Over the past 20 or so years, I've read a lot of books on natural therapy for cancer. I've also talked with herbalists and natural practitioners who work with cancer patients, and I've met many people who cured themselves of cancer the natural way. I've even consulted with a few clients with cancer.

There's no way around it. Cancer is a difficult illness to treat. There are people who go the medical route and live and there are people who take that route and die. There are also people who take the natural route and live, and others, following similar protocols, who die. Many opt for a hybrid approach, using some natural remedies and some orthodox treatment.

I honestly don't know what the best approach to cancer is—I think it varies from person to person. If someone is going to go the natural route, I think they need to be extremely diligent and look at the problem very holistically, relying on diet, exercise, emotional healing, stress reduction and other tools besides supplements. If they aren't willing to take responsibility for themselves and make some serious changes, then they may be better off putting themselves into the hands of the medical profession, although I personally think they should at least look at a hybrid approach, since the medical approach only focuses on killing the cancer cells and doesn't do anything to address the reasons why you got cancer in the first place.

But, it's not my intention to discuss cancer therapy in this article. Kimberly Balas did an outstanding job laying out holistic protocols for cancer in our Herbal Hour Video on Cancer: Unlocking the Mystery. It's one of the very best presentations on natural therapy for cancer I've ever heard, and I highly suggest you get the program and listen to it if you're interested in approaching cancer from a natural/holistic viewpoint. We also did a cancer package.  Both are available in my new webstore. 

Since Kim has already done such a good job on this, I saw no reason to “rehash” her presentation. What I want to do is tell you about my thoughts on the energetic and emotional issues that make cancer a problem in our society.

“Civilization” and Cancer

For starters, I'm convinced that cancer is primarily a disease of “civilization” and in more ways than one. First, it appears to be a very rare and unusual disorder among “primitive” people, and historically, it has not always been a leading cause of death.

Secondly, I'm also convinced that the primary physical cause of cancer is environmental pollution (aggravated by nutritional deficiencies and emotional factors). Both chemical and electromagnetic pollution appear to trigger cancer, with electromagnetic pollution being the more subtle and less recognized trigger. However, I've seen several cases of cancer that I knew involved electromagnetic pollution, but I'll have to write about that another time.

But, third, and finally, I think cancer isn't just a disease of “civilization” in the physical sense, it's also a disease of “civilization” in the energetic sense. In fact, I believe that there are underlying emotional issues which cause both environmental pollution and cancer. So, we won't solve either problem until we deal with these emotional issues. That's what I mean when I say “energetic.” It's a pattern of emotional energy at the root of both problems.

You'll notice that I put the words “civilization” and “primitive” in quotes. I'm doing this because while we are very technically advanced, that doesn't make us civilized. (I loved a story in the book Awakening: Conversations with the Masters by Anthony De Mello, because it reflects my attitude on the subject. The book is short pieces about a fictitious spiritual master and in one piece the Master is asked what he thinks of Western civilization. The Master replies, “It would be a very good idea.”)