Allergies: spiritual meaning and emotional causes

What allergies are

An allergy is an overreaction of the immune system to a substance that is harmless for most people, called an allergen. Common allergens include pollen, house dust mites, animal dander, mould, foods (such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish and wheat), insect stings, latex and some medicines. The body treats the allergen as a threat and releases chemicals such as histamine.

Reactions can be mild to severe: sneezing, a runny or blocked nose and itchy eyes, as in hay fever; an itchy rash or hives; eczema flares; wheezing and asthma; or stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea after a food. Allergies often run in families. Diagnosis can involve skin-prick or blood tests at an allergy clinic. Treatment includes avoiding the trigger, antihistamines, nasal sprays, creams, and in some cases immunotherapy.

The most serious reaction is anaphylaxis, which can develop within minutes and is life-threatening. People at risk are usually prescribed an adrenaline auto-injector. If anaphylaxis is suspected, call emergency services straight away and use the auto-injector.

The emotional meaning of allergies

Spiritually, an allergy is a defence. The body reacts to something as if it were an enemy breaking through your protective barriers. Your great sensitivity is sending a signal that something or someone feels hostile towards you, that there is danger. You no longer feel safe.

An inner alarm

The allergic reaction is linked to aggressiveness and hostility towards a person or a situation, as your mind interprets what you are living. Sniffing, watering eyes and the urge to cry are read as feelings that were held down and are now finding a way out. The reaction is not rational: it belongs to instinct and the unconscious. The spiritual interpretation asks simply: what am I really allergic to? What gets me so worked up?

Impressed by the power of others

The "enemy" seems to take your power to be and to act. You may be so impressed by other people's strength that you forget your own, and feel threatened by a fear you do not want to feel. Allergies can point to a deep intolerance, and perhaps a fear of taking part fully in life without the emotional crutches that hold you up.

Keeping your distance

An allergy keeps you on alert, careful never to come into contact with the trigger. In the same way, you may keep apart and say little. It may be hard to choose, to tell what is good for you, and to take the place that is yours. At the same time you may long for closeness, through words and especially touch, with the people you love.

Not feeling good enough

A common feeling behind allergies is the sense of not being "good enough". You may want attention, sympathy and support. Is the allergy, in part, a way of asking for love? It is a question worth holding gently, not a verdict. The spiritual interpretation sees the allergy as a way of saying no to a part of yourself, sometimes desires you do not let yourself have, while your senses long to enjoy life fully. Learning to say no to some situations is also what lets you say yes to new ones.

A memory in the senses

Allergies can involve all five senses, especially smell, the sense most tied to memory. The mind may have linked a substance to a memory, happy or painful, and the body now pushes it back. Seen this way, an allergy is the past irritating the present: the body reminds you of what you wanted to forget.

An allergy often appears after a separation from a person, an animal or a place, for example the abrupt end of a summer romance. When a death has not been grieved, you might react to something that recalls the person you lost. The page on grief goes further into this. The mind can also link things by sound. In French, boulot (job) sounds like bouleau (birch): someone who had to give up a job they loved might, symbolically, react to birch pollen.

Where the allergy shows

• Sinuses and sneezing: a situation that "does not smell right", that you want to keep away from, often with strong anguish. If it turns into sinusitis, you may feel trapped in it.
• Cough and breathing: fear is uppermost.
• Skin: the separation itself was hard to live through, as in eczema, hives or dermatitis.
• Food: a time when you had to say no to something you loved, and the frustration that followed. It can also point to a fear of new things and a lack of trust in life.

When your bearings change

Allergies can appear when the frame of your life changes, even for a happy reason: a new job, a move, a new partner. Your bearings shift, your confidence drops. If you do not recognise your own worth, you may put a partner, a child or a friend on a pedestal, and become, without realising it, irritated by them.

By type of allergy

Each of these allergies is a real medical condition, and food and sting allergies can be life-threatening. The meanings below are questions to explore alongside medical care.

• Animals and pet hair: animals carry instinct and an innate sexuality, and each one stands for a facet of love. An allergy to an animal is linked to resistance to the instinctive or sensual side it represents for you. The invitation is to welcome your desires, conscious and unconscious, as part of who you are.
• Milk and dairy: milk is the first contact with the mother and a sign of the love you received from her. A milk allergy is linked to frustration with your mother, or with someone who "plays the mother" in your life, about the kind of attention or criticism they give you. You may feel dependent on them, at their mercy, or wonder whether you cling too much. The step is to bring warmth back into that bond.
• Peanuts: in French, arachide (peanut) echoes en arracher, to struggle hard. In Quebec, "working for peanuts" means working for almost nothing. A peanut allergy is linked to a memory, often from childhood, of working very hard for too little reward, in money or in affection, and the anger and regret that remain. The invitation is to notice where life now supports you and feels easier.
• Dust: dust is linked to dirt and impurity, and an allergy to it to insecurity about parts of your life you may see as "unclean", often your sexuality. It also echoes "dust to dust" and "everything turns to dust": a feeling that what you do is useless, and a strong need to be loved and accepted. The step is to value yourself and what you do, and to accept every part of your body.
• Sun: the sun stands for the active principle and for the father. A sun allergy is linked to a painful contact with your father, real or symbolic, one that may have burned, smothered, broken off suddenly or become too invasive. It also asks whether you accept your own inner father. The invitation is to make peace with the past and let yourself be warmed.
• Wasp and bee stings: an allergy to stings is linked to feeling constantly "stung" by criticism from those around you, and to anger stored up from all the times you felt attacked. You may curl up to avoid the blows, or feel you live like a worker bee when you long to be the queen. The question is whether you have come to see yourself as a victim. The step is to take your place and care less about what others think.

A gentler way to hold it

The closing movement is about recognising your worth and accepting your life and your fears, so that you no longer have to be on guard against them.

• Trace the beginning. Ask what was happening in your life when the allergy first appeared: a separation, a move, a loss.
• Say no clearly. Notice where you could say no in words, so that your body does not have to say it for you.
• Grieve what you lost. If a person, a place or an animal is missing from your life, give that loss time and words.
• Take back your power. Notice whose strength impresses you, and name one strength of your own.
• Look for the joy inside. Recognise your qualities and let yourself enjoy what is good in your life, here and now.