Page B4
JUNE 10, 1998
(Elfe {dorila nò CObseruer
Body« M i n d & Q & p irit
Traditionally Orientai Medicine
Gemisphere Energy Medicine
B y P auline C rouch , N.D.
'More "WidelyAccepted
*7 in ju red m y h a n d p la y in g so c­
cer an d h u rl it h ad en ou gh th a t I
h a d a cou ple o f su rgeries, ” Tony
M urczek explains. "A fterw ards, I
was havin g a h a rd tim e h ealin g
a n d co u ld n 't f ig u r e ou t why. "
O nly a y ear o u t o f college, T ony
w as w orking as a high school ath ­
letic trainer and keeping him sel ftrim
and fit; so, he had a right to be
puzzled at his slow recuperation.
His doctor advised a third surgery.
Tony resisted the advice.
“ A m assage therapist I’d been
going to, suggested I see an a c u ­
puncturist,” T ony recalls. “ She had
opened my eyes to O riental th e ra­
pies, so I agreed. T he first treatm ent
w as okay, but I d id n ’t think it helped
much. I was looking fo ra quick fix.
The next m orning, though, the sw ell­
ing in my hand w as dow n 40-50
percent, and the pain w as dow n 70
percent. T hat w as a huge im prove­
ment. It got my attention.”
A cupuncture also led T ony in a
new direction in life. He is now a
student at the O regon C ollege o f
O riental M edicine(O C O M ) in P ort­
land. A fter graduating, he hopes to
go back to training athletes and e d u ­
cating them on how to take care o f
them selves. In the m eantim e, T ony
w orks part-tim e as a trainer at G o ld ’s
G ym and as an instructorofexcercise
classes for Portland W ater Bureau
em ployees.
T ony is one o f 180 students at­
tending the three year graduate pro­
gram at the O regon C ollege o f O ri­
ental m edicine, th e o n ly school o f its
kind in thestate. Studentstakeclasses
on the theory and application o f tra­
ditional O riental m edicine.
A dditionally, they study anatom y,
physio lo g y and o th e r asp ects o f
W estern m edicine. In the third year,
students begin clinical internships to
develop skills in diagnosis and treat­
m ent using acupuncture, C hinese
herbal form ulas and oth er co m p o ­
nents o f O riental m edicine.
N adine Levie becam e a student at
Tony Murczek, a student at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine
is shown leading a class at the Portland Water Bureau. He is
demonstrating Oriental excercises to promote the flow o f one's Life
Force through the body for self healing.)
the O regon Col lege ofO riental M edi­
cine after w o rking in a num ber o f
careers. “ I w ould have started acu ­
puncture years ago if it had been
accessible to study or ifa school like
O C O M had existed. I know now that
I’m in the right sp o t.”
F or Peter B orten, the attraction to
O riental m edicine is sum m ed up in
one w ord: holistic. "T his tradition is
m ore spiritual than W estern m ed i­
cine and m uch m ore energetic. It
gives the patients and their bodies
m ore credit, autonom y and pow er in
the healing process. O riental m edi­
cine has opened m e up, spiritually
and em otionally; it’s opened my eyes
m ore than I can say."
T he concept o f holistic m edicine
originated in C hina m ore than 3,000
years ago. As practiced for th o u ­
sands o f years, and in its application
today. O riental m edicine prom otes
g o o d h ea lth by h e lp in g p e o p le
achieve and m aintain balance, or
harm ony, in th eir body, m ind and
spirit.
In addition to acupuncture
the
use o f tiny needles to alleviate pain
and treat disease
O riental m ed i­
cine incorporates herbal therapies,
nutrition, bodyw ork m ethods, and
special exercises such as Taiji and
Q igong.
A s m ore students are trained in
traditional O riental m edicine, this
health care option will becom e m ore
accessible to the com m unity. A fter
she g rad u ates th is su m m er, Patti
S piering-U llm er( w ho w orked m any
years as a nurse) plans to jo in a
m ultiprofessional clinic in northw est
Portland. She will bring h er skills in
traditional O riental m edicine to the
clinic. O ther O C O M graduated ex ­
pect to start their ow n practices or,
like Patti, jo in existing clinics. Som e
are also interested in public health
services.
In addition to educating p ractitio ­
ners o f O riental m edicine, O CO M
sponsors periodic, free introductory
clinics. T he next on e will be S atur­
day, June 13 from 9 - 10:30 AM at
the O C O M A cupuncture & Herbal
C linic, 10541 SE C herry Blossom
D rive (next to Mall 205), Portland.
For m ore inform ation on this o r fu­
ture clinics, call 254-3566.
T he increasing availability o f tra ­
ditional O riental m edicine is giving
Portlanders m ore ch oice in selecting
health care that is convenient, af­
fordable and personalized.
THE FORGIVENESS PARTY
by Jo C lare H a r tsig
W alter W ink
and
Nine year old Bess Lyn
Sannino was angry to find her
house had been burglarized.
Seventeen dollars in allow­
ance money, her V alentine’s
Day candy, and a tape player
were gone. The front door had
been pelted with raw eggs. She
felt sure the burglars were
several young teenagers from
her neighborhood w ho’d ear­
lier sprayed graffiti on the
garage.
Her mother, a Quaker, had
doubts about calling the po­
lice. She called the father of
one o f the young suspects,
who encouraged her to work
with police to help this be­
come a lesson for the teens.
A compassionate police of­
ficer took a week to locate the
parents o f all four suspects.
One mother worked two jobs
and w asn’t home until after
I I PM. A father had been hos­
pitalized for erratic, poten­
tially violent behavior. These
were stressed, troubled fami­
lies.
In the conversations that
followed, all the parents and
the police officer agreed that
no permanent record of the
incident would be kept if the
offenders would make up for
their crime in more meaning­
ful ways. In addition to cur­
fews and other restrictions,
creative forms o f restitution
were agreed to. One o f the
perpetrators wrote an essay
on integrity and came to the
house to read it to Bess. Oth-
ers came and cleaned o ff the
front door, did yard work and
chores around the house. Ev­
erything that was taken was
returned.
But Bess found she needed
healing on a deeper level.
With her m other’s support,
Bess hosted a Forgiveness
Party for the young people
who'd broken into her house.
She made a piñata and deco­
rated her house and yard.
There was lots of music com­
ing from the formerly stolen
tape player. Not only did the
young people come, so did
their parents and siblings. It
became quite a celebration.
Anger and shame were trans­
formed into joy and commu­
nity. Healing happened forev-
eryone.
Bess relates this story in a
very matter-of-fact tone. To
her, it seems like the most
ordinary thing, to throw a
party for people who came un­
invited into her home to van­
dalize and steal from her.
She’s surprised that so many
adults are impressed by her
idea.
A dapted from “ N onvio­
lence in the Arena; The For­
giveness Party”
W hat w ould happen if you com ­
bined the principles o f m odem phys­
ics with the secrets o f ancien, C h i­
nese m edicine? You w ould enterthe
realm o f G em isphere energy m edi­
cine.
For centuries, Chinese physicians
have studied the nature o f the b o d y ’s
energy, o rQ i (“chee”), its flow in the
body along
channels or
m eridians,
and the way
the supply
and flow o f
Qi affects
our health.
S p e c ific
p o in ts
along these
c h a n n e ls
are used by
p ra c titio ­
ners to re­
balance the
flo w s o f
energy and
stim ulate the body’s natural ability
to heal itself. Exam ples o f traditions
that w ork with the Qi in this way
include A cupressure, Jin Shin Do,
Shiatsu massage, and A cupuncture.
M odem physicists trying to un­
derstand the subtle forces that hold
atom s and m olecules together have
found that w hile w e seem to be solid,
in the deepest level our tissues are
actually com posed o f tiny particles
that vibrate a, very high speeds. In
their view, the hum an body is m ade
up as m uch o f energy as o f physical
substance. These new theories pro­
vide scientific support for Chinese
and o,her ty p e so f m edicine that treat
disease and im balance with ener­
getic tools.
G em isphere energy m edicine is
unique in how it uses the physical
structure o f carefully selected gem ­
stone spheres as an energetic tool.
Raw gem stone material is carefully
chosen for characteristics that m axi­
m ize therapeutic quality. The prin­
ciple is sim ilar to that used by herb­
alists w ho seek out plant species with
the m ost beneficial effects.
G em stone spheres operate like
electronic devices, w hich rely on
m anm ade crystals to store and trans­
mit electrical energy and inform a­
tion. In a sim ilar w ay, gem stone
spheres are activated by the energy
o f the w earer and pick up inform a­
tion from the body. The spherical
form o f the gem stone serves as the
ideal shape to “catch” the energy o f
the body and io then project a uni­
form field o f energy outw ard. As
energy m oves back and forth be­
tw een the gem stone spheres and the
person wearing them, accum ulations
o f negative energy are gradually dis-
si pated, al Io w ing more o f the person ' s
natural light to shine. In this way,
gem stone spheres energetically ad­
dress areas ofdisharm ony in the body
o f the individual.
(9 t
July 13 -1 7
July 2 0 -2 4
July 27-31
Aug. 3 -7
ft AJR. t o
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Sponsored by
a
PQ E/
P ortland O orw ral Electric
I
6 to
i ft*.
East Portland C om m unity C enter
Peninsula Park C om m unity C enter
Friendly H ouse (Northwest Portland)
Friendly H ouse (Northwest Portland)
288-5025
call
M etro
R t f le n a l A rt* A
aspectsofthe person, such as the physi­
cal body, em otions, thoughts, or intu­
ition.
There are tw o main kinds o f G em ­
stone sphere therapy: wearing neck­
laces and receiving treatments. Treat­
ments m ay involve the placem ent o f
gem stone spheres on acupuncture
channels, points, or chakras, and are
designed to rem ove m ajor blockages,
improve energy flows, facilitate better
functioning and support healing. For
in d iv id u als w h o d islik e n eedles,
G em isphere A cutherapy is a painless
alternative providing the benefits o f
acupuncture: it uses therapeutic qual­
ity gem stone spheres placed at appro­
priate acupuncture points.
A gem stone sphere necklace, cho
sen for a specific therapeutic pur­
pose, provides the wearer with 24 -
hour support, and has even more
gentle and gradual effects than treat­
ments. W earing gem stone sphere
necklaces also gives many people a
sense o f freedom and joy. O ften a
gem stone treatm ent is perform ed
before wearing a necklace to prepare
th e p e r
so n fo
the work
the neck­
lace will
d o an d
enhance
its
ef­
fects.
H ow
c a n you
tell if you
w o u ld
b e n e fit
fro m
(« jiiq tu c
en e rg y
m e d i -
cine? Perhaps the most im portant
factor is that you are ready to learn
m ore about yourself and to m ake
changes in your li fe that support your
healing process. The gem stones are
not magic, but they are powerful tools
fortending the garden o f your life. If
you are open to the possibilities, w ill­
ing to use new tools, and interested in
the lessons life has to teach, gem ­
stone therapy can be a w onderful gift.
Dr. Pauline Crouch teaches w o rk ­
shops and conducts train in g s in
G em isphere energy medicine. Ifyou
want to learn more, you could read
G em isphere Luminary by Michael
Katz (available in local bookstores).
Call 241-3642.
Feel your best with
Naturopathie Medicine
Bringing low-cost naturopathic medicine to you for:
Asthma
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Menopause / PMS
Allergies
Headaches
Colds & flu
Fatigue
NCNM
Natural Health Centers at
Mt. Olivet Baptist Church
8725 N. Chautauqua
p
4 * 8
1 - 5 p.m. Mondays and Fridays
Call for appointm ent; w alk-ins w elcom e
255-7355
A teaching clinic o f the National College o f Naturopathic Medicine
HOMOWO AFRICAN ART! AND CIA TURBI Obo M d v . Artistic Director
ft9 H
G em stone energy m edicine is a
holistic form o f treatment that can
benefit the total person. Ils therapeutic
effects include: harmonizing, uplift­
ing, energizing, rem oving blockages,
and breaking up old habits and behav­
ior patterns that are no longer helpful
to the individual. Each gem stone has a
specific frequency, or vibratory rate,
w hich focuses primarily on one ortw o
1?
OCOM Acupuncture
------- & -------
Herbal Clinic
Enjoy the benefits
of a tre a tm e n t th a t is:
* N a tu ra l
* C onvenient
* A ffo rd a b le * Personalized
For an appointment,
call 254-3566
10541 SE Cherry Blossom Dr., Portland
(by Mall 205)
C u lture Council
A Service o f the O regon College o f O rie n ta l M edicine