Vol. 7
No. 5 |
September 2003
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Meridian Institute News
RESEARCHING THE SPIRIT-MIND-BODY CONNECTION |
In this issue:
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Cayce Health
Symposium
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The 8th annual Cayce Health Symposium was held at the
A.R.E. Conference Center September 12-14. The conference, co-sponsored
by the A.R.E. and Meridian Institute, featured a wide variety of lectures,
workshops, and experiences for participants.
The Friday night session began with a brief talk
by Deborah Thompson, R.N., that described services offered by the A.R.E.
Health and Rejuvenation Center (HRC). Deborah gave us an overview
of basic HRC programs and services, which includes the Internet-based Cayce
Health Encyclopedia, the HRC Assessment Program, numerous treatment protocols,
and a health professionals referral service.
Keynote speaker Hollis King, D.O., Ph.D., covered
several important areas in his talk titled "Edgar Cayce, Osteopathy, Homeopathy,
and Energy Medicine." Dr. King's long association with the A.R.E.
and the Cayce readings combined with his extensive knowledge and expertise
of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) made for a fascinating lecture
on the historical and conceptual links between the readings and the early
osteopathic physicians. Dr. King also discussed his use of various
forms of energy medicine (homeopathy, crystal therapy, and magnet therapy)
which he regularly utilizes in his private practice.
The first Saturday morning session featured osteopathic
physician David Redding who described his extensive use of the Cayce health
principles and remedies in his family practice. Dr. Redding presented
two case reports with postive outcomes: 1) a woman with gall stones, and
2) a woman with several diagnoses including heart disease. See the
Healing section of this newsletter for some excerpts from a testimonial
written by the woman who cured her gall stone problem with abdominal castor
oil packs.
The next presentation featured T. Lee Bauman, M.D.
who spoke on "Examination of Light in the Cayce Readings." Dr. Bauman
reminded us that light has consciousness, exists outside of time, and can
communicate - all attributes typically associated with God. The similarity
of the light experience in the world's great religions testifies to the
universal identification of light with God.
The third talk on Saturday morning was given by Barbara
Derrick, Ph.D., who gave a case report detailing the remarkable outcome
of a man diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease who benefited from the use
of suggestive therapeutics. The primary intervention was an audio
tape containing affirmations recorded by Dr. Derrick. The positive suggestions
addressed dementia symptoms and provided suggestions for general health
improvement. The patient listened to the tape at bedtime. In
addition to a decrease in dementia symptoms and improved mood, the patient
also experienced improvement in a deteriorating eye condition. Readers
interested in this approach to treating dementia may wish to review a similar
anecdote reported in a previous issue of this newsletter (March, 2001;
Vol. 5, No. 2).
The final morning presentation featured Inge O'bourne
who led participants in a series of Cayce exercises. Two afternoon
breakout sessions provided diversity for attendees. Carl Nelson, D.C. gave
a workshop on manual therapy techniques practiced by the early osteopathic
physicians and recommended by Edgar Cayce. Utilizing several massage tables
in the massotherapy classroom, Dr. Nelson's presentation provided hands-on
training in specific treatment techniques recommended by Edgar Cayce as
practiced by the manual therapists of that era.
Janice Long and the A.R.E. Health Services Professional
Team gave a workshop titled "Five Basic Cayce Remedies." Janice and Maureen
Mancuso explained and demonstrated the use of abdominal castor oil packs,
turpentine packs over the kidneys, potato poultices for the eyes, the violet
ray appliance used over the eyes, and Glyco-thymoline packs over the nose
and sinuses.
Sunday morning started off with John Ames who spoke
on "Managed Care and the Future of Holistic Medicine." Today's common
wisdom often equates managed care with denial of needed services and restrictions
on how medicine can be practiced. Mr. Ames believes that, paradoxically,
managed care has the potential to liberate holistic medical professionals
to practice according to their highest ideals. The talk emphasized
spiritually-centered management principles (based on A Search For God)
and how these correlate with modern business thought, particularly the
managed care business. Ames provided suggestions for how small-scale managed
care programs can be utilized to ensure better patient access to holistic
medical services, reduce or eliminate some restrictions on practice, and
provide statistical validation for the overall effectiveness of holistic
medicine.
Simone Gabbay, author of Visionary Medicine and a
regular health column in the A.R.E. membership magazine Venture Inward,
shared her vast knowledge of alternative medicine and the Cayce health
information. In addition to emphasizing the importance of nutrition
and pH balance for maintaining health, Simone reminded us of the importance
of the mind and stress management (particularly rest) when we are exposed
to infectious agents. She emphasized the importance of the holistic
approach in a more general sense with regard to our entire health care
system.
Chiropractor Barbara Sikes provided an energetic
and inspiring finale to the symposium with her presentation titled "Accessing
The Healer Within: Awakening to Unconscious Attention." Dr. Sikes
received a diagnosis of breast cancer two days before her attendance at
last year's Health Symposium. As divine synchronicity would have it, two
of the presentations were on cancer. Even after thirty years of using and
researching alternative therapies for both her patients and her earlier
diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, there was still much more to learn. Using
references and personal anecdotes, she discussed her healing journey using
the Hoxey herbal treatments and work on identifying and changing dysfunctional
attitudes and emotions.
The Cayce Health Symposium for 2004 will be held
at the A.R.E. Conference Center at Virginia Beach during the weekend of
September 17-19. We are seeking presentations from health professionals
knowledgeable in healing modalities recommended by Edgar Cayce. If you
are interested in presenting at the symposium, please write a brief summary
of your topic with a title and submit it to us at our address on the last
page of this newsletter.
CASTOR OIL PACKS FOR GALL STONES
The versatile abdominal castor oil pack has been
used for various ailments over the years. The following testimonial
from one of Dr. David Redding patients discusses the successful use
of this therapy for gall stones:
"I had intermittent gallbladder pain and discomfort
since I was about 55 years old. My [primary care] doctor had told me that
if the episodes got more frequent or any worse that we needed to talk about
surgery.
"It did continue to get worse...... but I certainly
didn't want to talk about surgery! I had a previous bad experience with
being intubated and I couldn't face going through that again. I was willing
to put up with the discomfort and pain for as long as I could stand it
just to postpone repeating that experience.
"Then about three years ago my pain and digestive
problems worsened to a point where I was having problems almost on a daily
basis. I felt so miserable most of the time that I finally admitted
my problem to my doctor the next time I saw him.
"I was sent for X-rays and was told that it showed
"multiple small stones." My doctor urged me to schedule surgery to
avoid the risk of having an emergency situation. I asked for a bit
more time to see if I could get myself mentally prepared.
"Fortunately, at that same time, I also happened
to be seeing Dr. Redding who was treating me for whiplash injuries from
an automobile accident. I told him about my reluctance to have gallbladder
surgery and that I did not think I could elect to do that even though I
was advised to. He said if I was interested, there was an old fashioned
alternative treatment that I could try that had a good record of success.
That really got my attention.
"Surprisingly the treatment was simply a matter of
using a castor oil pack and a heating pad. At first it sounded too simple
to really be an effective treatment but I was willing to try almost anything
to avoid surgery. The second part of this treatment was to take olive
oil by mouth every three days from 1/2 teaspoon to 1/2 cup depending on
what I could tolerate. The caution was that this might precipitate
surgery if the stone was too large to pass. I never got enough courage
to try this part of the treatment because I was fearful of precipitating
surgery..
"The amazing thing about the castor oil packs was
the immediate relief I got from the discomfort and pain . There was never
a time that I didn't get relief. Any time I had that pain I would run for
the castor oil pack. I meditated with it on, I watched T.V. with
it on, and I slept with it tied on. I even took my castor oil pack with
me when I traveled frequently between California and the Midwest and used
it in the motel rooms where we stopped. It truly worked and I wanted
it near me since I was hoping it would keep me from having an emergency
surgery. After awhile the frequency of my overall problems had eased and
I was able to go without the castor oil packs for several days at a time
and then weeks at a time. The episodes had become so infrequent that I
thought I was over my gallbladder problem. Then unexpectedly I would
suddenly have another acute episode and I would rush for the castor oil
pack again and use it until the symptoms would go away once more.
"I did the castor oil packs on and off for about
a year and a half. I felt much better and my symptoms seemed to have
almost disappeared. Then about two months ago I had an episode of
a severe pain that traveled across my back. I went back to my primary doctor
because the pain was so sharp. He said I would probably have to have
gallbladder surgery as soon as it could be scheduled. He sent me for an
ultrasound. Much to our surprise it showed no evidence of ANY gallstones!
It showed a normal gallbladder! Boy was my doctor puzzled about that!
I told him what I had been doing and he just raised his eyebrows. He said
that the pain I had was most likely the passing of a gallstone.
I continued to have little colicky pains in my gallbladder area for a few
days after that but since then I have not had ANY symptoms at all.
I no longer have any digestive problems or pain like I had before.
"In retrospect, it dawned on me that those acute
episodes I was having off and on during the past months must have been
because I was passing small gall stones. That puzzled me because I thought
that happened only when you took the olive oil to flush them out and I
had avoided that part of the treatment. I started thinking more about that
and then I finally realized that since my habit is to use Paul Newman's
Olive Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing several times a week ....... that
I was actually taking the olive oil treatment that was recommended!
"I am so grateful that my gallstones are gone and
that I did not have to have the surgery I dreaded. I certainly want to
add my name to the list of people who got relief from using this alternative
treatment. I also want to say that I continue to use the castor oil
packs for other discomforts like indigestion, GERD and muscle spasms.
It continues to bring relief. Just using the heating pad alone does NOT
bring the same results."
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