Echo Bodine - Hands That Heal

Copyright 1985, 1996, 2004 by Echo Bodine

Cover and text design by Cathey Flickinger
Photographs by Rod Radtke

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee as to the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given nor liability taken.

The stories in this book are true accounts, but the names of the individuals involved have been changed.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bodine, Echo L.

Hands that heal / Echo Bodine. Rev. ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-57731-456-1 (alk. paper)

1. Spiritual healing and spiritualism. I. Title.

BF1275.F3B63 2004

615.8'52dc22 2004003357

First printing, May 2004

ISBN 978-1-57731-456-1

Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer waste recycled paper

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

I ts a Saturday morning at the Center Echo Bodines healing and teaching center in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Thirty-two of Echos students count off by number and then quietly take their places. Some lie on tables padded with fleece quilts handcrafted by Echo. The rest stand next to the tables and begin stretching out their hands. Lit only by candlelight, the room fills with flute music from a Carlos Nakai CD. For the first twenty minutes some students will be the healers, some the healees.

Echo points to a table. She and the class have invited me to receive healing. Come lie here, she says.

Not feeling worthy is the biggest barrier to receiving healing, Echo says. People have so many deep issues with God. They feel if they were really worthy and God was a good God, God would never have given them the illness in the first place. Old religious stuff is the biggest block to receiving healing.

Her words are a healing balm to a voice in my head that nags: If I hadnt used drugs when I was a kid, I probably wouldnt be dealing with Hepatitis C now, some thirty years later. Its probably my punishment.

My table is surrounded by healers-in-training. Hands gently touch my shoulders, feet, abdomen hands resting on top of the white healing hankies that long ago became Echos trademark. Two of the hands belong to her.

It isnt the first time I have felt this energy; it wont be the last. Sometimes she directly places her hands on me; other times, she sends the energy across the ethers absentee healings, she calls them when I ask for help.

Ec, Im in Mexico. I either sprained or broke my ankle. Im trying to make my way to a clinic, but its an hour away.

Oh, thats why my hands are heating up, she responds over the telephone. I just hate it when youre in pain.

My head hurts so bad, I say, phoning her from California. Ive got a concussion. I know itll be okay. But I cant even lie down, the pain is so intense.

My hands are heating up right now, she says. Ill send you some healing energy. Just go lie down. You should be able to sleep soon.

For Gods sake, do something, I say, grabbing her. Its my son. Just put your hands on him. Heal him. Please, I beg.

This time she averts her eyes from mine, and she shakes her head. Shanes gone. His soul left his body. Theres nothing I can do. Im sorry.

When I ask for a healing, I either get the hoped-for results or I dont.

Now, on this Saturday at the Center, I close my eyes and surrender to the current flowing through the hands. The energy feels golden, light, just warm enough to be comforting. It feels a little like I imagine it would feel if God touched me.

Maybe Echo is right, I think. Maybe the hardest thing is knowing how loved we are by God.

After twenty minutes, Echo tells the students its time to switch places. The healees now become the healers except for me. Im invited to continue to receive. At noon, Echo ends the class with a meditation, turns on the lights, and sends us on our way.

My least favorite thing about being a healer is dealing with all the doubt, Echo confides later, the prove it to me, prove it to me, prove it to me mentality. My really intellectual students want me to show this to them. How do you show electricity? You give someone a healing and you see the result.

A few months and several healings later, Im back at the Center. This time, its to speak to her students at a New Years party. The room is filled to capacity. I tell my story of Hepatitis C and the healings. My voice chokes as I finish by sharing that the stubborn viral load count that plagued me has now finally dropped significantly lower than it has ever been. Then I thank the students for their work.

My favorite thing about teaching healing is watching my students faces when they hear stories about people getting healed, when it hits them that this stuff really works, Echo says. Its really sweet.

Over the thirty years Ive known Echo, Ive watched as the healing energy coming through her hands has grown more powerful. Ive also watched as the subject of healing has grown in popularity, working its way from the fringes into mainstream society. What began as classes of six students gathering in the living room of her home has now turned into one hundred new students a year. Some students dream of one day becoming full-time healers; others plan to use this gift more subtly.

I have a sense that when I retire, Ill hang out my shingle and offer to do healings on others, says one student, a woman who runs a sexual abuse prevention program. I dont do any official healings in my work. Right now, I practice on myself.

Another woman, formerly an attorney and now a full-time novelist, says she uses her healing gifts for herself and occasionally friends, family, and the characters in her books.