issues of duality:
- Two names that the Romans had for epilepsy were morbus daemoniacus (demonic disease) and morbus deificus (god-like disease) (1). Epilepsy clearly embodies a range of diametrically opposed concepts.
- Why did my tumor materialize in my left temporal lobe?
- Looking at my first seizure, it is interesting to note that my perception reversed two polarities: masculinity and femininity. My male teacher appeared to be very female, since he had the characteristics of long blonde hair, lipstick, a high voice and high heels. The seizure was caused by the left part of my brain, which is considered to be the male side. Are these divisions constructed from false social assumptions? Perhaps my seizure was showing me that everyone has a blend of male and female characteristics, and that it is limiting to become uni-gendered by our incarnated selves. Or maybe it was demonstrating that the elements of gender are actually worth acknowledging and even celebrating.
- Time often becomes warped during seizures, since the past and future can feel reversed, or all simply merges into the now.
- "Jesus said, 'When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same... then you will enter the Kingdom of God'." --Gospel of Thomas
