Healing Tones

Above, Down and Inside, Out . . . Part 6: The Cause of the Cause

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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.*

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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

“Above, Down, Inside, Out”. . . Part 4: Vibrational Healing

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

“Above, Down, Inside, Out”. . . Part 3: “The Big Idea”

“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.“