In this book, we examine symptomatic remedies that can be quite effective in acute situations and with physical-level conditions. We also explore models of healing that allow us to treat the whole person and address the underlying pattern of dis-ease. These energetic systems of medicine are especially appropriate in the case of chronic illness, where focusing on the symptom merely suppresses a manifestation of the problem and leaves the deeper cause untreated.

Throughout, we discover ancient methods for bringing harmony and balance to the life energy. Our explorations of these traditions takes us from one (the essential unity of all things), to two (yin-yang in Chinese philosophy and hot-cold in the Americas), to three (the doshas in the Ayervedic medicine of India), to four (the humors in Greek thought and the directions in Native American understanding), to five (elements in acupuncture).

In the concluding chapters, we see how this information can be applied to individual conditions. We offer practical suggestions for first understanding our own selves according to these models, and then integrating these teachings in our lives. The authors' intention, in presenting these healing practices, is to bring much needed traditional wisdom to the modern world, wisdom that is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago