The Laws of Medicine

Erratic Expeditions

“Doctors”, Voltaire wrote, “are men who prescribe medicine of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing.”


This short 70-page book is a must read for every person who has encountered medicine, colloquially or professionally. It draws, in anecdotal as well as philosophical terms, very sophisticated and nuanced picture of the practice of medicine.

As an outsider to the discipline of medicine, I found this piece of medical literarure very endearing. To be sure, nobody is outlier to medicine. To even try to approach that vicinity, one would need to cede existence. Even then, there would be post mortem.

View original post

Anam Cara ~

Maverick Mist

20161111-img_0162-editIn the Celtic tradition, there is a beautiful understanding of love and friendship. One of the fascinating ideas here is the idea of soul-love; the old Gaelic term for this is anam cara. Anam is the Gaelic word for soul and cara is the word for friend. So anam carain the Celtic world was the “soul friend.” In the early Celtic church, a person who acted as a teacher, companion, or spiritual guide was called an anam cara. It originally referred to someone to whom you confessed, revealing the hidden intimacies of your life. With the anam cara you could share your inner-most self, your mind and your heart. This friendship was an act of recognition and belonging. When you had an anam cara, your friendship cut across all convention, morality, and category. You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the “friend of your soul.” The Celtic…

View original post 51 more words