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Diagnostic and Therapeutic Elements in «Light-Darkness-Colour»

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Diagnostic and Therapeutic Elements in «Light-Darkness-Colour» DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC ELEMENTS IN «LIGHT-DARKNESS-COLOUR» RESEARCH ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEPRESSION CHANTAL BERNARD AND JANNY MAGER b Diagnostic and Therapeutic Elements in Light-Darkness-Color c d Diagnostic and Therapeutic Elements in Light-Darkness-Color Research on different types of depression Chantal Bernard and Janny Mager Cover art: “Tobias” by Liane Collot d’Herbois Permission to reproduce blackboard drawings by Rudolf Steiner has been kindly granted by Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung in Dornach, Switzerland. Patients who have received the therapy described in this book have graciously offered the reproduction of their pictures for research purposes. e f Contents Preface Part One The Human Being from the Point of View of Spiritual Science The Constitution of the Human Being The Incarnated Human Being: two connected entities Spiritual entity Physical entity Two polar currents Two intermediary currents The Incarnated Human Being Polarizes being Being of rhythm, alternation and movement Threefold being Notions of Health and Illness Good Health Conditions Two Pathological Tendencies Formation of foreign bodies A kind of congenital consumption Picture of the two pathological tendencies Two Therapeutic Paths Possibility of resolving “foreign bodies” Possibility of resolving “a kind of congenital consumption” Part Two Light-Darkness-Color and the Human Being The Constitution of the Human Being The Two Paths of the Incarnation of the I: Darkness and Light Path of incarnation through darkness Path of Incarnation through light Between Darkness and Light Laws Mediator: atmosphere and soul Activities: movement and color g Notions of Health and Illness Some Basic Principles for Diagnosis General Conditions for a Therapy Some Therapeutic Aspects Some Examples of Therapeutic Exercises Part Three Application and Research in Light-Darkness-Color The Two Pathological Tendencies in Pictures Selection Criteria Path of Incarnation through Light that is too strong Path of Incarnation through Light that is too weak Depression General Signature of the Tendency to Depression Depression and the Cardinal Organs Research Criteria Cardinal Organs From the Point of View of Light-Darkness-Color From the point of View of Spiritual Science Liver-type Depression Diagnostic Elements Therapeutic Elements Kidney-type Depression Diagnostic Elements Therapeutic Elements Lung-type Depression Diagnostic Elements Therapeutic Elements Heart-type Depression Diagnostic Elements Therapeutic Elements Summary General Summary General Conclusion Appendixes and Notes About the authors h Acknowledgments On December 17, 2007 we celebrated the centenary of the birth of Liane Collot d’Herbois (see Appendix 3), an exceptional individuality, who has left us more than 1800 paintings, pastels, frescoes and watercolors, and a visionary teaching that is both artistic and therapeutic. This centenary provides a great opportunity for us to present a part of the artistic therapy base that she created and called «Light- Darkness-Colour». The meeting of Liane Collot d’Herbois with Dr. Ita Wegman, a close colleague of Rudolf Steiner in medical work, was decisive, and from 1930 on allowed her to begin to lay the foundation for these therapeutic and pictorial research that she pursued for the rest of her life. From the age of 28, she lived for several years near this doctor, first in France (in Paris) then in Switzerland (at Arlesheim and at Ascona) until the death of Ita Wegman in 1943. With all our gratitude we dedicate this study to these pioneers. Ita Wegman and Liane Collot d’Herbois at Ascona, 1940 It happens that 2007 was also the centenary of the beginning of the medical collaboration of Rudolf Steiner and Dr. Ita Wegman. i In addition to expressing our gratitude to Liane Collot d’Herbois for the magnificent legacy that she has left to the therapists, we also thank: * Francine van Davelaer who has contributed greatly to the elaboration of this legacy * Roesli Rienks, one of our teachers for her encouragement * Therapists Fredy van Bueren et Erika Eikenboom for their collaboration * Doctor Philippe Ercolano for his enlightened guidance * Our students and our patients for their contribution to this research * Judy Blatchford and Claude Julien for their patience during the translation process * and our family and friends for their friendly support. j Preface The goal of this publication is to show how Light-Darkness-Color therapy1, created by Liane Collot d’Herbois provides the basis for a precise, complete, and reliable diagnosis of a patient’s situation with regard to his or her physical, etheric, psychical and spiritual constituents. Then, it is possible, in collaboration with a doctor, to propose a therapeutic path, adapted to the individual’s particular needs. We have based our research on the fundamental conceptions of spiritual science that the authors assume to be known to the readers, particularly Rudolf Steiner’s lecture of February 11, 1923, “The Invisible Man Within Us. Pathology as a Basis for Therapy” 2, also known as “the little boxes” This lecture is thought to be difficult and does in fact contain rather demanding passages, but it is also a gold mine for the person who takes a serious interest in it and is willing to penetrate it little by little. From this lecture, we will take up certain main thoughts that carry an understanding of the human constitution and its relation to health and illness. At the same time this lecture gives direct access to the diagnostic and therapeutic approach in Light-Darkness-Colour. Part 1 of this book is dedicated to the study of the above mentioned lecture which allows us first to lay some bases essential to understanding the human constitution in relation to its different spiritual, psychic, etheric and physical constituents and the different currents that run through them. We will also find there a conception of pathology from two essential notions: “formation of foreign bodies” and “tendency of congenital consumption”- and some general elements of how to conduct a therapy. Part 2 shows how these elements correspond directly to the conceptions of the human being in health or illness according to the Light-Darkness-Color approach. Part 3 demonstrates, through analysis of free pictures by the patients in charcoal and in color, how we can begin to establish a diagnosis in relation to the two pathological tendencies described. Then we assemble the elements of diagnosis and therapy for the different types of depression related to the cardinal organs. k Caution Our aim is first to characterize certain spiritual, psychical and physical foundations of the Light-Darkness-Colour therapy, then to illustrate how the therapy becomes effective. The examples of free pictures by patients are given for the purpose of demonstration, and the information that they provide is not used in its entirety, as it would be in therapy, because this is not the subject of this study. Any interpretation of pictures by other patients based on these examples is likely to be incomplete. We want to stress here what Liane Collot d’Herbois considered essential: “To make a diagnosis requires an enormous amount of practice, and (the ability to diagnose) is lost if you do not practice.” Only regular practice allows access to the comprehensive and detailed understanding necessary for a correctly conducted therapy. l Part One The Human Being from the Point of View of Spiritual Science Recapitulation of some elements from Rudolf Steiner’s lecture of February 11, 1923 The Invisible Man within Us Pathology as a basis for therapy 13 14 « Only by means of spiritual science Can the healthy or sick human being be understood.3 R. Steiner 15 16 The Constitution of the Human Being from the Point of View of Spiritual Science The Incarned Human Being: Two Connected Entities Spiritual entity When, at birth, the human being abandons the protective maternal womb, it likewise let go the nourishing sheathes that were formed at the same time that he or she was formed and that are then rejected (chorion, allantois, placenta …). These sheathes are the physical manifestation of the activity of an invisible, enveloping, nourishing, spiritual entity that existed before the physical entity. Once the human being is born and its sheathes are rejected, this spiritual entity continues to work during the whole of physical life in an unconscious, protective manner in the forces of growth, reproduction, and nutrition. This entity has been described by Rudolf Steiner as a fourfold entity whose constituent members are differentiated organizing activities: the I-organization, the astral organization, the etheric organization, and the physical organization. They can be schematically represented as follows: Image 1 In yellow, the I-organization In red, the astral organization In blue, the etheric organization In white, the physical organization This first image illustrates the constitution of the invisible, nourishing, unconscious, spiritual entity that accompanies the human being in its incarnation on the earth. 17 Physical Entity Now we have to consider the visible human being. It is also a fourfold entity composed of the I, astral body, etheric body, and physical body, which articulate with the spiritual entity in the following manner: Image 2 The I I-organization Astral body Astral organization Etheric body Etheric organization Physical body Physical organization The different bodies of the visible, incarnated human being are ordered in the same way as previously described for the spiritual entity: from the spiritual to the physical plane by way of the astral and etheric planes. What we call organization in the spiritual entity we call “body” in the physical entity. At the level of the I and the I-organization, the two entities remain separated, while at the level of the other constituents, they interpenetrate each other more and more, as they go from the spiritual to the physical. The physical body finds itself, with respect to its forces of nutrition, growth, and reproduction, totally inside the nurturing spiritual organization.
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