(Post on June 19, 2013 by David McMillin)
Manual therapy is the use of the hands to maintain health or treat illness. In the Cayce readings, the preferred forms of manual therapy were massage and osteopathic manipulation. To be sure, other forms of manual therapy were recommended, including chiropractic, neuropathic, and naturopathic treatment. However, the reason why the readings so often prescribed massage and osteopathy had to do with "coordination of the nervous systems" that was somehow governed by the pineal in its broader sense (i.e., the "pineal system"). For example, consider this case of manic-depressive illness (bipolar disorder):
... there are specific centers where the incoordination is shown; as in the lumbar (4th to the 2nd), the 9th dorsal and specifically the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cervicals. These are centers [of] coordination ... with not only the mental and physical but the spiritual activities - or the SOURCE of the ENTITY itself in its connection with the physical body...there are periods ... when the body is over- hilarious, but the more often there is produced melancholia ... (1087-1)
Note the manic-depressive affect (over-hilarious = mania; melancholia = depression) associated with the incoordination of the major centers along the spine. The 4th lumbar center, 9th dorsal, and upper cervicals are said to be the "SOURCE of the ENTITY" in it connection to the physical body. Entity is term used in the readings for the soul. These three primary centers along the spine are areas of enlargement in the sympathetic nervous system ganglia that the readings called "pineal centers" where the pineal coordinated the cerebrospinal and sympathetic nervous systems. We are talking about the body-soul soul connection and Creative Energy (lifeforce/kundalini) that flows along the pineal cord and through these centers. When out of balance, mental symptoms (such as mania and depression) can result. Typically, osteopathic treatment was prescribed to "coordinate" and balance the energy flowing throught these centers.
Here is another example of mental illness from the readings, where osteopathic treatment was recommended. In this case, a young woman was brought to the Cayce hospital in 1929. She was exhibiting symptoms of mania (and probably depression). Note the references to the Revelation, the last book of the Christian bible:
This would be most interesting to the physician in charge to watch the changes in the moon and watch the effect it has upon the body. Now, when we have the new moon we will find that for the first two days … following same, a wild hilarious reaction [mania]… (2501-1)
… for with pressure in the lumbar and sacral region, as has been first indicated, there is that activity to those forces as operate to and through the pineal gland to the upper portion of the body, which corresponds to those forces as are spoken of, even in that of the [Book of] Revelation. Be very good for the doctor here to read [The] Revelation and understand it! especially in reference to this body! (2501-6)
(Q) Where can he [the doctor] study on The Revelation?
(A) Comparing, ANYONE, will they study that given in the Book and compare same to the anatomical conditions of a physical body, will LEARN the SPIRITUAL body, the MENTAL body - NOT metaphysics either! (2501-7)
In The Revelation there is given that illustration of how the mental body is raised from the various degrees of consciousness, and - as is given here - their ACTIVITY are through the correlated centers of an anatomical body, for they are represented by the refuse as comes from the 4th lumbar, emptying into the lower portion of the system. While the consciousness as comes through the system in sympathetic system is raised to the inner court, or in the holy mount, through the pineal gland - that coordinates with sympathetic forces - see? (2501-7)
Note that the pineal gland "coordinates with sympathetic forces" at the 4th lumbar and that this is somehow related to the altered consciousness that this person is experiencing. The osteopathic physician at the Cayce hospital treated this young woman and she had a complete recovery. The information provided in this reading later stimulated the Glad Helpers healing group to request a series of readings on the Revelation.
In essence, pressure upon the lower spine (4th lumbar) had allowed the Leydig gland to open allowing the kundalini to rise along the pineal cord to the brain - hence the mania. She was experiencing a mystical state of consciousness like John described in the Revelation - kundalini awakening. But for her it was out of control, hence an illness. This is also sometimes called "kundalini crisis" or "spiritual emergency" by the new age community. The key point here is that it can involve problems along the spine that can be treated by manual therapy.
I don't want to give the impression that manual therapy for coordinating the nervous systems is restricted to mental illness. It's just that the descriptions in the readings for these cases are so explicit in detailing the pineal system involvement, that it provides a clear illustration of how the system works (or fails to work, as the case may be).
The sympathetic nerve ganglia that run along the outside of the spinal column are not all the same. Some are enlarged or fused together. The osteopathic researcher Irvin Korr, observed this and documented it in his writings and illustrations. I have included an image from Korr in which he encircled these enlarged ganglia. I have colored yellow the three primary "pineal centers" emphasized in the Cayce readings to make them more obvious. Below the illustration Korr noted: “Encircled pairs or groups of ganglia indicate fusions that are commonly found.” (Korr, 1976, p. 37)
It so happens that the Cayce readings also recognized these special centers. The readings used the term “pineal center” to designate how they were part of the pineal system and played a role in the coordinating of the nervous systems. He also called them “great centers.” Here are some excerpts that call attention to the these pineal centers and suggest why coordination via massage and manipulation can be helpful in maintaining the health and vitality of the “seal of the soul” (the body-soul connection).
... the PINEAL center is engorged, especially at the 3rd and 4th LUMBAR and the 1st and 2nd cervical... the pineal - which runs all the way through the system and is the GOVERNING body to the coordinating of the mental and physical. (567-1)
…the lumbar axis ... and the 9th dorsal center as related to the sympathetic system. These are the great centers - save the vagus itself, in the dorsal and upper portion of the cervical areas - but these are the great centers from which the cerebrospinal and the sympathetic system coordinate … That's what is meant by keeping COORDINATION between the plexus of one ganglia or center and those in another, that the ATTUNEMENT between same is such that their rate of pulsation, their rate of vibration, coordinate one to another.” (480-44)
Then, the SCIENCE of osteopathy is not merely the punching in a certain segment or the cracking of the bones, but it is the keeping of a BALANCE - by the touch - between the sympathetic and the cerebrospinal system! THAT is real osteopathy! (1158-24)
Korr, I. (1976). The spinal cord as organizer of disease processes: Some preliminary perspectives. Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, 76, 35-45.