Catholics Don't 'Do' Crystals
by Judy Roberts in Faith on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 6:00 AM
Growing up in a family that ran a health-food business, Charlene Williams learned to eat well and heal naturally.
Today the mother of four and grandmother of four raises some of her own vegetables and fruits, shops at farmers markets, and cooks from scratch. She also eats whole grains, avoids processed foods and relies on home remedies like fresh-squeezed lemon and molasses in hot water for colds and sore throats.
In addition, she goes to a chiropractor and recently saw a naturopathic doctor and bioenergetics practitioner for help with stress and lack of energy.
But as a Catholic, Williams is careful to avoid the New Age ideas and practices widely peddled in the subculture that has grown up around natural foods and alternative health care — whether it’s the crystals and books on transcendental meditation displayed in some health-food stores, Reiki treatments offered by certain massage therapists or yoga classes at the local gym.
Although there is much to commend in many natural-healing approaches, any practice or belief that draws from a newfangled spiritual source should raise red flags for Catholics.
Eternity vs. Oblivion
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine recently issued guidelines for evaluating Reiki, an alternative healing technique that attempts to correct imbalances in “life energy” through the placement of the practitioner’s hands on certain parts of the body. The bishops point out that the central elements of the worldview suggested by Reiki theory belong neither to the Christian faith nor to natural science.
Given this, they conclude, Catholics who trust in Reiki are entering the realm of superstition, which “corrupts one’s worship of God by turning one’s religious feeling and practice in a false direction.”
Similarly, Father Mitch Pacwa, Eternal Word Television Network host and author of Catholics and the New Age: How Good People Are Being Drawn into Jungian Psychology, the Enneagram, and the Age of Aquarius
During the 1970s, Father Pacwa says, he tried practicing something called “Christian yoga” that involved meditating on the words of Christ while assuming various yoga positions. But, he recalls, “The problem still remained. I was trying to attain a certain state of consciousness rather than personal union with Christ. I was not really connecting with Christ.”
On the other hand, Father Pacwa says, he considers reflexology, which involves applying pressure to the feet and hands, a harmless (if questionably effective) nonmedical therapy.
His concern about alternative healing practices and methods in general is that their medical claims are often unsubstantiated — and they are sometimes used as a shill to draw people into New Age spirituality.
For example, he says, when a method does not work, a practitioner may propose a spiritual solution like past-life regression or the application of crystals to channel the universe’s energy.
“This nonsense,” he says, “will take your soul to the other side. It’s entering enemy territory.”
God’s Good Earth
Rebecca Otto of Leipsic, Ohio, a registered nurse and mother of six whose family’s health regimen includes chiropractic care, vitamin supplements and visits to a naturopathic doctor, says she is very much aware of the need to avoid anything that could become a portal into areas of spiritual warfare.
“There are good and bad spirits, and we don’t want to put ourselves in those areas,” she says, adding that she would refrain from involvement in yoga, Reiki, acupuncture and crystals, for example. “All I’ve had to hear is a few knowledgeable people on this,” she says. “There are a few areas I don’t feel it’s worth risking my soul to venture into.”
Although Otto acknowledges that there are times modern medicine is needed, her experience has shown that some alternative forms of healing work.
One of her sons, for instance, suffered from allergies to the point that he needed breathing treatments every spring and fall. The naturopathic doctor who evaluated him recommended several lifestyle changes and gave the boy a mixture of drops to take along with natural herbs. Her son improved so much, Otto says, that he only needs an occasional breathing treatment.
“God created nature, and he has given us ways to help other than [traditional] medicine,” she says.
—Judy Roberts writes from Graytown, Ohio. This article originally appeared in our sister publication, the National Catholic Register.
Resources:
- Catholics and the New Age: How Good People Are Being Drawn into Jungian Psychology, the Enneagram, and the Age of Aquarius
- Jesus Christ The Bearer of The Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the “New Age”
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