September/October 1998
Articles on the theme "Health Consciousness"
A Matter of Life and Death
by Sylvia Jackson
The writer, who is dying of brain cancer,
gives some advice concerning prevention and medical exams.
Magic Tea Plus
by Constance Felos
How an attorney and her client created an adventurous new paradism of health
consciousness. The recipe for a special herbal tea.
Health-Minded Living
by Bob Gonzalez
Some tips from the manager of a health
food store how to achieve and maintain optimum physical health.
Miracle Consciousness
by JoAnne Gregory
Miracles, fake or real? What is it
that makes miracles possible?
How's Your Subconscious?
by Patrick Plaskett
Habits and their effect on our health.
Changing bad habits. Creating a different future.
True Health Consciousness
by Carol L. Roberts, MD
A doctor talks about what you can do
to avoid visits to the doctor.
Becoming Health Conscious
by Dr. Audrey Craft Davis
The importance of our words and thoughts.
Becoming food conscious. Our attitude to things, especially money. Counting
our blessings. Awareness of others and the environment.
A Simple Clay Bath!
by Lauana Lei
How the writer, suffering from heavy
chemical/metal poisoning, recovered her health by taking a clay bath.
A Healing Education
by Barbara Bedingfield
An account by a Waldorf teacher of
the basic educational requirements for maintaining the health of a child.
Our Spiritual Source
by Rev. Pat Cross
On connecting with our spiritual source
to realize a true health consciousness. Using our spiritual powers to heal
ourselves.
Other Feature Articles
2000 and Beyond!
by David Findlay
Natural Health Q&A
by Dr. Scott Rubin
Parasites and allergies -- some natural
remedies.
What is . . . A Course In Miracles?
by Mary Barbara
How "A Course In Miracles"
came to be and some of its basic teachings.
Mineral Kingdom
by Judy Power
Featured stones for September and October:
Labrodorite and Opalized Quartz
A Matter of Life and Death
by Sylvia Jackson
In the world of fast-food, fast cars, and revolving-door-medicine we tend to take our health for granted. The food that we eat contains all of the vitamins that the government says that we need. We sometimes have a yearly physical - but most do not. We rest soundly with the knowledge that if something goes wrong, a doctor will wave a magick wand and make it all better and the insurance company will pick up the tab. Maybe or maybe not.
Health consciousness is much more than the occasional thought. It is a continual thing. I have been an herbal healer for over forty years. I have treated many types of illness from gout to meningitis, successfully. Of all the illness that I have seen, the most difficult to treat is cancer. It is very silent in its attack on the body. Most of the time, in its early stages, it has no symptoms, there is no pain and the chance of diagnosis and treatment is slim at best. The location of a tiny tumor is rare, except with the patients who are very familiar with their bodies and the subtle changes that cancer brings. The woman who does regular breast exams, the man who does regular testicular exams, these are the ones who have the best chance for survival.
Certainly these self-exams are inconvenient. But are they worth it?
Consider the possible consequences of not finding the lump. In the case of an advanced breast cancer, the symptoms that you should expect are discharges from the nipple, discomfort and or pain when pressure is applied to the breast, and swelling of the breast and of the lymph nodes under the arm. Of course, by this time, the cancer has spread to so much tissue that you will lose the breast and most of the tissue under it and under your arm, if you're lucky. If you're not so lucky, you'll become another statistic in the fight against cancer.
For the man who thinks that it is 'queer' to check for testicular tumors, consider the consequences. First, you will experience discomfort in the scrotum, then impotence, then acute swelling in the scrotal and upper thigh areas, and finally, by this time, if you wait this long, you will lose your genitalia or your life.
Medical science is there for you only if you will work with it. Even in the case of an herbalist, early detection can make vast differences. Simple herbs like mistletoe have anti-tumor properties that can reduce or eliminate tumors the size of a grain of sand - which is quite large considering the size of a cancer cell. But it requires diligent efforts on your part.
The examples that I have given are quite dramatic, to say the least. But, they sure made you think, didn't they? However, most types of cancer are not so easily detected without sophisticated testing procedures. Procedures that most of us wouldn't think of putting ourselves through, no matter how we felt. Early detection does literally mean life and death to you and those you love.
Another weapon in the arsenal against cancer is to have the proper insurance, one that will protect you against the enormous costs involved in treatment, not to mention the financial ruin you could face from even short-term disability, Especially if you are single without children, there is not a governmental agency who will lift a finger to help you in your immediate or long-term needs. I know, for I have a brain cancer and have no insurance. There is no help available, even for the terminal.
You see, even though I have spent my life healing and helping other people, I never gave my own health much of a thought. Even after cervical cancer took my uterus, ovaries, et al., I didn't give it much thought - even though I was scared witless. Even after fibroid tumors and lymphoma took both of my breasts, I didn't give it much thought. After a benign tumor was found in my mouth, I didn't give it much thought. But, when a pituitary tumor was found and an acutely expanded internal carotid articularsclerosis was found, and deemed inoperable, I gave it a whole lot of thought! Certainly, if I had had insurance the whole situation may have been a whole lot different. But, that's water under the bridge.
Because I had not been conscious of the health of my body, now I am dying.
It is said that, if our foresight were as good as our hindsight, we would never get into trouble. But the best saying is that, "You should learn from other people's mistakes, for you will never live long enough to make them all yourself."
Learn from my mistake, take care of yourself. Best of luck and good health to you all!
Goodbye.
Sylvia Jackson is a certified herbalist and touch healer. She is the founder of the Sacred Circle School of Wicca, Spring Hill, FL. (352) 686-6597