Is Holistic Medicine Holy?
Holistic medicine deals with the entire person, mind-body-spirit, to achieve wellness. Holistic techniques for healing is becoming widespread in America due to the New Age movement and the need to seek new solutions for health problems. States of consciousness, visualization, positive thinking, stress-reduction, forms of meditation, bio-feedback, and Yoga are some of the approaches now widely used.
Before we continue I want to emphasize that there is nothing wrong with being healthy, exercising, having a good attitude, giving massages, taking vitamins or eating organic foods.
This short article and its resources are examining the spiritual aspects of Holistic medicine because there is a power or energy behind the workings of these healing techniques. What is this power? Where does it come from? Are these natural laws we are tapping into? Or is this power coming from spiritual beings?
Michael Harner, who is a secular anthropologist and practicing shaman, wrote a book entitled “The Way of the Shaman”. The author writes that America is using shamanism through the holistic approach to health. “The burgeoning field of holistic medicine shows a tremendous amount of experimentation involving the reinvention of many techniques long practiced in shamanism, such as visualization, altered states of consciousness, aspects of psychoanalysis, hypnotherapy, meditation, positive attitude, stress-reduction, and mental and emotional expression of personal will for health and healing. In a sense, shamanism is being reinvented in the west preciously because its needed...The shaman may work all night, or several nights, for the recovery of a single patient, involving himself and the patient in a dyadic alliance that intertwines the unconscious of both in a heroic partnership against disease and death. But the alliance is more, for it is an alliance with the hidden powers of Nature, unseen in daylight where the material impingements of daily life clutter.” (page 136)
What the author says throughout the book is that Holistic methods of healing is really Shamanism, and the power behind why Shamanism works comes from the spirit world. Spirits who possess the healer so they can do their work. For further reference I wrote a previous post on the identity of these spirits called “The Way of the Shaman.”
Holistic methods can also include meditation and for some transcendental meditation. I have also discussed the spiritual power behind meditation in the post entitled “Transcendental Misconceptions.”
Holistic medicine covers a wide range of ideas so I have included an mp3 for you to listen to which discusses more in depth these topics.
What_is_the_Whole_Truth_of_Holistic_Medicine?
In addition here are many articles on different healing methods found in holistic medicine.
http://www.letusreason.org/NAMdir.htm
If you are practicing any of these techniques for healing or are using them to be healed I would urge you to prayerfully consider these resources and do further research to identify the power behind the healing.
The only truth for mental and physical healing can be found in the cross of Jesus Christ, who is our only counselor and who understands your spiritual and physical needs. But most of all He understands our need for a savior so we can be reconciled to God after we die.
If you do not know where you will go when you die take this simple test to find out.
Seek the Lord with all your heart and you will find Him.
I thought this was an interesting message. I think all of us have seen people interviewed or read about people meditating or doing yoga or other physical activities that are spiritual ..They never seem to identify the God of the Holy Trinity in their healing.
I KNOW that any positive healing in my life in any form comes from Jesus Christ. I know I am Blessed daily, not by my own doing, but by His.
Bill, you have a gift from God for these blogs you write. The way you simplify and make it easy for even someone like me to understand : ) is appreciated.
Thank you