#75 - Anthony O’Connor - A Nature-Based Model of Diagnosis - The Illness Is Not The Enemy - What is Medically Essential for Recovery

Meet Anthony O’Connor for a wonderful conversation about Nature-Based Healing. This is a must-hear episode. Anthony is an East Asian medicine practitioner, writer, educator and host of the podcast “WesHtern Philosophy”. I heard him there, and KNEW I needed to speak with him. You might feel the same as you meet him here- when we discuss themes such as: -The enemies of healing -The illness is not the enemy -Not to blame yourself for being sick -Acknowledge, do not try to change it -The Liver sends the Qi up -Yin and Yang can be divided into different numbers of segments – all are valid -The 5 Phases -The model the patients need -What TCM and astrology might have in common -Back pain makes one seek alternative help -The biomedical framework is based on completely different principles than the 5 phases and acupoints -Intuition versus technique - Pisces-Virgo- Raw Nature versus intervention - When a treatment is not enough – move toward self-compassion -The smallest change that will have the largest impact -How to eat rather than what to eat -Herbal formulas -From working with the body and organs to working with words -The body can heal itself – not to chase every symptom -Mannah’s story of over-accommodating in therapy education rather than speaking up and risking it -Feeling better in the body from what happens in community - Setting off the mousetrap !! - Boundaries (Pisces theme of lacking them) - Heat that flares upward and rebellious qi - Regulating a pathology - Following a diet, feeling it’s a jungle of herbs and lifestyle advice - What is medically essential - Feeling over-responsibility for other people that illness is showing - Healthy adrenaline cycles versus chronic stress -Anthonys vision of community in stillness centers is a great match for that piscean transcendence of material needs ...just saying. Replenishment and sense of oneness. - The evolution of the soul (when speaking of astrology) and the importance of being process-oriented in reading for clients. It could be you patronize the client, and he feels boxed into some shadow he was in years ago- or the other way around: that you think, oh he has so much pisces, must be a saint, yet its more like an alcohol problem at the moment... point being: meeting the chart-owner will open the doors to what archetypal information is relevant and helpful - In the archetype of Pisces/Neptune, we want to live a happy life – Neptune has been in its own sign of Pisces since 2011 and that cycle ends in January 2026 (but already in march/april 2025 we have a taste of whats to come, when Neptune goes to Aries, its just that it retrogrades again into pisces) which symbolizes nature in its purest, untouched state, no interventions, the untamed and pristine wilderness. This influence is beyond the egoic control and it does dissolve what we think we know (depends on when it hits your specific chart per transit, but collectively speaking), leaving us to the wilderness, the unknown, simply said. LINKS: Find the Weshtern Philosophy Podcast: https://linktr.ee/weshternphilosophypodcast The mentioned article: https://substack.com/@anthonyoconnor Anthony O'Connor’s website: https://www.anthonyconcocts.com/ Mannahs web: https://www.therapeuticastrologer.com/