Radionics and the Subtle Anatomy of Man

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If one examines the history and development of radionics from the pioneering work of Dr. Albert Abrams and Ruth Drown, to the latest experimental work at the de la Warr Laboratories, a curious paradox emerges.

Radionics professes to be a method of diagnosis and therapy, which is primarily concerned with the utilization of subtle force fields and energies, for the purpose of investigating and combating the causes of disease which ravage humanity and the other kingdoms of nature. However, in discussions or articles, in the methods of diagnosis and treatment, and in the rare books which provide the very core of radionic therapeutic measures, one finds continual reference to the physical organic systems of man, and precious little of practical value regarding the probability of underlying force fields which might govern and determine the health of the physical form.

It would seem that this unfortunate paradox has emerged because radionics, which is essentially a paraphysical method of diagnosis and treatment, utilizing the faculty of extra-sensory perception and the concept of ‘action at a distance’, has predicated its approach to the problems of disease upon a semi-orthodox terminology and rationale.

There can be no doubt that it was necessary for Abrams to lay the foundation for radionics in terms of physical reference, after all, he was a physician and his training and discipline required this of him. Surely it was revolutionary enough that he discarded the cell theory of disease, and replaced it with the electron theory. Disease to him was not a matter so crude as cell dysfunction, but had a subtler nuance in that it was related to what he felt was the ultimate divisibility of matter. By moving away from a purely physical approach to disease, Abrams showed that the cause of disease can be traced sequentially to more and more subtle realms. This trend is also expressed in the fields of diagnosis and, eventually, treatment.

Although both Abrams and Drown treated their patients by means of direct attachment to the instrument, in much the same way as a physiotherapist would apply galvanic or diathermy modalities, there are references in their writings, even in those early days, which show that diagnosis and treatment at a distance were not only considered, but carried out with effective results. I am going to relate them here, because the sequence, if carried to its logical conclusion, leads us ultimately to consider the possibility of utilizing radionic diagnostic and therapeutic techniques in the light of knowledge derived from the ancient teachings of the East.

Abrams relates that he evolved from working directly with the patient or patient’s blood spot, to a diagnostic technique which involved using the earth itself as a conducting medium for pathological energy. This method which he called radiogeodiagnosis proved suitable over short distances but only partially successful over long distances.

He then experimented with telediagnosis which utilized the overhead telephone wires to link him with the patient sample. This sample would be placed near the phone in another physician’s office, and Abrams would diagnose the case at a distance. His results and their accuracy were confirmed by laboratory tests. Experiments were effectively carried out for distances in excess of five hundred miles. Abrams concluded that pathological energy could be conveyed over long distances by means of telephone wires.

This eventually led to what Abrams referred to as teleaerodiagnosis, in which there was no visible connection with the patient at all. He succeeded in recognizing energy patterns of disease by aerial transmission over a distance of one mile, with the observation that much more experimentation along such lines would be needed, to enable him to exceed that distance.

Through the process of repeated experiments Abrams refined his techniques of diagnosis, progressing from direct physical contact between the patient and the instrument, to the utilization of the ethers as a connecting medium.

The chiropractor Ruth Drown was to carry this concept into the application of treatment at a distance, and the term ‘broadcasting’ found a niche in radionic parlance. In 1933 this technique was in its infancy, but as Drown points out, many vital cases were healed through this method.

Since 1933 radionics has developed and refined the techniques of diagnosis and treatment at a distance. Today every practitioner uses these methods as a standard procedure. What Abrams and Drown may have seen as unusual, the modern radionic therapist accepts as commonplace. The credit for this must surely go to the untiring efforts of the late George de la Warr and his wife, at their laboratories in Oxford.

Despite the necessary refinement of techniques and instrumentation over the past twenty-five years, there is a nagging suspicion in my mind that the key implication in the discovery by Abrams and Drown, of diagnosis and treatment at a distance, has been missed.

I believe that they pointed the way as far back as 1924, to the concept that man has a body of highly attenuated matter, which he derives from the energy field in the earth, and which links him with all life. This body is referred to in Eastern literature as the etheric body.

Today, most if not all radionic practitioners would agree that it is their belief that man does have what is referred to as an etheric body. The remarkable thing is that the matter is allowed to rest right there, and the practitioner continues to diagnose and treat in terms of cellular pathology and organic systems.

Inherent in the fact that Abrams diagnosed at a distance, and Drown treated absent patients, is an implication that I find of great interest. It is this. Each of them in their own way broke away from the use of the electromagnetic field and began to utilize an energy field of a more subtle nature. Their actions suggest that they were using the etheric force field of the earth as a connecting medium between them and their patients. By doing this they indicated that man need no longer be looked upon as a fortuitous conglomeration of organ systems, but something more subtle.

Man is a series of high frequency energy systems which integrate him into the universal scheme of things. These systems have an anatomy and physiology of their own, which in the final analysis determine the appearance and activity of the physical form, and diagnosis and treatment can be based upon this fact. Abrams and Drown launched this concept, but we have been content to swim along the shoreline ever since, not daring for various reasons to strike out into uncharted waters.

I feel very strongly that the time has come for radionics to bear witness to the subtle anatomy of man; this I believe to be its innate purpose. Radionics by its very nature is related to the laws and principles that govern the etheric, emotional and mental levels of existence, therefore new techniques of diagnosis and treatment based on these laws and principles should render the practitioner more effective in his work.

These three basic factors provide the framework for a new radionic approach to health, one that is fast, simple and above all effective. It eliminates the welter of inconsequential details that can arise during the course of a physically orientated radionic diagnosis, because it considers man from a holistic, not a fragmentary point of view.

The purpose of this book is to provide a simple yet practical outline of the subtle anatomy of man, and to explore techniques of diagnosis and treatment based on this information. Dr. H. Tomlinson, in his book The Divination of Disease, wrote: ‘The treatment of one of the metaphysical bodies alone, opens up a very fascinating future work.’

What follows will, I hope, prove the substance of his words, and encourage other radionic practitioners to explore the same pathways, leading to a deeper understanding of their inner beings, for from this knowledge comes effectiveness in the field of healing.

The Rudolf Steiner Press: The Etheric Formative Forces in Cosmos, Earth and Man by Guenther Wachsmuth. Physical and Ethereal Spaces by George Adams. The Lucis Press: Treatise on Cosmic Fire and Esoteric Healing by Alice A. Bailey. C.W. Daniel Co. Ltd. The Twelve Healers and Other Remedies by Dr. Edward Bach. I also acknowledge my indebtedness for the quotations used from Space and The Light of The Creation, written and privately published by George Adams. Jonathan Cape: Ideas and Integrities by R. Buckminster Fuller. My special thanks to Dr. A.K. Bhattacharya of Naihati, West Bengal for his interest in my work and for permission to quote from Gem Therapy written by his late father Dr. B. Bhattacharya (Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta). Finally I would like to express my gratitude to John Wilcox, author of Radionics in Theory and Practice, for his help with this manuscript in its formative stages.

Since ancient times man has held the belief that his physical body is simply the externalization of more subtle vehicles of manifestation. References to these invisible bodies are to be found in a wide variety of texts originating in China, India, Egypt and ancient Greece. The Bible too refers frequently to the subtle anatomy of man, particularly in The Revelation of St. John.

It is fashionable today to dismiss such ancient beliefs as mere superstition, holding them as impracticable and beyond any scientific proof. Curiously enough many of these writings, some of which are over five thousand years old, show clearly that the ancient seers and philosophers had a remarkably detailed knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the human nervous and endocrine systems – two areas in which modern science still has much to learn.

For the most part, radionic practitioners accept that man has a subtle anatomy, but there are few who view it as they would the physical body, that is, as having definite form and clearly defined functions. It tends to become a rather vague amorphous mass into which healing rates are projected, and practitioners place a limit on their effectiveness by using this approach.

In future the art of healing will rest upon a knowledge of the etheric in Nature and in man . . . If one views these realities not abstractly, but in the living man in their world relationship, one then arrives at new forms of knowledge in pathology and therapy in the art of healing.

This passage not only indicates the future trend of the healing arts when they emerge from the present materialism, but clearly shows that the reality of the etheric forces and the subtle workings of nature must not be viewed in a pseudo-mystical manner, but in a practical context relevant to the living man. The vague idea of the subtle bodies underlying the physical form must be replaced with the knowledge of structures which have a definite relationship to the visible anatomy and its physiological processes.

What now follows is an outline of the sevenfold nature of man, and the planes of matter upon which various aspects of his being are found. It is not intended as the final word, but put forward as a working hypothesis. Should the reader care to follow this line of thought more deeply, there is ample material to study in the esoteric literature available today. The purpose of this outline is to provide a picture of the subtle bodies of man in their universal context, and replace the ‘amorphous mass’ approach with something inherently more practical and close to reality.

Physical	Atomic
Cell Theory	Electron Theory

Physical	Atomic	Etheric
Cell Theory	Electron Theory

First	The actuality of the etheric formative forces which permeate all space and every form living therein, be it a human being or a planet.
Second	That man has a subtle anatomy which relates him to the forces in his immediate environment, and to those of the universe at large, and upon which the physical form is totally dependent for its expression of Life.
Third	That any imbalance in the reciprocal interplay of energies between the various aspects of man’s subtle anatomy, or between man and the surrounding forces, results in disease.

RADIONICS AND THE SUBTLE ANATOMY OF MAN