Originally published July 17, 2015 in the Daily Herald

Nearly 50 years after the Broadway musical “Hair” sang the praises of the Age of Aquarius, that Age is still going strong and has woven itself into the fabric of our culture. One important example is that once-esoteric healing modalities have become more and more popular. These modalities often stand in sharp contrast to western science’s point of view. Subtle-energy and ways to balance it are now part of the fabric of many of our lives and if they haven’t grabbed you yet, they will any minute.

People adopt subtle-energy healing techniques because the best of them get great results even if those results are dismissed as “hearsay” by the gatekeepers of official medical therapies. It isn’t much of a surprise that they are largely ignored by the mainstream, because Big Pharma isn’t spending their research dollars in those alternative arenas thus the endorsements aren’t coming from the peer-reviewed journals which some say are all-too-aware of the hand that feeds them.

Token acknowledgements to the various alternatives have at least hit the marketing community. One example is aromatherapy which is seemingly everywhere today, or at least “aromatherapy lite” is. Aromatherapy Lite is the gratuitous use of scents, occasionally from essential oils, but more often from some chemical cabbage patch, to create mood and healing and whatever else the marketers dream up.

But when the going gets weird the weird turn pro as Hunter Thompson quipped. And no disrespect intended either. Today there are healers using essential oils, crystal and gem therapies, starlight elixirs and more. They take their work seriously and the best of them are artists at what they do. They work from a vast body of lore ranging from time-honored practices to modern and recent revelations. These practitioners customize their offerings to use modalities that they believe apply to a given individual’s needs at the specific time of treatment.

It doesn’t stop with aromatherapy. There are sound therapies, light therapies, pulsed-electromagnetic field therapies (PEMF) and more — lots more.

Many of these techniques aren’t based on the philosophy of material realism, which is the idea that the physical world is the ultimate reality. Instead, many of them are based in the opposite of material realism which is known as subjective idealism, the idea that consciousness is the ultimate reality. They are about subtle-energy vibration and bringing balance to systems of consciousness that result in greater wellness on every level: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

The healing journey begins differently for each individual. Some have physical challenges such as disease or various levels of weakness or deformity. Others have emotional scarring or mental issues and begin their journey via those portals. And then there are those who are actively seeking their spiritual development. Most of us express our healing journey though a unique-to-ourselves combination of all of these, but usually one of these is the main invitation to the dance.

Most important, these techniques are part of a trend towards self-healing. Many individuals are taking responsibility for their own wellness. They recognize that though many modern medical techniques can be useful in some cases, in other cases they either don’t address or simply ignore the problems that they are experiencing. In those situations, many self-healers are led to subtle-energy techniques.

“People ask whether self-healing starts with energy balancing,” says Evan Slawson, co-author of the book “Sanctuary: The Path to Consciousness” which is about energy balancing. “Self-healing is destiny. Every one of us are already on that path, starting from birth. Energy balancing started in ancient times. Becoming aware of and choosing to participate in these powerful techniques is an important step in the healing journey. Everything is energy, so all healing modalities are energy, too. Subtle-energy is, I believe, the highest part of the electromagnetic spectrum, far past conventional methods of measuring it. We already know that humans respond to sound and light, radio waves and x-rays, all of which are lower on the electromagnetic spectrum. It only makes sense that we respond to the highest frequencies as well.”

“True wellness is a journey, not a destination,” Slawson emphasizes. “The word well and the word health are based on the same root word, an Old English word that means ‘whole.’ So to become truly well, to become truly healthy, means to become whole. And Merriam Webster makes it clear that wholeness goes beyond the limited concept of self. It says that, among other things, whole means to include everyone and everything without exception.”