As all regular readers of this blog know, we receive many questions about children’s books in which the characters use sorcery in one way or another. In an effort to help Christian parents and educators learn how to discern whether or not this content is suitable for children, I would like to post insights from Michael O’Brien’s book, Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture and other useful sources which I hope they will find useful.
Category Archives: New Age
Why “The Secret” is Nonsense
Anonymous writes: “Some of my friends, who claim to be devout Catholics, are really getting into the book The Secret and are adopting its teachings as a way of life. They don’t think there is anything in this book that violates Catholic teaching. Is this true?”
What Do Your Eyes Say About Your Health?
AR writes: “ . . . (M)y mother is very much into alternative medicine and healthy eating, etc, and I grew up going to an iridologist and have been amazed at some of the things she picked up on in my body. For instance, she noticed “irritation” in my lower back, and a few years later, due to strenuous activity, I thought I had developed a seriously problematic spinal condition, but doctors said I was either born with or it happened when I was a baby and was just aggravated by the activity. Anyway, even if you think iridology is bologna, it doesn’t seem to be problematic with our faith, as it’s not like its reading palms or anything whacky like that…it is looking at the iris and seeing if something is not quite right. BUT, I still wanted to check with you all.”
What You Should Know About Energy Medicine
People write to us all the time with questions about the various energy medicine techniques – from Reiki to tai chi and everything in between – so I decided to write a general overview of energy medicine that can provide additional details for those who wish to learn more.
From a scientific point-of-view, energy medicine is undoubtedly “the snake oil of the 21st century.” It’s entrenched in our culture, our hospitals, even our churches, even though there is not a shred of evidence to support the existence of the “energy” that practitioners claim to be manipulating, balancing, and channeling in their expensive Reiki, acupuncture, reflexology, chakra therapy and meridian cleansing sessions so there’s no point in throwing away your hard-earned dollars on any of it. Few if any of these techniques have been submitted to rigorous – and unbiased – scientific scrutiny; and those that have failed miserably.
This is one of many reasons why these techniques can be dangerous, especially if a person suffering from a serious disease forgoes conventional medicine for any of these forms of healing. It is also worth noting that because there is no credible scientific substantiation for this energy or the practices related to it, practitioners are not regulated and no professional standards are enforced.
What is Energy Medicine?
According to the National Institutes for Health, there are currently more than 60 healing techniques that are based on the alleged existence of a universal life force or energy which permeates all of creation (referred to as chi, qi, prana). Hindus believe it is found in the body’s energy centers known as “chakras” and traditional Chinese medicine proponents say it runs through the body via channels known as meridians. (There is no evidence of the existence of either chakras or meridians.) Common practices based on this energy include Reiki, yoga, acupuncture, therapeutic touch, tai chi, reflexology, EFT, Chakra Therapy, Qi Gong, polarity therapy and a host of others.
“Energy workers” believe illness occurs when this energy becomes unbalanced and that they can restore this balance by manipulating it.
Know Your Energy!
What is perhaps most confusing to the public – and many practitioners – about energy medicine is the distinction between the two forms of energy – veritable and putative – and precisely which one is involved in energy medicine.
In an overview of energy medicine, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the National Institutes for Health provides a clear explanation of these two energy forms.
Veritable energy consists of mechanical vibrations (such as sound) and electromagnetic forces, including visible light, magnetism, monochromatic radiation and rays from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. “They involve the use of specific, measurable wavelengths and frequencies to treat patients.” These forms of energy have been scientifically validated.
Putative energy consists of alleged “energy fields” that human beings are supposedly infused with. This is what practitioners of Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, yoga and others purport to be manipulating. These forms of energy have never been scientifically validated, which is why the NIH reports, “These approaches are among the most controversial of complementary and alternative medical practices because neither the external energy fields nor their therapeutic effects have been demonstrated convincingly by any biophysical means.”
Confusion among the public is caused by energy medicine practitioners who either do not know, or misrepresent, the kind of energy being manipulated. Some use terms such as “vital force” or “bioenergetic” (which can mean just about anything) either because they don’t know what kind of energy they’re using or they don’t want you to know.
Is it Christian?
Compounding this problem are attempts by practitioners to apply a Christian veneer to these practices to make them more palatable to the faithful. For instance, some practitioners claim that Jesus may have used Reiki, or claim the energy they are manipulating is actually the Holy Spirit. Others say that one can simply substitute the name of Jesus or God for this energy force, or choose to believe its source is God, and they will not be violating Christian tenets.
But this is not true simply because the very basis of energy medicine – the energy itself – is not a Christian belief, but a thoroughly New Age concept.
“The New Age god is an impersonal energy, a particular extension or component of the cosmos; god in this sense is the life-force or soul of the world,” writes the authors of the Pontifical document Jesus Christ Bearer of the Water of Life.
“This is very different from the Christian understanding of God as the maker of heaven and earth and the source of all personal life. God is in himself personal, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created the universe in order to share the communion of His life with creaturely persons.”
In addition, Christians believe that man is a union of body and soul and that the soul is an essential form of the body – not an energy force.
“From a spiritual perspective, it is the soul that is the life-principle of the body, not something else. Consequently, there is no spiritual ‘life energy’ animating the body,” write the apologists at Catholic Answers. “Any energy used as part of the body’s operations” such as the electricity in our nervous systems “is material in nature, not spiritual. . . . Since this is contrary to Christian theology, it is inappropriate for Christians to participate in activities based on this belief.”
Energy healers also like to refer to the Christian practice of laying on of hands as a sign that Jesus either used or was channeling some kind of energy force when He healed. However, this only reveals their lack of catechesis. The Catechism teaches us that the Christian use of the hands in healing has nothing to do with channeling energy but is considered a “symbol” of one person interceding for another.
There is so much more than can be said about energy medicine, such as what the science of physics has to say about it, the problems it is causing within the health care profession, why it is a form of “superstitious medicine,” etc. For a more in depth study, see the Learn to Discern Compendium which is available at EWTN’s Religious Catalog.
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Natural Childbirth – Lamaze
CF writes: “We were taught the Lamaze technique in the 70’s for natural childbirth. Is it New Age? It has breathing exercises and effleurage massage.”
Kirtan: Hindu Meditative Music Has Hidden Meaning
B writes: “[O]ne topic that might be helpful to address, if you haven’t already, is the Hindu meditative chanting practice called, Kirtan. It’s become very popular on a local level as well as artists who travel around the country(ies), often performing in Yoga studios. The music is beautiful, enticing, esp. in a large group and can produce deep, trance-like effects. It’s sung in Sanskrit and invokes the Hindu deities. It’s another of those Eastern practices that’s become a ‘cool’ form of spirituality…or rather pseudo-spirituality.”
What’s Wrong with the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”?
Stephen Covey
MG writes: “I am looking for information on The Seven Habits program. My children go to a Catholic school that has incorporated the program into the counseling program. I have been trying to find out more about The Seven Habits program because of what I will call a “gut” feeling. I do not what to go to the school before I have more information to back up my uneasy feelings. Is the program ok and if not where can I look to get more information?”
Converse Sneakers Thinks Satan is Haute Couture
(Courtesy of Wikicommons, Paul Downey cc BY 2.0)
In an effort to capitalize on the culture’s fascination with the occult, Converse sneakers has introduced a new sneaker that features an inverted pentagram designed by a misguided fashion icon who thinks Satan is haute couture.
Can Christians Practice the Martial Arts?
MS writes: “So many Catholics parents like myself are conflicted about allowing our children to take up the practice of karate and the martial arts. Can you give us some information and advice?”
Should I See a Pet Psychic?
Snarkey & Mojo on their first day in their new home.
MS asks: “I’m seeing more and more advertisements for pet psychics at my vet’s office. Are these people for real?”
