Episode 141 - Laura Lewis-Barr - Illness States, Symbology and the Paranormal

About this episode

Laura Lewis-Barr returns to discuss the connection between illness states and paranormal experiences.

For this episode, I welcome back previous guest Laura Lewis-Barr. Laura first appeared on Some Other Sphere in episode 116, where we discussed her work as a stop-motion filmmaker, creating short movies inspired by myths, fairy tales and the ideas of people such as Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. This time around, Laura joined me to talk about the relationship between states of illness and paranormal phenomena. The idea for this subject matter was prompted by an experience she had whilst on holiday in Greece in 2024, during which she suffered from an attack of Bell’s Palsy. The interview begins with Laura describing the events that led up to the attack, along with the symbology and archetypal imagery she noticed around that time. From there our conversation opens out into a broader discussion on the liminality of being unwell, centred around an article by Dr Sabina Dosani titled ‘Ghosts and Angels: The Supernatural in Illness Narratives’. We discuss the effect illness can have on a persons sense of self and their perception of the world around them. and we finish up talking about some of the mythic characters and stories that feature motifs of illness and injury. A full account of…

People in this episode

Host: Rick Palmer

Guest: Laura Lewis-Barr

Topics covered

• illness
• paranormal phenomena
• symbology
• mythic characters
• self-perception
• liminality

Keywords

• Bell’s Palsy
• paranormal
• symbology
• myths
• illness narratives
• Carl Jung
• Joseph Campbell

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Ghosts and Angels: The Supernatural in Illness Narratives

Places: Greece

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