The house healer

In the UK we've recently been having some wonderful weather which has inspired many to have a spring clean in the hope that it will shift away the winter blues we've become so accustomed to of late. However, according to the Daily Mail it might not all be that easy.

Apparently many of us find that despite having a spring clean we still feel gloomy within our own homes. This, they say, could be down to bad energy making our homes sick. Or at least, that's what Sandra Kendrew says anyway.

She labels the bad energy as three different types:

- geopathic stress which is natural radiation and is distorted by underground water, quarrying, minerals, fault lines and construction (which coincidentally is what is said to disturb ghosts, coincidence?)[1]

- Geomagnetic stress which is caused by electro-magneitc pollution from nearby pylons, sub-stations and radiation in the home, such as a ' disruptive' WiFi connection. [1]

- and, Geopsychic stress which is the lingering emotional energy created by previous occupants and the property's current owners.Or ghosts.[2]

Now, I'm sure your bullshit detectors are going off majorly already. We've got mentions of negative energy, pollution from pylons and wifi, and ghosts. However, it gets even more woo because Sandra claims to be able to heal these problems within your home or business and has been doing so for nearly a decade already.

She usually performs the entire healing process remotely, and has healed homes in both Melbourne and Las Vegas, (one U.S. woman even attributes her father's recovery from cancer to the healing process). Sandra insists that distance is no object as she just asks for the address, and dowses (with copper rods) over the floor plans to pinpoint the areas of blocked energy.

She counts from 1 to 100 over the floorplan and if the rods cross on 42 in a certain area when she is looking for geomagnetic stress it means the house has a 42% geomagnetic stress levell. She then draws a map of energy lines that affect the property.She begins the healing by sending 'intent, focused positive energy' to the home and its occupants, and teaches them to challenge negative thinking and if the property is in Britain, she can follow up with a site visit.

"People are much more open-minded about this now than they were when I started. Experiments show that positive thoughts and affirmations can change the shape of water crystals. There's no doubt that they can also change the effect of negative vibrations in a home or business.' -- Sandra Kendrew.

Now the water crystal experiments she is quoting was done by one Dr Emoto and it has been thoroughly debunked.[3] The dude doesn't even know what a double blinded test is! Funnily enough, this study was also quoted by Nikki Owen who did the apple experiment that inspired Rebecca Watson's great apple experiment and it makes you wonder why these positive thoughts advocates use it as proof of their ability when it's been debunked so much.

Can you say cherry picking?

I had a look at Sandras website and was slapped in the face by more woo. Her introduction says:

I qualified as a Nutrition Consultant over 30 years ago, and have been working in Complementary Health over 20 years, including working in the media, reflexology, life coaching, emotional freedom, psychotherapy, reiki and many other forms of healing.

I have devised my own system of healing with Intent, which adds potency & accuracy to the overall healing and balancing of a property and client.

Her top tips for a healthy home include:

1 - Bless your home and yourself daily. It doesn't have to be religious  -  just focus on positivity and gratitude for what you have.


2 - Give possessions you no longer want to charity or someone who needs them  -  clutter breeds negative energy.

3 - Have plants, particularly spider plants and peace lilies. Throw away dead plants.

4 - Put a little rock salt in a bowl of water in your home this is very cleansing.


5  Keep doors closed, especially while you sleep.

All of this to me screams PLACEBO! Think positively about a situation and it's more likely that whatever it is you are thinking of in a positive light will seem... positive. It doesn't mean that because what you're thinking about in a positive manner and it seems more positive this woman has magically gotten rid of bad energies from your home that we know probably don't exist because of the lack of proof in their favour.

I don't know if Sandra really believes that she is doing good for the people she charges £175+ but what she is in fact doing is scaring them into believing that they are being harmed by their sick homes and that she can help them with magic and some dowsing rods. Easy money.

[1] I'm not sure what the "natural radiation" that is referred to is, however please read this article for the facts about EM pollution.  http://www.skepdic.com/emf.html
[2]There has never been any proof issued to support the idea of a mystical energy given off by spirits/ghosts, the type which would need to exist for geopsychic stress to exist.
[3] http://www.sciencepunk.com/2006/10/masaru-emoto/