by Deanna Cooper-Sandy Bay, Tasmania
Over many years of interest in the healing field, I have come to the conclusion that restoration of health can be approached from any level, physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, but the most effective course to restore one's health would be to address each of these aspects, as problems often manifest themselves on all levels simultaneously.
One of the least known healing methods, spiritual healing is one modality which can support and affect all aspects at once. Spiritual healers deal with emotional and mental problems as much as physical ones. Before explaining what spiritual healing is, and how it works, it is important to look at the cause of illness from a spiritual viewpoint.
On a fundamental level, the cause of illness is separation from God resulting in a disconnection from our intuitive inner selves. What is sometimes known as the "fall of man" was much more than just eating a fruit, and has had profound ramifications throughout all of human history.
Dr. Joseph Sheftick describes the most important result of the fall as being the distortion of mankind's consciousness which subsequently distorted the energy patterns of the spirit, mind and body. Once the inner aspect of our being was affected, it was eventually reflected in the outer aspect, our bodies, as disease and imbalance. Only our conscience or "original mind" remained free from the effects of the fall, and serves to connect each person to God.
Since our original mind remains linked with God, every person has the natural ability, to a greater or lesser degree, to receive and to be able to be a channel for healing energy which originates from God and is constantly available to us as an energy of love and healing. The most common method for transferring this energy is through the hands, though I personally know some healers who are so proficient that they achieve the same results using their minds.
Evidence exists that spiritual healing was used thousands of years ago in Egypt, and also by the Kahunas of Polynesia, and the early peoples of Australia and America. Artifacts from an ancient civilization prior to the Incas in Peru depict scenes of healers using their hands in healing gestures over those that lay ill. There is further evidence of spiritual healing in the Sanskrit, Chinese, and Aramaic texts, and there are numerous examples of it in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
More recently, the pioneering efforts of Harry Edwards around the middle of this century gave birth to many spiritual healing organizations that steadily became more and more accepted.
Spiritual healers work based on a person's request for healing, either in person, by phone or by letter. The request can also be made by a person acting on someone's else's behalf. The request forms a link between the healer and the patient that allows healing energies to flow. The healer attunes him or herself to the universal energies and those who are able to direct them, then attunes to the patient which facilitates the person's own link with God, the source of healing.
As mentioned earlier, we all have the ability to connect with these energies, but in times of trouble or ill health it is difficult to allow healing to flow directly to us because of blockages. By contacting a healer we create the conditions for this flow to be re- established.
As the energy flows into the patient's system, it is accepted at a spiritual level, opening up the connection between the spirit and the patient's own life force. The life force interpenetrates every level of our being giving us life, from the very atomic structure of our physical cells to our thinking and emotions. Thus the healing energies from God interacting with our life force can transform negative conditions on the spiritual, mental, and emotional level, and even effect our physical regenerative process. Spiritual healing is complementary to all other forms of therapy.
I can testify, both as a patient and as a practitioner, that substantial positive changes occurred when conditions in both parties were right. However, for these changes to remain permanently, the patient's fervent desire to get well and willingness to work at it are paramount. Guiding the patient to recognize and fulfil their own portion of responsibility is crucial to the process of healing.
Spiritual healing can be effective whether the patient is physically present or at a distance, which is known as "absent healing", or "distance healing." I have found that absent healing works as well as healing in person, and in some cases, works better. Both are a labor of love which transcends barriers and mobilizes Heavenly energies that exist solely for the healing and betterment of all.
Deanna Cooper can be contacted at P.O. Box 817, Sandy Bay, TAS. 7005