Dictionary Contents ||| Quackwatch Home Page
Qigong (also
spelled "chi gong," and "chi gung"; originally called
daoyin): 1. (Chi Kung, Chinese Energetic healing, Chinese
Qigong therapy, Chinese yoga, internal Qigong, Kiko, Qi Gong, Qigong
healing) Chinese form of self-healing whose purported aim is to "stimulate"
and "balance" the flow of qi (chi, "vital energy")
through meridians ("energy pathways"). It involves contemplation,
visualization (imagery), assumption of postures, and stylized breathing
and body movements. "Gong" is a Mandarin word that pertains to
skill. Its Cantonese equivalent is "kung," as in "kung fu."
The word "qigong" literally means "breathing exercise,"
"to work the vital force," "practicing with the breath,"
and "working with the energy of life." Interpretations of the
word include "energy skill" and "energy mastering exercise."
2. A vast group of systems and methods of ancient Chinese and twentieth-century
origin that encompasses Qigong therapy.
Qigong Meridian TherapySM (QMTSM, Qi Gong Meridian Therapy®,
QGMT): Part of TCM that purportedly involves manipulating meridians ("energy
path ways").
Qigong therapy (buqi, buqi therapy, external qigong,
external Qigong healing, external Qi healing, medical Qigong, Qi
An Mo, Qigong healing, Qi healing, Qi Massage, wai Qi liao fa,
Wai Qi Zhi Liao): 1. Purported medical application of short-distance
psychokinesis. Qigong therapy is comparable to Non-Contact Therapeutic Touch.
At most, it includes light touching. Its theory posits "healing Qi"
and "diseased Qi." ("Buqi" means "spreading the
Qi." "Wai Qi" means "external Qi"
and refers to an alleged "shield" of chi at the surface
of the body. "Wai Qi liao fa" means "curing with external
Qi.") 2. Subject of Qigong Therapy and How to Use
It (East & West Publications, Ltd.), by Linhai; a combination of
"acupointing," "chiro practics," massage, physical therapy,
Tuina, and "qi transmission."
Quan Chi Chi Gong: Form of Qigong therapy. Quan Chi Chi Gong purportedly
involves a variant of psychokinesis or telekinesis. Supposedly, practitioners
transfer chi (Qi, "energy") stored in their "energy
body" into the patient. The method allegedly is instrumental in accelerating
healing, effectively treating drug addiction, and causing weight reduction.
quantum healing: Variation of self-healing advanced by Deepak Chopra,
M.D. (see "Magical Mind, Magical Body" and "Primordial Sound
Meditation"). Quantum healing is an alleged process of peacemaking
wherein one "mode of consciousness" -- the mind -- corrects "mistakes"
in another "mode of consciousness" -- the body.
Quantum Leap Chi Gong therapy: Apparent form of Qigong therapy promoted
by Warner Chen, O.M.D., L.Ac., Ph.D., of New York City (see "Human
Resources Chi Gong" and "Marrow Cleansing Chi Gong").
Quantum ReleaseWork: "Process" that supposedly uses the
"Higher Self" to perform "vibrational, multidimensional"
healing. Its originators are two former university professors: medical anthropologist
Beatrix Pfleiderer, Dr.Phil., and "consciousness researcher" Andrew
Terker, Ph.D. According to Quantum ReleaseWork theory: (a) culture and "frozen"
emotions suppress one's "true core"; (b) bodily cells hold emotional
and psychological "woundings"; (c) "woundings" compress
information in cells; (d) such compression prevents one from fulfilling
one's "true" potential; and (e) as one decompress the information
in one's cells, one slows aging and obtains access to one's hidden potential
for bliss, "energy," and creativity.
Quantum Shiatsu: Variation of Zen Shiatsu, developed by Pauline Sasaki
of the United States.
Radiance Breathing Meditation: Component of Radiance Breathwork described
by university professor Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., and dance therapist Kathlyn
Hendricks, Ph.D., in Radiance! Breathwork, Movement and Body-Centered
Psychotherapy (Wingbow Press, 1991). It purportedly fills the body with
"waves of energy," and the mind with "clear light."
Radiance Breathwork: Form of breathwork developed by university professor
Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., and dance therapist Kathlyn Hendricks, Ph.D. (who
obtained her doctorate from a nonaccredited institute). Purportedly, it:
(a) releases "unresolved" emotions "held" in the body,
(b) increases one's ability to handle "positive energy," (c) can
"clear" the effects of birth trauma, and (d) can ultimately "connect"
one to life's boundless transper sonal dimension.
Radiance Movement Therapy: Form of "movement work" developed
by university professor Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., and dance therapist Kathlyn
Hendricks, Ph.D. (who obtained her doctorate from a nonaccredited institute).
Purportedly, it is a means of dialoguing directly with one's "inner"
self and an access to the "innate intelligence" of the body.
Radiance Prenatal Process: Form of body-centered psychotherapy developed
by university professor Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., and dance therapist Kathlyn
Hendricks, Ph.D. (who obtained her doctorate from a nonaccredited institute).
It takes place in water heated to the temperature of the womb. Two therapists,
male and female, support the client, supposedly induce the client to return
to "the prenatal time," and perform a "clearing procedure,"
the purported design of which is to free the client from troublesome feelings
the person may have had before birth.
The Radiance Technique® (TRT, The Official Real Reiki®, The
Official Reiki Program®, Real Reiki®): Form of energy balancing
advanced by Barbara Weber Ray, Ph.D., a clairvoyant astrologer who began
using the expression "The Radiance Technique" in 1986. TRT purportedly
is the unpolluted "science" of Reiki's originator in its entirety.
radiant breathing (radiant breathwork): Apparently, a purported way:
(a) to "release" unconscious beliefs that "block" aliveness
and (b) to become aware of "Deep Body Memories."
Radiant Healing Massage Method® (Radiant Healing Massage): Combination
of massage "techniques" that purportedly was developed because
all modes of massage are not equally able to "unlock" one's "healing
potential."
radiesthesia (clairvoyant healing, medical dowsing, medical radiesthesia):
Method of pseudodiagnosis and treatment selection. The word "radiesthesia"
is the anglicized form of radiesthésie, an apparent euphemism
for "dowsing" coined by the Abbé Alex Bouly in 1927. It
literally means "perception of radia tion." Dowsing (see above;
also called "biolocation") is a clairvoyant "art" centered
on finding water, minerals, animals, missing persons, lost objects, or hidden
treasure, usually with an instrument such as a pendulum or divining rod
(a forked rod or tree branch, or a bent wire). "Radiesthesia"
may refer to: (a) all forms of dowsing; (b) medical dowsing specifically;
(c) dowsing and radionics; or (d) the ability to detect "biological
radiations." Bouly and two other French priests -- the Abbé
Alexis Mermet and Father Jean Jurion -- pioneered medical dowsing. Mermet's
hypothesis was threefold: (1) everything emits radiation, (2) "some
kind of current" flows through human hands, and (3) holding appropriate
objects renders them revelatory tools. There are two basic "diagnostic"
modes of radiesthesia: In one, practitioners supposedly detect and diagnose
illness simply by passing their hands over the patient. In the other, they
hold an "instrument" (see "pendular diagnosis") over
the patient or over a sample of tissue or body fluids, a photograph of the
patient, or one of the patient's belongings (e.g., an article of clothing).
In the latter form of radiesthesia, practitioners base "diagnosis"
on the movements of the "instrument."
radionic diagnosis (radionic analysis, radionic analysis technique,
radionic diagnostic work): Form of remote diagnosis that involves using
a "radionic diagnostic instrument." The basic modes of radionic
diagnosis are the "stick pad" technique and a variation of telediagnosis.
radionic photography: Purported means of remote diagnosis developed
in the 1930s by chiropractor Ruth Drown, the originator of Drown radio therapy.
Drown posited a "resonance" between the human body and each of
its parts.
radionics (psionics): Ill-defined offshoot of radiesthesia founded
and named by San Francisco-born neurologist Albert Abrams, M.D., M.A. (1863-1924),
author of Spondylotherapy (1910) and New Concepts of Diagnosis
and Treatment (1916). Radionics, which encompasses radionic diagnosis
and radionic therapy, is a combination of clairvoyant diagnosis, distant
diagnosis (remote diagnosis), and psychic healing. Abrams associated different
diseases with different radio waves supposedly emitted by various parts
of the body and by tissue samples. He invented a pseudodiagnostic electrical
system whose components included: a "Dynamizer" -- a receptacle
for blood or tissue samples; three rheostats (devices that regulate electric
current); and an elec trode, which the practitioner would affix to the patient's
forehead. Abrams claimed that one could even ascertain a patient's religion
with his system, and further, that the patient's autograph could substitute
for blood in the "Dynamizer." For "treatment," he recommended
his "Oscilloclast": a de vice allegedly designed to emit curative
vibrations.
radionic therapy (radionic healing, radionic treatment; called "radio
therapy" in the 1930s): Variation of absent healing that involves using
a "radionic treatment instrument." Its postulate is that disease
is a deviation from the body's "archetypal blueprint," which is
perfect.
Radix (Neo-Reichian Therapy, Radix neo-Reichian program of personal
growth, Radixwork): Mode of body-centered psychotherapy developed by author
and psychologist Charles (Chuck) R. Kelley, Ph.D., and his wife, Erica,
in the 1960s and early 1970s. Radix borrows from Reichian Therapy the concepts
of "life energy" and "muscular armor." Its theory holds
that muscle tension is the mechanism of volition and an access to one's
"life force." In Radix terminology, "radix" means "life
force" or "life energy."
Rainbow Diet: Theistic form of vegetarianism, chakra healing, and
color therapy advanced by Gabriel Cousens, M.D., a practitioner of auricular
acupuncture, crystal healing, and homeopathy. Cousens is also the author
of Conscious Eating, Sevenfold Peace, and Spiritual Nutrition
and The Rainbow Diet (1986). The Rainbow Diet's postulate is that every
colored food -- except flesh, fast food, junk food, frozen food, and irradiated
food -- "builds," "cleanses," "energizes,"
heals, and "rebalances" those glands, organs, and nerve centers
associated with whichever major chakra is related to the food's surface
color.
Raktamoksha: Ayurvedic form of bloodletting. Its theory holds that:
(a) "toxemia" is the "basic cause" of hypertension,
"thrombotic elements," and repeated acne, eczema, herpetic symptoms,
hives, leukoderma, and scabies; (b) pitta ("fire plus water,"
one of the three Ayurvedic "humors") is a derivative of disintegrated
red blood cells in the liver; (c) an increase of pitta in the blood
may cause many disorders; and (d) extraction of a small amount of venous
blood relieves the "tension" caused by "pittagenic
toxins" in the blood.
Rational Fasting: Manner of fasting expounded by Prof. Arnold Ehret
in his bestseller of the same name. Its purported design is physical, mental,
and spiritual rejuvenation. It includes the Superior Fast.
raw juice therapy: Purported "Natural" therapy expounded
by John B. Lust. It centers on ingestion of juice extracted fresh, with
electric juicers, from fruits and vegetables. Its purported design is to
correct "colloidal cell chemical composition" that has become
"unbalanced" because of "unnatural" habits. Unpleasant
reactions to raw juice therapy allegedly indicate that the juices do not
"harmonize" with an unhealthy gastroin testinal condition or with
an "acid condition" of the blood; supposedly, such reactions are
thus signs of improvement.
Ray methods of healing: Subject of Ray Methods of Healing
(Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1993), by Zachary F. Lansdowne, Ph.D. The Ray methods
of healing are a takeoff on the Seven Ray techniques (esoteric healing)
and embrace homeopathy, Pranic Healing, raja yoga (astanga yoga), and white
magic.
rebirthing (circular breathing, conscious breathing, conscious-connected
breathing, free breathing, vivation): A form of bodywork that uses hyperventilation.
Leonard Orr developed rebirthing in the 1970s. Its purported goal is to
resolve repressed attitudes and emotions that supposedly originated with
prenatal and perinatal experiences. Practitioners, called "rebirthers,"
encourage patients to reenact the birth process.
receptive imagery: Freewheeling form of imagery (see above) whose
design is to obtain insight into a particular problem. Supposedly, it may
include a "dialogue" with images that represent symptoms.
receptive prayer: Exercise of "spiritual faculties" that
draws from "Infinite source currents."
reflexology: 1. Variation of acupressure whose postulate is
that all bodily organs have corresponding external "reflex points"
(on the scalp, ears, face, nose, tongue, neck, back, arms, wrists, hands,
abdomen, legs, and feet), and that manipulation of these points can enhance
the flow of "energy." 2. Foot Reflexology. 3. Zone
therapy. 4. Macroreflexology and microreflexology. 5. A type
of shiatsu that focuses on the hands and feet.
Reflexology Workout: Form of reflexology that is the subject of The
Reflexology Workout: Hand and Foot Massage for Super Health and Rejuvenation,
by Stephanie Rick. Purportedly, it is the equivalent of an internal massage
and enables push-button control of hormone release.
reflexotherapy: Form of homuncular acupuncture whose focus is the
foot.
Reflex Zone Therapy of the Feet: Variation of the Original Ingham
Method developed by masseuse Hanne Marquardt of Germany.
regression therapy (hypnotic regression therapy): Method that allegedly
evokes memories of, symbols of, and/or fantasies about adolescent, childhood,
in utero, and "past-life" events.
Reich Blood Test: Pseudodiagnostic component of orgonomic medicine
(orgone therapy). The Reich Blood Test is a purported means of "ascertaining"
overall "energetic health." Its premise is that the morphology
of erythrocytes indicates the "energetic state" of an organism
at the time of their removal. Supposedly, red blood cells with "bions"
(which resemble blue beads) at their center are abnormal. Proponents characterize
bions as semi-living, bacterium-sized, vesicular manifestations of orgone
and as the building blocks of cells.
Reichian breathwork: Purported aid to freeing "blocked energy"
in the body.
Reichian Therapies (Reichian-based therapies, Reichian-oriented therapies):
Variety of "regression methods" whose theories share Wilhelm Reich's
concept of "character armoring" ("muscular-emotional armoring").
The expression "character armor" refers to all the attributes
one supposedly develops as "blocking" against "emotional
excitation." The alleged results of "character armoring"
include bodily rigidity and "deadness." Reichian-oriented therapies
include bioenergetics, core energetics, organismic psychotherapy, and Radix.
(See "Reichian Therapy.")
Reichian Therapy (psychiatric orgone therapy, Reichian bodywork therapy,
Reichian massage; called "vegetal therapy" in Europe): Psychoanalytic
form of bodywork developed by Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), the "discoverer"
of orgone (see "orgone therapy"). According to Reichian theory,
blockages to orgone cause neuroses and most physical disorders. Muscular
contractions ("body armor") in various parts of the body supposedly
manifest such "blockages." The Reichian "therapist"
intuitively decides where the greatest "body armor" is and supposedly
seeks to "dissolve" or "dismantle" it. Approaches to
"dissolving" this "armor" include massage and having
the patient breathe deeply, cry, gag, kick, make faces, scream, and roll
his or her eyes. Apparently, Reichian Therapy is also called "Reichian
vegetotherapy."
Reiki [ray-key] (reiki healing, Reiki system, reiki therapy, Usui
method of Natural Healing, Usui Reiki, Usui shiki ryoho, Usui shiko ryoho,
Usui shiko ryoho system of healing, Usui System of Natural Healing; formerly
called "leiki"): A form of chakra healing and a variation of the
laying on of hands. It encompasses Reiki I and a form of distant healing
(absent healing). Dr. Mikao Usui "rediscovered" Reiki in the late
1800s, in Japan. Reiki "therapists" supposedly channel reiki,
"universal life energy power," through their bodies for storage
in the solar plexus, and into "dis-eased" individuals for "rebalancing."
Reiki purportedly works simultaneously on emotional, mental, physical,
and spiritual "levels" and does not have any limitations. The
Reiki system's postulate is that activated "Sacred Universal Symbols"
evoke "healing energies." The word "reiki" combines
two Japanese ex pressions: rei, which means "spirit" or
"soul," and ki ("energy," "life force").
Reiki I (hands-on Reiki): Form or variation of the laying on of hands.
During a full "treatment," the practitioner places his or her
hands on, or one inch off, various parts of the client's body.
Reiki-Alchemia®: Union of Reiki and Alchemia.
Reiki Marathon: Purported conducer to miraculous healing wherein
eight to ten Reiki practitioners continuously "treat" an individual
for eight to ten hours.
Reiki meditation: Meditation system that purportedly involves the
"healing power of Reiki." It allegedly can bring on clairvoyance
and release or transmute "negative energy."
Reiki Plus® (Reiki Plus Natural Healing, Reiki Plus System of
Natural Healing): Offshoot of Reiki devised by Reverend David G. Jarrel,
founder of Pyramids of Light, Inc., a nondenominational "Christ-Conscious"
church in Tennessee, and its "educational arm," the Reiki Plus
Institute. Reiki Plus en compasses Physio-Spiritual Etheric Body healing,
Psycho-Therapeutic Reiki, and Spinal Attunement Technique.
Reimprinting with Divine Intervention: "Powerful therapeutic
process" developed by Gerry Schmidt. Apparently, it is a purported
means of transforming childhood experiences with divine assistance.
rei-so (spiritual diagnosis): Pseudodiagnostic method whose
apparent postulate is that dead people, in the form of spirits (interpretable
as consciousness, energy, or vibration), can influence living people who
had an intimate relationship with them. Supposedly, spirits create darkness
in the "auras" of people they are affecting negatively.
religion (religious conviction, religious faith): Form of spirituality
that involves meditation, prayer, and/or churchgoing.
religious healing: Form or variation of psychic healing exemplified
by faith healing. Its theory ascribes healing to "divine power,"
especially God.
remote diagnosis (distant diagnosis): Alleged paranormal discovery
and rendering of the type and/or cause of a particular patient's disease
in the absence of the patient. Modes of remote diagnosis include clairvoyant
diagnosis, the de la Warr system, distant pulse diagnosis, psionic medicine,
radionic diagnosis, and telediagnosis.
Resonant KinesiologySM (RK): Meditative, "educational"
form of bodywork pioneered and taught by Susan Gallagher Borg, B.A., author
of Sing Your Body. One of RK's premises is that human bodies are
a "metaphors" for beliefs. Purportedly, when Resonant Kinesiologists
work, they relate to clients in a "vibrational" manner
Rhythmajik: Quasicabalistic method that involves numerology and magical
applications of sound.
Rhythmical Massage: "Approach to massage" developed by
physician and anthroposophist Ita Wegman. Its theory holds that effleurage
(light manual rubbing) in the form of the figure "8" strengthens
the "etheric (life) body."
Ro-Hun Therapy: Alleged way to heal the effects of "negative
life experiences." Purportedly, during the "Ro-Hun process,"
the "therapist," client, and "Spirit Healers" unify
(a) to understand how "energies" accompanying birth, childhood,
adulthood, and "past lives" are affecting the client's life, and
(b) to transform these "energies."
Rolfing® (Rolfing Method of Structural Integration, structural
integration, structural processing): Form of myofascial massage developed
in the 1930s in New York by Ida P. Rolf, Ph.D. (1896-1979), an organic chemist
who had studied yoga and chiropractic. The Rolf Institute, in Boulder, Colorado,
founded in 1971, quoted her in a pamphlet: "Rolfers make a life study
of relating bodies and their fields to the earth and its gravity field,
and we so organize the body that the gravity field can reinforce the body's
energy field." Rolfing theory posits "muscle memory": recollection
of an incident "held" or "recorded" in a particular
part of the body. Rolfers adjust the massage when they supposedly detect
areas of "energy imbalance" within the body. Proponents claim
that one's posture reveals past traumatic experiences, that Rolfing effects
emotional and "energetic" release, and that this alleged release
restores the flow of "vital energy" and integrates mind and body.
Rolfing Movement Integration (RMI): Spinoff of Rolfing whose groundwork
was laid in the 1960s and 1970s by Dorothy Nolte (a Rolfer) and Judith Aston,
the dancer who developed Aston-Patterning and Aston Movement. RMI somewhat
resembles the Alexander Technique; both involve a "teacher" who
gives tactile and oral guidance to a "student" (in the Alexander
Technique, also called a "pupil"). An alleged effect of RMI is
the experience of a "transformation of energy" -- the release
(very possibly "chaotic") of "energy" the body stored.
Rosen Method (Rosen Method bodywork, Rosen Method psychospiritual
bodywork): "Psycho-physical" system of bodywork developed in the
1970s by San Francisco physical therapist Marion Rosen, coauthor of The
Rosen Method of Movement. It purportedly unlocks the unconscious and
integrates body, mind, emotions, and spirit. The method reportedly involves
"non-intrusive" touching, verbal interaction, and experiencing
breath as the "gateway to awareness." A major premise of the Rosen
Method is that the body protects one from painful past experiences by separating
one from one's "essential self" ("true self"). Shortness
of breath and chronic muscle tension supposedly manifest this alleged protection.
Rubenfeld Synergy® Method (Rubenfeld Synergy): Form of
body-centered psychotherapy that borrows from the Alexander Technique, the
Feldenkrais Method, Gestalt therapy, and hypnotherapy. Onetime orchestra
conductor Ilana Rubenfeld developed the method in the early 1960s. Rubenfeld
has described the body as "the sacred sanctuary of the soul."
Rubenfeld Synergy includes aura analysis and dreamwork.
rune casting (casting): Mode of divination in which one throws "runestones"
-- pebbles bearing glyphs, which typically are characters used by ancient
Germanic and Norse peoples. In runic divination (a related method), one
may toss "matchstick Runes" or draw from a bag or hat: (a) "notepad
Runes," folded sheets of scratch pad paper bearing special figures
("Runes"); or (b) tiles from the board game Scrabble®.
__________________________________