Collective Efficacy To Face Fear

"I told them I knew many powerful healers had tried to cure the illness, but it continued to reappear. They were afraid of the illness and uncertain of the future, but I believed that the ‘monster’ who inspired that fear could be defeated, but only if we stopped to face it together.

Then I shared this story about a double-headed snake monster the Salish people of the Pacific Northwest call ‘‘Sisquiutl,’’ or Fear. The fear monster is 60 feet long, as big around as the tree we are gathered around here. The heads on each end can see in all directions, so nothing escapes its sight. If
you were to come upon Sisquiutl, your first reaction would be to run, but as soon as you moved, the Fear Monster would see you and come after you until it caught you and ate you. After you move, which happens instinctively, you have to stand still.  Having seen you twitch reflexively, it will come after you. But standing still, it approaches you slowly, first one end and then the other, until it has you trapped between both its heads.  Suddenly, seeing itself reflected in its own eyes, it becomes so horrified by its own image that it slinks away in horror.  The only way to escape the fear monster is not to run because fear always runs faster than you can. If we stop running and face it together we can defeat the monster and make the illness go away."

From: The Huichol Offering: A Shamanic Healing Journey by Carl Allen Hammerschlag in the J Relig Health (2009) 48:246–258.