Measles: spiritual meaning and emotional causes

What measles is

Measles is a viral infection that spreads very easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It starts like a heavy cold: a high temperature, a runny or blocked nose, sneezing, a cough, and red, sore, watery eyes. Small white spots may appear inside the cheeks. A few days later a blotchy rash comes up, starting on the face and behind the ears and spreading down the body. It is not usually itchy, and it can be harder to see on brown and black skin.

Most people start to get better in about a week, with rest and plenty of fluids. But measles can spread to the lungs and the brain and cause serious problems, including pneumonia, meningitis, seizures and blindness. Babies, pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system are most at risk, and measles in pregnancy can harm the baby. Around the world, measles still kills young children, mostly where few people are vaccinated. A person is infectious from about four days before the rash until four days after it appears, and should stay off nursery, school or work for at least four days from the start of the rash.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent measles. In the UK, young children are now offered the MMRV vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, at 12 and 18 months. Older children and adults who missed out can have the MMR vaccine. Two doses give long-term protection, and being vaccinated also protects babies and others who cannot have the vaccine.

The emotional meaning of measles

Like the other illnesses of childhood, measles is read as part of growing up: a moment when the body meets the world and the person learns to adapt. The virus is the cause, and the vaccine is the protection. Nothing here suggests that a child brings measles on, or that feelings can take the place of vaccination. The spiritual interpretation looks at the moment of life in which the illness arrives.

A separation you did not see coming

Measles is read as following a separation you did not expect. It came as a surprise and left you in a state of shock. Thoughts such as "How could they do this to me?" or "Someone went behind my back" may go round and round.

Something that stinks

French has an expression, ça me pue au nez, literally "it stinks under my nose", for a situation you cannot stand. Measles begins in the nose and throat, and the expression is heard in it: a situation that you find hard to bear, and that you cannot push away.

Pleasing others at your own cost

There may be a long habit of meeting the wishes of others, parents, friends, teachers, at the price of your own freedom. Over time, this can leave you feeling vulnerable and unaware of your own worth.

Red with anger

The red rash is heard alongside the face going red: red with anger, or blushing at the smallest thing. Behind it there can be a fear of being spontaneous, because you are not sure what you are capable of.

Rest, care and the question of power

When you are ill, other people look after you and nothing is asked of you. For a child, being cared for when ill is simply what they need. For an adult, the spiritual interpretation raises a gentle question: has staying still become a kind of shelter, a place where nobody can say anything is your fault? And beyond it, two larger ones: where does my real power lie, and how can I be guided without being controlled?

Measles in adults

When an adult catches an illness of childhood, the question is whether a feeling from childhood was left unsettled and is being stirred again now. A separation today may touch an older one. A betrayal at work may echo a moment when you felt let down as a child. Looking at that link can help you meet the present situation as the adult you are.

Measles in adults is often more severe than in children, so medical care comes first.

A gentler way to hold it

• Acknowledge the shock. Say what happened and how much it surprised you. A shock that has words is easier to carry.
• Step out of the background. You do not have to stay unseen. Let people know what you think and what you want.
• Ask for room. Give yourself, or your child, the space to find out where the limits are and what you are capable of.
• Listen to your inner voice. You are strong enough to sense what is good for you.
• Let old structures go. The rules that kept you safe in the past may now be too tight. Keep what helps and release what confines.
• For a parent: tenderness, attention and time help a child recover and grow in confidence.