Do you like feet?

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In honor of the Super Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Pisces (what a mouthful huh?) I'm curious because in Medical Astrology, Pisces represents the feet on The Zodiac Man.

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Pisces is also about addictions, immune disorders, weight gain, and lack of boundaries; all of which seems to be abundant in today's time. I don't want to go too deep into the Astrology of today's time, but it's important to know that Pisces also represents the ending of a cycle, preparing for a new beginning and starting anew with Aries in the Zodiac Wheel.

This cycle of humans being straight up shitty to each other (and ourselves) is bound to end soon, ushering in a cycle of humans being straight up dope as fuck - individually and collectively.

To get to that state though, it's important we confront what's ailing us and how we ourselves are participating in its existence. This is a podcast/newsletter about living alternatively after all, and one way to live alternatively is to realize you're an active participant in your life, including the shitty parts. From a Traditional Western Medicine standpoint, I see the rampant Pisces-like afflictions of our time reflected by the (most likely unconscious) ill treatment towards our Noble Organs - the Brain, the Heart, the Liver, and the Gonads.

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Traditional Western Medicine is a traditional holistic healing system 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.

With this particular healing system, there are Seven Natural Things which constitute the nature of human beings, all of which need to be in balance for optimal health. In previous episodes, we've talked about the specifics of each Natural Thing, which so far are:

• The Elements
• The Four Humors
• The Four Temperaments
• The Organs & Similar Parts

Last episode, we went deeper into the Organs and Similar Parts, which includes the Four Noble Organs. This episode, we're going to take a pause (again) from going down the list of the Seven Natural Things, and start the process of turning the wheel and starting anew (health-wise) by exploring what not to do in terms of brain health, heart health, liver health, and gonad health. Or better yet, what to do if you want shitty, disease-ridden brain, heart, liver, and gonad health. Sometimes it's helpful to know how to get to the worst outcome so you can avoid said things.

Remember, without these four organs, we cease to exist (hence why they're called the Noble organs).

Before I start, let me just get this little warning out of the way: none of this is medical advice, I am merely educating you and myself on the traditional practices of healing.

Okay, onward.

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The brain is the seat of our Soul, where consciousness lies.

It allows us to perceive the world we live in, and make decisions (consciously and unconsciously) based off of what we perceive. Our minds, housed in the physical brain and nervous system, function at three different levels according to Traditional Western Medicine:

• The Mundane Mind: governs Common Sense and how to do things by collecting sensory data and responding to it. All about basic skills and competencies
• The Higher/Philosophical Mind: governs morals and ethics, and whether or not things should or shouldn't be done (and why). All about following the right path to the Highest Good
• The Spiritual Mind: closest to the Soul itself, it governs intuition and receiving insight in sudden flashes. All about seeing the grand picture of life itself

Mental health is when all three levels are working harmoniously together, whereas mental disorders occur when the harmonious relationship is imbalanced or disturbed (usually due to an overwhelming, traumatic experience our brain/body is stuck processing). As our experiences and activities in life have great affect on our mental health, here are some things you can do if you want shitty mental health and disorders:

• Always listen to perceived authorities, even ones you've never met; don't listen to your gut/intuition
• Overindulge in negative thinking and destructive behavior and content
• Hang around people who complain, lie, cheat, steal, and have zero goals or no purpose in life
• Never think for yourself or think critically about anything ever
• Only focus on yourself and what's optimal for you, never others

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Our heart is considered the most Noble organ of them all, as without the heart, there is no life.

It's the seat of our emotions and feelings, and helps fuse blood with the breath of life itself, called pneuma. The balance and quality of one's Vital Spirits (feelings and emotions) has great influence to the quality of pneuma pumped into the blood, affecting quality of life and overall health. As the brain and heart work hand and hand, our thoughts and emotional state of being are heavily influenced by each other. Some ways to experience crappy heart health include:

• Hold onto guilt, resentment, anger, shame, and sadness as much as you can
• Never talk to anyone about how you're feeling
• Always breathe shallow-y, don't take deep breaths, especially when stressed
• Again, overindulge in negative thinking about yourself and others
• Bury your feelings and become cold-hearted to everyone, including loved ones

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The liver is considered a Noble Organ as it generates the Four Humors, or vital fluids: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm.

If you're curious about the importance of the Four Humors, episode 7 goes into great depth; but essentially the Four Humors are what drive nutrition and metabolism, so a healthy liver is super important. While blood dominates, the liver's main digestive secretion is yellow bile which helps absorb and eliminate excessive fats and cholesterol, stimulate intestinal contractions to help move food along and initiate defecation, and generally help detoxify the body.

As our diet heavily impacts the health of our liver, here are some things you can do if you want shitty liver health and diseases:

• Only eat oily, greasy, highly-processed foods; never eat fresh fruits or vegetables
• Consume alcohol alllll the time
• Eat meat excessively and exclusively, especially red meat
• Either eat excessively large meals all the time, or fast all the time and hardly eat anything
• Only consume food that's unnatural as can be

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Alas, 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 ovum. Both sperm and ovum are made of the hormonal essence of the individual, called the Radical Moisture. Majority of our Radical Moisture is given to us by our parents at the moment of conception (which holds all our genetic information), but is actively replenished during the fourth stage of digestion where an essence of all Four Humors is withheld and distributed mainly to the gonads. Males lose a considerable amount of their Radical Moisture when they ejaculate, while females lose a considerable amount during gestation and childbirth.

While the gonads and their subsidiary organs (uterus, penis, etc) aren't necessary for day-to-day living, they are essential for sexual relations, procreation, and gestation. Male reproductive health depends heavily on the balanced workings of various systems including the urinary tract, the heart, and the nervous system. Emotional and mental balance play an important role as well, especially for females. Some ways to experience crappy gonad health include:

• Don't care about who you have sex with nor their cleanliness
• For men: ejaculate as much as you want; for women: just have babies constantly like it's your only job
• Consume unnatural and highly-processed foods all the time; again, never eat fresh fruits or vegetables
• Never ever have sex, don't even please yourself (keep all that tension and stress inside)‍
• Or actually, be as promiscuous as you can and bounce from partner to partner with zero regard to your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health

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I feel majority of us are guilty of at least some of these things, I know I am. I've acknowledged where I've been slacking and have actively been noticing my thoughts and behaviors so I don't spiral down to crappy health (again).

Remember, mental health affects emotional health which affects physical health which affects spiritual health. It's all connected.

Please take care of yourself; you only get one brain, one heart, one liver, and one... two gonads. Keep them well loved and protected in this precious life! Especially your heart... and brain... and liver... and gonads.

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Are you tired of hearing the word gonads yet?

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Song I feel jives well with this episode:

Thoughts by Another Human full playlist: