Behold the vast Pacific and Atlantic Oceans stretching as far as the eye can see. Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, stand out in brilliant detail. And there, in the distant backdrop, the mysterious silhouette of the moon adds an extra layer of cosmic wonder!

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Earth’s Atmospheric Boundary*

PRECIOUS ROCKS UNDER THE SEA

RECENTLY ATTENTION IS BEING TURNED toward potato size polymetalic nodules” lying on the floor of the sea that bear “critical minerals” such as cobalt, nickel, and manganese used in stainless steel, super alloys and batteries. Other “critical minerals” are rare earth elements and yttrium, essential for defense and technology applications; platinum, used in catalytic converters and fuel cells. The US and China are both exploring the resource potential, setting up a new strategic battle between the world’s two most powerful countries.

EXPLORING THE PACIFIC

Demand for critical minerals—including cobalt, nickel and manganese—has surged as nations race to power clean energy, defense and AI technologies. With land-based reserves diminishing and much of the market controlled by China, attention is turning to the deep sea. Commercial deep-sea mining is yet to take place anywhere in the world. It remains controversial due to concerns over the environmental impact, and dozens of countries have called for a moratorium on the practice. (www.theguardian.com)

“These minerals are currently sitting atop the sea floor, waiting to be scooped up and processed. Through #NOAA’s mapping tech and licensing abilities, we are helping industry leaders find, collect and bring back these minerals to benefit the #USA & domestic manufacturing.” (For more)

The Trump Administration recently signed an executive order unleashing America’s offshore critical minerals and resources. This executive order has opened up access to companies seeking to retrieve these nodules. This will allow the U.S. to boost our supply chains and give our manufacturers more access to hard-to-get materials.

Regardless of our harvesting of her precious minerals, the earth is none the less the Lord’s. We may use them as faithful stewards, but no nation or industrial complex can rightfully claim ownership of them. It’s just the way things are in this Whole Holy World. In the overall scheme of things, they may best be left exactly where they are.

DISRUPTNG THE ELECTRICAL POTENTAL OF THE PLANET

SEVERAL POSTS AGO (August, 2023), I wrote about Earth’s boundaries under the caption “Respect for Earth’s Boundaries: A Return to True Stewardship” in which I put out a call through a song I wrote years ago in celebration of Earth Day:  “Who will stand with me in the midst of the fullness thereof and put a hand of care on the boundaries of the fullness thereof. The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” How can anyone look upon the picture at the top of this post and behold the relatively thin atmosphere of our planet Earth and not feel a deep sense of care for Her boundary of connection with the Universe, particularly with Her origin Star and solar system? (Learn about the five layers of the atmosphere here.)

Boundaries both separate and connect.  Their purpose is to contain and protect what’s on the inside from being adulterated, destroyed, or confused with what’s on the outside. All things are connected, but not without boundaries. This seems a contradiction, but it’s the way of oneness and coherence . . . so that energy can flow between the parts that make up the whole and through the whole.

MINERAL BOUNDARIES

One of the boundaries that connects us with the planet and protects it from isolation is the mineral kingdom . . . a boundary that human industrial enterprise is disrupting and destroying at an increasingly fast rate.  The “veins” of mineral deposits that run through the surface of the earth — along with the ley lines that run between and connect “sacred sites” — make up the electric grid of the planet as well as its communication network with the solar system.  Earth is a “Sacred City” and living being. To breach that circuitry and boundary is to compromise the connection of our planet with the solar system and thereby isolate it from its cosmic context.

Here’s how Dr. Zach Bush describes and explains this disruption and its consequences in an interview on Chervin Jafarieh’s podcast Wake The Fake Up entitled “Reawakening Humanity’s Role in the Dance of Nature:

“How did we cut ourselves off so fast and accelerate our extractive destructive activity? And I think that we’ve actually not only disrupted human biology [referencing the damaging effects of glyphosate to our intestines) . . . on the planetary side we started extracting minerals critical to the information stream around the planet . . . . You start mining all the lithium out of all the strands running around the planet — as though it were wired to carry electricity — and the strands of gold and copper, along with the cobalt mines in Africa, you will disrupt the electrical potential of the planet.

We use cobalt in cell phones because it’s a potent organizer of electromagnetic fields that allows us to create an enormous amount of consolidated information streams. The cobalt was at that exact point in the earth because it was a critical acupuncture point within a meridian system that allowed electricity to flow at a global level . . . and allowed earth to become a womb that would birth all life. [He is referring to Africa as the cradle of all life on earth.]  And, ironically, the vaginal canal or the uterus, if you will, or the womb of this planet seems to run in a single electrical strip right up Africa. So it streams from Durbin, South Africa, up to Egypt . . . where the Sinai deserts are . . . but also extends up to the next continent, all the way up to Northern Europe, England . . . all the way up to the Celts, and before that the Vikings.

And so you have this history of human ingenuity, human behavior. And then you start to dig down and find that . . . archeologists and anthropologists are showing us that all of life arose out of that one line. All biodiversity burst out of this meridian, and the famous Rift Valley in Ethiopia.  Trees, plants, everything we’ve talked about — bacteria, fungi, viruses — all came springing out of this one meridian.

The planet has a generative source of life because it’s an electrical being, and it can organize energy in a constructive, centropic way. [I think he means negentropic, or orderly]. Entropy is the measure of chaos, and centropy (negentropy) is the measure of order. So, the measure of order out of chaos is really a description of a witnessed universe — [A quantum physics term that alludes to reality as observer-dependent].

The second law of Thermodynamics is: any system left in isolation increases its entropy.  It’s the most proven law in physics.  Any human left in isolation increases its chaos. Any culture left in isolation increases its chaos.  If you isolate an atom you will increase its chaos.  All the way down to the very fabric of nature, isolation increases chaos.

A planet that is bringing stardust into the beauty of life is centropic.  If we have a centropic system on this planet that’s increasing biodiversity and intelligent life every eon that goes by, then we’re not alone. So, if we’re not alone, what does that say about the connectivity of the planet?

This planet was uniquely designed to cycle carbon and water, and in so doing capture energy at an enormous rate.  And so our planet, with all its cobalt, lithium and all its deep ore systems, are like hot spots on a line that runs all the way around the earth.  We have this electrical grid — basically an intelligent computer system — that we’re tearing apart through mining, through [hydraulic] fracking, through all this methodology, we’re disrupting the very communication network of our planet . . . and we’re seeing instability of our planet now at the ecological level that we’ve never witnessed before.  We are destroying the intelligence communication of our planet through the disruption of her circuitry.

There are all these young Silicon Valley billionaires and millionaires working together to solve the problems of the planet; and the solution that one of these young guys was telling me about over drinks by the pool, in his own words was, “I’m so excited because I’ve just developed a company and we’re going into the jungles to discover the next lithium mines.”  So here are some of the most educated, most intelligent people within a country who have said: “The planet’s dying and we should all drive electric cars because carbon is the demon. Well, in that construct, the obvious solution is to go find lithium so we can all drive electric cars.

So, there is this kid running around destroying the Rain Forest to find the next lithium mine . . . so we can all have electric cars . . . so that we don’t let carbon, which is a currency for life, into the atmosphere.

So it’s by the demonization of CO2, the very matrix of life on earth, that we have come to accelerate our demise.  Our conservation message over the last three decades is that CO2 in the atmosphere is the enemy that’s causing “climate warming.”  From the beginning CO2 is the generative force of life.  Every cell breathes CO2 for energy.

There’s an old adage that humans breathe in oxygen and exhale CO2 as waste, and that plants breathe in CO2 and give off oxygen. We now know — and have known for over a hundred years — that human cells have to breathe CO2 to function, and that is proven in every cell-biology lab in the world. Everyone that wants to grow a cell of any species or multi-cellular species — dog, cat, earthworm, human — in a petri dish, knows that you have to put it in an incubator at body temperature, sealed away from the atmosphere we breathe . . . and the only gas that you have to pump into that sealed environment so that the cells can live is CO2. If you pump in oxygen, you kill the cells immediately.

Human cells do not breathe oxygen.  Human cells breathe CO2.  Oxygen’s role is to be the accelerator of the speed at which we use up the carbon; but it’s not the fuel – and it’s certainly not the driver of energy.  We need just a little bit of oxygen in our atmosphere – about 20%, which is what our current oxygen level is.  If it were 80% we would die instantly.

And this is what was happening in ICU’s.  If you put somebody on 80% oxygen through a respirator or a breathing device, you will kill them in hours. You completely run them out of CO2, and now they just die from a lack of energy.  We reached 88% mortality in the recent pandemic in ICU’s because we gave them 80% oxygen because they showed up blue . . . not from a lack of oxygen, but for a lack of their ability to cycle carbon and oxygen.  The carbon cycle was broken, so they showed up blue, and we slammed the accelerator down with oxygen and they were dead within hours; and we did that to millions of people globally. This is not new science.  It’s as old as cell biology.

None of this is revolutionary information I’m giving out to the world.  I’m just asking us to take a pause as scientists — whether biologists in the lab or planetary existentialists — we need to re-evaluate how this planet runs . . . and the answer is the same as the single human cell.  It runs on carbon and water cycles; not carbon and water, but carbon and water cycles. It’s the movement of the currency of energy on the planet that allows life to occur.

The whole idea of carbon offsets, abstract economy which is now more than 40 trillion dollars pledged in carbon offsets, is a completely abstract market that has absolutely nothing to do with how biology works.  Tragically, those trillions of dollars are being funneled into pumping CO2 out of the atmosphere and deep into the earth, where it can’t be breathed by plant or human cells.

We will set the planet’s recovery from this extinction event back millions of years [more like thousands] if we start pumping all of the CO2 out of the atmosphere and into the earth’s core where it becomes unavailable to biology. We would starve out the carbon-water cycle of all plant and animal life on earth. 

* * *

HIS POINT is well taken. However, we will never pump all of the CO2 out of the atmosphere.  Even if we could, over a considerable number of millennia, the oceans would fill the atmosphere with its balanced quota of CO2 after an extinction event. 

Just for accuracy and perspective, although oxygen is crucial for life on Earth, it is not the primary component of our atmosphere. According to education site Vision Learning Earth’s atmosphere is composed of approximately 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, 0.93 percent Argon, 0.04 percent carbon dioxide as well as trace amounts of neon, helium, methane, krypton, ozone and hydrogen and water vapor. The dominant gas Nitrogen gives us a blue sky.

The balance and ratios of atmospheric gases is, of course, vital to life on earth. Carbon dioxide plays an integral part in the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, photosynthesis and the oceanic carbon cycle.  The current global average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is 421 ppm as of May 2022 (0.04%). This is an increase of 50% since the start of the Industrial Revolution, up from 280 ppm during the 10,000 years prior to the mid-18^th Century. The increase is due to human activity — which includes fossil fuel and biomass burning, cement production and deforestation.  (Wikipedia)

ELECTRIC CARS NOT THE ANSWER

To the point of electric vehicles as a solution to climate warming: automobiles contribute less than 30% of the CO2 atmospheric burden.  The major contributors are air and rail travel, as well as shipping. Then there’s Industry’s considerable contribution.  An editorial in our local newspaper recently put things in perspective: “Electric vehicles should be considered a nice, promising addition to the variety of the car market not a quasi-holy obligation to be pursued at all costs.”

Again, to the issue of electric vehicles and other battery operated equipment like computers and cell phones: the mining of lithium, copper, and cobalt uses a lot of energy and water and creates a highly toxic spillover into the environment, and especially onto the sacred soil, poisoning rivers and lakes with cancer-causing chemicals. So, let’s get realistic in our thinking about solutions to climate change. The mining of lithium and cobalt along with the amount of coal-generated energy just in manufacturing the batteries for wind turbines, and Tesla and a host of other electric cars, is counterproductive in reducing atmospheric pollution and warming. Let’s get real and “Wake the Fake up!”

We may take some comfort in the awareness that the Creator is in touch with and in charge of His/Her Creation, and say glibly “All is well.” But the bottom line is WE NEED TO CHANGE the way we live on this planet.

The psalmist was right: “The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods”— and it awaits our caring hands, and our loving and conscious stewardship.

Until my next post . . .

Be love. Be loved

Anthony

tpal70@gmail.com

Credits: Picture of Earth’s atmosphere was taken by the International Space Station and posted on Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Facebook page.

“The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in His Holy Place? He who hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” (Psalm 24:1)

Psalm 24 is attributed to David and serves as a declaration of God’s ownership and authority over the earth and everything in it. The verse highlights the following themes:

• Divine Sovereignty: everything that exists in and on the earth belongs to the Creator, including the natural world and all its inhabitants.
• Creation’s Fullness: all the earth contains; its resources, beauty, and all life forms earth produces and sustains..
• Moral and Spiritual implications: to stand in God’s presence requires purity of heart, moral integrity and Righteousness (a sense of the right use of the earth and the fullness thereof.

ANCIENT HISTORY APPEARS TO BE REPEATING ITSELF

I found the above on the web. It pretty much says it all. But what about the things we create? Don’t they belong to us? Not unless we create them from nothing . . . and as Julie Andrews sings in The Sound of Music: “Nothing comes from nothing; nothing ever will.” What Chief Crazy Horse said is more to the point of this post: “One does not sell the land upon which the people walk,” emphasizing the sacredness of the land and the connection of people to their ancestral roots.

The people of Greenland are aroused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to take ownership of their homeland by military force if he cannot buy it outright from underneath their feet. How different is this from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s land-grab of Ukraine by invasive military force?!

These two dictators behave like replicates of one another. I noticed in the news a few days ago Donald Trump patting Vladimir Putin’s hand as he welcomed him onto the red carpet with an “alpha male” handshake ahead of the Alaskan meeting. I also noticed that no one showed up to welcome President Trump.

Trump loves Putin, even as he emulates his greed and aggressive style—thieves both who covet land they can only pretend to possess. Land whose rightful and eternal ownership is the One who created the heavens and the earth: the LORD GOD of creation. It’s a game man has played since he walked out of Eden and out from the Presence of the LORD. He cannot rightfully claim ownership of the earth or any part of it and its fullness; the world and they that dwell therein. He can only pretend, out of his miserable state of spiritual and intellectual poverty and emotional insecurity, to use portions of it for his own selfish purposes. As everyone knows, it’s not about the land but about the mineral riches the land holds in its belly.

This has been going on since before the beginning of recorded ancient history, as I’m learning reading a rather thick and weighty tome on the history of the ancient world, by the same name, authored in storybook style by Susan Wise Bauer—an absolutely delightful read, nothing like the history books many of us labored over in high school and college.

I do believe that we’re in a time of repetition of ancient history when Sumerian kings, like Gilgamesh and his son Ur-Lugal ruled and amassed lands by military force and the cities soon became weakened by constant fighting. And a few hundred years later when the Xia Dynasty founded by Yu in China grew corrupt and fell to the Shang in 1766 BC. Let me share a few lines from a chapter in Bauer’s book here:

“Taken as an oral tradition that reflets, however dimly, a real succession of rulers, the story of the Xia Dynasty and its fall shows that the struggle for rule in China was very different from the clashes on the Mesopotamian plain. In China, there were as yet no barbarians invading civilized people, no struggle between one nation and another. The greatest struggle was between a king’s virtue and his wickedness. The threat to his throne came first from his own nature.”

I write and speak nothing more than the obvious. But I do write and speak it out loud and clear so that the vibrational frequency of my words may go forth to bring the light of truth into the beguiling darkness that has overshadowed man’s world and his soul since his exit from Eden. Donald Trump’s worst enemy and threat to his presidential reign is his own egotistical human nature.

In the same vein as author David Wilcock (who is believed to be the reincarnation of modern day prophet Edgar Cayce), I do believe that history does repeat itself, and that what he describes as “group souls” reincarnating together to repeat and hopefully achieve what they failed to accomplish in prior incarnations, and that was and is the ownership of this beautiful planet, its peoples, and its wealth of oil and mineral resources, is what is being played out in the world today. In a Biblical context, and if you track with the “war in heaven” story when Lucifer and his angels were cast out of Heaven and down to the earth by Archangel Michael, I have my reservations about our current dictatorial rulers. They’re not just “merely human.” More like wolves in sheep’s clothing . . . or, more to the point of the biblical story, fallen angels in human forms beguiling the nations. Here’s a news excerpt:

“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused President Trump of rupturing the world order through economic coercion, and warned that we are entering a “harsh reality” where the most powerful nations observe “no limits, no constraints.”

May the meditations of my heart and the worlds of my mouth be acceptable to thee O LORD, and find their mark. I welcome any thoughts on the topic you wish to share. Until my next post,

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony

tpal70@gmail.com

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Ps 91:8)

RADIANT VISION

I FOUND IT QUITE A CHALLENGE to watch the news story of the murder of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, mother of three by an ICE agent, only with my eyes . . . and not to feel the despair of her partner as she sat down in the snow covered ground next to Renee’s car and cried out “My God! What shall we do?”

There’s so much pain and suffering in this tragedy. One might ask “Where are the wicked being rewarded?” Surely not Renee Good, who had just taken her daughter to school and found herself in the middle of a traffic jam. She had no reason to fear for her life as she attempted to drive away from the scene in order to clear the roadway. The ICE officer who shot her had no cause to fear for his life if he actually saw what was going on as Renee turned her car in a direction to exit the scene. If it looked like the car was headed toward him, the logical thing to do would have been to step aside out of its path. Instead, he shot at the car and at Renee, killing her instantly, an action that clearly went against regulations not to shoot into moving vehicles.

All this to say, looking only with my eyes, the way this tragedy unfolded was an unfortunate and unnecessary waste of a mother’s life . . . whose last words to one of the agents were something like “It’s okay, dude, I’m not mad at you.” Driven by fear and unbridled authority and power, which block intelligent response, the ICE officer acted in self defense to a perceived threat to his life. But an uglier energy revealed itself when he called her a “F**king bitch” as the car drove away with Renee dying or dead at the steering wheel. Was this his reward for his wicked action; the blood of Renee on his hands? What’s more to the point, can I behold and see it only with my eyes? As I said earlier, I’m having a hard time not seeing it with my heart and feeling the pain the scene evokes.

It’s easy for me to say all this, even with radiant vision. It’s another thing altogether to keep my heart from reacting in judgmental outcry. How often have I acted irrationally in the heat of the moment and caused unnecessary harm to another? The world is in a state of heightened uncertainty and anxiety destabilizing people emotionally and mentally. People are on the streets, both here and in Iran, protesting injustice and unbridled authority. It’s a time to be still in order to see what’s actually occurring in the world, for only out of stillness can right and intelligent thinking and action arise. Enfoldment in love and compassion surely offers stability and sanity.

Judging with righteous judgment, as the Master Jesus instructed we should do, all one can say is the ICE agent did not make right use of his gun, nor of his heart, his mind and his mouth. Mainly his heart out of which his murderous action and foul explicative arose.

“BE STILL AND KNOW”

The first lines of psalm 46 speak to a safe place of dwelling: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” The secret place is the pure heart where the shadow of the Almighty hovers. The “snare of the fowler” is a net for catching birds. Birds here refer to thoughts that are snared by the net of the mind. So many of our thoughts are not our own. Some, likely most, originate from out of the mass conscious and subconscious Mind. The thoughts of the One I Am may best be heard when the mind is quiet and still. “Be still and know. . .” (Ps 46:10)

What is occurring in the streets of Minneapolis in the wake of Renee’s killing does not give evidence of quiet stillness but may rather be characterized as noisome pestilence. Nothing lasting will come of rioting. A quiet gathering praying for understanding and forgiveness may have greater effect upon changing the way governance is exercised by the powers that be. We the people must finally come around to understanding that this is a vibrational world in which we live and act out our feelings and thoughts. We must become more aware of the power of prayer and uplifting spiritual expression. In a word, of love. Unconditional love that is compassionate and forgiving.

Renee Good’s spirit is no longer incarnate. It hovers, rest assured, over the crowd gathered in protest of her killing. Let us be with her spirit in prayer and compassion for those who seek to govern without arousing defiance and resistance. Let us give her a voice in forgiving the ICE agent who ended her journey here on earth. This much we can do for her and for the healing of the sickness of fear that plagues the heart of humanity. Until my next post,

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony

I INVITE YOU to join with Bonnie and me in welcoming the NEW YEAR with Marianne Williamson. Marianne has been a shining light on my path since the close of the last century. In fact, it was while reading one of her books that I became aware of the presence of my beloved in my world without searching any further. I met Bonnie Lee in a park here in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Earth Day, 1991, after singing my Earth Song “THE FULLNESS THEREOF” during the Earth Day Celebration. The title is from Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein.” We dated for ten years and one day, while attending a friend’s wedding, we looked at each other and knew it was time for us to join our lives in marriage. We were married in June of 2001 surrounded by many friends, at Sunrise Ranch, in Eden Valley, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Loveland, Colorado. One couldn’t ask for a more romantic setting for a wedding. Now if you will join us in bringing in the New Year with Marianne Williamson. Her words express so well our own heartfelt wishes and blessings to you each one at the close of the old year and at the beginning of a new year.

TRANSFORM with Marianne Williamson

THE DAWN OF A NEW YEAR

Wishing you happiness and peace in the year ahead

Marianne Williamson

Dec 31, 2025

To my readers,

I want to wish you a happy New Year. Time seems to have moved very quickly over the last year, and 2026 already feels momentous. There are many unstable elements underlying world events these days, and we should face that fact with neither fear nor passivity. The last thing we should be thinking is, “Well, we’ll see…” as though we have no power over what happens next. In truth, we will see in the new year whatever we collectively co-create.

We could see this as an invitation. We are invited – in fact, challenged by history – to rise to the people we are capable of being, transmuting any chaos that presents itself, and becoming dedicated agents of repair in whatever way we can. No matter who we are, our thoughts and behavior affect a larger field of possibility in the world around us. This isn’t an easy time, but it’s an exciting one if we recognize the power that lies within us.

I thank all of you who have shown interest in my writing and videos over the last year. I take very seriously and feel very grateful for your interest, and I’m strongly committed to the work that is ours to do in the year ahead. I hope to contribute to both a deepening of our spiritual understanding, as well as an expansion of our social and political possibilities. To me they are not an either/or. They represent an integrative approach to repairing the world, and nothing less than that model is needed if we’re to heal our collective wounds.

We’re living in an age of disruption, and even if in many ways it’s all a birthing process of a far more beautiful world, the road ahead of us could be intense. This isn’t something to ignore; it’s something to prepare for, and a strengthening of our nervous system is an important part of doing that.

Below are some offerings that might be of interest….

1. Beginnings are everything, and if you’re interested in aligning your intentions for 2026 with the highest possibilities for yourself and others, check out the online event below. We can manifest breakthroughs the likes of which are genuinely stunning, but only if we use the power of our consciousness to help make it happen:

2. A Course in Miracles is not a religion, but a psychological mind training based on universal spiritual themes. Its goal is the attainment of inner peace through the practice of forgiveness. For those of you who wish to go through the Text and Workbook of the Course over the next year, with my videos and commentary sent to your mailbox each day, check out the program below:

3. For those of you in Europe, I’m excited to be speaking in London on January 7th:

4. I’m joining with some esteemed spiritual colleagues in a Prayer Rally for America, which will be held online on January 6th. Please help us spread the word about this free event. An idea grows stronger when it’s shared, and on this day that commemorates one of the worst disasters in American history let’s pray for a miracle of new beginnings.

I hope the above offerings will be of value as you ground yourself in deep emotional, psychological and spiritual waters over the coming year. More than anything, whether in the areas of your personal circumstances or our shared events, I wish you peace and love in the year ahead.

All of us are in this together. May that understanding be our guiding light. Happy New Year!

Love, Marianne

With these words, Bonnie and I join our hearts with your hearts in welcoming the new year with great joy and anticipation of what 2026 will bring into our shared lives for blessing and healing.

Until my next post,

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony & Bonnie

email: tpal70@gmail.com

HOLIDAY GREETINGS! I’m back after a lengthy and much needed break from blogging, which I’ve been doing since March of 2010. However I haven’t been away from writing and publishing. Speaking of publishing, the image above will be on the cover of a booklet I’ve been compiling, in collaboration with a friend and colleague, Dr. Steve Ventola, from Atlanta, Georgia. The title of the booklet is “ABOVE DOWN INSIDE OUT” The Spiritual Foundations of Chiropractic—It’s Evolution and Role in the World. Together we’ve put together a brief history of Chiropractic: its origin, challenges and evolution as the largest drugless healing profession in the world. It will be available from Amazon in the next few weeks just after the New Year Holidays. Today I want to share a sampling of our co-creation. Hopefully it will pique your interest enough to place an order for your personal copy of the booklet come January of 2026. Here are a few excerpts from our booklet.

*** * ***

What comes to your mind when you think about the word Chiropractic? Most people think about the physical aspect of manipulating the spine to relieve a backache or neck ache, which is what has become the common perception of this healthcare discipline. I was introduced to chiropractic care as a healing art that addresses illness and health issues like sinusitis, indigestion, headaches, internal organ malfunctions and the like. When we were children and came down with sore throats and the flu, our dad would “pop “our necks as part of our care. He had learned the technique from his barber, who apparently had had training in adjusting the spine. That was way back in the 1940’s and 50’s.

***

Doing a little research into the history of Chiropractic, I learned that its roots have been traced back to writings found in China and in Greece as early as 2700 and 1500 B.C.   Even in those ancient of days, manipulation of the spine in an effort to alleviate low back pain was vogue. Even the philosophy of a “chiropractic-like treatment” is written up in the works of the Greek physician Hippocrates (460 to 357 B.C. ). “’Get knowledge of the spine,’ he wrote, ‘for this is the requisite for many diseases.’”

***

Chiropractic is more than a physical adjustment; it is an evolving philosophy towards life and health. There is an inherent intelligence within us that influences our own health (if we heed it) and, through each one, it can contribute to the well-being of the world.

***

Chiropractic’s early philosophy was rooted in vitalism, naturalism, magnetism, spiritualism and other constructs that are not amenable to the scientific method, although Palmer tried to merge science and metaphysics.  Schools such as Life University in Marietta, Georgia, founded by Dr. Sid Williams, diversified this philosophy without taking anything away from its core essence, but rather enlarging upon it.  Dr. Williams established what he called “Dynamic Essentials.” The essence of his school’s motto is: “To give, To Do, To Love, To Serve out of your own abundance.” This guiding principle emphasizes living an inner-directed life and using one’s unique gifts to serve others, qualities of both Innate and Universal Intelligence.

***

During the period just prior to his death, Daniel Palmer was seriously considering making his discovery into a religion rather than a professional healing art—a suggestion that sent turbulent waves throughout the then-infant profession. However, whereas it aroused much criticism from a few chiropractors, the concept brought greater applause from his students and audiences than he had received with any of his other lectures. D.D. was keenly aware, even then, of how easily the vision of the spiritual, or “vibrational,” aspect of healing could get lost in chiropractors’ preoccupation with bones and nerves, and pain and relief there from, and that his healing art might become just another palliative therapy. The rationale within which he gave an adjustment was much larger than the patient’s medical condition or spinal subluxation, and his service was much greater to him than a hand-manipulation of the spine. It was a ritual, a religious practice, a worshipful obligation.

***

“. . . We deal with the magic power that transforms common food into living, loving, thinking clay; that robes the earth with beauty, and hues and scents the flowers with glory.”

But it’s the first sentence of this famous quotation that is the clincher: “We chiropractors work with the subtle substance of the soul . . . “ (B.J. Palmer, The Bigness of the Fellow Within, Chapter 11, “The Inner Power Speaks.”)

***

“I hold it to be self-evident that all men and women who have acquired sufficient knowledge and skill to remove the nerve tension which prevents physical, mental and spiritual development, are engaged in a work of a higher order than that ordinarily required of, and performed by, the physician. They are practically the moral duties and obligations of reli­gion and any attempt to prevent such acts by law is an unmit­igated crime against humanity.

“Chiropractic science, its art and philosophy, deal with human and spiritual phenomena. The conscientious reverent acknowledgment of the phenomena, in sentiment and act, connects the spiritual with the physical, and constitutes in its fullest and highest sense a religion….

“By correcting these displacements of osseous tissue… I claim that I am rendering obedience, adoration and honor to the All-Wise Spiritual Intelligence, as well as a service to the segmented, individual portions thereof—a duty I owe to both God and mankind. In accordance with this aim and end, the Constitution of the United States and the statutes personal of California confer upon me and all persons of chiropractic faith the inalienable right to practice our religion without restraint or hindrance.  (D.D. Palmer, The Chiropractor, “The Moral and Religious Duty of a Chiropractor,” 1914.)

***

“Through the years in my service to those who have come to me, I often heard the statement expressed by them, ‘Life seems to be slipping away from me.’ Actually, it wasn’t life that was slipping away from the person, but the person who was slipping away from life. It has interested me as to what the person was doing in his so-called living that was moving him away from the source of life. . . .” —Dr. William Bahan

***

“Stars are a gentle reminder of our oneness with Universal Intelligence, coming down to earth through our Innate Intelligence. Your knowing of this through the science of Chiropractic will be a wonderful endowment to true healing. Above-Down-Inside-Out is a revelation and experience in your service to others.” —Shirley Worster, Dr. Bahan’s sister

***

“It really is for each of us—whether a Chiropractor or not—to realize we have a choice: to experience the true nature of life or endure the lack thereof. It all depends on how fully we receive and heed the impulses of Life that are looking to find release through us; how we acknowledge that life’s presence is very much within us; and how we receive it into our hearts and minds and ultimately out in the expression of our lives. It is a matter of being loyal to the qualities of our innate life essences and what it takes for the clear, open, vibrant, harmonious expression of them. Here is the key to knowing life’s fulfillment and joy.

“Just as coordination is essential for the harmonious function of the individual body, so too is the collective expression of Innate Intelligence essential for global health. As we each fully express our individual parts in life in harmony with one another, life can have its way in bringing about health and wholeness in the whole body of mankind and in the world.”

*** * ***

CHRISTMAS AND ITS ORIGIN

This is the Christmas Season when we open our hearts in a generous way and exchange gifts of appreciation and love, reminiscent of the legendary Magi bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the “newborn King.” We have set the date for Christmas on December 25th as the day every year to remember and rejoice in the birth of the Child Jesus. It is an auspicious event, although no one really knows the year, or even the day, that the historical figure of Jesus was born.

Does Christmas really honor Jesus and His birth?

Where did the Christmas holiday come from? How did it begin, and why?

Does it really honor Jesus Christ and celebrate His birth, or is there more to the story that most people don’t know?

Did you realize that historians (and the Bible) agree that Jesus Christ wasn’t born anywhere near December 25? Or that this particular date was well known for its pagan religious celebrations long before Jesus Christ was born?

What does a jolly old man in a fur-trimmed red suit called Santa Claus (who supposedly lives at the North Pole and is assisted by elves!) have to do with the birth of the Son of God? And what about reindeer and a flying sleigh?

How much do you know about the origin of the Christmas tree? How did holly come to be connected with the holiday, and why is mistletoe supposedly good for kissing?

Few people know why they believe or do the things they do—especially when it comes to their religious beliefs and practices.

Historians tell us the Christmas celebration came from questionable origins.

The lure of profit has proven so strong that, since the 1870s, merchants have vigorously promoted Christmas.

Did the writers of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) consider Jesus’ birth to be one of the most significant events for Christians to acknowledge or celebrate?… Did Jesus Christ tell us to celebrate His birth? No.

A careful analysis of Scripture, however, clearly indicates that December 25 is an unlikely date for Christ’s birth. (The Truth Behind Christmas)

HAVE A BLESSED AND JOYFUL CHRISTMAS

For whatever reason we celebrate Christmas on December 25th, I think it’s a valuable tradition, if only for the pause this season affords from the workaday routine, and for what it does to open our hearts to the Spirit of Giving. So, I join with you in celebrating Christmas as a day of the greatly needed outpouring of the spirits of love and generosity. Blessings of love and light to you and yours. Until my next post,

Be Merry. Be Happy.

Anthony

Email: tpal70@gmail.com

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As you have moved through this series of posts, you may have been surprised at how much more there is to Chiropractic in the way of its true rationale, its scope, and its potential than you have been aware of. Few know the history and the philosophy behind this healing art and science. The common perception and understanding is that Chiropractic is a musculoskeletal treatment for backaches, neckaches and headaches. I hope you will come away from this series more aware and better informed of the larger context in which this healthcare service lives as a wholistic, natural approach to resolving some of our health issues. Thank you for staying the course as I continue with my presentation and bring it to place of rest.

In this post I address my colleagues in excerpts from my booklet, Rediscovering the Soul of Chiropractic.*

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

DC: DOCTORS OF CAUSE

ONE COULD THINK of our DC degree as signifying we are “Doctors of Cause.” One could go deeper and ask “What is cause?” Was the cause of Harvey Lillard’s deafness the subluxation in his neck cutting off or diminishing the communication between his brain and his hearing mechanism, or was it the physical trauma to his neck that knocked the vertebrae out of alignment pinching the nerve to his ears? Obviously the physical trauma caused the subluxation in his neck which in turn caused Harvey to go deaf. So there are causes of causes, one could say. What is the underlying cause of dis-ease? This is what all healthcare disciplines are bent on finding and treating.

Let me tell you a story that speaks to this search for the cause of the cause of dis-ease and dysfunction in the body, as well as to the larger scope of our service as healers. In one of his many inspiring symposia, the late and legendary Dr. William Bahan, dynamic speaker that he was, told of a dramatic experience he had with one of his patients . . . which portrays the essence, as well as the practical art and effectiveness, of the “whole person healthcare” he taught in his seminars.

A young lady in her twenties, diagnosed as suffering from “lethargic encephalitis” (sleeping sickness) was brought to him by her family after going the entire medical route for several weeks without any results at all. They brought her to his clinic in an ambulance. As Dr. Bahan told it and as I recorded and transcribed it:

“By then there was only a trickle of life that was coming through this particular form, so something had to be done right away if this young lady was going to be around on earth any longer. So I began to sense out what was really going on. I began to put my radar out in relationship to this young lady, to find an area where I could begin to get a handle with respect to this interference to life’s expression. It very quickly came to the surface, and l just said to her, ‘You’re holding a very strong resentment against somebody, and if you don’t change your attitude you’re going to die!’ She started to cry.

It seems that two weeks before this particular condition appeared she had had a rather violent experience with her father regarding his drinking. He was an alcoholic, and she abhorred alcohol, and she abhorred her father when he was drinking. Well, he came into her house drunk on this particu­lar day and she, in her strong self-righteousness, told him to get out. He came at her to hit her and she picked up a milk bottle and conked him on the head, knocking him out. Two weeks later she was in the hospital, diagnosed with lethargic encephalitis (sleeping sickness).

Here was a concussion of forces emotionally. And what did this do to her body? Of course that deep feeling was still there, and I told her plainly, ‘Your father doesn’t need condemnation; he needs assistance, your assistance.The first thing to do is to change your attitude. You need to forgive your father. .. like that (snapping his fingers), right away!’ She said ‘I will.’ Well, before she left the office things started to clear, life began to flow. And when life began to flow, the resurrecting power of life began to lift that form. I could have adjusted her neck from now until doomsday . . . and there was a need in the neck; it was like rigor mortis had set in there . . . but when this other interference was removed, this ill attitude, life began to flow. Not only did it begin to flow, but do you know what hap­pened? As a result of her maintaining an attitude which was consistent with life’s nature, her father stopped drinking. He needed assistance; he needed encouragement, not her self­ righteous wrath. So, many things cleared.”

SCOPE OF PRACTICE

As this story clearly demonstrates, our scope of practice, beyond the spinal column, includes the heart and mind as well, as Dr. Milton T. Morter is currently demonstrating with his “B.E.S.T. adjustment” (Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique), which addresses the deeper, more subtle levels of cause in the subconscious mind . . . and, deeper yet, in the “healing field” itself, the subtle energy body surrounding the physical body.

The scope of our practice also includes the fields of nutrition and reha­bilitation. Right out of Stephenson’s Chiropractic Text Book, we have this as part of the definition of our profession: “Chiropractic is a science, philosophy and art of things natural . . .” The words “things natural” encompass a wide rage of factors, including everything in the natural world , which currently comprise the context and environment in which human beings exist. Life flows through all its forms in the natural world, including the human nervous system, and the human nervous system is not isolated from everything else. It’s all one thing and everything is connected in a highly organized and coordinated complexity of wholeness. The human mind and heart are at least two-thirds of that wholeness with regard to our outer capacities. Then there are the inner transcendent dimensions of consciousness and spirit. We are multidimensional beings who are impacted by events at many interconnected levels.

Just for an example, I noted that throughout the Iranian hostage crisis back in the 1970’s, there was a virtual epidemic of shoulder problems in our office, a symptom of being bound and deprived of one’s freedom. The phenomenon made itself evident to us when everyone’s symptoms seemed to magically disappear immediately following their release. Of course, we adjusted spines and applied appropriate therapies, but what a real blessing we were able to offer our people by sharing with them this perspective of the whole picture. They understood their bodies from the standpoint of the whole in which they played a part. I’ve taken note of similar manifestations during global crises.

During a crisis of war there is a nonspecific drain of energy in people everywhere as the international community struggles in disagreement. Lack of energy, labeled “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” by the medical community, is naught but a classic symptom of adrenal exhaustion, brought on by a long-sustained engagement of the fight-or-flight reflex. We are a world divided and we cannot sustain this state for long. People are simply tired of the threat to their peace and security, and in that state of chronic stress the human immune system cannot function well and, at best, may simply shut down. In the worst-case scenario, it attacks itself and sets off an “Auto-Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),” which simply means that it has gone MIA. We are obviously impacted by everything that goes on in the larger body of mankind in which we are all individual cells.

A CONSCIOUSNESS OF WHOLENESS

The way I see it, what Chiropractic was ordained to bring to the arena of healthcare is a consciousness of wholeness. Just as it is true that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so is it true that the parts are not exempt from the experiences of the whole. What one part does affects the whole. We can, however, shield ourselves from being overtaken by these “disturbances in the Force,” to borrow a phrase from the movie STAR WARS. We can maintain a radiant stance of non-judgmental understanding and compassion, as distinguished from a reactive posture of judgment and condemnation relative to events occurring in the world. One can simply assume an attitude that says “These things do not move me. But by my radiant expression of love, I move them towards resolution.” This works by reason of the truth of oneness in the Whole. The natural forces of healing at work throughout the Universe respond immediately to the commands of love whenever and wherever they are released.

To heal means to make whole; to restore one to a consciousness of being part of the Whole. Where does such an awareness come from? It comes “from above, down and inside out.” It comes from life. The human vertebral column is but one small link in the chain of the flow of life. The chemical realm, for example, comprises a large part of both the internal and external terrain in which life works its magic in our bodies. The bones, muscles, glands and organs comprise another terrain, yet they are all connected.

In the chemical terrain, nutrition and hormonal response play key roles, while in the systems of organs, muscles and bones, nerve and blood supply, along with physical exercise are key factors to consider. One cannot provide a complete healing service without considering all factors present in the total terrain of healthcare.

Then there’s the invisible, vibrational terrain, where mental, emotional and spiritual factors impact health and wholeness. All of these levels of potential interference to Innate Intelligence’s transmission fall within the scope of whole health care as they fully embrace the founding principles and practice of Chiropractic.

Part of Chiropractic’s forte rightly lies in providing vision. “Where there’s no vision the people perish.” This implies where there is vision the people thrive. People are not thriving health-wise in America. We are forty-five down on the list of health levels of nations. Vision is obviously lacking. One of the ways we may provide vision is by instilling in people the insight to see “things natural” in their wholeness and to assist them in aligning with Life’s spirit, attitude and character, which operates intelligently and wisely within this wholistic context. The role of a doctor is one of teacher. Another way is assisting them in discovering and removing the interferences in their whole complex body-mind-emotion-spirit continuum to free up the “tiny rivulets of force” so that they might experience not only the health of Innate Intelligence but its spirit and character as well.

Historically, this is what people have looked to chiropractors for: a safer, more natural approach to their healthcare . . . as well as that certain “something” BJ Palmer talked and wrote about, and dynamically exemplified, that will help lift them up mentally and spiritually so they can find and walk a healthier path in life. This is what “wholistic healthcare” means and encompasses.

As a healer ordained by Life, I have enjoyed the assurance and potency of my calling to the greatest profession on earth. My privilege as a Doctor of Chiropractic has been to serve at this level of Cause. By the spirit I have expressed and the attitude I have conveyed through my service and my living, where I’ve come from has been plainly evident to those who have been drawn to my service. As a healer who makes the experience of wholeness available to the fragmented state of human suffering, my scope of service has been the whole person. The scope of my practice has been to remove the interference to life’s expression in the whole human being, to the end that people in my world may stop perishing. I am forever thankful for those who have played a role imparting this noble vision to me. It has been an honor and a privilege imparting it to others.

And now you know the whole story of Chiropractic’s origin, history and rationale as I have experienced it in my career as a Doctor of Cause. Thank you for listening and staying with me through this series. I welcome any thoughts you may have and wish to share. Until my next post . . .

Be Love and be loved.

Anthony Palombo, DC

Email: tpal70@gmail.com

* Rediscovering the Soul of Chiropractic can be purchased from Health Light Publishing in St. Augustine, Florida, http://healthlightbooks.com

DANIEL D. PALMER

THE PRINCIPLES OF CAUSATION

DANIEL DAVID PALMER, in whose heart Chiropractic was conceived, and through his healing hands born, was first and foremost a healer, a “magnetic healer.” His thoughts and inspirations arose out of spirit, which began formulating principles of causation in his educated mind long before he discovered the subluxation in Harvey Lillard’s spine that occasioned his deafness . . . and that led to the discovery of Chiropractic.  The principles are basically what led him to the realization that the cause of disease, and therefore of health, were one and the same, and were not necessarily physical in nature but were beginning to appear to him to be mental and spiritual or vibrational in essence.  

In the one and only book he wrote, edited and published, SCIENCE, ART AND PHILOSOPHY OF CHIROPRACTIC (1910), which was quickly bought up and destroyed by those who had declared him insane and expelled him from his own school, only to be republished in 1966, Daniel Palmer presents his belief in how he saw the human being as having a triune personality with body, mind and soul, through which spirit operated.

MAN IS A DUAL ENTITY

But it was in his second book, THE CHIROPRACTOR (1914), which was published posthumously by his wife a year after his death, that Daniel makes his case for Chiropractic as a vibrational, or “spiritual,” healing art. Defining the human being, he wrote:

“Man is a dual entity, composed of intelligence and matter, spirit and material, the immortal and mortal, the everlasting and the transient. The manifestation of such an existence is intelligent action…. The universe is composed of spirit and matter. All living material is animated by spirit.”

While he knew that spirit operating in and manifesting through his own outer triune personality, and moving out through his hands, was able to bring about healing in his patients, his thoughts began to formulate the question that if Innate could heal others through the magnetic force that came through his hands, why could not the same innate healing power be drawn forth from within the patient, in whom it was just as indwelling and manifesting as in him? This line of reasoning led him to the only possible explanation: there must be some kind of interference between the Innate Intelligence of the patient and his body-mind, in whom spirit was operating.

He saw this interference as being “caused” by three possible factors: (1) poisons, which caused organic dis-eases; (2) trauma, which caused struc­tural dis-eases; and (3) auto-suggestion, which caused functional dis­eases. These he saw as the three main causes of dis-ease, a view not much different from what is widely accepted today in this New Age. In the approach of “holistic medicine,” the impact of such realities and factors as spirit, attitude, emotional climate, mental thought and cellular vibratory frequency—the very things that were thrown out of the teachings of the first school of Chiropractic, along with its Founding Father—are viewed with hopeful respect as promising guides to a deeper understanding of the root cause of dis-ease and of health.

I don’t think that D.D.Palmer was so much “insane” as his mind was perhaps inflated and overwhelmed by the immense implications of his discovery and he was not given the space or time he needed to pursue them. Neither do I believe that the light he brought to the field of healthcare was comprehended by the darkness of his time, which has historically been the case when the things of spirit have dawned in human consciousness through individuals. I don’t think that even DD’s own outer mind comprehended the light that was shin­ing through it from what must have been a very powerful and compas­sionate being incarnate in his human form for the specific purpose of introducing a spiritual force into the consciousness of mankind. Little did his critics know that this under­standing would initiate a major shift upward in the healthcare and lives of human beings.

AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAD COME

D.D. could rightly be hailed as one of the forefathers of “vibrational medicine” for the twentieth century in this country. Interest in this range of healing is active today, nearly a hundred years after its inception and birth through this fish peddler from What Cheer, Iowa . . . as well as through several others. Actually it began to surface as early as the 1930’s, both here and abroad simultaneously. I have used a variation of “vibrational healing” in my office for three decades: the extension of radiant hands to draw forth healing energies into specific areas of need in the body, and to thereby attune tis­sue cells, organs and glands, as well as the triune outer person, to the vibrational frequency of the Tone of Love, the ultimate healing force in all of Creation. It’s called “Attunement,” and it’s similar to what I under­stand “magnetic healing” was, only the hands do not rest on the body. Interestingly enough, it came to me through Chiropractic by way of great “keepers of the flame” in our profession: Dr. George Shears, from Huntington, Indiana, and his nephew, Dr. William Bahan, from Derry, New Hampshire. It came to them, however, through someone outside the Chiropractic profession, although those who were initially drawn to its rebirth were chiropractors, and several chiropractors were part of its development.

Lloyd A. Meeker, who wrote under the name Uranda, founded and developed Attunement in the early 1930s. He saw it as a way of extend­ing a radiant current of love, using his consciousness and his hands as focusing mechanisms for the healing power of spirit. He saw Attunement as a facilitator for bringing a person into an awareness of his/her divine identity.

At the same time Uranda was discovering Attunement in this country, in Japan Mokichi Okada (Meishusama) received a divine revelation and began sharing Johrei, the healing release of the divine light of salvation through the hands to reconnect one’s soul with heaven. This was just fifteen years before we bombed Hiroshima, as though Divine Providence was preparing the Japanese people ahead of time for this tragic holocaust. Johrei was officially recognized by the Japanese government as an effective form of healing for atomic radiation burn.

There are several other forms of vibrational healing today, such as Reiki, a lost ancient Tibetan Buddhist practice, rediscovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in the late 1800s; and, more recently, Dr. Randolph Stone’s subtle energy technique of Polarity Therapy; Dr. George DeLa Warr’s Radionics; and Dr.John Upledger’s CranioSacral Therapy. Healing Touch Therapy, originated by Janet Mentgen, R.N., B.S.N., in the 1980s in Denver, Colorado, is another contemporary energy-healing technique that has found its way into the operating rooms of hospitals as a steadying influence to both the patient and the doctor during surgical procedures. Well before all of these contemporary models, Acupuncture, a key component of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), dates back over 2,500 years. It works with the body’s peripheral nervous system by inserting “dry needles” in the skin at key points along the body’s meridians to free up the flow of life energy throughout the body and restore balance. Imbalance is believed to block the flow of qi, a vital energy that regulates spiritual, emotional, mental and physical balance along meridians. All of these methodologies share a common rationale: the restoration of the flow of innate intelligent energy, life, in the body to bring about relief of pain and healing.

D.D. had no way of knowing how great an idea was being conceived and born through him. Research in “Vibrational Medicine” has shown that disease occurs when cellular frequency becomes out of sync with the body’s baseline frequency, implying that if the cells of the body vibrated in sync with the body’s baseline frequency, disease would cease to infect the body. It would be impervious to disease. Here truly is the “one cause, one cure” we’ve been researching. Raise the vibratory frequency of human flesh. How to accomplish this feat will doubtless become the focus of future “scientific research.” It’s already being done in Tibetan Buddhism. Achieving the “Light Body” has been a practice in Tibet for centuries.

FOUNDED ON TONE

In D.D.’s first book, these words appear on the title page: “Founded on Tone.” In the pages that follow he proclaims, almost charismatically, that life is tone in human beings and that tone is health. In his second book, Daniel confides how initially he leaned toward the theory that nerves conveyed the vibrational “Tone of Life,” and that spinal aberrations stretched and otherwise stressed the nerve fibers, thereby distorting the frequency of that vibrational Tone. He wrote:

An impulse travels over a nerve by waves known as vibration, similar as a pulse-wave, only more rapid . . . . Nerves, like material substance, are composed of particles, atoms or molecules, which vibrate, oscillate. When nerves are in a normal condition, known as tone—normal tension, normal elasticity and normal renitency [tonicity]—impulses are transmitted by vibrations in a normal manner with the usual force . . . . Motor and sensory impulses are transmitted over the nervous system by molecular vibration. (THE CHIRORACTOR 1914)

Dr. Ralph Stephenson speaks of the “Impressions of Vibrations” picked up by the “sensitive tentacles of the afferent nerve” in Article 245 of his CHIROPRACTIC TEXT BOOK. BJ himself wrote, “What we [chiropractors] call health is the normal expression of the vibration of life impulse flowing through matter. It is an impulse, a vibration, and it is intelligent.” The distortion of this tone likewise affected the function of the organs and tissue cells adversely. It was only later that this theory was replaced by the current one of a vertebral subluxation produced by a “concussion of force,” from within or from without, impinging on nerve roots, thereby impeding the quality of the flow of life into the body. I am more inclined to embrace his original theory as being closer to the truth as he perceived it innately, than to the current, more popular one developed through education.

Both DD and BJ approached the issues of their day—birthing and developing this science and art—from the perspective of Innate Philosophy. DD did it instinctively and with little deviation from the original Innate Principle of a vibrational cause, although he certainly took pride in his accomplishment of being the first one ever to move the vertebrae of the human spinal column by using the spinous and transverse processes (boney extensions) as levers. BJ did it as well, but only to the degree his educated mind didn’t interfere, as it was inclined to do, and did finally fully interfere when it began focusing on the vertebral subluxation as the cause of all disease.

Those who stood firmly with them—who got “The Big Idea”—succeeded in their efforts in building a solid profession that was capable of addressing all manner of dis-ease, even with their focus in the subluxation, because behind that sharp focus moved a great spirit. This spirit moved both in BJ and in all those whom he gathered around him in those formative years to help share the load of training chiropractors and of adjusting all the spines the world over, which was BJ’s goal. His had indeed a “vision of things far.”

Those early pioneers infused the soul of Chiropractic with spirit, which kept it alive. When they brought people into alignment with the spirit of Chiropractic philosophy . . . and “told the story”. . . focusing their attention on the subluxation, people drew near to be touched by the powerful healing force of life moving through them. There was magic in the field because there was an irresistible force and a powerful current moving in their hearts.

Those who didn’t catch the vision, who got caught up in the subluxation as merely a musculoskeletal dis-ease, led a sector of the profession in that direction to become what it is today. People call on a chiropractor today for backaches, whiplash injuries, “cricks in the neck,” and headaches. I used to cringe when someone would ask me, “pop my neck, doc” or “crack my back.” My identity was with the Healer, the Doctor, which means “Teacher.” And I had my patient lectures and classes, as many did “back in the day.” I will continue in this series with my next and final post, “THE FAITH FACTOR . . . A STORY.” Until then,

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony Palombo, D.C.

Email: tpal70@gmail.com

“There’s no telling how far reaching something you may think, say or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow. It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” B.J. Palmer*

THE STORY OF “THE BIG IDEA”

ONE OF THE MORE SEMINAL SLOGANS penned by BJ Palmer was and still is “Get the BIG IDEA; all else will follow.” In more common parlance, remove the interference upstream to the flow of life’s innate intelligence and all else will follow downstream. Healing of illness and injury in the body will take place naturally and easily. It’s the old water hose metaphor: if you put a kink in the water hose nourishing your garden, the plants will suffer and die from a lack of water.

INTRODUCE A FORCE

BJ Palmer wrote in one of his books a swat in the seat of the pants with a shovel would do more to release the innate healing power of the body than a handful of pills. I’m taken back to an incident that occurred back in the days of my clinical service in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A patient had come in for an acute back pain that was caused by a subluxation in his lumbar spine. He also had a subluxation in his upper cervical spine. Following the principle of the “Big Idea,” I first corrected the subluxation in his cervical spine and left him to rest on his side, which was usual procedure. I had given him a rather impactful “recoil adjustment” introducing a powerful force, both physical and vibrational, into his spine and nervous system. As I approached to door to exit the treatment room, we both heard a “pop” in his lower spine. I only heard it, whereas, much to his surprise, he both heard and felt it. The release of the flow of life’s healing currents upstream in the neck brought an increase of energy into the muscles of the lower back sufficient to draw the subluxated vertebra into alignment. Lesson well taught and well leaned.

This was the guiding light for many in the profession who “told the story” of the larger and deeper rationale of the spinal adjustment . . . I for one. It was a new idea and many sick and suffering flocked to the offices of chiropractors in search of a drugless, less invasive and less costly cure for their ills. A saying emerged among the more “straight” chiropractors — a term D.D. Palmer himself coined to identify those who didn’t “mix” their service with adjuncts and modalities — “Chiropractic first, medicine second, surgery last.”

With such faith, confidence and belief in our healing art, many seeming miracles of cure began to be experienced by people and talked about, reminiscent of the words of the Master Physician: “Thy faith hath made thee whole . . . go and tell no one.” But, of course, people so helped by their chiropractors went out and told all their friends and relatives. People began flocking to the doors of chiropractors. It wasn’t uncommon for some chiropractors seeing as many as a hundred patients in a single day. Something above the mere physical level was driving the masses to be touched by the healing hands of a chiropractor.

Many of my more scientifically oriented colleagues will no doubt object to my rendition of the story of Chiropractic in this mystical light. But I can back up my words with a story that would blow their objection clear out of the water. I may get around to telling it in this series . . . or maybe not, as it took place from a level higher than that of the spinal adjustment; a level once described by Dr. Jim Parker, a leader in the field of patient management and practice building, as “a subluxation above the atlas.”

Dr. Parker was referring to the assassin of President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, in Dallas that took place during his November, 1963 seminar, as having “a subluxation above the atlas” to carry out such a dastardly deed. I just happened to have been in attendance at this memorable seminar. Dr. Jim, as we endearingly addressed him, spoke these words at the opening of our afternoon session, just minutes after this tragedy had occurred. That was a dark day in America.

Just 40 some years ago, down in the basin of the mouth of the Mississippi River at Port Sulphur, Louisiana, I adjusted the misaligned atlas in the cervical spine of a patient and restored his heart’s normal rhythm. He came into my office a few days late for a follow up visit and asked if what I had done to his neck could have stopped the sudden pounding beat of his heart which he had been worried about for years. At times It even woke him up during the night. When I assured him it was very possible and even likely, he broke down with tears of gratitude. The power that made the body can heal the body. My career was full of such wonders. I feel so blessed even today as I look back to those exciting years of helping so many through Chiropractic.

Infants are not too small to be adjusted. I was called by a patient to come to his home and give his infant child an adjustment. This father had gotten the “Big Idea.” The baby was delivered with forceps and cried day and night and would not nurse or take a bottle. So I deductively suspected a misaligned cervical vertebra. I palpated the infant’s cervical spine and found the interference. (I’m of the old school where hands were our only exam tools. We were drilled in spinal palpation in Chiropractic college). A simple light pressure applied to the infant’s cervical spine to realign its axis (the second vertebra from the top of the spinal column) and the baby stopped crying and started feeding. That father had gotten the “Big Idea” because I “told the story” in my practice. In my eyes, I was not a therapist relieving pain and the symptoms of dis-ease. I was a “Doctor of Cause,” as we used to define our D.C. degree.

Today chiropractic is all about backaches, neck aches, headaches and sports injuries, which is also the public’s perception of chiropractic. Jokes are even made at its expense. This is also its scope of practice as defined by most licensing bills . . . and therefore payable by insurance companies. “The story” has sadly been left behind if not forgotten altogether. The diagnosis on an insurance form had to be a musculoskeletal condition. The treatment of diseases and functional disorders in the human body were and shall ever remain the domain of Medicine.

I do not “curse” medicine for its limited, and most essential, scope of practice as I extol the wonders of Chiropractic in this article. I am personally forever and deeply thankful for medical science and art. I’m not aware of a “philosophy” guiding its science and art, other than the Hippocratic Oath which includes the words “First do no harm.” Other than the monopoly Medicine has created in partnership with the insurance industry, and the toxic drugs they prescribe, largely to trigger a response from the body’s immune system and allay the painful symptoms of disease, I have nothing but respect for medical doctors, especially emergency room physicians, nurses, and surgeons.

In chiropractic college we used to feel sorry for medical doctors who only had a prescription pad between them and their patients. Truth is I most likely would not be here writing this post today without the bypass surgery a wonderful and gifted surgeon performed on my heart over twenty years ago. Nor would I be able to take walks without knee pain had knee replacement not been developed, just to mention two of several blessings I have received at the hands of gifted and dedicated medical doctors and surgeons. Profound respect is all I harbor in my heart for doctors and practitioners of all the healing arts and healthcare services.

VETERINARY CHIROPRACTIC

Spinal adjustments are not limited to the human spinal column. Animals have spines too. A colleague tells an interesting story about a chiropractor adjusting the spine of a cow who had laid down while giving birth, which would have killed both cow and calf. He used a hammer and a 2×4. The cow stood up and gave birth to a healthy calf. I had a patient who brought her pet poodle in for adjustments to help with its kidney ailment. Veterinary chiropractic has become a mode of professional practice.

This would be a fitting time and place to bring forward Dr. Daniel David Palmer’s characterization of the cause of a subluxation as being both “quantitative and qualitative.” A quantitative cause would be a physical trauma, such as an “external concussion of force” to the spine brought on, for example, by a whiplash during a rear end auto collision, or a fall.  A qualitative cause would be an “internal concussion of force” brought on by an emotional or mental trauma, or chronic stress. Perhaps I should leave that part of my story to the next post, “VIBRATIONAL HEALING.  Until then,

Be love. Be loved . . . and visit your chiropractor for that chronic ailment.

Anthony Palombo, D.C.

Email: tpal70@gmail.com

*CREDITS: “Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness” has been an oft quoted “proverb” attributed to Robert M Ellis, founder of the Middle Way Society, and author of a number of books on Middle Way Philosophy, including the introductory ‘Migglism’ and the new Middle Way Philosophy series published by Equinox. A former teacher, he now runs a retreat centre in Wales, Tirylan House, and is in the process of creating a forest garden there. He wrote:

“There’s lots of darkness about  – ignorance, dogmatism, hatred, prejudice – and it’s very tempting to merely curse it. If, like me, you’re of a critical disposition and can easily see problems and false assumptions in almost any position, it’s especially easy just to sit there in the dark criticizing on all sides and working up anger and hatred in the process. Yet lighting a candle takes a moment of awareness and creativity. It demands that we consider the sphere in which we can act rather than remaining fixated only on the wider sphere of concern. If we have criticisms, it requires that we also think about the positive alternatives we have to offer.“

“UP FROM BELOW THE BOTTOM”

Dr. B.J. Palmer, Developer of Chiropractic

Have you ever wondered about the history of Chiropractic? How did it begin? Who started it all? The roots of chiropractic care can be traced back to as early as 2700 B.C. and 1500 B.C. in writings found in China and Greece. The writings mention spinal manipulation and moving the lower extremities in an attempt to alleviate low back pain.

Hippocrates, the Greek physician, who lived from 460 to 357 B.C., also published texts detailing the importance of a chiropractic-like philosophy and treatment. He is quoted in his writings as saying, “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases”. In 1895, Daniel D. Palmer founded the Chiropractic profession in Davenport, Iowa. Palmer was well read in anatomy and medical journals and was known as a magnetic healer. He had this idea about chiropractic, where your health could be improved by allowing the spinal nerves to work as they were designed. (From “The History of Chiropractic”)

“THE SUBTLE SUBSTANCE OF THE SOUL”

CHIROPRACTIC’S DISCOVERY 130 years ago this month, and its journey to date, are a recognition and celebration of “the subtle substance of the soul,” as BJ Palmer describes the innate healing currents of Life coursing through the nervous system of our human anatomy in one of his books. Giving credit and paying homage to the Creator of the human temple of the Living God, he wrote in his philosophy text book, “The Power that made the body can heal the body.” (The picture above is my graduation picture from Chiropractic College in 1963)

This slogan is one of several framed and hung on the walls of the hallowed halls of Palmer College of Chiropractic (PCC) in Davenport, Iowa, reverently referred to as “The Fountainhead,” an apt title for the hallowed grounds from which sprang the second largest healthcare profession in the world, second only to medicine . . . and the largest drugless healing science and art in the world. PCC was the first of several more Chiropractic schools and colleges that sprang up both here in the US and abroad. There are some fifteen chiropractic colleges here in the States.

Chiropractic’s early philosophy was rooted in vitalism, naturalism, magnetism, spiritualism and other constructs that are not amenable to the scientific method, although Palmer tried to merge science and metaphysics.

A “RELIGIOUS PRACTICE” ?! . . . A “WORSHIPFUL OBLIGATION” ?!

During the period just prior to his death, D. D. Palmer was leaning toward making his discovery into a religion rather than a professional healing art—a suggestion that sent turbulent waves throughout the infant profession. However, whereas it aroused much criticism from “a few chiropractors,” it brought “greater applause” from his students and audiences than he had received with any of his other lectures. D.D. was keenly aware, even then, of how easily the vision of the spiritual, or “vibrational,” aspect of healing could get lost in the chiropractors’ preoccupation with bones and nerves, pain and relief therefrom, and that his healing art might become just another palliative therapy. The rationale within which he gave an adjustment was much larger than the patient’s medical condition or spinal subluxation, and his service was much greater to him than a hand-manipulation of the spine. It was a ritual, a religious practice, a worshipful obligation.

“. . .We deal with the magic power that transforms common food into living, loving, thinking clay; that robes the earth with beauty, and hues and scents the flowers with glory.” But it’s the first sentence of this famous quotation that is the clincher: “We chiropractors work with the subtle substance of the soul . . .” (B.J. Palmer, The Bigness of the Fellow Within, Ch. 11, “The Inner Power speaks.”).

[D.D. Palmer further declares the reason for wanting to make Chiropractic a religion.]

I hold it to be self-evident that all men and women who have acquired sufficient knowledge and skill to remove the nerve tension which prevents physical, mental and spiritual development, are engaged in a work of a higher order than that ordinarily required of, and performed by, the physician. They are practically the moral duties and obligations of reli­gion and any attempt to prevent such acts by law is an unmit­igated crime against humanity.

Chiropractic science, its art and philosophy, deal with human and spiritual phenomena. The conscientious reverent acknowledgment of the phenomena, in sentiment and act, connects the spiritual with the physical, and constitutes in its fullest and highest sense a religion….

By correcting these displacements of osseous tissue… I claim that I am rendering obedience, adoration and honor to the All-Wise Spiritual Intelligence, as well as a service to the segmented, individual portions thereof—a duty I owe to both God and mankind. In accordance with this aim and end, the Constitution of the United States and the statutes personal of California confer upon me and all persons of chiropractic faith the inalienable right to practice our religion without restraint or hindrance. (D. D. Palmer, The Chiropractor, “The Moral and Religious Duty of a Chiropractor,” 1914.)

Daniel Palmer was obviously onto something much larger and vastly more significant than the correction of pinched nerves, and I think he just wanted some time to let the fullness of what was emerging come forth. I believe he was protecting what was emerging and didn’t want the world to come in on his discovery until he had had time to finish for­mulating things in his own mind and prove them out in practice. He also foresaw the battle that surely lay ahead of him with the medical and legal systems, at a time when medical practice acts were being enacted by the states, and in a climate where “quacks” were being arrested, fined and thrown into prison. (Excerpted from REDISCOVERING THE SOUL OF CHIROPRACTIC by the author)

QUACKERY AND CHARLATANS

Speaking of medicine as the largest healthcare profession, another popular slogan hanging in the same hallowed halls of Palmer College was, and probably still is, “Iligitimati non corborundum,” liberally translated from the Latin as “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”

You see, Chiropractic was ignominiously dubbed quackery and its practitioners charlatans by the medical profession in those early years as it made its competitive debut into the heath care arena, and as chiropractors began opening up offices to practice this newfound healing art. Needless to say, its invasion into their fiercely guarded territory was not with warm welcome by the medical community. The public soon got wind of this drama and people began chanting “quack, quack, quack” as they walked by chiropractic clinics. I’m not making this stuff up folks. Many chiropractors were arrested, tried in courts of law for “practicing medicine without a license” and told to cease and desist. When they didn’t cease and desist, as many as thirty or more chiropractors in Louisiana were arrested and thrown into jail. Somehow I escaped notice as though my office had some protective shroud hanging over it. Hmmm.

But that didn’t stop patients from seeking out Chiropractic care as many of them went to the jail houses for their spinal adjustments. Right here in my own state of Louisiana chiropractors went to jail where they continued seeing their patients, giving spinal adjustments on portable tables they were allowed to set up in their jail cells. This drama went on until one strong soul among us stood up to the medical monopoly and shouted “ENOUGH OF THIS INJUSTICE!”

This famous chiropractor took his pivotal case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court to finally settle the issue once and for all: that Chiropractic is not the practice of medicine. It came to be called “the England Case,” named after the late Dr. Jerry England who was the defendant representing a collective of about thirty or more doctors here in Louisiana. But that’s another classic and dramatic story altogether, which incidentally took place just as I was starting up my first practice here in Louisiana. The memorable date was 1963-64.

This all took place here in the South as Louisiana was the last state in the USA to license chiropractors, which finally came to fruition in 1974 with a lot of organized pressure exerted upon the legislators by the patients of chiropractors themselves. They had formed a coalition under the heading “Louisiana Chiropractic Patients Association,” headed up, not by a chiropractor, but by a layman and chiropractic patient, Dave Saunders. They had even erected billboards along the highways entering the state from all directions that blatantly announced “Welcome to Louisiana! The only state that has failed to license chiropractors.” They went so far as to stage a funeral procession with hearse and mourners, even a coffin with a poster that read “The Death of Chiropractic in Louisiana” which they and several chiropractors (yours truly included) carried into the House of Representatives in Baton Rouge, then in session, to make our point and in particular to attract the news media, which it surely did.

In the end, it was by the political influence of the Labor Union, headed up by Louisiana Senator Victor Bussie, then president of the AFL-CIO, that finally got a licensing bill passed in 1974 for the Chiropractic profession in Louisiana. That put an end to the abusive persecution of chiropractors, not only here in Louisiana but throughout the entire Nation. The “Fight to Climb” had finally brought chiropractic to the top of the healthcare mountain, if you’ll allow me this metaphor.

There’s a lot more to this drama, as state and national organized efforts by professional associations had formed and played crucial roles in shifting and abating the tides that threatened to wash the profession of Chiropractic out of the healthcare field and clear off of the planet itself. You younger folks reading this may be in disbelief. We elders, however, remember those days all too well. In a wonderful way, they served to bring us chiropractors in the state together in our fight for a common cause and against a common enemy.

As we settled back into our practices however, with medical insurance now covering chiropractic care, the fire in our bellies subsided as each one returned to his and her isolated practice, only to mingle with colleagues once a year at conventions where we earned required credits for license renewal, updated adjusting techniques and methodology of service . . . and especially to keep abreast of the best way to file claims for prompt insurance reimbursement. It was a good day for our patients as well with insurance companies now paying for their care.

The struggle to rise and survive the opposing forces of the monopolizing medical profession in those days, among many interesting stories, are immortalized in the iconic “Green Text Books” and in DD’s and BJ’s several published works, among which are such titles as THE FIGHT TO CLIMB, UP FROM BELOW THE BOTTOM, CONFLICTS CLARIFIED, THE CHIROPRACTOR 1910, THE BIGNESS OF THE FELLOW WITHIN and other publications.

I will continue sharing the story of Chiropractic’s origin and early years in my next instalment of this series, GET THE BIG IDEA.” Until then,

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony Palombo, D.C