Rose’s answer to “Hi Rose! After reading, "Seeking Enlightenment in the Age of Awakening" I was wondering about the p…” > Likes and Comments
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There is a drama to the word "healer", isn't there? Something alluring, a declaration of importance.
I have encountered well-meaning people who were so affected by the glamorisation of "healing", that they strongly considered leaving their established careers - careers where they were useful, contributing members of society - to study some type of energy medicine which was a wild divergence from their hard-won skills and aptitudes.
In talking with them, I got the impression they were worried they weren't "really" doing helpful, meaningful work unless they were doing "healing".
Healing methodologies (whether western biomechanical medicine or energy medicine like acupuncture etc) do not have a monopoly on helping, contribution to humanity or making a difference in the world. There are many vital ways to contribute and these are only some of them.
Working with energy *does not* constitute any kind of elevation above normal human importance (I once had someone thunder angrily at me, that they believed they were allowed to say racist things because they could feel energies.)
Once we remove this kind of work from its pedestal, it's easier to look straight at the idea that "we are all healers". Imagine any other skilled work in that sentence! "We are all plumbers". "We are all accountants". "We are all auto mechanics". Absurd.
Do we all have an innate capability to fix cars? Or are these skillsets that need to be correctly taught, so that we could do a proper job with them - one that does not cause more problems than it solves?
I was very fortunate to receive years of training to be an acupuncturist, including an apprenticeship and ongoing mentoring. I have been in practice for 13 years. And yet, I still encounter professional challenges that test my abilities. I don't like to imagine untrained, self-taught "healers", who don't know what they don't know, making guesses (at best) about their client's problems, and improvising "solutions" that may be the equivalent (or worse) of duct tape repairs inside an oven.
We aren't "all healers" and thankfully, there is absolutely no need for us to be.
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There is a drama to the word "healer", isn't there? Something alluring, a declaration of importance.I have encountered well-meaning people who were so affected by the glamorisation of "healing", that they strongly considered leaving their established careers - careers where they were useful, contributing members of society - to study some type of energy medicine which was a wild divergence from their hard-won skills and aptitudes.
In talking with them, I got the impression they were worried they weren't "really" doing helpful, meaningful work unless they were doing "healing".
Healing methodologies (whether western biomechanical medicine or energy medicine like acupuncture etc) do not have a monopoly on helping, contribution to humanity or making a difference in the world. There are many vital ways to contribute and these are only some of them.Working with energy *does not* constitute any kind of elevation above normal human importance (I once had someone thunder angrily at me, that they believed they were allowed to say racist things because they could feel energies.)
Once we remove this kind of work from its pedestal, it's easier to look straight at the idea that "we are all healers". Imagine any other skilled work in that sentence! "We are all plumbers". "We are all accountants". "We are all auto mechanics". Absurd.Do we all have an innate capability to fix cars? Or are these skillsets that need to be correctly taught, so that we could do a proper job with them - one that does not cause more problems than it solves?
I was very fortunate to receive years of training to be an acupuncturist, including an apprenticeship and ongoing mentoring. I have been in practice for 13 years. And yet, I still encounter professional challenges that test my abilities. I don't like to imagine untrained, self-taught "healers", who don't know what they don't know, making guesses (at best) about their client's problems, and improvising "solutions" that may be the equivalent (or worse) of duct tape repairs inside an oven.We aren't "all healers" and thankfully, there is absolutely no need for us to be.
Thank you very much for this explanation.
Certainly I would like to ask you about Diane Stein's book "Essential Reiki". How did it have such an effect on the integrity of the profession?