Testing the Pagan Prescription: Using a Randomized Controlled Trial to Investigate Pagan Spell-Casting as a Form of Noncontact Healing.
Charmaine Sonnex, Chris A Roe, Elizabeth C Roxburgh
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) March 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1089/acm.2019.0279 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Double-blind Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 44 |
| Population | Adults recruited via snowball sampling in the United Kingdom |
| Intervention | Pagan spell-casting |
| Duration | 4 weeks |
| Keywords | Neopaganism Whoqol-bref Distance healing Noncontact healing Randomized controlled trial Spells |
| Key findings | All participants showed improvements in health and well-being, but the spell-casting intervention did not produce group differences, so the improvements were not due to the spells. |
Abstract
Objectives: This research investigates the healing practices of modern Paganism using a randomized controlled trial. Paganism is a burgeoning belief system in the United Kingdom, within which healing is a key aspect. However, Pagan spell-casting practices have received little attention from distance healing researchers. This study aims to address this gap in the literature.
Design: This study utilized a randomized, double-blind, delayed intervention design. Settings/Location: Research took place at the University of Northampton. Subjects: Forty-four participants (30 females, 14 males) were recruited using snowball sampling (mean age = 24.30; range = 18-55). Procedure: Participants were randomly allocated to either Group A or B. Participants made written requests to the practitioner about changes they would like to see in their lives and provided a photograph and personal item to be used during the intervention. Participants attended meetings once a week during which they would take part in a guided body scan meditation before completing a quality-of-life measure. Healing practices were conducted for Group A between weeks 1 and 2 and for Group B between weeks 2 and 3. Outcome Measure: Well-being was measured using the 26-item WHOQOL-BREF.
Results: Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed a significant, positive change in general health from weeks 1 to 4 (F = 4.02, p = 0.025, η2 = 0.149). Separate analysis of variances of the four WHOQOL domains showed significant improvements across the study in the physical and psychologic domains only; there was no significant group difference on any of the outcomes.
Conclusion: All participants showed an increase in health and well-being domains directly related to their spell requests. However, there are no group differences to suggest that the spell-casting intervention was responsible.