Psoriasis is a relatively common skin condition that comes with itchy, scaly patches that can show up on various parts of the body. It’s not contagious and tends to come and go, which is a good indication that emotional factors could be at play when it arises. While it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor or health practitioners about your psoriasis and any medications that might help you, let’s see if there’s a spiritual or emotional imbalance that could be contributing to your psoriasis flares.

I am in the process of writing a series of books on divine feminine archetypes. As a feminist and human being, it has been fascinating to think about the many different types of women who have existed—whether in history, mythology, or fiction—that taught us something about what femininity might mean. But my writing process also has me thinking about the divine masculine and what that has meant in the past and currently means in the present. Who should men be emulating today? What are the qualities of ideal masculinity?

The concept of masculinity has changed plenty over the many generations humans have been around and has tended to reflect a given culture’s history, religion, and connection to the land. A good man may have fulfilled the archetype of a just King, an abundant Farmer, a noble Soldier, or a Knight in Shining Armor.

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

—Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”

Do you ever wonder who you really are? Sometimes you’re kind and gentle, and other times you are irritable or need space. You’re proud of some things you’ve done, but maybe deeply regret some others. Maybe you’re trying to make a change and notice that, while a part of you really wants to, another part is resisting. So, who is the real you underneath all of that?

Tennis elbow is a relatively common condition involving a swelling of the tendons in your upper forearm that bend your wrist back toward your arm. Despite the name, it’s relatively uncommon for people playing tennis and much more common for people who do some kind of repetitive motion with their arm(s) in general, and treatments like rest, pain medications, and physical therapy can help. While we attend to the material and medical needs of tennis elbow, let’s also consider the spiritual meaning of this common condition.

The Buddhist goddess of compassion can teach us how to balance softness with fierceness and show us how bearing witness can be good medicine.

Quan Yin (also spelled Guanyin, Kuan Yin, or Kwan Yin) is “She Who Hears the Cries of the World,” the embodiment of compassion in Buddhism and other Eastern traditions. She is said to have once been Avalokiteshvara, a man who became a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who maintains their earthly form to help other beings attain liberation. Avalokiteshvara took the form of a goddess who could hold all those suffering in their pain and help them heal.

From this Celtic goddess’s perspective, the winter is the beginning of everything and where life gestates before it can bloom.

The Cailleach is an ancient giantess who is said to have created the world itself. She is a part of many creation myths within the Celtic traditions, but there’s evidence that she’s even older than that—the oldest of the wizened old crones.

She is always understood as old and wrinkled. In some stories, she marches around throwing boulders out of her apron, creating the landscapes of Scotland and Ireland. In others, she has a magical hammer, much like the Norse god Thor, and hammers the landscape into place. When she’s complete with it all, she places a pure white blanket over the land, creating the snow.

How would your day-to-day life change if you knew your sole purpose in this life was to be in your body well?

The meaning of life is a big concept, of course, and no one has ever been able to satisfactorily answer what, exactly, it is. And yet many of us still wonder what it is we’re doing here, what our purpose is, and what we must accomplish during the short time we have on Earth.

Some believe we should pray, connect with God, and join with divinity. Others believe we must follow the rules of a religion to have a good life. Some of us believe there is no meaning; we’re just here following our animal instincts. From other perspectives, our higher self has some plan for us—but we don’t ever get to find out what the plan is.

What if the meaning of life was a little simpler than all that? What if the meaning of life is being in a body well?

The Yoruba goddess Yemoya teaches us about the power of divine femininity and how to flow with the deep waters of our emotions.

Yemoya (also spelled Yemaya, Yemoja, and many other ways) is one of the principal goddesses of the West African Yoruba people. She began as a river goddess, giving birth to the world when her great waters broke. She followed her people across the ocean during the slave trade, becoming a source of comfort and protection for them, taking root in Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, Haiti, and the US, where she is also understood as a sea goddess. One of her gifts to humanity was the seashell, in which we can always hear her voice—the voice of the ocean.

When dealing with a traumatized inner child, adults who were parentified as children may find deep healing working with divine archetypes in therapy.

Have you ever brought a goddess with you to therapy? Would you want to?

Therapy is a place where we can explore our inner landscapes, discover patterns and dynamics that are happening in our lives, and plant the seeds of change. It can be a place of healing and self-discovery, helping us to live lives that are richer, more connected, and closer to our goals.

Warts can be frustrating and annoying. Consider the potential spiritual meaning of this condition to better understand yourself and the world around you.

Warts are common and usually harmless, but sometimes they manifest as painful, raised lumps on the skin. They are typically caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), of one strain or another, and are somewhat contagious. In addition to seeking medical help to address our warts, let’s also consider what they might mean about our emotional and spiritual selves.

We all know that having a connection to our intuition is a good thing. It can help us differentiate a good friend from someone who is trying to take advantage of us. It can help us move toward what we want even when other people might disagree with our choices. It can help us know whether we should go up or down, right or left. Or can it?

Intuition is, essentially, our sixth sense. It’s a feeling of knowing beneath our cognitive understanding. It’s knowing without being able to explain how we know. But what if our intuition is broken? What if what we’ve been feeling all along is actually something else, like fear?

In the classical protocols for addiction, abstinence is king. Twelve-step programs and other strategies help people quit a certain substance or behavior and stay off it forever. While this strategy absolutely works for some people, it doesn’t work for everyone. According to the American Addiction Centers, only about five to 12 percent of people who go through a 12-step program actually succeed in recovering from their addiction. So what if there’s another way to work with addiction? What if abstinence isn’t the only option?

We might take our thumbs for granted most of the time, but when thumb pain shows up, we remember how much we need them. They are involved in many of the everyday tasks that we do, and it is our opposable thumbs that separate us from many other animals, making us able to grasp and use a wide variety of tools. If your thumb pain is severe and ongoing, you may need to speak to a health practitioner to see what kind of treatment would help your thumb best. In the meantime, let’s explore the spiritual meaning of thumb pain.

When we take time out of our lives and focus on healing, chronic pain and illness may become easier to manage.

Chronic pain and illness are complex and incredibly challenging to live with, especially in a culture that expects us to be constantly productive. Chronic conditions are frustratingly mysterious, and while the medical system might be able to help us to a degree, we can often feel abandoned when we don't recover quickly.

We do know, however, that chronic conditions likely have some relationship to the nervous system. A balanced nervous system tends to support balanced hormones, healthy digestion, and a well-functioning immune system. What if we could reset the nervous system and find healing there?

Recurring headaches can be a sign that there are imbalances in both the body and mind. Learn more about the spiritual meaning of headaches.

Headaches are rather common and can be caused by a number of factors, and can range from slightly annoying to debilitating, especially if you suffer from migraines. Sometimes headaches can indicate an underlying issue, and if you’re concerned about your headaches, it’s a good idea to see your doctor to find out if there’s something else going on. In the meantime, let’s consider the spiritual meaning of headaches.

Inspired by Tricia Hersey’s book Rest Is Resistance, Julie Peters shares her thoughts on the radical healing power of rest.

“A grieving person is a healed person. Can you guess why our culture does not want a healed person in it?”

I was stuck in a snowstorm in rush hour traffic when I heard this line from Tricia Hersey’s book Rest Is Resistance. As I listened to her powerful voice explaining in no uncertain terms that slowness is a powerful reclaiming of power in a world that disempowers us, I didn’t mind the traffic. I drifted with the snow, taking my sweet time to get home, letting Hersey’s words wash over me.

This line in particular has been haunting me: “A grieving person is a healed person.”

Miscarriage is a devastating experience and shockingly common, happening in about one in four pregnancies. It is defined as any pregnancy loss before 20 weeks of gestation, so it can look like anything from a chemical pregnancy, which happens before 5 weeks, to a loss beyond the 12-week mark, when many of us assume we’re in the clear.

It is normal to ask about the meaning of horrible experiences like this, and there are a few ways we can think about how the body, mind, and spirit may be communicating through miscarriage.

What do you think laziness means? Most of us think of it as idleness, especially when something needs to get done. The image of a “lazy person” is of someone sitting on the couch watching TV or scrolling through their phone when the garbage needs to be taken out. Laziness is associated with procrastination, an inability or unwillingness to complete the task required. Most of us also think of this as a bad thing.

What if it’s not? What if laziness—sitting on the couch scrolling on your phone, unable to get up even though the garbage needs to go out—is a natural human need? What if it’s even more than that: a resistance to productivity, a rebellious act of rest?

Love is an ongoing, evolving experience, not something that can be won or lost. If you’re single this Valentine’s Day, explore a new perspective on the desire for love.

When we are young, many of us are concerned with dating, finding the right person, and settling down. Not all of us end up doing those things, and as we get older, we find we’re still looking for a partner while others around us have found theirs. Or, perhaps, we've settled down just fine, but then our relationship ends and we find ourselves single once again. Single life can involve a lot of “It’s fine, it’s fine, I don’t need anyone!” Which may well be true. But that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to want someone.

More than ever, the world needs healers. If you feel drawn to the healing arts or community building, you might have been—or may be now—a witch.

Do you feel extra connected to nature, trees, and the seasons? Do you sometimes feel other people’s emotions as if they were your own? Do you find yourself attuned to the moon, the stars, and other unseen energies? Do you do healing work like counseling, nursing, medicine, massage therapy, herbalism, or nutrition, or any version of artwork or community building? You could be a witch. And you could have also been a witch in a past life.