Thomas Moore - Care of the Soul In Medicine

Praise for Care of the Soul in Medicine

I wishCare of the Soul in Medicinehad been available when
I was a medical student, because it is one of the wisest guides
for health-care professionals I have ever read. Moore shows that
without attention to the spirit, there can be no true healing. If
taken seriously, the wisdom in his book could transform
medicine in America. This book is desperately needed by
patients, too, and by all those who love and care for them.

Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power
of Premonitions and Healing Words
This accessible and engaging book reminds us that caring is a
sacred calling; that care of the body is care of the soul; and that
health care practiced with depth, beauty, respect, and meaning can
transform our hospitals into temples of healing. I would love to
think that every medical student would read this book.

Michael Kearney, M.D., medical director of
palliative care service at Santa Barbara Cottage
Hospital, associate medical director at Visiting Nurse
and Hospice Care, medical director to the Anam Cara
Project for Compassionate Companionship in Life and
Death, and author of Place of Healing and Mortally Wounded
Thomas MooresCare of the Soul in Medicineis an unusually
thoughtful exploration of current medical culture and its focus on
treatment and cure, often at the expense of caring and healing.

He makes an inspirational and convincing case for true
transformation in health care that goes beyond our fascination
with technology to encompass heart, mind, and spirit.

Susan B. Frampton, Ph.D., president of Planetree, a
nonprofit organization and internationally recognized
leader in patient-centered care

Care of the Soul in Medicinemay be your best friend
through illness, and a life-giving companion for many who
seek to reclaim the joy they once knew in the healing arts.

Rev. Dr. Marcus M. McKinney, D.Min., LPC, director,
Department of Pastoral Counseling and Community
Outreach, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center;
and assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry,
University of Connecticut School of Medicine
Moore sees the mechanics of medicine, and offers another
view that has its roots in the beginnings of medical care,
in the Soul of a caregiver. It is a thoughtful book for patients,
families, caregivers, and all of us who will eventually
enter the realm of medical care (and we all will).

George Doebler, director, Pastoral Care, Emeritus,
University of Tennessee Medical Center

ALSO BY THOMAS MOORE

The Planets Within
Rituals of the Imagination
A Blue Fire
Dark Eros
Care of the Soul
Meditations
Soul Mates
The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life
The Education of the Heart
The Book of Job
The Soul of Sex
Original Self
The Souls Religion
Dark Nights of the Soul
A Life at WorkWriting in the Sand*

*Available from Hay House

Please visit
Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.com
Hay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au
Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.uk
Hay House South Africa: www.hayhouse.co.za
Hay House India: www.hayhouse.co.in

THOMAS MOORE

HAY HOUSE, INC.
Carlsbad, California New York City
London Sydney Johannesburg
Vancouver Hong Kong New Delhi

Copyright 2010 by Thomas Moore

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Publishedand distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republicof South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.com Publishedin India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Design: Tricia Breidenthal

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private use other than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Moore, Thomas.

Care of the soul in medicine : healing guidance for patients, families, and the people who care for them / Thomas Moore. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4019-2563-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Medicine-Religious aspects. 2. Pastoral medicine. I. Title.
BL65.M4M65 2010
201.661--dc22

2009045961

ISBN: 978-1-4019-2563-5

13 12 11 10 4 3 2 1
1st edition, April 2010

Printed in the United States of America

Notice how this snake coils around my staff.
Remember exactly what he looks like.
I will change myself into this snake, but
I will be much larger, I will be immense, like
the body of a god who transforms himself.

ASKLEPIOS , IN OVIDSMETAMORPHOSES , XV

CONTENTS

There is a beautiful story in the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles, a Gnostic text, in which Jesus goes by the name Lithargoel. The word breaks down into the Greek words lithos (stone) and argos (silver), and the Hebrew el (angel). Jesus is the shining spirit stone. Around his waist he wears a packet of medicine. He is a healer and promises to give people pearls. But he means himself. He is the pearl. He is the medicine, just as doctors and nurses, and all of us in our healer capacity, are the real medicine.

Buddhists honor a similar healer they call the Lapis Lazuli Radiant Healing Buddha, who holds a bowl of medicine in one hand and a healing plant in the other. He is surrounded by a halo of bright colors. His followers promise to heal with their personal radiance and presence. I think every nurse, doctor, and patient should be a devotee of this Buddha.

These inspiring and colorful images could bring new life to modern medicine, which has gained immensely from its application of the scientific method but has also lost the spiritual radiance of traditional medicine. Along with that radiance has gone some of medicines soul.