Dear Subscribers,

As we approach the third year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it behooves us to examine the ramifications of what has happened. With the virtual blackout of detailed information, it is quite difficult to assemble a story of what actually happened and what the implications are for the future of the Planet. Yes, since we are ourselves part of the ecosystem, we must consider the entire Planet, not just our own lives.

Many people talk of the food chain and tend to put our species at the top. I have always mocked this idea because the last laugh must with the fungal kingdom, not the human. It, thank God, has the resilience to adapt and survive. It might be partially joined by some bacteria and parasites that are similarly adaptable.

The world's foremost authority on stress, Dr. Hans Selye, emphasized that the capacity to adapt is crucial to our ability to weather storms. Experts have tried to assemble lists of experiences that are stressful and to score them according to some point system. While some of the stressors might lend themselves to quantification, the reality is that not all people are alike so what is very stressful for me might not be so for you, and, of course, vice versa. As an astrologer, I think we could compare this to the proverbial Achilles heel and suggest that if you are heavily invested in your career, a job change could be catastrophic or euphoric depending on whether you got a pink slip or better offer from someone else. In short, while all change is attended by some stress, not all changes are equally stressful. Likewise, if very attached to your garden, moving to another home may be stressful. So, depending on your buttons and where they are, we can assign numerical values to events and try to score just how good or bad the times are, but we should individualize the weights assigned to each event.

This is a sneaky way to approach the issue of the fallout from Fukushima. However, what is common to both stress and radiation is that the effects are cumulative. We don't actually know how close we are to the straw that will break us, but we do know that there are thresholds and danger at those thresholds so our elasticity for coping diminishes when nearing our max. What few of the academic experts on stress mention is that even when the body is flooded with cortical hormones, suggesting that breaking points are near, there are herbs that can practically eliminate all the excess adrenal secretions as well as the risks associated with stress. These herbs are very complex in their actions and can therefore be selected according to their profiles. For example, if undergoing chemotherapy or radiation, ashwagandha makes an excellent addition to the regime. It is has however countless other benefits. Whether testing mice or humans, ashwagandha scores very high on the stress protector list.

Over the last week, I have organized information on about 90 herbs and tried to see if there is a way to fine tune our choices. The problem, of course, is that most herbs are studied from the perspective of the culture from which the herb became known. I referred to this in the previous post. If libido is important, ashwagandha will score very high, but if we leave India and go to South America, many herbs with properties every bit as awesome as ashwagandha will be found under completely different headings, such as malaria or dysentery. If does not mean that the herbal benefits are limited to such conditions, rather that the Conquistadors were confronted with what is today called mission abortive consequences. Being separated from their families, the libido was probably something to tame rather than sustain.

Now, if you look at this from an herbal perspective, you will be astounded when you realize that a famous antimalarial herb like Artemisia annua has demonstrated anticancer properties. A blood cleanser like burdock is found in traditional cancer formulas going back at least to St. Hildegard of Bingen. This makes us ask whether the herbs have anticancer properties or whether cancer is a consequence of factors that together leave the window open for a challenging health complication. We actually ought to ask this question because it has everything to do with planetary survival and our own well being.

The relevance here to radiation is that there is total denial as to the consequences of low level exposure, and yet, every expert insists that no level is safe and all exposures are cumulative. At the moment, the experts believe that only a few thousand people were adversely impacted by the Chernobyl nuclear incident. However, more independent researchers place that number at closer to one million and rising. Some, in fact, say that the effects will persist for generations whereas others go so far as to say that the consequences are permanent because the mutations will perpetuate, not revert to something regarded as normal. This is an important concept because we might not actually be normal now.

In the case of Fukushima, doctors are severely rebuked if they imply that any symptoms correlate to exposure to radiation. There are children with thyroid cancer whose cases are unusual. They are reported, but it is not permissible to connect any dots. The new Japanese State Secrets Act imposes a ten-year jail sentence on anyone reporting adversely on Fukushima. In today's world, no such drastic legislation is enacted unless the powers that be are terrified of the truth.

What we can do now is to bone up on what we need to know to live as safely as possible given the risks. I think the first precautionary step is to stay out of the rain because fallout is greater when it is raining. For the same reason, I wouldn't drink rain water. When harvesting food from the garden or preparing food for your own consumption, wash the fruit and vegetables several times. If you have any inclinations towards becoming a vegetarian, now would be a good time to transition into this diet because fish and ruminants are all potential sources of radionuclides.

I would add to this that no one should be without sangre de grado at any time. A few days ago, I had another mini nosebleed, very small, nothing like the hemorrhages shortly after the radiation leaks in 2011. It reminded me that I was not taking the risks seriously. When I went to Europe in December, I forgot to take the sangre de grado with me; and had I been in the car or grocery store instead of at home when the previous bleeds occurred, I would not be writing to you today. It takes remarkably little sangre de grado to stop the bleeding. I am sure I mentioned that I put it into Goji Tonic because that tonic was formulated to help rebuild the blood. I will be coming out with several new formulas in a week or two, all adapted to the realities of today's world. As you know, I have a lot of respect for herbal traditions, but we have stressors that are new and formulations can reflect these new challenges. As the lab produces these, I will try to explain the logic behind each new formula. Obviously, all will be high in antioxidants, adaptogens, and rasayana herbs. There are about seven new formulas on the drawing board.

Meanwhile, our diets and herbal regimes need to be very high in antioxidants and as close to zero as possible in GMO foods since these are stressors with unpredictable consequences that could also go on for generations or more or less indefinitely. This is because random splicing of genes causes unpredictable and yet more or less permanent changes in how we express ourselves through our genes. Unlike some writers, I do not think that all mutations are permanent but finding the herbs that repair the DNA and applying the remedies on a staggering scale will obviously take more than one generation, especially in our dumbed down society.

If the Earth is habitable, I suspect I will have more incarnations in which to sort out the calamities of this one. Meanwhile, I would like to make a few general comments about how the risks of radiation exposure are estimated. For the most part, thyroid cancer is the main consideration, but it is by no means the only risk since it is largely attributed to exposure to radioactive iodine. There was a tremendous amount of radioactive iodine released in the first explosions at Chernobyl and the Fukushima Daiichi Plant, but there are many other radionuclides with proclivities to lodge in other bodily tissues, like the muscles or bones. Leukemia is also a huge risk as are various complaints that are entirely unrelated to cancer. Therefore, by counting mainly cases of thyroid cancer, the figures are understated. However, at the same time as exposure to increased levels of radiation has been ongoing, there have been other stressors introduced, including the pervasive use of mobile devices, aerosol spraying, fracking, and the introduction of genetically modified foods. While it would probably be possible to assign cause to each of these factors, the politics of the modern world make this unlikely.

This said, I believe it is more or less safe to suggest that problems will occur wherever there is weakness so we are wise to correct all deficiency conditions and normalize all bodily functions. I am quite certain that the benefits of so doing will be enormous. Then, when one takes one of the new formulas I am introducing, not only will the coping margins be extended, but the probability of organ damage and mutation will be lessened. That is the goal.

Many blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2014

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