Ranging from a pale yellow to a dark brown, citrine is a variation of quartz. Most Citrine available today has undergone heat treatment but there are some mines producing natural Citrine. Citrine that has undergone heat treatment has small lines within the crystal. This stone is often confused with Yellow Topaz. Various explanations for its name abound such as the […]
Citrine
The Emerald Tablet and the Tao Te Ching
The Emerald Tablet is a short, cryptic piece of text that forms part of a collection of writings known as the Hermetica which are believed to be Egyptian – Greek in origin and written around 200AD. The author of the Emerald Tablet is unknown but the writings themselves claim Hermes Trismegist (“Hermes the Thrice-Greatest” – a Greek God) as the […]
The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo – The hidden meaning
One of the most famous paintings by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel is that of the Creation of Adam, depicting the moment God created humankind. It is one of a series of paintings on the ceiling that give life to the story in Genesis. Other famous scenes include Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden and the Deluge (flood). […]
Jurors find Roundup contributed to 2nd man’s cancer
For the second time in eight months, a jury has found that Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller contributed to cancer in a second man. Edwin Hardeman case was tried in federal court with thousands more lawsuits pending against Monsanto. Bayer, the global food and nutrition company that bought Monsanto, continued to claim today that glyphosate, the ingredient in Roundup linked to cancer, […]
Slump in insect numbers threatens ‘collapse of nature’
A new study of insect numbers across the globe says that declining insect numbers are threatening a ‘collapse of nature’ unless something is done to address the issue. Over the next few decades, up to 40% of the world’s insect species could be wiped out. The study, ‘Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers‘ and published in […]
Ireland’s food security on a cliff edge
This week, an Irish TD (member of parliament) claimed vegans had ‘never worked a day in their lives’. The bizarre and idiotic rant isn’t worth arguing against but it does raise some critical issues that Ireland needs to address before we get hit with a serious crisis. Its not a question of ‘if’ this crisis will hit us but only […]
Do trees communicate with humans?
Walking through a forest is enough to evoke a sense of calm in most people. It’s a primitive feeling, one that has evolved over thousands of years and been handed down from gene pool to gene pool. That calmness, or de-stressing that we feel is the culmination of the scents from the plants, rustling of leaves, the softly crunch underfoot […]
Qi Circulation
When studying or reading about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) it can appear at first glance to be very functional – this point for that illness and that meridian for this organ or function. Too often, it can be easy to lose sight of the very essence of TCM and the broader philosophy that underpins it – qi circulation. There is […]
Our Gut Health, Science and the Ancients
Sometimes you have to go full circle to really know where you started. It seems a bit that way with our understanding of how our bodies work and the approach we take to our gut health and medicine. Modern western healthcare is based on the understanding of cause and effect. It is a linear relationship and we cannot ‘fix’ an […]
Cooked tomatoes may cut cancer risk
Scientists in Spain have found that cooked tomatoes boost the level of healthy bacteria in the gut and have a better probiotic effect rather than when eaten raw. The antioxidant lycopene is more readily available when the tomatoes are cooked and it is thought lycopene helps prevent some types of cancer such as prostrate cancer. Researchers from the Universitat Politècnica […]