The System of Healing Used by the Filipino Espiritistas - Paperback

by Scott M. Taubold (Author)

Abstract the System of healing used by the Filipino espiritistas: An Archival Study Scott

Matthew Taubold Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center The purpose of

this dissertation was to describe the system of healing used by the Union of Espiritistas

of the Philippines as perceived by the espiritistas themselves (in accordance with

the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine standards), from

their own cultural context, not from the view of the parapsychological investigators,

psychologists, medical doctors, alternative practitioners, and laypersons that have

provided most of the existing information on Filipino healing practices. The roles

of indigenous healers were presented by prominent theorists, placing the practices of

mediumship and psychic surgery into perspective as indigenous healing phenomena.

The essential principles and common factors in healing as described in other systems

of healing models were also presented. Following this description of the Filipino

espiritistas' indigenous healing system, while incorporating these essential elements

of healing (according to the prominent systems of healing theorists), this author's

conclusion is that more research of indigenous healing practices in the Philippines

is vital to a better understanding of the role of human consciousness in illness and

healing experiences. The research question was: What is the system of healing used

by the Filipino espiritistas? The study concentrates on descriptions of the Filipino

espiritistas' system of healing in accordance with the parameters for a healing system

presented in a journal article in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine,

"Defining and Describing Complementary and Alternative Medicine" by O'Connor

et al. (1997).