Spiritual Healers, the Good and the Bad The world needs spiritual practitioners, especially during these pivotal times. However, there are a few problems with the concept of spiritual healers, which are often times difficult to navigate. Fraudulent, and unqualified, spiritual healing practitioners do exists, and are a dangerous disease in the industry. In this essay, I will tell you why a good spiritual healer can be invaluable, how the fakes lie you out of your money, and how to determine if a particular spiritual healer is the right one for you.
In current society, medicine, and doctors to prescribe medicine, is a huge economic aspect of our daily life. We watch commercials on TV telling us to ask our doctor if a certain drug is right for us, we are faced with financial decisions which are related to whether we should pay for health insurance, or whether we should invest our money in alternative health care options. We are forced to ask ourselves if the food we eat and the liquids we drink are safe. One thing which humanity, as a whole, has to realize is these questions are all based on physical results. In asking only the questions which we are guided (by society) to ask, we are ignoring two other important aspects of our entire being, the emotional and the spiritual.
While I know many medical doctors and have worked with and respect a few, there are very few spiritual healers who have been able to earn my trust and respect. Medical doctors have to go through strenuous training to carry the title of MD. Spiritual healers can create a certificate on their computer, using a program very similar to the one I am using to write this article, and they can then proclaim themselves to be a spiritual practitioner. They can advertise, they can talk, and they can use their personality to make you think they know what they are doing, when, in reality, all they have is a marketing plan stating they are much more than they know to be true. This leads me to the first misleading variety of healer I will discuss, or at least incredibly neurotic, the 'new' patented technologies practitioner.
These guys have found a new, quite ingenious, marketing ploy. What they have accomplished is this: they have taken a bit of the spiritual, a hefty portion of the emotional (although from the wrong bowl) and a lot of convincing words and motions, and turned it into something many people seeking help think they cannot live without. I do give this group credit, in that they realize they are not intuitive, and they at least have not lied in this aspect of their trade. However, they love to categorize themselves in the spiritual healer category, which is quite fraudulent. They use modern technology to supposedly force your total being into a total state of being healed, or being spiritually advanced, all of a sudden. These practitioners do not have the success rates which a true spiritual practitioner should have, but the fact they have paid lots of money to acquire their newly patented certification gives them the opinion they can earn this money back by charging their clients very large fees, some as much as $500 per treatment. Additionally, these newly patented techniques have not been on the market long enough to determine any potential, or future, dangers which might exist. Let's move forward, to another healing modality (and variety of healer) who has also made a very successful attempt to basically patent an age old form of healing, called Reiki.
I believe Reiki to be a wonderful form of healing for the practitioner, as well as the client. While there are Reiki websites and organizations which supposedly vouch for their members, they are not the regulating authority they claim to be. In fact, I have signed up on a few, myself, and have never been asked for my personal credentials or for testimonials from my clients. Basically, these organizations are a club for people who want some sort of validation for what it is they believe they do, in this case, heal people using Reiki energy. I have been a Reiki Master Teacher, in some form, for more than 20 years. Allow me to explain why I use the phrase, in some form.
When I was in my 20's, I went to a supposedly accomplished Reiki Master Teacher and took several classes from her. Immediately after my first attunement, I began to have anxiety attacks, which progressed and became more severe after each progressive attunement. By the end of my training, I had to resort to taking man made drugs to offset the anxiety I was experiencing. The Reiki Master Teacher I had trained with had moved on to help develop a natural healing facility in a third world country, believe it or not. A few years later, I was talking with a Reiki Master Teacher about my experience and she asked if I would mind her assisting me in finding out if my previous Reiki training was the cause of my anxiety and panic. After one free session with this new Reiki Master, my anxiety began to subside. The previous Reiki Master who I trained with had not placed the attunements properly, and did not make sure I was prepared for the attunement, before she gave it to me. I began to work with the new teacher and after more than a year, she was able to help remove the work the original teacher had butchered, and helped me to become a trained and competent Reiki Master Teacher.
The original Reiki Master Teacher who I trained with, was not an isolated incident. I have had people trained by a woman in Raleigh NC, who have had symptoms of anxiety, panic, and lethargy, after receiving attunements from her, and every time their attunements are not placed properly. I have actually completed the training, which she began, on numerous occasions. The point of this information is even though people have the proper intention, this alone does not make them safe, effective, or anything more than a dangerous fraud.
The final 'healer' I would like to mention is the 'shaman'. Yes, this is indeed, a huge title, which few have actually earned, or deserve. Evidence of shamanism has been found on every continent on the planet, dating back thousands of years. Today, there are supposed new age shamans, Reiki shamans, places claiming to make you a shaman for a few thousand dollars, shamans who do not heal (but will tell you everything you should do in life), shamans who will take your money for a workshop where they ask you to follow them on a walk outside and take notes, and this list goes on and on. This topic is even more personal to me than the Reiki Master Teacher portion of this paper, so please allow me to move through it as quickly as possible, so we can attain the important portion of this paper, choosing someone who is real.
As I mentioned previously, my spiritual journey began before I reached the age of 10. I admit, my purpose for sharing this information is twofold. First, and most important, I do not want anyone to be taken advantage of, as I was, by fraudulent healers and teachers. Secondly, the fraudulent healers, and your experiences with them, paint what the effective healers do in a negative way. This being said, a true shaman, does not decide to become one after they reach the age of twenty or thirty. Shamanism is a path which begins before the child takes its first breath. A real shaman is spiritually gifted, a real shaman can communicate with spirits, and finally, a real shaman does not need psychotropic drugs to do their work. Simply taking a walk in the woods does not make you a shaman. Being an accomplished Reiki practitioner, does not make you a shaman. Please, do your research, and do not be taken advantage of by the people who are simply want to bes, or who purchased their credentials. I have been on an openly shamanic path since birth, and have only met 5 real shamans, in my life. I know many more who call themselves shaman, but are little more than psychics, at best. Basically, if someone who calls themselves a shaman does nothing more than tell you what the spirits say, they are not a shaman, but are a psychic. There is nothing wrong with this, other than the fact they are lying, and feel they can charge you more for their services, due to their self-pronounced title. If they put their hands on you and never incorporate any other techniques, they are a Reiki practitioner, and not a shaman. This leads us to the next portion of this paper, which is how to choose the right healer for you.
I realize I have covered quite a few aspects of the energy healing genre, and while a lot of it is negative, I have established why energy healers are beneficial to humanity. Herbalist, psychics, Wicca Teachers, they are easy to discover as being real or not. However energy healers are a bit more difficult to determine. In this section, I will tell you how to weed out the frauds as easy as deciding which tooth paste is best for you. The first advice I can give you is go with your gut. We have all been told this since childhood, and it is a very important portion of helping you find the healer who is right for you. If something does not feel right, it probably is not right, and you should not just leave, but leave quickly. The feeling in your stomach could simply be their energy does not resonate well with yours, or it could be a signal of something larger. If it does not feel right, trust your intuition and move on to the next possibility.
Ask for references is the next most important action you can take. I realize client confidentiality may come up here, but I have clients who would be happy to talk to a prospective client about my services, and so should any accomplished healer in the business. If you ask a prospective healer if you could speak with a client of theirs, and they say no, they have client confidentiality standards in place, again, you should leave. If I were asked this question, I have permission from five clients right now to give their number to anyone wanting to know about me. I also have permission from several industry leaders, to use their names for client questions regarding my practice. Further, I have numerous testimonials on my website, where people talk about different aspect of working with me. If a healer seems to want to protect their accomplishments a bit too much, there is a reason. I am not suggesting a healer should not protect their clients' history. By all means, I would never divulge any illness, or significant aspect of the past, a client has come to me for, nor would I ever share anything they have shared with me in confidence. However, if the healer is genuine, their clients are more than happy to talk to their prospective clients about their experience. If they aren't, something is wrong with the healer. Do not let the healer trick you into thinking your doubts are from your childhood or any other supposed flaw within yourself they may blame. Yes, those who are dishonest will actually attempt this tactic. They will blame you for any reservations you have. Please, do not fall for this tactic.
Moving forward, I would, under normal circumstances, suggest asking to review potential healers' credentials, however, with everyone having the capability to print and certify certificates today; this is a waste of time. The chances are you would not be aware of who certified the healer, and many practices have no real certification. I make certificates for everyone who takes a Reiki class from me, as well as students who have completed my Shamanic Techniques curriculum, so making a certificate is easy, even without my computer information systems degree. If a shaman has a certificate, they are not a real shaman; period, end of discussion. Let me repeat myself, if a piece of paper says they are a shaman, they are not a shaman. One thing I would add to this section, however, is a real practitioner will be proud of their accomplishments, and will display any certifications they have. In my healing room, I display six certificates. The certificates I am most proud of are my Reiki Master Teacher document, in both the Usui and Tibetan traditions and my certified herbalist document, both of which I earned. However, I do not expect my clients to base their opinion of me on my certificates. I had rather my results speak for my abilities, as opposed to some piece of paper, with a pretty gold seal on it.
Another highly recommended action for you to take, when interviewing a prospective healer is, ask them to tune into your situation and share with you a prospective plan of healing. You will get one of several responses to this request. The first, and most suspect, is they tell you in order to give you this information, you will need to schedule a session, costing you money. This is a red flag and you should thank them and leave. Any real healer will take the time to talk with you and will give you any possible information as to what they feel the best course of action is for your particular situation. I do this voluntarily when consulting with a prospective client, whether asked or not. The second response to be wary of is, if they tell you is not the way they work. If you schedule a session, you are entrusting your betterment to them and your guides, and this information is not meant for you. This is another instance where you should lace up your running shoes and leave. Your journey is just that, your journey, and a healer should give you any information they receive in an effort to assist you on your journey. Secrecy and vacuity are not a part of the intended or desired experience.
Next, ask the potential healer which area of your being they focus on in their work. Any healer, who responds, they work with your physical body, should be marked off of your list of potential healers. A Reiki practitioner should respond as working with your energetic body. Finally, a shaman should work with all aspects of your collective being. A psychic healer's response should be they work with your emotional being and your cognitive mind. One last thing to look for with a shaman, ask them if they supplement their treatment with other modalities. The answer should be a resounding yes. Any real shaman has numerous ways to increase the effectiveness of their sessions, and they should willingly share several options they will use to increase their effectiveness. If not, they are not genuine.
I have shared with you the reasons why spiritual healers are necessary, and important, in today's culture. I have shown you how regular people have come to extort people who are in need of spiritual healing, and how they achieve their fraudulent claims. I have given you several valuable tips, describing how to find an authentic healer who will actually be able to help you. Lastly, I have given you some of the marketing ploys and tactics used by frauds, to get your money and give you nothing in return. You know healing the physical body entails treating not only the physical, but more importantly the emotional and spiritual being. I would highly suggest finding a spiritual healer to help with any aspect of your current life's path. However, I would also recommend you follow the steps I have given you, so your healing journey can be enjoyable and authentic, as opposed to stress filled and disappointing. Just because the garage down the road has a tool box inside, it doesn't mean the man inside is a mechanic. Similarly, just because someone has a certificate and business card, it doesn't mean they are an accomplished and effective spiritual healer.
In current society, medicine, and doctors to prescribe medicine, is a huge economic aspect of our daily life. We watch commercials on TV telling us to ask our doctor if a certain drug is right for us, we are faced with financial decisions which are related to whether we should pay for health insurance, or whether we should invest our money in alternative health care options. We are forced to ask ourselves if the food we eat and the liquids we drink are safe. One thing which humanity, as a whole, has to realize is these questions are all based on physical results. In asking only the questions which we are guided (by society) to ask, we are ignoring two other important aspects of our entire being, the emotional and the spiritual.
The Danger of Misinformation and Hidden Agendas Within the Cancer IndustryI have been on a shamanic path since I was 9 years old, and have developed a shamanic clientele which I am very proud of and am quite successful. I have helped clients through breast cancer, leukemia, bone breaks, sciatica, and skin cancer, just to name a few. One aspect of every illness in which I have dealt with is there is always an emotional core, a seed if you will. Modern medicine, while treating the physical, ignores the emotional and spiritual. Patients hear, take this pill, or this IV, or let us cut you here. This only treats the symptom of a much larger and more important aspect of the illness. Yes, cancers and infections should be removed, or killed, before they kill the patient. However, only treating the physical symptom is not going to permanently reverse the illness. When a medical doctor removes or kills the physical representation of an illness, the core of the illness still remains in the emotional and spiritual being. If the 'seed' is not removed from both of these two commonly ignored areas, the illness will find its way back into the physical, often times in a more dangerous version than initially presented.
While I know many medical doctors and have worked with and respect a few, there are very few spiritual healers who have been able to earn my trust and respect. Medical doctors have to go through strenuous training to carry the title of MD. Spiritual healers can create a certificate on their computer, using a program very similar to the one I am using to write this article, and they can then proclaim themselves to be a spiritual practitioner. They can advertise, they can talk, and they can use their personality to make you think they know what they are doing, when, in reality, all they have is a marketing plan stating they are much more than they know to be true. This leads me to the first misleading variety of healer I will discuss, or at least incredibly neurotic, the 'new' patented technologies practitioner.
These guys have found a new, quite ingenious, marketing ploy. What they have accomplished is this: they have taken a bit of the spiritual, a hefty portion of the emotional (although from the wrong bowl) and a lot of convincing words and motions, and turned it into something many people seeking help think they cannot live without. I do give this group credit, in that they realize they are not intuitive, and they at least have not lied in this aspect of their trade. However, they love to categorize themselves in the spiritual healer category, which is quite fraudulent. They use modern technology to supposedly force your total being into a total state of being healed, or being spiritually advanced, all of a sudden. These practitioners do not have the success rates which a true spiritual practitioner should have, but the fact they have paid lots of money to acquire their newly patented certification gives them the opinion they can earn this money back by charging their clients very large fees, some as much as $500 per treatment. Additionally, these newly patented techniques have not been on the market long enough to determine any potential, or future, dangers which might exist. Let's move forward, to another healing modality (and variety of healer) who has also made a very successful attempt to basically patent an age old form of healing, called Reiki.
I believe Reiki to be a wonderful form of healing for the practitioner, as well as the client. While there are Reiki websites and organizations which supposedly vouch for their members, they are not the regulating authority they claim to be. In fact, I have signed up on a few, myself, and have never been asked for my personal credentials or for testimonials from my clients. Basically, these organizations are a club for people who want some sort of validation for what it is they believe they do, in this case, heal people using Reiki energy. I have been a Reiki Master Teacher, in some form, for more than 20 years. Allow me to explain why I use the phrase, in some form.
When I was in my 20's, I went to a supposedly accomplished Reiki Master Teacher and took several classes from her. Immediately after my first attunement, I began to have anxiety attacks, which progressed and became more severe after each progressive attunement. By the end of my training, I had to resort to taking man made drugs to offset the anxiety I was experiencing. The Reiki Master Teacher I had trained with had moved on to help develop a natural healing facility in a third world country, believe it or not. A few years later, I was talking with a Reiki Master Teacher about my experience and she asked if I would mind her assisting me in finding out if my previous Reiki training was the cause of my anxiety and panic. After one free session with this new Reiki Master, my anxiety began to subside. The previous Reiki Master who I trained with had not placed the attunements properly, and did not make sure I was prepared for the attunement, before she gave it to me. I began to work with the new teacher and after more than a year, she was able to help remove the work the original teacher had butchered, and helped me to become a trained and competent Reiki Master Teacher.
The original Reiki Master Teacher who I trained with, was not an isolated incident. I have had people trained by a woman in Raleigh NC, who have had symptoms of anxiety, panic, and lethargy, after receiving attunements from her, and every time their attunements are not placed properly. I have actually completed the training, which she began, on numerous occasions. The point of this information is even though people have the proper intention, this alone does not make them safe, effective, or anything more than a dangerous fraud.
The final 'healer' I would like to mention is the 'shaman'. Yes, this is indeed, a huge title, which few have actually earned, or deserve. Evidence of shamanism has been found on every continent on the planet, dating back thousands of years. Today, there are supposed new age shamans, Reiki shamans, places claiming to make you a shaman for a few thousand dollars, shamans who do not heal (but will tell you everything you should do in life), shamans who will take your money for a workshop where they ask you to follow them on a walk outside and take notes, and this list goes on and on. This topic is even more personal to me than the Reiki Master Teacher portion of this paper, so please allow me to move through it as quickly as possible, so we can attain the important portion of this paper, choosing someone who is real.
As I mentioned previously, my spiritual journey began before I reached the age of 10. I admit, my purpose for sharing this information is twofold. First, and most important, I do not want anyone to be taken advantage of, as I was, by fraudulent healers and teachers. Secondly, the fraudulent healers, and your experiences with them, paint what the effective healers do in a negative way. This being said, a true shaman, does not decide to become one after they reach the age of twenty or thirty. Shamanism is a path which begins before the child takes its first breath. A real shaman is spiritually gifted, a real shaman can communicate with spirits, and finally, a real shaman does not need psychotropic drugs to do their work. Simply taking a walk in the woods does not make you a shaman. Being an accomplished Reiki practitioner, does not make you a shaman. Please, do your research, and do not be taken advantage of by the people who are simply want to bes, or who purchased their credentials. I have been on an openly shamanic path since birth, and have only met 5 real shamans, in my life. I know many more who call themselves shaman, but are little more than psychics, at best. Basically, if someone who calls themselves a shaman does nothing more than tell you what the spirits say, they are not a shaman, but are a psychic. There is nothing wrong with this, other than the fact they are lying, and feel they can charge you more for their services, due to their self-pronounced title. If they put their hands on you and never incorporate any other techniques, they are a Reiki practitioner, and not a shaman. This leads us to the next portion of this paper, which is how to choose the right healer for you.
I realize I have covered quite a few aspects of the energy healing genre, and while a lot of it is negative, I have established why energy healers are beneficial to humanity. Herbalist, psychics, Wicca Teachers, they are easy to discover as being real or not. However energy healers are a bit more difficult to determine. In this section, I will tell you how to weed out the frauds as easy as deciding which tooth paste is best for you. The first advice I can give you is go with your gut. We have all been told this since childhood, and it is a very important portion of helping you find the healer who is right for you. If something does not feel right, it probably is not right, and you should not just leave, but leave quickly. The feeling in your stomach could simply be their energy does not resonate well with yours, or it could be a signal of something larger. If it does not feel right, trust your intuition and move on to the next possibility.
Ask for references is the next most important action you can take. I realize client confidentiality may come up here, but I have clients who would be happy to talk to a prospective client about my services, and so should any accomplished healer in the business. If you ask a prospective healer if you could speak with a client of theirs, and they say no, they have client confidentiality standards in place, again, you should leave. If I were asked this question, I have permission from five clients right now to give their number to anyone wanting to know about me. I also have permission from several industry leaders, to use their names for client questions regarding my practice. Further, I have numerous testimonials on my website, where people talk about different aspect of working with me. If a healer seems to want to protect their accomplishments a bit too much, there is a reason. I am not suggesting a healer should not protect their clients' history. By all means, I would never divulge any illness, or significant aspect of the past, a client has come to me for, nor would I ever share anything they have shared with me in confidence. However, if the healer is genuine, their clients are more than happy to talk to their prospective clients about their experience. If they aren't, something is wrong with the healer. Do not let the healer trick you into thinking your doubts are from your childhood or any other supposed flaw within yourself they may blame. Yes, those who are dishonest will actually attempt this tactic. They will blame you for any reservations you have. Please, do not fall for this tactic.
Moving forward, I would, under normal circumstances, suggest asking to review potential healers' credentials, however, with everyone having the capability to print and certify certificates today; this is a waste of time. The chances are you would not be aware of who certified the healer, and many practices have no real certification. I make certificates for everyone who takes a Reiki class from me, as well as students who have completed my Shamanic Techniques curriculum, so making a certificate is easy, even without my computer information systems degree. If a shaman has a certificate, they are not a real shaman; period, end of discussion. Let me repeat myself, if a piece of paper says they are a shaman, they are not a shaman. One thing I would add to this section, however, is a real practitioner will be proud of their accomplishments, and will display any certifications they have. In my healing room, I display six certificates. The certificates I am most proud of are my Reiki Master Teacher document, in both the Usui and Tibetan traditions and my certified herbalist document, both of which I earned. However, I do not expect my clients to base their opinion of me on my certificates. I had rather my results speak for my abilities, as opposed to some piece of paper, with a pretty gold seal on it.
Another highly recommended action for you to take, when interviewing a prospective healer is, ask them to tune into your situation and share with you a prospective plan of healing. You will get one of several responses to this request. The first, and most suspect, is they tell you in order to give you this information, you will need to schedule a session, costing you money. This is a red flag and you should thank them and leave. Any real healer will take the time to talk with you and will give you any possible information as to what they feel the best course of action is for your particular situation. I do this voluntarily when consulting with a prospective client, whether asked or not. The second response to be wary of is, if they tell you is not the way they work. If you schedule a session, you are entrusting your betterment to them and your guides, and this information is not meant for you. This is another instance where you should lace up your running shoes and leave. Your journey is just that, your journey, and a healer should give you any information they receive in an effort to assist you on your journey. Secrecy and vacuity are not a part of the intended or desired experience.
Next, ask the potential healer which area of your being they focus on in their work. Any healer, who responds, they work with your physical body, should be marked off of your list of potential healers. A Reiki practitioner should respond as working with your energetic body. Finally, a shaman should work with all aspects of your collective being. A psychic healer's response should be they work with your emotional being and your cognitive mind. One last thing to look for with a shaman, ask them if they supplement their treatment with other modalities. The answer should be a resounding yes. Any real shaman has numerous ways to increase the effectiveness of their sessions, and they should willingly share several options they will use to increase their effectiveness. If not, they are not genuine.
I have shared with you the reasons why spiritual healers are necessary, and important, in today's culture. I have shown you how regular people have come to extort people who are in need of spiritual healing, and how they achieve their fraudulent claims. I have given you several valuable tips, describing how to find an authentic healer who will actually be able to help you. Lastly, I have given you some of the marketing ploys and tactics used by frauds, to get your money and give you nothing in return. You know healing the physical body entails treating not only the physical, but more importantly the emotional and spiritual being. I would highly suggest finding a spiritual healer to help with any aspect of your current life's path. However, I would also recommend you follow the steps I have given you, so your healing journey can be enjoyable and authentic, as opposed to stress filled and disappointing. Just because the garage down the road has a tool box inside, it doesn't mean the man inside is a mechanic. Similarly, just because someone has a certificate and business card, it doesn't mean they are an accomplished and effective spiritual healer.