What is it about?
This co-written chapter by Jenny Butler and Maria Tighe gives an overview of the kinds of holistic healing practices (also called "Mind-Body-Spirit) found in Ireland and Britain and how healing of the whole person is central, with attention paid to the person's body, emotional state and spiritual life. These holistic approaches are connected up with so-called "New Age" thinking of philosophies that underlie or influence them. It includes case studies of angel therapy.
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Why is it important?
The chapter is important in documenting the kind of holistic healing practices that exist in Ireland and Britain; it shows what people are actual doing, whether the practitioners who are offering the services or their clients/customers. It shows what people are looking for in terms of healing and the significance of the emotional, psychological and spiritual healing aspect. The study reveals how "New Age" philosophies and thinking influences holistic healing practices, and vice versa. Therefore, it shows the significance of certain kinds of spirituality (that has been categorized as New Age) in society and what forms it takes. Form of New Age healing explored in the study include Angel Therapy and energy healing.
Perspectives
As a co-author of the chapter, I was especially interested in how influential New Age thinking and religious ideas are in the Irish context when it comes to health. As part of my research for the chapter, I interviewed Angel Therapists and people who do different kinds of energy healing (Reiki, healing with crystals, Integrated Energy Therapy) about what they do and why they do it, and how they feel it benefits people. It's interesting how people might use such practices on their own as "alternative medicine" or in addition to established medical practices as "supplementary medicine".
Dr Jenny Butler
University College Cork
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Holistic Health And New Age In Britain And The Republic Of Ireland, January 2007, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004153554.i-484.145.
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