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- DIET
-
- "He who has health has hope, he who has hope has everything"
-
- Arabian Proverb
- ***
-
- The Magician can be looked upon as a battery, with the capacity
- to store and manipulate energy and current. Pranayama and
- exercise deal with the capacity to hold these elements. Through
- physical movement we become more efficient vehicles to carry with
- us this Life Force. Diet deals with the energy and current. It
- would be of little value to become perfect vessels if we fill
- ourselves with dead matter or things of substance with little
- value.
-
- In today's world we are faced with an unique problem. Science
- can keep us alive a lot longer than ever before, but the
- quality of living has gone downhill. Our environment is such
- that we have to depend on those methods of life extension
- because living in this filthy, polluted world is killing us.
- Even the food which we eat can harm us because of the
- processing which it has to go through before it gets to our
- tables. Not to mention the pesticides which are sprayed on our
- fruits and vegetables, or the waxes in which they are covered in
- order to make them appear to be fresh.
-
- The animals which we eat are fed antibiotics, which we absorb
- when eating the meat; our bodies then adjust to these
- accumulative levels of antibiotics until they become worthless to
- us in treating infection. Because the cattle rancher mixes these
- antibiotics indiscriminately with the cattle's food, the animal's
- body eventually becomes the perfect breeding ground for medicine
- tolerant bacteria. This bacteria is then absorbed into our
- bodies by consuming the flesh of the animal, and because we have
- developed a tolerance to antibiotics we are not able to treat the
- ailment.
-
- Farmers have added more and more chemicals to the soil which are
- in turn absorbed by the vegetation we eat and into the water we
- drink.
-
- Processing hurts all foods. When wheat is "refined" it loses
- over 20 nutrients in the process. The flour manufacturer returns
- 4 or 5 chemical nutrients to it and he calls it "enriched".
-
- Wheat and bread have been subjected to about 80 chemicals in the
- growing and manufacturing process. Some of these chemicals stay
- in the finished product to be eaten by the unsuspecting consumer.
-
- There is a substance in all living things called "PRANA". This
- Prana is "the life force" within them which is responsible for
- the vitality of all living organisms. All vegetables, fruits,
- and animals have Prana; the amount being determined by the
- condition, biological makeup and size of the item. They get it
- from nutrients in the soil or food which they consume. Without
- it, all living things would die.
-
- Humans also have Prana and we require it for our survival. We
- also get it from the foods which we consume, the sun we are
- exposed to, and the air which we breathe. So it makes a lot
- of sense to only consume those foods which have the highest
- amount of Prana still in them. Prana will stay within
- fruits, vegetables, and meats after they have been picked, or
- slaughtered for a time determined by the condition they were in
- at the point their life was terminated.
-
- Another dietary problem we face is that humans have much longer
- intestinal tracts and weaker digestive acids than most meat
- eating animals. This creates two problems:
-
- 1) Human digestive acids do not break down flesh properly because
- they are not strong enough to do so. Therefore, most of the
- nutrients that are available in meat are not even absorbed by the
- intestines into our bodies.
-
- 2) The undigested remains of meat are sent down to our intestines
- where they can be absorbed into our bodies, but because the
- intestinal tract is so long in humans, the meat starts to rot
- before it can reach that stage. What we end up absorbing are the
- poisons in the rotten meat.
-
- If you must eat meat; chew it thoroughly as the enzymes in your
- saliva are very important in the digestive and absorption
- processes. Saliva is believed to release Prana from foods so
- that it can be absorbed through the mucus membrane in the mouth.
-
- Canned foods should be avoided. By the time the food has gone
- through the processing & refining, it has lost 82% of its
- proteins, amino acids, and nutrients.
-
- Frozen food is even worse. Between stock fed tetracycline,
- steroids, processing, and freezing there is a 92% loss. And most
- important; you cannot freeze or can Prana. The reason that
- frozen and canned foods "appear" fresh is because of the
- chemicals which are added to preserve the food. T.V.dinners,
- junk foods and fast foods ought to be avoided. All chemical
- preservatives should be considered as poisons.
-
- Sugar, salt, and white flour are worthless. There is no food
- value left in these after "refining", just chemicals which are
- used in the process. Monosodium glutamate (M.S.G.) damages the
- nervous system and has been known to destroy brain cells.
-
- Vitamins tablets should be relied upon only when the proper
- vitamin and/or mineral can not be extracted from food. Most
- vitamins tablets are chemicals and the body has a hard time
- dealing with unnatural substances. They should not be taken in
- place of food; remember what's been said about Prana.
-
- Vitamin supplements are useless because some mineral/vitamins
- prevent the absorption of others which may be included in the
- same pill. Take your vitamins separately at different times of
- the day and make sure that they are not synthetic forms of
- vitamins (synthetic vitamin D has been known to cause more
- trouble than it is worth). The best policy is to eat the right
- foods; RAW MATERIALS.
-
- Much has been said in this chapter about things which most people
- believe have nothing to do with Magick or the Great Work but I
- assure you, they are mistaken. The furnace which the Alchemists
- referred to in their books is the body! Making sure that it
- functions well is of great importance.
-
- If you take the time to care for your vehicle you will see a body
- which is leaner, stronger, healthier, and more resistant to the
- stress created by a harmful environment and everyday life. A
- body better equipped to deal with whatever you may encounter on
- your Magical voyage; a body worthy of the Great Work.
-
- ***
-
- EXERCISE
-
- "It is only by labor that thought can be made healthy, and only
- by thought that labor can be made happy; and the two cannot be
- separated with punity".
-
- Ruskin
- ***
-
- Physical exercise helps to maintain the chemical/organic balance
- between the body and the mind. When these two are out of synch,
- disease occurs. For too long body and mind have been erroneously
- treated as two separate units completely independent from one
- another.
-
- The brain maintains perfect body temperature, synchronizes the
- heart beat with the pulmonary rhythms, and performs many other
- miraculous functions without us being conscious of it.
-
- The brain can execute these functions using two components
- simultaneously: The nervous system, which executes certain tasks
- with the use of electricity; and the lymphatic system which
- accomplishes the same objective by using chemicals produced by
- the glands. Either way, things get done.
-
- If you are physically able, Martial Arts should seriously be
- considered as a form of exercise. It accomplishes two tasks;
- because it involves the whole of the body, you will exercise
- muscles you did not even know you had. Also, there is a very
- Spiritual side to the Martial Arts, and if you have a good
- instructor you will learn the virtue and honor of a True Warrior.
-
- If for some reason you decide that Martial Arts is too intense,
- or your body just isn't capable of dealing with it try Yoga.
-
- This will address the same objective treat the brain as a muscle;
- which if not used will wither away, just like physical the
- muscles. There are many Yogas. Find the one(s) that are right
- for you; but the ones which require physical activity are the
- best advice.
-
- --END--