Healing and the Creative Response First edition

In today s political firestorm over health care, alternative forms of medicine are often overlooked. Healing and the Creative Response by Rev. Cay Randall-May, Ph. D. de-mystifies natural and spiritual healing in a beautifully illustrated book and CD. The author explains in detail Four Key Steps to Healing shared by many approaches including prayer, laying-on-of-hands, Therapeutic Touch, Reiki and Energy Medicine. The steps are: first, set intention; second, relax and clear; third, engage and blend; fourth, attune to the highest, unconditional love. This final level of love Randall-May refers to as Agape. Randall-May outlines specific, detailed instructions for how to use these Steps in various healing approaches including prayer, both distant and laying-on-of-hands, energy balancing and others. She also describes healing through dreams, visualization, sacred and blessed objects, such as greeting cards, prayer cloths, oil and water. In addition to reducing the emotional and physical distress of illness and injury, Randall-May asserts that applying the Four Key Steps as explained in the book can enhance self-expression through a process she calls the Creative Response. Examples of a wide range of art are given in the book, including many original pen and ink drawings as well as prints by the author. She describes in detail how she uses the Steps in her healing work. The author explains how several well-known artists and healers also identify the Four Key Steps in their lives and work. Among those cited in the book are Deborah Koff-Chapin, originator of Touch Drawing, iconographer Lynne Keller, prize-winning Phoenix artist, Henry Sembach; Kris Thoeni and Joseph Woods, creators of sacred gourd masks, talking sticks, and much more; transformational artist, Carol Connor. The lives of historically important healers, Harry Edwards and Lady Muriel Dowding, are also related to the Steps. In addition, contemporary healers, including Marsha Craven of Healing Arts Connection in Phoenix, Arizona; Rebecca Good, of Therapeutic Touch; Shirley McKinley, whose work has roots in the Navajo tradition; and Pam Spizale who employs a combination of prayer and energy medicine, are highlighted. As a professional intuitive for more than 30 years, Randall-May knows the value of intuition in both healing and the arts. She documents her own path to discovering the Four Key Steps and describes how intuitives Karen Grace Kassy, Martina Steiger and Jean Marie Youngstrom apply them in their lives and work. The book is organized into three sections plus a CD. The first section gives an overview of healing and its relationship to creativity. She gives examples of the healing power of self-expression, especially during personal crisis. Randall-May goes on to describe how to use the Four Key Steps in ordinary life, not only in crisis. She states, Seeing the world from the perspective of an artist and experiencing the world from a healer s point of view both involve a shift of perception and thought. In the sections which follow she gives practical guidance to anyone who wishes to achieve this transformation. The book is a valuable resource for everyone who wishes to attain balanced well-being, in everyday life as well as in times of personal stress. The reader will learn practical ways of overcoming blocks to self-expression. If you wish to learn how to heal self and others with detailed instructions on how to use prayer, visualization, dreams, energy balancing, Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, sacred dance and music, as well as chanting and other sound then this is the book for you. It appeals to a wide variety of senses, not merely the written word. Graphic artists, and those who prefer to learn through listening rather than merely reading, will find Healing and the Creative Response of unique value and inspiration.