New Testament makes forty-one references to Christ's ability to heal. It was insights such as these which led to the development of bioenergy healing techniques, such as therapeutic touch, Polarity therapy, Reiki, Qigong, whereby the interaction between the healer's energy field and the subject's field purportedly produces positive biophysical changes.
Although pervasive in religious and mystical belief systems, the elusive bioenergetic "light of life" still evades scientific understanding. Or does it? Recent experiments may provide a glimpse into the characteristics of the light within the soul. Researchers discovered that during hand-mediated healing sessions conducted by Polarity therapists, there was a statistically significant decrease in gamma radiation levels during the therapy sessions. Gamma rays, or cosmic radiation as it is sometimes called, are highly energetic forms of light which, theoretically, should not be influenced by human bodies.
Gamma rays materialize when matter (in the form of electrons) and antimatter (in the form of positrons) annihilate upon impact. Antimatter is the exact counterpart of matter which has a charge and a spin that is opposite of all matter. When combined with any matter in the universe, antimatter reacts and completely converts the entire mass of the positron and electron into two 511 KeV gamma rays of light which radiate at 180-degree angles. Other matter-antimatter annihilations are also possible leaving their own signature light which can be either higher or lower than the positron-electron energy. "Earthbound" gamma radiation exists in the decay of radioactive elements and, as theorized by the great inventor Nikola Tesla, may emanate from the zero-point energy field (ZPF) which interweaves all energetic forms of existence. "The zero-point field, also defined by physicists as a 'vacuum,' is far from empty -- quite the opposite. It perpetuates the dynamic interaction of subatomic particles and energy fields acting as a source by which virtual particles manifest into existence. According to the principles of quantum physics, every state must have a minimum population of either zero or one photon, with equal probability. The average of zero and one is one-half. Therefore there must be, on average, the equivalent of at least half a photon in every possible state. Half a photon in each state is not much but there are countless possible states. The result is a vast sea of radiation underlying the universe." (Haisch and Rueda, 1996) It is this interaction with the dynamic ZPF that may underlie the human spiritual and mystical experiences and, thus, define the soul.
Is there reason to speculate that an ongoing interaction is occurring between our bodies and an energetic field of radiant light? And, if so, towards what end, and potential, is this field utilized, controlled and manipulated by the intentional expressions of human beings?
It helps to understand that cells are essentially organic electromagnetic transceivers that emit and absorb high-frequency electromagnetic light waves. Extensive research has demonstrated that disruptions or imbalances in these frequencies correlate with disease, infection and injury (Townsend, 1996). As early as 1925, George Lakhovsky published a study that supported his theory that disease is the result of imbalance in cellular frequencies, or a "war of radiations," between the frequencies of the body's cells and those of bacteria, viruses or pathogens. If the energy of the pathogens is stronger than the frequencies of the healthy cells it is thrown off and the discordance produces disease. If they are unable to rebalance themselves, the cells die. If, however, the harmonious frequencies of the healthy cells are stronger, the microbes are killed and health is restored (Tompkins and Bird, 1973).
Experimental data which reported a uniform, substantial, and consistent decrease in gamma radiation during alternative healing sessions led researchers to posit that gamma radiation is being absorbed, metabolized, and possibly stored by the human cells as an alternative energy source (Benford et al., 1999). If this is the case, then it permits a scientific explanation for certain previously unexplainable mystical/spiritual phenomena including the élan vital of the soul both in life and beyond.
Food for the Soul
In human cells, only 40% of the total potential energy in glucose transfers to ATP. The remaining sixty percent of the energy generates thermal radiation or heat (Vander, 1970). Given this inefficient energy cycle, within and among the mitochondria, it is not hard to imagine the cellular need for an alternate fuel source other than foodstuffs.
By comparison, plants are able to directly capture the energy in sunlight and use this energy to synthesize glucose by the complex process of photosynthesis. It is a well-known fact that all life is ultimately dependent upon the energy derived from sunlight. But are human cells also directly benefiting from radiant energy?
A crucial observation is that bacteria are part of the Plant Kingdom. Researchers speculate that mitochondria, the power-producers within the human cell, were once free-dwelling prokaryotes identical to bacteria. Subsequently, mitochondria are more closely aligned to organisms from the plant kingdom capable of photosynthetic processing of radiant energy than the eukaryotic cells with which they now share a symbiotic relationship.
