I have a friend who has epilepsy, 1st diagnosed c age 12. I am not sure how best to help her, as she is not into "wicca/witching/craft/Arte/occult etc. She is connecting with angels,; as a Catholic, this seems logically a gentle way to explore spirtuality. She is a Reiki Master, and is very intuitive, a mum of 2, daughter just 2 years old. She rang me tonight, told me she'd had a fit yesterday morning, whilst sat on toilet, alone with wee one. Woke up in son's bed (he's just 12).
Her daughter is a "special" child - very otherwordly and wise even though a tot. She, Zara, took my pal into bog where fit had happend and told her "Mummy got pushed. Hurt. A bad man pushed mummy." and pointed to side of pan, and up at the corner.
Pal has long suspected her fits aren't true eplilepsy (scans show no abnormality) but are some sort of thing coming in and attacking her. Her mum saw one, last year, when pal was chatting away, then "saw" something/one, watched it traversing room, stared in sheer terror up at corner, then began to fit. Her mum was freaked cos she witnessed raw terror and knew her daughter was actually seeing something or someone that wasn't visible to her.
Has anyone got ANY advice on this please? I have SERIOUS concerns, and am not given to fantasising.
NB - my pal is currently undergoing a course of reconstructive surgery to heal scar on head. She had a BAD fit last year, fell in fire and was very badly burned on head. She is having a water filled ballon (which was surgically implanted last month) dilated with saline so they can eventually cut away the scar tissue and restructure her scalp so she has hair again.

I've just got in so not coherant. But go read this thread and what Queenie and I were talking about and see if it is of use. I'll read the rest toimorrow when my vision returns x

Tas dear, I regret to say I see no magick per-se that can dispell this sort of manifestation, rather, nine points of the cure is to learn its identity. Curious is the fact that these episodes began at puberty. This indicates the manifestation could be a psychogenic alterego. In order to identify this manifestion, one needs to know what (traumatic?) experience(s) might have initually triggered this psychic split. However, if it is foreign manifestation, the question is, what were the circumstances under which she initially came in contact with it? Epilepsy tends to inflict spurious gaps in one memory, with the potential danger that ressurecting whatever manifests these gaps, could set off a major seizure. Do not use hypnosis. Rather carefully gather all the circumstancial information you can surrounding these seizures. Through this you can deduce the nature of the manifestation, and thus heal your friend through a more passive process of closing the gaps. Tread gently, as she must evolve the realization herself. Your role is to provide reassurance or reason when needed. Has she had a CT scan?
If anomalies were found, do tell me in what area(s) of the brain they were found.
Has she had any blood tests to establish the presence of any biochemical anomalies? It is wise to systematically reduce the cause before implementing any possible cures.

First thing I did was check re "poltergeist" stuff (puberty) also whether she/anyone had been "dabbling" (for want of a better word). She assures me no one, including herself, had.
Like you, I advised strongly against any sort of regression therapy or hypnosis for reasons you point out. I also said she might have to seek within, when she recovers from the surgery etc and is settled. I believe she has blocked out whatever she "sees" as it is too traumatic. She has told me that when she had the seizure when she fell in the fire that she seems to remember being pushed, though she was alone at the time!
As to blood tests and catscan, I am unsure but will ask her. She seems to have had all the usual stuff done though (for what it's worth).
Thanks for your advice.

Hmm yes, a bit iffy getting around the mental block. Makes the prcess of identifying the "spook" difficult. However, her daughter could prove useful in providing the details, though she may find it difficult to define in words. Perhaps paper, crayons or colour pens might help in communication. I also wonder what compelled your friend to an interest in Reiki. Perhaps there is a connection there, that led to the amassing of collective "entropic energy" that simply wasn't provided an adequate "outlet".

Firstly, just wanted to say, it not uncommon for a scan to show no abnormalities. I had more scans than you could shake a stick at, and the only time I has abnormal behaviour was the one time I was being scaned and having a seizure at the same time. So just because there is no evidence of abnormality don't rule out epilepsy as the cause of the seizures.

However, that said, I took anti convulsant drugs for years and I really don't think that it had any effect on my epilepsy. I'm not saying that I think the siezures were 'other worldly' just not convinved that the medicine men with their samrties were all they were cracked up to be. I think it was rampant hormones that eventually and in their own sweet time became less rampant.

Like Quasi suggests, perhaps she could explore alternative causes of her seizures with her Reiki teachers, if as a Catholic she wouldn't be comfortable with 'craft' interventions.

Really wishing your friend well, keep us informed.

Q

Indeed Queenie, I don't expect the scans to reveal immediate signs of epilepsy per-se, as these often have quite different causes. Rather, anomalies if any, possibly in the glands of the nucleus or even the brain stem. Maybe even unexplained swelling of the brain. As for any biochemical imbalances, indeed, anti-convulsants may treat the symptoms but not the cause. Sometimes even a change of diet can solve the problem. I once knew a girl whose sister suffered epileptic seizures from an allergy to chocolate. Myself being an anaphylactic sufferer of an allergy to nitrates, I know how ellusive some causes can be.

The diet thing seems worth looking into! She tends to guzzle either Coke or Irn Bru - a disgusting fluourescent fizzy muck drink - and maybe it's the culprit!

Ugh yes! Reminds me of some really paranoid dellusions I get from coffee!

Just to refer you back to my reply to you about fizzy stuff in "Sod the Victims" on Jan 28th.

The only other thing I would say, is keep her well away from Catholic or any other priests, vicars, clergymen etc. Have so often seen them get involved in possible ghost / poltergeist activity and make things ten or a hundred times worse, as they do not know what they are doing or what they are dealing with.

A common sign of a shaman But best not tell her that one as a catholic



Hmmm...hold on a mo *wanders off to find her Oxford Book of Saints'. Aha, thought so: St. Valentine is the one you want. Patron saint of: beekeepers, afflicted couples, travellers and the young. Invoked against epilepsy, fainting, the plague and for a happy marriage. 'Often depicted with a cripples or epileptic child at his feet whom he is believed to have cured.' He's the dude you want.



Now why doesn't that surprise me in the least

Queenie and I were discussing a couple of books that deal with epilepsy and it's relation to shamanism. A friend (epileptic himself) recommended: 'Holger Kalweit's Dreamtime and Inner Space. (Kalweit's done a few on the subject and if you get them, they're all worthwile),' as well as saying he thought Roger Walsh's Spirit of Shamanism covered it - but couldn't fully recall.



Usually is a blood line thing. Shamans tend to be either of the blood or called through a shamanic crisis (Walsh/Eliade/Tierney write about these sorts of things). So either you're born to it or the gods call you and you don't have a choice not to answer (very bad things tend to happen if you refuse ).



I don't mean to throw a spanner in it, but what is 'true epilepsy'? In every culture outside of Western modern medicine, epilepsy is caused my malevolent spirits. All epilepsy is treated by a shaman driving the spirits out/away or calming them. That this should be something alien in our culture does show quite a drift from a harmonised worldview. Wonderful as modern medicine is, the spaz tabs treat the symptoms, they don't cure epilepsy. Shamans have been known to cure epilepsy. *shrug* my money's on them

Hmmm. Does sound violent. Unfortunately she's in a culture without the first clue on this sort of stuff so I’m afraid she probably will just have to carry on with it. Do the tablets not work?

I'd maybe stick within her belief sphere for the time being and pursue the Valentine route - undoubtedly a top-class shaman on account of not having any churches dedicated to him in England

There are certain shamanic entheogenic cults that have been known to deal with this sort of thing - cure a number of afflictions - but they are not usually pleasant experiences, require quite a big commitment, a lot of travel and not probably something recommended for christian mothers of one (usually heathen single folk with a whopping bank account, or anthropologists). I think maybe in another lifetime

Another avenue I’d strongly explore is the kid. If she's got the gift, keep finding out what she's seeing and ask her if she can talk to the spirit and find out why it is there/why it is angry. Never underestimate that blood bond between mother and daughter in such circumstances. The mother may be the adult but the child may be the healer/salvation in this case.

Best wishes,

Marion.