Chiropractic, Science or Mysticism

As a field of healing, the science of chiropractic has baffled some people and made them to call it unscientific, but from the perspective of Jewish Cabalists, the belief is well rooted in mystical traditions. Chiropractic theory teaches that the body is infused with a vital principle, which imparts a native intelligence to the body. This vital spirit is connected on the up side to a Universal intelligence. According to Chiropractic teachings, the job of the physician is to allow the vital spirit to suffuse freely through the body, and then the body's innate intelligence will do its job, healing itself and seeing that the body works properly and heals. Scientists consider the theory somewhat magical in nature, because, after all, what physical evidence is there of the existence of a non-physical vital principle. Mystics, on the other hand, have been teaching about the existence of these phenomena from time immemorial. In the Tanya, a book about Cabalistic teachings composed by a Russian mystic, the Alter Rebbe, readers are taught that the body is suffused by a spirit called the "nephesh." While the nephesh is connected to four higher spiritual bodies, the nephesh itself is divided into an animal portion and and intelligent portion. The "intelligent nephesh" resides in the spinal cord and brain. From this central position, it can extend its influence on the whole body. The "intelligent nephesh," therefore, corresponds to the vital principle described by the founders of chiropractic science . The connection between the body and the vital flows in the CNS are the nerve roots that leave the spinal cord and go to all organs and parts of the body. The chiropractor's job is to make sure these living highways of life remain open, and serve as channels of the intelligent nephesh to the rest of the body. This is the essence of chiropractic science.