Naturopathy and Iridology

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SOCH111: History of Healing Assignment A Written Essay: Naturopathy and Iridology Naturopathy, from the Greek and Latin origin meaning “nature disease” is a whole healing system of health oriented medicine, that incorporates a wide range of modalities, including (but not limited to) iridology, nutrition, herbs and massage within it’s practice (Micozzi, 2011, pg. 294 & 307). Iridology is the analysis of the iris and its association with disease (Duncan, 2007, pg. 3). Within in the scope of Naturopathy it is used as a diagnostic tool (Duncan, 2007, pg. 3). It is important to understand how where these practices originated, how they have evolved and developed over time in both philosophy and practice. By looking at the past we can begin to understand the framework from which complementary and alternative medicine and practitioners work today. Iridology can be traced back to ancient times, with Babylonians carving into stone slabs pictures of the iris and its relationship to the body (Duncan, 2007 pg. 4). It was Ignatz Von Peczely who drew the first Iris chart in 1881 and is considered to be the “father of Iridology” (Duncan, 2007, pg. 4). Henry Lindlahr, a notable figure in both Iridology and Naturopathy contributed major works to the expansion of Iridology and in 1913 published his first book that expanded over 6 volumes with the sixth dedicated to Iridology and other diagnostic techniques (Duncan, 2007, pg. 5; Murray & Pizzorno, 2013, pg. 18-19). Bernard Jensen, student of Lindlahr, continued on from his teacher’s work and researched all aspects of nature cure, hydrotherapy and iridology, with his iris chart, 1st published in 1980, being used worldwide today (Duncan, 2007, pg 5 & 15). Naturopathy is thought to have first originated from Hippocrates (Maceoin, 1999, pg. 32) who even made reference to eye diagnosis in his works (Duncun,

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