ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the ambivalent, paradoxical, daimonic nature of illness. It proposes that psychotherapy or "attending to the soul" is a way of nurturing this very process. The chapter aims to describe the intelligence of the heart, body, and soul. It explains instinct, sensitivity, feeling, humour, and poise. The chapter discusses how the elements of healing were refined and incorporated into the approach of the ancient healers in the Greek Asklepieia. Many forms of psychotherapy also recognise the value and importance of catharsis in the healing process. The healing power of humour is well attested by the American journalist Norman Cousins who tells of a time when he fell ill and was medically diagnosed to have a painful, debilitating, and life threatening illness called "ankylosing spondylitis". The probable last vestiges of this dying custom are performed on the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka. It is known locally as the "Yakun Natima" or the "devil dance ritual".
