Book overview
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).
