The Game of Life
NB: This is part of a series on Romantic Healthcare, setting out the foundational ideas of a system of healthcare based on vital nature and vital science. Each can be read independently, though it is recommended to read the introductory article, 'What If You Gave a Revolution and No One Came', first. Some articles refer to previous ones, so this can guide you to go and read these as well, either before or after the article you are on.
Your body, your vital organism plays the Game of Life. It’s an active player, not just sitting on the bench, passively watching the world go by. In the beginning there is life and health. That is the foundation, the alpha and omega. There are challenges that have to be met continually. That’s part of the game. Some are beneficial, some are inimical, but the plays are the same.
One way or the other, the organism has to process, to digest what seeks to cross its outer membrane. Even resonant stimuli are harmful if they are not properly processed. This processing takes place before anything is allowed in. For physical stimuli, this takes place on the outer skin layer or the ‘inner’ skin layer, known as the digestive system, in a specific processing tube surrounded by the organism’s membrane called the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. While the GI tract seems to be inside, it is really still external to the organism. The GI tract breaks down the ingested substances to neutralize anything that is foreign. Only then is the stimulus absorbed to be utilized and assimilated, adding to the vitality of the organism. The digestive system makes up the bulk of the organism’s immune system.
The process of digestion also identifies non-resonant stimuli which are not assimilable and seeks to exclude them. It does this by means of excretion. In a healthy organism, this is sufficient. Let’s take a case of food poisoning. The offending substance is either eliminated via vomiting or diarrhea and order restored.
However, where the organism has been weakened and the inimical substance is too strong to be expelled directly, it may remain in the intestines or cross over into the organism proper. To counter this, a second line of defense is activated in the form of an inflammatory response, either of the gastro-intestinal lining or involving internal tissue. So we go from the initial, or excretion phase, to a second or inflammatory phase. If the inflammation is successful, it is followed by further discharges or excretions.
However, if the organism is too weak (asthenic), even the inflammatory response is insufficient. The next level of defense is for the organism to deposit morbific agents in certain tissues so they can be dealt with at some later time if possible (deposition phase). This is where periodic fasting allows for vital resources to be allocated to break down and eliminate stored toxins. The natural rhythm of life activates such a process twice a year in any case: once in the fall, to cleanse the system prior to the stress of winter, and once in the spring, to cleanse the system after winter. These seasonal cleansing actions are often behind the many ‘colds ‘and ‘flus’ as well as so-called ‘allergy’ symptoms at those times of the year. In traditional communities, these natural cleansings were supported by fasts, spring waters, freshly fermented drinks, bitter herbs, fresh green shoots, etc. All these measures were designed to aid in the removal of the toxic deposits, as it was understood that the continued presence of these unwanted, inimical substances would disturb and then further weaken the internal bio-economy.
Dr. Reckeweg created a chart of the various tissue levels and the three initial phases of organismic response to a stressor based on the fact that the make-up of the organism derives from three fundamental layers – ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm (the last further divided into two sub-layers). Depending on various internal factors as well as the nature of the toxin or pathogenic agent, different tissue levels and systems will be involved in any defensive (immune) response.
The following gives the example of a typical response to arsenic poisoning when all three phases of defense are invoked.
Inflammation is an important part of most organismic response to stressors. This increase in the internal temperature acts to burn and destroy toxins and pathogens.
It involves increased sympatheticotonia, acidosis and decomposition of the tissue in which any toxins or pathogens are stored, after which the inflammatory response declines (vagotonia). Inflammation is an integral part of the autonomic system, which itself derives from the dynamic polaric (antithetical) nature of vital energy (orgone).
The end result of a successful inflammatory response is the elimination of waste and the restoration of tissue.
Discharges and inflammation are necessary to eliminate damaged tissue and toxins, as well as to balance mineralogical automatisms and physiological functions. If this process of autogenic (and autophagic) healing is incomplete, due to nutrient deficiency and/or toxic excess, or blocked in some way, the deposition of inimical agents will eventually result in chronic imbalance at the level of the sustentive power (disorder). Disorder can then weaken the vital bio-economy to the point that it creates a susceptibility to the penetration of the generative power. This penetration is what Reckeweg terms crossing the ‘biological divide’ from the humoral phase to the cellular phase.
If the organism is not able to complete the natural cycle of recovery (humoral phase), the illness then affects the cells themselves, leading to three distinct sub-phases: impregnation, degeneration and neoplasm.
To take the earlier example of arsenic poisoning, this can cross over the biological divide between the extra-cellular matrix and the intra-cellular matrix, and become progressively worse.
The process of restoration of optimal vital operation in the face of external challenges (non-resonant stimuli) and internal weakness (nutrient deficiency, toxic load, other obstacles) is what we term illness. It may be acute and of limited duration, because the restorative process is successful, or it may become low-key and chronic, with periodic acute flare-ups (crises) where unsuccessful.
In the later, beyond the initial phase, the illness is an adaptation, a substitute for optimal vital operation, what Reckeweg terms a vicarious vital operation, or vicariation). If the process becomes progressively worse, because the restorative factors are deficient (nutrient depletion, toxic load, obstacles), there is a progressive vicariation. Where the necessary restorative factors are sufficient (nutrient repletion, toxic depletion, absence of obstacles to cure), the illness process is reversible giving us regressive vicariation, that is, a return to health.
You can get there from here.
The Road to Wellville involves certain skills:
· mapping skills - identifying and interpreting the specific topography involved in each case (disorders and diseases);
· provisioning skills - identifying and providing for the specific supplies, both to assimilate (nutrients), and eliminate (toxins); and
· orienteering skills - navigating the terrain, dealing with obstacles (shocks, traumas) and the reaction of the body to the stressful challenges as they are met (healing reactions).
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