Ewald Kliegel - Holistic Reflexology: Essential Oils and Crystal Massage in Reflex Zone Therapy

Introduction to the World of Reflexology

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN

Reflexology is not new. It may in fact be among the most ancient treatment methods of humankind. tze, the iceman found in the Tyrolean Alps, is our witness. On his 5,300-year-old mummy are tattoos on his skin that show certain acupuncture points that have been confirmed by experts in acupuncture. This shows that the shamans of our European ancestors who lived at the end of the Stone Age had knowledge about health issues that equaled that of their contemporaries in China and India who were practicing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) at that time. From this we may assume that all high cultures over the past few thousand years have developed external treatment methods via the skin. This knowledge seems to be a worldwide phenomenon, with unique characteristics in each culture.

For example, according to legend, about six thousand years ago the mystic Chinese emperor Huang Ti brought forth the meridians as an energetic system in which the flow of energy through the body can be regulated by means of certain points on the surface of the skin that are activated by way of special needles or special massages. Ancient ayurvedic doctors found another way. They discovered what amounts to transformer stations in our bodies that supply the right voltage to every organ. We can compare this to a simple kitchen appliance, the electric mixer. Suppose we could connect the mixer to a 10,000-volt power line. When we turn the mixer on the resulting explosion would probably blast our house away. On the other hand, say we are much more careful and connect the mixer to a 1.5-volt battery. Of course nothing would happen, since the power source is too low. Basically the ayurvedic healers had the same principle in mind when they said that humans float in an ocean of energy like fish in water, hence the transformer stations, the chakras, which regulate the power supply to our organs so that we have neither too much nor too little.

The chakras serve as a kind of transformer station to regulate energy to our organs.

Unlike the ancient Chinese and Vedic peoples the Celtic culture on the European continent had no written records; therefore knowledge was transmitted as part of an oral tradition. There the main bearers of health knowledge were the druids, a priest- and priestess-hood that appears in legends as wizards and magicians. The demise of the druids came as a result of the strict prohibition of the practice of Celtic (pagan) spirituality by the Roman emperor Tiberius (42 BCE37 AD) and his successors. Into this power vacuum the Romans could expand their empire without great resistance, and so the last remnants of the ancient knowledge were wiped out within a few short centuries, and the mostly female bearers of that knowledge were burned in the fires of the Inquisition.

Knowledge, however, is never lost; it always comes back in a contemporary form. This is especially true of the timeless achievements of humankind. After the Roman imperial culture, European explorers and conquerors tried to expand their cultural dominance to other areas of the world. For this they needed maps, which in the course of time became more and more accurate, and with these they set about exploring the last remaining unexplored areas, right on up to the twentieth century. In this intellectual environment incredible inventions appeared to further our knowledge. With the advent of technology like microscopes and telescopes the empirical scientific approach got a big boost, allowing us to see more and more of the fine details of material existence.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the first reflexology systems were articulated and described as maps on the skin. At first the reflexology systems of the feet and the hands were used independently as practitioners didnt consider the fact that they related to similar maps found in other parts of the body, such as in the nose or on the back.