An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

employed by the mother had she lived. Very importantly it addressed the consequences ofthe child not having been told that her mother had died when she was born and thatsomeone else has provided everything for her (shelter, food, clothes education, andlove)and so there was still something missing in her life.There is some indication that during the experience of the healing process someoneidentified the void and replaced this with an apology and a physical presentation of herbiological mother (by pretending to be her biological mother). This interaction took herback to the consciousness of her birth, possibly imaginary and also said words of apologythat she wanted to hear and she understood.The physical representation of the situation provided a reality for the void that she now felthad existed throughout her life and helped her to identify what was missing from her lifeand the reason for her suffering. Thus she began to experience the healing process. Shewas healed from rejection through a process that is similar to the way that healing from aphysical wound occurs, as illustrated in detail in the literature review chapter. The tearscould be compared to the flow of pus and lymph fluids, which is also a cleansing process.Although she was not consciously aware of the separation from her mother till late in herlife, the physical acknowledgement of her emotional pain and the verbal recognition of themissing elements in her life enabled her to acknowledge the pain and allowed her to berelieved of the burden and suffering of rejection.She was thus consciously able to forgive her mother for „rejecting and abandoning‟ her asa baby. Seeking forgiveness is a way to relieve suffering. Lucas (1997), in the introduction218