In Search of the Mystical in Osteopathy

I have often said that we lost something in Osteopathy that Dr. Still tried to get across. That was the spiritual that he included in the science of Osteopathy.¹
                                        -- William G. Sutherland, DO

Dr. Still could not speak of all the things he understood about the living human body. We were not ready to hear him.²
                                         -- William G. Sutherland, DO

Is there a mystical component to the philosophy and practice of Osteopathy? When William Sutherland, DO declared that “we lost something in Osteopathy that Dr. Still tried to get across,” the “we” to which he was referring was the entirety of the Osteopathic community in the late 1800’s and the first half of the 1900’s. If the early students of Osteopathy were not ready to hear Dr. Still and the deeper spiritual or mystical teachings he offered, what about today? I wonder if we are ready to “look in between the lines”³ of our founder’s oblique writings and find the “many veins of high grade ore”⁴ available and valuable, remaining to be discovered.

We live in a culture that has a severely diminished tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. Any discussions of “mystical” or “spiritual” experiences leave many modern citizens feeling uncomfortable. In the distant past, in societies much closer to the natural world, those men and women who were known as mystics may not have been understood, but they were respected and honored as essential components of a holistic society. Today, in a dominant Western culture that worships science and objectivity, the mystic is regarded as a disreputable outsider and a speaker of incomprehensible languages that disregards rigidly organized societal structures.

Dr. Sutherland believed that within Osteopathic philosophy and practice it was the mystical or spiritual elements that must be found, rediscovered, or revealed in order to make our profession whole. Others believed that any references to the mystical or spiritual must be expunged from Osteopathic Medicine leaving only the hard skeleton of scientific proof and technical credibility.

William G. Anderson, DO, the American Osteopathic Association’s (AOA) president in 1994-95 declared, “The practice of Osteopathic Medicine cannot remain mystical.”⁵ As a former AOA president he is an influential member of the political wing of the American Osteopathic profession. His orientation and agenda represents a majority bloc within the American Osteopathic community. He is a vocal symbol for the faction that hopes to categorically transform American Osteopathy into a profession that identifies more closely with the tenets of allopathic medicine rather than with the traditional principles of Osteopathy.

What does Dr. Anderson mean when he states that “The practice of Osteopathic Medicine cannot remain mystical”? If we look at the various definitions of mystical, we find four primary meanings for this fascinating word. The first depiction of mystical is something kept secret or silent.⁶ Does he imply that Osteopathy cannot remain a secret, and that we must open the doors to our unique philosophy and approach to everyone? Then I agree, yes, Osteopathic Medicine must not hide our gifts and talents from the world.

The second depiction of mystical is defined as any subjective experiences, as with intuition and insight.⁷ Does he imply that a physician must not utilize insight and intuition in the practice of Osteopathic Medicine? I hope not! If we remove subjective experience from the person-to-person contact required in any healing art then we are doomed to become machines, incapable of truly helping a fellow human being who needs assistance. Contained within this definition of mystical is the concept of insight. Insight involves being perceptive and having the ability to see clearly into the nature of complex situations or subjects. It means having an understanding of relationships that sheds light on, or helps to solve, a problem.⁸ Inherent in any subjective experience is also the dynamic quality of intuition. Intuition is practically defined as an immediate cognition of an object not inferred. It is untaught knowledge. It entails having a keen and quick insight. It is the direct perception of truth or fact independent of any reasoning process.⁹ Any skilled physician, in any specialty or subspecialty, utilizes insight and intuition in their daily practice and, I trust, will strive to keep these invaluable and inseparable aspects of our “subjective” professional identity alive.

Another interpretation employs a connection with mystics, mysticism, and the occult or paranormal.¹⁰ Is Osteopathy an occult practice related to magic (illusion) or witchcraft? Of course not. We all agree that we must expel any implied reference to magic, as an act of illusion, to Osteopathic Medicine. The practice and experience of Osteopathy is not illusion, there is no sleight of hand, and it is not a form of entertainment or trickery. And, it is preposterous to assume that Osteopathy has any relationship to witchcraft or spells.

Does he imply that we must remove any references to the paranormal from the profession? When the paranormal is defined as meaning, that which is impossible to explain scientifically, or unable to be understood in terms of scientific knowledge,¹¹ then yes, there is an expression of Osteopathy that will never thank God be proven, explained, measured, or objectified.

Does he insinuate that we cannot have any reference or relation to mysticism? Mysticism is defined as, the beliefs, ideas or mode of thoughts of mystics; or of a direct, personal union, or communication, with God.¹² For me, and the Osteopaths with whom I associate, to excise an experience of the Divine from our work as Osteopaths would not only be impossible, but disastrous. It is like asking whether the heart or lung is more important to a living human being. Which organ could we do without? To remove the spiritual, or Divine inspiration, from the practice of Osteopathy is equally futile and professionally fatal.

Does he propose that we disassociate ourselves from anyone who is a mystic or who is classified by as others as a mystic? A mystic is a person who believes in the possibility of attaining insight into mysteries transcending ordinary human knowledge, as by direct communication with the Divine or with the immediate intuition in a state of spiritual ecstacy.¹³ If this proposal is implemented then we must disavow any association or connection with A. T. Still, the founder of Osteopathy! Osteopathy was founded in 1874 after Dr. Still had a mystical experience, or vision. Dr. Still spent the remainder of his life engaged in deeply personal spiritual pursuits that helped to define Osteopathy. If we remove ourselves from a connection with Dr. Still, we abolish Osteopathy.

Osteopathy has another voice that speaks in a whisper with the power and the authority derived from a direct experience with what Dr. Still called: the Infinite, the Unknowable, Nature, Deity, God, Mind, the Source of all Life, the Maker, the Divine Surveyor, Mind of the Universe, the Genius of the Universe, the Great Inventor, the All-Wise Chemist, the Ever Loving Genius of the Universe, the Commanding General, Creator, the Master Builder, the Architect, the Grand Architect, the Architect of Life, Universal Architect, Infinite Mind, the Great Wisdom, the Painter of the Universe, God of Nature, Divine Ruler, or Divine Intelligence, and the Incomprehensible.¹⁴

Each individual Osteopath has a personal, and I believe private, choice: eliminate the mystical or spiritual from your Osteopathic life become fractionated, or engage “the lost something that Dr. Still tried to get across” and be whole.

Steve Paulus, DO

This is an edited reprint of an article that originally appeared in Inter Linea: The Journal of Osteopathic Philosophy, December 2000, Volume 2, Number 4, pp. 1, 8

¹ Sutherland, W. G. Contributions of Thought, 1998, Rudra Press, p. 293

² Ibid. p. 351

3 From the quote: “As you read the Philosophy of Osteopathy and get in between the lines, you begin to see the magnitude of the science of Osteopathy.” Sutherland, W. G. Contributions of Thought, 1998, Rudra Press, p. 184

⁴ From the quote: Osteopathy is a therapeutic gold mine. Many veins of high grade ore have been found and are now being worked; but others just as valuable are yet to be discovered.” Rowlings, C. B., DO, Quoted in The Cranial Bowl, by William Sutherland, 1939, Free Press Company, p. 7

⁵ Quoted in: "Osteopathic Medicine’s distinction is EPPRC bone of contention," Jeffery Bouley, The DO. Vol. 41, No. 10, p. 49

⁶ Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, Gramercy Books, New York, 1996, p.1272

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Idem. p. 987

⁹ Idem. p. 1002

¹⁰ Idem. P. 1272

¹¹ Idem. p. 1409

¹² Idem. p. 1272

¹³ Ibid.

¹⁴ A. T. Still: "The 28 Euphemisms for the Divine." From: The Autobiography of A. T. Still., Research and Practice, Philosophy and Mechanical Principles of Osteopathy, and The Philosophy of Osteopathy. Edited by Steve Paulus, DO.