Dear Subscribers,

I wrote this yesterday but it did not seem relevant to Valentine's Day so I saved it for the day after! Hope you enjoyed the day with those you love.

The previous post was one of the more facetious written in recent years, but this one will be a bit more serious.

As you know, I am curious. My mother said the first word out of my mouth was "Why?" In fact, I am convinced that our native consciousness is sort of holographic as well as photographic and everything in our sphere of awareness is inclusive. We see relationships and interactions and recognize the dynamics supporting connections. Then, something really terrible happens and we start losing the capacity to cognize in this manner.

This is a tragedy, but I want to tie these thoughts into the DNA threads in the previous post . . . and, you know, the connect the dots exercise will have to include a bit more such as why DNA becomes damaged and why cells mutate and what this has to do with the Healthy Gut Summit. I also want to stretch a bit further and refer to the recent posts on the brain, including the controversial one on TED.com.

Reading this, by the way, is good for your brain because to track the seemingly disparate points, some of you will have to use synapses that haven't been fired in a while.

There is no easy place to start, but here is one opener. Years ago, I read just about every book in print on metaphysics. A few of these books were more interesting than others and one author who resonated believably was Ann Ree Colton who addressed, among other things, the issue of repetition and monotony, more or less in the context of repeating mantras. She was what one might call a Western metaphysician, meaning that her frame of reference did not depend on Eastern systems of thought, and her appeal was more to Westerners who were seeking understanding without having to embrace foreign languages and meditation postures.

So far as the relevance to this discussion goes, we could argue that any repetitive task, whether dragging groceries over barcode readers or mumbling phrases that sound more like text messages than complete thoughts or recapping the latest news or event in a soap opera is not very supportive of brain health. There was a time when we listened to records and the needle would sometimes get stuck and just keep repeating a short sequence of sounds. Long or short, the best brain exercise is to do something new that stirs up some sleepy synapses and forces them to forge new relationships with other synapses.

Brain Numbing

Now, thanks to the research of some very courageous and dedicated individuals, we have framed two primary causes of brain numbing. One is an incredibly poor system of education that relies on regurgitation rather than thought; the other is physical and encompasses an enormous array of intrusions that have deadening effects on our brains. These include vaccines, toxins, genetic alterations of our food, electromagnetic pollution, and so on and so forth. The mind is fortunately independent of the brain but it relies on the brain to translate thoughts into impressions, recognition, and coherent responses. For some people, this is utterly impossible because of the bombardment from outside. I am therefore sure that at least some of the causal factors in brain numbing are intentional whereas others fall into that enormous waste bin of collateral damage. Modern civilization comes with various toys that have a serious downside, but that is a topic for another time.

For now, I want to leap ahead to my work with cancer. Keep in mind that my starting point was basically a blank slate. Unlike medical doctors, I was not indoctrinated into viewing disease in a particular manner so I was at liberty to cherry pick what resonated and what seemed irrelevant. I read widely and was blessed at the time with all sorts of strange types of clairvoyance. At one time, I had what was for lack of a better word x-ray vision. I could see through everything: skin and muscles, walls, you name it. My kahuna friend and mentor, Morrnah Simeona, was the only one who understood, without my saying a word, that my vision was not normal. However, I am quite sure that from her perspective, my vision was normal and what passes for normal is seriously damaged eyesight. Morrnah was astounding and I was truly blessed to have been gifted her presence in my life. Her method of pointing out missing pieces of information was so soft and interesting. For example, one day she asked me how many planets I use when calculating a horoscope. I sort of knew there was going to be a revelation but I responded, "Ten, how many do Hawaiians use?" She said "seventy" so I asked if she used etheric planets as well as the physical ones. She said, "Yes, don't you?" The point is simply that if you do not see something, you can convince yourself that it does not exist. Let's say I see an aura or a ghost but someone else doesn't. Does this make me delusional? Maybe those who do not see these forms are suffering from damage to the eyes or brain.

One more example: I asked my animal communicator to ask my cockatoo if she sees ghosts. She responded that she did not see things that were not there. I said, "This is not a psychiatric question; I just want to know if you see ghosts." Then, Celeste calmed down and was less defensive. She described a woman who looks a lot like I used to look, but who is not me. She was walking around with an empty blue and white coffee cup. I was completely choked up because the family custom — and a pact made between my mother and myself — was that an extra cup of coffee would be placed on the table for afternoon coffee, a very serious Swedish custom similar to high tea in England. The Wedgwood china was stolen from the house after she died and I failed to uphold the custom. Well, this is a scene suitable for an opera, which, alas, I am missing today.

The point here is that our original design was probably better than the suits we are calling human today. So, I want to tie this into what was once viewed as cutting edge cancer research. The idea was based on the fact that cells are dividing all the time, especially when we are younger. At any moment, there could be some catastrophic influence that affects the division of the cells. At this moment, a mutation occurs. The body will get rid of some deformed cells, but in the case of cancer, the mutant cells become more metabolically active and divide faster. Dr. Tullio Simoncini, the cancer is a fungus exponent, refutes this theory saying that there is not a shred of evidence to support it. I suspect he is right about the lack of evidence because this event occurs on a microscopic level and is not viewed at the time of occurrence. However, the theory was widely accepted by researchers such as the late Dr. O. Carl Simonton, the visualization guru, as well as Jungian analysts who were looking for psychological events to support the wayward cell theory.

The problem is that the events would seldom be remembered and almost never lend themselves to proof. For instance, let's say the event was as simple as riding one's bicycle past a microwave tower, stopping there to take a picture, and then peddling away. Could something that mundane actually lead to cancer in the future? According to many experts, the answer would be yes, but similarly, they might say that everyone suffers cellular damage and harbors deformed cells, but we get rid of some or most of them. I.e., we all have cancer, but for most, the disease is sub-clinical.

As mentioned, this theory held a lot of sway for a long time and the virulence of cancer was even correlated to the degree of deformity of the cells. Making the connection to the event that caused the mutation was always speculative at best. For instance, one book related it to taking up jazz. Actually, as my own synapses fire, I can remember another that also argued this theory, the idea being that the syncopation is disruptive and therefore potentially dangerous. I know many jazz lovers who would be very resistant to such a theory, but I actually think we can propose that all sound affects health. We may not be able to prove our contentions, but they would still be theoretically correct.

Anyway, to avoid going on and on, let's just postulate that a cell is affected by something or other, after which it ceases to behave correctly. For the moment, let's assume that this type of situation can underlie not just cancer but a host of so-called genetic diseases, whether hereditary or not.

Correcting the Mutation

My next step was to study what corrected the errors since, as we have noted, anyone and everyone could have some maverick cells, but the cells never cause a clinically detectable condition. To advance my understanding, I studied all the herbs used in cancer treatment because I wanted to understand their actions. What was interesting is some were parasiticides, some were antifungal, some were immune enhancing, and only a few fit the definition of DNA correcting. Of these, the most prevalent and interesting one was no doubt burdock. Though nearly all the research on burdock as an anticancer herb was done in the 20th century, probably partly because of the controversy around the Hoxsey tonic, it was Hildegard of Bingen who developed an anti-cancer elixir based on burdock, this in the 12th century.

The key word used to describe burdock in a modern context is "desmutagen". Most of the contemporary research was done in Japan and Hungary, but a desmutagen would be what we call protective against damage to the DNA. I think we can hypothesize that countless other herbs have this property, including many rasayanas from the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia, with ashwagandha most likely topping the list simply because more research has been done on it than other Ayurvedic herbs, but Chyawanprash is probably even better than ashwagandha alone.

Then, since the advent of the genome project and different approaches to research, based in part on the desire to find some commercial value for the parts of the DNA strands for which one holds patent rights, the quest for herbs that repair DNA also gained some momentum, largely because the damage became more recognized. This is taking us to an entirely new direction in medicine because regeneration was basically not part of the standard medical curriculum in the embarrassing annals of 20th century medicine.

Keep in mind that almost all research today is profit-driven so instead of studying the action of an entire herb or formula, emphasis will be placed on a chemical constituent for which patents are sought. It goes without saying that the bigger picture will never come into focus with this method of approach. However, topping the list of neuroregenerative herbs, based on this particular type of research, we find one from each major ethnobotanical traditions: ashwagandha, astragalus, and cat's claw. These herbs are, of course, available from Sacred Medicine on many of 45 different web sites, but they have also been carefully worked into formulas based on assessments of underlying causes and damage as well as symptoms.

So let's unravel that sentence and see what it means. If the cause is electromagnetic pollution or radiation, there will be specific strategies for resolving the problems associated with those causes. If the problem can be attributed to side effects of vaccines, we look at whether it is the preservatives in the vaccines or the attenuated viruses that were strong enough to be viable. If the cause was chemical toxicity, then we look at detoxifying protocols rather than immune enhancing ones. If the cause is dietary, well, you what what has to happen!

Now that we have a sort of overview, the question is where to start. This depends on the symptoms so we would generally try to shift the underlying causes of the most dangerous or most annoying symptoms. For instance, these may be indigestion or chronic fatigue or dementia. The point is no doubt that we must fix what is broken. In some cases, people have been living with broken parts for so long that they have no idea what "fixed" might mean. For the record, I am no exception to this rule. My vision was damaged by a vaccine at age three and I am truly clueless how the world looks to others. I had one glimpse once in an optometrist's office when I was very young but we could never replicate it. So, for a second I thought, "ah, ha" but even that may not have been straight fact. I have never doubted but that a correction can happen, but it has eluded me for many decades!

However, where antibiotics or toxins or even radiation are concerned, the cure is closer at hand. Antibiotics are pervasive and demonic. Over the years, I have written fairly extensively on them because I am personally convinced that they do much more harm than good and that much of the scientific basis for their acceptance is flawed. Our bodies host trillions of bacteria, most of which are friendly and necessary. Antibiotics wipe out both good and bad bacteria and paralyze white blood cells, leaving us at the mercy of various infections. Where science went amok was in assuming that pathogenic bacteria are the cause of diseases when it is more likely that imbalance is at the root of disease. In the famous debates between Louis Pasteur and advocates of a terrain theory of disease, Pasteur won — temporarily — and his theories went on to dominate the 20th century. The question remains as to the validity of his assertions since he fudged some studies and recanted on his deathbed. However, as we have seen, the germ theory prevailed and gave impetus to an enormously lucrative pharmaceutical industry.

In some minds, the opposite of antibiotics is probiotics. Up to a point, I accept this thesis, but with a lot of caveats. What we actually need is a lot of variety so overreliance on any one strain of bacteria, even friendly bacteria, is not, in my opinion, advisable. Over the decades I have been studying and observing, I have, in fact, used some probiotics, but my rule is very simple: buy the smallest container you can find and switch brands if you feel the need to continue once the first bottle is empty. The sources of probiotics are not very diverse. Most come from Japan or Germany and they represent a fraction of what might be ideal in terms of gut health. Each manufacturer tends to culture its own probiotics and to use that strain in their products. Therefore, to the extent possible, keep changing brands, among the reputable ones, in order to give each strain a chance to establish itself. They are competitive so overdoing is not advisable. This goes against some prevailing theories but I am confidant of my statements. Likewise, I would not rely exclusively on powders or capsules. I would consume some cultured vegetables and kefir as well, all organic. The same rule holds forth here: keep switching around. Every company that markets on a large scale will claim its products are the best. Even if this is partly true, it is not true that overreliance on one brand is sensible. Were it not for biocides, we might have in excess of 500 different types of gut flora so taking a supplement or food with just one or a few of those is not likely to correct the entire problem. We could even say that overcorrection is not a correction at all.

Certain herbs help the friendly bacteria to get a foothold. This is a fantastic story in its own right. Two of the herbs that are now promoted as having these benefits are turmeric and black walnut. I am still trying to track down the studies that support these claims. I am sure the studies exist but Google was no help when I looked.

To wrap up for now, let's just hypothesize that any herb that repairs DNA will probably do so on a much wider scale than is anticipated by narrowly focused scientists. Since they are obsessed with tiny sections of the DNA, the interrelatedness and countless other factors will remain mysterious. The herbs are also mysterious for the same reasons. Many herbs have hundreds of chemical constituents and these no doubt vary with each harvest, meaning the place, the soil, the time of planting, the time of harvesting, the storage and shipping methods, the processing techniques, etc. all affect the therapeutic behavior of the herbs. It is inconceivable that a full understanding could emerge given the way research is funded and the way researchers have been trained to isolate observations in order to eliminate variables. However, based on the tiny observations I have made, I am certain that the repairs will exceed what we seek as well as what we anticipate. Since we have no idea how mutated we are, we have no idea what will happen when we are repaired!

Many blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2015

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