Effectiveness of prayer, witchcraft, etc.

zoolfoos wrote:In the results the people who had been prayed for did much better, and were healthier than those who were not prayed for.

I can't credit these stories without more details. Were the people being prayed for aware that the study was happening? Were they aware they were the subject of the prayers? In either case the placebo effect could certainly have come into play.

why I don't just say "God did it" is that events like this have been documented in cases involving people who practice witchcraft as well.

You didn't say either way, but I wanted to point out that "witchcraft" (generally called Wicca) is not the worship of satan or the devil as many seem to believe. Wicca, or Witchcraft, is an earth religion, celebrating the life-force of nature. It generally revolves around the Goddess instead of a male figure, although those are sometimes worshipped also.

I'm not a pagan or Wiccan.

I can't credit these stories without more details.

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ ... odccu.html

You didn't say either way, but I wanted to point out that "witchcraft" (generally called Wicca) is not the worship of satan or the devil as many seem to believe. Wicca, or Witchcraft, is an earth religion, celebrating the life-force of nature. It generally revolves around the Goddess instead of a male figure, although those are sometimes worshipped also.

-Mermaid

No offense meant, of course.

I am quite aware of the beliefs of most witchcraft practitioners. Wicca is a modern witchcraft practicing religion, not a word that means "witchcraft." There are many witchcraft practicing religions, like there are many different types of Christianity. Also, Wiccans do not worship a female Goddess only, they do worship a male God as well. To a religion like Wicca (or others, especially old world Pagan religions) the male God is very important as well, even though the Goddess, and women are considered sacred.

The female Goddess was eventually removed from most modern religion by Christians many many years ago. A little known fact is that originally Jews worshiped a female Goddess as well. I do not practice witchcraft, but I have made an effort to learn as much as I can, due to the fact that it is a very important part of the world's history. I respect those who practice it, and their beliefs. I do NOT think that witches worship Satan (most don't even believe in Satan).

Once again, I mean no offense if my response sounds rude, but your comment made me look extremely ignorant. I would not like to be thought of this way. I simply mentioned witchcraft because they worship different Gods/Goddesses than Christians, and because the Christian Church denounces witchcraft (although much speculation has been made about the Churches involvement in witchcraft).

Thanks to Wolfke, who posted a link above with more information about the test...

Again, that link is:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ ... odccu.html

And to answer your question. The patients participating in the test knew that they could possibly be prayed for, but not who would be prayed for. Not all participants were prayed for. Those being prayed for did not know who was praying for them, and those praying knew very little about those people that they were praying for.

The intent of writing "you don't say either way" was to address a subject many people don't know much about.

I certainly didn't mean to imply I thought you were ignorant. Thanks for more details on witchcraft-practicing religions.

Mermaid wrote:You didn't say either way, but I wanted to point out that "witchcraft" (generally called Wicca) is not the worship of satan or the devil as many seem to believe. Wicca, or Witchcraft, is an earth religion, celebrating the life-force of nature. It generally revolves around the Goddess instead of a male figure, although those are sometimes worshipped also.

-Mermaid

zoolfoos wrote:No offense meant, of course.
<snip>
Once again, I mean no offense if my response sounds rude, but your comment made me look extremely ignorant. I would not like to be thought of this way. I simply mentioned witchcraft because they worship different Gods/Goddesses than Christians, and because the Christian Church denounces witchcraft (although much speculation has been made about the Churches involvement in witchcraft).

The Priceton Anomaly Research has done interesting studies in this field for a number of years and have come up with some remarkable results.

http://www.princeton.edu/~pear/2.html

To me it is further evidence that mind is final causality in action and that the world that we know should be considered as the interaction between the mindless brute force of matter and the modifying energy of mind working most obviously through brains but also thorugh other systems - such as gene pools - capable of self-critique.

Another promising area of research is the consciousness studies, specifically the research on microtubulis acting as the nervous system of the nervecell by way of transmitting light impulses.

http://jamaica.u.arizona.edu/~chalmers/online.html
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/ha ... ociety.htm