Monday, October 29, 2007

Moonlight therapy



If you don't already know, there's a new form of therapy that's bringing a little bit of light to town.
Light therapy- or the use of light's wavelengths, LEDs or flourescent lamps- has long since been used to treat illnesses and ailments such as depression and seasonal affective disorder.
But 20 miles south of Tucson, Arizona, near Kitt Peak, researchers are harnessing the power of moonlight for healing purposes.
About five years ago, Dr. Richard Chapin was searching for different ways to help aid in the healing of a friend who suffered with pancreatic cancer.
While researching holistic healing methods, Chapin stumbled upon light application, a discovery which has lead to the creation of an 60-foot tall, $2 million structure that absorbs and projects moonlight, known as the Interstellar Light Application.
Lined with mirrors, the structure absorbs celestial light while the moon is in it's various phases and projects it back out, a structure filled with holes of various sizes, so that the light is concentrated as it pours over them.
"It collects more light than any telescope on earth, and this type of light can be projected at the size of a pinpoint laser or spread out to a 10 to 15 foot area," Chapin told me in a past interview for a story I was working on for the Arizona Daily Wildcat. The popularity of the moonbeam collector is growing enormously, yielding stories of individuals who have been alieviated from arthritic pain to those who have lost 100 pounds and transformed their lives for the positive.
Ground-breaking and the first of it's kind, the collector is open to individuals via appointments, which can be made at (520) 730-0427, or by calling McFadden-Gavender, an advertising company working with the project.
Trust me- it's something you need to see to believe.


--an example of a form of light therapy.