Introduction to Anatomy of the Spirit
Caroline Myss describes a couple of lessons she learned early in life that helped her to understand how energy works in the body.
The first was an assignment she had in a journalism class in college where the instructor was trying to emphasize the importance of objectivity in accurate newspaper reporting. Objectivity was defined as being emotionally detached from the subject on which you were reporting and seeking out only the “facts” that describe a situation. The professor asked the students to imagine that a building was on fire and that four reporters, each standing on a different corner, were covering the story. Each reporter would have a different view of the same event. Each would interview the people on his or her own corner. The question the teacher posed to the class was: Which reporter had the real facts and accurate viewpoint? That is, which reporter saw the truth?
The other one involved an encounter with a Native American woman in Alaska. This woman, Rachel, told Caroline that “Life is simple. You are born into life to care for each other and for the earth. And then you receive word that your time is coming to an end and you must make the proper arrangements to depart, leaving behind no ‘unfinished business’. You must make your apologies, pass on your tribal responsibilities and accept from the tribe its gratitude and love for your time with them.”
Rachel then told Caroline that she was going to a ceremony the next night. A man is preparing to leave the earth and he will give to the tribe all of his belongings. He will lay his tools and clothes in a long dish. The tribe will symbolically accept his belongings, meaning that he will be released from any tribal responsibilities so that he can complete the work of his spirit. Then he will leave us.
Caroline asked Rachel how the man knew he was going to die. Rachel answered that the medicine man told him. Caroline wanted to know how the medicine man knew these things. Rachel said, “How is it that you do not know such things? How can you live without knowing what your spirit is doing and what your spirit is saying to you?”
These events helped Caroline to understand that “truth” and “reality” are only matters of perception. She eventually came to understand that we weave our spirits into everything we do and everyone we meet. She also came to realize that our life choices express our spirit and affect our health.
Caroline began to use her gifts of intuition and symbolic sight to help people see why they have become ill. She eventually made the connection between disease, healing and personal power. She now says that power is the foundation of health.
She describes her journey and her apprenticeship as a medical intuitive and she uses this book to teach people how to discover their own intuitive abilities. She claims that everyone is born with intuition and that it is less a gift than it is a skill that can be cultivated. She teaches us the stages in this book.