Recommended Books
By Barbara Janelle M.A.
First Published In Touch, Vol. VI, no. 1, June 1994
I have found several books recently that offer valuable insights to Therapeutic Touch practitioners and teachers.
Redfield, James, The Celestine Prophecy, Hoover, AL: Satori Publishing, 1993
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield is one of the most significant books to be written in recent years. It revolves around nine insights that are leading to a spiritual renaissance on this planet now.
Many of the insights examine the energetic aspect of life on Earth. Of particular interest to those trained in Therapeutic Touch are the energetic exchanges that occur within relationships and between lifeforms. The book speaks of the conscious use of energy to enhance the growth of plants and to keep self and others in peak energetic and creative states. The insight into individual life purpose is extraordinarily valuable.
The book is very readable; indeed once you pick it up it is hard to put down. Many read it in a single sitting and then go back for a second and third reading. I am told that one distributor in the eastern U.S. had already sold 30,000 copies by December 1993.
I think that The Celestine Prophesy is so important that it is now on my required reading list for second and third level Therapeutic Touch.
Yogi Ramacharaka, The Science of Psychic Healing, Chicago IL: Yogi Publication Society, 1909.
In 1909, Yogi Ramacharaka wrote The Science of Psychic Healing and describes what we now call Therapeutic Touch in great detail. Each chapter holds gems of information. The history of laying on of hands, the use of the hands, and visualization are a few of the topics covered.
In ten years of using Therapeutic Touch, I have developed a variety of ways of using my hands to affect the energy field. When a student brought this book to me, I found that my discoveries had been described over eighty years ago. Difference in the effects of longitudinal passes (calming) and transversal passes (useful for loosening up congestion in the field) and hand positions (palmar presentation is the mildest form of offering energy; digital–through the finger tips is stronger) are but two examples drawn from this fund of information.
The Science of Psychic Healing is a small hardcover book, 190 pages in length. It is very clearly written and a delight to read.
Markides, Kyriacos C., The Magus of Stovolus: The Extraordinary World of a Spiritual Healer. England: Arkana, Penguin Books Ltd., 1985.
Homage to the Sun: The Wisdom of the Magus of Strovolus. England: Arkana, Penguin Books Ltd., 1987.
Fire in the Heart: Healers, Sages and Mystics. England: Arkana, Penguin Books Ltd., 1991. (First published by Paragon House, New York, 1990).
Recommended for experienced TT Practitioners are three books by Kyriacos C. Markides about the Cypriot healer Spiros Sathi: The Magus of Strovolos (1985), Homage to the Sun (1987), and Fire in the Heart (1990). Sathi, called Daskalos (Master) by his students is a contemporary and friend of the now deceased British healer Harry Edwards. (Those of you who attended the 1991 Nurse-Healers Conference in Toronto may remember Bruce Pomerantz’s description of Harry Edwards’ work on his back and the complete healing that occurred.)
Markides is a professor of Sociology at the University of Maine. He spent several long periods in Cyprus with Sathi, and his books are in large part compilations of Sathi’s lectures and conversations. Markides’ presentation makes it clear that it is Sathi who is truly speaking.
Spyros Sathi is a master healer and spiritual teacher. His thoughts and work are of profound importance to anyone seeking greater understanding of humans as physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energetic beings. Markides’ books offer deep insights into human consciousness and healing practices from the vantage of Christian mysticism. They have proven very important and useful to me in my practice of Therapeutic Touch. I recommend them to experienced TT practitioners.
Choa Kok Sui, Pranic Healing. York Beach Maine: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1990.
Intermediate and Advanced TT Practitioners may find Choa Kok Sui’s Pranic Healing useful. The book offers information on a form of energetic healing similar to Therapeutic Touch, which incorporates breathing in the energetic exchange. I am halfway through this book and am already using some of the exercises for sensitizing students’ hands in my beginning courses. While I question some of the tenets in the book, I find it thought provoking and useful.
Choa Kok Sui’s description on Page 45 of color visualization and “stabilizing” projected prana with blue is similar to a finishing blue bubble that I put around recipients when I finish a treatment. His exercise of forming three energetic balls, two white and one blue on a table top illustrates the effect of color and conscious will on stabilizing energy. After 20 minutes, a white ball disappears if it is not instructed to stay. The white ball willed to stay for an hour is easily found in a scan of the table, as is the blue ball, which stays without instruction. The book is very well illustrated and simply written.
Note:
James Redfield’s Celestine Prophesy is one of the most important books written in the last 100 years. It is about living sacred truths, the functioning of chakra system and energetic interchange among all Earth’s elements.
My friend and fellow teacher, Jitka Malec, introduced me to Yogi Ramacharaka’s ideas. The books on his work were written by his students in the early 1900’s and they describe much of what we understand and do in TT today. His books are valid today; indeed they are clearer and more useful than many of the more current books.
Markides books on Spiro Sathi are a major find. One of the most valuable pieces I’ve borrowed from Sathi is the energy ball. In offering a ball of light to the field, I found that it was most easily accepted at the chakras and joints (where there are secondary and tertiary chakras). The use of this helped me to recognise that the field transformed the energy that it took in speed, volume and frequency (colour) to best meet its own needs and directed the energy to where it was needed. More and more I became convinced that the field was the leading partner in the TT treatment.
Choa Kok Sui’s cookbook approach does not fit the framework of TT’s response to ongoing assessment. However, he does offer some interesting ideas:
a) the energy ball (also described by Markides and Sathi)
b) combing the “health rays” that extend outward perpendicularly from the physical body as a way of reducing local congestion.
c) the discussion of chakra function –BJ 2/99