The Spiritual Meaning of Shingles

Shingles is a painful bubbling up of blisters, usually on just one side of the torso. It’s caused by the chickenpox virus, which sits dormant in the immune system for maybe decades and, usually due to some weakening of the immune system, finally decides to appear. If you are showing signs of shingles, like fever, fatigue, and flu-like symptoms along with a strip of blisters, talk to your doctor. While attending to the physical needs of your body, let’s also consider the potential spiritual meanings of this relatively common viral illness.

Childhood Wounds

Shingles tends to appear in adults who once had the chickenpox virus. It is like a painful resurgence of childhood experiences and can indicate that something from childhood has been triggered that needs attention. Consider the below questions in relationship to your past and what might be triggered in the present.

• Have any childhood wounds been triggered lately?

• What do you remember about having chickenpox in your childhood?

• If your inner child is present right now, what might they need from you?

What Else Is “Bubbling Up?”

Shingles are indicated by their telltale blisters: angry, painful wounds rising from beneath the skin. It is something hidden deep within that is deciding, right now, to rise to the surface to be seen and felt.

• Have you noticed bursts of emotion like anger and grief rising up lately?

• What do these bursts of emotion feel like?

• What might these emotions be telling you?

• What is happening in your life that causes you to suppress rather than express emotions?

• What would it feel like if you could freely express your emotions?

Spiritual Meaning According to Location on the Body

Shingles tends to appear on just one side of the body at a time, most commonly on the torso. Its location can give us a hint about what it might be trying to express spiritually.

• The right side around the lower ribs: This is the location of the liver, and an outbreak here indicates suppressed anger that is trying to come up and out.

• The mid-to-lower back: This area is the location of the kidneys and adrenal glands, and an outbreak here indicates that you’ve been under a lot of stress and the body is struggling to manage the load.

• The stomach or lower belly: An outbreak here indicates issues with digestion—both digesting information as well as digesting food. There may be some difficult information to process here—some trouble with integrating an experience or knowledge, as well as trouble letting something go.

• The upper ribs, especially on the left side: If your outbreak is near your heart, this can indicate that a heartbreak (new or old) has been triggered. The ribs protect the heart, so this could indicate that something has broken through, affecting the energetic or emotional heart, and your body is trying to process that.

• The eyes: Shingles near the eyes can indicate issues with seeing clearly. Perhaps you’ve seen something you wish you hadn’t or want to see something you can’t.

• The forehead: This part of the body is connected to thinking, rationality, and intuition. Sometimes issues in this region indicate overthinking, a difficulty processing something intellectually, a challenging shift in worldview, or an inability to fully access your intuition. Alternatively, a “bubbling up” around the forehead could be a call from Spirit or your intuition to pay attention already!

• The backside of the body: The back of the body represents issues from the past; what we’ve been trying to “put behind” us. If shingles appear on your backside, you may doubly consider that there is an issue arising from the past that needs to be brought to the front.

• The front side of the body, especially the face: When we have visible wounds or illness on the front of our bodies, there’s something troubling being seen or not being seen. Consider whether there’s something you’ve been trying to hide or if there’s something you wish others would see.

A Strained Relationship with Yourself

Shingles is so painful that it requires close attention. It needs us to stop what we’re doing and attend to it and ourselves. Unlike some afflictions, shingles is clearly a message from within that manifests outwardly, a message from your inner world becoming manifest, a recurrence of a viral infection that was dormant inside coming to the outside. This isn’t an issue between you and the world … it has to do with your relationship with yourself. In addition to medical attention as needed, healing shingles may require spending some time with your inner self, particularly your inner child.

This can look like slowing down, taking rest, journaling, meditating with your inner child, letting yourself cry, identifying your anger and finding a way to safely and constructively express it, and so on. Spend time with yourself—you are trying to talk to you!

Have you explored the spiritual meaning of autoimmune diseases?