When we encounter what seems impossible, the solution can often be found where we might least expect it. By expanding search parameters to include information that appears paradoxical or unconventional, we can create a shift to innovation. To many, the concept of mining ancient medical texts for cures to modern diseases might seem like a waste of time. One woman’s curiosity, however, led her to do just that. When she joined forces with other open-minded researchers, they were shocked to discover that one ancient recipe was uniquely effective on the modern superbug, MRSA.
The MRSA Problem
During the past four decades, the public health impact of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has evolved from a controllable nuisance into a serious concern. Staphylococcus aureus or “staph” bacteria commonly live on our skin and in our environment, however, they can get inside the body and cause serious infections. When common antibiotics cease to kill the staph bacteria, this type of staph is referred to as MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).
The symptoms of MRSA depend on the infection site. In the majority of cases, MRSA causes mild infections on the epidermis, like sores or boils. However, the bacteria can also lead to serious infections of surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the urinary tract. Allowed to develop into mature growths, MRSA infections can become deadly. 
Perhaps the most worrisome component of the bacteria is that it is spread by contact: touching another person or objects that have the bacteria on them.
Referred to by scientists as a modern superbug, MRSA has become a worldwide problem due to the inability of antibiotics to effectively treat the bacteria. Epidemiological studies in the United States and Canada demonstrate a 17 percent increase in reported MRSA cases over an eleven year period beginning in 1995. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 94,000 people developed their first invasive MRSA infection in the United States in 2005. Of the 94,000 infected, 19,000 of the infected individuals died.
Acknowledged by the CDC as ‘public health’s ticking time bomb,’ antibiotic resistance threatens to return our world to the time when simple infections proved fatal. A 2014 study commissioned by the U.K.’s Prime Minister reported that by the year 2050, antibiotic resistant infections are expected to kill 10 million people each year, which is more than currently die from cancer. In response to this growing crisis, President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 Budget requested a doubling of the amount of U.S. federal funding for combating and preventing antibiotic resistance to m
ore than $1.2 billion.
The Innovative Solution
Dr. Christina Lee had an idea. A Professor in Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham, she was curious as to whether remedy’s from an ancient medical text, Bald’s Leechbook, might prove effective against modern diseases. Containing Anglo-Saxon recipes for medicines, salves, and treatments, Bald’s Leechbook is one of the earliest known medical textbooks, which is thought to originate from the 10th Century.
With her translation of Bald’s Leechbook, Dr. Lee turned to her colleague, Dr. Freya Harrison, a microbiologist at the university. Together with other researchers from the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, the team decided to recreate an “eye salve” recipe from the text that listed two species of allium (garlic, leek, or onion), wine, and oxgall (bile found in the stomach of a cow). The recipe included precise instructions for the concocting of topical solution, includ
ing the use of a brass vessel for brewing and a specific type of purifying strainer. The mixture was then to be left for nine days before use.
“We recreated the recipe as faithfully as we could. The Bald gives very precise instructions for the ratio of different ingredients and for the way they should be combined before use, so we tried to follow that as closely as possible,” said microbiologist, Freya Harrison, who led the work in the lab at the School of Life Sciences. The researchers made four samples of the “eyesalve,” while also creating a control treatment. While none of the individual ingredients alone had any significant impact, the combined “eyesalve” almost totally obliterated the MRSA infection. Approximately one bacterial cell in a thousand survived in mice wounds.
One member of the team, Dr. Steve Diggle, stated, “When we built this recipe in the lab, I didn’t really expect it to actually do anything. When we found that it could actually disrupt and kills cells in the (MRSA) biofilms. I was genuinely amazed.” For while modern antibiotics can treat early infections, MRSA’s impenetrable reputation comes from the biofilm it builds around mature infection sites which antibiotics cannot breech. Thus, Bald’s “eyesalve” demonstr
ated the ability to do what antibiotics could not. The U.S. National Institute for Health (NIH) reports that biofilms are implicated in up to 80 percent of all chronic and recurring infections.
Biofilms serves as shields that protect bacteria from attacking antibiotics and other treatments. In addition, Biofilms allow bacteria to stick to medical implants, tissues, and other surfaces.
The University of Nottingham’s team then turned to Dr. Kendra Rumbaugh, Associate Professor at Texas Tech University, to see if their research could be replicated. Dr. Rumbaugh carried out in vivo testing of the Bald’s remedy on MRSA infected skin wounds in mice at Texas Tech and reported, “this ‘ancient remedy’ performed as good if not better than the conventional antibiotics we used.”
Dr. Christina Lee explained, “We believe modern research into disease can benefit from past responses and knowledge, which is largely contained in non-scientific writings. But the potential of these texts to contribute to addressing the challenges cannot be understood without the combined expertise of both the arts and science.”
Freemasonry’s Approach to Critical Thinking
Freemasonry rejects dogma, teaching individuals to think for themselves. Merriam-Webster defines dogma as “a belief that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted.” Since the germ theory of disease was not really fully developed until the 1870s, what new information could be gained from a medical text from the 10th century? While dogmatic scientific thinking may have precluded research into text such as Bald’s Leechbook, the team of researchers from the University of Nottingham in England and Texas Tech University stepped outside the realm of conventional sources for scientific study. Their efforts provided a needed catalyst in solving the growing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as MRSA.
The word magic is presumably derived from Old Persian and possibly from the proto-Indo-European language as meh-gh, which means “to help, power, to be able to.” It’s taken many forms over the years, from everything to indicate the workings of scholars, sages, Zoroastrian priests, rituals, spells, and eventually related to something or someone not of your religion. If you didn’t understand it as part of your personal religious upbringing, it was considered magic, especially by both Judaism and Christianity (13/14c C.E) . In Frazer’s The Golden Bough, he illustrates a very thorough journey from folklore, myth, magic, and religion, to the science of modernity. From what I have so far deduced and experienced, the knowledge and wonder of discovering how the natural world works is what magic has been for thousands of years. It’s learning, understanding, exploring, and working in conjunction with the natural world. Forget the word’s baggage and take it back to its origins: the wonder of the natural world that brings us awe and teaches us reverence and respect.
The “magical” feelings evoked are the impetus for the process of discovery. We first see something that entices us, intrigues us, gives us a certain spark of interest and imagination. What did we just see? What happened there? Then, we may try to recreate it, seek its origin, find out how to do what it is we saw. “To be able to” means we’re learning magic. From the learning how to do, we wonder and our interest continues. We start dissecting, breaking apart the machine of nature to figure out its meaning, its purpose, and its origin. We might take a path through religion to get there, or we may jump right to science – either is an option. Once we find the how, we seek the why.
I believe it’s the discovery of the world around us that is magical. It persuades us to keep seeking and searching for the mysteries of nature and science. It speaks to us of understanding our world – not just the laws of men but also the laws of nature and whatever source it is that keeps us all “together.” Some may call it God, The Force, Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Diana, Odin, the Tao, Krishna, and a host of other names. Perhaps they are just human mirrors of the same “thing” that ties us together. Perhaps that is the thing I am truly seeking: smashing the mirrors to understand what lies on the other side. 
texts are, for the most part, guidelines on how one should live their life and are the generally accepted texts of most major religions. Taken in their “symbolic” form, they are meant to be an expression of the highest human civilization can achieve, for itself and the world it lives in. Whether you call them codes, rules, mores, or dogma, the end result is the same: guidelines for how to be a good human being in a world filled with other human beings and living creatures. We need to get along to survive as a species and these texts are there to provide us the guidelines. While not everyone needs a guideline, many do. Even if you do not feel like you personally need a guideline, it is probably a good idea to know how other people think, in order to get along and be a generally good citizen of the world.
sets it apart. It has a different quality; it was written by someone to be venerated or exalted, for example, or it has a quality that we recognize as being special, valued, or important. 
well with the world around them, and how to be able to not only help the human race continue to survive but to increase the positive influence in the world and promote the general welfare and progress of human society.