EARCANDLE

The healing method now called ear candling has been around for thousands of years.  The ancient Egyptians employed reeds in the technique.  Native Americans have also done ear candling using cornhusks, dipping time in beeswax to make a hollow candle.  The process was also known in ancient India, Tibet, and in the Aztec culture.

Ear candling was originally used for the purification prior to or as part of ancient rites of initiation.  Ear Candling was used to assist in opening the body’s spiritual centers, thus cleaning and cleansing the spiritual body through the physical.  In fact, it is still believed by some that the ear candling process can break up blockages in the subtle energy system and the subconscious where repressed emotions and memories can lie hidden from the conscious mind, causing degenerative disease.  (Detailed in “The Metaphysical Applications of Ear Candles”).

The process is still being handed down orally today in many centers of traditional medicine, and, with the recent increased interest in traditional medicine, has lately been gaining in general popularity too.

Ear Candling: an Age-Old Remedy Revived

Once upon a time we did most of it ourselves, with some help from the elders of the village.  Then came a time when we turned it over to someone else or to an institution.  Now many of us are moving back to the idea of learning to do it ourselves with a little help from the institution in special cases.  “It” refers to healing the body and learning preventative measures that keep the body strong, youthful, dynamic and fully functioning.

One proven technique of prevention and help for the body that grandmother was probably familiar with is Candling.  Candling is a natural ear healing technique that began centuries ago, possible originating in ancient Egypt.  Because the process worked, Candling spread to Europe, Greece and China and is now practiced around the world.

Given its name because the practitioner uses a hollow waxed cloth candle, this simple home remedy assists in the removing of ear wax and may improve any of the following conditions:  sinus problems, sore throat, ear ache, swimmer’s ear, some chronic headaches, allergies and hearing difficulty.

There is no discomfort to the person receiving the treatment; old earwax and noxious toxins are drawn up into the candle, which has been placed gently in the ear and lit.  The low flame of the wick creates a slow vacuum, which softens and pulls the old wax into the base of the candle.  When the candle has burned down sufficiently, on can then examine the base of the candle to see just what was in the ear.

The Physiology of Ear Candling

How is it that such results can be obtained?  Our theory is that such effects are possible because all the passages in the head are interconnected, allowing the candles to drain the entire system osmotically through the membrane of the ear.

Structurally, the internal carotid artery, the auditory tube, the cochlear nerve, the facial nerve, the semicircular canal and the first turn of the cochlea are all located in the area immediately behind the tympanic membranes.

All nerves have a thin coating of spinal fluid which can become polluted.  The fluid in your body circulates 14 times a day in order to cleanse itself.  If the system is laden with toxicity for the environment and the food we eat, then the body cannot take in what it needs in the way of metabolites for the nerves.

There are several tympanic membranes, all of which vibrate.  Theses membranes are linked by a series of canals.  The ear canal itself forms and helps support the brain, a pivot point for the skull.  These bones only need to move a paper’s thickness worth of distance in order to make a correction.  When the bones are properly aligned, the osmotic pressure on the nerves that relate to your senses are shifted as well.  It is believed that the gentle reverse osmotic pressure of the Ear Candling is enough to effect such a correction, which is why people often feel better afterwards.

The Mechanics

There are many reasons why our cranial bones become misaligned.  Colds, birth trauma, environmental toxicity, the hats we wear, earphones, telephones, headphones, scarves, even glasses, can all change the osmotic pressure on the nerves that relate to our senses of taste, smell, hearing and sight.

The only mechanical influence on our ears is when we shallow or when we hold our breath.  These are the only ways available to alter the pressure in our ears to clear out our Eustachian tubes.  If the tubes are irritated, they will not drain.  When you swallow and have anything covering your ears, it constricts the bones even more by creating more of an internal vacuum.  IF the pressure continues to build up, your body reaches a point of stasis.  The pressure cannot be released and continues to build.

The cochlea is responsible for sound production.  It is a fluid filled structure which is located in a cavity.  The cochlear area, as well as the semicircular canal, can become infected and irritated.  The tiny hairs in the cochlea itself can become laden with debris and cease to move as freely as they should when stimulated.  The smoke and gentle vacuum created by the process cleans the lymphs within this structure as well as the cochlear hairs themselves, improving their function.

The Holistic Approach

The ear contains nerve endings and acupuncture points to every other area of the body, mind and emotions.  The nerve endings are connected by streams of the subtle energy flow which carries our life force energy. (Chi)  If hearing is impaired or blocked, we are disconnected from that energy.

Ear coning acts as a catalyst to clear out debris accumulated on nerve endings.  This allows for clear vibrational flow to the corresponding area of the mind, body and spirit.  This clears the way for other methods of healing.

A typical Candling client is one searching for a more “natural way” to alleviate pressure in their head of upper respiratory area.  Or someone in search of relief from pain in their children’s ears.  Or someone who wants to hear, smell and see better.  Or someone who wants to just plain “feel” better.