Lyall Watson, a biologist who's been looking at the miracles of nature and the concept of holism for many years, talks about the prospect of blending medical cures with traditional healing.
We know a little of what is involved in natural healing. Injury produces a disorganization of electrical patterns, and this triggers an alarm system which brings in squads of white blood cells and antibodies. When tissue is damaged, chemicals sealed within the cells are released also and initiate an elaborate series of reactions that may involve thousands of separate enzymes. If nothing goes wrong, repair normally takes one or two weeks.Medical practice, both ancient and modern, is directed toward assisting this process by mechanical and chemical means. Wounds too large to be filled by a blood clot are drawn together mechanically by stitches. Infections too severe to be combated by the body's usual resources are dealt with chemically by antibiotics. All this is old established practice; but we are beginning to recognize that electrical, electrostatic, and magnetic stimuli may be even more important, and that all of these could come under personal control. (Watson, Lyall. Gifts of Unknown Things. Pages 133- 134)
He goes on to describe the process by which salamanders and planarian worms regenerate lost body parts, a facility we more complex humans have lost. Watson reminds us, also, that it is impossible to give a salamander cancer.
We humans, then, are at a bit of a disadvantage. Our cells have become so specialized that they cannot, under normal circumstances, take on other duties. All modern medicine can do is remove the diseased or damaged part and provide support while the rest of the body heals. Traditional medicine and faith healing, however, are not limited by the laws of science. They work on principles that may simply be as yet undiscovered, or perhaps draw upon powers that are not governed by the rules we learn in grade school.
In traditional medicine, by which I mean the traditional art of healing practiced by indigenous peoples all over the world, a patient is generally given some task to do, or a healer performs some act that is designed to alleviate the pain and take away illness. No prognosis is given, nor any statistics that suggest one's chance of surviving the illness. Why? Because each individual and each occurrence of a disease, injury or illness is unique. The circumstances change from person to person and even from one moment to the next.
