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WellSpring
Practice Guides
Anthroposophical Medicine
An
Austrian - Rudolf Steiner, founded the philosophy of Anthroposophical Medicine
in the early 1900's. Steiner's aim was to complement and develop medicine as
it existed, rather than set up an alternative system. Together with Dr Ita Wegman,
he developed his ideas to include a medical science, as well as his own principle
of polarity.
The
Seven Principles of Anthroposophical Medicine
- Spirit manifests
both within the human organism and outside of it in the substances
of the kingdoms of nature.
- The wisdom
that created nature is also at work within the human being.
- Man
has a divinely guided individual destiny, which includes individual
freedom with the potential for error and illness.
- Art is an
indispensable part of human life. Out of AM, specialized disciplines
of Therapeutic Eurythmy, Rhythmical Massage, clay modeling, painting
and music therapy have evolved.
- Remedies
are derived from substances of the mineral, plant or animal kingdom.
They can be prepared homeopathically, alchemically or as whole
substance.
- They can
be given orally, by injection or through external application.
- Every treatment
aims to enhance the life force of the patient as an axis for improved
health and deepened self-knowledge.
What to expect
An anthroposophical doctor will ask questions about diet, lifestyle
and constitution, with an emphasis on the body's rhythms - eating,
sleeping and menstrual patterns. The doctor may also carry out standard
medical tests, and will use the information to aid diagnosis, prescribing
treatment to balance the poles and systems regulating the body.
Practitioners are fully qualified doctors, who make use of modern
technology and medication as required - they consider that this approach
gives them a fuller picture of an individual, allowing them to take
a broader view of illness and therapy.
Because AM is a holistic system, aimed at harmonizing elements of
the spiritual, as well as the physical self, it is said by its followers
to be of benefit in cases where a conventional cure cannot be achieved.
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