An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

In this respondent‟s‟ account, and also that of respondent 5 in Section 7.3 above, whereconditions had already been diagnosed by a medical doctor, prayer was accompanied withtouch and the anointing of oil. It appears that in both scenarios the doctors were able toconfirm healing which may or may not have been spiritual healing. Respondent 1 wastold by the doctor that there was recent scar tissue on her lungs which contradicted hisearlier statement prior to the scan that the blood did not come from her lungs. Respondent5 returned to the doctor for confirmation of her illness (or her healing) and did not have totake the medication prescribed by the doctor.In the extracts from the respondents and my observations there is no example of touchpurely by itself accomplishing healing. All the „Laying on of hands‟ activities that wereobserved in the healing services were accompanied by prayer and sometimes music.Those healed often describe improvement in their state of health as feelings of calmness,reduced pain, lifting of anxiety, improvement in conditions of feeling ill, a feeling ofwalng on air after the „treatment‟. It was also often reported that after massage therapythere is a general feeling of euphoria. Sometimes listening to the person seeking healingfollowed by a gentle touch on the arm, shoulder or forehead at the „right time‟ could have along lasting effect. Therapeutic touch, where the professional or the healer touches theperson with a health seeking request, invokes a certain amount of trust. In suchrelationships where the person seeking healing feels they are not alone, they become lessanxious and tense where reduced tension of the muscles reduces pain. This is illustrated inthe first observation of a URC healing service described under the heading „healing serviceA‟ in section 8.3.272