Madam, - Paul O'Donoghue (February 23rd) questions my logic, in terms of supporting esoteric healing methods. Is he unaware that the two serpents of the caduceus, the ancient symbol of medicine as a healing art, represent the chakra system and acknowledge a spiritual dimension to both our consciousness and to healing?
I feel it behoves us all as professionals to continue seeking ways to help those clients whose problems happen to be of an existential or spiritual nature, and I see it as eminently logical to use methods which I have seen work, provided they do no harm. I can only think it must be different for him as a psychologist, but the doctor in me is primarily interested in pain relief and healing, and sees it as illogical to withhold such useful methods while we await the evidence he is obsessed with.
There is a mocking tone in Mr O'Donoghue's reference to the spiritual dimension and those who draw on it. I wrote the "glowing testimony" he refers to on the website of Walter Makichen, because I am very familiar with all aspects of his healing work, including his clairvoyant ability to facilitate individuals becoming parents. Why mock what works, especially if a child is born?
Some questions for him: Did infra-red, ultra-violet and x-rays exist before they were proven to? Did the earth become round only on the day the evidence was found? Did the force of gravity begin operating only after Newton documented it? The truth is that all these phenomena existed well before our limited human brains had found the means to prove them.
There will always be those who, in the face of the unknown and inexplicable, automatically react with fear and suspicion. Great minds like Einstein, Galileo, and many contemporary scientists, such as Bohm, Heisenberg, and Tiller are made of different stuff, at all times keeping their mind open to the unusual, the unpredictable, the seemingly illogical.
History shows that it was in such a mind-set that many of the ground-breaking discoveries were made, as the previously "non-existent and immeasurable" crossed the threshold into the "provable and evidenced-based", and the Paul O'Donoghues of the non-scientific community were reassured.
A word of caution to sceptics. Cries of "Prove it! Prove it!" become embarrassing when referring to phenomena which already have been extensively documented in quantum physics literature, where mystics and the scientists are now reading off the same hymn-sheet. Mr O'Donoghue is evidently still unfamiliar with these, but I would be happy to provide him with references, though their content might render his favourite hobby horse redundant. Is he brave enough to take such a step into the unknown? - Yours, etc,
Dr AINE TUBRIDY, Institute of Psychosocial Medicine, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.