What is Health? or What are we shootin’ for Tex?
Heilkunst Medicine is very clear about defining what it is we are actually seeking to obtain through a true medical art and science. It is one thing to define disease, but you also need to be as clear about defining health or we risk wandering around in the dark, unable to discern the goal. Most health-care professionals, both allopathic and ‘alternative’, define health as an absence of symptoms. This falls way short of any mark as we see it. In fact, a good Physician¹ should know how to provoke symptoms, including inflammation, in order to promote healing once a principled cure is obtained.
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann defines health as, “In the healthy human state, the spirit-like life force (autocracy) enlivens the the material organism as dynamis, governs without restriction and keeps all parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both feelings and functions, so that our indwelling, rational spirit can freely avail itself of this living, healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence.”
Based on Wilhelm Reich’s work, Dr. Elsworth Baker does a good job of defining the healthy Genital Character Type as an individual who is “basically moral in sex but not moralistic. He accepts full responsibility for his acts and knows the difference between freedom and license. Promiscuity and asceticism both seem emotional ills to him. He enters the genital embrace because he loves his partner and surrenders himself fully and earnestly without fear or restraint. His monogamy is spontaneous; he makes love to one partner because that course fits his feelings, not because social rules or customs coerce him. “
He goes on to say, “Because his primary drives are fulfilled, he has a natural decency. He is unafraid of life, and therefore does not have to compromise with his convictions if his own are opposed. He knows what others want and can accept their needs. Never dogmatic, he thinks functionally and objectively; his motives are rational, undisguised and directed toward self-improvement and social improvement. He gives himself freely and with pleasure to work he can believe in, but he cannot work mechanically. He accepts responsibly for work, but never dictates. Willing to live and let live, he is genuinely pleased by the happiness others obtain. He affirms the natural sexuality of children and adolescents, and is easily on good terms with them.”
I only know a small handful of individuals in my life who meet this criteria. Each one of them is knowledgeable, and living out of resonance (as opposed to obligation) in all aspects of their life. They love what they do as it is an extension of who they are and you just know that they are divinely hooked into what they are ordained to do out of love. You may feel enlivened just being with them as they breath inspiration into the space between you. Their healthy ontic organization seeks true participation, pleasure and warmth in their activities and relationships. Suffering just isn’t part of their chosen matrix, although it may have intrinsically formed the person they have ultimately become. They have colour in their cheeks, animated eyes and they are profoundly engaging but also clear about their sound and enduring boundaries. Their bodies move when they speak in fluid natural movements that reflect what they are saying. These individuals know what their mission is and they embrace time in order to fulfill it. It can feel like they are protecting something very cherished and profound, but they do it with grace, ease and a deep inner self-respect. Their humour is spontaneous, original and appropriate. If disease should visit them, they use truth and principles to wholly overcome through knowledge so that they can get on with the higher purposes of their existence. They don’t suppress other’s free-will with motives bourn out of a sick compulsory sex-morality² . They recognize suffering as a vehicle for their evolution with a purpose they need to divine through knowledge. These individuals are both easy, and hard to love, as their freedom and sovereignty organically inspires others, while their vision of the Truth is uncompromising. You will often feel your false beliefs challenged by them.
Love, work and knowledge are the well-springs of our life. They should also govern it.
-Wilhelm Reich
¹Means knowledge of the ‘Physis’, from the Greek meaning ‘spirit.’
²Willhelm Reich’s term found in his books, including People In Trouble, to denote the suppressive emotional plague reaction due to excessive armoring. This state of stricture annuls the natural expression derived from the flowing, sexual streamings enlivened through healthy expression. Compulsory sex-morality is perpetuated by the “politician and the mere ideologist (who) will dominate the public scene and try to change human nature by way of ideas, programs, platforms, speeches, promises, illusions, maneuvers, and politicking of all kinds, without taking a single practical step to change conditions and reestablish the natural laws of life.”