Healing Circles

A circle to draw energies and focus for the purpose of healing. This may or may not be in the context of a Wiccan circle, or any other type of spiritual circle

THIS INFORMATION IS NOT INTENDED TO PRESCRIBE OR CURE ANY AILMENT. FOR SPECIFIC HEALTH CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR PHYSICIAN.

This page written by Rudrananda. http://www.samkhyawicca.org/

The very basic healing circle is that gathering of two or more persons for the purpose of healing. In such a circle, the person to be healed is the focus of the circles. One of those doing the healing circle purifies their self or themselves, casts a simple circle, uses candle colors, altar decorations, herbs, and incense useful in the type of healing needed. The healer or healers then focus healing intent or energy, formally or informally, toward a person, animal, or situation in need of healing. Such a healing need may be for physical healing, emotional healing, mental healing, or spiritual healing. The method does not differ.

Healing may also be directed toward oneself, or even toward something that has happened in one's own past, although this is a rather advanced method of working.

The person, animal, etc. may be there within the circle. For simplification, I will call the one to be healed "person". That person may be many miles away or at an unknown location. In such an instance, some object link to the person is in order. Such an object link may be a photograph of the person, a piece of their hair, a piece of their clothing, bedding, or jewelry, a paper letter, or may be any object they have used. If none is available, it can be done without.

Healing energy may be sent to a person or issue which is not directly close to any of the participants. It can be for the healing of a celebrity or for an issue such as peace between nations, or for a global issue such as global warming. While the ethics may differ on what you can or cannot do, the method remains identical.

There are many formal methods of healing. Some are discussed on this page, such as Reiki, whereas many more are not, such as Jorei or Pranic healing.

To use any formal method of energy healing, merely set up the circle according to the Basics above, and follow the chosen method of directing healing energy at the person needing healing.

Informal methods may be used as well, with at least as good of results in many cases. Such informal methods include Empathic Healing or raising energy and directing it, prayer and energy healing or asking whatever divine being or divine beings one believes in and seem appropriate for Their assistance.

Note too that the asking for divine assistance in any healing is morally, ethically, and practically identical to praying for a person or situation. In truth, the difference between offering a prayer or good wish in time of need for a situation and holding a healing circle is the same as the difference between a Christian praying in time of need, and offering a similar prayer in a church.

Many religion, Pagan as well as non-Pagan religions have formal and informal methods of healing. The methods used in those vary from simply offering prayer to whatever deities are worshiped, to holding very elaborate rituals in churches or temples, to having various ad-hoc ceremonies in times of need. An example of such an ad-hoc ritual is a Hindu ritual to Lord Hanuman for healing. I personally have seen sensational results using this method when faced with unanticipated problems, especially pains and bleeding.

Note that all types of energy healing work very well in conjunction with mundane, practical methods of healing. In the above example, when faced with someone who is bleeding and losing large quantities of blood, it would be irresponsible to not use other methods available, such as calling for emergency medical assistance, such as calling 911 from anywhere in the US, and use first aid methods such are taught by the American Red Cross or internationally by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It is very important to call such emergency medical assistance. Summoning the medical assistance should be done by another person if such a person is available, or the person giving energy healing should call for assistance before giving the energy healing. Of course, that is assuming you are in an area served by emergency services, that they are available. This is generally the case anywhere in the US, Canada, or Europe, but sometimes one is in a location where help may not be available, such as in a remote location without a telephone or cell phone service, visiting a third-world country, or during a major disaster.

If the condition is long-term, or chronic, a single action of energy healing such as one above is unlikely to give a total cure of the condition. The condition has been there for a long time, and reversal or elimination of it is likely to also take a long time. There are several options.

One is to continue to give such energy healing at regular intervals. Whether these intervals should be daily, multiple times each day, weekly, monthly, or some other interval must be decided case by case, depending upon numerous factors including but not limited to severity of the condition, availability of those attempting the healing, availability of the one being healed, time constraints, urgency, and many other factors. This determination is very much an art and is extremely individual.

Other methods may be of use here as well. Such methods include herbal cures, including European, Native American, Chinese and Ayurvedic methods. Other means include nutrition, which is not at all at odds with modern Western medicine: Certified nutritionalists work in conjunction with and sometimes are employed by clinics and hospitals. For instance, in a case where someone has a deficiency disease such as scurvy, it is of use to give foods with the deficient nutrient; vitamin C in the case of scurvy. If the issue is more emotional and energy-driven, balancing those energies through various means including food may be of use, such as those described at gunafood.com. This site only gives an overview of some of the practical methods. In many or most cases, experts in the methods should be consulted. If you are using several methods at once, including but not limited to conventional Western medicine, it is important to let all know what else you are doing, as some of the methods may be at odds with one another. For instance, some prescription drugs may be harmful or fatal when used in conjunction with particular herbs. Likewise, herbs used by a Native American herbalist may be harmful in conjunction with herbs used for the same condition by a Chinese herbalist. However, the energy methods or the methods relying upon divine aid are completely safe used in conjunction with any method that changes what is or is not put into the body, or involves modification of the body in some way, such as through surgery of conventional medicine.

Regardless of what type of healing someone is doing or having done to them to cure, maintain, prevent, or alleviate any condition, certainly wellness must be the primary issue. It does no good to cure a disease, injury, or other condition and then go on to repeat it. If nothing changes after the condition is resolved or healed, the problem will come back, as a repeat of the same problem or present itself in some other way. Wellness is to reduce the likelihood of such recurrences.

Whereas conventional Western medicine is very good at resolving immediate issues that present, including traumatic injuries or issues such as strokes which occur suddenly as a result of long-term unwellness, holistic healing is better suited to preventing such conditions from happening in the first place. Indeed, much of all medicine, whether western, eastern, tribal, holistic, or conventional focuses on wellness or prevention of disease. Holistic, whether western, eastern, or tribal is very focused on preventing maladies through all causes, and at various levels. For instance, suppose someone is "accident prone". Of course, the immediate concern is to heal the injury from the current crisis. Holistically, the focus is what caused the accident or the person being prone to accidents? It could be because the person lacks coordination in some way which is a different problem to heal, it could be because the person believes, consciously or unconsciously, that they for some reason "deserve" to be hurt, which requires healing on the mental level as well. Or, it could be some sort of supernatural reason for the accidents, such as something from a past life, activities of ghosts or various disturbed nature spirits, actions of malevolent entities, or various other causes. The trick is to find the root cause of the problem, heal, shield, or solve that problem, and the mundane problem (of getting hurt repeatedly in this case) will be solved.

Likewise, it is utterly pointless to work on holistic healing if the person does not really want to be healed. Some of this is covered in the ethics section below, but it goes beyond the ethics of a given situation. For instance, if someone's problem is diabetic ulcers, caused by excess sugar in their diet to be metabolized properly with a given dose of insulin, as was prescribed using a diet designed with the patient by a certified nutritionist; simply put, the person "cheats" regularly on their diet, there is nothing that can be done to ensure wellness until the patient is willing to ensure his or her own wellness by properly maintaining their diet, insulin, and blood sugar levels. Of course, if the patient so desires, energy work can be used to help enable such a person to have the strength, fortitude, wisdom, or other things blocking their willingness to follow the prescribed diet and medication regimen. It would be utterly silly though to work on such things as "evil spirits" causing the skin eruptions when the problem is the person themselves not an external "evil spirit".

I have found many times, no matter what the problem seems to be or how it manifests, the problem is that the person does not love them self sufficiently to take adequate care of themselves. We can, or others can love that person immeasurably. It will have a benefit for the person to understand that they are indeed a person who is worthy of love. As it is a small step from feeling unloved to unlovable, it is a small step from feeling loved to lovable. The person needs love in their life, whether from others who are grateful to them or happy with them in some way, or from a loving significant other, or a crowd of adoring fans. A person who is feeling unloved, unlovable, and unworthy of loved surely can love to a point, and can take care of others who are dependent upon them for care, such as their young children, plants, animals, or their home. However, this care when really observed is often rather mechanistic in how it's given. For, truly, one cannot love another more than they love thier self. Such love given from a person truly feeling worthy of love and secure in love that they are getting, from others and the divine as they understand the divine, brings great happiness and benefit to all involved.

Indeed, there are many types of healing, both holistic and conventional. I will name some of the holistic and spiritual methods which I have used, practiced, or know of. There are many more which I have not heard of. This is certainly not an exhaustive list. I will list the formal and informal methods. Almost all of these methods can be done within a healing circle, or a group of healers using the method, or using similar methods, as well as they can be used by a single healer. Having a group of several healers almost always enhances the effectiveness.

Formal Methods:

• Reiki
• Jorei
• Polarity
• Healing rituals**
• Healing circles
• Massage
• Herbalism *
• Anointing* with water, salt, oil, or anything else
• Meditation*
• Empathic Healing*
• Pastoral care**
• Homeopathy
• Chiropractic Medicine
• Naturpathic Medicine
  
  

Additionally, there are a great deal of informal methods of healing, which are as varied as there are people who are doing or receiving the healing. I will list some of the methods which I have heard of or used here. There are probably an infinite number of possibilities though!

Informal Methods:

• Prayer* (Just asking a divinity or higher being to help)
• Good wishes
• Sending energy*
• Empathic Healing*
• Sending or offering energy using an item, such as:
  • Crystals
  • Incense
  • Mandalas
  • Magical/healing items or symbols
  • Photographs
  • Object links
• Laying on of hands
• Herbalism *
• Anointing** with water, salt, oil, or anything else*
• Asking an animal ally or familiar to help in the healing
• Meditation*
• Pastoral care**
• Generally taking care of the person, through adequate nutrition, sleep, exercise, fluids, and so forth. More information on this topic is available at GunaFood.com
  
  

As previously stated, this is FAR from an exhaustive list! Notations above are as follows:

* - These items are listed in formal and informal healing methods, because by different methods they can be used either formally or informally.

** - Items noted with a double asterisk are popularly done in some religions, are not done or are not done to any extent in others, yet are done by practitioners and believers in many religions throughout the world. Do not assume that a religion you are familiar with, whether you like or dislike that religion, is necessarily the one being referenced in all cases of using the method.

A major consideration in healing of any kind is ethics. Healing may not be ethical under some specific sets of conditions. The primary contraindication for healing is refusal of such healing by the recipient. The right to refuse medical care is recognized by the conventional medical establishment, as well as the legal establishment. This can be anywhere from refusing a particular medication or treatment in the course of a routine doctor visit to a Do Not Resuscitate order, available in all states in the United States as well as in many countries. Acting against a refusal or a Do Not Resuscitate order can make a conventional healer guilty of the crime of assault and battery. Of course, there are some instances where the patient's refusal is not sufficient, as in the case of forcing medications, especially psychiatric medications, but that is outside of the scope of this web page.

Healers using the metaphysical layer, while not as legally restrained, are equally if not more, ethically restrained in their actions or non-actions. If someone does not want healing, or does not want what they know to be YOUR type of healing, that is their right. You may not give it, and regardless of the result of such healing, there are negative karmic consequences for the healer.

In a practical sense, it is not required that the person being healed knows or understands all of the methods and principles being used in the healing. They can know that it's a psychic or metaphysical healing, that the healer is using energy obtained from them self, from their environment, from use of objects, whether object links such as photographs or hair, or using such items as crystals in their healing work. It is very important to some people on what outside deities or entities you are using. Some people may have strong beliefs against calling on such things. YOU may know these entities are good and right and helpful, but someone else may have a different opinion. The person being healed must have their beliefs and opinions adhered to, otherwise ethics have been violated.

As I mentioned before, there are formal and informal methods of healing, as well as some which involve the physical. Sometimes, someone will mention an condition in their life or the life of someone they care about, and ask me to "pray" for that person's wellness. In the case of that type of request, I feel totally free to pray to the divinities I worship and understand, as well as to use energies and myself from nature. In MY understanding, this falls under the umbrella of praying too. Usually, they will not ask about the form of my prayer, but if they do, I am obligated to tell them the truth about it. If they ask for a specific sort of prayer, such as "Pray to Jesus", I will most likely NOT agree since Jesus is not a significant part of my understanding of the divine, nor do I associate him particularly with healing. This is just MY opinion, and I recognize there are other opinions which are backed up with things in writing. The bottom line here is to do what is asked, if and only if you are comfortable with what the person being healed, or others acting on that person's behalf, are asking. If you cannot do that, do not do anything.