page_title: Antoinism
section_title: Consultations by a healer
hierarchical_section_title: Antoinism / Practices / Consultations by a healer
caption_attribution_description: English: Plaque on the door of an antoinist temple
context_page_description: Antoinism is a healing and Christian-oriented new religious movement founded in 1910 by Louis-Joseph Antoine in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Seraing in Belgium. With a total of 64 temples, over forty reading rooms across the world and thousands of members, it remains the only religion established in Belgium whose notoriety and success has reached outside the country. Mainly active in France, the religious movement is characterized by a decentralized structure, simple rites, discretion and tolerance towards other faiths.
  Raised a Catholic, Antoine worked as a coal miner in his youth, then as a steelworker, before performing his military service in 1866. After marrying Catherine in 1873, he moved several times for professional reasons. Deeply impressed by Allan Kardec's writings, he organized a spiritualist group in the 1890s. In 1893, the death of his son marked the definitive loss of his faith in Catholicism. In 1896, he explained his Spiritist views in a book, then discovered the gifts of healing. Quickly known as a healer, he gathered many followers, mainly among workers disappointed by Catholicism or medicine.
context_section_description: After the service, some people—regular faithful or visitors—may ask to consult a healer in one of the small rooms of the temple—although the desservant who lives in the apartment adjacent to the temple is always available to receive suffering persons. During these consultations, both are standing before Antoine's image: the patient expresses for a few minutes the request that he wishes to obtain, and the healer prays, sometimes while touching the consultant's shoulder or hand, presumably to convey the fluid. The healer's work is said to put again the consultant in the love of God that will allow him to find himself the spiritual journey leading to healing. For this purpose, the healer has to discover the origin of the consultant's problem, which is, in Antoinist beliefs, always linked to a person's own history, and to understand that he should bear the consequences of what was done in a preceding life.
  A 2001 survey reported by Dr. Axel Hoffman showed that an Antoinist healer had received 216 patients over a period of twenty days, that the reasons to consult were related to physical (47%), psychological (19%), sentimental (13%) and professional (13%) issues, and that most of these people also consulted a doctor. The Antoinist healing process does not include a doctrinal teaching nor a psychological manipulation. It does not necessarily imply the end of the problem or illness, and can be divided into three phases: the relief provided by the healer through listening and intercession with God, then acceptance of the problem which requires the recognition of one's responsibilities, and finally the inner peace that results. Whether immediate or gradual, healings are never considered as miracles in the religion because they are supposed to occur inevitably when all necessary conditions, including the faith of the patient, are met. Even after several consultations, the consultant does not necessarily become a follower. Several sociologists deemed the Antoinist healing as "exorcist" as well as "adorcist".
caption: A plaque on the door of the temple indicates that suffering people can be received freely from morning to evening.
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