The grandfather of a 55 year old carpenter appeared  in his dream, ordering him to leave his job and dedicate himself to a new vocation. To meet with sick persons and listen to their stories.  When he woke up he did not find his dream strange. He always enjoyed listening to people and noticed that his friends enjoyed also telling him their stories.

He decided to dedicate the evenings to his new vocation. In the local pub, he encouraged people to tell him about their diseases. He noticed also that after they concluded their stories, they remained sitting in front of him, looking at him with wonder. Some of his story tellers believed that he irradiated some kind of a healing power. As the word about his gift spread, more and more people came to him with their stories. He hired  a space  where people visited him, and since he had to abandon his previous job, he started charging for the service.

People were more than willing to pay him. In an interview on TV he was unable to explain what the nature of his power was. He was not interested in Medicine and did not understand the diseases  about which he was told. He just listened.

Foucault

Was it a clever deception to make money, with an appealing cover story?
Not in an open market where consumers pay for services. And they are ready to pay also for this one . The urge to tell, stems from a deep stratum of the human soul (WOB). It was discussed thoroughly by Michel Foucault in his History of Sexuality (1), a history of the discourse on sex.


Sexuality is an arena for the playing out of power and knowledge relationships among multiple actors. The history of sexuality is a process of ongoing and deepening oppression. 'Our civilization is the only one  where people are appointed and paid  for listening to confessions on sex', wrote Foucault.  The discourse about sex is on the rise. It is the basic material out of which the important forces in society emerge to effect the course of events.

Psychoanalysis

Foucault  believed in discourse as the basic material of life
but was interested only in its relevance to sex. Apparently, for the believer confession meant more than just making his breast clean. It was an opportunity for him to tell his story.

Freud who introduced psychoanalysis, attempted to liberate humanity from this sexual oppression. Yet his method demands  even a more intensive discourse on sex. The patient speaks, and the analyst is not allowed to intervene. Again, the stories told on the couch are more than just a 'Catharsis'. They are an opportunity for him to tell his story (2).

Imagine and imitate

When telling about your disease, you live through it in your imagination, and discover new viewpoints. Thus you communicate your wishes to the WOB. You cannot order the WOB: 'I want to get well!' since it does not understand human language. You have to imagine yourself getting well, which you may achieve with your story.

If this seems difficult  you still have another option. Imitate a cancer-yogi who got well. Imitation is another way  to communicate with the WOB, as if telling it 'I want to be like him!.' (3)

References

1. Foucault M La Volonte de Savoir. Histoire de sexualite, tom I Ed. Gallimard 1976
2. Zajicek G. Psychoanalysis. A poem in Hebrew
3. First encounter with WOB

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