PO writes: “I have been having acupuncture for 2.5 years on a regular basis for anxiety. The Dr. that is treating me is a Catholic and a MD. I have benefited greatly from this therapy. He does mention that I have had blocks that need to be opened and I do feel very relaxed after the treatments. . . .
” . . . I do not feel that he is doing anything that is against the Catholic Church but when I went to a healing service at our local Catholic church they had acupuncture on the list that was something that one should not do. My main question is that during this healing service I held up my hand and renounced all of these practices that were listed and acupuncture was one of them. If I go back to have acupuncture am I allowing a bad spirit back into my life. IE: devil?”
Yes, you may be allowing a bad spirit back into your life and you’re also going back on your word to Jesus. Neither is a very good idea.
The reason the acupuncture is making you feel better is because pricking the skin with a needle releases pain-relieving endorphins and other chemicals that naturally make you feel better. It has nothing to do with the “blockage” your doctor referenced. This “blockage” is based on a belief based in Traditional Chinese Medicine that a universal life force permeates the universe, including the human body. This alleged energy enters the body through “energy centers” known as meridians. Practitioners believe that Imbalances in this energy (yin yang) are what cause illness.
The problem with this belief is that there is no such thing as a universal life force, which explains why scientists have been able to prick the skin anywhere on the body – not just in the alleged meridians – and bring relief to people.
That said, there is a very real spiritual component to acupuncture that must be dealt with.
As the website Acupuncture Today explains, in oriental medicine, there is no separation between mind, body and spirit. All are seen as components of the life force. This is why acupuncturists believe that “the spirit is the motive force of organism and must be reached first in order to initiate the healing process.”
It goes on to explain: “In Oriental medicine, the acupuncture needle is often seen as the instrument of containing the spirit because the needles are inserted into discrete acupuncture points, each of which is said to control specific physiological functions of the body down to the cellular level – indeed, what we might think of as the innate wisdom or spirit of the body.
“However, Oriental medicine also recognizes that before a practitioner can insert a needle in someone, another form of spirit connecting is also optimal. Whether it be guided imagery, eye contact, a handshake, or the ability to listen and be present, satisfying medicine for both practitioner and patient requires the possibility of meaningful interaction that allows a deeper, soulful, spiritual encounter. It is the medicine of the past and the new millennium. Needling acupuncture points is a powerful avenue for achieving this connection.”
The article goes on to list different locations in the body to needle in order to affect the spirit of a person.
As this licensed California acupuncturist explains, “There are many Taoist spiritual acupuncture points that deal with a bevy of spiritual issues. Anything from getting you back on your life path to what is buried in your subconscious mind.”
In other words, whether your Catholic acupuncturist intends it or not, the spiritual aspect of acupuncture is intrinsic to the practice. Acupuncture is based on the belief that there is no separation between mind, body and spirit so whatever the acupuncturist is doing is intended to affect all three aspects of the patient.
In addition to this, when you are laying on a table being treated by an acupuncturist, you are opening yourself to a practitioner who believes in a universal life force which is akin to a god in many religions. As we read in the Pontifical document, Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life, this life force energy is called “the New Age god.”
Although Taoism does not have a god, per se, Tao is considered to be the universal life force or the underlying nature of all things that exist in the world and the path one must follow.
Christians believe the path we must follow is the Will of our Creator, not the Tao!
Because we know that the universal life force does not exist, and the Fathers of our Church teach that Satan and his minions hide behind the false gods of other religions, we are exposing ourselves to demonic forces whenever we participate in practices that are based in these beliefs.
This is where the spiritual harm can come to a person who is receiving acupuncture – or any other treatment based in the existence of a universal life force. It is akin to putting our faith and hope for healing in a false god who does not exist, and who may be serving as a front behind which Satan can operate with impunity.
My advice is to keep your word to Jesus and stay away from acupuncture.
