Student Excerpts: Intuition by Avicenna

The following passage came from the homework of student, Ann Neadermann in Norway. I thought it was a wonderful description of Avicenna's views and intuition in general:

Ann Neaderman
Unit Four
Medicine of Avicenna

11. How does Avicenna define intuition? Do you think he believes in using it in healing a patient?

It receives the essences of universal things in so far as they are universal. The perfection of this power is to become an intellect in act. The first way is called reasoning, while the second is called intuition. Yet intuition can be very powerful or weak or mediocre.If the speculative intellect reaches this perfection by having present the first and derived intelligible principles, and these are there actually and in full view without being absent, then the derived principles are related to the first as "light upon light"; this is the acquired intellect, because it derives from both kinds of principles. The soul has mastery of intelligible principles and is able to recall them whenever it wants without effort or assistance, that power is called the intellect in act, and this is the "lamp" that it makes use of whenever it wants. You must know the difference between reasoning and intuition.

Great Supplemental Resource in ARABIC

Dear Members,

A student shared this website with me earlier this week. I know some of you were asking about resources you could read or listen to in Arabic - this looks like a good one. If this resource is not useful for you, you can just ignore this message.

I thought you might like to read about Dr. Jameel el-Deweik al-Qudsi (currently working from Jordan) if you have not yet heard about him. He is specialized in Quranic and Prophetic medicine and sells DVD sets (only in Arabic unfortunately) of his major work in herbal and nutritional quranic medicine.

Here is the site: http://www.dr-jameel.com/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Best regards,
Muhammad Mansour

Missing Links in Unit 5 Replacements

Question: Dear Kristie, I was trying to finish up unit 5 but the sites except for the one about olive oil and henna will not work, all of the domains are for sale. Do you have those sites in your files or should I ignore it. I'm not sure what to do.

Answer:

When you need to find files that are missing or have a question you can check here at the FAQs on the new website or you can still check the BLOG. Here is an example of what you would find at the BLOG:

http://naturopathichealingcourse.blogspot.com/search/label/Missing%20Files

Help categories can be found in the right hand column.

The best place to find replacement links and help, however, IS this new website. For the answer to your question (where can you find some of the broken or missing herbal links?) you can visit the main student website and scroll down the left hand side to the fourth section called "resources". You will find the first webpage is called "Broken Link Replacements".

If these links do not help you please send me the EXACT LINKS that you are missing so I can add more replacement links to this page. Thank you!

New Upgrade Link (not Paypal)

Some students wanting to upgrade do not want to use Paypal to make their payment. I have created an alternate link for you at:

http://naturopathichealing.weebly.com/upgrade.html

Cumin in Healing Animals

A student had the following information in their assignment for unit one in answer to the question, "What are some modern usages for these Ancient Egyptian herbs?"

In diabetic animals, cumin reduces blood glucose levels. Cumin seeds contain flavanoids, which are now generally recognized to have antioxidant activity. (www.NaturalNews.com)

I found that very interesting and wanted to share that!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Upgrade Link to Include Naturopathic Healing Classes

Dear Members,

Some members have asked if they could upgrade their membership from "The Medicine of Avicenna Course" to "MOA AND The Naturopathic Healing" classes. At the website you can register for both classes for a discounted price and these students wanted to know if they could pay the difference and upgrade to taking both courses.

Yes.

Usually I have a 30-day limit on upgrades, but since I will be raising prices the first week of August I will allow any student to upgrade until August 1st using the link below. Using the link below you will be allowed to pay 3 payments (over the next three months) of $50.00 each to upgrade to being a student in both courses.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7001231

or

http://tinyurl.com/ko8q5z

If you have questions about The Naturopathic Healing Courses please visit www.TheAvicennaInstitute.com for a short description or e-mail me at:

herbnhome@gmail.com

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

How Can I Login to the Islamic Healing Course Forum?

I was trying to get into the site that you set up for us where we can email each other, and if I remember correct you asked if we had all read the Cannon of Medicine. Some of the members have their photos up. I've tried to get into several times, and it's so strange because I was looking at it just a few days ago. I was just going to write that I have read almost half of the cannon. - A

Dear A,
I have just sent you a new invite. If any other students need a new invite please tell me! You can access this student forum via your class page.

Blessings & Health,
Karima

Note to students : Remember to use the tech support form at www.TheAvicennaInstitute.com to submit any tech support questions. This question took two e-mails and one day to answer because I had to write back and ask for more information about the original link she provided. This delayed the response to her by one day since she lives overseas. By using the tech support form she would have had an answer within two hours instead of one day.

Password Problems?

Dear Students,

The system I am using to password protect my pages has changed and made itself more secure and added features. I tested it myself to make sure it still works. It still functions the same. However, now, when you enter your username and password it will bring up another screen that asks for it again. Other pages only have a button with "login" now and no username and password blank until you have clicked the login button.

You will use the SAME username and password as you have always been using. You can find this in the following three places:

1. Your welcome letter
2. The FILES section of your group

If you are having any trouble with the new system please tell me.

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Free Promotion for IHC Students

Dear Students,

I just updated the PUBLIC student page again. Please check to see your information is correct. If your information is not included please fill out the form on the page and include all the information that was provided by the other students.

http://naturopathichealing.weebly.com/students-amp-graduates.html

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Course Corrections: File Added to Unit Four

A file that used to be a link is now available as a PDF file for students who are working on Unit Four. You can download this file from the year member's page. Or, if you are not a member of the entire course you can download it from the Unit Four file page at:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Unit4/files/

Student Excerpts: Homeopathy and Islamic Medicine

A student today compared Homeopathy and Islamic medicine in one of her assignments. I thought the following passage from her work was insightful and thought that many of you would also find it a wonderful insight:


Homeopaths insist that serial dilutions of a substance remove only the toxic effects of that substance, but retain its essence/vibration/energy and, therefore, its medicinal power; they further argue that it is the process of potentisation itself (the vigorous shaking of a substance) which activates and then releases the energy from that substance. From this we can see that homeopathic remedies are derived from a process which is very different from other substances in history who followed the “like cures like” model of healing.

Foods and herbs recommended by Islamic medicine practitioners have been successfully used to treat illness by people from around the world for millennia. Moreover, foods/herbs of the hadith have all been proven as healing medicines by numerous scientific studies carried out for decades by both Muslims and non-Mulims.

Finally, according to Islamic medicine, the energy/vibration of a healing food/herb exists in that food/herb in a synergistic manner along with all the other healing aspects of that divine medicine. The energy from that medicinal food is not activated by potentisation and succussion, but by saying, “Bis mil Lah” and “Alhamdulillah.”

Consulting Client Tip #3 IHC: Starting the Consult

A student who turned in her test this week provided the following reminder as to how we should all start our consultations. I wanted to share this with you all:

Even the divinely blessed remedy is said to work only with the power and permission of Allah (Qadr Allah); and conversely, if Allah does not allow you to be healed then you will remain ill no matter what you do to get better. This is why Muslims precede any action by reciting Allah’s name and then follow every intention by reciting, “In Sha Allah” (If Allah wills).

Student Question: Questions about the Temperaments

The following questions on the "Temperaments and Typology" unit were submitted by a student last week. They are VERY GOOD questions so I wanted to share them (and the answers) with you all. The questions are in black. My answers are in blue.

1.In your introduction to Unit 3: You state that different societies had different humors and then you say that for Ayurveda there is just 3 elements. However, in the online link about unani tibb, they have a chart comparing the humors in different traditional healing methods and they list Ayurveda as using five elements just as TCM has 5 elements. I found another good article online which also states that Ayurveda includes 5 elements/humors and not 3. Yet I have read many times in the past about the 3 doshas. I am confused. Does Ayurveda use 5 elements like the online articles say or do they only use 3.

It is confusing because, you are right, Ayurveda recognizes five humors, but it does not use them in the same way Greek medicine or Unani Tibb does. It is misleading to put them on a chart in comparison. If you look into depth at Ayruveda they actually have more than 3 - but do not limit diagnosis to 5. Here is a summary of how they view the systems: Panchamahabhuta or five basic elements: The basic material constituents which exist in the universe and in man are called the Pancha-mahabhuta or five basic elements of Prithivi (Earth), Jala (Water), Teja (Fire), Vayu (Air), and, Akash (Ether). However these are not used in the same way Greek or Islamic medicine uses them. In Greek or Islamic Medicine these are considered as the main forces for disease and healing. In Ayurveda these are viewed a bit differently and the divisions are different. Ayurveda does not view the body as "five elements" of disease and healing - but rather of seven basic tissues and three basic elements - that can then be further divided into 35 total elements of disease and healing.

These are: Dhatus: The human body consists of seven basic and vital tissues called Dhatus. Dhatu means “constructing elements”. These seven are responsible for the entire structure of the body. They maintain the functions of the different organs, system and vital parts of the body. They play an important role in the development, nourishment and even protection of the body. Dhatus are the resultant materials of the functions of the three Humors. They are: 1. Rasa dhatu: predominates the “Jala (water) “Mahabhuta. Function: Prinana(Nurishment) 2. Rakta dhatu: predominates the “Tej (Fire)” Mahabhuta. Function: Jevana(Invigoration) 3. Mamsa dhuta: predominates the “Prithivi (Ether)” mahabhuta. Function: Lepana(holds skeleton) 4. Meda dhatu: predominates the “Jala (water) “Mahabhuta. Function: Snehan(Lubrication) 5.Asthi dhatu: predominates the Vayu and Prithivi. Function:Dharan(support) 6.Majjja dhatu: predominates the Akash Mahabhuta. Function: Purana(to fill the bones) 7.Shukra dhatu: predominates the Jala and Tej Mahabhutas. Function:Garva utpadan(reproduction)

Tridosha or Three Humors: In Ayurdeda the basic elements of human body are Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These are called Tridosha or three Humors. Our body is controlled and regulated by the coordinated and balanced functions of Tridosha. It helps the body to be alive. All the physical and mental functions of the body are governed by these three humors. According to Ayurveda, various health problems are caused by an imbalance in at least one of the three humors. In Unani Tibb or Greek medicine it is thought that imbalance is caused by one of the five humors. It is a bit confusing that the translation of Dosha is humors in the same way they translate the word Panchamahabhuta (elements) of the body and the universe to mean "humors". They are different words in the Indian language and provide a subtle distinction. So the word Panchamahabhuta and the word Dosha are not the same but many articles you read in English translate both words to mean HUMORS. This is incorrect. Below you can see, however, they do further divide these Doshas...

Vata: The physical characteristics of Vata are different from others. It is light, dry, mobile, cold, abundant, rough, swift etc. Its fundamental Elements are Ether (Akash) and Air (Vayu). The physical functions are: it is responsible for body movement, speech, Blood circulation, breathing, Excretion, Brain functions, formation of fetus, sexual act, anxiety, grief. etc. There are five types of Vata according to their characters and locations. 1.Prana Vayu 2.Udana Vayu 3. Vyana Vayu. 4.Saman Vayu. 5.Apan Vayu.

Pitta: Pitta is hot like the basic element which is derived from Agni or fire. It is also characterized as being sharp, sour, pungent, fluid, soothing and mobile. It is responsible for vision, hunger, thirst, and digestion, the regulation of heat in the body, softness and luster in the complexion, cheerfulness, intellect, and sexual vigor. There are five types of Pitta which were first indicated by Acharya Susruta. 1.Pachaka Pitta 2.Ranjaka Pitta 3.Sadhaka Pitta 4.Alochaka Pitta 5.Bhrajaka Pitta. Kapha: Kapha is also called Slesma, and is derived from the fundamental elements earth (Prithivi) and Water (Jala). It is smooth, cold, heavy, dull, and viscid.

Kapha constitutes the entire solid structure of the body. The functions of Kapha are unctuousness, binding, firmness, heaviness, sexual potency, strength, forbearance, restraint and the absence of grief. Kapha was also categorized into five divisions: 1.Avalambaka Kapha 2.Kledaka Kapha 3.Bodaka Kapha 4.Tarpaka Kapha 5.Shleshaka Kapha.

2. More confusion: The assigned readings say that the humoral theory existed among Greeks even before the time of Hippocrates. So why is Hippocrates given credit as the originator of humoral theory in healing? Is it because he named 4 specific types and used them in a practical system? The text also says that Galen is the one who came up with the idea of 4 temperaments which correspond with the 4 elements/humors. Does that mean that during time of Hippocrates up until Galen, people were only focusing on the physical aspects of the humors and that Galen then originated and developed the system which used the humors to describe emotional/psychological traits? This is important because Hippocrates lived about 6 hundred years before Galen.

People have used the humors in all their aspect probably farther back than history has recorded. However, this is a very typical and classical case of "the historical credit problem". This is a problem I try to point out frequently during the course but I do not always suceed in doing so enough. The problem is that all medical and healing traditions are actually discoveries of many different people or peoples. Many of these traditions have been used for hundreds of years before someone "took credit". However history always gives credit to the person who was able to define the tradition and write it down. So credit for iridology is given to the first person who created a chart. Credit for reflexology is given to the first person to create the zone system. Credit in homeopathy is given to the person who created a comprehensive book of all the remedies. In some ways this credit is deserved - the person was usually responsible for A: Defining the tradition in a way everyone could understand so that it had more chance of surviving over time and being taught to more people and B. Expanding and devloping the tradition beyond what it was. In the case of homeopathy it had been used before but nobody (that we know of) had taken the time to test so many rememedies before., Hahnemann was amazing in this respect. However, in reality the system of any healing tradition cannot be attributed to one person.

3. In the reading from the columbia encyclopedia source, it lists winter as the corresponding season for the phlegmatic type which does not seem right because phlegmatic types are considered cold and moist which fits more with autumn and melanchoic fits more with winter because it is marked by cold/dry qualities which fits winter best. what do you think?

Corresponding the humors can be confusing! I can often see how one or more types could fit in each season, in each character, etc...but ultimately you are looking for the basic characteristic of the person or season. Autumn definately has a DRY dominant side because the leaves fall in the Autumn and are dry. The earth is dry. However, phlegmatic is very wet. So they cannot go together.

Winter is actually very moist because of the snow and ice that is classic of a traditional winter. However, one interesting thing about modern times that I noticed - since we use heaters in our homes we have actually created a very cold and dry environment for winter. I think this is responsible for a lot of the health problems we have in the winter. We are not allowing our bodies to cycle through the natural seasons and we are making a "wet" season into a "dry" one.

Course Corrections: Unit Three

Dear Students,



There are some updates and corrections for Unit Three. They are as follows:



1. There seems to be some ongoing trouble with the "Cooking for the Humours" file so I have created an entirely new one that does not involve any links. I will be uploading it to the site in the next day or two.



2. The Unit titled "Humors in Islamic Medicine" (Unit 3:Chapter 3) should be titled "Humors in Unani Tibb".



3. There is a sentence missing at the end of "The History and Theory of Temperaments in Islamic Medicine" in Unit 3:Chapter 1. The end should read:



It is believed that a person is born into a certain temperament though their physical and mental qualities, but by using all the faculties, especially the spirit. I have now corrected it in my files and have filed the new corrections under "updated Unit 3 files". When I update the site I will include these corrections and updates.



It would be confusing if I constantly changed files as I made updates every few weeks or months so once or twice a year I make all the updates at one time to prevent overlap, confusion and double-download problems. Because of this continuing state of updates you should ALWAYS check the updates page to see if the Unit you are reading has any updates. This page is at:

http://islamichealingcourse.blogspot.com/search/label/Course%20Corrections

Changes to the Course: Friday Office Hours

As many old students know, there has been a new schedule of test correcting that I have been "trying out" since April. Instead of returning exams once a month, I have been doing them every week, and have created office hours on Fridays.

This has been running at about an 80% success rate and I am quite pleased with it. However, some modifications will be made for the next year to accommodate the few times of year that I have an extra load of lectures or work from other sites. I have not finished modifications to this schedule yet, however, my vision for it is that it would stay intact as a weekly schedule but I would add in some 'school breaks" a few times a year, much like you would have at a regular university (spring break, winter break, a couple weeks for summer break, etc...). This does not mean that I would not be available during these break times for tech support or other questions or that you cannot work during these times. It would only mean that during those "breaks" I would not be correcting exams on a weekly basis and would not have office hours on those weeks. As I mentioned before, the "weekly" office hours were a new venture this year and everything else about them has been going well. I just forgot to build in some "break or vacation" time - and certainly everyone needs some of that. And without that it may appear that the schedule is "unpredictable" when, in actuality, I can predict with accuracy when those breaks will need to happen. This will help you to plan better as well.

My main goal is to serve you as students and make sure everything goes smoothly, and I believe part of this process is clear guidelines and communication. I have been very happy with the Friday office hours, as this has improved both. However, some misunderstandings have ensued on weeks that I was out of town for lectures or had to take a break for holiday season mailings.

Blessings & Health,
Karima

Student Question: Help with Clients or Extra Work

I received a letter from a student this week:

I've sent you an article on (topic deleted for privacy) about couple of weeks ago, I would be very grateful if you are able to provide any feedback.

That sounds like a very interesting topic. I do receive an overwhelming number of articles, requests for reviews and extra questions from students and members, however, since June of 2008 I am answering all extra questions via the chat list at www.herbnhome.com - members of this list are able to e-mail me on or off list with extra questions about clients, their own work or health issues and I either answer their question on-list or I re-post it without their name. I do comments and corrections on tests and quizzes every Friday. There are a few students who are members of this list that have been consulting with me about their clients and business on the list.

Blessings & Health,
Karima

TECH SUPPORT: Page Numbers for IHC

Dear Students,

Thank you to Mujahid for pointing out that Unit One, that has been re-formatted is still missing page numbers! I corrected the file today. A glitch happened where the page numbers had been removed because when I went into the file to correct it everything was actually "out of alignment" by one or two lines, indicating something was missing from each page.

This has now been corrected and re-posted to the site.

Additionally, I have changed the site a bit more to reflect the units that are re-formatted and the units that are not. When a unit is re-formatted it will be added put in the column under "updated". This way you will know at a glace which units have been finished and which have not.

Thank you for your patience in this matter. This course was originally distributed as individual files and everyone in the courses received the files via e-mail. With the new delivery options I now have for the course E-books are now possible but it does take some time to re-format the individual files into the e-books. If anyone is working on an individual file or particular quiz it is quite easy for me to send you an individual file.

Although I have office hours every Friday I do try my best to answer quick questions and tech support questions as soon as possible.

If you send me a quick e-mail "I need Unit One: Chapter One" or "I need the Unit One Quiz" I can easily send that to you if you have any trouble with the e-books that are not yet reformatted.

Blessings & Health,
Karima

Student Question: Office Hours

Dear Students, I have had one or two students contact me in the past few weeks with some confusion about office hours. This was my response:

I think there might be a misunderstanding in the way the office hours work for students. I have office hours for students every Friday and that is the only day that I commit to answering questions from students. A few times a year I need to skip one Friday. Usually twice in the summer and once during Western Christmas Season. I do my best to answer questions before Friday if they are short (like "What e-mail should I send this to?" or "Where is the link to the student Facebook site?"). If a student has a tech support question (they cannot access a file) I try my very best to get back to them within 12-hours but sometimes if the problem is complex it takes longer.

However, if I do answer an e-mail before Friday, this is done on a voluntariy basis by me and is according to the time I have available that week.

However, on a regular basis, as a rule, I have student office hours ONLY on Fridays. Tests used to be corrected once a month, but to make things more convenient for students I changed it last year to once a week. Any Friday you may IM me, call me or e-mail me and I will respond on that day. Or you can e-mail me before Friday and I will respond on Friday.

Keep in mind that one reason I specify Fridays is because I want students to know that if they do not hear back from me that something may have been lost - or sometimes mis-filed. A few times I have dragged an e-mail to the "student" box and it was mis-filed in another box. Mistakes and Internet errors do happen so I want to make sure students know that I am responding to them on Fridays.

Hope this helps!

Blessings & Health.
Karima

Student Dialogues - More Depth to the Temperaments

This is from a student's test comparing homeopathic temperaments to the Islamic temperaments. The answer is correct, but I wanted to comment (for the benefit of everyone) that you CAN expand the Islamic temperaments beyond the four by combining themkin the same way homeopathy does - there is no rule against this. I often find it useful. Assignment and my comment are below...

Homeopathy also further breaks down the four major temperaments into 12 minor groups as individuals may not fit completely into only the four temperaments. These minor groups are: cholero-phlegmatic, the sangino-phlegmatic, the nervo-phlegmatic, the phlegmo-choleric, the sanguino- choleric, nervo- choleric, the cholero-sanguine, the phlegmo-sanguine, and the nervo-sanguine, the cholero-nervous, phlegmo-nervous and sanguino-nervous. The nervous is known as melancholic in the Islamic temperaments.

Very good. Although when one starts using the temperaments you can also break them down yourself as well. I will often combine temperament evaluations and have noticed, for example, that a melancholic sanguine is much different than a melancholic phlegmatic.

Student Excerpts: Useful Website for Herb Studies

Student, Aida, found the following studies on Cumin for her Unit 1_3 exam. I am posting this link here just in case other students might find the same website helpful.

In studies done on mice, cumin seed (when mixed with lard) has been reported to have antioxidant activity, elevating levels of glutathione and stimulating other antioxidant systems.
Source:

www.Drugs.com