MIND MIRROR RESEARCH WITH WELL-KNOWN HEALERS

 

 

Introduction. Maxwell Cade was a physicist who studied psychology and medicine pre WW2. He joined the RAF as a navigator and developed improved radio navigation techniques. After the war he published research papers on infra red physics and became a scientific consultant, both here and in the USA. Through his upbringing he had a profound knowledge of Eastern philosophy and was an experienced meditator. His aim was to provide a scientific basis for the study and practice of higher states of consciousness by correlating brainwave patterns and polygraph (lie detector) readings with subjective mental states. To this end he opened the Franklin School, in Hampstead (1970-1985) with his wife, Isobel, eventually attended by some 3,000 students, including swamis, yogis, zen masters, mediums, healers and clairvoyants. An electroencephalic (EEG) unit, called the Mind Mirror, was developed that showed the profile of brain wave frequencies from both sides of the brain from high to low frequencies (30-1Hz), as sideways bars of differing lengths according to the amplitude of each frequency looking, as in the picture (The illustration shows frequency profile typical of a healer in the intention to heal mindset with maximum amplitude around 7.8Hz (1Hz = 1 cycle per second). These frequencies have been divided, functionally, into four frequency bands having a rough correlation with subjective states as follows:

 

Beta (13-30/40Hz), associated with normal waking brain activity.
Alpha (8-13Hz), associated with passive, meditative mental activity.
Theta (4-8Hz), associated with a dreamy state of mind.
Delta (1-4Hz), deep sleep.

 

For example, a person in a steady state of meditation held a steady brainwave profile with wide amplitude bars (row of light emitting diodes (LEDs)) at around Alpha/theta 9 Hz, as did the healing mindset into Theta at a slightly lower frequency around 7.8 Hz. These profiles might vary up and down the frequency range according to the healer, but remained recognizably consistent. As a result of his research Max had classified a ladder of consciousness into a hierarchy from ‘0’ as initial relaxation to ‘8’ when in a state of deep meditation into universal awareness. Meditation was the fifth state, defined as a ‘Very lucid state of consciousness. Deeply satisfying. Intense alertness, calmness and detachment, and this included the intention-to-heal mindset. The school closed soon after Maxwell’s untimely death in 1984 from an acute asthma attack, and this era of exciting research, including healing, came to an abrupt end. Unfortunately, Max never published any research papers on healing so his findings never gained any academic recognition, but chapter 8 of his book is devoted to the subject and this is a summary of his findings. Some of the well known healers of the time who became involved in this research over several years were Major Bruce MacManaway (Healing: The Energy That Can Restore Health with Johanna Turkan, 1983. Excellent book, still on Amazon, highly recommended), Edgar Chase, retired physicist, and his wife, Hilda, Mrs Rose Gladden, and Addie Raeburn (wife of the Keeper of the Tower of London at the time no less!).

 

Ch 8. When watching simultaneous recordings of Mrs Raeburn’s EEG profiles and her clients’ profiles, the frequencies of her two brain hemispheres, initially quite different in outline, slowed down and were seen to come slowly into frequency accord over some 4-5 minutes as she entered the healing mindset with a similar profile on both sides. Within a short time the healee’s profile, initially completely different, developed a similar pattern that stayed constant throughout the healing session. Afterwards they diverged back to normal with widely different patterns. It was found that this entrainment was more effective if her hands were laid on the head rather than over the site of injury. For example, when healing a patient over several weeks who had suffered severe leg injuries with resulting pain and stiffness, he still had very poor balance on that leg and could not ride his bike. When watching the Mind Mirror Cade noticed that no change of EEG pattern occurred while her hands were on his leg, but when Max suggested that she moved to his head and stayed there, his EEG profile came into line over some 25 minutes with a sense of healing, and within 3 days he could balance on the leg and ride his bike. This observation was followed up and it was found that, with hands-on healing, healing was more successful, and the healee’s EEG came into closer entrainment, when the healer’s hands were placed on the head than elsewhere.

 

It was also found that, except for the most exceptional healers, many healer’s EEG patterns and apparent healing effectiveness was reduced if their minds wandered, or if they indulged in general chat with the healee, whose own EEG pattern also tended to break up. In a very interesting experiment with Major MacManaway with the patient attached to the Mind Mirror, they found that with up to seven healers present, as each healer went behind the patient and joined the team the healee’s EEG pattern became incrementally increased, interpreted as an increase in healing power from the linked healers.

 

Distant healing entrainment. In an experiment to see if a patient’s EEG profile could be affected by distant healing Edgar Chase went into one room with Geoffrey Blundell, the electronics expert who had designed and built the Mind Mirror, and was duly connected up. The patient, also connected to the Mind Mirror, remained in the consulting with Mrs Chase who pretended to be getting ready to do the healing but would not be the healer. Max and Isobel stayed in the consulting room watching the patient’s Mind Mirror patterns. Unknown to the patient, an arrangement had been made that when a clock struck the hour Edgar would commence healing. On the stroke Edgar’s EEG came into the healing profile and the patient’s EEG was observed to come into a closely similar profile some 15 seconds later, remaining steady throughout the next 10 minutes of healing.

 

A striking example of healer to healee EEG entrainment by distant healing occurred during the Wrekin Trust 1978 Sixth Annual Health and Healing Conference, held at Loughborough University with an audience of 400 doctors, psychologists, scientists, healers and other professionals watching on closed circuit television. On the stage Mrs Rose Gladden, as the healer, was connected to a Mind Mirror. Nora Forbes, wife of a doctor present, volunteered to be the patient and, rather apprehensively, was also connected to a Mind Mirror. The entire audience were able to watch Mrs Gladden’s EEG profile change from everyday randomness to follow her through deepening levels of meditation into the profile of the healing mindset. Within a few minutes she was producing very strong low frequency alpha waves and then, gradually, Mrs Forbe’s EEG took up the same pattern over 15 minutes and became completely attuned. As Max says ‘It was such a clear-cut and undeniable demonstration, in terms understandable and convincing to all, that the audience was stunned. People cried, one or two even sobbed.’. (I have met a healer who was there and she said the atmosphere was absolutely electric). Mrs Gladden explained what she had felt and experienced ‘I tuned into a large golden cloud and channelled this love through my heart and head to Nora’. She said that she sensed there was something wrong with Nora on her left side below her ribs. Mrs Forbes, who had initially felt somewhat panicked at facing the large audience, said that she had become deeply relaxed and refreshed during the healing. She also said that she did have a kidney problem.

 

Healer Health. According to Cade the Mind Mirror profile showed very clearly that if a healer was physically unwell, even if it was ‘just a cold’, and/or mentally run down, their healing power diminished. A tired and stressed healer must take a break. For example, during a series of weekly studies with Mrs Raeburn they observed a gradual falling off in the strength of her EEG profile associated with a weakening of the pattern induced in the patient. She took a holiday, returned refreshed, and her healing power and patient’s response was back to normal. Cade observed this with several healers and the patients, unaware of the situation, corroborated this weakening of healing effect by saying that they didn’t seem to be getting so much out of the healing sessions.

 

Finding potential healers. Cade decided to use the Mind Mirror as a tool to discover if those who attained the fifth state depth of meditation were also potential healers. Over several months he tested the 100 or so students who had been trained to enter fifth state consciousness by including the healer – healee relationship. Of these students he found 15 who were able to transfer the fifth state EEG profile to the healee with resulting harmonisation of the nervous system and reported benefits to health (This seems to imply that to become a healer requires something more). Cade comments that the production of an ability to heal is not the same thing as producing effective healers. Many people may possess such a potential ability but are ineffective through faulty technique, lack of necessary precautions, mind wandering, and slipshod organisation. He therefore initiated an Introductory Course for Healers, covering elementary anatomy and physiology with practical instruction in mental preparation and healing technique combined with EEG training feedback to culminate into an award of a Certificate of Healing Competence. The intention was to work with healing organisations and trainers (who, at the time, were very involved in this research) to raise the general standard of healing effectiveness and public recognition. Unfortunately, all came to nought after his death as no other organisation such as the NFSH took the work forwards.

 

A very notable healer who attended the school was a certain Swami Prakashanand Saraswati. His EEG profile was one of a powerful healer and he was able to maintain this state during ordinary conversation with unwavering stability unmatched by any other healer. When he went round the students and put his hands on their head their Mind Mirror profile of consciousness immediately rose by 2 levels on Max’s attunement scale, and in one student this higher level lasted for 3 unforgettable days.

 

Neat medical anecdote. During a conference a doctor approached Cade and asked to be attached to the Mind Mirror to see whether he had any healing ability. Cade says ‘We were unhappy to learn that his rhythms were those of an ordinary academic, mainly beta (I just love that ‘ordinary academic’!). Before they decided to break the bad news Cade asked him to imagine he had a patient in his office for whom he could do little by way of ordinary medicine. He then asked him to try and heal this patient by sheer compassion. Almost immediately, his brain patterns began to change and settle into the profile of a strong healer.

 

Wider context. Studies in parapsychology, using the EEG to test for evidence of apparent telepathic communication between pairs of participants, have demonstrated such an effect, particularly when in close empathic rapport. A MRI study of 11 healers sending short periods of healing intention to close friends acting as healees while in the scanner, demonstrated activation of the healee’s brain, as shown by changes in blood flow, during healing periods that was absent during the non healing periods. In June and October, 2001, Ervin Laszlo, a philosopher/scientist polymath who has written many books on the interconnectedness of ourselves and the universe, attended seminars held at the Institute for Communication and Brain Research, Stuttgart. On each occasion a healer, Maria Sagi, induced her healer profile in the healee as shown on monitor screens with apparent improvement in symptoms (Ervin Laszlo, 2003, The Connectivity Hypothesis. In an appendix Maria describes these and other experiments)

 

Note. If you google up ‘Anna Wise’, who was a pupil of Cade’s and is now in America, you will see illustrations of the healing EEG profile in action.

 

The Awakened Mind by Maxwell Cade and Nona Coxhead (available on Amazon)
Summary of chapter 8 on ‘Mind Mirror Research with Well-known Healers’

 


Also see: The Story of Light and Metaphysics