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Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
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Medicine of the Planets
March 14, 2013
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Astrological Man
planetary rulers of organs
Zodiacal man, 17th century engraving.
Woodcut from Felice Passera, Il nuova tresoro degli’arcana farmacologici galenici, Venice 1688-89.
In the history of medicine the planets and cosmos were the guiding clues that were used to discover treatments and cures. All plants are ruled by planets as are parts of the body. Before YouTube people studied the heavens and did lots of praying. They reached a number of conclusions about cosmology of which most humans today are unaware. Pharmacists, medical doctors and healers used astrology in practice as a matter of course. Everything depended on seasons and the sun. Before we dug coal and oil from the ground civilizations rose and fell because of food supply. Knowing how to make, prepare, gather, and preserve food for the seasons was a matter of life and death. It stands to reason that knowledge of farming and nature was also the only means to improve diet, hygiene and health. Plants are the medicine from which drugs are synthesized now. Plants are the food from which processed foods are prepared today.
Plants were gathered and cultivated to be used as food and medicine. The phases of the moon were and still are important in plant cultivation. More detailed information about the meaning and use of plants was studied by the ancients. In fact, in Basel, Switzerland, arguably the big pharma capital of the world, the botanical garden is smack dab in the middle of the medical school campus. This was the same medical school from which my man Paracelsus was expelled for being a heretic. We like to think we are all that today with our science. I believe we have allowed a much narrower view of life to reign. I think we are made whole and healthy by the cosmos. Smaller, short term thinking is not all that healthy. Taking drugs of unknown origin is the new normal. You might look at these planet guys and think they are silly, but they would not pop pills without any rational reason. We cannot return soon enough to growing, knowing, and using plants as food and medicine. That is what nature intended, gentle readers.
Frankfort Mineral Springs, Pennsylvania
March 3, 2013
Investigating the possibilities to spa down in Pennsylvania, the past appeals to me much more than the present. The current favorite for PA visitors is the Hotel at Hershey which has many chocolate ways to do body treatments. Oh dear, was that ever not what I had in mind. I looked for hot springs, which are almost non existent. The one that served as a health spa is now part of a state park near Pittsburgh. In the 1800s it was all the rage to take the waters and seek health in Beaver County. I wish my class reunion in Oakmont could end with a month of water taking, but, alas, that was a different century. This spring was closed in 1912. The lodge burned down in 1932 and was closed for good. The ghost people like it. If my own ancestors had been there I might be more into the hauntedness. What I am seeking is a big pool full of hot mineral water. This does not seem to exist. It looks like the only ones who do spa rituals in Pennsylvania are dead people and folks for whom chocolate is a travel destination…very interesting.
early sketch
state park
Beaver County Landmark
Nature of Man
February 23, 2013
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Is the essential nature of humans greedy or generous? There are two sides to every coin. If it were possible for you to reverse one trend, what would you change? I think I would make it obsolete to ship, process, and package food.
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