Dear Subscribers,

This post is sort of an "extra" but it will demonstrate that I am still very much at the helm, and my feet are not in the sky where my heart and head tend to roam.

The title of my book is "Cancer Salves: A Botanical Approach to Treatment" but it is not exclusively about topical treatments since it covers an enormous history before going into the treatments for this disease. The book was actually my third or fourth book on cancer but the only one to be published in a more formal manner. To the best of my knowledge, there is no cancer in my family so the study for me is a service to others. There might be other ways of stating this, but I am trying to say that there was nothing particularly personal about the decades of study I have devoted to cancer.

Because I have written so much on cancer, there is practically nothing new to add, but there are always opportunities for review as well as for hindsight. The best way to transition from previous post's speculations and today's feet on the ground might be to repeat stories I have told before. The first person I knew personally who was definitely diagnosed with cancer was a family friend, a museum curator who specialized in Pacific Island cultures and was working on the Hawaiian exhibit for the World's Fair. It goes without saying that Hawaiians were completely opposed to shipping statues of their deities out-of-state so Karl Axel was making copies of tiki gods. To give them an historic appearance, he was beating them with chains and Hawaiians were horrified and asked him to stop. He suddenly became very ill and was told he had a runaway cancer and very little time to live. He returned to Sweden but died, I think only ten days or so from the onset of the illness. I was young at the time and tended to believe that the cause of his death was subtle, not physical.

If you read the recent post that referenced a past life memory I recovered in therapy, then you can see the parallel even though the sequence in this life was that the event with Karl Axel preceded my therapy by many years.

The second case of cancer involved the boyfriend of one of my students. He had been given a prognosis of half a year, part of which would be quite miserable. He left the hospital, went to Mexico for laetrile, and was arrested and put in a federal prison . . . where he miraculously recovered completely and went on to live a fascinating and full life. This was accomplished by inner work since no treatment had been provided.

That was my start so when I was formally asked by Dr. Nathalie D. Tucker to work with her I was not looking at official treatments but rather the psychospiritual issues with which we wrestle. These are also much easier to define by reference to horoscopes than are the physical treatments. That said, this began during the years when I was in retreat and also when I was very psychic. For instance, I could see not just auras, but I had a sort of x-ray vision in which I could actually see inside the body as if the skin and muscles were not even there, and I could see little figures in the aura, miniature beings who talked and gesticulated and often corrected the accounts provided by clients.

At the same time, I was pouring over the literature, much less than we see now because everything was printed, not virtual. I was very much influenced by an argument made by the late Dr. O. Carl Simonton who posited a major event coinciding with cellular division that constituted the beginning of the development of abnormal tissue. In those days, it was believed that the degree of abnormality of the cells correlated with the aggressivity of the disease. It's an interesting theory for astrologers because the event would generally be connected with Uranus, the only planetary deity that suffered a deformity. The problem, of course, is that a single mutated cell is not clinically detectable and the time span between the alleged mutation and the detection could be years. Going one step further, Dr. Tullio Simoncini says that such a mutation event has never been observed. Agreed, and it cannot be observed, merely postulated, but the idea permeated the literature of the late 20th century and was generally accepted among psychiatrists and metaphysicians as well as some physicians.

Uranus events are unpredictable, sudden, and irreversible. That is the fundamental description in classical astrological texts. We can add that they also introduce change and bring truth to our attention because the hallmark of Uranus is not His eccentricity but His honesty. Yes, Uranus is a party crasher and His behavior is sometimes quite disturbing but even when we try to banish Him or ignore Him, we know He tells the truth. Moreover, He tells the Truth for a reason since there is nothing capricious about Uranus. We might say that about Mercury, but not about Uranus.

So, an astrologer can go back and look at times when Uranus was active, but that does not mean we can prove a connection between an event and cancer. However, I will give an example of events where the connections were indisputable. In one case, a very experienced skipper was making a repair to the mast of ship when there was a spark from an electrical tool and fell to the deck. He sustained several fractures, went unconscious, and was partially paralyzed for life. I have many histories in my files with variations of this type of story. However, the theory with cancer was that the abnormal cells were maverick but unless it is possible to capture some of those cells, there is a fairly immense hiatus between theory and proof.

Then, there was a change in the medical world. Staging changed from abnormality to invasiveness and the popularity of the previous theories declined. I had a practice for decades and was often working simultaneously with patients as well as outside studies and writing. Obviously, when one is booked solid, this means burning a lot of midnight oil. I started the work on escharotic treatments because I had hired a Cherokee medicine woman to work in my clinic, and she told stories about this treatment and the use by a local shaman. Then, Jane Heimlich came out with a book called "What Your Doctor Won't Tell You" in which there was an account of the treatment and some contact information. I wrote to the people mentioned and some time later, people invited me to dinner with Dr. and Mrs. Heimlich when they were visiting Santa Fe. Jane was the most incredible interviewer I have ever met, but I asked her advice on many subjects and later asked her to write a foreword to my book. For some reason, I never knew until yesterday that she was born Jane Murray, daughter of the dancers!

Unlike conventional researchers in today's world, I never start my probings with a hypothesis. I have tried to describe my approach to knowledge as more similar to that of an anthropologist than a scientist. I am not counting cells or deviations but observing — or trying to observe — the whole. I will try to give an example. When I took the mold certification training, I was told that the method used by microscopists who examine tape lifts was to study one quarter of the slide, the assumption being that all parts of the slide would be similar. However, I already had years of experience with darkfield microscopy and knew that when the cells can move, all parts of the slide are potentially different. Yes, it is possible that if there is something like malaria, many infected red blood cells will be found in all quadrants, but if there are parasites or mold, the argument does not hold.

What I am trying to say is that there is a context; and the disease, cancer in this instance, is merely a part of a bigger picture. So, inefficient as it is, I want as many pieces as possible of that bigger picture and I am always surprised when someone tells me years after the fact, "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" People often omit the most important details, perhaps because those are shielded or perhaps because those stories constitute the very dots that are not connected properly.

On the other side of this window, I have also seen many people write their stories before they have any idea what will be going into the chapters that cannot yet be written. In general, I feel this is a mistake. Journaling is different from publishing and the journey itself is essentially private. Well, in this day and age, privacy has practically no meaning, but I am old-fashioned enough to believe that some processes are best pursued without much attention from others.

Given my passion for the bigger picture, my book starts with cancer found in dinosaur bones. The purpose is to demolish the notion that cancer is a disease of modern civilization. If there is more cancer today than in times past, it is probable that a part of the explanation can be found in what passes for civilization today and a part is perhaps due to diagnostic procedures, but there is actually not as much proof as one might expect for this latter argument. Yes, truly, it is possible that diagnosis occurs earlier, but I believe that some of the diagnostic procedures are dangerous and that they actually contribute to development of cancer. In any event, for a long, long time, roughly 25% of the world's population succumbed to cancer. There were isolated exceptions, like the Hunza, but overall, cancer has been around a long time, but diagnoses in the past probably did occur later, i.e., after a tumor became palpable or ulcerated.

Though I have spent a bit of time looking for how cancer was treated in Egyptian times, the analyses of the treatment (in my book) really begin with Hildegard of Bingen who held some very specific views based on her "spiritual vision" as well as knowledge of herbs.

The word she used was "Vermes" and translators have variously described this as viruses or parasites. Vermes are only visible to those with spiritual vision and Hildegard said that when they lick the violet salve, they die. Keep in mind that given who I am, I was actually on tierra firma with Hildegard's views, which for the record included observations about the relationship between the personality and soul.

My investigations of the treatments from the 16th century through the 19th century were also very straightforward but a point came when there was obvious mixing and matching, similar perhaps to today's attempts by scientists to apply ethnobotanical expertise to modern medicine, modern being relative to their times. Obviously, this pattern has continued into the present but it involves much more effort to ascribe all the efficacy to one plant constituent, most often a constituent that can be synthesized because we are in an era of madness in which artificial is argued to be equal to or better than natural. For the same reason, there is now a pseudoscientific craze for standardization based more on pharmaceutical practices than observation of Nature.

I want to break this paragraph into two parts. We can take an herb like Artemisia annua, the main source of artemisinin, and see that all the efficacy of A. annua with respect to both malaria and cancer is attributed to artemisinin. A. annua is a very safe medicinal plant that is antiparasitic, but artemisinin is a very concentrated chemical, a drug that must be used judiciously. The exact percentage of artemisinin in the plant is not very critical unless the plant is being used to extract artemisinin. When it is used in its whole form, the other plant constituents make it extremely safe and organ protective. A. annua even protects the patient from nausea while parasites are dying.

The other point is that plants adapt to their environment so just as grapes or chili peppers taste different with each harvest, plants change. We are also changing and for very important reasons, it is far better to eat locally grown plants than imported ones because those are the ones that adapted to our particular climate and threats. In short, this is one of the main arguments against agroindustry as well as standardization, but I am straying because there is a need for subtlety that is not found in most scientific literature. Science is patent and prescription crazy so keeping everything very simple makes for a better bottom line. However, it does not guarantee better clinical outcomes.

There is a lot of material in my book. That should not surprise anyone. I spent a long time writing it and it has become a classic. There are very detailed accounts of the approaches of key practitioners from the past up to this century.

In addition to the book, there is a web site with an archived forum and about 275 pages (if downloaded and printed) of additional material. There is another site for practitioners, another for plant growers and marketers, and another with answers to questions and explanations of detoxification, purification, and countless more subjects. Then, the posts to subscribers that contain current material. These are archived so there are five places to go online plus the book. My astrology book on cancer is out of print as are two others I wrote that were never officially in print though copies were circulated privately.

That is a lot of work, but what is the bottom line? Cancer is actually probably viewed as a generic term for a mass that could have many different causes. I think it is important to know the cause because the cause should have a bearing on the treatment. Hulda Clark's books had a tremendous circulation. One might say she mid-wifed the idea that parasites are the cause of just about every major problem. I never agreed with her, but parasites are a problem, sometimes a big problem. They can be microscopic or many meters in length, and they can domicile themselves in just about any tissue, or they can move around as foragers tend to go where they expect to find a meal. So, there can be anything from babesia and malaria where the parasites infect erythrocytes to filaria to pin worms, round worms, and tapeworms, and this list is not complete. So, parasites are real and can be serious.

Practically anyone can have parasites, but the risks are higher in the tropics and when people spend a lot of time with animals or outdoors. Most infections depend on vectors, like mosquitos, to make the rounds, but one can actually become infected by eating food or handling something touched by an infected person. In short, there are risks so periodic parasite cleansing is wise. In the tropics, many foods are naturally antiparasitic and in some traditional cultures, there were annual rituals that used antiparasitic herbs, like wormwood.

Dr. Simoncini's work hit the world stage like a rocket and he believes cancer is a fungus, more specifically Candida albicans, but just as I do not accept "all" in the titles of Hulda Clark's books, I do not accept "all" in most contexts. That said, I am sure that some cancers are fungal, but not merely due to yeast infections because I have seen some pretty serious mold infections that were diagnosed as cancer. Unfortunately, sometimes only a biopsy will settle the issue and since the infections can occur in just about any tissue, sometimes there are reasons to cut and even better reasons to avoid cutting since a biopsy can disseminate fungi pretty fast. Just think of how to make Roquefort cheese and you realize that plunging one skewer into older cheese and then into a vat of future cheese is enough to incubate a real huge colony of growth. So, it is better probably to test for mycotoxins than to poke around.

Next, there is a theory that certain infections lead to cancer. Topping that list is Simian Virus 40, a contaminant in some polio vaccines, but there are other viruses on the list, including the ones described in the book Dr. Mary's Monkey. Those were peculiarly sensitive to radiation which is another potential cause of cancer even when not coupled with SV40. Countless chemicals and metals are also on the list of culprits as are packaging materials, such as plastics, various preservatives in food and medicine, as well as certain prescription drugs such as hormone disruptors. Again, this list is not complete and is offered for illustrative purposes only. My point is simply that if one takes an antiparasitic herb when the cancer has a fungal cause, one is probably not targeting the tumor directly and perhaps not even effectively. Therefore, the starting place is always with the cause and, in my opinion, fungi are the most dangerous of all the possible causes. Moreover, we know fungi thrive on sugars, but they will basically consume anything organic, which, in theory, includes the whole body.

So, I am an advocate of periodic fasting and detoxing. We do not need to be sick to commit to this because the purpose is to reduce risks, not wait until the risks accelerate. This is probably not the best time of year to post this because many people are throwing caution to the winds with the intent of making firm resolutions on January 1st. This might be safe enough for those with no pressing health issues, but it could be folly for those who are on the edge.

What would I suggest? Well, one might list the risks: work on a farm? Handle raw fish? Live in a place with mold? Exposed to radiation and/or Wi-Fi? History of vaccines with adjuvants and contaminants? Then, get a lunar calendar for 2018 and start marking up the dates. Depending on the risk factors, do at least two and possibly four parasite cleanses at the full moons. If heavily exposed to parasites, do parasite cleanses monthly. It's easy. At minimum do 36 hours of cleaning before each full moon. Who needs to be this careful? Those with more exposure risks such as frequent insect bites and proximity to animals. Low risk? Twice a year, but two consecutive months. Who does not have parasites: people with very, very high levels of toxic metals so do metal detoxing instead of parasite cleansing.

http://parasiteherbs.com

Exposed to mold? Remediate all mold in the environment: at home and at school or work. Clean basements, bathrooms, under the sinks, around the perimeter of the house, and anywhere there is condensation or moisture. Clean the air filters, air conditioners, and even the washing machine and vents in the car. Run diffusers with mold inhibiting oils and take antifungal herbs.

http://moldherbs.com

Infections? Remove toxic metals from teeth and then chelate. Then, boost immunity.

http://immuneformulas.com

Clearly, one post is not sufficient, but now is a good time to prepare for the resolutions that are going to go into effect when 2018 begins

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2017

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