Posted on 03/27/2009 9:42:48 AM PDT by NYer
Catholic ping!
http://www.in-unity.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=1
Nice post. The bishops are spot-on here. Although the white paper doesn’t mention the words “pantheism” or “New Age”, the criticism hints at it, and rightly so. Reiki is very New Age, very pantheistic, and thus, distinctly non-Christian, even anti-Christian. It is good to keep such stuff out of the church. We have a perfectly good Gospel that needs no adjuncts.
bump
Next up should be a rejection of “labyrinth walking,” another pointless pagan exercise masquerading as spirituality.
When I first began working on people it was often a practice handed down to pray for protection and the power to heal (the God of course chosen to pray to was our personal choice.) I was born and raised a Christian and did pray to help healing before every massage.
However on specific clients I was physically and later came to realize psychically ill after working on them. I later found out a few things regarding each client that made me ill and this really showed me that the spirit of a person when touched--if one does not pray for active protection from Christ--can easily be transferred to another. From that point on I always prayed for Christ's protection and guidance before doing any massage as well as after and I unfortunately had to stop working on specific people for my own spiritual health.
When one feels like physically vomiting after working on someone, and while having a solid relationship with Christ, there is no doubt about psychic transference through touch. It was the Holy Spirit in me that rejected whatever or whoever I came into confrontation with during those times. I have many other stories that are fairly shocking really to continue on to prove the point that all of this work is very, very powerful spiritually and psychically and can be used for ill. Also for healing if used rightly--think of the story of Mary washing Jesus' feet. I also now pray (I have not worked in body work profession for decades now) before I ever get a massage for Christ's protection and for Christ's healing touch if He so wills it. I recommend to fellow Christians to always pray for protection no matter where and what, but especially when having such close interaction with another. We are always confronting demons and evil energy everyday in little and big ways.
I am so very sensitive (always have been) to this that I can feel physically ill upon a person I have never met before walking into the room. My husband too has this but he doesn't get ill. He just knows right away, something is spiritually off about this person and that he will stay away. No one has to tell him anything and this is part of what attracted me to him is his natural connection with the Holy Spirit and his whole hearted trust of that guidance in all things.
It is good the Catholic church is starting to address these metaphysical battles as they have always been here but many churches have not really addressed them head on and offered Christ filled guidance--although the bible does in a multitude of ways.
Great point!
Thanks. I just read your long post and empathized with it on many points. However, I am not familiar with the story of Mary washing Jesus’ feet. Is that a tradition? Or in one of the pseudepigripha?
Ah, on second thought, I AM familiar with the story of the Mary (perhaps Magdalene), when she was anointing Jesus’ feet, and kissing them, and wiping her tears with her hair. Is that the incident you meant?
The woman is not named in Luke's Gospel, but she is traditionally Mary Magdalen.
Bingo.
I had to stop attending a yoga class because the instructor kept on blethering about the "life force" and "channeling" and it made me very uncomfortable.
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead.
2 They gave a dinner for him there; Martha waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table.
3 Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard,
and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair;
the house was filled with the scent of the ointment.
Boy do I hear that!
I used to subscribe to The Whole Dog Journal because it does great reviews of dog food and treats, and had useful training articles as well.
Somebody on the editorial board went crackers and started including in EVERY issue all these weird articles about crystal healing and aromatherapy and reiki and stuff. Never any scientific studies -- just anecdotal evidence and blether. I cancelled my scrip and told them why -- they didn't get it at all.
There's certainly some evidence for the existence of some sort of vital force in the body -- the entire system of traditional Chinese medicine is based on it, and a Harvard physician went to China and studied it and is apparently trying to get together some sort of empirical study.
But it's a far cry from that to all these New Age loons running around doing stuff without knowing what they're doing.
37 suddenly a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment.
38 She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is and what sort of person it is who is touching him and what a bad name she has.'
40 Then Jesus took him up and said, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' He replied, 'Say on, Master.'
41 'There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty.
42 They were unable to pay, so he let them both off. Which of them will love him more?'
43 Simon answered, 'The one who was let off more, I suppose.' Jesus said, 'You are right.'
44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, 'You see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in.
46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
47 For this reason I tell you that her sins, many as they are, have been forgiven her, because she has shown such great love. It is someone who is forgiven little who shows little love.'
48 Then he said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'
49 Those who were with him at table began to say to themselves, 'Who is this man, that even forgives sins?'
50 But he said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'
Powerful stuff. Thanks so much for pointing out this passage as well. Now including my other post in response, we have two biblical passage referencing this arena.
It is interesting as you mentioned traditional Chinese medicine--in which when practiced without any element of new age hooey is something I believe in absolutely as a gift for medicinal practice. Yet the second it intersects with new age philosophy, actions, or interpretations, I believe that is where the evil psychic element is introduced and it then inserted into the psychic realm (where there is only one battle--God against the AntiChrist).
It is almost as if evil (new age) is trying to co-opt a natural element of God's world (traditional Chinese medicinal practice) and shove it into a tool of evil use by inserting such New Agey additions. This is often why when I need acupuncture I have often used only Chinese trained and Chinese acupuncturists that live in the states (although this is much harder to come by in smaller communities).
Many new age types are attracted to this profession in America, some are not motivated by anything other than pure belief in the Chinese medicine. Interpreted and practiced strictly as it originated in China is not new age to me. It is just the hippie co-opt of it in certain cities and towns etc that has dragged the new age evil into it in certain arenas. At least that is my experience of it all. What God made natural evil tries to co-opt. I guess this is true of every gift God has given us.
I hope I wrote this well. I was trying to voice my support for traditional Chinese medicine while separating it out from the new new agey interpretation or co-opt by certain folks (not all) of it. I was also trying to differentiate between the realm of psychic energy--good versus evil--and a whole other realm of natural meridian systems that God made up in our bodies that has been discovered and used for healing in China. They do not naturally intersect to my knowledge at this time (but time and God will tell :-) for who am I? LOL). I do think they are wholly separate just as the practice of Reiki is fully separate from a loving massage given the heart of the Holy Spirit to another for healing.
Yet massage can be co-opted too to introduce evil forces and energies-knowingly or from a useful tool (not physical tool of course. LOL) A bit long winded but I think that it because evil has effectively confused the issue as he often aspires to and it takes teasing the evil realm from the natural Godly realm.
Leaving aside the charlatans who were just trying to make a buck, a number of gurus spoke out quite harshly about Western idiots who were just being trendy and didn't understand the Hindu faith at all.
I wonder if they've ever considered that since they started monkeying with idea of having GOD at the center of the retreat, it's worthless, and most folks don't bother going anymore.
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