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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MEDICINE
Was
their medicine clinical...or magical? Could have been both! Let's
look at who were the physicians. They certainly needed to read and
write. Among those that could were priests. So therefore priests,
obviously, became the physicians.
There
were three gods considered the patrons of physicians: Sekhmet, the
lioness goddess whose human body supported a head of a lion. Toth
was the ibis-headed god of magic and writing. Isis, goddess of magic
and nurturing was already a patron of physicians. It was she that
used "laying on of hands" to heal the sick and resurrect the dead"
as did Toth.
Physicians
practiced their healing art only in temples. Those that were sick
or injured went to the temples for treatment. There were almost
no house calls (exceptions for the wealthy were very common). Each
physican became known as "physician from temple of Sekhmet..or Toth..
or Isis." Dendera, a temple in the south, was renowned for it's
"healing dreams." One would enter the temple and dream away their
ailments. There also was a treatment by drinking water collected
by pouring water over a carved statue. This seems to be an early
example of "holy water." Another temple was Dier el Bhari. This
building was such that a clinic was held on the roof. Several famous
physicians practiced there including Imhotep, architect and physician
to the pharoah, Zoser.
What
were some of the established treatments of the times? Well, treatments
pretty much fell under two categories, clinical and magic. If the
cause of the illness or injury was known, such as a broken arm from
a falling block (don't forget, this was a construction era of temple
and pyramid-building), the treatment would follow a clinical procedure.
Should the cause be unkown, such as a fever, magical procedures
would be necessary. What was the difference in procedures? Many
medical papyri were available to the physician. Let's see what one
of the most common set prescribed, the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus.
Forty-eight cases are described from head to toe.
Three
options were offered to the Physician in accepting any case.
1) I will treat the illness.
2)
I will contend with the illness.
3)
I will not treat the illness.
Such
was the physician's choice. The future reputation of the physician
was a concern had he have too many failures.
If
a bone was broken on one of the limbs, splints and bandages were
used. Should there be a split or break on the head, fresh meat should
be bound to the wound on the first day. The patient quietly sits
until the swelling is reduced. This is then followed by an application
of grease, honey, and lint (a very common mixture) until the patient
recovers. Remember the era! There was no anesthesia, no knowledge
of germs (Louis Pasteur was not available until the 19th century),
and, of course, sterilization was unheard of.
Here
is a case not to be treated. "One having a smash in his cheek, while
he discharges blood from his nostril, from his ear, from his mouth,
he is speechless. Ailment not to be treated."
On
the magical side of the papyrus, these treatments are suggested:
A baby suffering with colic, a solution of certain herbs and poppies
is offered. (opium?). This will quiet down the crying and coughing.
Not so ridiculous maybe. In the 20th-century, we were dispensing
"paragoric tincture of opium" to alleviate soreness of baby's gums.
Since they didn't understand why fevers happened, the cure was to
exorcize the demons with spells and chanting. They also did burn
the bed linens. They were on the right track, but didn't know it.
Blindness was also treated this way.
Headaches
were treated with a fish ointment. A foot injury? Easy, bind the
foot with deerskin. Somehow, magically, the deerskin will penetrate
the injury and all is well. There's a potion, made up of herbs and
fats, that will "make an old man into a youth." This could have
started the art (or science) of Pharmacology. This was a wrinkle
cream. Here's one on a frontal bone injury. Ground up a mixture
of ostrich egg-shells and grease and apply to the wound. Thinking
then, was that the ostrich skull is in the shape of the human skull.
Apply and wait! Seem a little strange to you? During the Lewis &
Clark Expedition in the 1800s (AD of course), Lewis ground two rattlesnake
tail rings, added water, and offered it to Sacagawa, his Shisone
interpreter, who was going through a prolonged and excruciating
labor period. Less than 10 minutes elapsed before out came baby
Jean Baptiste.
Maybe
all this sounds a little ridiculous..but, realizing what knowledge
they had to work with, Egyptians did do a lot of healing. They did
also manage to spend 3000 years building pyramids, temples, and
fighting wars.
Throughout
the world, Egypt was revered as having the finest physicians. What
would that world, at that time, do without the efforts of those
Egyptian Physicians? Did they not set the stage for what was to
become "Modern Medical Science" here in the 21st century?"
~~ Written by Paul Sher ~~
QI GONG -from art to science
Qi
Gong (pronounced chee gong) is a 3000-year-old energy-based Chinese
healing art. Practiced throughout the world, it is also kown as
Ki (Japan & Korea), Ruach (Hebrew), Pneuma (Greece), Prana (India),
Mana (Indonesia), and others. Originally spelled Chi, it was replaced
in 1988 to Qi, under the Pinyin
system of romanization.
In
1999, it was estimated that 90 million people practiced Qi Gong
in China using more than 2000 different styles. These include (but
not limited to) Wu Dang (Walking Crane), Dragon
Door, Shamanic Orbit, Shaolin Nei Jin, Healing Wave, Ba Duan Jin
(Eight Pieces of Brocade), Ching Loong (Black Dragon), and
many more.
Qi
Gong treatments have contributed to the healing or diminishing of
pain and suffering in a multiude of medical problems, such as kidney
disease, asthma, peptic ulcers, breast
and prostate cancers, diabetes.
SUBJECTIVE
TESTING- To determine the effects of Qi Gong (and other energy-based
modalities, such as Reiki and Therapeutic
Touch) on the human body, many testing procedures and experiments
have been employed with very positive results. However, the tests
and results have been subjective, and in many cases depended on
participant perception.
For
example, in one study,about 400 attendees were given Qi Gong exercises
to perform for less than a month. Shortly after these sessions they
were asked questions regarding the
training and its role in their present lifestyle. Results were positive,
with 70% claiming an increase in overall quality of life.
Another
common test is to isolate a subject from his or her Qi Master by
locating the subject in another room, floor, or buildng, or separating
the two with a curtain or screen.
The Master has a pre-selected time-frame (usually one or two minutes)
in which to extend his or her Qi energy. The subject is observed
during that time-frame for any response.
OBJECTIVE
TESTING- At the close of the millenium, the use of modern scientific
instruments, commonly used in Western
medicine's diagnostics, began overshadowing the use of subjective
testing.
Probably
the simplest device in use is the sphygmomanometer which measures
blood pressure changes during the treatment.
Infrared and infrasound detectors are used to measure the frequencies
emanating from the Master's hands during treatments. Electroencephalograms
(EEG) give us information about the electrical activity of the brain
during treatment.
Invented
in the 1970s, one of the more modern instruments provided for our
research is the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) camera. In conjunction
with a Cyclotron Accelerator,
PET scanning is invasive since positron (anti-matter) penetration
has very little effect on the functions of he human body.
Here
in the West, perhaps we feel more comfortable having scientific
evidence collaborating our earlier (but still effective)
healing arts.
~~
Written by Paul Sher ~~
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