MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
In biblical healing, God, the Infinite Intelligence showed the way, right up front. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs....” It’s in Genesis 2:21, so you can’t get much earlier in biblical timing.. Incidentally, the New English Bible of 1970, edited out the word “sleep” and replaced it with “trance.” Did this make God the world’s first hypnotist?
A few chapters later, “So Abraham prayed unto God; and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants and they bore children.” (Genesis 20:17). The Bible, that great book on metaphysical and spiritual teaching and healing gives many examples of healing.
The prophet Elijah was a great healing channel. He called on Divine help and resurrected a child who had been given up for dead. Elisha, another prophet who through being a student of Elijah’s, also accomplished great healings. Even in death, Elisha retained these powers. When some people unknowingly threw a body into his grave, after a Moabite guerrillas raid, the deceased touched the prophet’s bones and the man “revived and stood up on his feet.” (2 Kings 13:21)
Now this is the essence, the nitty-gritty. There is a force, a universal energy, a universal spirit, the “breath of Life,” the life-animating force that God breathed into men and women. It’s there. In fact, it’s everywhere in the Universe, and probably beyond. It’s difficult to pin down and measure scientifically. Many know it exists, and it has always existed. Sometimes, our personal life-force gets bent out of shape, because we ignored or failed to understand the Natural Laws. That’s where healing comes in. Healers channel the force. However, in order to make it work, you need to have faith. Faith is the passion, the energizer that allows the force, the breath of life to move.
The Old Testament prophets were aware of it, as was Jesus the master teacher and healer. The ancient priest-physicians knew it existed and they used it in the temples and shrines of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece. The witch doctors, the shamans and the medicine men knew it existed, and used it in their own particular way, with incantations, magical rites and amulets--and lots of faith!. They all worked under the banner of mysticism.
But as spiritual healing moved along, another view, another opinion was developing. A genius named Imhotep was taking a different look at healing. He combined spiritual or religious beliefs along with medicine and mysticism. Imhotep, physician to King Zoser (Djoser) of Egypt, was also prime minister during the Third Egyptian Dynasty in 2780 BC His medical practice included physical and mental cases. He practiced nearly 2,000 years before the birth of Hippocrates, whom we were taught from the Greeks was the 'Father of Medicine.'
Imhotep's medical knowledge was copied by the Greeks and then the Romans. In his medical surroundings, Imhotep treated disease of the bone, stomach, abdomen, rectum, bladder and eyes. He detected ailments by the shape, condition and color of visible parts of the body such as the tongue, hair, nails, and skin. He practiced surgery, extracted medicines from plants and, like today's doctors, listened to sounds from the body's organs such as heart, lungs, and stomach. He knew the positions of the vital organs of the body and about blood circulation. But always, he knew the force existed.
Imhotep who was not only a physician, scribe, sage, astronomer, priest, poet and architectural engineer -- he designed the Step Pyramid, perhaps failed to realize that the start of his “clinical” work would evolve into secular healing, in which spirituality and religion played little roles, but sat on the sidelines for centuries. That development -- systematic medicine -- came with the great Greek physician Hippocrates who taught his students under the sycamore tree of the Greek island of Kos. Attempting to put medicine on a scientific basis, he stressed the importance of clinical observation and the rational study of the body and its functions. The force took a back seat.
Four centuries later, spiritual healing again made its debut with Jesus the Master Teacher and healer. The fledging church spread the words of the Teacher, “...they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:18). As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the force, aided by a growing faith, pressures were placed on clinical and secular healing. The early Christian fathers, many of whom became saints, created healing images. For instance, prayers were offered to St. Valentine for healing for epilepsy.
The faith and spiritual healing started to gain strength. Benedict of Nursia created the Benedictine Order at Monte Cassino in Italy and started manifesting incredible healings. Communities gathered holy relics. The German city of Cologne found the remains of the Three Kings, and Trier, Germany’s oldest city retrieved the Holy Coat which many thought belonged to Jesus. It worked healing “miracles.”
The Dark Ages saw over half a millennium--six hundred years--of stagnancy. Through the doom and gloom the religious blamed unknown diseases, the plagues, famines, droughts, storms, wars and other negativities on God. They created the phrase “Acts of God,” a notation that still exists in some insurance policies to this day.
A ray of medieval sunshine came through with a man called Paracelsus (1493-1541). He was a Swiss physician, alchemist and natural philosopher who was opposed to the ignorant, dogmatic approach medicine used in the past. He encouraged students and followers alike, to learn from their experiences, not the mistaken beliefs of those in the past which were centered on bleeding, purging and emetics. He pursued new truths, and made a revolutionary contribution to the rebirth of medical science. He combined the mysticism of a seer with the common sense intelligence of the scientist. His incredible work record not only accorded him the founder of the modern science of medicine, he was also the forerunner of the magnetic theory of Mesmer, the “astral” theory of modern spiritualists, and the philosophy of Descartes. His healing methods were so controversial and generally successful that he was forced to flee his home in Basle. He died suddenly in 1541. Some say he was assassinated.`
The Protestant Reformation challenged the beauty of religion with its lofty, ornate cathedrals, haunting chants and great music. Long sermons in somber tones ousted may of the old beliefs including mysticism and spiritual healing. By the early nineteenth century, the tripartite group of religion, medicine and mysticism suffered its final and most complete separation. The church and doctors were not talking to each other, and both were highly critical of the mystics. Each became deeply entrenched behind their own walls.
Like the ancients, Friedrich Anton Mesmer realized the existence of a force, but did not know what to call it. He described it as a “universal fluid,” which in the human body could be manipulated, altered and improved through something he called “animal magnetism.” Imhotep used lodestones to achieve the same effect.
In his incredible work, Mesmer discovered something else--the altered state of conscious, the trance--the condition that paved the way for practical meditation, practical hypnosis, practical clairvoyance, practical mediumship and lots of other practical things, as Spiritualist pioneer Andrew Jackson Davis discovered.
With the advent of Modern Spiritualism and evidence of continuity of life, and a growing “Soul” awareness among people that there has to be more to religion than church on Sundays, there has to be more to healing than prescriptions from doctors who do little more than address symptoms. More and more people are looking for answers--mystical answers, which ironically enough have always existed, but have remained hidden or camouflaged for centuries.
The ancients, each in his own way, knew the importance of mind-body-spirit harmony and healing, each had an idea of the Natural Laws which govern the Universe, each knew the importance of holistic health.
Today, in a world seemingly full of artificiality, complexity and stress, perhaps we need to pause and listen to the messages of the ancients. The force, the breath of God, the energy that gives us life and healing is very much with us today. But belief that it exists is not enough. Faith is an essential factor.
The word “belief” stems from the old Anglo-Saxon word “lief” which means to wish. Wishing for healing is not sufficient, neither is wishing for the existence of God. Faith is the motivating factor that drives people to the healing waters of Lourdes or to touch the Holy Relics of Jesus’s robe in Trier Cathedral, and they are healed! Faith is when you jump into a river knowing you can swim. If you only believe you can swim, you’re in trouble.
There is a dire need for a diplomat, a philosopher, a mediator, perhaps someone with the caliber of Imhotep, to call for a worldwide reunification of religion, medicine and mysticism. One trusts it will happen. Have faith!
Meanwhile, may the force be with you.
Robert
