Old Medicine: A Conversation with Lorraine Wilcox
This is Qiological's first episode with a guest interviewer. Njemile Carol Jones pulls out her old radio day skills and sits down with Lorraine Wilcox for a conversation on what has caught her attention over the years, and the various projects in which she is currently involved.
Njemile and Lorraine knew each other from back in the day when they both worked at NPR. Since then they've both traveled their own paths into Chinese medicine.
Listen in for a delightful discussion on what happens when you follow your curiosity and internal leanings.
Lorraine Wilcox, guest
I studied Chinese medicine in the 1980's and immediately became bored with it. But after self-studying Chinese language for a short while, I felt like the blacks, whites, and grays of TCM transformed into brilliant color. I began trying to decode some ancient texts, especially those of the Ming dynasty. I also tried to absorb the philosophical and cultural background that a Ming dynasty doctor would possess. Eventually I understood that the goal was to try to build myself a virtual Ming mind (impossible to perfect, but beneficial to try). If one ancient statement could summarize what I have learned, it is:
人身小天地。張介賓《類經附翼‧醫易義》
The human body is a small heaven and earth. Zhāng Jièbīn, from Lèi Jīng Fù Yì ( Míng)
Njemile Carol Jones, interviewer
I have had a deep interest in East Asian medicine for 30 years. In the late 1980’s, I turned to acupuncture to heal my own very painful menstrual periods. I was so impressed with the immediate results, and amazed to discover that each month, I could have periods without cramps, food cravings or debilitating pain.
I wanted to know more about how this medicine worked. For years I read every book I could find on acupuncture & Chinese herbs, while studying tai qi & qi gong regularly. In the mid-90’s I left my career in broadcast journalism, for formal study. And been practicing since graduating from PCOM in 1999.
After almost 20 years of practice, I still love studying and learning about our medicine. I am currently a student of Engaging Vitality, with Dan Bensky, Marguerite Dinkins, and the late Chip Chace. And a longtime student in White Pine Institute's Graduate Mentorship Program.
Links and Resources:
Visit Lorraine on Facebook. She has a page on Medicine Making, another one on the Power of Mugwort Fire, and another on Medicine and the Yi Jing.
If books are more your thing, Lorraine has more than a few of them:
Moxibustion: A Modern Clinical Handbook
The Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Outline of Female Medicine
Categorized Essentials of Repairing the Body
Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor
Raising the Dead and Returning Life: Emergency Medicine of the Qing Dynasty
Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Vol IX
