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greater or lesser density, but fundamentally, nothing is made of anything other
than these probability tendencies that move between waves and particles. But it
gets even more interesting!
At the quantum level of reality, a physicist’s expectation regarding how a
photon or electron will act during an experiment actually determines what results
he or she will obtain. The Newtonian objectivity is replaced by quantum
subjectivity. “Subatomic interactions are not only unexplainable and
unpredictable, they are in some mysterious way affected by the intentions of us
their observers.” (Shelton, 1999, p.3) An example of the power of intention can
be found in the conflicting discoveries of two ground-breaking physicists. In
1803, Thomas Young’s double slit experiment proved that light must be wave-like
in composition because only waves could create the interference patterns that he
obtained. But in 1921, Einstein won a Noble Prize for his theory of light as
composed of tiny particles called photons and this theory was substantiated by
several experiments. But a wave cannot be a particle and a particle cannot be a
wave, so how could both theories be true? According to Gary Zukov, the wave-
particle duality marked the end of the either/or way of looking at the world.
Physicists began to realize that light could be either wave or particle depending
on how the scientist looked at it. The implication of this is that what we are
experiencing is not external reality but rather an interaction with the physical
world that we are co-creating. Physicists are now asking such questions as, “Did
any particles exist at all before we thought about them and measured them?”
Along the same theme, Werner Heisenberg discovered that at the
subatomic level it is not possible to observe something without changing it.
Objectivity does not apply at the subatomic level. In his efforts to observe the
momentum of an electron, he actually changed the course and speed of the
electron. He found that he was unable to measure both the position and the
momentum of the electron. This became the basis of his famous “uncertainty
principle”. Given the lack of information on subatomic particles, we are unable to
apply Newton’s laws of motion or to predict the course of a single electron. For
this reason, according to Niels Bohr, quantum physics must “renounce causality”
as the basis of reality (Zukov, 2001, p. 127-126).
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the fate of the cat be determined. The box is sealed and the gas device is
randomly triggered or not. The question is what has happened to the cat? The
Newtonian physicist would say, “Open the box and find out”, but according to
quantum physics, the cat is in a kind of limbo of possibilities expressed by a
wave function that includes survival and death. One possibility might be more
probable than the other if the odds of the device firing were not 50/50, but from
the perspective of quantum physics, nothing has actually happened until
someone actually looks into the box! At that moment in time, the wave function
of probability collapses and only one of the possibilities is actualized. According
to the Copenhagen Interpretation, which one of the possibilities is realized
depends upon which interpretation we choose to follow. According to the Many
Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, all possibilities are immediately
realized in different worlds or realities in which we also exist, but the person we
know as “you” or “I” currently only experiences one of the realities. Which one of
those realities that you or I will experience is impossible to predict.
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other galaxies. This phenomenon, referred to as "nonlocality", suggests that all
particles are related in a dynamic and intimate way that meets the definition of
“organic”. Zukov suggests that the philosophical implication of quantum
mechanics is that we are actually all part of one all-encompassing organic
pattern and that no part is ever really separate from another. For this reason, the
distinction between “in here” (consciousness or internal reality) and “out there”
(external reality) does not appear to actually exist!
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perhaps referring to the practice of wearing a blindfold or eye-mask while altering
his or her state of consciousness for the purpose of contacting helping,
compassionate spirits to aid in divination, healing, and gaining insight into
individual and communal problems. According to anthropologist, Dr. Hank
Wesselman, the Shaman is a mystic. He explains,
Long before the rise of our state level societies, our indigenous ancestors
discovered powerful methods for mastering the capabilities of the human
body-mind-spirit complex. Today, there is a resurgence of interest in the
ancient, time-tested ways of the shaman for entering mystical states of
consciousness for healing and problem solving. Shamanism has emerged
as a major thrust of the modern mystical movement.
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video, "Beyond a Type 1 Universe", he joked that a Nobel Prize should go to the
physicist who does not discover a new particle. But perhaps this tendency of
reality to respond to the intention of the researcher actually serves the healing
intention of the Shaman and patient. Fred Alan Wolf explains that the quantum
field of possibility from which all physical events arise is both,
imaginal and it has physical ramifications. But it’s neither physical nor
purely imaginary. It seems to be both out in space and in our brains at the
same time. When the field changes material objects themselves change.
How do they change? They change because what this field represents is
the field of possibility for all things to happen…The force we’re talking
about is not the force of a physical object upon a physical object. It’s a
change of mind. It’s no more energetic or forceful than a change of
thought or a whim or a fancy of one’s mind, but yet it seems to have
effects. Today, we know that is true. (pp. 14-15)
The Shaman uses a change in mind to affect a healing outcome. In
preparation for the Shamanic journey, the Shaman develops strong compassion
for the one who is in distress and a clear intention to journey into non-ordinary
reality or a mystical state to find the path back to wholeness for that person. The
patient also must have faith that a healing is possible and a strong intention to
recover his or health or well-being. From the perspective of quantum physics,
this alliance of concern and healing intension are co-creating the path back to
health by influencing the quantum field of possibility. A traditional shamanic
healing ceremony often involves long, repetitive rituals, and these very rituals
may be the way that Shamans affect the probability waves that bring reality into
time and space according to William S. Lyon in his article, “Shamanic Healing:
Why It Works”. He states,
Once you understand these new findings of physics, what shamans do in
ceremony appears rational. This means that healing ceremonies are
basically wish-fulfillment exercises, whereby the "wish" is expressed as
prayer. A prayer constitutes an intensely focused, strong human will. It is
the observer effect of quantum mechanics at its best.
In a trance state, the Shaman can effect change in the local reality with
the help of spirit helpers working at the quantum level. “This is achieved through
their ritual action, in which the shaman's consciousness, in an altered state of
being, is intently focused on a singular objective. For example, "Take this cancer
out of this sick person." The healing intension is expressed as a prayer that
guides the ritual and all the participants. The Shaman often invites friends and
family of the patient to attend the healing ceremony, increasing the number of
observers that may affect the outcome, and asks those without faith to leave,
which helps to ensure that everyone present is looking for the same result. The
cure may be accomplished through a ritual such as “sucking” the disease from
the patient, but the technique is less important than the observation that the
disease is gone. That new observation on the part of all present brings about the
needed change in reality that causes the quantum-level probability wave to
collapse in an outcome favoring the patient.
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As we have seen, quantum theory provides a framework to help us
understand why shamanism works as it does, but scientific research into factors
related to effective energy healing also reveal the soundness of many aspects of
shamanic healing. In her book, The Intention Experiment, Lynne McTaggart
listed an number of key factors in effective energy healing as identified by
controlled research experiments that also apply to shamanic practice including:
• Focus or peak attention in the healer
• Attitude of healer (feeling connected to person or having “primed” the
energetic pump)
• Healer’s own well-being (healers’ own health has effect on whether
healing will help or harm)
• Belief that one received healing and that it would be helpful (In double
blind studies of cardiac patients, the best outcome was when the person
received healing, had a sense that he or she received it, and believed it
would be helpful. Those who wrongly believed they received the healing
did not do as well, which means the results are not due merely to the
placebo effect. The worst outcome was for those who did not receive the
healing and did not believe they received the healing.)
• Constructive, positively expressed intention (prayers for “no complications”
after surgery were not effective)
• Patient feels an emotional bond or empathic connection with healer
• Negative thoughts, belief systems, or relationships may slow down healing
(experiment compared the impact of a conflict free constructive discussion
between marital couples versus discussion of a contentious issue on the
rate of wound healing; a small wound took one day longer to heal under
hostile condition)
• Prayer or healing for the healer (healers functioned best when others were
praying for them)
• A "healed" healer may be the most effective of all.
McTaggart comments that healing and positive intention are simply an aspect of
the constant two-way flow of communication between living things, and the
orderly energy of the healer communicated to the receiver helps the energy of
the receiver return to a more orderly pattern of health. Fred Alan Wolf seems to
agree, suggesting that the Shaman accomplishes healing through
communicating a frequency of health from his or her own body to the patient. He
explains,
The shaman knows from his/her own training what the healing vibration is
in their own body. So shamans try to get the person to release some
aspect of themselves (the frequency of illness) that will allow them to
resonate with the shaman. The shaman doesn’t try to vibrate at the
vibrational pattern or frequency of the person he’s healing but will attempt
to teach that person to vibrate at the level of the shaman. If two things
have different frequencies, then they can’t be in harmony. It’s only when
they come to the same frequency that harmony
occurs and a transfer can take place. (p. 18).
From Wolf’s explanation, we can see why health in the Shaman or healer
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is so important before attempting to facilitate healing in someone else and why it
is an essential practice for the Shaman to fill up with power from spiritual allies
before attempting a healing. Wolf says this also explains why a Shaman may
sometimes be vulnerable to attack. By attuning to the Shaman, a person
becomes of one frequency with the Shaman; a bad vibe sent to the Shaman will
then affect his or her energy unless the Shaman knows how to deal with this kind
of energetic attack.
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physics challenge the assumed objectivity of our research and diagnostic
procedures. We may need to reassess what it means to seek out a diagnosis of
pathology in light of the power of the “observer effect” in creating reality. We also
may need to rethink our immediate assumptions when someone reports
experiences in consciousness that we have not had. While some experiences of
alternative realities may actually be helpful, an uncontrolled tour of non-ordinary
reality is usually an unsettling and dysfunctional experience. A useful criterion for
assessing the presence of pathology when considering unusual experiences that
might sound like hallucinations is how functional the person is in the rest of his or
her life. Finally, an interesting application of the findings from quantum physics
would be to re-consider the process of research as an exercise in what we can
co-create for the benefit of the people we seek to assist.
For those of us who consider ourselves healers and ministers, this study
requires us to assume more responsibility for potentially, if unwittingly,
participating in the creation of pathology and other forms of distress as well as for
facilitating healing in the people we seek to assist. I think this is a sobering but
tremendously important point to consider, that our expectations and view of
human nature, healing, and spiritual development may serve to co-create the
experiences of the people we serve for better or worse. Also, given the way
energy, intention, and healing or harm are commonly communicated between
living beings, it seems critical that we attempt to keep ourselves in the best of
health in body, mind, and spirit. It is an act of ministry and a healing intervention
to attend to our own personal healing, taking responsibility for the quality or state
of our own consciousness with the awareness that we are influencing others and
also creating or at least co-creating the reality that we and others will experience.
Ann Gelsheimer has graduate degrees in counselling and clinical psychology, a graduate
diploma in theology, and is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology. She is a licensed
Interfaith Minister with over 20 years of counselling and teaching experience and has completed
training at the Mind-Body Medical Institute at Harvard, advanced shamanic healing training with
the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and Reiki Master training along with several other energy
modalities. She serves as a counsellor, professor, and program coordinator at Seneca College in
Toronto and teaches relaxation and healing visualization for people with cancer, their friends and
families at Wellspring/Sunnybrook Hospital.
References
LeShan, L. (2003). The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist. New York, NY;
Helios Press
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Healing, Fall 2003, http://www.beliefnet.com/story/136/story_13663.html
McTaggart, L. (2007). The Intention Experiment. New York, NY; Free Press.
MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Publisher.
Wesselman, H. Website:
http://www.sharedwisdom.com/workshop_descriptions.htm
Publisher.
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