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Author Archives: Reino Gevers
Following the path of the Holy Grail
Nestled in a rock face near the Spanish city of Jaca is the ancient monastery of San Juan de la Pena. It dates back to the ninth century and by the 11th century became the spiritual and intellectual centre of the Kingdom of Aragon. According to legend the Holy Grail was kept here until the 14th century.
There is no final proof but It was believed to be the chalice used by Jesus during the Last Supper and the cup in which Joseph of Arimathea collected the Blood of Jesus on the Cross. Today the original is kept in the Cathedral of Valencia with a copy displayed on a stone altar in the old monastery.
Whether true or not, the monastery San Juan de la Pena is a mysterious and unique place. While on our recent walk on the Camino, I took a day to explore the area on the mountain from which there are spectacular views of the Pyrenees mountains in the distance.
The Monasterio Nuevo, or new monastery, further up the mountain is a much bigger complex. Its exterior has been rebuilt with a modern museum interior giving much insight on how the monks lived according to the Benedictine Order
The monastery had enormous influence not only in the ancient Kingdom of Aragon but throughout Europe of the early Middle Ages. The monks lived disciplined lives, following a daily routine of contemplation, work and study. Silence was highly cherished. The monks took a vow of silence and were only allowed to speak if it was absolutely necessary or when it was a good thought or blessing. It was obviously an atmosphere that was conducive to highly-focused study and inner spiritual work.
The exhibition in the new monastery illustrates a colorful history of rise and decay. The influence and success of this monastery in the early Middle Ages can be attributed to several factors that are good lessons for today’s corporates:
- The monks were absolutely focused, disciplined and dedicated to their task
- At the same time they did not exclude themselves from the outside world, honing the art of networking and relationship-building with the rulers and decision-makers of the time.
- A charismatic abbot, or leader, was crucial in maintaining cohesion, discipline and respect
- Basic material needs were catered for by the Kingdom with at times generous grants and donations
Its a mute point on whether the decay started in the year 1399 when the Aragonese King Martino V took the Holy Grail to his palace in Zaragoza and when the monks asked for it back he tricked them with a replica. There were several fires that destroyed much of the monastery complex in the 17th century. Decay came in line with infighting and power struggles. Grants and privileges from the king were reduced and at times completely stopped. Loss of focus and purpose came in line with vows being broken and poor leadership.
An organisation is only as successful as long as its members are motivated to abide by the internal codes and ethics which always reflects on how it is perceived by those outside. There will always be circumstances that cannot be controlled, such as political change or upheavel. But it is how adaptable and flexible that organisation is to unpredictable changes, that will ultimately determine its survival.
Encounters
The magnificent churches and cathedrals along the Camino are shrouded in mystery and legend. Overlooking the town of Estella is an impressive modern Basilica. It is built on the hilltop where in 1085 shepherds were attracted by a cluster of stars. Hidden in a cave they found the image of the Virgin Mary. First of all a chapel was built, and then a Baroque church and finally in 1951 a star-shaped basilica recreating the intense light effect that was produced when the carving was discovered. In the interior a 14th-century Gothic image of the Virgin of the Puy from the 14th century is conserved.
After leaving Estella on a beautiful meandering path, Alyce walks ahead to the village of Villamayor. She finds the church open. An elderly man, who looks like a priest, appears from nowhere, asking her to come over. He showers her with blessings and prayers of protection, grabbing her by her shoulders and giving her a long hug. Alyce feels this wave of energy coming her way. What we don’t know at that time is that our friend from the US, Jim, met the same man at the same place only a few minutes earlier. He gives Jim a match to light a candle before a silver processional cross. Jim is at that moment overwhelmed by a truly spiritual experience, momentarily falling to his knees. That evening Alyce and Jim share their experiences with me, still moved by the encounter. But the next day we meet the man who runs the Albergue in Villamayor. He tells us he knows of no old man or priest in the village. The church is in fact mostly locked with the pilgrims often complaining about this. The real priest is in fact a young man. So who was the stranger giving blessings to the passing pilgrims?
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Days on the Camino
We’ve been on the Camino since July 30th, starting our walk along the Arles Route from Lourdes. We have met some fascinating people on the Way, while walking through drenching rain, searing heat and spending nights in Albergues with 30 strangers in the same room. Its an emotional topsy-turvy and especially during the first few days you ask yourself: Why am I doing this?
Since my first walk on the Camino in 2006 I’ve been hooked on this experience because this walk is so much more than just a hike. You can indeed walk this route like a physical endeavour but if you open yourself to the mystery of this path it will teach you so many things. Someone said to me yesterday that the Camino is an analogy of life. You have highs and lows, beauty and ugliness, pain and joy, company and loneliness. In the end you just have to go step by step and deal with things as they come. However, the feeling that you are being carried and guided by some higher force gets more intense as you go along. We are body and soul and the soul part is in the end what its all about.
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Reconnecting by walking the Camino
Tomorrow my wife Alyce and I are starting our walk on the Camino from the French town of Lourdes. Its time to walk things off again and to reconnect on many levels after a more than challenging year. For centuries, if not longer, countless people have walked these ancient paths mainly as an inner and outer spiritual journey. It is believed that prior to it becoming the mainly Christian St. James Way the Celtic people had walked these ceremonial paths in paying homage to the Earth Goddess.
Over the years I’ve walked several Camino routes alone, with a good friend, in a group and with my wife. I’ve been asked so why walk the Camino if you can go on a hike anywhere else? Whats the big deal? Why are so many thousands of people in modern times rediscovering this ancient pilgrimage route and taking time out to “walk things off”.
I’ve had some of the most interesting meetings with people from all walks of life on the Way. Some take time out after having lost a loved one, or having recovered from a serious illness or finding themselves at a crossroads in life. Others simply enjoy the walking. But nobody I know has gone home from the Camino without it having triggered something something in their lives. Its been a long tradition to leave a stone at these kilometre markings as a sign of respect to previous pilgrims, or to let things go that you no longer need in your life, or in memory of a cherished person.
During the Middle Ages it was common for at least one member of a family to go on the pilgrimage to “cleanse” the family line of “sins”. Many never came back. It was an arduous route in those times with many people dying of disease and illness. Today practically every town caters towards the pilgrims with good food and comfortable accommodation. The route is well-marked although every pilgrim will tell a story of having got “lost in the way.” It is part of the process of reconnecting, finding ones rhythm and getting back into ones own space.
This time we will be walking about 270 km over two weeks from Lourdes to Puenta La Reina, taking things as they come. We will keep you posted.
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“Glücks-erlebnis” – es kommt darauf an, wofür wir unser Geld ausgeben
Unser Glück ist das was wir an positiven Erlebnissen haben und nicht das was wir an materiellen Gütern besitzen oder haben wollen
Wi
r stehen immer wieder vor der schwierigen Entscheidung: Geben wir unser Urlaubsgeld tatsächlich für einen Urlaub aus oder nutzen wir es, um neue Möbel oder Kleidung zu kaufen.
Für einige Tage erfreuen wir uns an den neuen Sachen. Es ist dennoch erstaunlich wie schnell der Reiz an dem Neuen verflogen ist und ein Frustgefühl hinterläßt – schon halten wir nach dem nächsten zu kaufenden Gegenstand Ausschau.
Wenn wir Menschen darauf ansprechen uns auf eine Erlebnisreise zu den Delfinen und Elefanten nach Südafrika zu begleiten, hören wir immer wieder: “Würde ich ja gerne mal machen, ist mir aber zu teuer.” Es ist eine Falle in die wir alle tappen.
Die beiden Forscher Leaf van Boven und Thomas Gilovich haben sich schon 2003 mit der Frage beschäftigt, ob es uns glücklicher macht, unser Geld in materielle Güter zu investieren, oder darin, etwas zu erleben, wie Urlaube, Konzertbesuche oder Restaurantbesuche.
In…
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July 9, 2015 · 8:30 am
Nutrition and cancer
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates
By Alyce and Reino Gevers
The sad truth about conventional cancer treatment is that little attention is being given to how big an influence nutrition and acidity in the body has on the outbreak of the disease. Cancer cells feed in an acidic environment and yet very few doctors and hospitals are looking at the connection between diet and cancer.
At the beginning of the last century, the processed food industry was still in its infancy. The connection between mass consumption of processed foods and the diseases of modern times such as cancer can be seen when looking at the slide from the New England Journal of Medicine. Processed foods include many substances such as unnatural flavors, preservatives sugars and salts that over the years form a toxic cocktail in the body, creating a fertilizer for cancer…
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Nutrition and cancer
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates
By Alyce and Reino Gevers
The sad truth about conventional cancer treatment is that little attention is being given to how big an influence nutrition and acidity in the body has on the outbreak of the disease. Cancer cells feed in an acidic environment and yet very few doctors and hospitals are looking at the connection between diet and cancer.
At the beginning of the last century, the processed food industry was still in its infancy. The connection between mass consumption of processed foods and the diseases of modern times such as cancer can be seen when looking at the slide from the New England Journal of Medicine. Processed foods include many substances such as unnatural flavors, preservatives sugars and salts that over the years form a toxic cocktail in the body, creating a fertilizer for cancer cells.
It is no surprise that infectious diseases were the main cause of death around 1900. Death from heart disease peaked in the 1960s while today 185.9 of every 100,000 deaths is from cancer with rising tendency. Despite billions being poured into cancer research, little progress has been made in halting the trend. It is obvious that the “cancer industry” is going to do everything possible in trying to convince us that only conventional medicine heals. Any cancer patient will tell you how difficult it is to resist the onslaught of the highly profitable cancer machinery.
Doctors are telling patients that their chances of survival are remote if they refuse chemo. Now try and argue with a doctor who will cite statistics (lots of them stemming from the pharmaceutical industry itself) while you are already in fear from fighting a life-threatening disease.
Doctors take the Hippocratic oath and seem to have forgotten the important quote above. I’m not saying conventional treatments should be avoided. This is a very personal choice and much also depends on how far the cancer has taken hold in the body. But to completely exclude nutrition as an important part of the curing process is irresponsible.
An important complimentary cancer therapy, is the strengthening of the body’s natural immune system. this is also very important to Chemo patients since chemo destroys ALL cells…good and bad alike. Did you know that cancer cells divide and multiply every 18 hours, whilst normal cells divide 24 hours for the same process. Thus, if the cancer cells find an agreeable environment in which to grow, they spread faster than the healthy cells do. This is one of the main reasons it is of utmost importance to not feed cancer cells! Take away their energy supply and create an alkaline environment for healthy cells to do their job. Otherwise, the cancer cells regain the upper hand….causing recurring cancer.
Cells need a plentiful supply of oxygen, fresh produce, harvested from good soils that can provide the essential nutrients to keep the body’s 70 billion cells in a natural equilibrium and to promote the detoxification process. First, and foremost, you need a sugar-free diet so as not to FEED CANCER CELLS, to restore natural liver function and to detoxify. White processed sugar essentially robs the body of essential nutrients. Other immune strengthening sweetening alternatives are maple syrup, natural honey, and dates…just to name a few.
The Gerson therapy: “Healing – the GersonWay” puts particular emphasis on restoring proper functioning of the liver, which plays a crucial role in the detoxification of the body and restoring natural physiological activities. Cancer cells have no chance in a healthy body. A body with a strong immune system cultivates a healthy cell environment that prevents cells from mutating into cancer in the first place. A healthy immune strengthening diet for cancer patients would also be meat-free, the addition of Vitamins D & C, raw juicing therapies, high quality essential oils with Omega 3 fatty acids. But that´s for another blog in detail. Stay tuned…..
You have the choice! 
A denatured, nutritionally empty, toxic modern diet is the main cause of today’s worsening health crisis.
Filed under cancer, energy, healing nature, immune system, liver, nutrition, psychology
The Profit Of Not Curing Cancer
Unbelievable from today’s perspective: Doctors actually pronounced smoking as safe. Today we are eating a junk food diet with too much sugar that is causing cancer, diabetes and many other diseases. In a few decades people will look back and say: How could this have been possible?
This is an article which I wrote that was published in Monetary Intelligence Magazine in March 2009. It’s clear that the hype we receive on a great many “studies and statistics” from our government agencies is misleading at best. As someone who has gone through her own cancer scare, this information makes me feel so abandoned by a country I love.
History of Errors
In the December 1959 issue of American Medical Association Journal, an editorial was published that boldly stated there was insufficient evidence “to warrant the assumption” that cigarette smoking was the principal factor in the increase of lung cancer. Who were the medical experts who authored such blatant falsehoods? Dr. Ian MacDonald, a prominent cancer surgeon, and Dr. Henry Garland, an internationally recognized specialist in radiology. These two individuals made national headlines with their claims. In fact, Dr. Garland specifically stated that…
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Muscle tension and stress
Thought I would reblog this as it fits with my previous article on reconnecting with the web of life
Psychological stress and tension affects us on many levels. A stiff neck and shoulders or back pain are typical symptoms.
When we face stress the body is flooded by stress hormones such as adrenalin, noradrenaline and cortisol. These cause the muscles to tighten up. In extreme cases the muscle fibres pressure the blood vessels causing circulatory disorder that can trigger inflammation.
A good circulation is particularly important to flush acidic waste or other products from cell tissue. Lack of nutrients and too much acidity typically cause fatigue and pain.
We might feel a stinging pain, sensitivity to pressure and limitation to body movements. Tense muscles or pain causes further tensing-up which puts us into a vicious cycle of stress and pain.
With most people doing office jobs we are top-heavy, meaning there is a lot of pressure and tension in the upper part of the body with the lower abdomen…
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