The use of acupuncture and herbs is 4000 years old and is the only system of folk medicine that has been recorded in written form, studied scientifically, and not debunked. Even the communist government of China sponsors acupuncture as part of the socialized medical system.
The Chinese believe that every person's body has a special energy field. This field is fueled by an energy called Chi (Qi). When the body's vital energy or Chi is no longer in balance, then that person will become diseased. Injury similarly disrupts the body's energy balance. Acupuncture is the insertion of very fine, sterile needles into specific points along the body's natural energy pathways and channels to regulate and balance this energy. This allows the body to increase healing time significantly.
Is there scientific basis for this? Yes. There are multiple studies which show the efficasy (effectivness) of acupuncture for treating a wide variety of problems. There is over 4000 years of anecdotal (records of successful acupuncture, but not a double-blind study) evidence from China. Can science explain what makes it work? No. But they're working on it.
According to a Mage Game?
Acupuncutre is the use of fine needles as foci, inserted along specific points in a persions pattern. These needles affect the flow of quintessence, re-enforcing the person's pattern so that their healing time is sped up remarkably. It is generally considered coincidental magick, unless in the presence of a large body of people who disregard the efficacy acupuncture.
If you go to an American herbalist, they will likely give you a single herb, that is used remarkably similarly to drugs, just in a lower dose. And of course, there's the added advantage that it's all natural.
Chinese herbs are remarkably different, in that, they are also used because of the energy channels they affect just like the needles are used. For example: A person has some stagnant energies in their head, causing a headache. You would pick an herb that will help headaches, but you would also choose an herb that goes to the correct channel. More specifically the channel with the stagnant energy.
As a mage practices, he or she is able to do away with their foci, practicing magick without their tools. Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are practitioners who claim to be able to heal by using their own body's Chi to do the same thing the needles would. They are called Chi Kung (Qigong) Masters, and can heal with a touch, or simply by passing their hands over a patient...
The body's energy field is made up of lines of energy, called channels or meridians. These lines pass through all the major organs and help supply them with the vital energy required for function. Thus, if a person's Lung Channel was not functioning correctly that person may catch colds very easily. The cold virus is still responsible for the cold, but the body's lack of balance explains why two people can go into the room with a sick person, and only one of those two will catch the malady.
