In "Evidence for the Sixth Sense", Hazel Courteney interviews an American scientist, Gary Schwartz, regarding the nature of energy and its relationship with the physical world. He explains three worldviews; one, that matter produces energy, it is a side effect of the physical world. For example, the sun is a physical object, and it produces energy in the form of light. The second theory was put forward by Einstein, theorises that energy and matter are both sides of the same coin, neither of them being before the other. Energy can create matter and matter can create energy. Regarding this theory, Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), a French Catholic Priest and Philosopher, theorised that matter is the outward manifestation and conscious energy is the inward manifestation of the world. This implies that everything is conscious regardless of how basic or apparently 'lifeless' it is.

The new, third theory, put forward by quantum physics, is that what is primary is energy, and what we call matter is actually organised energy. Matter is a dense form of energy, and emotions, thoughts and the spirit realm are made of increasingly less dense and faster vibrating forms of energy.

We understand that atoms are the fundamental units of matter, being made of a central nucleus of protons and neutrons, and surrounded by circulating electrons. These atoms are only seen by using a very powerful microscope, and can only be seen by the physical eye when in a mass lump containing many millions or billions of atoms. These atoms create the appearance of a physical object when they are organised and come together. The Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-76) spoke about organised matter; he said that a table is a table because the atoms are working together to keep it there. If the atoms decided to vibrate in the same direction the table would lift off of the ground, or if they vibrated in opposite directions, they would cause the table to split and 'vanish'.

So, atoms are vibrating particles of minute size. In terms of the relative size within the atom, you could think of a single atom being the size of the Empire State Building. Given that the atom is this size, its nucleus would actually be the size of a grain of sand, however this is where the most mass is (mass being matter). Putting this in terms of the 'real' size of the atom, we can see that this is an amazing ratio. 99% of an atom is therefore 'empty' space between the nucleus and the surrounding electrons.

What we see in the physical world is the mass of the nucleus and the electrons, but what we don't ordinarily see is that huge amount of empty space in between. 99% of the physical world, our bodies, plants, buildings etc., is in fact 'empty' space. However, when this 'empty space' is tampered with in such instances as the atomic bomb and nuclear power, we can see that each atom contains and amazing amount of unseen energy.

We know that atoms are always moving and vibrating. It is my idea (and I'm not necessarily the only person to think this) that it is the universal energy, the Chi or Prana that passes through the spaces of these atoms and creates their movement. This is how the frequencies we call Reiki/Reiki-Seichem, and other words for healing frequencies, can be transmitted through the physical body of the practitioner to the physical body of the recipient. This energy can then be concentrated and organised by the body to bring about physical healing. Likewise, this energy can also be used by the surrounding emotional and mental layers of the body to bring about healing. Without this energy flowing through the atoms they become out of balance and 'die'.

Explained in this way, Reiki/Reiki-Seichem does not seem so 'far out' or 'spooky'. It helps the everyday person to understand the ideas of healing when we can put it in scientific terms, and it also helps with the respect and acceptance of healing modalities within society. Often practitioners describe the essence of channelling energy as channelling love, spiritual force, God energy and other esoteric terms. This often creates the idea that we cannot understand what is happening and therefore could be a creation of faith/belief. By explaining it in scientific terms we can reach far more people and gain credibility for what we do in an age of technology and rationalism.

Samantha Thurlby-Brooks is one of the UK's top Crystal Therapists, and an inspirational practitioner and teacher of Reiki-Seichem.

Samantha is currently writing a book on crystals and their self-development properties, entitled "Journey to the Spirit of the Stones".

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