Note: If you’re receiving this via email, know that the audio to this podcast is at the top. That little gold block above the title - that’s me speaking! Feel free to listen while you read, or just listen… or just read :)
Okay, onward!
If you're on a path of healing yourself, whether it's physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually, it's important to know that healing is all encompassing. Physical healing affects mental healing which affects emotional healing which affects spiritual healing.
Regardless of what you're trying to heal, it's important to know what a healthy, balanced state looks like and what an unhealthy, unbalanced state looks like.
In previous episodes, we talked about traditional holistic healing systems, particularly Traditional Western Medicine and how it’s rooted in the understanding of how we as humans as a whole relate and respond to the environment around us, as well as how we function to ensure health and well-being.
We dove into the Seven Natural Things that constitute the nature of human beings, to which all need to be in balance in order for health and prosperity.
The first of the Seven Natural Things is the basic makeup of all that is the universe: the Four Elements.
Air
Fire
Earth
Water
The second of the Seven Natural Things are the primary components of the human body in reflection of the four elements.
These are the Four Humors, or the four vital fluids:
The Sanguine humor, or Blood, in reflection of Air
The Choleric humor, or Yellow Bile, in reflection of Fire
The Phlegmatic humor, or Phlegm, in reflection of Water
The Melancholic humor, or Black Bile, in reflection of Earth
The third of the Seven Natural Things is the basic nature of a human being (which includes physique, personality, and physiological makeup), aka the Four Temperaments. Last episode, I described the Four Temperaments as our inherent superpowers, where each superpower has its own kryptonite and strength management techniques.
The Four Temperaments, or the Four Superpowers are:
The Sanguine Temperament, aka the Air Benders of the world; characterized by their dominate humor, Blood, which has hot and moist Primary Qualities, and reflects the Air element
The Choleric Temperament, aka Fire Breathers; characterized by their dominate humor, Yellow Bile, which has hot and dry Primary Qualities, and reflects the Fire element
The Melancholic Temperament, aka the Earth Masters; characterized by their dominate humor, Black Bile, which has cold and dry Primary Qualities, and reflects the Earth element
The Phlegmatic Temperament, aka the Water Bearers; characterized by their dominate humor, Phlegm, which has cold and moist Primary Qualities, and reflects the Water element
To get back into the groove of the Seven Natural Things, the fourth is the basic components of the human body and their function, aka our Organs & Similar parts.
Just like us, our organs & parts also have inherent temperaments in terms of the way they function. Every organ, tissue, and body part has certain traits and basic qualities that need to be in balance in order to function properly, as any deviation will lead to dysfunction and disease.
Like the Four Temperaments, the Four Humors, and the Four Elements, our organs & parts have the basic qualities of Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry.
In terms of Hot & Cold, it refers to the level of metabolic activity occurring in the organ or body part, as well as level of heat. Take the liver for example, it's considered Hot due to the high level of metabolic activity it produces and high level of heat. Phlegm, being the body's natural coolant, is the coldest in terms of heat; but our hair is Cold due to having zero metabolic activity.
In terms of Moist & Dry, it refers to the level of moisture as well as the level of hardness versus softness, or firmness versus laxness. For example, Phlegm is the wettest substance since it's the main lubricant for the body; whereas tendons are considered Dry due to needing a certain stiffness to function.
Our skin is the most neutral in terms of temperament as every other organ, tissue, and body part is either Hotter, Colder, Moister (ha), or Dryer.
When it comes to our Organs and Similar Parts, there's a bit of a hierarchy. We have a huge, huge network of organs and parts that all talk, communicate, and balance each other, but there are four noble, or principal organs, that this network works around.
The Four Noble Organs are:
The Brain
The Heart
The Liver
The Gonads
Let's dive into the brain, or Enkephalos, in Greek.
In Hippocrates's day, it was understood the brain was the seat of consciousness. It is the principal organ of the Soul, or psyche, and Psychic Faculty and is served by the nervous system and its network. Not only is it one of the wettest organs, it's also one of the coldest, so it's vulnerable to both excessive heat and dehydration as well as excessive cold and chills. Which is why a lot of people tend to get agitated when overly hot, as heat aggravates and excites mental function; whereas excessive cold slows down mental function, causing sluggishness. The inherent wetness of the brain makes it a Phlegmatic (cold and moist) organ; so dehydration tends to be quite harmful.
(This is your reminder to stay hydrated, especially in summer.)
According to Traditional Holistic Medicine, its wetness gives the brain great receptivity and powers of perception. The wet ventricles that run all throughout the brain are said to contain the flow of consciousness and any obstruction or blockage in these ventricles results in loss of consciousness.
The spinal column is the center of the entire nervous system, as this is where the nerves branch out to all parts of the body. The sensory nerves receive sensory data and impressions, served both by the five senses (sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing) and the brain itself; and the motor nerves execute responses according to data received.
Such great discoveries were made about the brain in ancient times; I highly recommend reading David Osborn's Greek Medicine to get a greater understanding of the brain and how it works in relationship to other organs as well.
While the brain is the seat of consciousness, the heart is considered the most important organ in Traditional Holistic Medicine.
Not only is it the seat of emotions and feelings (considered Vital Spirits), it also infuses the breath of life itself (called pneuma) into the blood with each heartbeat. When the heart ceases to beat, life is no longer. The balance and quality of one's Vital Spirits (feelings and emotions) has great influence to the quality of pneuma pumped into the blood, hence affecting quality of life and overall health. Positive, uplifting emotions strengthen the heart and its function, while negative, depressing emotions weakens it. The brain and the heart work closely together, which is why it's so important to watch and regulate your thoughts and emotional state of being.
While the brain is cold and wet, the heart is hot and wet. With the heart constantly beating, its active nature makes it one of the hottest organs in the body, so it keeps itself cool via the pericardium surrounding it in pericardial fluid. As with the brain, excessive heat and cold injure the heart.
The liver is considered a Noble Organ as it generates the Four Humors, or vital fluids: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm.
The Four Humors are what drive nutrition and metabolism, so a healthy liver is super important. The liver produces an abundant amount of blood, more than any other humor, therefore making it a fairly hot and wet organ, second to the heart. While blood dominates, there needs to be a balance of the generation of the humors, otherwise aggravations, deficiencies, and imbalances occur, leading to a whole list of ailments and disorders. (It truly makes me question the excessive role alcohol plays in society, considering how detrimental it can be to the liver...)
The last, but no less noble, are the gonads, aka the sex organs.
Both sexes have organs that produce the seed of reproduction; for males it's the testes to produce sperm, for females it's the ovaries to produce the ovum (hey there's an answer to the gender debate). When both seeds unite in the uterus, conception happens. Both sperm and ovum are made of the hormonal essence of the individual, called the Radical Moisture, which is slightly cold and very moist. Majority of the Radical Moisture is given to us by our parents at the moment of conception (which holds all our genetic information), and is replenished during the fourth stage of digestion where an essence of all Four Humors is withheld and distributed mainly to the gonads. Another reason why diet and eating a nutritious, balanced diet is so important.
I think it's safe to say the health and balance of our noble organs is extremely important to overall health. The easiest way to immediately start nourishing and supporting them is through diet. Eating according to your superpower (inherent temperament(s)) is key. And remember, try to stay away from inflammatory, hydrogenated foods as much as you can, regardless of your superpower.
After all, is health not the ultimate form of wealth?
Tune I feel jives well with this episode:
Podcast Playlist featuring all episode tunes:
an answer to the gender debate