On Getting Permission to Heal
First, just want to say that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that it is a personal decision between oneself and their gods on what guidelines are appropriate for that person in regard to serving on their Path. For some, strict verbal permission is a requirement, for others spiritual permission is okay, for some the command of their God or Goddess may override permission.
In my original training, it was promoted that you should have permission, but that verbal permission was not always possible. In those cases, then one should seek and be certain of having received spiritual permission. A good example of this is an illness that causes some form of dementia or lack of ability to make rational decisions.
There are different forms of illness and not all can be approached in the same manner. There are also spiritual illnesses as well as physical and mental illnesses. Sometimes, an illness can affect a keynote figure in a group, which in turn negatively influences the whole of the group. In situations like this, sometimes the gods will work through a healer (sometimes with the healers knowledge and sometimes without) to restore balance.
From personal experience, I find that this sort of thing usually has to do with restoring the balance so that they can heal themselves. So, I suppose, there is also the question of whether restoring balance is the same as a “healing”.
Usually, I think restoring balance is permissible. If someone choses to not accept or remain in balance, it will usually quickly snap back into imbalance and no harm has been done. Sort of like putting them in the place where they can take their own medicine rather than forcing medicine down their throats. lol
If it is a direct request for healing, you can heal. If it is not the “direct request”, then serious spiritual seeking and consideration should be done first and without doubts as to whether it should or should not be done.
Remember, there is always the measure that if it is not suppose to be, the gods will not let it happen no matter how hard you try. Sometimes, it can be so blatantly refused by a person’s spirit (even if they give direct permission), you can actually see it snap back like a rubber band on the person because they cling to the illness like a child and they insist on making the illness a part of their being (sometimes for example, they might not get as much attention if they are not suffering an illness and the need for attention overrides their desire for balance or health).
So, in usual unusal metaphysical fashion, I will say that for me personally the answer is usually, but not always.
Brightest of Blessings.
Mead Muse
P.S. One more thing I would like to add is a little…um…sage advice.
Novice Healers and rebalancers should be especially careful around elders and advanced practitioners without full direct permssion. They can get a little cranky when a novice decides to exert themselves over them without permission, so to speak, and the result could be…unpleasant.
If you interfere with something they are purposely working on, you might just screw it up and piss them off. They might (and they do sometimes) work “off the balance” on something and to have someone pop in (even with good intentions) and try to “balance” them will not make them happy and might make a “controlled” or “critical” situation…unsafe.
If you are not 100% certain, then just don’t do it. There are other advanced healers available in the Service of the Gods that have the appropriate discernment and experience to deal with something and you don’t have to do it yourself or think you have to fix everything and everyone.
Not to be overly dark or to say that it will absolutely happen, but one should not wander the woods in ignorance either.
The Path of Healers in the Craft
Back in the day, there were no “Reiki” lessons or crystal healing classes available like there is now. Occasionally, if you were lucky to be in a somewhat metropolitan area that had a “counterculture” hub, then there might be a few yoga classes or a few reclaiming herbalism classes.
What we basically had was “spiritual healing”. Sort of like being thrown into a pool of water and not knowing how to swim and hoping that you didn’t drown yourself or someone else while you were figuring it out. If you were fortunate, as I was, then you had an experienced “swimmer” near by to explain the basic techniques. When there was a healing to be done, you did it. You took a few minutes to put yourself in a proper place (spiritually, mentally, and physically) to do it and then you just did it.
I have to chuckle a little sometimes (and yes, this shows my age) when I do a healing and someone asks if I do reiki and I simply reply, “Nah, I just do it.” The looks on the faces are quite funny sometimes.
Honestly, being a healer of physical ails, it is not my forte. I suppose you could say that I am a spirit healer and I wander between worlds and point people back to their path if they get a little misplaced in the forest. Whether they chose to return or follow their path or not is entirely up to them. Sort of like a gas station in the desert. You still have to travel through the desert, but you can get revived and get your bearings. Healers and spirit workers have a bit in common. Just different purposes.
I have noticed a trend, though. It seems that I run into quite a few people that indicate that they are healers of physical ails, which I think is marvelous. We need as many healers (in whatever method they decide is best for them) in our pagan communities. However, I have also noted another trend. Healers who won’t heal.
The usual excuse is that they are not in a good place for it. Sometimes I can agree with that, but if you are on the path of the Healer, then you are supposed to heal. When I see a proclaimed healer not healing day after day after day and time after time, it is disturbing. If that is a person’s path, then it is important to remember that others are RELYING on you and your ability. Warriors need healing. Spirit workers need healing. The job of the healer in our community is to support and keep others in a place where they can do their job.
If you have a counselor who is incapacitated with a migraine, how can they perform their service if they can’t get past the pain? How can a warrior defend or others feel that they are protected by the warrior if the warrior can barely move? All our paths are intermingled and we are supposed to support each other in our Service to Her. When one person decides to refuse to function (in whole or part) on their Path, then (1) a gaping hole in Service begins, or (2) someone else has to leave their Path to fill the gap temporarily, or (3) someone has to pull double duty and do their path and yours.
I find that more and more, I have to jump from spirit work into healing, and this usually happens when someone says they are a healer and then they say they won’t heal. I can see the spirit pain that is keeping someone from their path and, in my path, I feel often compelled to pull double duty so to speak, so that the person I am supposed to assist is in a position to be assisted.
However, when I do this, I unfortunately realize that I am spending time and energy doing someone else’s job and depleting my own time and energy which should be spent on doing my own job. Does this really help the whole circle? What about the people that get “bumped” because I don’t have time? Someone always has to pay the price in the Circle when someone refuses to do their Service.
Similar to assisting at festivals or gatherings — if you are going to volunteer and put yourself out there as being able to do something, then do it. Everyone will understand a temporary excuse, but repeated excuses? If you aren’t a strong healer, but you have the calling to that Path, then train and PERFECT YOUR ART and, in the meantime, volunteer or serve in another path in which your strength lies or in which you have competency.
When to Heal and Not to Heal? There will be a certain amount of people whom you can’t or shouldn’t heal. Sometimes, you can try as hard as you can and it won’t take because of this. But if you are spending more time avoiding healing than healing and you are a Healer, then this is not a proper excuse. Something is wrong and you need to look for the answer. It may be confidence. It may be a training issue. But you won’t be able to fix it, if you don’t look for the problem.
If you just did a healing and are still shaking off any residual or recharging, then heal yourself first. Tell the person asking for help. They understand and they will wait, give them herbal directions, or send them to another healer. But, please don’t leave they standing there suffering. Keep in mind, it is very difficult from some people (such as warriors) to even ask for assistance in the first place. Last thing they really need is to be “blown off”. A good proportion of warriors won’t ask a second time.
Remember, words have power. It is a pitfall to claim to be something when you are not or do not feel that you are. When this is done, then you have already set yourself up to be ineffective and unproductive, not to mention having distracted yourself from your true Path and abilities.
Brightest of Blessings upon the Healers and those who find the strength to serve on their Paths.
Mead Muse
