PAAM Medical Letter, Vol. 4, Issue 4, September 26, 2017, Michaelmas
August 2017 eclipse, photo by Elizabeth Sustick
Dear PAAM Colleagues!
Welcome to another edition of the PAAM Medical Letter! Thank you for your continuing efforts to support the anthroposophic medical movement. May this issue be in tune with the autumn season of Michaelmas; the season of Micha-el, who is the Time Spirit of our age and wields a mighty spiritual sword of iron-will! He expects, and patiently waits, for us to think spiritually, and out of own free will, to have the courage to perform deeds for our time in this troubled world.
As is our custom, we will begin with mantras and verses of Rudolf Steiner. It seems apropos to begin with the Calendar of the Soul’s verse for Michaelmas.
O Nature, your maternal life
I bear within the being of my will;
And my will’s fiery might
Shall brace my spirit striving,
That sense of self spring forth from it,
To bear myself in me.
The Time Spirit Micha-el engenders selfless self-awareness!
The anthroposophical spiritual path is as varied as life itself. Below are two verses that capture elements of the path.
Clarity in thinking
Inwardness in feeling
Deliberation in will
If I strive for these
I can be hopeful of finding my way
On life’s path
Before human hearts
In the sphere of my duties.
For clarity arises
From the soul’s light
And inwardness sustains the spirit’s warmth
Deliberation enhances living strength
And all of this,
When sought with trust in God,
Leads me on human paths
To good and certain steps in life.
Rudolf Steiner, citation unknown
The second verse below is a real mantra that Steiner spoke for the first time on the occasion of the memorial address for the cremation on January 10, 1915, for the anthroposophist, Lina Grosheintz. Steiner indicates the source of the words, this powerful mantra: “when I attempted … to feel at one with her as her soul hastened to the spiritual world, I could hear these words …”, and “… I could do no better than to speak these words to the deceased; in effect, she herself was speaking them to the friends gathered around her earthly remains. I assure you, I added nothing, absolutely nothing; I simply tried to record these words as they emerged from the being of the deceased.” These mantric words are a “self-description in the first person.” “They are a summary, of sorts, of what she received from spiritual science, and they reflect the workings of her soul in her efforts to achieve full inner self-awareness.”
Into cosmic distances I will bear
My feeling heart – so that it grows warm
In the fire of the holy forces working.
Into cosmic thoughts I will weave
My own thinking – so that it grows clear
In the light of eternal life becoming.
Into depths of the soul I will sink
Devoted contemplation – so that it ever gains strength
For human work’s true aims.
In the peace of God I strive
Amidst life’s battles and cares
To prepare my self for the higher self;
Aspiring to work in joy-filled peace,
Sensing cosmic being in my own being,
I seek to fulfill my human obligation;
May I thus live in anticipation -
Turned toward my destiny star -
Which gives me my place in spirit realms.
Rudolf Steiner in The Path of Soul After Death by Peter Selg, 2011 SteinerBooks,
p 33-38.
Anthroposophists are likely to recognize these mantric words as an echoing effect of anthroposophy in their own inner lives for this mantra attests to the hermetic principle of connection and oneness: “What is below is like that which is above, what is above is like that which is below …”!
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 and Attachment 2 These two attachments round out what was previously presented in the last issue of the PAAM Medical Letter, Vol. 4, Issue 3, regarding the heart and circulation. The first attachment is a summary of Branko Furst’s lecture presentation on this topic at a Dornach colloquium in March 2017. It provides further information on the fourfold composition of the human being and the cardiovascular system. The second attachment is one of many statements that Steiner gave about the heart not being a pump and that the blood has its own autonomous flow. For those interested, this last statement from Steiner came to my e-mail after the last issue of the PAAM Medical Letter. You can sign up to receive daily Steiner quotes to your email. Go to the website, The Great Rudolf Steiner Quotes Site, and sign up; 1300+ people have already joined. Enjoy! They will make you think and re-evaluate your thoughts and attitudes.
Attachment 3 This web article is from the immunologist, Tetyana Obukhanych, Ph.D., who is a founding member of Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC). PIC is against mandatory vaccinations and wants to institute truly informed consent regarding vaccines as the medical profession does with any other treatment or intervention. Tetyana Obukhanych was conventionally trained as an academic immunologist. However, her karma was such that she contracted measles and pertussis despite being fully vaccinated. Not content to leave her experience unexplained (a Michaelic characteristic), she asked the question why these illnesses happened to her, a healthy person, without any known defects in antibody production or immune deficiencies. Her honest search in the scientific literature revealed many studies, put aside by mainstream medical science, but clearly showing credible evidence that points to the flaws in the scientific dogma regarding the efficacy of vaccines, their duration of protection, creation of herd immunity, and their safety. She discovered the inadequacy of her training regarding natural immune defense mechanisms and the active dismissal and ignoring of contrary evidence that puts the dogma of medical science into question. Please read her enlightening short article. You can also check out her website for more information. Obukhanych’s personal and professional path demonstrates something Steiner repeatedly emphasized; that a truly comprehensive and unbiased consultation of the scientific literature will provide evidence for the rightness of anthroposophy’s view and statements.
Attachment 4 In this web article located on her website, Tetyana Obukhanych, Ph.D., tackles the confused notion of immunity. She points out that herd immunity is an epidemiological concept and not an immunological one. It originally applied to natural herd immunity when natural measles occurred in epidemics and these temporarily stopped when a large percentage, but less than 100%, of the susceptible population (mainly children) were immune from measles. This was then taken over and applied to mass vaccinations, with all sorts of “wild guesses” as to the percentage of population needed to be vaccinated to create “herd immunity” and avoid outbreaks of measles: somewhere between 70-95%. However, there is published literature with populations having over 95-97% of the population fully vaccinated against measles and they still suffered measles outbreaks when one index case was imported from a foreign source. The scientific evidence that Obukhanych presents shows that the measles vaccine (MMR) has only a weak effectiveness, and antibody levels wane after 10 years. She concludes that herd immunity is very unlikely to be achieved by mass vaccination and, on the contrary, will make a population more immunologically weak and susceptible to future epidemics with often atypical measles in adolescents and young adults, as well as severe measles in infants where the morbidity is worse. This was not a problem when measles was endemic in US and most children by 9-12 years of age had a benign case of measles and subsequent strong, natural and life-long immunity. This is another great review paper that brings out the other side of the vaccine debate that we rarely read or hear about.
If you read these two articles, you will have some scientific background from which to read the upcoming proposal for PAAM to join the non-profit support and educational organization, Coalition for Informed Consent (CIC). Please read these two articles, as well at the PAAM President’s Letter and materials about the upcoming discussion at the Annual General Meeting (sent last week in a separate email). The Annual General Meeting will take place by conference call on October 17, 2017 at 8:00pm EST. There will eventually be a member vote about PAAM joining CIC.
Attachment 5 Readers of the PAAM Medical Letter will know about the publication of Peter Heusser’s important book, Anthroposophy and Science: An Introduction in English, July 2016. In response to my high estimation of his book, and the need for an English language book review, Peter requested I write a review. When I approached the Editor-in-Chief, Joseph Pizzorno, N.D., about a potential book review on Anthroposophy and Science, he was very receptive and suggested that I feel free to go beyond just a book review. The result is a published article in the August issue of Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal, Vol 16, No 4, 2017, p42-46. Attached is my accepted manuscript in a Word document (converted to a pdf out of the necessity for inclusion, based on the constraints of our website provider). I want to personally and publicly thank Peter Heusser for the work and gift of his book, Anthroposophy and Science; it is of seminal importance for us in medicine, in integrative medicine and in the history of science. Peter shows that Steiner’s anthroposophical spiritual science can be both scientific and fully human. This is what science and medicine sorely needs. I haven’t asked permission to circulate the pdf form of the article, so please do not circulate even this Word document. Thank you. I would think the article will appear in various electronic medical databases to be downloaded. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the journal.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The PAAM Annual General Meeting (AGM) is October 17th, 2017. It will be a phone conference and will start at 8:00pm EST. Please try to attend. The President of PAAM, Steven Johnson, has already sent members an email about this with links to the agenda and other items. Another reminder will be emailed the week of October 9th. If you have lost, deleted, or otherwise misplaced the first email, please be on the lookout for this second reminder. As noted above, there will be a presentation and discussion about PAAM joining the Coalition for Informed Consent (CIC) as an organizational member.
Anthroposophic Medicine at the annual conference of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM)October 22-25, 2017, in San Diego, California
Gunver Kienle, MD, Adam Blanning, MD, and Steven Johnson, DO, will offer presentations.
For more information, or to register go to: https://conference.aihm.org/annual/2017
True Botanica Webinar for PAAM Members
Fall 2017, date to be announced
To receive announcements and information from True Botanica, and to ask questions in advance of the free webinar, go to www.truebotanica.com and click on the "Join our mailing list" button.Research Conference at the Medical Section, Dornach
Perspectives and Strategies for Research in Anthroposophic MedicineMarch 9-11, 2018
International Postgraduate Medical Training (IPMT) 2018April 21-28, 2018, in Chestnut Ridge, New York
Special guest faculty: Georg Soldner, MD, Co-Head of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum
For details and online registration go to www.AnthroposophicMedicine.org
NEW IPMT OFFERING: Advanced Practice Track - Mistletoe Use in Cancer TherapyThis marks the integration of an "advanced practice" track within the IPMT teaching program, which, this year, will focus on anthroposophic treatments in cancer therapy. This track is designed for participants who have completed at least three years of the IPMT, as well as more seasoned practitioners who have a foundation of clinical experience in mistletoe therapy. Afternoon workshops lead by Marion Debus, MD, oncologist, Klinik Arlesheim, Switzerland. Online registration is now open at www.AnthroposophicMedicine.org
AAMTA Meeting First weekend of August, 2018, in Hadley, MA
This conference for all AAMTA disciplines will carry the theme of Chronic Pain. We encourage submissions for workshops from the anthroposophic therapies in AAMTA.
More details and online registration coming soon.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Thank you to PAAM member Branko Furst, M.D., for sharing his thoughts regarding an anthroposophical view of the cardiovascular system.
Please send in your contributions, questions and comments to the PAAM Medical Letter!
On behalf of the PAAM Board and to you, colleagues and supporters of PAAM,
Ricardo Bartelme, M.D.