Peter Jackson-Main MA FAMH FGNI MIRH. Master Herbalist, Holistic Iridologist, Natural Healer
Someone quite famous in the world of medicine once said
“it’s more interesting to know what kind of person has a disease than to know the disease the person has”.
That was quite a long time ago, and at that time various forms of traditional medicine had ways of assessing individuality and factoring it into the health equation.
The arrival of Iridology as a uniquely western approach to individual health assessment, however, has been controversial: the trouble is, Iridology doesn’t quite do what people expect a diagnosis to do, and that is “name the disease”. Nevertheless, it’s worth reflecting that if you ask the wrong question, you’re probably going to get the wrong answer, so this short article sets out to suggest what the right question is, and why the answer to that question matters in health care.
Before the appearance of a nameable disease, a lot has to happen. My brother, a Professor of Medicine at a UK university, once told me “pathologists are the most holistic of medics”. He meant that the pathologist sees not just the disease, but the origins of the disease – the minute physiological changes that take place over months or years before that disease becomes established. It’s a preference for “joined up thinking” in medicine, where we acknowledge the interconnections between systems and organs, rather than treating them as separate entities. This suggests that one organ behaving erratically or under-functioning may have wider consequences for the whole system, and be the hidden cause behind symptoms and diagnosed diseases.
The Iridologist is trained to examine the human iris, with its endless array of different colours, fibres and topographical features. It works on the premise that the iris is a genetically determined structure that has been closely researched to reveal vital constitutional tendencies which can be cross-checked with individual and familial health history. These are the dynamic factors that bring about either harmony or disharmony – health or illness. Manage them well and they will result in good health and balance. Put pressure on these individual weak points and your body will soon remind you that you need to change your ways!
Many people object that the iris has not been found to display changes that prove things are getting better or worse. It doesn’t have to. It is simply a map of you, your inherited tendencies – strengths and weaknesses. Knowing about these is what it’s all about – knowledge is power, in this case the power to make intelligent lifestyle choices and thus to avoid putting pressure on weak areas, or exacerbating known tendencies.
An Iridology consultation is a conversation about yourself, using a small portion of yourself to act as a microcosm of your whole system. Its aim is preventative as well as curative. It also aims to deliver awareness and knowledge, and to teach you gently to respect and care for yourself in the best way you can.
