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HealingBruce MacManaway10. Development of the Healing Ability |
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We frequently talk of the work of a musician, a poet or a lecturer as 'inspired'. What exactly do we mean? Sometimes, the source of inspiration is obvious. The passion of a love-affair, whether it brings agony or ecstasy, often calls forth from an artist some of his greatest work. This to me can be explained in terms of the transformation of enormous sexual and emotional energy (the sacral and heart chakras) into artistic expression. But sometimes there is no obvious source of inspiration, and yet we recognise, as in the case of the young Mozart, that someone can produce inspired work. Inspiration by what or by whom? I maintain that, in many cases, work that we recognise as beyond the normal capabilities of a child or of a person who we know to be talented, but not always exceptional, is really the result of unrecognised mediumship. The inspiration may be divine or it may be satanic. Some may have a 'hot line' to God or the Holy Spirit, others may have to make do with an emissary. Both the ability to transform our own energies into other creative areas and the ability to receive inspiration can be developed.
Natural and Supernatural
We talk of people being inspired by love, by nature, by the mountains and the trees. We talk of divine and spiritual inspiration. To me, the divisions between natural and supernatural are man-made and artificial: it is merely that our Western cultures understand the one but not the other. The increasing knowledge made available by science is amending the boundaries between 'natural' and 'supernatural' and I am not alone in believing that one day the laws of nature will be seen to embrace not only what we currently conceive as 'natural law' but also what we sometimes call 'divine ordinance'. If all matter is energy vibrating at an infinite number of wave-lengths, we can 'tune in' and resonate. However, we are more than 'matter'; we are not just our physical bodies, and we can communicate without our bodies. This, I maintain, is a natural ability, though the West does not recognise it as such. Furthermore, if our bodies are not necessary, and we can communicate with those who no longer have a body, we merely have to recognise an additional factor, more 'people' in fact, when we extend our natural ability to tune into the earth and all the more obvious forms of life we sense around us.
If we start thinking in terms of God, or a Universal Intelligence or some such concept, then perhaps we can talk of the supernatural. But part of the so-called spiritual world is already within our grasp and, I think, demonstrably part of our lives. For this reason, I maintain that our current divisions between the natural and supernatural are incorrect. There is probably no deep divide between the natural or supernatural, but rather they are a continuum with discarnate humans forming a link between our incarnate consciousness and the workings of some greater spiritual consciousness. We can leave the idea of a greater spiritual world out of our calculations if we wish, (though I find this impossible myself) but we ignore the discarnate world to our own disadvantage. For the bulk of Western society to continue to do so without any attempt at investigation is for me extraordinarily out of keeping with the supposedly fearless twentieth century spirit of open-minded scientific enquiry.
Is Belief Necessary?
I am not asking anyone to believe what I say. Nearly everyone who comes to our centre does so as a last resort because they are ill and are not responding to orthodox therapies. They do not necessarily believe in anything at all and I do not ask them to do so. Healing, like all the other faculties mentioned, works regardless of belief and I think that personal experience is infinitely more valuable than theory. I have always had a very soft spot for the apostle Thomas who refused to believe until he had seen the risen Jesus for himself and felt the wounds with his own hands. The important thing was that Thomas was prepared to go and have a look and he did not angrily shrug off the whole story as nonsense unworthy of his attention. Just as important is the fact that the Master was prepared to offer such proof. He allowed Thomas to touch Him and to place his hands in the wound in His side. I am sure that we can still ask for 'proof'. Even if faith is eminently desirable, it is mentioned specifically by St Paul as a 'gift' and if something is a gift, then some may not possess it.
Very frequently, people who have come to see us because they wish to be rid of pain and illness become intrigued when they find that healing, irrational though it may seem, has helped them. They start to ask questions. I can try to answer them but then I can suggest that it might be more interesting to test my theories for themselves rather than to rely on talk or books. They can then come to any of the courses which we run in Scotland and elsewhere to find out firstly whether they can help themselves and secondly to see whether there is any reality in my talk of extended awareness and the value of the shared experience.
Discerning and Developing Latent Gifts
By learning to relax and listen, both to our bodies and to our inner selves, we start to discern our own creative talents. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that, given a chance, they bubble to the surface. Once the gifts have been recognised, they can be developed and applied.
I find the analogy of musical talent a useful one. A child may naturally express a love and aptitude for music and it is then up to the teacher to bring out that gift and teach the skills of musical expression. Child and teacher between them should explore the possibilities of expression so that he or she can apply both gift and skill to singing or composition or playing a musical instrument. Many a child is not obviously musical, however, and in this case it is up to the teacher to recognise the latent ability. This happens in numerous schools throughout the country where, for example, all children are tested to see if they can join the choir, should they wish to do so. It is not just those who clamour to join who are included.
In any creative expression, both a gift and skill are involved. Once the gift is recognised, it is possible to develop it in a number of ways and people can learn to transform their own energy for use at the creative outlet. What the composer inspired by love is doing spontaneously can be consciously brought about. Finding a dearth of educational facilities after the last war, my wife and I founded a centre in our small family home in Scotland with the specific aim of helping not only those who request healing but also those who wish to discover, develop and apply their own gifts.
The Power of the Group
For this kind of development, it is enormously helpful to work with a harmonious group rather than by oneself. It would seem that the amount of energy available to all the individuals in a group is greater than the sum of the component parts. We are already well aware of this phenomenon in its negative manifestations as seen in the Nazi rallies or even some of today's football crowds. In its positive expression it can be equally powerful, and a group of people working together in harmony with each other and with their project seems to transform energy in a particularly effective way.
I find the power of a group particularly useful when working on some problem, more often than not for me the problem of a patient who is not responding fully to my treatment. Times out of number, through asking for the help of a group, the problem is sorted out. The power of a group is useful both when extending our awareness through applied meditation and when specifically trying to help others. Maxwell Cade has tested the theory in practical, physical terms by looking at the effects on the electrical activity of the brain when five or six healers work together in treating a patient. As each of the healers joins the team, the amplitude of the patient's 'fifth state' pattern (the pattern that seems to be associated with healing) increases.
Applying Extended Awareness in Daily Life
The contemplatives undoubtedly play a vital and very real part in maintaining and increasing the well-being of our world, but for most of us in the West, life consists of doing things. The talents we can discern and the channels to our inspiration that open up can be put into everyday practice and I am not in any way suggesting that everyone has to meditate all day. On the contrary, I am merely stating that extending our awareness enhances rather than hinders our normal life. The object of the exercise is to enhance the quality of our own lives, and then to share that well-being with our neighbours and environment. This, to me, comes within the concept of healing and 'making more whole'.
The possibilities are as many as there are individuals. By adding greater understanding and inspiration, people will dance better or play football better or cook better or design houses better. They can 'do their own thing' but improve upon it and by so doing enhance the quality of life for others.
Sometimes we can help those who wish to develop a specific latent gift. For example, those who wish to develop their healing or dowsing ability in certain fields may either train with us or be guided elsewhere.
The Feminine Attributes
I cannot leave the subject of developing human potential without bringing in another angle. In the broadest terms, what we have been talking about could be described as intuition. This is an attribute that has always been thought of as feminine. This does not mean that it is the sole prerogative of women. I like the Jungian concept that each of us, whether male or female, bears within us the attributes of the opposite sex. We know that this is true physiologically in that we all bear the prototype of both sexual attributes (although only one side will develop). It is also true psychologically, so that, as we all know, a woman can have all the intellectual and analytical qualities which are sometimes thought to be 'masculine' traits and a man can be as intuitive as a woman. Indeed, to operate fully, we all need to develop both sides of our natures. Irene Claremont de Castillejo [1] puts it very clearly when she explains that a woman's mind, although it can operate perfectly well with the 'focused consciousness' of a man, frequently operates at a level of 'diffuse awareness'. At this diffuse level she has an understanding and power far beyond the usual range of a man (unless he makes the effort to develop his 'feminine' side), and she is here in closest harmony with her deep feminine self, with nature and with those who surround her.
The trouble is that for many centuries in our Western culture, man has glorified his intellectual, rational side and poured scorn on the feminine aspects of 'irrational' intuition. He has even brain-washed women to believe that he is right though, luckily, he has not been able to kill the attributes themselves. Whenever I am lecturing, I am well aware of the fact that very few of the women present are giving me their full attention. They are listening hard and intelligently, but they are capable of thinking of a number of things at once. A woman can be writing a letter, keeping an eye on the stew, and subconsciously listening for the baby's cries (which she will hear, incidentally, despite the hubbub of radio, television or talk which drowns them for everyone else) all at the same time.
Despite this patent ability to operate at a diffuse level, women have been taught to be ashamed of this vital part of their nature. When they sometimes startle men by their perception or some inspired (that word again!) guess, they tend to look blank when questioned and then slightly shamefaced. 'Oh it was just intuition or something'. Just intuition?!
As in the inner world, so in the outer. It is not coincidence that women have, on the whole, been denied any real part in the running of our society in the West until very recent years. This is an enormous subject and I can only touch on the history of the male-female struggle, which could perhaps be seen as intellectual suspicion of intuition. I like the concept expressed at one point in the Egyptian tradition when the Pharaoh was purportedly two people at once, one man and one woman. Only when both were present could anything important be done. Man expresses his everyday existence in his symbols and his gods. The Judaic tradition adheres to the idea of a father God and this continues in the Christian teaching. The Virgin Mary filled the gap, but even she has been given a pretty turbulent reception through the centuries, denigrated at the peak of Protestant zeal as the 'whore of Rome'. It is of interest that, although they have not yet been ratified by the Vatican as 'genuine', there has been a great spate of visions of the Virgin Mary in Europe in the last half century. [2] I would suggest that this is indicative of mankind's need for recognition of the feminine principal.
Women are at last beginning to take their place alongside men, though not without a struggle. At the moment, the competitive element is inevitably running high. Gradually, I hope the mutual suspicions will subside and woman, who is currently and rightly proving that her intellect can be as good as any man's, will also bring to full recognition her 'diffuse awareness', so that the two great instruments for understanding our world, intellect and intuition, can work together.
Notes
1. de Castillejo, Irene Claremont. Knowing Woman: A Feminine Psychology. C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology, Hodder and Stoughton, 1973.
2. Chevalier, Bernard and Goulez, Bernard. Je vous salue Marie. Fayard, Paris, 1981.
HealingA straightforward look into
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© Bruce MacManaway, 1983. This book may be quoted from and printed out in single copies only for personal use and study, without permission.
For publication on websites or for printing in larger quantities or for commercial gain please e-mail Patrick MacManaway for permission.