The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Trial by Fear

by Artemis Celt, ND

Subscribe button

Recently I sat down in meditation with the intention of receiving whatever information I most needed about the coronavirus pandemic.  Several times during the meditation the word crucible impressed itself like an embossed message on the surface of my otherwise undisturbed mind.  “What the heck does crucible really mean?”  I thought to myself as I concluded my meditation.  I knew that Arthur Miller had written a popular play called The Crucible, though I had never read it.  And associated with this play was a dim sense of something that might loom, with Plutonian intensity, over our ordinary daily lives.  In an effort to bring some needed clarity to my feeble grasp of the word crucible, I consulted several online dictionaries.  Here is the definition I found most pertinent: “A crucible is a situation of severe trial, or in which different elements interact, leading to the creation of something new.”

We are all acutely aware of how this pandemic and the subsequent shelter-in-place mandates have created unprecedented challenges for billions of people on Earth.  For some, the main challenge is fear of contracting a serious viral infection or fear of unknowingly passing it on to a vulnerable member of our society.  For others, the main challenge has been an abrupt loss of income.  And for some, the imposed social isolation has proven to be very difficult.  Concerns about current and  potentially long-term losses of civil liberties are the biggest worries harbored by some.  For others, having to suddenly alter daily work routines in order to accommodate children out of school has been a significant stressor. 

These are all hardships, but a severe hardship is not the same thing as a severe trial.  A trial is a kind of test:  a test of physical endurance, or a test of moral integrity, a test of courage, a test of choosing love over fear, etc.  In this article I would like to consider some of the ways this pandemic and the methods by which it is being managed have suddenly immersed us in a crucible:  a severe test.  I would also like to address the opportunity to create something new that this test affords us. 

What kind of trial might this pandemic be?  I can think of many kinds of trials that we are facing as a result of this pandemic, but first and foremost is the Trial of Fear.

Fear is a big topic, and thus the Trial of Fear involves more than one aspect of fear.

The First Aspect of Fear: War Consciousness

Once upon a time there were two French biologists and researchers, Louis Pasteur and Antoine Bechamp.  In the 1800s they each studied microorganisms and their effect on health, and they each came to a different conclusion.  Pasteur, as we know, eventually won the day with his celebrated germ theory:  diseases are caused by the presence and actions of specific microorganisms in the body.  A medical system, such as our current orthodox Western medical system, that adopts this theory will focus on the identification and eradication of specific germs as a way of safeguarding health.  This theory naturally leads to an “us vs them” mentality, whereby the bacteria, virus, or fungus becomes the feared “them” that we must protect ourselves against. 

With its “us vs them” focus, the germ theory also naturally gives rise to a warlike mentality in which we humans take the starring role of victims who must put up a fight against “the other” that’s trying to destroy us.  It also gives rise to entities like our modern pharmaceutical empire that produces weapons (antibiotics) that sometimes enable us to fight off the enemy (germs).  This evening I read yet another news article that refers to the novel coronavirus as “the enemy,” and that describes our collective situation with respect to this pandemic as “being at war.”  Some hospitals are now being referred to as “war zones.”  The language of war is frequently used to describe and shape our relationship to this virus.  It is also frequently used to describe our relationship to our massive drug problem, and to the widespread problem of cancer.  Placing our relationship to this virus within the framework of war strongly fosters a state of fear in the public mind.

The language of war encourages us to look outside of ourselves and to look outside of the reality we have created on Earth.  The problem then becomes “them,” rather than “us.”  A war mentality discourages us from asking certain questions that might desperately need to be asked, such as: “What conditions on Earth and within the human body have made this widespread infection possible?”  “How might this virus be a messenger of sorts – a warning signal that we are collectively so out of balance that a powerful messenger had to come forth in order to shake us out of our complacency?” 

Is it wise to accept this “us and them” framework that is being foisted upon us?  What are the consequences of accepting such a framework?  Well, let’s take a look around.  The consequences here in the US and in many other countries are plain as day.  I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but downtown Port Townsend where I live is a veritable ghost town.  Vast numbers of people have become unemployed overnight.  People are afraid to shake hands with each other.  Children can’t go play with their friends.  Well, there’s a war on, mate, so buck up and make the best of it.  We are told that we might have to make the best of this severely restricted way of life for months, or possibly even a year1—untilthe troops come to our rescue with a new vaccine.     

Antoine Bechamp developed a theory that radically departs from Pasteur’s famous germ theory.

He maintained that unhealthy tissue is the true cause of disease, and that infections are a secondary consequence of this unhealthy tissue. Bechamp’s research led him to conclude that poor diet and other unwise lifestyle choices and emotional states create an oxygen-deficient, acidic cellular environment that lead to an unhealthy “terrain.”  This has become known as the terrain-is-everything theory, whereby the human body and its relative state of health is the terrain.

Article continues on the next page…