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From Spiritfold, Australian Spiritual Alliance: https://spiritfold.com.au/Energy_healing

Energy healing

From Spiritfold
A round wooden tub with metal rods and cords projecting from its lid, displayed on a white plinth in a museum gallery with framed pictures on purple and white walls
An authentic Mesmer baquet from the late eighteenth century, shown in an exhibition. Photo: Romainbehar, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Energy healing is a broad name for practices in which the practitioner aims to sense and influence "subtle energies" said to belong to the body. Researchers increasingly group the hands-on forms, such as Reiki, therapeutic touch, Johrei, pranic healing and qigong, under the name biofield therapies.[1] The wider term energy medicine also takes in devices that apply very weak electromagnetic signals to the body.[2] For Reiki, one of the best known of these practices, the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says there is no scientific evidence that the energy field it is thought to work with exists.[3]

This page gives an overview of the idea and of the strands that people often list under it: energy, frequency and vibration, light, and magnetism. Practices with their own Spiritfold pages are linked rather than described again.

Description

Key terms

The word biofield was proposed in 1992 by a committee of complementary medicine practitioners and researchers advising the new Office of Alternative Medicine at the US National Institutes of Health. The committee wanted one generic term for "energetic therapies", among them Reiki, Therapeutic Touch and external qigong, each of which has its own explanation and vocabulary drawn from a particular culture.[2] The 1992 definition described the biofield as a field without mass, not necessarily electromagnetic, that surrounds and passes through living bodies.[1]

Many practitioners use older names for a life energy, such as qi (chi) in Chinese medicine, ki in Japanese medicine and prana in Ayurveda. Energy healers often describe energy coming from their hands, and say they sense imbalances in a person's energy field and work to release what they perceive as blockages.[2]

Hands-on and distant practice

In biofield therapies the practitioner works with the energy field of both practitioner and client, without any invasive procedure.[1] One example is Therapeutic Touch, developed in 1972 by Dolores Krieger, a nursing professor at New York University, and Dora Kunz. The practitioner places the hands on or near the body of the person for about 10 to 15 minutes, first moving them over the body to find what is described as imbalance, then "unruffling" and directing energy where it is felt to be blocked. Krieger explained the practice in terms of prana.[4] For Reiki, see its own page.

Healing at a distance, through intention or prayer, was classed in 1992 as a separate, mind–body approach. In practice the same practitioner often does both, as in Reiki.[2]

Frequency and vibration

Some practitioners use electronic devices. In "bioresonance", for example, advertisers say that people give off electromagnetic waves that only the device can measure, that the device can read these waves to detect illness, and that it can send corrected waves back to the person. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has acted against advertising of these devices (see Energy healing in Australia).[5] Practices that use the sound and vibration of instruments are described under Sound healing.

Light and colour

Light has a place in several energy practices. In Johrei, which Mokichi Okada developed in Japan in the 1920s, the healer and the recipient usually face each other and the healer holds a cupped palm towards the recipient's upper body; practitioners believe a divine light of purification passes through the healer's hand.[4] The use of coloured light and imagined colour is described under Colour therapy.

Magnetism and magnetic therapy

Static magnets are placed on or near the body. Those sold for pain are often built into a wristband or other wrap worn against the skin, and they are also sold in jewellery, mats, pillows and bed pads. Devices containing electromagnets, whose fields change in strength, are a different group.[6] "Magnetic healing" also has an older meaning, going back to Mesmer's animal magnetism (see Traditions and lineage).[7]

Scope

What it includes

  • Hands-on and hands-near practices said to work with a biofield or life energy[1]
  • Healing at a distance by intention or prayer[2]
  • Practices built around light, such as Johrei[4]
  • Static magnets worn or placed on the body[6]
  • Devices said to read or send energy, such as bioresonance devices[5]

What it is not

  • It is not a proven treatment. NCCIH says there is no scientific evidence that the energy field thought to be involved in Reiki exists.[3] In a 1998 study published in JAMA, 21 experienced Therapeutic Touch practitioners were asked, without seeing, which of their hands the investigator's hand was held over. They chose correctly in 44% of trials, close to the 50% expected by chance.[8]
  • Reviews of the research disagree. A 2010 review of 66 clinical studies of biofield therapies judged the studies to be of medium quality overall, reported strong evidence that the therapies reduced pain intensity in people with pain, rated other findings as moderate or equivocal, and called for more high-quality studies.[9] Its two authors were also among the authors of the 2015 biofield paper cited on this page.[1]
  • For static magnets, a 2007 meta-analysis of nine placebo-controlled trials found no significant difference in pain between magnets and placebo, and concluded that the evidence does not support their use for pain relief.[10] NCCIH describes research on static magnets for pain as extremely limited, with no conclusive evidence that they work for any kind of pain.[6]
  • It is not medical light therapy or medical magnetic stimulation. Australia's healthdirect lists light therapy, also called phototherapy, among the treatments for diagnosed seasonal affective disorder.[11] NCCIH notes that some magnetic devices, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for specific conditions and count as conventional medicine.[6]
  • It is not a substitute for medical care. Victoria's Better Health Channel warns that incorrect diagnosis or delaying conventional treatment can increase the risk to a person's health.[12]

Traditions and lineage

Life energy

According to biofield researchers, ideas of a life energy such as qi, ki and prana grew out of metaphysical thinking about consciousness and the first-hand reports of experienced spiritual practitioners, and most traditional healing practices hold that illness begins with an imbalance or blockage in the flow of this energy.[2]

Mesmer and animal magnetism

Franz Anton Mesmer (1733–1815), an Austrian doctor, taught that a universal, extremely fine fluid links the heavens, the earth and living bodies. He called the body's sensitivity to it "animal magnetism". His patients sat around the baquet, a covered tub from which bent iron rods could be applied to the body.[7]

In 1784 the French government asked commissioners, chaired by Benjamin Franklin, to look for the physical force Mesmer claimed. They found no evidence of a magnetic fluid and suggested the cures might come from imagination. Later "magnetisers" kept the idea of a magnetic emanation, and their patients said they could see it as a bright shaft of light coming from the operator. In time hypnotism grew out of it and was accepted in medicine, while the phenomena of animal magnetism were absorbed into the Spiritualist movement.[7]

The biofield in the twentieth century

Biofield researchers trace the idea of a biological field to embryology, where Alexander Gurwitsch and others in the first half of the twentieth century proposed a "morphogenetic field" guiding the development of living things, without settling its physical basis. They present the biofield as the beginnings of a scientific foundation for energy medicine.[2] Therapeutic Touch (1972) and the 1992 term "biofield" belong to this later period (see Description above).[4][2]

Context

Within Spiritualism

Healing is described in Spiritualist sources in the language of energy. The National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC) in the United States calls Spiritualist healing a form of mediumship and a simple, safe and supportive "energy therapy", complementary to all other treatment, and always encourages patients to seek medical advice.[13] It lists magnetic healing, in which a healer with a surplus of "magnetic energy" passes it on to others, among the most common healing practices in Spiritualist churches.[14] NSAC also teaches a "Law of Vibration", holding that all life is vibration.[15]

The link is historical as well. Animal magnetism merged into the Spiritualist movement in the nineteenth century,[7] and an anthropologist who studied a Montreal Spiritualist congregation found that its healers, who do not actually touch the person receiving healing, look in their work much like the old magnetisers.[16] Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the "passes" of Spiritism as a biofield therapy and names Reiki as another.[17] Spiritualists' own healing is described on the Spiritual healing page.

In Australian Spiritualism

Victorian Spiritualism had its foundations in mesmerism, according to the Encyclopedia of Melbourne.[18] In 1870 William Henry Terry set up in Russell Street, Melbourne, selling Spiritualist books and working as a medium, a "trance and magnetic healer" and a clairvoyant herbalist.[19]

Today the New Age Spiritualist Mission in South Australia says it offers training in "Energy Work" alongside mediumship and spiritual healing, and lists aura cleansing, chakra balancing and "earth energies" among subjects its teaching may cover.[20] The Victorian Spiritualists' Union compares the unseen spirit world with the many vibrations of sound and sight that human ears and eyes cannot pick up.[21]

A Spiritualist perspective

Spiritualists have spoken of energy, magnetism and vibration from the movement's beginnings, so the language of energy healing will feel familiar. The difference lies in the source. A Spiritualist healer understands the healing to come through the spirit world, with the healer as a medium, while many energy practices speak of a life force within the practitioner, a field around the body, or a device. Neither view needs to belittle the other, but each should be named honestly so that people know what they are being offered.

We would add a word of care. Energy work should never be presented as a way of finding illness, and no device or magnet should be offered as a cure. Ask before you touch, explain what you do, and encourage anyone who is unwell to keep seeing a registered health practitioner.

Energy healing in Australia

Devices and advertising

In 2019 the TGA began a sector-wide compliance activity on the advertising of bioresonance devices, which it found had a high rate of non-compliant advertising. It said a large number of health practitioners were promoting the devices to detect and treat serious diseases and conditions, and that such claims are prohibited or restricted representations. Its examples of non-compliant claims included treating cancers, mental health conditions and autism. The TGA advised advertisers not to advertise a device that is not on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), and to make sure any advertising for a registered device complies with the advertising requirements.[5]

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has also dealt with claims for magnetic products. In 2004 it accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from a supplier of therapeutic magnetic products, which admitted that some of its earlier claims may have been false or misleading and undertook to make no claims for such products without reasonable grounds, such as reliable scientific evidence.[22]

Choosing a practitioner

Better Health suggests asking practitioners about their training and qualifications at the first visit, and being very cautious of any practitioner who advises giving up conventional medical treatment.[12]

Safety and good practice

NCCIH reports that Reiki has not been shown to cause harm.[3] Better Health advises never stopping prescribed medicines, or changing the dose, without first talking to a doctor.[12]

Magnets

NCCIH gives these cautions about magnets:[6]

  • Some magnets can affect pacemakers, insulin pumps and other medical devices.[6]
  • Magnetic bracelets, necklaces and other devices should be taken off before an MRI scan or similar imaging.[6]
  • Anyone who is pregnant or has a health condition should talk to a health professional before using magnets.[6]
  • Magnets should be kept out of children's reach, because small magnets can be swallowed or inhaled, and this can be fatal.[6]
  • Magnets bought without a prescription should not be used to put off seeing a health professional about pain or any other problem.[6]

Devices

The TGA suggests that anyone considering diagnosis or treatment with bioresonance or similar devices first read its guidance, "Three questions to ask natural health practitioners about testing services".[5]

Common questions

What is a biofield?

It is the name given in 1992, at a conference of the US National Institutes of Health, to a field without mass, not necessarily electromagnetic, said to surround and pass through living bodies.[1] The term was chosen so that practices with different cultural explanations, such as Reiki and qigong, could be described with one word.[2]

Is there scientific evidence for energy healing?

NCCIH says no scientific evidence supports the existence of the energy field that Reiki is thought to use.[3] Reviews of clinical studies disagree: a 2010 review reported positive findings for some outcomes but called for better studies,[9] and a 1998 test found that Therapeutic Touch practitioners could not detect a person's "energy field" better than chance.[8]

Are magnetic bracelets safe?

NCCIH says static magnets and electromagnetic devices both appear safe for treating pain, but magnets can affect pacemakers and insulin pumps and should be taken off before MRI scans.[6] Small magnets are dangerous if a child swallows or breathes them in.[6]

Is energy healing part of Spiritualism?

Spiritualist healing is itself described as an energy therapy by NSAC, which also counts magnetic healing among common church practices.[13][14] NSAC describes the healer as a channel who links, through attunement, to healing energy from spirit healers; this is the subject of the Spiritual healing page.[13]

Is it the same as the light therapy a doctor might suggest?

No. Medical light therapy, or phototherapy, is one of the treatments healthdirect lists for diagnosed seasonal affective disorder,[11] whereas in Johrei, for example, the light is understood as a divine light of purification passing through the healer's hand.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Jain, S., R. Hammerschlag, P. Mills, L. Cohen, R. Krieger, C. Vieten and S. Lutgendorf. "Clinical Studies of Biofield Therapies: Summary, Methodological Challenges, and Recommendations". Global Advances in Health and Medicine 4 (Suppl), 2015: 58–66. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2015.034.suppl. Full text read via Europe PMC (accessed 14 October 2026).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Rubik, B., D. Muehsam, R. Hammerschlag and S. Jain. "Biofield Science and Healing: History, Terminology, and Concepts". Global Advances in Health and Medicine 4 (Suppl), 2015: 8–14. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2015.038.suppl. Full text read via Europe PMC (accessed 14 October 2026).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Reiki". National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, US National Institutes of Health. Last updated December 2018 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Sonnex, C. "Psi Healing Research". Psi Encyclopedia. Society for Psychical Research, created 25 July 2015, last updated 5 April 2026. Article body only (accessed 14 October 2026).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Therapeutic Goods Administration. "TGA cracking down on non-compliant advertising of bioresonance and similar devices". Australian Government, published 16 August 2019 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 "Magnets For Pain: What You Need To Know". National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, US National Institutes of Health. Last updated January 2023 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Mesmerism". Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, 5th ed., ed. J. Gordon Melton. Gale, 2001. Via Encyclopedia.com (accessed 14 October 2026).
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Rosa, L., E. Rosa, L. Sarner and S. Barrett. "A close look at therapeutic touch". JAMA 279(13), 1998: 1005–1010. doi:10.1001/jama.279.13.1005. Abstract read via Europe PMC (accessed 14 October 2026).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jain, S. and P. J. Mills. "Biofield therapies: helpful or full of hype? A best evidence synthesis". International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 17(1), 2010: 1–16. doi:10.1007/s12529-009-9062-4. Abstract read via Europe PMC (accessed 14 October 2026).
  10. ↑ Pittler, M. H., E. M. Brown and E. Ernst. "Static magnets for reducing pain: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials". CMAJ 177(7), 2007: 736–742. doi:10.1503/cmaj.061344. Abstract read via Europe PMC (accessed 14 October 2026).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)". healthdirect, Australian Government. Last reviewed February 2024 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Complementary therapies". Better Health Channel, Department of Health, State Government of Victoria. Reviewed 29 July 2021 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 National Spiritualist Association of Churches. What is Spiritual Healing? Brochure, 2024 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 National Spiritualist Association of Churches. Healing Basics: An exploration into Spiritual Healing. Brochure, 2024 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  15. ↑ National Spiritualist Association of Churches. "Philosophy & Natural Law" (no date shown; accessed 14 October 2026).
  16. ↑ Meintel, Deirdre. "When There Is No Conversion: Spiritualists and Personal Religious Change". Anthropologica 49 (2007): 149–162, pp. 152–153 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  17. ↑ Shulman, Dylan. "Spiritism". Encyclopaedia Britannica, published 29 May 2024. Signed article text, read from the Internet Archive copy of 15 August 2026 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  18. ↑ Gabay, Al. "Spiritualism and Mesmerism". eMelbourne: The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online. School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne, July 2008 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  19. ↑ Smith, F. B. "Terry, William Henry (1836–1913)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 6. Melbourne University Press, 1976 (accessed 14 October 2026).
  20. ↑ New Age Spiritualist Mission Inc. Home page (no date shown; accessed 14 October 2026).
  21. ↑ Victorian Spiritualists' Union. "About Spiritualism" (no date shown; accessed 14 October 2026).
  22. ↑ Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. "Section 87B undertaking" (therapeutic magnetic products), undertaking date 30 September 2004. ACCC public register; read from the Internet Archive copy of 20 August 2025 (accessed 14 October 2026).

Further reading

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