Definitions of Alternative Medicine, Complementary Medicine, Adjunctive Medicine - Part 4 of 13

Cayce Approach to Health and Healing: "Holistic approach" to healing and wellness that encompasses breathwork, energy field work, Self-Applied Health Enhancement Methods, and "remedies" (e.g., the apple diet) related to the "readings" of clairvoyant Edgar Cayce (1877-1945). Its theory posits reincarnation and a triune body (physical body, mental body, and spiritual body) and defines "healing" as the process of "awakening" the "God-pattern" within humans.

Cayce diet: Diet that stems from the "readings" of "psychic" Edgar Cayce (see "The Cayce Approach to Health and Healing"). One of its "concepts" is that emphasizing in one's diet fruits and vegetables that are "locally-grown" promotes acclimation and helps to align bodily "energies" with environmental "energies."

Cayce/Reilly massage (Cayce/Reilly approach to massage, Cayce/Reilly method, Cayce/Reilly technique): "Holistic" form of massage named after "psychic" Edgar Cayce (see "The Cayce Approach to Health and Healing") and physiotherapist Dr. Harold J. Reilly, coauthor of The Edgar Cayce Handbook for Health Through Drugless Therapy (A.R.E.® Press, 1975). It includes energy balancing.

cell salt therapy (tissue salt therapy): Variation of the Schuessler biochemic system of medicine. It uses 45 "cell salts."

chakra breathing: Subject of Chakra Breathing: A Guide to Energy, Harmony and Self Healing, by Helmut Sieczka. Chakra breathing is a group of "breathing techniques" purportedly designed to "clean" and "charge" chakras (the "energy centers" of the "subtle body") and to restore "natural energy balances." Its postulate is that the breath is "the bridge" between body and soul.

chakra yoga: Combination of "focused" hatha yoga, "sounding techniques," and visualization advanced by Jason Kanter. One of its postulates is that each of seven chakras ("wheels of consciousness") corresponds to a "major aspect" of the "psyche." The purported design of the method is to maximize one's ability to use "vital life energies" for healing and "integration."

Cherokee healing (Cherokee Medicine): Traditional medicine of the Cherokees, a Native American people. Its apparent postulate is that, if one holds back the "light" in one's "being," one causes: (a) occlusion of one's "meridians" and "rivers of life" and (b) suffering of "mother" Earth. Cherokee Medicine includes crystal healing, Eagle Medicine, Mental Medicine, the Natural Medicine Path, the Physical Medicine Path, and the Spiritual Medicine Path.

Chinese auricular therapy (Chinese auricular acupuncture, traditional Chinese auricular acu-points therapy, traditional Chinese auricular acupuncture, traditional Chinese auricular therapy): Group of TCM "techniques" whose "channel theory" differs from that of body acupuncture. Its apparent postulate is that several areas and more than a hundred acupoints on the auricle (the outer portion of the ear) interactively relate to other areas or to diseases. The fetuslike contour of the auricle inspired the distribution of points thereon. Chinese auricular therapy, which differs from auriculotherapy, includes: auricular analgesia, auricular diagnosis, auricular magnetic therapy, auricular massage, auricular moxibustion, auricular point injection, the auricular point laser-stimulating method, bleeding manipulation, and the seed-pressure method.

Chinese dietotherapy: Alleged preventive and therapeutic system that involves: (a) prescribing "medicinal foods" and mixtures of foods and drugs, and (b) proscribing intake of particular foods. Supposedly, the curative effect of a food or food-drug mixture depends on its "nature" and "flavor." The "natures" are: cold, hot, warm, and cool. The "flavors" are: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and pungent. Practitioners purportedly seek to neutralize illness by prescribing foods and food-drug mixtures whose "nature" and "flavor" antagonize the "nature" and "flavor" of the disease.

Chinese medicine (Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM): Ancient "holistic" system whose basics include herbology, nutrition, and the concepts of acupuncture meridians, the Five Elements (Five Phases), and yin and yang. TCM theory posits both "Organs" (the Triple Burner, for example) and "Substances" (such as Shen, or "Spirit") for which scientific evidence is absent. Variations and hybrids of Chinese medicine include Korean medicine, Tibetan medicine, and Vietnamese traditional medicine.

chirognomy (cheirognomy, chirognosy, chiromancy, chirosophy): Ostensible diagnosis based on the overall shape of hands, the shapes of parts of the hand (palms, fingers, and nails), the size of the mounts (cushions) of the palm, and skin texture. For example, small, flat nails supposedly indicate a predisposition to heart disease, particularly if their "moons" are barely visible; and nails with furrows allegedly indicate weakness of the lungs, especially if the nails are long, wide, and curved.

Chi-Therapy™(Gestalt energy work): Apparent mixture of bioenergetics, Ericksonian Hypnosis, Gestalt psychotherapy, inner child work, NLP, and tai chi promoted by John Mastro, C.S.W., and Robin Mastro, M.F.A. Its postulate is that when chi ("life energy") flows "more freely," belief systems, emotions, memories, and messages from one's "true self" can emerge into consciousness.

clairvoyant diagnosis (psychic diagnosis): Ostensible diagnosis supposedly performed by clairvoyance--the alleged ability to perceive things directly (such as remote objects or future events) that are impossible to perceive by means of the human senses alone.

classical homeopathy: Form of homeopathy that involves extensive questioning of the patient by the practitioner, purportedly to determine the "single remedy" for that patient: the "one therapeutic ideal" that "embraces" mental, emotional, and physical "levels."

color breathing: Specifically, a variation of color therapy that includes affirmations, meditation, prayer, and visualization. It involves imagining breathing one or several colors associated with: diseases; pain; cosmetic problems; artistic, intellectual, or material benefits; personality; and/or "spiritual attunement." The method apparently stems from a booklet titled Colour Breathing, by Mrs. Ivah Bergh Whitten, which was published in England in 1948. Generally, "color breathing" refers to imagining oneself surrounded by a cloud of a desired color, breathing deeply, and imagining the color filling the lungs and flowing throughout the body or to a particular spot thereof.

core energetics (Core Energetic Therapy): Form of body-centered psychotherapy developed by John C. Pierrakos, M.D., the cofounder of bioenergetic therapy. Core energetics draws from: (a) bioenergetics, (b) Reichian Therapy, and (c) lectures supposedly transmitted through Eva Pierrakos (d. 1979) by "the Guide," a "spirit entity" (see "Pathwork"). Its theory posits bodily "energy centers" ("energy organs") similar to chakras and a human "core": a glowing mass from which life force emerges.

Coyote Medicine ("half-breed" medicine): Mode of doctoring developed by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D., Ph.D., author of Coyote Medicine (Scribner, 1997). Therein, Mehl-Madrona states: "I have always believed I have a mission on earth." Coyote Medicine borrows from modern medicine, modern psychology, and Native American shamanism. Its theory posits chakras.

CranioSacral Therapy (cranial balancing, cranial osteopathy, cranial sacral manipulation, cranial technique, cranial work, craniopathy, craniosacral balancing, Craniosacral Osteopathy, Cranio-Sacral work): Method whose purported goal is to remove impediments to a patient's "energy." It supposedly involves manually aligning skull bones. Dr. William Garner Sutherland, a student of the founder of osteopathy, developed cranial osteopathy in the early 1900s. According to its theory, movements of the skull bones cause movements of the sacrum and vice versa. John E. Upledger, D.O., developed CranioSacral Therapy, a derivative of Sutherland's work.

creative visualization: Subject of the bestseller of the same name, written by Shakti Gawain in 1978. (Gawain adopted the Sanskrit name "Shakti" in the 1970s and has defined it as "the feminine aspect of the god Shiva.") In creative visualization, one clearly imagines whatever one wants to "manifest" (see "manifesting"); then one (supposedly) gives the idea, image, or feeling "positive energy," by focusing on it regularly, until it becomes reality. Creative visualization's theory posits a "spiritual source": a "supply" of infinite energy, love, and wisdom discoverable in the "inner beings" of humans. Terms for methods identical or similar to creative visualization include: active imagination, creative imaging, directed day-dream, directed waking dream, dynamic imaging, guided fantasy, guided imagery, guided visualization, imagery, imaginal medicine, imaging, initiated symbol projection, inner guide meditation, led meditation, magickal visualization, mental imagery, pathworking, Positive Imaging, positive thinking, positive visualization, visualization, visualization therapy, waking dream therapy, and willed imagination. For example, willed imagination, also called "creative visualization," is the "magickal art" of imagining the result one desires of one's "magick" (the word for Wiccan magic) in order to cinch that result.

crude herb moxibustion (automatic moxibustion, cold moxibustion): Variation of moxibustion involving placement on the skin of particular herbs that cause blisters and scars.

crystal healing (crystal therapeutics, crystal therapy, crystal work): Multiform use of crystals (especially quartz crystals) and gemstones to treat such conditions as blindness, bursitis, cancer, depression, forgetfulness, tension headaches, hemorrhages, indigestion, insomnia, Parkinson's disease, rheumatism, and thrombosis. Its postulate is that crystals draw light and color into the body's "aura," thus raising its frequency and allowing the emergence of "lower frequency energies," which are healthful. Crystal healing sometimes is adjunctive to, or a form of: acupressure, aura balancing, chakra healing, color therapy, pendular diagnosis, prayer, and self-healing.

cupping (cupping method, cupping therapy; called the "horn method" in ancient China): Variable method akin to moxabustion. The practitioner may use a cup made of glass, metal, or wood (notably bamboo) and burn alcohol, alcohol-soaked cotton wool, herbs, paper, or a taper therein. Before or after the burning is complete, the practitioner applies the cup upside-down to a relatively flat body surface and leaves it in this position for five to ten minutes. Results include erythema (reddening of the skin due to capillary expansion), edema (excessive fluid accumulation in tissue spaces), and ecchymoses (purple discoloration of the skin due to rupture of blood vessels). The above description relates to fire cupping (the fire cupping method), which has several forms. Other forms of cupping include the acupuncture cupping method, the air pumping cupping method, and the water cupping method.

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