Types of HEALING
A review of HEALING and spiritual literature reveals that there are 4 types of HEALING:
1. Spiritual HEALING. When a person is experiencing an illness of the spirit, spiritual HEALING applies. The cause of suffering is personal sin. The treatment method is repentance, which is followed by a natural healing process.
2. Inner HEALING. When a person is suffering from an emotional (men- tal) illness, inner HEALING is used. The root of the problem may lie in the person’s conscious or unconscious mind. The treatment method is to heal the person’s memory. The HEALING process is delicate and sensitive and takes considerable time and effort.
3. Physical HEALING. When a person is suffering from a disease or has been involved in an accident that resulted in some form of bodily damage, physical HEALING is appropriate. Laying on of hands and speaking in tongues usually accompany physical HEALING. The per- son is prayed over by both the leader and members of a prayer group.
4. Deliverance, or exorcism. When the body and mind are victims of evil from the outside, exorcism is used. In order to effect treat- ment, the person must be delivered, or exorcised, from the evil. The ongoing popularity of films such as The Exorcist gives testi- mony to the return of these beliefs. Incidentally, the priest who has lectured in my classes stated that he does not, as yet, lend cre- dence to exorcisms; however, he was guarded enough not to dis- count it, either.
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The people who HEAL, both in the past and in the present, often have been those who received the gift of HEALING from a “divine” source. Many receive this gift in a vision and have been unable to explain to others how they know what to do. Other HEALERS learned their skills from their parents. Most of the HEALERS with acquired skills are women, who subsequently pass their knowledge on to their daughters. People who use herbs and other preparations to remove the evil from the sick person’s body are known as herbalists. Other HEALERS include bone setters and midwives, and although early humankind did not separate ILLS of the body from those of the mind, some HEALERS were more adept at solving problems by using early forms of “psychotherapy.”
There are numerous HEALERS in the general population, some of whom are legitimate and some of whom are not. They range from housewives and priests to gypsies and “witches.” Many people seek their services. There are numerous stylistic differences between the scope of practice of a modern health care prac- titioner and that of a traditional HEALER (Table 6–2). I have visited with several traditional healers. One man I visited was a Santero, a traditional HEALER from Puerto Rico. He enjoyed a reputation as a person who can “bring comfort to those most in need.” I had an appointment for an interview but, when I arrived, he informed me that if I wanted to learn about his practice I had to “sit.” I did.