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Reconceptualising Health: a Conversation Between Quantum Science, Energy Medicine and Mystical Theology by Gillian Mary Leigh. A

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Reconceptualising Health: a Conversation Between Quantum Science, Energy Medicine and Mystical Theology by Gillian Mary Leigh. A Reconceptualising Health: A Conversation between Quantum Science, Energy Medicine and Mystical Theology by Gillian Mary Leigh. A Thesis submitted to Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, Nova Scotia in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Theology. March 2018, Halifax Nova Scotia. Copyright. Gillian Mary Leigh Approved: Dr. Magi Abdul-Masih Supervisor Approved: Dr. John Sumarah, Examiner Approved: Dr. Mary Hale, Reader February 14, 2018. i ii Reconceptualising Health: A Conversation between Quantum Science, Energy Medicine and Mystical Theology Gillian Leigh, Ph.D. Abstract This study addresses the importance of reintroducing the transcendent into the western concept of health and proposes that energy medicine has relevance for biomedical health services. Energy medicine supports wellness by attending to body, mind and spirit, as components of a full human life. It is validated by quantum science theories of the universal energetic field and supports the concept that human beings are comprised of more than their material bodies. Furthermore, the theory and practice of energy medicine finds its completion in the spiritual writings of Christian mystics, revealing knowledge of progress towards transcendence through the subliminal bliss body. Drawing from the literature and clinical studies of those dually-qualified scientist- philosophers, ecologists, theologians, and alternative health practitioners, this study demonstrates that energy medicine and Christian mysticism offer a similar transcendental context, whereby this energetic and conscious universe is available to those who wish to experience the spiritual or the divine iii iv Acknowledgements I could not have even begun this thesis without the encouragement of my many friends, including my new classmates encountered both at the Atlantic School of Theology and at St. Mary’s University. I am particularly grateful to my advisors at St. Mary’s University. Dr. Magi Abdul-Masih was tireless in her availability and assistance, and Dr. Mary Hale provided many valuable resources and ideas. My thanks also go to Dr. David Deane of the Atlantic School of Theology, who guided me patiently through several thesis options. I acknowledge the many staff and teachers, who have always been ready to support my orientation, which has been for me a drawing together of many and varied approaches to living and working, both in England and Canada. Among these, I especially thank those who have contributed to both my spiritual and my academic formation. I am most grateful to my friends in Ontario and Nova Scotia, who have shared their knowledge and skill in helping me bring together the different aspects of this thesis. These include Sandra McFadyen, Wendy Knowles, Wanda Cummings, and Maureen Mann. Finally, I want to thank my son Leigh, who lives many miles distant, but is always ready to encourage and support my efforts. v vi Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................. 9 From Enchantment to Disenchantment............................................................................ 9 1.1 Universal Awareness ................................................................................................. 9 1.2 Enchantment ............................................................................................................ 11 1.3 The Enlightenment Period (1685-1815) .................................................................. 13 1.4 The Medical Sciences .............................................................................................. 15 1.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................... 18 From Stability to Uncertainty ........................................................................................ 18 2.1 The Scientific Method ............................................................................................. 18 2.1.1 Measurement ..................................................................................................... 19 2.1.2 Consciousness ................................................................................................... 21 2.2 Quantum theory ....................................................................................................... 24 2.2.1 The World is Primarily Energy ......................................................................... 24 2.2.2 The Uncertainty Principle ................................................................................. 27 2.2.3 Direction of Causation ...................................................................................... 28 2.2.5 Tangled Hierarchies .......................................................................................... 32 2.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................... 36 A New Approach to Health ........................................................................................... 36 3.1 The Biomedical Health System ............................................................................... 38 3.2 Alternative Health Care ........................................................................................... 40 3.3 Energy Medicine ...................................................................................................... 42 3.4 The Subliminal Body System .................................................................................. 43 3.5 A Quantum Worldview ............................................................................................ 44 CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................. 46 Quantum Healing and Body-Mind-Spirit Medicine ...................................................... 46 4.1 Quantum Application to Health and Healing .......................................................... 47 vii 4.1.1 Energy ............................................................................................................... 47 4.1.2 Complexity ....................................................................................................... 51 4.1.3 Consciousness ................................................................................................... 52 4.2 Locality of Energy Treatments ................................................................................ 55 4.3 The Five Energetic Bodies ....................................................................................... 56 4.3.1 The Physical Body ............................................................................................ 57 4.3.2 The Vital Body ................................................................................................. 57 4.3.3 The Mental Body .............................................................................................. 58 4.3.4 The Supramental Body ..................................................................................... 58 4.3.5 The Bliss Body ................................................................................................. 60 4.3.6 Conclusion to the Body States .......................................................................... 61 4.4 The Practice of Reiki ............................................................................................... 62 4.4.1 Origins of Reiki Practice................................................................................... 63 4.4.2 Reiki Philosophy and Practice .......................................................................... 64 4.5 Conclusion to Quantum Applications ...................................................................... 65 CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................... 69 The Quantum Mystical Component ............................................................................... 69 5.1 Mysticism ................................................................................................................ 71 5.1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 71 5.1.2 The Mystical Path ............................................................................................. 76 5.1.3 The Mystic and the place of the Ego ................................................................ 79 5.1.4 Mysticism and Energy Healing ......................................................................... 81 5.1.5 The Quantum Mystical Component .................................................................. 83 5.1.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 84 5.2 Quantum Mysticism and the Noosphere .................................................................. 86 5.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 90 CHAPTER SIX
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