It's a selection of quotes that represents the ongoing, organic process that we undergo whenever we want to get well.
Editor's note: For more on the curanderos and their mesas, click here or here.
