title: The search for a biosensor as a witness of a human laying on of hands ritual.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intentional healing by laying on of hands is a popular complementary therapy. Previous studies of this therapy have been focused on the influence of laying on of hands with focused intention on the patient or on a biological model that took the place of the patient.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Exploring the line of thinking that the consciousness-mediated act of healing during a healer-patient ritual changes a consciousness field that could be detected in another living non-human organism that was present only as a witness and was not the object of any directed intention.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comparison of a biosensor's behavior during healer-patient ritual treatments that were alternated by non-healing periods.
  
  
  METHODS
  An automatic device for measurement of ultra-weak emission of photons from algae was placed at the location of a healer during a series of experiments consisting of 36 healing sessions with human patients. Neither healer nor patients were aware of the type of measurements that took place.
  
  
  METHODS
  The number and periodicity of photon counts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Primary data analysis showed that the photon count distributions show some remarkable alterations during the ritual of healer-patient sessions. The data further suggest that during healing a shift in cyclical components of photon emission occurs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significance of the experiment lies in the possibility to enter the discussion on a quantitative basis with respect to the relevance of the patient-healer relationship in intentional healing.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roeland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Wijk
authors.forename: Eduard P A
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Van Wijk
mesh_terms: D000076:Acetabularia / Q000502:physiology*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017785:Photons; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019124:Therapeutic Touch