karen

About diet typologies vs. other kinds of diet studies - With diet typologies, we're looking at independent research that correlates diet with various functions that affect homeostasis, and there are many - there's acid/alkaline balance, electrolyte balance, catabolic/anabolic balance (Dr. Revici pionneered that research) and constitutional type, in addition to metabolic type, endocrine (body type) and blood type. Some of those weigh more heavily than others, so we can simplify things a bit, without having to look at every single one of those for each person. But the homeostsatic systems which vary from person to person are important to look at. For example, what makes a food acid or alkaline isn't a function of the food itself, but depends on the particular way in which the person metabolizes that food. This means that nutritional needs can't be generalized, and this cuts through the confusion over which diet is "best." None are best for everyone, and even one typing system alone isn't the final word on nutrition. Many of the pop diets like D'Adamo's blood type diet, south beach diet, etc., have come and gone, not adding much to our knowledge of real principles. But when independent research brings out the kernels of truth, and develops them into a system grounded in principle, not based on abstractions that come out of conventional studies -- that's what gets my attention. .

Hi Christoph, You're right--Dr. D'Adamo's work was largely unproven theory. But Dr. Laura Power took up the research, and provided the missing proof that lectin reactions correlate with blood type. http://www.biotype.net/diets Dr. Power correlates ABO blood types with three kinds of food allergies (IgE, IgG, and T-cells). This data also includes A1-A2 sub-types, Rh type and gender specific allergies, whereas D'Adamo didn't look at the subtypes. Allergies for type A1 are distinctly different from A2, as are differences between A1B and A2B. 95% of lectins are destroyed in cooking, so that part is not as critical when eating all cooked food. But since a healthy diet consists of at least some raw foods, the lectin research is very useful. -Karen

MR, I think we're each completely capable of confronting the demons within us, but not full blast, only with the resources that are available at the time to us. Most of us are pretty heavily armored, so we have a lot of blockages to our full creative potential, and we have to gently chip away at the armoring so as not to knock our socks off. It's not that we're "not man enough" to confront the demons, but that it's just not appropriate to blast the armoring through to these deep levels until we can go there step by step in full consciousness. That's the real process of spiritual evolution, and there's no trickery or psyching oneself out to get somewhere faster that we think we "should" be. The "shoulds" are not coming from the true self but the false ego which is captured by the dark forces. The irony is that we *need* the false ego - it's actually a gift given to us to allow us to function in the world before we're ready to take the full responsibility for living in Truth. So the darkness is really a gift--and yet we also need to destroy/transform it. We're all in the enchanted forest waiting for the magic touch or kiss to wake us from the enchantment in matter. But we're doing that ourselves - there's no one outside who can do that for us, except that we attract the guidance we need by resonance. There's a way of destroying these demons energetically in a systematic way with energetic medicines, which speeds up the process. It doesn't take away the responsibility for personal development that is rightfully ours, but it can facilitate the process. That's the Heilkunst system of medicine. It's not going to become popular anytime soon, because it doesn't simply make symptoms go away and make people feel great, which is what many people want to do medically and spiritually. But for those who are willing to tread their path for whatever they truly need to experience and learn, it's available. It may not be the proper time for you to touch rock bottom reality. Chipping away at the blockages in a systematic way is safer. Best, Karen

Hi! Two excellent books on TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) nutrition are Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford, and The Tao of Healthy Eating by Bob Flaws. The first has recipes; the second not actual recipes but the energetic properties of foods.

I hear you. In a nutshell, what you described is my own true purpose. Although as I see it, the path is a process. The false ego wants the destination now, but the true self knows that if your illusions were instantly dissolved, you would be terribly destabilized. You don't really want that. But the real path is perhaps more tedious in a sense than the glamor of the quick flash of lightning that we expect enlightenment to be. There is preparation, and it can take time. Who knows how deeply the illusions and deep fears are rooted. In the system I use, we chip away at these boulders gently but systematically. The idea is to take the first step, make the commitment to the path, and then let go of the results. Ego death is just an abstract concept; what really transpires is the embodiment of truth, and the capacity to handle the higher charge that goes along with that. Remember Jack Nicholson's line, "You want the truth? You can't *handle* the truth!" When you're able to take the charge, the false ego will be transformed as part of that organic process. It's so scary because to the extent that we identify with the false ego, it feels like we are dying. So naturally we have a lot of resistance to that. We have to go through experiences that sometimes seem like being stuck for ages, before we're ready to let go. No matter how passionately you may feel you want this transformation, the real timeframe may be something different. In my case, I've been devoting myself to spiritual development since about 1975. That's before some of my friends were born . But who knows how deeply the roots of my attachments go, and how much of that I "signed up" to transform in this lifetime. I experience the death of the false ego every day, but in ways that don't destabilize me. It's like you have this destination, to row your boat to the other side of the river. You need to have some momentum. But at some point, you create too much turbulence and you have to slow down in order to stabilize the boat. Then you pick up speed again. It's that kind of finesse we need to apply when the "need for speed" comes over us . Best, Karen

Hi mr. regular, Reading your post, the question that comes to mind is, do you want what you think you want, or do you want the truth? Wanting what someone else has or knows is an indication that the false ego is calling the shots. What your true self wants may not be as glamorous or enticing. Having someone help keep you on the track of uncovering what your true self already knows, is different from appropriating knowledge from outside. Best, Karen

Right, the toxic substances added to cigarettes are a big part of the problem. But the tobacco itself, even the most pure tobacco, causes a significant disturbance in the body, like a trauma. The first time a person takes a drag of a cigarette, even the most natural kind, there's a revulsion. Then if the person keeps smoking, the body gets acclimated to it. But that first nasty experience tells the story. There are many "beneficial" effects of tobacco just like there are many "beneficial" effects of sugar, ice cream, and alcohol . If studies were done on sugar, they could find that it eased symptoms of this and that disease. Doesn't make it healthy. -Karen

Take potentized ("homeopathic") tobacco, to help ease cravings for tobacco. The urge to smoke is an attraction, not a true resonance - no body really wants to ingest smoke. But it does have a palliative effect, which allows people to avoid dealing with the discomforts that are there - best to experience whatever is there that you're trying to palliate. -Karen

I think the problem most people face is that we're not in touch with our higher self, who actually signed up for the spiritual course we find ourselves taking! The false ego is always feeling at odds with the impulses coming from the true self. We each signed up for different "courses" - some are more challenging than others, and challenging in different ways. Some people experience the depths of life experience as if swimming in deep waters with a lot of resistance. The dark night of the soul is just the resistance that we experience, and we have to go through that in the process of embodying the truth. On a higher level, that resistance is a divine gift, because we transform our consciousness in the process of overcoming it. Some people seem to swim in waters with less resistance, and they may not need to have those deeply transformative experiences in this life. Especially people of my parents' generation (in their 70's-80's now), are not working so intensely on opening their astral bodies, and don't generally go through the deep personal development that many of us do. They had trials and tribulations for sure, but more in terms of external life experience, not so deeply internal as my path has been. -Karen

Piano performance major in college, many moons ago . Acoustic guitar dabbler. Somewhere along the way, I had a Sufi music teacher, Allaudin Mathieu, who wrote some amazing books on music and spiritual practice. Not just for people actively playing an instrument, but for anyone who wants to engage with music more deeply. Highly recommended. http://coldmountainmusic.com/books.html

Thanks, but it's the same basic website, which Sean and Leslie designed for me! I just made a few changes because I like to change looks periodically I'll be offering the food charts very soon, as a separate product, in addition to my regular consulting services. The software is incredibly powerful, and I'm very excited to start using it! -Karen

Hi nightwatchdog, The CRON diet (calorie reduced, optimal nutrition) is an example of an idea that has merit but is usually used within a very limited context, so the results are limited. We have to look at it in a broader context. Life is polarity, and what determines health and longevity is going to be a more complex function than simply a matter of calorie restriction. Diet relates to one pole of our being, but at the other pole there's love. If you do dietary restrictions without love, you don't get the real benefit. And by love, I mean resonance, not mere attraction. Doing what you love isn't necessarily what you always feel like doing at every moment, but the deeper resonance tells you you're in sync with your higher will. An attraction is an attachment that the higher self doesn't really need or want. You see lots of people doing special diets with a kind of austere poverty consciousness that can't lead to health, no matter how correct the diet is. And people who are emotionally healthier, who live in prosperity consciousness, can often "get away" with eating a poor diet. But as we get healthier and let go of false beliefs and food addictions, our food desires start lining up with what's really healthiest for us. Another point about the CRON diet is that it's not just calorie reduced, but *optimal.* Quality as well as quantity, and that has to be completely individualized, not just a matter of maximizing nutrients. Hopefully in about two weeks, I'll be set up to offer customized food charts on my website. What's unique about this is that the software uses research from a large group of independent diet researchers like Dr. Mercola, and traditional dietary systems like Ayurveda and TCM. So it plugs in a variety of parameters like metabolic type, body type, ayurvedic type, etc., and the person's health issues, food allergies, etc. And the result is a nice color coded chart that shows you which foods are best for you; which are okay to eat occasionally; and which are best for you to avoid. With all the dietary rules and other rules that we impose on ourselves in the name of health, there has to be a sense of contentment. And that's not just another rule . Rules come from the intellect. But there is a 4-beat life cycle that Wilhelm Reich discovered, which is the real determinant of what's good for us. We naturally go through a cycle of tension-charge-discharge-relaxation in every experience. If we get stuck at any one of the 4 phases, the energy that isn't released leads to illness. So in the experience of eating, the 4 beats are hunger, eating, digestion and contentment. We have to get all the way through to the relaxation phase, which is the feeling of contentment or fulfillment. Not just feeling full or satisfied on the continuum of attraction. That we all know how to do! That's where we go to about 3 1/2 and then back to 1 again. If you're eating unconscoiusly, or If you impose on yourself a diet that you think is best for you, but you're not getting that sense of contentment, then neither are going to lead to health. Of course it takes time to shift over from the attraction continuum to resonance. And it's fine to start with dietary guidelines that you may not relish for a while. But at some point you get a glimmer of resonance and begin to experience the full 4-beat cycle if the diet is right for you. Best, Karen

Hi Ian, Very interesting subject. I think the evidence is lacking only because material science is too limited to understand the phenomenon. So if you want evidence, you have to look outside the conventional realm, to a more energetic physiology. In other words, what you're describing can be explained physiologically, although not with the kind of material physiology that most people are looking at. So even though it's completely explainable in a certain context, many people won't be satisfied because they don't accept explanations that can't be validated by material science. What you're describing is very much like what we talked about in the blood transfusion thread. The organs contain spiritual forces, and the heart particularly relates to the astral or soul function, and contains consciousness. The blood is a primary flow, very fluid and dreamy and etheric, but you can't do much with it in that state. It needs the heart to sort of arrest that flow, and that creates consciousness. That's the real purpose of the cardiovascular system. The heart isn't just a mechanical pump, but contains these spiritual forces of consciousness. The material tissue that the organs are made of, is formed out of a weaving of the spiritual forces through various ethers. So organ transplants are going to impact a person's consciousness dramaticallly. As for a transplant recipient being aware of certain details of the donor, I think we've seen evidence for that empirically. The subtle physiology certainly explains the process. Anecdotal evidence doesn't mean much if it's just a collection of different peoples' perceptions and not grounded in an understanding of the principles behind it. But empirical data can be meaningful when we can see behind the veil of outer appearances, to the inner content of what's going on. -Karen

Good strategy - ask your female partner if she'd like to have her breast squashed in a refrigerator door, and then show her an alternative ;-).

Hi rex, Good rule of thumb is that everything in conventional medicine is suspect except for emergency medicine. Of course there are exceptions, but everything the medical establishment says should be looked at critically with no assumptions. For example, a friend of mine, who actually works in the medical field, insists that vaccinations are effective and safe. I asked him how he knows that. He had no idea, just that "we've been told that all our lives." Hmm. A note of caution - most people you'll talk to really don't want to hear the truth about these things. Their emotional investment in the medical authorities is huge. If they start to not trust their doctors, that is VERY scary for most people. They don't want to go down that slippery slope, even if it leads them to freedom. Because freedom means responsibility, and you have to be prepared to take responsibility for your own health. Most people aren't prepared to do the homework and take their rightful responsibility. And that's okay - it takes time and personal development. Each in their own time. But be aware that many or most people will become very defensive and angry if you try to burst their belief system bubble. I talk to people about these things when they're ready to hear it. The truth isn't the same as facts that you can email to everyone you know - the truth requires personal development to come to terms with. Let people go through their own process with it, and we can be there to provide information and support if they ask. -Karen

Hi rex, Independent research comes up with a different view of mammography - here's a good article: http://www.rense.com/general64/mam.htm Best, Karen

Hi Flynn, Some of Cayce's general findings are very useful, like the benefits of castor oil. And I think his work has an important place in terms of the people he treated directly. But only a small part of it is useful to us today. That's the problem with medical intuitives - we can't take the information and apply it to different individuals, because it's really about the particular person he was reading. Even if two people have the same medical condition, they would receive different treatment because the underlying causes in the supersensible realm would be different, and their soul/spiritual condition is different. So it's too simplistic to say, for example, that because Cayce treated a gall bladder problem with castor oil packs, therefore that's the right treatment for everyone with gallbladder problems. There has to be a conscious understanding of how to apply principles of natural law, in order to have a medical science that can be applied in all different cases. But the philosophy of medical science is another discussion . -Karen

Hi rain, Not necessarily. You can know what the situation is, whether it's an imbalance that requires the law of opposites to balance it. Or it might be a completely different type of energetic distrubance, which Dr. Hahnemann defined as disease, and that requires the law of similars to remove it. For example, if you're too hot, you have a simple imbalance, and need the law of opposites to bring in a cooling influence. But if you have a burn, you have an energetic impingement that now requires the law of similars to treat it effectively. Then you also know how you are applying the remedy, and what dosage/potency you need in order to be applying it correctly. So it doesn't have to be trial and error, when a practitioner knows what they're doing . I'm not sure what you mean, or what I said that gave you that impression - can you clarify? Well, there is a lot of misunderstanding about what it means for a remedy to "work," and also how to give the right remedies at the right time, in a way that doesn't knock a person's socks off . First, it's very common to have healing reactions from remedies, where you actually feel worse before getting better. This is like when you're renovating a house, you have to expect a certain amount of disruption in the process of making the improvements, and they're not always pleasant. If someone was walking by and didn't realize that a healing process was going on, they might think that someone was vandalizing the house, and they might mistake it for a destructive process. This is the problem, when all we know is that we feel sick, and we don't know how to discern the difference between a healing reaction and a disease process. But that's what a good Heilkunstler knows how to do. Remember that homeopathy as it's commonly practiced is very limited, and they're not always following Dr. Hahnemann's teaching, which is to give the right remedy at the right time, in the optimal dose. Often the remedy given isn't the right one. Often it's not given at the right time, or in the optimal dose. How to determine the right remedy, time and dose takes extensive and deep study of the principles that Dr. Hahnemann laid out, which are difficult to read, and not many practitioners delve into the literature that deeply. All Heilkunst students are required to. So it's very possible that Ignatia was not the right remedy for you, or it was the wrong time or wrong dose/potency. Or if it did meet all those requirements, then maybe your discomfort was a healing reaction (or aggravation, and there's a difference.) Or maybe the Ignatia disease was removed, and then your life force decided to tackle the next disease - possibly a trauma that occurred previously, which was being hidden by the Ignatia disease before. People generally have quite a complex of energetic disturbances - and it's important that a practitioner has a "map" of the territory and to proceed systematically and according to principle. It's very hard to do actual harm with these remedies, but improper prescribing can cause unnecessary discomfort. There are many possibilities, which can only be determined within the context of the particular case, so it's hard to say exactly why you had symptoms from taking Ignatia. But the main point I wanted to make about all this is that good prescribing for a Heilkunst practitioner is not a matter of trial and error at all. That's what makes Heilkunst a science, not just an empirical method based on subjective judgment of the results. It's an understanding of real diagnosis, so that we know exactly what's being treated - not in an arbitrary way like the allopathic disease labels, but what is the real phenomenon behind the disturbance being seen. Then we know the principles of nature that we need to invoke in order to remove the disease. Of course it's politically incorrect to talk about disease and cure if you're not an MD, but there it is . When a practitioner is skilled enough to recognize Ignatia disease, for example, then it's certain that Ignatia will remove that disease. It's not hit-or-miss, but Ignatia always cures Ignatia disease; Belladonna always cures Belladonna disease. If it's a chronic disease, it can take some time to chip away at the layers. But the remedial process has two actions that we need to account for - 1. the primary action of the remedy, which is curative (when it's the right remedy, time, and dose/potency, given according to the law of similars, in a particular instance of disease). 2. the counter-action which is up to the life force to accomplish (the healing reaction), in order to restore balance, rebuild tissue, etc. The healing reaction, which is what puts humpty dumpty back together again in a healthier way, is something we can't predict. But we do know the diagnosis of the disease (diagnosis literally means knowing "through" something - seeing into the inner essence of something), and then we know the remedy that removes that disease. I had some unfortunate experiences myself, for many years (back in the '80's), when I was being treated by classical homeopaths. Most of the remedies weren't wrong, but when they were given at the wrong time and wrong dose/potency, the healing reactions were more severe than necessary, and I wasn't seeing any real progress. If you're on a certain journey, you will have to pass through certain areas, but you can be thrown way off course if you don't have a good map. I'm sorry if this was a little more detail than you might have been asking for! But there are a lot of misconceptions about homeopathy, and it takes going into some detail to clarify things. There's a lot more to understanding what homeopathy is, and how it's used according to principle within the framework of Dr. Hahnemann's complete medical system, Heilkunst. -Karen

Yep, and so the universe brings us circumstances that challenge us, so we can get that spiritual exercise. Then the trick is to see the whole thing as a helpful workout rather than a liability! At one level, pain and discomfort and suffering are real experiences to us - but at the same time, deeper in our consciousness we can be knowing, "ah, this must be part of the course I signed up for" .

Hi rain, okay, let's see if we can clear this up. By "knocking one's socks off" I meant that the wrong remedy prescription (either the wrong remedy, wrong time or wrong dose/potency) could destabilize a person in a dramatic way. There are many possible reasons why a person might have an experience in which they think they're dying, and I couldn't say anything definitive as to what caused that.. but that it's very possible for the wrong remedy, especially in high potencies, to produce some dramatic healing reactions or aggravations. I've been there, for sure. Even the correct prescription can stimulate a dramatic counter-action on the part of the life force as it does all the restorative work it needs to do. But usually with the correct treatment, the person feels stronger in some way at the core, even if the healing process isn't always pleasant. I once had a 5-element acupuncture treatment that was so painful that it was experienced as a terrible trauma. The practitioner tried to convince me that it was a healing reaction, but I knew that the treatment was wrong. Ultimately your inner wisdom knows when a treatment is right and the discomfort is just a healing process - or the treatment is wrong and it's weakening or destabilizing you in a negative way. But a good practitioner should also know how to prescribe properly, based on principle. The difficulty with homeopathy is that most homeopaths are basing their understanding on dogma that doesn't have any real basis. The fallacies can all be shown clearly. But just like religious dogma, people who are attached to it are usually not interested in hearing anything that challenges it. Anyway, I hope that helps clear things up! If not, I'll try again Karen

Hi rain, I think I'll start a new thread to reply to your questions about homeopathy, coming soon... -Karen

Yes - but these are all material explanations - talking in terms of the end effects on capillaries and blood circulation. There's more to the picture. Detox is often done with a very superficial idea of "getting rid of bad stuff," without being mindful of the very complex biochemical and biophysical processes that are being affected. You can't reduce that complexity down to a simple concept of stimulating the system to get rid of lactic acid - that may be one thing that is happening, but it's not a good idea to ignore all the rest. Also what isn't commonly known is that warm water has a different effect from hot water - warm water has a warming effect, as you'd expect. But hot water is an extreme that actually does the opposite, because the body reacts with a counter-action. So you may actually get constriction and exacerbation of a cold condition. That's why dose and potency are so important, because the action of a substance or practice changes dramatically depending on those factors. So with hot and cold water, the effects that a particular person gets would depend on the dose (the length of exposure and how extreme the temperature), and the energetic imbalances that the person has to begin with. -Karen

Hi Pietro, As with any practice or medicinal substance, it's always about understanding the energetic mode of action, not only the end effects. You can look at all the hormones that are released from such a practice, and think, "What's wrong with that?" But the physical effect isn't the right place to look. Someone might feel invigorated by the hot/cold bathing, but it might be depleting them energetically. So you'd want to know what are the individual's energetic patterns of imbalance, and does a particular practice or substance help to balance it or exacerbate the existing imbalance. For example, stimulating herbs or practices might be indicated for some people, at some times, but are often contraindicated for deficiency conditions, etc. -Karen

Hi Rain, Sure, no problem. Shaking can be caused by many things, and it's difficult to say based on a short description of symptoms. But it often comes from deep fears that create thermal disturbances, so people shiver or feel unusually hot or cold. It could be that your body was trying to release the trauma, as you said. The body doesn't recover completely on its own from these types of traumas, because they create an actual energetic impingement on the life force. It's good to take the remedies that remove the impingements. These are the remedies usually used for surgery - each one for a different aspect of it. The remedies can be taken together, since it was one event. These are the "homeopathic" form of the substances, just to clarify that. For any type of physical injury - Arnica For the trauma of injections - Ledum For trauma to nerves - Hypericum If it was general anesthesia - Phosphorus For the emotional sense of violation - Staphysagria For any drugs given - Nux vomica If there was fear - Opium (can't be bought in the US!) If there is currently fear - Aconite And there are other remedies for various other emotional states that might be part of it. Sometimes a homeopath can give a potentized remedy made from the exact drug you took, to remove the disturbance caused by that drug. Nux vomica is the general cleanser, but if the exact remedy is available (called an isode), that's even better. Rescue Remedy has its use in certain conditions where there is not an actual energetic impingement. People who are healthy and just become a little emotionally out of sorts at times, can respond well to that remedy. It depends on precisely what you're dealing with. In most cases, when an acute fear state isn't resolving quickly, this is not just a simple imbalance, and requires remedies that can act more deeply on the life force. But natural medicine usually uses a "hit or miss" approach, where you try a little of this and a little of that, without there being an understanding of exactly what is being treated (a true diagnosis, which is very different from an allopathic diagnosis). When you have a true diagnosis, then the remedy that will cure that particular disease is clearly known. So it's not just a matter of "let's try something and see if it helps." I hope you're feeling better, and it would be great if you could take some Arnica, at least. Taomeow, Very interesting story! The blood carries the astral forces of the donor, so it makes sense that it would affect the consciousness of the recipient. And that's also why after a transfusion the body tries to get rid of it. The body will actually kill the blood of a transfusion and replace it with its own, within 72 hours - pretty amazing, huh? It treats it like an invader. But your friend's reaction was so interesting. I had a major blood transfusion 10 years ago, and don't remember craving junk food, but come to think of it, I did have a thing for ginger ale - not even the real kind of ginger beer but the crappy cheap kind with corn syrup was just fine with me. Hmm. -Karen