In the past I have spoken about the adrenal glands, their function and importance in maintaining health. Today I will speak simply and briefly about the thyroid gland and the role it plays. Next to the adrenal glands and their relative function, the thyroid is probably the next most common glandular imbalance I see in clinical practice. Doctors who practice in the field of applied kinesiology often describe that, when treating a patient to bring back balanced adrenal function, thyroid imbalances begin to show up. When the doctor begins to address the thyroid, the previously balanced at adrenal glands begin to show another layer of difficulty. This teeter- totter dynamic can continue until both glands are balanced.
The Thyroid
The thyroid hormones generally regulate body's metabolic rate - the body's energy use. With a few exceptions, they regulate almost all tissue metabolism. The brain, testes, spleen, lungs, and eyes are not controlled in metabolism by the thyroid. Common thyroid conditions that one may hear of include myxedema (low “hypo” thyroid ) and Graves' Disease (high or “hyper” thyroidism). Hashimoto's Disease, and goiter are terms that refer to these common thyroid conditions. Hashimoto’s Disease is a condition in which the immune system attacks the thyroid, creating a low/non functioning thyroid. Goiter is the term that describes an enlargement of the thyroid gland often associated with over-function (hyperthyroid). While these conditions can appear in a health practice, more common and more confusing are the "sub-clinical" thyroid conditions. In this situation, people have symptoms and/or signs of dysfunction but without the obvious diseases described in medical literature.
When mainstream medical science addresses the thyroid gland, or any organ/system for that matter, they tend to only measure its function through various tests. These tests have "normal ranges,” which are determined by the observation and measurement of thyroid function in so-called “normal” healthy individuals. However, rather than actual optimum examples of proper function and health, these individuals may actually be unhealthy individuals with no apparent symptoms. In addition, even if the ranges are correct, they are after all, a range of values. For example, any given person, on any given day, might test in the lower part of the acceptable “healthy” range; and yet it is possible their individual proper “healthy normal” may actually lie in the upper end of the range. Normal for that individual is not normal – or healthy - at all.
Current medical procedures test a patient's blood for thyroid levels, and if low, physicians usually prescribe a drug replacement. If the reading is high, practitioners will often prescribe killing the thyroid with radiation and then place the patient on thyroid hormone replacement therapy.
How does one approach thyroid conditions holistically? Is it possible to return a malfunctioning thyroid to its proper state without resorting to intrusive procedures? We Bleepers know, or believe, (or at least hope!) that our thoughts can change anything. But first of all it helps to have solid knowledge of the situation to empower change and healing.
The thyroid gland sits at the front of the throat just below and to the side of the larynx. It takes the amino acid tyrosine and couples it with iodine to produce the hormones T4 (thyroxine), and T3 ( tri-iodothyronine). Tyrosine comes from the amino acid phenylalanine. The proper conversion of tyrosine to T4 and T3 requires an enzyme called tyrosinase which is part of the vitamin C complex (the COMPLEX, not just ascorbic acid), the mineral copper, and iodine commonly found in saltwater fish, iodized table salt, or nutritional supplements.
The thyroid produces mostly T4, and very little T3which is the truly active hormone. As a result, the body converts a lot of T4 to T3 with the liver converting the greater portion, and the mucous lining of the intestines converting the rest. It is obvious then, that liver stress and floral imbalances in the bowel can contribute to thyroid conditions. Research has also shown that the salivary glands, mainly the parotid glands at the sides of the cheeks, remove iodine from food. But sufficient chewing of food (and healthy teeth to do it with!) is needed to adequately release the iodine. Women especially require sufficient iodine because healthy function of their ovaries as well as their thyroid depends on it.
Also commonly overlooked as a contributing factor in thyroid conditions is the fact that the thyroid secretes a hormone primarily into the lymphatic system. The head, neck, right shoulder, right arm, right lung, and right side of the heart all drain their lymph into the blood system through the deeper structures in the upper right chest and shoulder. Structural imbalances, i.e. misalignments, in the cervical spine, shoulder, shoulder muscles, chest muscles, back muscles, and neck muscles can decrease the drainage of these lymphatic fluids. If the lymph does not quickly and adequately reach the blood, the timely release of thyroid hormones to the tissues of the body can be affected.
Proper chemistry (nutrition) and structural balance are important for thyroid health. Another element to consider that is almost totally off allopathic medicine’s radar, is the state of an individual’s emotions and their ability to express them properly.
The thyroid sits at the throat, the center of the fifth chakra, or seal. This is the seal that is associated with the speaking of "truth.” Is it possible that when a person does not express their emotions and speak their truth that the thyroid might be affected over time? Practitioners who observe closely find this might be the case.
A person who stifles (chokes back) the expression of their emotions gives the energy of their emotions no place to go. It is possible that unexpressed, or blocked emotional energy could have a negative impact on the proper functioning of the thyroid. Equally as debilitating is the person who over-expresses their “truth” and runs the seal without rest. In regards to expressing “truth,” in quantum physics we know the quantum world makes room for all possibilities. If we speak words that are empty, meaningless or even untrue, we are NOT projecting a description of the reality being held in the frontal lobe of the brain. Instead we are creating words (and possibilities) that have no “vision,” no “will,” and certainly no integrity behind them. How can the thyroid function in an integrated, healthy manner if the words – the vibrations, the energy – flowing around and through it are misaligned, twisted and powerless? What possibilities are being created except the possibility of poor health?
Here is a short list of a few symptoms indicative of low thyroid: fatigue, weight gain even with a low-calorie diet, morning headaches that diminish as the day progresses; depression, constipation, poor circulation, hyper-sensitivity to cold weather, muscle cramps when inactive, depressed immune system function (catching colds, flu, and other infections easily), excessive sleep required.
For a human being to be healthy, the glands of the body must function in harmony (hormony?). If you desire to balance the thyroid, the health and balance of the liver and the gut, and all the factors that affect them - structural, chemical and emotional - must be considered and properly evaluated. Please consult a holistic and knowledgeable health practitioner before starting any regimen.
Dr. Gordie
The Return of the Alchemists
Part Three: The Moon and the Stars Within You by Raoul Tollmann
Photo courtesy of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/National Science Foundation.
In part one of this series we tracked the origins of alchemy, the mother of all modern sciences, and looked over the shoulder of alchemists on three continents to complete our overview. In part two we examined the Four Elements within you as well as in the outer world. We also presented a Four Element meditation.
This time around we will once again focus on you. No, not your New Years’ resolution to lose ten pounds! Rather we are going to investigate and uncover the meaning and the practical applications of one of the most outrageous claims you may have ever heard: that you harbor the Moon and the Stars within you!
First off, what does that mean? You may have seen in some books on Yoga, drawings of the seven main chakras of the human energy body. These seven chakras are energy transceivers along the spinal column that can be approached experientially by getting involved in certain forms of meditation, yogic or tantric techniques, and in Reichian therapy. In the West, man is sometimes referred to as a “book with seven seals” – here the term seal is the equivalent to the Indian term “chakra.”
No matter where on the planet they were located and what their culture, the mystics of old experienced and utilized the same seven main energy centers. Alchemists took their observations further and came up with a correlation of the seven seals within the human energy body and the energies of the so-called seven Hermetic Planets.
The view that we harbor the energies of planets and stars within is actually the real origin of the traditional Hermetic axiom: “as above, so below.” In Western alchemy, as well as in Ayurveda, the seven Hermetic Planets or their archetypal God-forms or energies are considered to rule the seven seals, which in turn rule particular organs.
The Western correspondences from top to the bottom are: 1) the moon rules the brain and head, and is represented by the metal silver; 2) Mercury rules the nerves and the lungs and is represented by quicksilver; 3) Venus rules the veins and the kidneys and is represented by copper; 4) The sun rules the heart as well as the arteries and is represented by gold; 5) Mars rules the gall bladder and is represented by iron; 6) Jupiter rules the liver and is represented by tin; 7) Saturn rules the spleen and is represented by lead. In addition, Earth rules the medulla oblongata and is represented by antimony.
The influence of the moon upon the head is modulated by the two nodes of the moon. The lunar north node, called Dragon’s Head or Rahu in India, is represented by zirconium and has a secondary effect upon the synchronization of brain functions. The lunar south node, Dragon’s Tail or Ketu, is represented by beryllium and has a secondary effect upon eyesight and psychic abilities. Humans are said to carry within them the archetypal energies of all the twelve signs of the zodiac, from Aries ruling the head all the way down to Pisces ruling the feet.
After reading all these correspondences, we may well ask – is this stuff from the ancients for real? Or is it all just some fancy metaphor for an archaic joke that is lost on us?
Aspiring students of modern medicine who go through what is lovingly called “cadaver lab” – an exercise in how to preserve life by focusing on dead organs pickled in toxic chemicals and proudly displayed in cut-open bodies – might well ascribe to the latter viewpoint. But the last laugh might be on them as they proudly practice such reputable cutting-edge “science” in an attempt to progress in the healing arts.
However, because all the ancient holistic healing arts formed core doctrines around these correspondences in their development of therapies and natural medicines, we should be able to find some evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, to back the claims of the ancients.
Quite remarkably, we do find modern corroborations. The late Italian M.D., Giuseppe Calligaris, mapped the human skin and discovered a network of lines – a grid of longitudinal meridians and parallels of latitude on the skin – that have less electrical resistance, are hyper-esthesic, and form geometrical patterns. Calligaris discovered that certain lines and points on the skin were related to specific conscious and subconscious portions of the mind, and, when stimulated, induced paranormal abilities. He discovered points of intersections of cosmic energies, which acted as mirrors, collectors and accumulators. And he showed conclusively that being born under a certain sign of the zodiac, with its ruling planet, activates a series of specific lines and points at the moment of birth which reflect the particular stellar and planetary energy at that point in time.
Calligaris’ findings clearly substantiate the basic claim of Astrology that the planets and stars influence us. But we do find a conflict here with modern Western tropical astrology: it is the archetypal energy of the planets and stars in the actual sky at time of birth that are reflected on the skin. The tropical zodiac that is used today, however, was aligned with the true, sidereal zodiac ca. 200 A.D.. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the tropical zodiac is about 23 degrees off today.
For the purpose of determining the true influences of planets and stars, we need to utilize the sidereal zodiac, which is done in Indian Astrology, better known as Jyotish, and in the traditional Egyptian Sidereal Astrology that has been rediscovered by Cyril Fagan.
Rudolf Steiner attempted to revive many aspects of this ancient knowledge of the alchemical correspondences. One of his students, Lilly Kolisko, performed hundreds of experiments of capillary dynamolysis, a technique that employs metal salts in solution on filter paper. She observed the formation of recurring patterns during certain planetary constellations. In 1926, one year after Steiner's death, Kolisko first witnessed “the working of the stars on Earthly substance.” Here is how she describes the breakthrough moment:
An invisible hand had blotted out the working of the lead in my solution. The Sun had stood before the planet Saturn and here below on Earth the lead could not manifest its activity. When the Stars speak man must stand still in silent awe.”
In the next article on alchemy, we will talk about the art of the alchemist and its value in corroborating the above basic axioms. For this purpose we will take a look at the use of alchemical medicines made of metals, minerals and gemstones that are considered to be the Earthly representatives of the above discussed stellar energies.
Raoul Tollmann grew up in Austria. The son of two university geologists, he was introduced at early age to the mineral kingdom. A near death experience at age 14 put him on the spiritual path; his natural scientific bent eventually led him to apprenticeship under two contemporary alchemists. In 2001 he founded AlchemiaNova, a company that produces his alchemical gem elixirs and noble gas waters. For more information: alchemianova.com
