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    Spiritual healing and its contribution to contemporary religious life and alternative medicine in Aotearoa-New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Religious Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Martin, Melva May
    Spiritual healing spans many centuries, cultures, and health professions, yet the scientific study of spiritual healing is lacking from the literature of religious studies. There is no doubt that spiritual healing is very much a part of many religions; healing was in fact a practical foundation for the Christian religion as taught by Jesus Christ and his disciples. As a result of breakdown in religious organisations spiritual healing has become the foundation from which many movements away from conventional religions has occurred and consequently sects, cults, and practitioners of alternative medicine have gathered followers and flourished as they practise their mode of spiritual healing. The ultimate purpose of this study was to discover new knowledge about the phenomenon of spiritual healing from the viewpoint of both healer and healee, i.e., those who recognise or have experienced spiritual healing as a distinct process of healing. Phenomenology provided the philosophy and the basis for the overall design of the study which sought to discover the contribution of spiritual healing to contemporary religious life and alternative medicine in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Triangulation was the method of choice to explore the essence of spiritual healing in a primary research survey carried out in the Manawatu region of Aotearoa-New Zealand. The strength of phenomenology lies in the lived experience and understandings of people, therefore a more accurate account of the phenomenon of spiritual healing was established from experiential data acquired from the primary research study. The results from the primary research study enabled the researcher to demonstrate knowledge which was context specific and relevant to the literature about spiritual healing within the domain of religious studies. It also described the contemporary position of spiritual healing in religious life, and alternative medicine in Aotearoa-New Zealand today. One of the major procedures many healers use to effectively heal the physical, energetic or etheric levels is a hands-on approach to the patient (healee) in treatment, either through actually touching the body or holding the hands a short distance off the body. The results of my primary research demonstrates that these methods of healing confirm the literature and are practised today. Illustrated experiences of healers and healees during spiritual healing interactions, as described in chapter four, indicate that through spiritual healing physical changes occur during healing interactions. Results of biophysical changes in pulse rate, blood pressure, and cranial rhythm, as well as experiential findings, show evidence for an energy ('e') exchange between the healer ('s') and healee ('s') during the act of healing with both people being affected and indications of a higher spiritual source ('S') at work during the interaction. From this study an equation for spiritual healing is proposed as follows: 's' + 's' + 'e' = 'H'(spirit of healer) (higher Spiritual source) (energy) (healing) ln Aotearoa-New Zealand, conventional medicine, nursing and religion have failed to treat the whole person, i.e., body, mind and spirit. Although their philosophies encourage the holistic approach evidence indicates that there is limited knowledge available within the professions and some role confusion for the provision of spiritual healing. However, a 'holistic'philosophy has always been part of alternative medicine and in both Britain and America alternatives are becoming an accepted and established part of their health care systems. There is currently a growing interest in alternative medicine and natural therapies within the health professions in Aotearoa-New Zealand and units of learning are being developed for the New Zealand Qualifications 'Framework'. Indications are that spiritual healing will become a major aspect of religious life and alternative medicine over the next decade in Aotearoa-New Zealand.
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    Conceptualising mind, body, spirit interconnections : perspectives of Māori and non-Māori healers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Health Psychology
    (Massey University, 2008) Mark, Glenis Tabetha
    This study into the nature of the mind, body, and spirit aimed to enhance psychological understandings of the holistic nature of human beings. There is a focus in mainstream psychology on the biomedical model, which has a limited view of people, of health and illness. The biopsychosocial and biopsychosocialspiritual models of health and illness, and the Whare Tapa Wha and Te Wheke Māori cultural models encompass holism but there is little literature or research specifically on MBS interconnections. Due to the difficulty of studying the mind, body, spirit according to scientific assumptions and methods, the interconnections between these three elements were explored through spiritual healers' understandings of spiritual healing practices. There were twelve participants, six indigenous Māori and six non-indigenous spiritual healers who participated in semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis techniques. Three specific questions about mind, body, and spirit interconnections conceptualisations were studied. The first research question focused on how spiritual healers conceptualise mind, body, spirit interconnections. The second research question considered how mind, body, spirit interconnections are understood by spiritual healers practices of spiritual healing. The last research question examined how a Māori cultural worldview influences spiritual healers' understandings of interconnections between the mind, body, and spirit. The diversity of mind, body, spirit interconnections broadened and expanded on the sparse definitions in the literature by showing the use of the mind, body, spirit as both separate and combined elements. There were illustrations of the theoretical and practical use of mind, body, spirit interconnections in healing and in life. Cultural perspectives influenced and impacted on views of the mind, body, spirit with the addition of whānau and whenua to the mind, body, spirit concept that was considered culturally appropriate. The results provided a much broader picture than traditional models of health and illness, and showed further definitions and understandings of MBS interconnections. It is concluded that it is important that Māori cultural meanings of health and illness are included in the New Zealand health system.
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    Taking the spirits seriously: neo-shamanism and contemporary shamanic healing in New Zealand : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Sanson, Irene Dawne
    This thesis is a phenomenological and comparative study of contemporary shamanic healing and neo-Shamans in New Zealand. It considers neo-Shamanism as a complex of spiritual practices situated within a broad but identifiable cosmological sensibility, and as variable systems of healing. The relationships between neo-Shamans and some other new religious movements in New Zealand, and the similarities or differences between the practices of other neo- and indigenous shamans within a global context are examined. The discussion sits within a larger health and healing discourse about the relationships between neo-Shamanism, complementary and alternative medicine, and biomedicine amongst the medically pluralistic culture of New Zealand. It describes contemporary Māori healing as a possible variant of shamanism within local and global contexts; in particular, it examines the relationships between (some) neo- Shamans in New Zealand and (some) Māori healers. I argue that modern Western shamans are synthesising and creating multiple 21st century forms of neo-Shamanisms, and that neo-Shamans in New Zealand are part of this emerging (re)construction process. However, neo-Shamans in New Zealand are also unique in that they live and practise in this land, which has led to them creating new spiritual identities as neo-Shamanic practitioners in New Zealand. I suggest that neo-Shamans in New Zealand do many of the things that indigenous shamans have always done and continue to do (such as entering altered states of consciousness), albeit within a particular modern Western cultural context. Moreover, I contend that neo-Shamans are challenging orthodox Western science as they engage in a sacred science that ‘takes the spirits seriously’ (Blain, 2002:74). Secondly, I argue that many practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine consciously or unconsciously incorporate what might be regarded as shamanistic techniques and tools into their work, creating fusion models of healing. My observation is that the importation of shamanic healing practices into the West has contributed to these processes. I suggest that while at least some contemporary healers might be considered ‘shamans’ in disguise, nomenclature issues around whether or not they should be defined as shamans are less important than the fact that their healing practices have widened to include implicitly or explicitly a spiritual dimension.