Alternative & Mystical Healing Therapies

Ancient medical practices have experienced a revival in the last forty years. So, too, have we seen a resurgence of medieval healing thoughts. In Alternative & Mystical Healing Therapies, Edwin A. Noyes, M.D. spells out from the Christian perspective to why these alternative therapies should be approached with caution and disregarded in most cases.

Noyes builds his Christian argument on the basis that most alternative healing therapies are built on pagan religious principals and the unifying notion of an “energy” that all matter has in common. When actual results are subjected to objective scientific research, they are not statistically significant, nor has there ever been scientific evidence of the “energy” that most alternative healing strives to “balance.” He carefully disassembles acupuncture, guided imagery, reiki, magnets, aromatherapy, martial arts, biofeedback, and many other therapies.

For example, yoga—meaning to yoke, originated as a way for Hindu priests to interact with the Hindu gods. Yoga poses, named after Hindu gods, allow the yoga practitioner to invite the god inside allowing the practitioner to get closer to the Hindu spirit world. A spirit world built on the idea of bringing forth the universal energy known as prana, or “the god within us to such a level it would allow us to interact with the spirit entities, and eventually, enter that same spirit state.” But you just like yoga for the stretching, you say. The author quotes several Hindu sources that claim there is neither Hindu without yoga nor yoga without Hindu.

Noyes also advises that any practice that has its origins in the zodiac is Satanic, since the zodiac is based on the planets, “with the sun as chief, and sun worship is Luciferic (Satanic) worship.” This includes acupuncture, herbal medicine, Ayurveda, and others many of which are also dependent on the notion of an imaginary energy source that runs through all living things.

Noyes book is extensively researched and his arguments are eloquently executed. The book has a good glossary and an extensive index. For anyone doing research, it is a valuable tool. However, most of the yoga stretching and exercise this reviewer has observed is eons away from any sort of spiritual Hindu endeavor (more like a bad Laurel and Hardy skit). So, one would be reluctant to share Noyes’s views with one’s overweight Christian friends, who claim yoga is the only sort of exercise they have ever had any success with. One might find the need for a healer.