We have been studying spiritual healers for five years.  We have interviewed healers from the entire spectrum. This includes healers who are Aboriginal, Shaman, Protestant, Catholic, Pentacostalist, Exorcist, Voodoo, Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese medicine, Reiki, Wicca, Family Physician, Energy healers and a veterinarian.  Included are five Catholic priest and one Catholic Bishop. We believe they a highly credible group of witnesses. We have used Generalized Empirical Method, based on the philosophy of Bernard Lonergan. This method, in practical terms, is based on a single epistemology, but from a qualitative research perspective it contains Narrative, Grounded theory, and Lonergan’s functional specialties. Lonergan’s method requires us to be attentive to the data, to be intelligent in the hypotheses we form, be reasonable in choosing the hypothesis which most fits with the facts, and to be responsible in how we apply our findings. The interviewees were asked to tell their stories, so there is narrative to be analyzed. The propositions which the stories revealed were then discussed in depth by the interdisciplinary of six. Ten of the interviews have been analyzed in depth, word for word, at this point. A team of colleagues in Mumbai have analyzed one interview.

At this point, the healers have informed us, through their stories, that there are two sorts of spiritual healing. One is with the explicit use of paranormal/psychic skills, and another which does not. Care/love and compassion is a major factor in spiritual healing. All the interviewees, except the Buddhist, view themselves as being a conduit for the action of a higher power or divinity. We have the impression that those wishing to be healed must have the intention of being healed.

We observe that the healers each experience  a spiritual world which relates to their culture. The healers often speak in terms of energy or to the direct action of God or Christ. The healers perceive, through ‘inner’ senses, spiritual/non physical personal energies or entities, which they sometimes recognize as persons who have died. 

The next step, before devising a theory of spirituality and health, is to decide what meaning we take from what our interviewees have told us. We will then express our own understanding, from our personal world view, about what this information means to us. Once this is done, we will conduct a dialectical dialogue in order to find what our agreements and differences are.

Our team includes a physician/philosopher, a physicist/philosopher of science, a theologian/philosopher, a sociologist/addictions counselor, a holistic nurse/Reiki Maser, and a professional intuitive/Reiki Master. 

While conclusions would be premature, there is strong testimonial evidence from a group of highly credible witnesses, that there are  conscious non-physical/spiritual  energies present in our every day world. Also, love/compassion is a powerful force/energy for healing. Thirdly, psychic  skills are real, and most of the healers possess them. But they all say they are conduits for Divine energy. Except the Buddhists who  view healing as ‘focused compassion.’ At the same time, the cosmologies of these healers are culture specific.