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As
I have mentioned, scars from operations, trauma resulting from such as
fractures and scar tissue left after accidental damage are all potent
sources of imbalance in the meridians and possible causes of seemingly
unrelated ill health. Scars created during hysterectomy have always struck
me as major sources of a range of adverse conditions. While she did not
have an actual hysterectomy, Esther, whom I wrote about much earlier,
had a near equivalent in terms of scarring. You may recollect that she
had a malignant tumour at the base of her brain, and prior to having radiation
treatment along the whole length of her spine, her ovaries were relocated
to minimise the possibility of her becoming sterile. On one of my visits,
she agreed to let me photograph her abdomen with the relevant acupuncture
points marked on it - you will find the picture in the final chapter as
'Esther 1'. Apart from the point at the right of the picture that I missed
because she was laughing so much, all of the others marked are in true
locations. As you will see, several lie directly along the line of the
incision and the scars. What the long-term effect might have been I shall
never know, for she died a year later. The points are associated with
many vital female functions and the resultant emotions, and their disruption
may account for some of the emotional trauma experienced by a proportion
of women following hysterectomy. If the incision is made vertically up
the abdomen it will be seen that several points would be affected, points
for treating a similar range of ailments to the ones that I have mentioned,
with the significant addition of one that would be used when 'the patient
wants to die'.
Esther also had deep exploratory surgery at the back of her neck in the
vicinity of the tumour; surgery that produced scars through a number of
major acupuncture points, one of which could be used to treat meningitis.
The fact that she died from meningitis gives me food for thought.
Living where
I do, frequently I have visitors coming to stay, and inevitably I drive
them around the district, for there is so much to see and so many places
of interest to visit. Many of our routes run through the neighbouring
valleys and dales, where the roads are very narrow, with acute bends and
hills, moving through woods, past rivers, lakes and mountain waterfalls.
At every bend of the road there is a new vista, and often we stop and
the scene is viewed with an artist's eye, or that of a photographer, fell
walker or angler - and the actual journey becomes as interesting as is
the ultimate destination. After reading some of my writing, one of my
visitors likened it to a recent trip that we had made in the car. She
said that although she new what our intended destination was, the journey
with its variety and many facets was equally delightful and she looked
forward to returning to each of our intermediate points for a longer and
more comprehensive visit.
With my friend's comments in mind, let me try to define for you what I
plan to be the ultimate goal of this episode. In earlier chapters I have
described the variety of ploys used by spiritual intruders that I have
identified, and I have referred to the varying circumstance in which the
ploys are most successful in having a disturbing effect upon me. I have
tried to demonstrate the fact that both the type of ploy used, and its
coincidence with the undermining effects of external phenomena, show that
the strategies derive from an intelligent source. Having referred in earlier
chapters in an almost piecemeal way to the wide range of phenomena that
cause disturbance, my plan now is to try to bring them together into a
coherent whole. As I have commented earlier in the book, one cannot prevent
the different winds from blowing, nor stop the moon in its track, nor
yet eliminate earth currents, but one can minimise the emotional and other
disturbance with the knowledge that the influence is outside oneself,
that the effects will be transient, or can be avoided, and that one is
not intrinsically mentally ill.
If you have
looked ahead to the final chapter in order to see the illustrations of
the feet that are there, you may be wondering, and justifiably so, why
there is a photograph of Esther's back, and several of nude models. Why,
also, is there a drawing of a horse? It was the drawing of the horse in
a book on equitation, and what it actually represents, that opened my
eyes to the facts that I am next going to write about, and explains why
the other pictures are also there. Anyone who has been involved in the
initial training of a young horse will have become aware of one salient
detail. The training usually begins with the horse being worked on a circle
at the end of a lunge rein - a single long rein that connects the noseband
on the horse to the trainer who stands at the centre of the ring. Once
the horse has got used to the situation it is always found that it proceeds
amicably and freely in one direction, but is reluctant to go in the other,
and often tries to break back and circle in the direction in which it
was comfortable.
Those who farm red deer soon learn that the pens used to corral the deer
have to be constructed with a clockwise lead, otherwise the deer will
not 'herd'. Likewise sheep being gathered move calmly on a clockwise curve,
and break away if turned anticlockwise. If you watch horse racing you
probably will have noticed that when horses are galloping on a straight,
they are actually running with their hindquarters offset to one side of
the direct course. Likewise if you see a long dog approaching you on a
straight path, you will undoubtedly see that its hindquarters are also
offset. My good friends Tricci and Peter have over 150 milk cows. For
record and identification purposes the cows have a number tattooed on
one hip, and for some perverse reason, it is always on the cows right
hip. Perverse, according to Tricci, because almost every time she has
to find a particular cow by its number, the animal is lying down with
the right hip underneath.
In other words, as far as it is possible to observe free-ranging mammals,
they all have a lateral curve as shown in the illustration of the horse.
When animals in the wild appear on TV, I always keep one eye open for
any evidence of the curve, and my greatest find was in a programme about
orang-utans. Centre stage was a venerable and solitary male, and as I
watched, and it moved away from the camera down a straight path, plainly
seen was the curve in the spine and a slightly asymmetrical walk or shuffle
that matched it.
Humans are mammals, and it is not very long in evolutionary time since
we were quadrupeds. And yes, humans are born with a lateral curve. There
are many ways in which it can be confirmed as I shall illustrate, although
for reasons that appear to follow from our 'domestication', some curve
to their left and are left-handed, while the majority curve to their right
and are right-handed. The two models are right-handed and are standing
or sitting in a relaxed manner, and no doubt believing that they are upright.
I took Esther's photograph shortly before she began the radiation therapy
along her spine. She wanted to see where the radiographers had made their
marks when planning her treatment. Esther was lying completely prone and
relaxed, and was left-handed. I am right-handed, and will list the observable
features for a right-hander. The most obvious is the left shoulder, which
is higher; the left breast, also. If a shoulder bag or satchel is carried,
it is almost invariably on the left shoulder. I have heard people say
"My left shoulder is higher because I carried my school bag on it".
The reverse is actually true - that shoulder was chosen because it was
already higher, and the bag lodged on it more securely than the other.
Ballroom dancers follow the majority handedness and always circle anti-clockwise,
likewise skaters on a rink, although solo figure skaters usually demonstrate
their handedness, left-handers going clockwise, and making their jumps,
toe-loops and spins also in a clockwise direction. The most obvious difference
between the two 'hands' is usually not readily observed, and is only ascertained
by asking the question "How do you wipe your bottom?" - guaranteed
to produce an interesting reaction at a dinner party! There are two schools
of bottom wipers - those who reach through between the thighs, and those
who reach around behind. Right-handers who reach through, use the
left hand, and as right-handers are in the majority, the left hand
became the 'cack' hand. It is much more obvious in the situation where
one does not use a toilet seat, but crouches down to defecate; the curve
of the body makes the left-handed reach through of a right-hander more
convenient, and vice versa. (Conversely, reaching around behind for a
right-hander is much more easily accomplished with the right hand.)
As the body curve determines one's stance when throwing or when holding
a sword and shield, the left foot comes forward, the shield is naturally
held in defence on the left arm, while the sword is most easily wielded
with the right hand. From this fighting posture, the sword hand became
the 'noble' one, and the left with its anus cleaning association, the
'dishonourable' hand. Many books and articles have been written on the
subject of handedness, and if I did not have to limit my discussion after
introducing the topic and showing how it fits into my main theme, I could
no doubt write another, for I have been making these observations for
nearly thirty years.
I have never
seen any reference to the natural body curve in humans, whether in relation
to handedness, or in any other context. So, remember, you read it first
here, and as the explorers of old named islands, rivers and mountains
after themselves, I shall name the curve "The Vincent Anomaly, Asymmetry,
or Curve", and claim my rightful place in posterity!
The views
of the models' backs illustrate my reason for including them, and including
them particularly within the total context of body asymmetries and differential
stresses. Far from them having the smooth continuous curve that is seen
in quadrupeds, the upright stance adopted by humans has served to divide
the spine into a series of 'chords' of curves. The lumbar spine is rigid,
and has very little noticeable curve, although when observed in actual
people whom I have studied, the intersection between the lumbar and thoracic
vertebrae has been anything up to 3 cms off the centre line. "Sit
up straight", "Stand up straight" - these are the commands
one heard as a child, and so we attempted to comply, and caused a discontinuity
between Thoracic 12 and Lumbar 1 vertebrae. The thoracic spine has a more
noticeable and smoother curve, until it enters another discontinuity at
the intersection with the cervical spine, where again attempts to obey
the commands to sit or stand upright result in a kink.
A spine that has more than its fair share of problems belongs to a young
woman of my recent acquaintance. As she was being born her chin became
caught on the inside of her mother's organ and she was bent severely backwards
- there was no spare theatre for a caesarean section, and so there was
a lot of cutting and pulling. 'Vicky', now a young adult, has a number
of emotional and behavioural problems some of which seem to stem from
her difficult birth, and are particularly appropriate in the context in
which I am writing. Her spine has the most peculiar double-jointed connection
between the lumbar and thoracic elements, where there are two adjacent
acupuncture points, one of which may be used to treat insanity and epilepsy.
It also coincides with a point that has importance in Japanese medicine,
and where treatment would be applied 'to stimulate heart action, the kidneys,
aorta, peritoneum and brain'.
There are other factors that take one back to where I wrote about the
influences that can be created before the birth, and which might
result from the stresses that can be created from pre-marital conception.
This was the situation with Vicky's parents, and a reluctant bridegroom
seems to have turned into a reluctant father, whose negative influence
upon his daughter may add to those problems that seem to stem from the
physical difficulties that I wrote about above. It is equally feasible
that the stress of the pregnancy upon the mother may have been at the
root of the difficulties experienced at the time of ultimate delivery.
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