Enclosed is an article extolling the virtues of colonic irrigation. After reading it we are convinced that removing our primal fecal matter will cure all that ails us, although we’re a little apprehensive about the “lighted viewing tube” that seems to figure in the process. Can you tell us more? –The Sluggish Colons, Baltimore, Maryland
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The world is getting too weird. Enemas, castor oil, and anal fixation have been around since the dawn of time, but Cecil just isn’t ready for the high-tech version. The article you enclose, which comes from some New Age dingzine, contains the ravings of one Ann R., colonic irrigator extraordinaire. Annie says when we get stressed out our “lowel level system” stops digesting, resulting in a sluggish colon. “The waste matter which is supposed to leave the body is now stopping it up and making not only the colon but the liver, the lymph and the sinuses congested.” Eye-opening, no? You take all those pills when you get a snotty sniffer and now it turns out you’ve been poking stuff in the wrong end.
The typical colonic machine consists of a water tank and a couple tubes, one to get the water in, the other to get it (and whatever else) out. More than that you’re just as well off not knowing. To be honest, the whole idea isn’t new; it was common in the 19th century and continued up till the 1930s. But after that time it was increasingly regarded as quackery.
