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Last month in the June issue of ROC metaphysical I began writing about some differences between psychic and spiritual healings.
The differences are not always apparent at the time of facilitating them, but it may help to know of them because the outcomes and consequences can be very different for the healer and the healee.
Many of the lessons within these stories are aimed at who you may well become in this lifetime, or perhaps are now, so the following three stories are offered to illustrate those differences in hopes of improving the results for you and your intended healee.
My first Healing Session:
Some time in the early 1990s I was asked to be a healer in a Candlelight Healing Ceremony at a spiritual conference. I had taken a 'Hands on Healing' course some years earlier but hadn't used it much, and I had never been part of an official ceremony.
I asked, “What do I do?” and was told to simply stand behind the assigned chair and when someone comes to sit just give them energy. It sounded easy.
The first person went fine, no problems other than me wondering if I'd done it right. So when the person complimented me I felt I was likely on the right track. The second person was very similar which led me to think I was doing 'it' right, whatever 'it' was.
With the third person I was beginning to feel a bit tired, which surprised me. I was in better than average physical condition at that point and knew no reason why I might be feeling tired from just standing there, gently waving my hands around.
By the fourth person I wished I could stop. How long was this going to go on? Was there another hour or two to go or what? I had no idea.
People were generally heading outside into the good weather after their healings so I was glad to see the room emptying out. Then one more person sat down in my chair. I did what I thought I could but really, all I wanted to do was curl up in a fetal position on the floor. I actually considered doing that once everyone had left the room, but I got called outside with everyone else. We stood holding hands in a giant circle, listened to a prayer, then sang a couple songs. Doing that really helped. I could feel myself coming back to life, so to speak.
It was explained to me afterward that I needed to open myself up to Divine energy, letting it come through me to do the healing, rather than using my own energy and thereby draining myself.
Honestly, my thought at the time was, “Oh sure, like regular people can do that.”
I had a lot to learn.
Boynton Canyon:
Somewhere in the late 1990s I became concerned about the mental well-being of a friend. The timing coincided with a trip to Sedona, AZ. Throughout the trip my concern for my friend was on my mind.
The trip was fine and wonderful as Sedona so often is. On the day we were to visit Boynton Canyon my concern had kind of peaked.
I don't know if you've ever been all the way to the back of Boynton Canyon. If you have you're aware of the ruggedness of the approximately three mile path you have to walk to get there with lots of twists, turns, and knee high boulders to step over as you climb.
For me, at that time, such climbing was meditative. It was something to keep my body occupied while my mind focused upon my friend. It was very calming to me as I went through every scenario I could think of in hopes of being helpful. For everything I came up with I could also come up with an expected dismissive reply. I was getting nowhere.
As we arrived at the clearing at the back of the canyon, a dead end, I had also arrived at what I called the 'end of thought.' I had nothing left. My mind was blank.
I decided to simply pray.
I walked over to a small boulder, about sitting height. It was surrounded by small pine trees and positioned in front of the remainder of a stream which had formed during the last rainfall.
As I sat on the boulder, facing the now dry stream, I felt that I had sat into a pencil sized beam of light which emanated from the rock and went straight up out of sight, beyond my perception.
The light seemed to me to go up my spine and out the top of my head. This was surprising as I'd never had that happen before. But oddly, it was ok with me that it was happening. It had a beneficial feeling to it.
So I allowed it. I also found out that as I was allowing it, it would grow in diameter. By minor experimentation I realized how to not think about it but to just 'be with it' as it grew to the diameter of a stove pipe.
So there I sat, with a stove pipe of light shooting out of my head.
The light went upward beyond my perception and I didn't know anything more about it. After a bit of time I wondered if this was all the help I could possibly be to my friend.
What if I could bend that stove pipe back down to shine upon my friend? As I had that thought, it happened. They say mind is the builder, you know. To my perception that stove pipe of light came back down and shone upon the top of my friend's head.
But, it did not get through.
I found I could intensify the light making it even brighter, which didn't even seem possible but it happened, to no avail. It was as if my friend had a steel plate across the top of their head. The light couldn't penetrate.
I then began to focus the light, to narrow the end of it as happens when you use a magnifying glass, further intensifying the light.
It still wasn't getting through.
I became aware that all the intensity of the beam could be brought down to a focal point the size of a single photon of light, with no diminishment of power.
That's when I had a selfish thought, “If it's so hard to get through, what's it going to be like when it does?”
With that thought of self-concern the beam immediately faded away.
I had gotten it down to the diameter of my little finger but now it was gone and I couldn't get it back. My friend's steel plate was still intact.
I felt that I had failed somehow or that I'd possibly imagined the whole thing. But later that day two other friends each individually asked what I'd been doing over on that rock. They each mentioned that I was surrounded by thousands of little tiny floating speckles of light.
Ok, if one person had mentioned it I'd be inclined to pass it off as imagination for both of us. But when the second friend also mentioned it a day later, describing the exact same thing with the exact same language, I felt validated that it was a real thing.
So, still feeling that I'd somehow failed, I asked Tom Sawyer about it. His answer surprised me. He claimed that I had been involved in a psychic healing, using my own energy to bring about the results I wanted, and I was aided by the canyon itself.
I had thought that since it was such a powerful beam of light that it must have had a spiritual origin, which was then up to me to facilitate.
Tom went on to say that if I had managed to connect with the darkness within my friend, if I had burst through the plate, that the scenario would then have become 'serious', not devastating but serious. This from a man who considers a broken bone to be simply inconvenient.
As I stated last month, a spiritual healing is when the healer and the healee both become enhanced by the event. A psychic healing is when you use your own energy to produce the desired results, and you are typically depleted by that amount.
So what did Tom consider serious? He considered his back injury, which I wrote about last month, as serious. He spent ten years in intense pain with it, and had to look down while walking because he couldn't feel his legs. He could move his legs and feet, but didn't get any feedback from them. The reason he didn't consider it devastating was because he could still go to work every day and earn a paycheck. So it was only 'serious'.
In Boynton Canyon I avoided something of that sort by having a self-concerned thought. I realize now that some part of me was protecting me.
Here's an interesting question, what would it have meant to my friend if I had gotten through? I'd have interrupted their path, the God-given free will choice we each have to choose our way through life, experience the full consequences – and learn from it.
I'd have taken away/short changed/stolen, a beautiful, sacred opportunity for my friend to learn who they really were, what they were doing, and the affect they were having upon God's creation.
Pentacostal Flame?:
Somewhere in the early 2000s I was attending a new meditation group. I only knew a couple of the people and just getting to know the rest. The location bounced around a little and the attendees changed as they tried to find a decent spot to meet regularly.
One night a woman I'd seen a couple of times came in with a cast upon her left wrist. The moment I spotted it I was drawn to it, but didn't want to make a scene of, “Hey look, I'm a healer. Can I work on your wrist?”
I always felt better just working quietly.
So I let Providence take over. If I was to work on her wrist, it would somehow come about without me forcing it. And, it so happened, as I took a chair she sat by my right side. I took that as permission to appropriately ask what happened to her wrist. She replied that she'd had surgery on her thumb.
The words, “Would you like me to work on it?” popped out of my mouth, seemingly of their own accord. She said, “Thank you,” and I cupped my hands over the base of her thumb.
In our society today there is always a concern about possible implications of a romantic or sexual nature which needs to be handled. That seemed to have been set easily aside in this instance so that what actually needed to be done could be done without distraction.
At this point it's important to say that I cannot claim any personal responsibility for what happened next, except as I describe it.
As I sat there with my honest concern being for her wrist, a red glow appeared in the area of my heart. I did not see it with my physical eyes, but perceived it somehow. The glow enlarged then traveled down my arms into my hands which were still cupped over her wrist.
This was a first for me.
While surprised, I wasn't disturbed by it. It felt ok and appropriate so I 'allowed' it to be. I then perceived a white and orange 'flame' above my head.
Also a first.
At the other end of our little circle of chairs a few people were having a grand time talking and laughing. I noticed them and wished they'd be quieter. I even thought about saying something to them. As I gave in to those distractions the 'flame' decreased in size. As I let go of my concern for what they were doing the 'flame' returned to it's original size, then got larger. It peaked at about 3-4 inches in diameter and anywhere from 2-4 feet tall.
I did note that no one else was seeing what I was perceiving, but not in any distractive way, just noted.
Suddenly the woman said, “My God, it feels like there's electricity in my bones.”
That brought all the talk to a standstill.
They got quiet. I looked at them. They looked at me. Someone asked, “What do you do?”
Now I know they were asking me what kind of healing I was performing; Reiki, Faith, Pranic, Yoga, whatever. But I answered practically, “I'm a mechanic.” Which was true, I was employed as a mechanic. It's what I did for a paycheck.
But, it was also what I was doing right at that time. There is a 'mechanical process' to spirituality, if you'll accept that phrase.
When spirituality desires to give healing to a situation it looks for a vessel, or lens, through which to deliver the energy. The more clear that lens is the more complete the healing can be. Apparently I was in the proper place and had made myself available, so I was used. Also, the woman was receptive, which is essential. As we saw in the Boynton Canyon story massive amounts of energy can be refused by the free will choice of the intended healee.
So lessons:
I drained myself in my first healing ceremony, due to my ignorance. Entirely forgivable and only a minor inconvenience to me.
In Boynton Canyon I would have drained myself to a serious degree if I'd gotten through.
In both of those instances I was forcing the outcome. I felt it was up to me to make the results I wanted happen. Do you notice the “I, I, I, me, myself” in there? That's a clue. I was either ignorant of or unwilling to accept the situation as is and took it upon myself to fix it.
And, if I'm truly honest with myself, I realize I may very well do it again someday.
But, the Pentacostal flame story (it embarrasses me to use that term, but it's very descriptive) was a whole different ball game. In that scenario I did nothing but make myself available. I had to be clear of my own thoughts, intentions, and distractions of any kind for that to work. My only job was to be a clear lens for energy to flow through.
So today I've learned to follow these words, lovingly provided by a dear friend, “Anytime I was trying to exert my will and not letting go into "thy" will, I was not only draining myself, but trying to impose on someone else's energy in a way that did not respect their boundaries. I have learned to say, "May this healing work be for the Highest Good of all concerned within their will and Divine Will."”
Thank you all.
About Richard Hughson: Richard Hughson, a machinist by trade, came to understand the many STEs he had experienced since childhood through his friendship with Tom Sawyer. Tom's unique NDE brought him both spiritual responsibilities and the ability to fulfill them. The two remained close friends, traveling the world and goofing around together until Tom’s natural passing in 2007.
Their adventures included healing the Dalai Lama and a healing by Mother Meera. All have relevance and deep implications for personal growth and the future of humanity. Richard shares the joy of his spiritual growth as a healer through storytelling, hospital clowning, and even as Santa. He leads workshops on Healing with Humor and lectures on Tom Sawyer at spiritual conferences and IANDS chapters across the country. He has authored the Heart-Session Meditations blog for 16 years at https://heart-session.blogspot.com/.