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

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 Laura's illness experience can be found at https://www.storysanctum.org/post/speaking-symbols-with-gorgons. 

The article by Dr Sabina Dosani that Laura and I discuss in the interview is available at https://medicalhealthhumanities.com/2025/02/25/ghosts-and-angels-the-supernatural-in-illness-narratives/.

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The podcast theme music is by The Night Monitor, from his album, ‘Close Encounters of the Pennine Kind’. You can find out more about The Night Monitor's music at https://thenightmonitor.bandcamp.com/.