Yet another blog where I am forced to combat my personal failings, or at least things that had me deceived. So this week, my good friend and brother in the Lord, Gaz Parker has tossed this my way. It may fit just as well over at his blog, http://www.newagedeception.wordpress.com/, but I think there may be some reasons why he thinks it would be good for me to look into. He’s probably right. At any rate, he was gracious enough to have me take a stab at it. I hope I don’t miss.
So, over at http://www.magneticdiscovery.com/ or at http://www.alexchiu.com/ there is an alleged “immortality device” for sale. The device, or devices as far as I can tell are rings you wear, a certain way on your pinky. The rings are magnetic. The theory is on the above links, but apparently the use of magnets in strategic areas on the body is supposed to somehow enhance your energy flow. The theory implies that making this energy flow well will presumably keep your body physically young and reverse aging. For a bit more info, look at this interview, but be warned of inappropriate language. Link: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/06/07/1421238.
Now, the first time I had heard of these rings was in the back of “Fate” Magazine. I will admit that I nearly bought a set, but at the same time something told me it was a line of poodoo. But, I daresay if you read the explanations of how it works, it really sounds like it might be legitimate. Even now, I admit that it is tempting to order a pair just to try it out and regrow some hair. At this point I don’t really know what is going on here with these things. At first glance, it looks as though he is using some scientific fact, and twisting it into pseudoscience and twisting that into some way to "scientifically"explain his worldview of chi. But it’s not just to sell immortality devices, because he shows how to make them on the site. So if he shows us how to do it for free, why? My guess is a darker spiritual component.
Now, it is true that every person's body does have an electromagnetic component to it. I once used this fact to justify my belief in chi, and auras. I thought that the ability to manipulate and perceive this stuff was a natural ability in the body. When i first thought this I was a Christian, but I wasn’t really mature yet. I was also young, and confused, and interested in chi, and thinking that it was an energy field that God had created. I even thought that I could use chi, the way the Force is used in Star Wars. You wouldn't believe how many times I tried to use psychokinesis. At any rate, Wikipedia has as good of a definition of chi as I have been able to find. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi. After reading this definition, I do see that the energy chi is not really compatible with Christianity, and the reasons for this are detailed in my post on Qigong. Basically, any attempt to control chi or "energy fields" through meditative or other means usually opens one up to demonic contact. And believe me, contact with demons is not fun.
One last note on chi. For what it’s worth, my paraphrase of wikipedia, chi or qi literally means “air, breath, or gas” which is comparable to the latin spiritus, or Greek πνεῦμα (Pneuma?) and this is comparable to what David Guzik says in his commentary on Genesis 2 and is similar to the Hebrew "ruach," which is the word used when God created man. I am not 100% sure, but I just looked at my wife’s Chinese language Bible, and it does have the character for chi in Genese 2:7. My best guess is that chi as it relates to breath is OK. As in God breathed life into us, we have the breath of life, or "chi" of life. On the other hand Chi/Qi as it is used to describe an invisible energy field, is not something humans should have any business in trying to manipulate.
At any rate, your body’s EM field is not chi. I don’t think you can control it (chi or your EM field) in any way, and I find it incredibly hard to believe that wearing a magnetic ring would improve the flow of your EM field. Even if this device did affect the flow of your EM field, it would not make you immortal, or necessarily even younger. This device seems to be a Qi-flow enhancer masquerading as an EM field fountain of youth. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that this thing actually does allow your EM energy to flow better. That in no way would allow humans to have eternal life or even prolong it.
The Bible gives some good advice here. To save you some work, here is the link so you can look for yourself, and explore as deeply as you are led to. The Bible clearly defines how to obtain eternal life. That is Jesus Christ
Eternal life
http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=Eternal+life&t=NLT
We also know that the Bible says that ALL have sinned. The reward for any sin is death. (Romans 6:23) So no amount of magnet wearing is going to save you from the inevitable fact of death. God's word says so.
We also know that it is God who controls the amount of time you and I have upon this earth. I believe that God has given me a set number of days even before I was born. Nothing I do will necessarily change that. When God calls me home, you can bet there isn't going to be a thing I can do about it. A few places confirm this, or at least allude to it. Forgive me if I take these out of context, but I can’t find the exact verse I wanted. They do get the idea across though.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=39&t=NLT#4 http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=2Ki&c=20&t=NLT#6
To sum up, wearing magnets will not change your lifespan. They probably won’t improve your “energy flow” either. And if they do improve your “energy flow” you probably don’t want to do it because it will possibly open up doors into the demonic. Lastly, as far as I know there is no medical evidence that magnetic fields can improve health, and in fact excessive exposure to EM fields can have negative health effects, but this last bit is speculation on my part and perhaps warrants further examination. I have heard that those who live near power lines, with strong EM fields have high rates of cancer. Again, more speculation, and I'm sure new agers would have a convenient excuse for it.
If I find more information on these rings, I will do a round two on this. If I find more, I’ll post it.
I need to edit this. Sorry!
ReplyDelete