Hippocrates and Vital Force

A few of you have commented on me mentioning Hippocrates in the last blog and asked me what else he said - their in lies a book!! He allegedly said the following:-

• Only nature can heal providing it is given the opportunity to do so.
• Let food be your medicine and let medicine be your food
• Disease is an expression of purification
• Symptoms are a signal - not the disease itself
• Do not suppress symptoms

He also called VITAL FORCE -Vis Medicatrix Naturae

So what did he mean by this phrase and what is vital force. The acceptance of vital force is, of course, the cornerstone of anyone who works in healing, complementary medicine and naturopathy. All living things are made up of energy or vital force and that dis-ease occurs because of an imbalance of vital force either within or without. Without this fundamental precept all else is meaningless. With it - the true nature of disease becomes clear. If we introduce any kind of un natural, perverse or altered states into our system, dis-ease will ensue. The science of quantum physics has made huge strides lately into giving some scientific credence to the existence of vital force. Scientific or allopathic medicine is based upon reductionism, as opposed to vitalism in natural medicine.

Over 2500 years ago Pythagorus called this energy Pneuma. He said that is came from a central fire in the universe and provided man with his immortal soul. Hippocrates, as we know called it Medicatrix Naturae. Paracelsus b. 1493 believed in a healing energy that radiated within and around man like a luminous sphere. He called this force Archaeus and said that it could operate at a distance and was able to both cause and cure disease. He was the founder of magnetic healing. Much of Samuel Hahnemann's work in homoeopathy was based on the philosophy of Paracelsus. Mesmer (1733-1815) was convinced like Paracelsus that humans were influenced by a subtle force or energy field in the universe that could be harnessed for healing purposes. He called this energy Animal Magnetism. He pioneered the science of mesmerism which was later called hypnotism. Baron Von Reichenberg called this energy Odic Force or Od from the Norse god Odin. D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic called it Innate. Traditional Chinese medicine calls it Chi or Ki, Traditional Ayurvedic medicine calls it Prana and so on and so on. There is nothing new under the sun. I am more than confident that one day the scientific network will embrace this philosophy. JRC