Athlete's foot: emotional and spiritual meaning
Updated
What athlete's foot is
A mycosis is an infection caused by a microscopic fungus. Athlete's foot is one of its many forms. It sits between the toes, and the skin cracks, more or less deeply. It itches, it peels, and it likes warmth and damp. Shared floors, tight shoes and feet that stay wet are the usual setting. Antifungal cream, dry socks and a change of shoes are the treatment. It is contagious in a practical, ordinary way. It is not a judgement on ambition.
The emotional reading below asks about a mind that feels it cannot move forward, and about the admiration you want and do not have. Calf pain is the leg above the foot. The feet page is the wider ground.
The emotional meaning of athlete's foot
Cracked skin between the toes is read as a mind that is irritated or thwarted. You feel limited, or unable to advance as you would like, now and in the future. You find it hard to accept yourself as you are, and you would like the acceptance and the adoration of the people around you, the way an athlete who has succeeded is adored. Instead you feel banished. Must you exile yourself to find peace? That produces stress and an inner pain.
You live a deep duality. You appreciate being able to live in safety under the "wings" of others. At the same time you feel a prisoner. You wear a mask of hardness so you do not have to show your real face. Irritation of the toes is tied to the details and the directions of your future life, to what is abstract, and to fears and a lack of understanding.
A gentler way to hold it
Picture yourself on a road where it is pleasant to advance and where you feel fully confident. That image is meant to help the fears leave, and to bring more harmony. You learn to live according to your needs and desires. You take the mask off, and you live your emotions in a simple, natural way. The skin still needs to be dried and treated. A visualisation does not replace the cream.
- Dry the skin and use the antifungal. Fungus is the medical cause.
- Ask where advancement feels impossible. The present and the future are both in the question.
- Notice the wish to be adored. Feeling banished is the other half.
- Look at the wing you are sheltering under. Safety and prison can be the same place.
- Name the detail of the future that irritates you. The toes are read as the small directions ahead.
- Have a spreading redness seen. A crack can let a deeper infection in, especially if circulation or diabetes is already a concern.
Questions to ask yourself
Take your time with these. There are no right answers; simply notice what comes up.
- Where do I feel unable to advance, now or in the future?
- Whose admiration am I waiting for, and where do I feel banished instead?
- Do I like the safety of living under someone else's wing, and feel imprisoned there at the same time?
- What hardness am I wearing so that my real face stays hidden?
- Which detail of the road ahead is irritating me out of all proportion?
- What would a road I actually want to walk on look like?
“I picture a road it is pleasant to walk. I live according to my own needs, and I let feeling show without a mask.”
When to see a doctor
- Itchy, cracked, peeling or white skin between the toes. Antifungal treatment usually clears it. Keep the feet dry.
- Redness that is spreading, pus, or fever. Bacteria can infect cracked skin.
- You have diabetes or poor circulation. A small foot infection needs earlier care.
- The nails are thickening or crumbling as well. The fungus may have entered the nail and needs a longer treatment.
- A rash that is not improving after a proper course of antifungal cream.
- Do not treat a bacterial infection, eczema or a psoriasis of the foot as "just fungus" if it is not settling.
Related conditions
Sources and inspiration
- Jacques Martel, Le Grand Dictionnaire des Malaises et des Maladies.
This page is an original interpretation written by Body Hemi-Sync. It is inspired by these sources and does not reproduce them.