| Holistic Health and the New Medicine |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Why is the subject of holistic health and the New Medicine important? Literally tens of millions of people in the Western world have been exposed to or use holistic health methods. The occult revival and discontent over traditional medical care, sometimes justified, has opened the door to a wide variety of alternate therapies in society. |
| What are Acupuncture and Acupressure? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Acupuncture and acupressure are methods of applying stimulation to specific points on the body. Based on the occultic religion of Taoism, they claim to be able to stimulate the flow of cosmic life-energy known as ki or chi through invisible channels or “meridians” in the body. |
| What are Altered States of Consciousness? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Altered states of consciousness are a product of the deliberate cultivation of abnormal states of consciousness—states not normally experienced apart from a specific technique or program (usually occultic), used to develop them. |
| What Is Anthroposophical Medicine? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Anthroposophical medicine is an occult medicine based upon the philosophy of anthroposophy developed by necromancer Rudolph Steiner. It variously incorporates a belief in reincarnation, magic, astrology, animism, spiritism, and pantheism. |
| Attitudinal Healing |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Attitudinal healing is an important component of the New Medicine that in various forms is practiced by millions of people. It involves the alleged regulation or maintenance of physical, mental, and/or spiritual health by learning supposedly “proper” (i.e., occultic) mental attitudes. |
| What Is Autogenic Training? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Autogenic training is a medical “mind-body” therapy developed by J.H. Schulz and Wolfgang Luth. |
| What is Ayurvedic Medicine? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Ayurvedic medicine is based on a Hindu approach to both the body and life in general. Its reliance upon Hinduism, an occultic religion, is what makes it attractive to many New Age therapists. |
| What are Bioenergetics and Reichian Therapy? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Bioenergetics or neo-Reichian bodywork was developed by Alexander Lowen, who believed that the cause of many physical and mental disorders and illnesses was the inability to achieve a satisfactory orgasm. |
| What is Biofeedback? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Biofeedback is the use of special electronic equipment and mental exercises to influence physiological responses. The goal is to gain some degree of control over particular physical functions that people do not normally, consciously regulate. |
| What are Bodywork Methods? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Bodywork methods (e.g., rolfing, functional integration, orgonomy, bioenergetics, the Alexander method, and Arica) represent diverse methods both in practice and philosophy which are frequently used as a tool to help “enlighten” or otherwise influence the mind. |
| What is Breath Awareness? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| A significant number of religions and psychotherapies employ “proper breathing” techniques as a supposed regulator of physical and psychological health, or for purposes of so-called spiritual (occult) enlightenment. |
| What is Medical Channeling? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Medical channeling occurs when someone permits a spirit entity to possess him or her for New Age healing purposes. |
| What is Chiropractic? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| After medicine and dentistry, chiropractic is the largest health care system in the United States. Each year approximately 50,000 to 55,000 chiropractors treat 5 percent of the U.S. population. Chiropractic stresses the importance of the spine, believing that it is a vital organ of the body often neglected by contemporary medicine. But chiropractic theory and practice are frequently diverse and contradictory. |
| What is Chromotherapy/Color Therapy? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Color therapy involves the alleged psychic use and perception of color to diagnose and treat physical illness and/or emotional problems. |
| What is Crystal Healing/Crystal Work? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Crystal healing, currently one of the most popular New Age practices, is the use of a supposed “power” inherent within crystals for healing, developing psychic abilities, spirit contact, and other New Age goals. |
| What is Dowsing? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Dowsing is a psychic practice employing divinatory implements (e.g., rod and pendulum, forked sticks) and methods in order to search out desired information. |
| What is Dream Work? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Dream work involves the exploration of and/or interaction with dreams as an adjunct to physical healing, for psychological insight in psychotherapy, for spiritual insight in “Christian” dream work, and/or the manipulation of dreams for occultic revelations or spiritual growth in New Age practices. |
| What are the Edgar Cayce Methods of Healing? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| The Edgar Cayce methods of healing involve a health program and philosophy based on the spiritistic revelations (called “Readings”) of medium Edgar Cayce. By following the health suggestions given in these occult readings, it is claimed that one will maintain optimum health. |
| Herbal Medicine |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Herbal medicine is the use of herbs and other plant products to allegedly help cure a wide variety of physical ailments, or the use of “spiritually potentized” herbs and plants for physical or psychic healing and/or other occult pursuits – as in the Bach Flower Remedies, Vita Florum, aromatherapy, and similar practices. |
| What is Homeopathy? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Homeopathy is the system of diagnosis and treatment developed by medical rebel and mystic Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). It is based on the principle of “like cures like” – that the same substance causing symptoms in a healthy person will cure those symptoms in a sick person. |
| What are Hypnosis and Hypnotic Regression? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Hypnosis is a deliberately induced condition of heightened suggestibility and trance, producing a highly flexible state of consciousness capable of dramatic manipulation. It is employed by thousands of medical professionals and psychotherapists. |
| What is New Age Intuition? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| New Age intuition is a euphemism for a wide variety of New Age psychic and occultic powers which are frequently employed with occultic healing, telepathy, clairvoyance, psychic diagnosis, and spiritism. |
| What is Iridology? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Iridology is the study of the iris of the human eye to allegedly diagnose present and even future illness and disease. Ignatz von Peczely (1822-1911) is considered the modern developer; however, similar practices can be seen in ancient Chinese methods related to astrology. |
| What is Kirlian Photography? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Kirlian photography is a controversial method of photography developed by Russian electrical technician Semyon Kirlian. It allegedly reveals a corona or “aura” around living things. Occultists frequently claim this photography supplies evidence of man’s inner psychic nature related to his alleged “astral body,” “higher self,” or occult aura.” |
| What are the Martial Arts? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| The martial arts are systems of physical discipline stressing the control of mind and body for self-defense, health, and often, spiritual “enlightenment.” |
| New Age Meditation |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| New Age (Eastern-occultic) meditation involves the control and regulation of the mind for various physical and spiritual (occult) purposes. |
| What is Muscle Testing? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| “Muscle testing” is one of the fastest growing alternative health care techniques in the United States. Muscle testing programs vary but are frequently a combination of chiropractic and Chinese acupuncture theory plus muscle testing itself. |
| What is Naturopathy? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Naturopathy is an approach to health and disease which assumes that natural methods of treatment are preferable to synthetic treatments such as drugs and surgery. Naturopathy is based on the idea that illness is due to an accumulation of toxins or waste products in the body. |
| What is Osteopathy? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Classical osteopathy is the practice of physical manipulation designed to help restore the body’s health. |
| What is Polarity Theory? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Polarity therapy is the practice of channeling energy from the healer into the client to allegedly restore or balance the body’s repository of mystical energy (chi, prana) believed to flow between positive and negative “poles” in the body. |
| What Are Psychic Anatomies? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Psychic anatomies (astral bodies, meridians, auras, chakras, nadis) are alleged invisible, nonphysical, inner “structures” frequently associated with Eastern/occult religions, related to mystical energy, and often employed in New Age diagnosis and healing. |
| What Are Psychic Diagnosis, Psychic Healing and Psychic Surgery? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| These are ancient spiritistic methods of diagnosis and healing performed supernaturally in conjunction with spirit guides whose presence may or may not be evident to the healer or client. |
| What Is (Medical) Psychometry (Radionics)? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Medical psychometry consists of methods of psychic diagnosis and treatment. These different practices claim to work by teaching healers an alleged psychic sensitivity to “radiations” or mystical energies in objects or people. |
| What Is Psychosynthesis? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| One purpose of psychosynthesis is to establish contact with an alleged inner “higher self” to receive its supposed wisdom and inspiration. |
| What Is Reiki? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Reiki is an ancient Japanese technique which stresses psychic healing through the manipulation of mystical life-energies. |
| What Is Shaministic Medicine |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Shamanistic medicine is the application of animistic and various ancient witchcraft techniques to health care. It may involve either shamanism itself as a means to health and enlightenment, or the varied use of specific shamanistic techniques in conjunction with a particular health program. |
| What Is Subliminal Programming? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| The audio and audio-visual self-help industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. People everywhere pay hundreds of dollars for instructional materials on buying and selling real estate, weight loss, improving self-image or bettering school performance. |
| What is Therapeutic Touch? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Therapeutic touch is a form of psychic healing stressing the manipulation of alleged body energies such as prana. |
| What is Touch for Health? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Touch for Health is the evaluation of a patient's condition by testing the alleged strength or weakness of muscles. It's a popularized presentation of George Goodhart's applied kinesiology. |
| What is Visualization? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| New Age visualization is the use of mental concentration and directed imagery in the attempt to secure particular physical, mental, or spiritual (occult) goals. |
| What is Yoga? |
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| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon |
| Millions of people employ yoga as an alleged health exercise or as part of a broader program of health maintenance. But true yoga is the occult use of breathing exercises, physical postures, and meditation for supposed spiritual enlightenment. One of the major developers was Patanjali (ca. 400 AD), the compiler of the classical Raja yoga text Yogasutra. |