Medical Astrology - Old Science in a New Light

I want to take a sabbatical from the food pyramid topics this week and get into some things I find more interesting. This blog is dedicated to bringing topics to light which have been misrepresented or understood incorrectly in some way - ranging anywhere from health topics to astrology. This week I want to combine the two - something classified as Medical Astrology.
I have been privileged to work for a man who has dedicated his life to educating himself and the public about various fields of knowledge - the foremost being natural health. True seekers of knowledge do not limit themselves to modern science or socially accepted ways of thought. Most of them look to the ancients, who have centuries of wisdom to glean from. Modern science can add to this knowledge, but to throw out ancient wisdom in order to consider our society modern and civilized is just foolishness.
Many people in our society are finally coming around to acknowledging that there really is something to the natural health field. It has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 12 years that I have been in this field.
Astrology is another story. If you claim to be into astrology, you are generally classified as one of those new age-y, non-religious, superstitious people who are into horoscopes and fortune-telling.
But look at history. In past centuries, those who practiced herbal medicine were considered witches, and many were burned at the stake. Their society had a mis-understanding of what herbal medicine was and were afraid of it. And maybe some of the herbal medicine 'witches' were actually into witch-craft as well, but that doesn't mean that there is something wrong with using herbs for medicine. Modern science is beginning to verify that herbs have medicinal properties that are effective against certain ailments. Thank goodness - since doctors have been making drugs from constituents they find in plants from the beginning!
So, just because there is a negative connotation associated with astrology does not mean that it is something to be feared, rejected, or labeled. The very fact that astrology has been around for thousands of years says something about its validity. Branches of knowledge that have no basis in truth cannot and will not survive for centuries. The problem has been the incorrect use of it, or the incorrect understanding of its uses. Pop astrology, with all of its weekly horoscopes, gives this branch of knowledge a bad name. Fortune-tellers who have used astrology to predict future events in a person's life have also given astrology a bad name.
Thank goodness for Dave Card and his desire to seek out a true understanding of astrology and for his courage to publish his findings! There are a couple of other authors out there who have also written about and published a true and pure form of using astrology which I will refer to at a future time.

Who doesn't look up at the stars and the planets and wonder what they are all up there in space for?? Even just the planets in our solar system. They appear to be pointless planets floating in space with no life on them and no purpose. Astronomy has not come up with any purposeful explanation for their existence. Religion has yet to give us many answers on this either. The only branch of science that gives us an understanding of the purpose of the planets is astrology - and once again, there are thousands of years of study in this field. Why don't we give ourselves a chance to take a look at the findings? I agree that a huge percentage of astrology books out there are no good. Thousands of years of access to this information has given many the chance to corrupt it. But there are some who understand how to use this branch of science in an enlightening, practical way.

But how is it possible for the planets to affect our lives, our psychology, or even our health? There are many things we don't understand but that doesn't mean that they don't work. Science of the past century has finally been explaining certain phenomenon to us that we had no way of explaining before. I think it is only a matter of time before science will understand the planet's effects on our psyche and our health and will be able to explain it to us scientifically. Yet, we all know the benefits of the sun in helping plants to grow and in helping our bodies make Vitamin D. We are all aware of the moon's effects on the tides, and even on people's emotions during the full moon. The sun and the moon are planets in the sky that have an effect on us, so why not the other planets??

The astrology that most are familiar with deals with your "Sign" based on the month you were born - Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc. This is one branch of astrology, which I will touch on at a later time. It has the most corruption because of its past uses, but is still a pure science when brought into its correct light.
Dave Card has discovered a different form of astrology. An astrology based purely around the planets, rather than the zodiac. It uses the sun, moon, mars, mercury, jupiter, venus, and saturn. One planet for each day of the week. In this astrology, whatever day of the week you were born on determines your planet. If you were born on Sunday, your planet is the Sun. Monday, the Moon. Tuesday, Mars. Wednesday, Mercury. Thursday, Jupiter. Friday, Venus. And Saturday, Saturn. There is a diagram in Dave Card's book that helps you figure out which day of the week you were born on. By knowing your planet, you are given insight into personality traits, as well as certain organs/systems of the body that you are more likely to have issues with. For example, someone born on Monday, a Moon-type, will usually be more of the nurturing type, and possibly more emotional (or just moody if they are a man). Moon-types are learning to use their intuition. On a physical level, the Moon-types tend to have health issues in the stomach and nervous system, as well as hormonal imbalances. Each planetary day has pages of information describing the mind/body constitution for the person born on that day.
To take it further, you have a secondary planet based upon the time you were born. The 7 planets are split into 3-hour blocks, and whichever block you fall into will determine your secondary planet. The 2 planets together give a complete picture of the individual's mental/emotional/physical constitution.
Dave then takes you through alternative ways of dealing with your individual package. From counsel, to the use of homeopathics, herbs, essential oils, flower essences, and nutrition to help you live a life in balance for your type.
I have found Dave's method of Medical Astrology to be entirely accurate. It has given me answers to problems I have had nearly my entire life. Now understanding them as part of my constitutional package gives me the freedom to view them in a different light and treat them with the wisdom Dave gives in his book. What an awesome, non-invasive way to understand your own particular health issues, why you have them, and what to do for them.
Dave's book is called Seven Symbols of Healing and is available through Dave's Health & Nutrition, as well as Barne's & Noble.

http://www.daveshealth.com/daves/books-seminars/seven-symbols-of-healing.html

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Seven-Symbols-of-Healing-Body-Mind-Spirit/David-R-Card/e/9780974914435

Man's Dairy Product "Improvements"

The issue of whether or not to consume dairy products has many topics to discuss, so I continue with this theme for a 3rd post, this time focusing in on what man has done to milk to make it oh so much more... inexpensive? less-perishable? more pleasing to the eye? How about damaging to the body. Toxic.

Starting with shelf life extension, and fear of germs, the dairy industry and FDA have agreed that pasteurizing dairy products is the only safe way to go. Pasteurization is the process of heating food to a high enough temperature so that microbial growth is slowed. Sounds logical, right? Of course it is wise to reduce pathology in our food products, but what else is being killed along with the potential pathogens? Once again, the source of life-giving nutrition that has yet to be fully recognized and taught in our schools - Living Enzymes.
Enzymes "catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions" in the body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzymes). Without enzymes, most of the biochemical processes in our bodies would be unable to take place. A lack of enzymes equals lifelessness inside the body. A lack of live enzymes in our food equals lifeless food and is more of a burden than a help to the body. As with grains and fruits and vegetables, killing the life in our foods turns them more acidic.
Along with the living enzymes being killed during pasteurization, any good bacteria within the milk that would have been beneficial is also killed. Sometimes in an effort to kill all the germs, we end up killing the substances which are most beneficial to us.
In this way, raw milk is much healthier to drink if you choose to drink cow's milk. What about the pathogens?? In truth, good bacteria has a job. Its job is to keep bad bacteria in check. If we leave the good bacteria in the milk, it will keep any potential pathogens under control. Enzymes also break down unhealthy pathogens. So keeping milk in its raw state is a much surer guarantee of its safety.

If any of you grew up on a farm, you know that after milking a cow, the cream separates from the rest of the milk. This is a natural occurrence, but it doesn't look pretty to see milk in its raw, separating form. Therefore homogenization was created. Homogenization is the process of breaking down the milk fat into small enough particles so that they no longer separate from the rest of the milk. Once again, man is smart and ingenious - until we realize what we have done.
Kurt Oster, M.D. and Donald Ross, Ph.D. wrote a book entitled The X-O Factor, discussing a certain type of protein enzyme that is found in virtually every animal. This enzyme is called xanthine oxidase (XO), and is one of the few enzymes that survives pasteurization. This enzyme is too large of a molecule to be digested or absorbed when consumed by humans. But once the homogenization process has occurred, this molecule is broken down and becomes small enough for human absorption. XO has been shown to attack the vein & artery walls, creating holes which need to be patched up. The body uses cholesterol as a patch. This is one reason milk contributes to high cholesterol. XO has also been found biologically active in the heart tissue of heart attack victims. The enzyme was discovered to actually break down heart tissue. XO also contributes to uric acid production, which is a major cause of kidney stones and gout. This reason is a sure precaution one needs to consider when consuming dairy products.

The next thing man has done to milk & dairy products has not been done just for longer shelf life or a more presentable product. It has been done by the major dairy manufacturers in order to increase milk production in their cows. Cow's milk naturally contains growth hormones called bovine growth hormones (BGH). Scientists discovered a way to genetically engineer these hormones with the hormones of another species of animal, creating rBGH. It was found that by injecting cows with this rBGH, milk production was increased. However, milk from cows that were injected with rBGH contained higher levels of growth hormones. This has contributed to constant mastitis in the cows being milked, but because of the increased output of milk, the industry ignores this. The constant milking of the utters that are engorged with milk causes blood and pus on the utters, which gets into the milk. These high levels of growth hormones are also ingested by people who drink the milk, and this is contributing to early onset of puberty, hormone imbalances of all kinds, weight gain, and the rapid growth of cells - leading to cancer, especially breast cancer (as these are primarily mammary hormones).
Because of the constant mastitis in the cows' utters, anti-biotics are also injected into the cows, which then gets into the milk. Ingesting anti-biotics on a regular basis through dairy products causes a loss of good bacteria in the body (part of the immune system's army to protect you), and creates anti-biotic resistance so that when you really need them they do not work for you.

Getting back to food in its natural form is the way to go. If you are going to drink milk, drink it in its raw, unaltered state. And if you are going to choose milk from a species other than your own (especially in place of breast-feeding), raw goat's milk will work the best with the human body. In each species' milk, there is a ratio of protein, fat, and carbs. Cows milk is much higher in these levels than human milk, as it is intended for a baby calf that will double or triple its weight in a very short time. This is another reason for obesity in this country. We are growing our babies into cows through the use of cow's milk. Goat's milk has a ratio of proteins, fats, and carbs that is much closer to human milk. Also goat's milk is not treated with powerful growth hormones, and is available in its raw, unadulterated state.

To review the previous and present articles on dairy, we see that dairy products do not strengthen the bones, they actually contribute to osteoporosis. Dairy products turn the body acidic and contribute to mucus conditions such as colds, asthma, allergies, as well as other auto-immune disorders including juvenile onset diabetes. Food allergies are increased by preventing the digestion of foods consumed at the same time as dairy products. And man's alterations of "nature's perfect food" has eliminated the life-giving properties in milk, allowed for the absorption of XO into the body which contributes to cholesterol and heart attacks, has increased the levels of growth hormones we consume in milk contributing to hormone imbalances, obesity, and cancer, and has caused us to consume anti-biotics on a regular basis weakening our own immune system. And yet we say, "Milk, it does a body good"? Once again, I say the most beneficial thing we could do for ourselves is eliminate dairy products from our Food Pyramid.

(For further information on these topics and well cited resources, refer to Robert Cohen's Milk, The Deadly Poison, Vicki B. Griffin, Ph.D's Moooove Over Milk, and Frank A. Oski's Don't Drink Your Milk.)