Digest Number 1088

[Guest guest]

Julie,

 

 

>

> Is " mutual counteraction " of herbs (xiang wei)

> really a matter of one

> substance being able to reduce the toxic effect

> of another?

 

Well, yes and no. The Chinese term means

" mutual fear " and as Wiseman explains the

meaning of the term on p.527 of the

Practical Dictionary, the sense of fear

here is " awe " , so that the functional

meaning of xiang1 wei4 is that two

medicinals categorized as having this

relationship will tend to hold one

another in awe, i.e., to make one

another less active. I guess I think

of it in terms of co-motion of ingredients

and their effects within a formula or

in combination. In this phrase the

Chinese terminology makes use of a

metaphor of the human emotion fear

or awe to describe the interactive

potentials of medicinals. So you have

to get the idea of what this emotion

produces in the way of a tendency

to move or act in people and then

apply this concept to the potentials

of any particular medicinals which

fit the description.

 

If so, I am

> confused over numerous references in Bensky;

> for example, Mai Men Dong is

> said (according to some traditional sources) to

> counteract Bai Mu Er. But

> what possible side effect/toxic effect could

> Mai Men Dong OR Bai Mu Er have

> that would be counteracted? Or would need to be

> counteracted?

 

Good questions. I don't think it's

necessary to restrict the use of

this term only to toxicity. I can't

really say to what extent in medical

literature xiang1 wei4 is used to

describe mutual " fear " or " awe " between

medicinals other than with respect

to their toxicity. But clearly in

the case you mention, someone has

used it that way since neither of

the medicinals mentioned is toxic.

 

Perhaps Dr. Bensky can help to

clarify the usage, as it seems

that you are referring to his

book.

>

> Secondly, if a person consumed a rice cake

> before noticing that the other

> rice cakes in the package were teeming with

> little white worms, what should

> that person do? Do the digestive juices make

> short work of little white

> worms (versus contracting parasites via eggs)?

> Should the person drink an

> anti-parasitic formula just in case? (It wasn't

> I who consumed the pesky

> things.)

 

Well, the old song doesn't say

what to do after eating worms.

Seems to me that people eat worms

all the time. Without knowing what

kind of pesky white worms were

eaten here, I guess it's not 100%

possible to say whether or not they

were likely to have been digested,

just as any other worms or critters

put into a stomach in chewed up bits.

 

Lord knows what else was in the

rice cake, eh? Along with larvae

that may be more likely to survive

the acidic environment in the stomach

and find their way to some more hospitable

portion of this individual's digestive

tract, there could have been all manner

of stuff that could be considered

pathogenic. I think the way to go

about making a decision as to whether

or not to introduce a potentially

powerful anti-parasitic formula

is to rely on the standard rules

of diagnosis.

 

 

Ken

[Guest guest]

Z'ev, and Everyone,

 

> I think that would be a great idea. . .. who

> is going to be in San

> Diego at that time? Let us know on the list,

> and perhaps we could

> arrange to get together somehow. Bob Felt, Ken

> Rose, Bob Flaws, myself,

> and many posters and non-posters from

> this list will be there.

 

I'll be hanging out around the Redwing

booth in the exhibit area when not giving

my talk and workshop or otherwise entertaining

the troops. I'd welcome a chance

to get together and chat with other

members of the list. Actually,

I'd prefer a less formal setting

and not a meal. Maybe you can just

find a time in the schedule when

people would likely be free and

then designate a room or area of

the hotel where we can meet and talk

freely.

 

At least that's my vote.

 

Ken

[Guest guest]

All,

 

> Let us know on the list, and perhaps we could

> arrange to get together somehow. Bob Felt, Ken Rose, Bob Flaws, myself,

> and many posters and non-posters from this list will be there.

 

Sounds great but I don't know. We're building a fulfilment center in Taos

NM to better serve our Western states customers. It has been and

continues to be an all-consuming project and when and where I will be has

more to do with the weather and sub-contractor's schedules than any plan I

might make!

 

Bob

 

bob Paradigm Publications

www.paradigm-pubs.com 44 Linden Street

Robert L. Felt Brookline MA 02445

617-738-4664

 

 

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