I wanted to add one last thing before tackling the Newton-Einstein Universal-Special-General [st]Laws/Theories[/st] Theologies:
Astrology – mapping of the celestial bodies – served our ancient ancestors well in terms of predicting seasons, solstices, equinoxes, eclipses…but when astrologers tried to predict every aspect of all phenomena (‘Theory of Everything’) they were hopelessly beyond their depth. When they eventually pretended to have such abilities & people believed them a ‘collapse of empires’ scenario ensued (i.e. the Black Plague). Our ancient ancestors weren’t as dumb as we’d like to think they were & we’re not nearly as smart as we’d like to think we are.
It was not until the thirteenth century, however, that the attack on lay women healers became institutionalized. It was at this time that laws were passed requiring physicians to obtain licenses and medical training. Since universities were almost universally closed to women, lay women healers were, in effect, barred from the legal practice of medicine. There was, however, little in medical training or practice that we would recognize as "science." Medical students confined most of their studies to astrology, religion, and philosophy and read more of Plato, Aristotle, and Christian theology than medical theory. The heroic medicine espoused by the Hippocratic tradition had become the favored form of treatment for the sick. However, the purgatives used were no longer derived from plants alone but were also extracted from the far more toxic mineral world. The administration of mercury, lead and arsenic (along with blood-letting) had become routine practices. For centuries, physicians were too preoccupied with the correctness of their medical theories to notice that their treatments often caused more harm than good.
Although it was the white, upper-class, male medical profession that, under the guise of science, ultimately wrested control from lay women healers, it was the church that initiated the first major blow. An estimated nine million people (mostly women) were executed or burned as witches between 1479 and 1735.17 Interestingly, one of the titles for witches was "herberia," meaning "one who gathers herbs." Often, the crime such women were accused of was literally their ability to heal. This attack by the church was, at once, directed against the Goddess-worshipping religion which embodied a reverence for all of the natural world and against the peasantry which lived by this tradition and passed its knowledge on.
In order to comprehend why healing should be considered a crime, it is necessary to understand the church's attitude toward women and all of the natural world. According to the church, the vital, healing force of nature resided not within the earth, but rather, within a male, sky God. Disease, illness, and even labor pains, were all expressions of God's will. Only church-approved individuals (mostly men with university training and the priests with whom they were obliged to consult) could work within "God's plan."http://martikheel.com/pdf/healing-herbs-marti-kheel.pdfIsn’t it interesting that both science & religion (purported adversaries) actively opposed people healing themselves naturally & passing on their knowledge? Aren’t the WHO & FDA currently doing the same thing? Are there any major organized religions actively opposing them? What’s really changed?
Medical thinking, trapped in astrology and leechcraft, stressed air as the communicator of the disease, ignoring sanitation or visible carriers. The rumors of the East told of "foul blasts of wind" which carried the infection to Europe, and the idea that the plague was caused by a corrupted cloud of mist or smoke, which destroyed the land it passed over, became widely accepted. Some thought this cloud had been drawn up by the sun from the stagnant depths of the sea. Others blamed zodiacal influences and planetary alignments. In France, King Philip VI the asked medical facility of the University of Paris for a report on the affliction which was threatening all human life. With careful thesis, antithesis, and proofs, the doctors described it to a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquarius said to have occurred on March 20th, 1345. They acknowledged, however, effects "whose cause is hidden from even the most trained of intellects." The verdict of the masters of Paris became the official version. Borrowed, copied from Latin into various vernaculars, and carried abroad, it was accepted everywhere, even by Arab physicians, as the scientific answer.
Popular opinion, on the other hand, viewed the plague as a scourge from God. If the plague was a manifestation of divine anger, then Christians should do all they could to assuage that anger. From this simple impulse came the flagellants: “barefoot in sackcloth, sprinkled with ashes, weeping, praying, tearing their hair, carrying candles and relics, sometimes with ropes around their necks or beating themselves with whips, the penitents wound through the streets, imploring the mercy of the Virgin and saints at their shrines.” These processions, at first authorized by the pope and often lasting as long as three days, were attended by as many as 2,000 and accompanied the plague everywhere and helped to spread it. They inflicted all sort of punishments upon themselves, trying to atone for the evil of the world, sacrificing themselves for the world's sins in imitation of
Jesus.http://www.castilles.adrianempire.org/pages/artsarchive/The_Black_Death.pdfWhen the proverbial shit hit the fan ‘scientists’ resorted meaningless pseudoscientific answers & theologians, true to their nature, offered the obligatory ‘it’s God’s will - repent you sinful heathens!”
The science of alchemy (medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy) was also affected by the plague. As a specialty and method of treatment, it was considered the norm for most scientists and doctors prior and during the Black Death. However, after the plague had taken its toll, the practice of alchemy slowly began to wane. The citizenry began to realize that, in most cases, it did not affect the progress of the epidemic and that some of the potions and "cures" used by many doctors throughout Christendom and the Islamic world only helped to worsen the condition of the sick. http://www.wzaponline.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/BlackDeath.292130639.pdfPeople, for obvious reasons, lost faith in alchemists, ‘doctors’ and preachers. TPTB had to herd the flock somehow. Hence, the “scientific revolution.” Consider the ramifications of the Copernican revolution and, again, ask yourself if anything’s really changed. Out of the frying pan & into the fire…
pharmacy (n.) late 14c., "a medicine," from Old French farmacie "a purgative" (13c.), from Medieval Latin pharmacia, from Greek pharmakeia "
use of drugs, medicines, potions, or spells; poisoning, witchcraft; remedy, cure," from pharmakeus (fem. pharmakis) "
preparer of drugs, poisoner, sorcerer" from pharmakon "
drug, poison, philter, charm, spell, enchantment." Meaning "use or administration of drugs" is attested from c.1400; that of "place where drugs are prepared and dispensed" is first recorded 1833. The ph- was restored 16c. in French, 17c. in English (see ph).
pharmaceutical (adj.) 1640s (pharmaceutic in the same sense is from 1540s), from Late Latin pharmaceuticus "of drugs," from Greek pharmakeutikos, from pharmakeus "
preparer of drugs, poisoner" (see pharmacy). Related: Pharmaceuticals; pharmaceutically.
http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=pharmacy&searchmode=noneTwo of the most important notions that contributed to the demise of the former worldview can be found in the philosophy of Francis Bacon and that of Rene Descartes. According to Bacon, nature could be viewed as a mysterious virgin whose secrets needed to be penetrated by the tools of science. Baconian science sought to discover "still laid up in the womb of nature many secrets of excellent use" that no man had reached before. The point was no longer just to know nature but to conquer and subdue her with the power of the "rational" (masculine) mind.
The Cartesian world view carried the conquest of nature to its logical extreme-i.e., to the point of death. Nature, which was viewed as female, was relegated to an inferior and inactive realm, apart from "rational man." In contrast to the "vitalists," who believed there was an irreducible, vital aspect to all life, Descartes maintained that nature conformed to mechanical (chemical) laws. According to this view, nature was a machine, devoid of both rationality and soul. Animals, who were also machines, could experience no pain. Their cries of anguish upon being dissected were mere mechanical response.
The twin notions of conquering nature and of viewing nature as a machine have become the life-blood of modern western medicine. According to the modern, scientific viewpoint, disease reflects a failure in the body machinery. When disease strikes, it is the body's machinery that must be repaired. Whether the repair takes the form of surgery, a drug, or the replacement of "defective" body parts, such adjustments must be performed by those thought to have the necessary technology, expertise, and skill. The doctor and the doctor's tools alone can mend the failed machine.
Since the modern medical body is conceived as a machine, it is also thought to conform to Newtonian laws of cause and effect. Disease and ill health are thus seen to have a single, external "cause"- usually viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms. In order to restore health to the body, the offending agent need only be identified and rooted out. Typically, these enemy organisms are fought with chemical weapons forced from nature on another battlefront- the modern research laboratory.
This reductionistic view of the healing process has become so entrenched that it is difficult for many people to conceive of healing in any other way. And, yet, the concept of "one disease-one cure" (and one drug) is equally alien to the holistic view. In the holistic tradition, only a single disease exists- namely, an imbalance or a lack of harmony with nature, whether within oneself or with the rest of the natural world.
Today, drugs have become the primary weapon employed by western medicine in its war against disease. Rather than trust in the healing power of nature- i.e., poultices, plants, and the body's own healing energy- western medicine prefers to respond to the "affront" of disease with an assault of its own. Just as Bacon sought to "storm the bastions" of nature with the tools of science, modern western medicine has declared a war of its own. It is a war waged against the body and all of the natural world. Unable to trust in the healing power of nature, western medicine prefers to "penetrate nature" in order to produce "cures" of its own. Plants are no longer valued in and of themselves. Rather, the most powerful properties of plants must be isolated, extracted and then synthesized into chemicals and drugs. Nature is seen as a resource which is useful only when transformed by men's rational mind.
The human body has become the central battlefield in western medicine's war against disease. Thus, two of the weapons used in the "war" against cancer are nitrogen mustard and radiation, both weapons used during the last world wars. The terminology of warfare permeates the modern, medical world. Thus, we hear of the "war on cancer" declared by presidential decree in 1971. We hear, too, of "bombarding" cells with an arsenal of drugs and of "magic bullets" that "target" cancerous sites. Conversely, we often hear of our alleged enemies described as cancerous growths or other forms of disease. Most of all, we hear that the war will be won, provided, of course, that biomedical research scientists are given sufficient funds.
It should come as no surprise, however, that the "war on cancer" (and other diseases) has produced more victims than cures. Indeed, the warfare mentality of western medicine has made medical casualties a routine part of our world. In the United States, prescription drugs have become a major cause of iatrogenic (doctor-induced) disease, causing more deaths each year than accidents on the road. http://martikheel.com/pdf/healing-herbs-marti-kheel.pdfMy point is, blind faith in science or religion is not only foolish but deadly. Throughout history science & religion has been ‘good cop bad cop’-ing us to death. What TPTB fear most is people thinking freely because if that happens all of their illusions of power vanish. As they say, ‘salvation lies within.’ Imo, the worst spiritual sin to speak in the name of God & the worst logical lapse is to pretend to know the unknowable.
Rational is not always realIt used to be generally accepted, at least very widely so, that the essence of science is providing experimental proof for some mathematical theorem. This "mathematics" is usually understood to be a branch of formal deductive logic. To the extent science relies upon that, the most important physical phenomena can not be understood in a rational way. Admittedly, most of the simpler mechanical phenomena can be understood, at least to the degree that any errors are not particularly noticeable in practice. It is the most fundamental sort of scientific problems-those phenomena which the mathematician usually labels as "nonlinear"-which can not be understood in a formal-deductive way.
For this reason, what academic teaching generally identifies as a rational way of thinking works sometimes, and sometimes does not. If science is dominated by formal-mathematical thinking based on only deductive and inductive methods, the fabric of scientific knowledge as a whole is filled with many holes-or, what mathematics terms "discontinuities . "It is through these "holes" in deductive reasoning that the wild irrationalism of belief in horoscopes, luck, and even witchcraft, may penetrate the victim' s mind, and even pretty much take it over.http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1988/eirv15n21-19880520/eirv15n21-19880520_018-immanuel_kant_and_the_new_age_ko-lar.pdfThe more things change the more they stay insane!
Similarity between Quantum Mechanics and Astrology - Tapan Das Ph.D., P.Eng. http://www.aureas.org/rams/rams15QuanticDASUS.htm