There are times when we all need medical help from professional doctors. But as our population grows and ages, with ever more complex health issues, orthodox treatments sometimes have only limited benefit or are even unavailable. So it’s no surprise that more and more of us have been reaching out to holistic or spiritual healers.
Yet there is nothing new about this. Healing rites and customs are found throughout human history and in the traditions of many cultures. All of them, in their own ways, involved the channelling of spiritual energy. What we now call witchcraft, for example, has been practised for millennia in pagan societies and has always included healing, both by invoking spiritual forces and the use of medicinal plants.
Shamanism is usually associated with indigenous and tribal peoples and is thought to have originated in far northern Europe and Siberia but then spread far and wide, especially to Central and South America. Shamans are said to connect to other worlds, with the power to heal the sick and communicate with spirits.
Belief in supernatural forces able to protect communities and heal the sick and injured, has always been strong. In ancient Egypt there were temples dedicated to Sekhmet, the goddess of healing. The healing methods, based on invoking the energy of the star system Sirius, were passed by priests to others through an attunement process and ‘rediscovered’ in 1980. Nowadays, the practice has been renamed Sekhem (or Seichem) and involves the laying on of hands.
The fifth century BCE then saw the beginning of the Golden Age in Europe, a time when rational thinking and philosophy were replacing suspicion and magic. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, founded a hospital on Kos in Greece dedicated to the Greek god of healing Asclepios, and travelled through many countries discussing with physicians the benefits of spiritual healing. He taught that the mind and body are linked in the psyche and that one must treat the whole person to achieve lasting results, even discovering that he himself could heal by the laying on of hands.
Of course, the most famous spiritual healer in Western history was Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament of the Bible records that Jesus only needed to place his hands upon someone for them to be healed, including the blind and the lame. In the Gospel of Mark, he commissioned his disciples to “lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” When the apostle Paul was shipwrecked on Malta, he was asked by the island’s Roman Prefect Publius to heal his father of fever and dysentery, which he did. Converted to Christianity, Publius later became the first bishop of Malta.
Claudius Galen was a prominent Greek physician who lived during the second century CE. He believed that all illness was caused by an imbalance of the four ‘humours’, blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile. He treated illness by the laying on of hands, too, as well as with natural treatments such as bathing and massage. A spiritual man, he taught that the human body was “a manifestation of a supreme power” and his ideas dominated medical practice for about 1,500 years.
During this period, there was a widespread acceptance of spiritual healing even within the Church. Indeed, it was believed that monarchs had God-given authority to heal and the English king Edward the Confessor (1003-1066) is said to have introduced a ritual for curing a form of tuberculosis that involved stroking the patient and placing a coin around their neck. And when French kings were crowned, they were anointed with holy oil that gave them healing power. Louis IX (1214-1270) was crowned at twelve years-old and later revered as Saint Louis for his healing work.
However, the mediaeval years were dark times in the Western world as society became controlled by increasingly strict Christian dogma. In almost all small communities there were Wise Women who healed by touch or with herbal preparations. But because only the clergy had authority to heal, these women were labelled as witches and persecuted mercilessly. The Witchcraft Act was passed in 1542 in England and only repealed in 1951.
Attitudes to healing were very different in other parts of the world. In the early twentieth century, for example, the now hugely popular method of Reiki was ‘rediscovered’ by Dr Mikao Usui in Japan. It originated in Tibet thousands of years ago and similar healing symbols have been found on monastery wall tapestries. The laying on of hands was certainly practised in Tibetan Buddhism, along with initiation and attunement of healers.
Dr Usui, born in 1865, established a simple practice to encourage both healing and personal spiritual development. It uses four graphic symbols, thought of as ‘energetic keys’ that unlock the flow of universal energy. The full method was a closely guarded sacred system learned by only a small handful, before it was introduced to the USA some fifty years ago, rapidly spreading across the world.
Meanwhile, there was a breakthrough in the UK. Harry Edwards was born in north London in 1893, one of nine children. At a Spiritualist church in 1935, he was told by the mediums that he had healing ability, which soon proved to be true and his reputation spread wildly. The front room of his house became a sanctuary where, he believed, several deceased scientists were working through him including Louis Pasteur.
In 1946 he moved his family and the healing practice to Burrows Lea, a large Surrey house, and also held spiritual healing demonstrations in Manchester and at the Royal Festival Hall in London before audiences of thousands.
Despite religious opposition, times have changed greatly. Trained and insured healers are now even accepted in many hospitals as medical science begins to acknowledge, if not understand, the power of spiritual healing.
During her career as a senior nurse in the NHS, hereditary medium Glynis Amy Allen found herself working alongside spirit doctors and angelic beings. Her eye-opening experiences are described in Ghosts of the NHS,
published worldwide by Local Legend. https://local-legend.co.uk
Finding or Becoming a Spiritual Healer
The NFSH, the Arthur Findlay College, the Harry Edwards Healing College and the Spiritualists’ Nation Union all offer training courses. To find an accredited and insured holistic therapist, check out the British Complementary Medicine Association (BCMA), the Complementary Therapists Association (CThA) or the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).
Article published in More to Life – Edition 69
