Ancestral Healings

There is now a growing awareness towards a well-being and natural health approach. Modern scientific medicine is slowly opening up to the fact that it is one medicine among others and that there are several ways of looking at the living.

Ancestral medicines offer a great alternative. They refer to practices, beliefs and knowledge that go back to the ancestors. They are used to prevent, maintain, treat and cure physical and mental illnesses of human beings using natural techniques.

Illustration by Shirley Gong

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Picture by Fatima Mussa

Contemporary to Hippocrate’s medicine, Chinese Medicine is a universal, natural and humanist approach. For more than 2500 years, it has played a significant role in the health care system by providing health care to a quarter of humanity.

TCM is a “system”, i.e. a set of theories (fundamentals) and practices (techniques) concerning the human being and his health based on the following principles:

  • It conceives the body, the heart and the mind as a whole.
  • It was developed not by dissecting the dead, but by observing the living. Therefore, everything is seen as movement.
  • It considers occurrences not solely in themselves but rather interrelated. Therefore, the health of an organism or a person depends on multiple factors since they are all interconnected.

Its effectiveness and various therapeutic attributes have allowed it to survive through centuries and led to give it a strong reputation outside of China, to progressively reach all continents.

To find out more, please continue your reading here.

Illustration by Shirley Gong

Tibetan medicine

The beginnings of Tibetan Medicine are in the pre-Buddhist era. The healing practice was taught by Shenrab Miwo of the Bön religion.

Tibetan Medicine is a holistic medicine and nutrition system, based upon the doctrine of five elements: earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The five elements manifest themselves in human beings through the three principles of Lung, Tripa, and Beken. If these three principles are in balance, human beings feel mentally and physically healthy.

To find out more, please continue your reading here.

Two illustrations by Laura Santi