Alternative healing gaining ground in Cairo If pharmaceutical companies had their way, they would be bombarding us with cure-all multi-purpose pills, and in the process breed a generation of faux-hypochondriacs willing to pop a pill at the slightest suspicion of any incoming malady. In the meantime, some would gaze enviously at the East, how they managed to maintain this sense of stoic calm aligned with ever-dizzying levels of output and production. What was their secret? In a word, it's 'holistic'. They didn't merely give you a pill for a physical ailment - they figured out how the mind influenced the body and vice versa. It was a philosophy for life. And people had been doing it for centuries. It was the antithesis of the post-industrial lifestyle. Yet it wasn't a backlash; it too somehow got guzzled up in our drive for more and better of everything. A branch of these holistic methods is spiritual or energy healing. Simply put, there is an energy which runs throughout everything in the world, dubbed the Universal Life ForceT, also known as Chi, Ki, Gaia and Prana. The premise is that through the use of this energy force we can get better, mentally, emotionally and physically. The good news is that energy healing has now reached Cairo. But you'd better be loaded. (The prices quoted later in this article may vary from one venue to the next). The Daily Star Egypt talked to two healers, Jacqui Percy from the 99 Steps Cairo Center in Maadi, and Linda Noorlander from the Insight Inside Center also in Maadi. The two centers offer a wide array of healing sessions and workshops, including vortex healing, reiki, color therapy, crystal healings, psychic readings and aura balancing. Both Percy and Noorlander stressed that energy healing is not religious in any way, but rather an inroad to spiritual growth. And both also mentioned that there are similar techniques employed in Islam, alluding to ruqq'ya, the act of placing one's hand on a person's head and reciting verses from the Quran. Percy says "Egyptians have become more receptive over the years and more of them come. It has no religious base, it is energy readjustment relating to spiritual or personal growth. That makes people accept it. Noorlander echoes this, saying "Egyptians are quite open to it because the Quran talks about this type of healing. Some people might be afraid at first because people are afraid of what they cannot see. Percy also believes that energy healing is not a substitute for conventional medicine. "The two are complementary, she says, "and together they form holistic healing. So what do you choose? One must bear in mind that these methods do not promise instantaneous results; they are not magic, despite the fact that certain methods claim to employ the use of energy spirits, such as Reiki or divinity-conscious energy streams such as vortex healing. Vortex healing is a type of multi-layered healing which uses a divine energy to counter deep-rooted ailments. A one hour session costs LE 250. Reiki is a form of hands on healing which channels this life force through the subject and balances the flow of energy within the body. A Reiki session runs for LE 200. Psychic reading - at LE 330 a session - is an analysis of your energy field and might include clairvoyance. Color therapy, which uses color and light to balance energy wherever our body is lacking, whether emotionally, physically or mentally, will cost you LE 200 a session. Patriots out there will be happy to know that there is also Egyptian healing, another alternative method that uses the universal life energy that is love to clear away the blues that life in Cairo inevitably inspire. That goes for LE 200. For a meager LE 420 you can get a blueprint reading which is healing that connects you to your soul blueprint. It provides vibratory healing from the angelic realms. Basically they tune into this psychic library where your karmic records are stored, this life's and your past ones (what do you mean you didn't know you had past lives?). This gives you a better idea of what your purpose in life is, and if that's the case then 420 quid is a steal for answers to those intricate "meaning of life quandaries that never seem to go away. In a moment of undiluted and misguided idealism, one thinks: this is healing, it claims to benefit people. So where are the Florence Nightingales of alternative healing? Why is it priced out of reach of the people who could really use it, the more despondent? Percy responds saying "I agree. It would be great if all healing was free. However, to maintain the balance of energy, there must be an energy exchange, even if it is money. She maintains that the prices do not discourage people from attending. However, a regular attendee of energy healing sessions told The Daily Star Egypt she balked at the LE 1440 price tag for a one hour health scan, with a recheck a month later at an additional LE 290. So energy healing is now in Egypt. You ready to tap in?
