The Five Methods of Spiritual Healing

This excerpt was taken from Reality is just an Illusion by, Chuck Coburn, with the permission from the publisher, Llewellyn Publications.

We've already discussed the power of belief. Not surprisingly, an essential ingredient in any healing is the recipient's belief in the process. Whether you are undergoing treatment from a leading physician in a state-of-the-art medical facility in the States or receiving revitalized energy from a shaman with a headdress and a rattle, faith in the process is necessary in order to receive the maximum benefit. The mind plays a critical role in healings, regardless of the source of the treatment.

Shirl and I have encountered a number of healing techniques worldwide, including extraction; transmutation; soul retrieval; depossession; and the summoning of power animals, spirit guides, or natural energy forces to provide the healing. Prayer and meditation are also proven healing aids.

The extraction method removes disharmony by employing some means of psychic surgery. When in Brazil, we observed a shaman physically insert his hand, or an instrument, into the patient's body to remove or alter the offending energy. On the same trip, we witnessed a South American mystic cut into the spiritual (rather than physical) body with a surgeon's sharp scalpel. One even removed the negative energy by sucking it into his mouth and discarding it, carefully insuring that it did not enter his own body in the process.

Included in this category are those who extract the obstacles blocking the natural flow of bodily energy from an altered state of consciousness, such as the Ecuadorian rain forest shaman you have already met. He used ayahuasca to provide a means by which to locate the blockage and remove it, all the while being assisted by the native spiritual healing forces around him.

Shirt and I have been trained regarding the placement of our hands on a patient in order to spiritually extract the image that we "see" as being disruptive. The offending energy is then returned to the earth or discarded into water. It will eventually transform back to the balance and harmony that nature demands.

The second technique is the transmutation of negative energy, which we have personally observed in both Africa and South America. It is a process wherein the shaman transmutes, or alters, the energy without removing it. To accomplish this, he aligns himself with one of the positive forces of nature and then merges his energy with that of his patient. The result is the transformation of energy into a positive force. Some introduce an additional energy to complete the change, as a Western-trained physician might do when prescribing a supporting elixir or drug.

The third method, soul retrieval, is performed when a portion of the client's consciousness is discovered to have left their body as a result of an emotional trauma such as rape, neglect, or shock. Illness or possession is often the consequence of an external energy finding a home in the space vacated by a wandering or powerless soul.

Returning war veterans have often been emotionally marred by their experiences and can be said to fit into this category.

Shamans believe that the cause of such a client's disease is the loss of their soul or personal power. They will often spiritually shape shift into a bird or other animal to retrieve what the patient has lost.

A fourth means of healing is by way of depossession, or obsession. It is a process shamans employ in order to remove an external force such as a wandering ghost or evil spirit that has attached itself to a physical body. Brazilian shamans often begin by journeying from the middle world to the non-ordinary reality of the upper or lower worlds in order to diagnose the problem. The shaman then removes the obtrusive energy, often discarding it or thrusting it into the body of one of their spiritual priests who would then overpower it and discharge the residual into another dimension.

A curse, negative thought, or inappropriate action directed against an individual or nature has been thought to cause this manner of discord as well. I am reminded of a situation in which a woman in California became so angry and upset about her boyfriend terminating their relationship that she effectively placed a curse on him. A Shaman subsequently found this curse to be the cause of a major illness experienced by the boyfriend's future wife. The shaman removed the curse and the wife quickly recovered. The Shuar shamans of Ecuador call negative thoughts "magical darts" and consciously attempt to avoid such destructive thoughts, believing that whatever is sent out will come back.

The fifth method is working with or through a personal power animal or spirit guide. Shamans employing this method work from an altered state of consciousness in which they journey either to the upper spiritual world to work with the Creative Force, guides, or angels or to the lower world to meet with or empower the patient's power animal to bring about the necessary cure. A few shamans cure aliments by calling on the natural forces of nature while remaining present in the middle world.