by Radha Fagan
Prana is a Sanskrit word meaning "life force". Everything around us has some prana to a certain degree. Healthy, living creatures radiate life force while processed objects, such as a block of concrete, have little prana. Pranic healing consists of tapping into that inexhaustible life force for your own use or transferring prana from yourself or another power source to a patient. Prana transferred to the site of an injury or illness can reawaken the intelligence of the body's cells and heal them.
Healing with prana is effective for physical, psychological, and spiritual illnesses. It is not limited to human beings; animals often respond well to pranic energy. I use pranic healing often on myself for headaches, stress, other minor ailments like colds. Visualizations can help you target prana to specific areas and tasks. For instance, when healing infections, I visualize removing diseased or dying cells from my body and replacing them with new, healthy, strong ones that are resistant to the infection.
The most dramatic results I have obtained for myself were with a reoccurring infection that had stopped responding well to antibiotic therapy. I had achieved temporary success in improving my condition with prana and visualization, but until I made up my mind one day that nothing existed that was totally beyond my control, I was unable to completely cure myself. After this resolve, the problem vanished with three sessions of pranic healing and visualization.
If possible, before performing any healing work, take care to perform whatever rituals are used by your tradition for grounding, centering, and purification. I prefer a ritual bath and a few moments of meditation. If you do not have the time for something elaborate close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and mentally repeat the following affirmation, "Chronic, incurable disease is only a delusion. By the power of my will I can change my body." Remember that your body's cell's are constantly being replaced by new ones at such a rate that every few days you actually do have a "new" body!
I recognize that central nervous system cells are an exception to this rate of normal replacement, but even these can be healed or replaced in some cases with focused effort. My step son had scar tissue in the brain that was miraculously replaced with healthy tissue when he was less than a year old. This incident was thoroughly documented before and after by a medical CAT scan.
The reasons why some persons receive miraculous healing and others do not, even with similar methods, probably lies in the recipient at least as much as the healer. The exact reasons in different cases are usually unclear, but many instances of dramatic healing of a true believer by a healer that considers themselves to be fraudulent is an excellent demonstration of how important the receptiveness, courage, and preparedness of the recipient can be.
There are many other additional theories about how Gods, karma, and many other things can prevent the fate altering effects of such healings. The openness to the movement of energy and the true absence of fear to see reality drastically altered are probably the most common reasons why some healings are very dramatic and others simply improve symptoms. Any improvement of symptoms; however, is a blessing and should be fully appreciated for the true success that it is.
Take time to think through and decide exactly what you wish to do. This can include visualizations, power sources or deities involved. If you are healing another person, keep a positive attitude and avoid any "negative" comments such as "Oh, I'll try and do something for you."
Two things are essential for a successful healing, the ability of the healer to move energy and sufficient openness and receptivity of the patient. Both participants should have absolute faith in their abilities. Disbelief or lack of will can stop pranic healing from being effective just as skepticism can cause a magic spell to bring no results. Before you do any pranic healing for someone other than yourself ALWAYS obtain their permission and discuss it with them in advance.
Discuss with the patient whether or not you are going to touch them during the healing. While most of us derive comfort from human contact some people with abuse issues or other problems may not. If they are uncomfortable with direct contact you can place your hands a few inches from their skin.
Of course, if you are separated from them you will need to do long distance healing. People who perform this method like to have something personal from the patient such as an article of clothing, a lock of hair, or a picture to help them strengthen the connection. If you know the recipient well, this may not be necessary, but it always helps to get the full amount of energy to them intact. Let them know exactly what time you will be sending pranic energy to them so they can be more receptive. An even better method, call them on the phone and then do the healing.
Prana pervades the universe and can be obtained from many sources such as Gods, Goddesses, elemental forces, the moon and sun, etc. A good consideration for most people would be a healer deity from a pantheon they work with. It is all the better if the healer and the patient can find such a deity that they both work with.
Less self directed forces, such as the sun and moon, may require more direction and concentration from the healer than sentient God/dess forces do. Sun energy is generally heat generating and energizing. It is especially good for cancer, colds, flu, and respiratory problems. Lunar energy is cooling and calming. Fever, sunburn, excess anger, and emotional problems respond well to lunar energy. If you draw energy from plants, you should draw from an entire grove or even the archetypal force of all plants of that type, so that no one plant is taxed overly much. This energy can be very calming and soothing in general or move very specific energies if a particular tree or herb is used as a source. Elemental forces and other energy sources like trees are more self aware but may not stop you from doing something wrong such as directing energy to the wrong site or moving more energy through your body than is wise without proper purification rituals.
Some people are hesitant to use banishing (or "negative", widdershins energy) for any magickal purpose including healing. I personally have no problem with banishing invading bacteria from my body when I have an infection. If you prefer not to use banishing energy, you can simply flood yourself or the patient with positive energy until the bad is pushed out.
What do you do with the energy of the illness once you have removed it from yourself or another person's body? According to the laws of physics, energy can not be created or destroyed, but it can be transformed. I simply send illness energy back to the earth where "Mother" can heal and transform it into something positive. I have heard of techniques that send "sick" energy into a stone or an egg. Being both Wiccan and Hindu I avoid these methods as they are unnecessarily sending potentially dangerous energy to something that, unlike the Divine Mother, cannot absorb the illness without being harmed.
A major issue involved in pranic healing is how to avoid taking any of the illness of a patient onto yourself. One way is to only use small amount of your personal energy to guide and direct the bulk of the pranic force. Take time after a healing to recharge yourself with prana and make sure that you cleanse your own body. You can certainly deplete your own prana, but there is an inexhaustible source that flows from the "Infinite" that will always replenish you if you are open to it.
Yogis do this with pranayam (breathing exercises) and visualization. An easy way to do this is to sit or lie in a comfortable position. Take a few deep breaths drawing energy into your body. During the retention phase (holding your breath), see healing energy bathing all the body's cells and recharging your own supply of prana if it is drained. During the exhalation phase, mentally send out of your body any negativity or traces of illness you have absorbed. Other ways to recharge with prana include consuming fresh foods and drink, and taking a walk outside in the sunlight, barefoot if possible.
This article should not be taken as advice to throw away Western medicine, or any other medical system to solely use pranic healing. Pranic healing can be used along side other methods such as herbs, acupuncture, drugs, and even surgery. It's wonderful if you experience complete recovery from an ailment using pranic healing, but if you decrease your recovery time and the need for expensive medication and medical treatment this is also a great blessing.
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