Chirothesia and Hands-on Healing
Etymology: Definition of Chirothesia:
Chi = (Pronounced Ki as in Kite) In original meaning: is the place where God’s law is taught.
Chiro connotates the “hand” Laying on the Hands, The imposition of the hands to direct or deliver divine and healing energy. Cheiro Gr root cheir ‘hand’) Traditionally refers to the Greek Orthodox rites of ordination and healing ritual or ceremony practiced between an ordained priest or minister and a communicant. (alt.Thesia (fr. Thesis) setting, placing, or to do. Theos “of or about God”
Chirothesia means:
Chi = In original meaning: “is the place where God’s law is taught.” Traditionally, it refers to the Greek Orthodox rites of ordination and healing ritual or ceremony practiced between an ordained priest or minister and a communicant. Chiro connotates the “hand” Laying on the Hands, The imposition of the hands to direct or deliver divine and healing energy. (alt. Cheiro Gr root cheir ‘hand’) Thesia (fr. Thesis) setting, placing, or to do. Theos “of, or pertaining to God.” Chirothesia = means “Led by the healing hand of God.”
Chirothesia is interpreted as the practice of religious therapeutics, therapy, healing, or blessing transmitting and communicating the divine energy (energia, vital life force, Chi, Qi, Prana, Orgone, Ki, Huna, Vril, Holy Spirit, etc.) led by the healing hand of God. Chirothesia Practitioners are understood to literally be the Hands of God, administering healing in the material world. The Chirothesist hands A.R.E. God’s hands.
Chirothesia is a ritual of passing divine or healing energy, awareness, consciousness, breath, and pressure to another as a religious or spiritual act or observance. The laying on of hands is a ritual that accompanies certain religious practices, found worldwide in almost every spiritual or religious tradition in varying forms. The list of “Chirothesist” practitioners would include all the world’s major faiths, such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikh, B’hai, Huna, and Native American Indigenous Medicine.
In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal method of invoking the Holy Spirit, primarily during baptisms and confirmations, healing services, blessings, and ordination of priests, ministers, elders, deacons, and other church officers, along with a variety of different church sacraments and holy ceremonies.
Jesus the Christ was a Chirothesist. In the New Testament, the laying of hands was associated with receiving the Holy Spirit (See Acts 8:14-19). Initially, the Apostles laid hands on new believers as well as believers. (See Acts 6:5-6). In the early Church, the practice continued and is still used in various church ceremonies. The belief is that the method of Chirothesia can have curative properties, based on the biblical precedent set by Jesus, who would walk for days, offering his healing power.
Christian and non-Christian healers of faith will lay hands on people when praying for healing, and often, the name of Jesus or some other saintly person is invoked as the spiritual agency through which the healing of physical ailments is believed to be obtained.
Chirothesist – For many years, Christianity has been heralded to the world as being of God. We believe this representation of the work of Christ to be altogether correct. Christ is the Savior of the world. Through him, there was no one ordinance, commandment, or promise that did not have to do with the welfare and salvation of men. Now, the laying on of hands was established as an ordinance of the Lord’s appointment; it is a part of his doctrine demonstrated by his living example. Faith in Christ leads to accepting all of those principles which constitute Christianity.
“Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying the foundation of repentance from dead works again, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.”— Hebrews 6: 1, 2.
It is here placed amid the cardinal principles of the gospel of Christ: faith, repentance, baptisms, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment; and is specifically referred to as a “principle” of the “doctrine of Christ.”
Chirothesist Scope of Practice:
The evaluation, treatment, and care for patients of the physical, mental, and spiritual planes using a vocation of religious therapeutic practice that bases treatment on physiological functions and abnormal conditions on natural and spiritual laws governing the human body using spiritual, physiological, psychological and mechanical methods, such as laying of hands, Christian, Indigenous traditional, Native American, Classical Ayurveda, Classical Chinese Medicine, Traditional Nature Cure, natural corrections and manipulation, prayer, and natural methods or modalities. “Laying of hands” refers to the literal imposition of the hands, body parts, and person of the healer/ practitioner directly on or about the physical person and involves direct physical contact between the healer, minister, Chirothesist, and the communicant/receiver. Altogether, all of nature’s remedies.
“Hands” is defined as the whole person and not limited strictly to a particular anatomical reference or body part.
REPRESENTATIVE TEXTS:
Holy Bible, New Testament
Laying On Of Hands (1970), Paul M. Hansen
‘Laying on of hands; or, Plain letters on Confirmation (1848), John Downall
In modern terms, C.A.M. practices of Chirothesia-based modalities can be defined as:
Elegant, comprehensive, and sophisticated protocols that remedy and alleviate pain and suffering, healing the sick and injured of spirit, mind, and body administered during the ceremony or as Church authorized sacrament by church members and ministers.
The practice of Chirothesia includes developing therapies and non-standard approaches outside the scope of secular licensed medicine.
“Chirothesia” approaches or religious therapeutics and practices, when practiced by sacred, ordained, or religiously authorized persons, include but are not limited to:
Nutrition and sacred diets, including food restrictions and fasting, Homeopathy, Hands-on-Healing, Magnetics and Bio-Magnetics, Sound therapy, Polarity, Somatics, Energy Therapies, Reflexology, Biofeedback, Meditation, Breath Work, Reiki, Chi Gung, Tai Chi, Herbology, Iridology, Tapping (Energy Psychology), Aromatherapy, Balneotherapy, Light therapy, Massotherapy, Lomi Lomi, Vibration and Crystal Healing, Mantra, Chakra Balancing, Prana Yama, Sacred Incense, Smudging, etc.
Traditional Chinese, Classical Indian Ayurveda, Islamic Yunani, Filipino Hilot, Indigenous and Native American Medicine, Traditional Hawaiian Huna Medicine and Lomi Lomi, folk remedies, and “Grand Ma Doc” home remedies or other examples of spiritually based complementary and alternative therapeutic practices.
These practices aim at more efficient psycho/physio/ emotional integration and function of the human organism, leading to optimal wellness. In modern terms, Chirothesia-based C.A.M. modalities are elegant, comprehensive, and sophisticated protocols and remedies for alleviating pain and suffering and healing the sick and injured of the spirit, mind, and body.
Chirothesia practices do not include the potentially dangerous use of invasive techniques and toxic drugs that are the province of licensed medicine!
Spiritually based natural health care is often misunderstood and understood within the law.
Conventional medicine and holistic health care use different paradigms. In some ways, they are miles apart. The newer spirit and religion-based holistic paradigm do not fit neatly into America’s present secular/ corporate medical and legal healthcare structure. That structure is defined mainly by state medical practice acts, significant drug/ pharmaceutical/ medical, industrial profit, and corporate self-interest. In the mainstream medical industrial model, the purpose of medicine and health care is to generate profits for corporations and or as a means of socio-political manipulation. Chirothesia is, by definition, the antithesis of what is proposed and health care in the mainstream, as its objectives are not profit nor power by design. The objectives of Chirothesia are a closer relationship more akin to oneness with Nature, Spirit, and God and the integration of all fractured parts of the sacred whole into one peaceful union characterized by love, compassion, joy, and equanimity between all living things.
Where can I learn Chirothesia-based sacred medicine and healing?
Monastic and Christ-Centered Medicine
Native American Indigenous Church,
American College of Natural Medicine,
Where can I find Chirothesia-based Ministers, Counselors, and or Therapist practitioners?
N.A.I.C. Practitioner Directory
The shift in healthcare paradigms confuses the legal realm as legislators attempt to fit the old concepts into the new reality. One reason for the disclaimer, disclosure, and consent forms recommended for all sacred healers, ministers, counselors, and therapist is to help define the paradigm or framework in which your Chirothesia is practiced. This will avoid confusion, create more realistic expectations, and protect both practitioner and client.
References:
Priory of Saving Grace
Awesome article! Will want to copy parts of this and leave in waiting room for my clients to read!