Eleni Frangatos

Laying on of hands, fluid therapy, and general considerations

Jesus said: 

"And these signs shall follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and, if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and heal them". (Mark 16: 1-18.) 

Many people, even some Spiritists, who are just beginning their studies on the Doctrine, consider that Mediumship is unique to Spiritism.

The truth is that Mediumship is innate to all human beings, no matter what religion they embrace. So you also have Mediumship in a greater or lesser degree. You can work it, or not, but it is there in you. It is latent in all of us. In some, it manifests itself with greater or lesser intensity, giving place to the classification made by Kardec about the various types of Mediums (The Book of Mediums, Chapter XIV - The Mediums).

In turn, Mediumship brings us to the question of the laying on of hands made by fluid therapists. Through the so-called spiritual pass, fluid or bio-energy is channeled to another person. This fluid comes from the Good Spirits, from the therapist, or from both. Thousands of people, even followers of other religions, seek relief for their physical and emotional pain in Spiritist Centers, and are received and treated with no discrimination whatsoever, regardless of their beliefs.

When we talk about "giving a spiritual pass" or donating energy and healing light by the laying on of hands, we immediately think of Spiritism.
 
Even the Pharaohs were treated through the laying on of hands too

We know, however, that the laying on of hands has already been practiced since the caveman. There are hand representations – rock paintings, or petroglyphs - in Australia, New Guinea, in the Pyrenees in France, where the emphasis is on the hand. The hand is life, strength, and power. It appeases and passes special powers for protection. There are records on laying on of hands, now clearly with the purpose of curing, referring to the Assyrian priests in ancient Mesopotamia, and then later in ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs themselves were subject to the laying on of hands made by their Priest-Physicians. The Tibetan monks make use of the laying on of hands, as well as the Hindus in ancient China, Japan, thousands of years before Jesus Christ, the Master. Pastors of Evangelical Churches practice it too; the hand as a symbol is also used in the Jewish rites; so do the priests in the Catholic Church - impositio manus, and it is also used in the Candomble*, Umbanda*, and virtually in all religions and sects.
 
Those who work with the laying on of hands can also be called Healers. In the USA and in England, the services of healers are widely used and accepted; healers attend specific colleges for psychics. At the end of the course, properly accredited, they charge for their services according to a legal price list and organize themselves into unions. This creates such a great number that it is almost impossible to mention here all the branches and trends, and therefore, more briefly, we say that the laying on of hands is used by all those who call themselves spiritualists.
 
We are to blame for our health conditions
 
Reiki uses the same system to heal physically and emotionally by donating energy - energizing. Also the Johrei (Light of God) uses the laying on of hands in their World Messianic Church; so do the followers of Umbanda, the Mormons, and the Shamans. In the eighteenth century, Franz Mesmer, a German physician founded the theory of animal magnetism - Mesmerism - for the purpose of healing. Mesmer was considered a charlatan by some and notable by others, because he was the forerunner of the movement that drew attention to paranormal phenomena.

Presently, in African tribes, some still in the phase of the Mesolithic and Neolithic – they do not even know who Jesus is - the witch-healer of the tribe lays on hands over the head or body of the patient. In Mozambique, for example, still today, there are witch-healers, called "tinyanga". Among the various possible procedures, the laying on of hands is part of their healing rites and protection against all evil. Here I make a parenthesis to tell you that these witch-healers believe with absolute conviction that they were selected by the Spirits of the dead and their mission is to care for others during their life here on Earth. According to them, the Spirits choose and inform them of their choice. The tinyanga never refuse this mission, and if they do, the Spirits punish them and they die prematurely, because the one, who does not accomplish his spiritual mission, becomes useless and therefore does not deserve to go on living.

Let us return now to our western and modern civilization. There are thousands of ways of healing, relieving physical and emotional pain, which are based on the release of the power centers in our body allowing energy to flow normally and thus the organs can function in the same balanced way they were designed to operate originally. We know that we are the sole responsible for the way we live our lives, the cruel way we mistreat our body and the mental garbage that we allow to pass through our minds - we destroy our health. 

It is in the Spirit that most of our health problems begin 

Our negative thoughts cause physical problems and our physical problems cause distorted, confused, and depressive ways of thinking, through the influence of the mind on the body or the body on the mind (psychophysiology/physiopsychology) - which deals with the intimate relationship and their mutual influence between reactions caused by the body over the mind and vice versa). This intimate relationship, when unbalanced, leads us sometimes to hit the rocks and we are powerless to react.

This is one of the cases when the donated energy, through the laying on of hands, allows the person that receives it to temporarily gain back its strength and be able to react, and fight its current state. We can compare it to a mobile being charged. The spiritual pass is accomplished the very moment that transmits the strength required for the patient to begin to react. A quick mention to the fact that only the spiritual pass by itself does not make "miracles" – it requires that the recipient is willing to change his bad habits that affect his health and mind (inner reformation), without which its initial beneficial effects become to fade back into mental confusion and physical diseases.

The laying on of hands is so effective that many doctors all over the world already allow Mediums to apply fluid therapy in ICUs. The result is amazing. Other doctors, unbelievers of its real importance, consider the laying on of hands as a placebo effect and refuse to accept even the possibility of something beyond traditional medicine.

Before proceeding, I would say, quite emphatically, that those who are sick should urgently seek traditional medicine and, if desired, also seek the spiritual treatment, as it is in the Spirit that most of our health problems begin.

The Spiritist cannot and should not charge for any spiritual work

A Medium, a fluid therapist, or whoever is administering this form of treatment should never influence or lead a patient to abandon the traditional medicine treatment or to stop taking the medicines prescribed by the physician, without first consulting him.

The one, who does not take care of his body and does not control his mind, pays a very high price. Mens sana in corpore sano (healthy mind in a healthy body), so said Juvenal in ancient Rome.

There are numerous ways to work with the laying on of hands - the ritual, and the movement of the hands is sometimes quite different, as well as the period of time it lasts. As for payment, many work for free and others charge for this work. The true Spiritist cannot and should not charge for something that does not belong to him (the work is of the Spirits and the fluid therapist is used as a mere intermediary channel) and cannot receive any payment, gift, souvenir, or benefit from any advantage.

Now let's see what happens in the current Spiritist Movement and the risks it runs. Let's talk about a series of fads, not yet proven as healing, and that fascinate some leaders and workers at Spiritist Centers, who want to attach other currents, leading to a folklore that has nothing to do with the Doctrine.

One of the arguments that I most hear is that times have changed, and the Doctrine must also evolve, accept and allow the insertion of various practices that are called spiritualists, but cannot be defined as Spiritists or Kardecists. Here I am in no way disregarding such procedures; I have a deep respect for them, but who is Spiritist needs to follow the basics of this Doctrine and not A + B + C, only because it is fashionable or because he feels good with another type of Spirituality.

I believe that the Spiritual Center, organized according to the rules of Allan Kardec's work, should follow them, so there is a consensus and homogeneity of teachings and values. If we do not do this, if each center does what its leaders want and think is appropriate, they will sure be contributing a lot to the loss of credibility of the Doctrine.

Spiritism and Criticism

It is often said that Spiritism limits, that it is a static doctrine, and that some Spiritist Centers follow many rules, controlling procedures, and forgetting the fundamental purpose of the Doctrine: love of neighbor and practice of true charity, in its many features as forgiveness, solidarity, compassion, non-judgment, and so on. Yes, in some ways, I do agree. However, this cannot serve as a basis of argument, as an excuse to "open the door" to everything, inserting, for example, chromo-therapy (mental or with the use of colored lights), the use of specific sounds to this or that treatment, Ayurveda massage, or even acupuncture and other forms of medical treatment. With all our due respect, these treatments are not part of the Doctrine. And what we see is that, with the excuse of a needed updating, some Spiritist Centers allow the adding of other type of treatments that have nothing to do with Spiritism and its specific spiritual treatment. The truth is that, if this is not restricted, then in a few years the Doctrine will have completely lost its fundamentals. In short: the purpose of the Spiritist Center is to instruct and lead to personal renewal through the inner reformation of the individual, and perform spiritual treatment through the spiritual pass, the laying on of hands.

All areas of knowledge undergo a constant evolution. Today, this development, given modern technology and easy access to information, is dizzying. At the time of the great philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, among others, there was time to think and knowledge was general and comprehensive, consolidated. There was enough time...

Jesus, who healed in most cases with a simple laying on of hands, had no mobile, no WhatsApp, much less internet or TV or radio, but His teachings have spread and persist to this day, because they are solid, moral, ethical and, above all, contain the greatest teaching regarding respect, love of neighbor and oneself. If the individual does not respect, love and accept himself deeply, he will never be able to do it in relation to others.

I think about how everything evolves in the various areas of life and come to the conclusion that there is no doubt that the Doctrine, accompanying what the progress and current technology offers us and puts at our disposal, will also undergo changes predicted by Kardec himself. If we are not prepared for it, the Doctrine will be stagnant, not as a symbol of a Reasoned Faith, but of an imposed Faith. 

Kardec’s criteria are still valid

Kardec lived in France in the nineteenth century at a time of an intense bubbling of knowledge, and his formal education was excellent. The messages that were passed to him by the Mediums were carefully analyzed and evaluated with regard to their logic and coherency. The information passed was kept under observation until it was discarded or confirmed.

Let us do the same with the possible changes or insertions in the Doctrine and I do believe that we will be treading the right and safe way and without precipitation, certain that the criteria adopted by Kardec remain valid.

So I think we should go slowly with the litter. There are some Spiritist Centers that, without regard to the determination of the FEB (Brazilian Spiritist Federation), insert everything that is proposed by some of its leaders and workers, in a desire to please everyone and be able to show a greater number of goers.

I do not mean by this that there are no sound currents, and worthy of our respect, but they should not be inserted into the practices of the Spiritist Centers. We are free to experiment democratically what seems good, sometimes driven by curiosity to compare what suits us, but everything in its place.

Do you want to try acupuncture or chromo therapy? Then go ahead and look for a good professional in these areas and try it, but do not add them to the Spiritist Center.

In things of great seriousness and responsibility, involving spiritual influence on others and ourselves, we must be a little more careful, critical, let us analyze a lot, and have common sense!

The Encoder, who studied so much, both analyzed and criticized, and for years and years collected information and messages to give a solid support to everything that he wrote and taught in his works, does not deserve what we are doing regarding his works and the Doctrine.

Leaders of Spiritist Centers, Light Workers, let us think about this.

* Candomble and Umbanda are Brazilian religions with African traditions, Catholicism, Spiritism and natives beliefs.