|
|
Smallpox Story Good afternoon and warm greetings, We hope that your week has been good and productive. Last week we promised to tell the story of the author of this lesson's grandmother (Elisabeth McCarter), here goes... "Her name was Elisabeth too. Both of her parents having succumbed to the disease, at the age of 16, Elisabeth was left alone to die, all relatives having long ago fled from the house fearing that they, too, might fall "victims" to the curse. They joined the multitude of peoples, who, in terror, were trying to escape from the devastating unknown. But, the young Elisabeth was not destined to die. As she lay deserted and delirious in her room, she was silently joined by a young merchant of the community who had long admired her radiant beauty and her lithe and graceful young figure. Hour by hour and day by day he unselfishly and lovingly ministered to her needs. He was a student of hydrotherapy. He applied cooling cloths to her brow and body until the fever subsided and the young girl regained consciousness and became aware of the loving care. John, for that was his name, gave her no medicine4 but fed her nourishing broths. It was not long before the young Elisabeth regained her strength and, of course, fell in love with her kind benefactor. Because of her devoted care and also because of her personal penchant for cleanliness and for all things natural throughout her lifetime, grandma suffered no disfiguring scars and remained a real beauty up to her death at the age of 87. The young man who has worshipped her from afar continued to do so all of his life. A favourite story about grandmother Elisabeth is how, whenever she or one of her children became ill, she would have the doctor come to the house, examine the sick and leave his pills and instructions regarding the care and treatment to be followed. No sooner was the doctor out the front door than the little grandmother would scurry out into the kitchen, open up the old coal stove and toss the pills into the glowing fire. Then, out the back door she'd go, into the garden to gather greens of one kind or another. Then, she would brew up her "tizzy" as she called it (a broth of greens). This would be the only food taken until recovery was assured. We believe that grandma Elisabeth was one of the first Life Scientist! She had no faith in pills. The best place for poisons in her opinion was in the open fire." In this century, of course, there have been epidemics of acute diseases, especially of influenza, some of which are said to have caused the death of thousands upon thousands of people, as in World War 1. We don't ordinarily consider influenza as a disease of the skin but from the knowledge we have already learned of the structure of the skin, we know now that it is actually what it is, involving, as it does, the mucous and serous membranes. Up until recently it was the custom to quarantine any person who developed an "infectious" disease of the skin such as chickenpox, measles, smallpox, and similar acute disorders. Only physicians, ministers, priests, and other persons of stature were permitted to enter quarantined premises. Those of us who are students of the science of life believe that self-generated toxins are the basic underlying cause of all diseases, including those, which affect the skin. We further believe that when these toxins are normally removed, they do not accumulate unduly within the system. Then disease becomes impossible. Skin disorders are very unlikely possibility, except as resulting from certain traumatic happenings. Next week we will take a closer look at Herpes Simplex, a condition that afflicts many of us. Stay well and take care The Crazy Nut Team P.S. If you have missed any of the previous articles and would like to read them, please visit our archives at http://crazynut.theshoppe.com